Perfect Rep Training Part 1

The perfect rep method is a newish type of training made popular by Christian Thibaudeau over at t-nation which goes hand in hand with auto regulation training.

What you do is set a rep goal and then ramp up to a max weight that you can handle it but with one major difference.

For every set you do, each rep must be perfectly executed as you want each rep of every set to be performed as quick as you possibly can of which there are a 3 main points in each set that you can aim for.

Max Power Point

The MPP is the lightest weight that you can use but still produce a high level of force with if you try to accelerate the load. For beginners this point may be at 70 - 80% of your maximum and for advanced it might be 40 - 50%. The focus for these sets is actual bar speed and when it slows down, then the set and/or the exercise is finished. Beginners can use a higher percentage of their max because they cannot use a high level of their strength potential yet.

Max Force Point

The MFP is the heaviest weight that you can use where you can "dominate" each and every rep of each set meaning that actual bar speed may slow but your intent and application of actually accelerating the bar is maintained.

Max Load Point

The MLP is the heaviest weight that you can use without encountering a sticking point within a given set. The more advanced a lifter is then the lesser gap they will have between their MFP and their MLP. Elite lifters, sprinters and throwers simply won;t grind out a set. They will either get it with seemingly ease of they'll miss the lift badly.

As with auto reg training, what we want to achieve is to work the hardest that we can but without exceeding our recovery stores. When we work up to a weight that we need to grind out with pauses in the strongest position (such as a bench press lockout), a change in technique (such as moving from a glute dominant squat into a lower back dominant squat) and / or tempo (again grinding and / or slowing down at a sticking point), then you are now working less effectively as the quality of your work is now decreasing.

Think of it like a marathon. You might be running the same distance but the slower time you do, the worse off you are.

Tomorrow we'll go into how we can achieve the perfect rep.