Modifying Workouts to Maximize Results

Everybody has good days and bad days with regards to training in the gym, or on the field, court, or trails. I try to plan easier days in advance, but it’s not always enough. To maximize your results, you should adjust your workouts based on how you feel.

Modifying on the Fly

There are several ways that I modify workouts based on how a client or athlete looks or feels.

1.      Questionnaires

2.      ‘The Coach’s Eye’

3.      Autoregulation

It’s always best to have a coach or trainer present, but you can apply these concepts when training alone.

Questionnaires

I use questionnaires before, during, and after a workout to determine readiness to train, how the workout is progressing, and what was the difficulty of the workout.

Before a workout begins with a large group I might simply ask, “On a scale of 1 to 5, how ready are you to perform this workout?”

            1 = Awful

            3 = OK

            5 = Great

If I’m working with a smaller group or performing an inventory on myself, I’ll use the same scale to check energy levels, sleep from the night before, muscle soreness, and health.

I’m looking for a 3 or better. I’m also looking for trends. The hardest working people will usually report 4 or 5. A 3 for these individuals will mean that they’re feeling sub-par. On the other hand, some people will report 2s on a regular basis and be fine. Generally, though, you should probably skip the workout if you’re reporting a 1 on any one question and modify volume or intensity if you score 2 on more than one question.

Example

            Current plan: 3x10 reverse lunges at 40 lbs

            Modification 1: 2x10 reverse lunges at 40 lbs

            Modification 2: 3x10 reverse lunges at 30 lbs

            Modification 3: Sled pushing for 3x10 steps

During the workout, I’m also using questionnaires to determine if the workout is going according to plan. Sometimes you’ll feel great in the warm-up, but things will go downhill during the workout. I occasionally cut my own runs short even when I’m running well if I’m exceeding the agreed upon effort level.

As another example, I had a girl running 3x3x300m. On the final set, she hit the first 300m faster than on the previous two sets. She said, “I won’t be able to maintain that for the last two.” I then switched the last two intervals to 200m and 150m. She was not only able to maintain form for the rest of the workout but pick up the pace.

After the workout, I sometimes use a 5-point scale to determine how difficult the workout was. I like my athletes and clients to train hard but I’m not trying to crush them.

The Coach’s Eye

When my clients and athletes are training, I’m looking for signs of excessive fatigue and pain such as changes in technique, faster breathing, or rubbing a sore joint. This is sometimes referred to as ‘The Coach’s Eye.’

For example, if the run calls for a comfortably hard effort and my runner is hyperventilating and bent over after a cruise interval, I may extend the rest between intervals and demand a slower pace.

This is hard to perform on yourself as you can’t see yourself working out. In this case, you must feel the changes in technique like your knees caving in while squatting or your opposite hip dropping while you run. You don’t want to train past technical failure to maximize long-term results while minimizing injury. In the case of pain, if you have a sore back, switch conventional deadlifts out for single leg deadlifts.

Autoregulation

Autoregulation is something I’ve been using more often recently, particularly the APRE method in the gym. Instead of asking for a set of 10, I ask for a set of 8-12. Based on how many reps my client completes will determine how I program the next set. In this way, she can work as hard as she’s able to on that day. What I found is that I wasn’t training my clients as hard as I needed to maximize results.

Here’s an example of how I’ve been using autoregulation for the hang power clean.

            Set 1: Optional warm-up set of 50% of 3RM for 3 reps

            Set 2: 75% of 3RM for 3 reps

            Set 3: 3RM for 1-5 reps

Set 4: Subtract 2 reps and if 5 reps on set 3, add 10%; if 4 reps, add 5%; if 3 reps, maintain weight; if 2 reps, subtract 5%; if 1 rep, subtract 10%

I found that this setup works great for athletes. For adult fitness, most of my clients were too sore with two autoregulated sets. Thus, on the final set, I maintain weight even if the maximum reps are completed and cut two reps. This method isn’t great for beginners either as they need to become proficient at the exercises before worrying about progressing load.

In summary, use questionnaires upfront, keep a close eye on technique during the workout, and autoregulate based on how you feel.

If you have any questions about fitness, please email them to me at jp.ppf@hotmail.com.

Jonathan Pratt

Pratt's Pro Fitness

4 Simple Movements in Which Most Athletes Struggle

When I was in elementary school there was a lot more gym time, recess, and free play than there is today. Unfortunately, early sports specialization has replaced free play and now young athletes struggle with simple movements in which their parents tend to be proficient. Improvement in these movements will allow you to perform better at sports with a lower risk of injury. In the last couple years, I’ve seen more young athletes struggle with these four simple movements: crawling, skipping, hip hinging, and the push-up.

This is what we did for fun in kindergarten!

Crawling

The Bear Crawl

When’s the last time you crawled? The bear crawl is a physically challenging exercise whether done poorly or done well. The difference between a good bear crawl and a bad one is control. Can you balance the ball on your back (see video)? Crawling is an important skill for athletes for the following reasons:

It improves communication between the right and left hemispheres of the brain

It trains the core to control rotational movements

It trains the core to transfer forces between one arm and the opposite leg and vice versa

Most sports movements require these abilities such as throwing a baseball, running, freestyle swimming, kicking a soccer ball, taking a slapshot, and swing a golf club.

If you struggle with bear crawl, then regress back to the bird dog and crawling as an infant does with the knees touching the floor.

Bird Dog

Skipping

Ask your mom if she knows how to skip. Almost all my adult clients can skip properly even though they may not have done the movement for decades. The same can’t be said for my teen athletes unless they’ve spent some time working with a track coach. Kids typically raise the same side arm and leg instead of the opposite arm and leg.

A-Skip

Skipping is a diagonal movement just like crawling so it can be improved with the same exercises. Regress the skip back to marching on the spot, then progress through forward marching, skipping on the spot, forward skipping, and finally skipping in multiple directions. For strength training perform the single leg Romanian deadlift.

Single Leg Romanian Deadlift

Hip Hinge

Hip Hinge

The hip hinge allows an athlete to flex and extend the hips without losing proper posture. This will allow the athlete to jump higher and run and skate faster while reducing the risk of developing back pain. The hip hinge is your athletic ready position in most sports.

Develop the hip hinge with the stick hip hinge drill and then progress to the deadlift.

Stick Hip Hinge Drill

Push-Up

Push-Up

The push-up is much more than an exercise to develop pressing strength. It’s also a measure of core stability. If you can’t perform a proper push-up you’ll either be expending more energy to perform a task, moving slower, or be using the spine itself to stabilize the movement. The latter can lead to back pain. Unfortunately, this exercise is rarely regressed, and kids end up looking like inchworms.

How most kids look when doing a push-up

Regress the push-up to a hands-elevated version and work your way back down to the floor.

Hands Elevated Push-Up

Improve your ability in the crawl, skip, hip hinge, and push-up to perform better at your sport with a lower risk of injury. 

For more information about Pratt's Pro Fitness please visit my website.

Stay fit,

Jonathan Pratt