BEHIND THE BLOCK: MAXIMAL MUSCLE WITH PRE-FATIGUE
Year 4 Block 8 - Pre Fatigue
What more can we say about pre-fatigue than we did in last year’s seminal blog post? https://www.allegiategym.com/blog/pre-fatigue
Well, it turns out, a lot!
Pre fatigue’s goal is to cause Hypertrophy. Hypertrophy means muscle growth.
Coming off a hard last block, Pre-fatigue will help us achieve this hypertrophy, safer.
Safety is always the first priority, second is performance.
If we are smart, safety and performance are not mutually exclusive. They’re both be included in any setting as long as we understand the “why” and the “how” – which makes the “what” relatively easy to select.
Before we get ahead of ourselves, here is a quick refresher on Allegiate’s “training block” set-up.
Pre-Fatigue falls under our Accumulation theme. Accumulation is one of two themes that Allegiate training blocks are centered around. The other is Intensification.
What do each of these themes entail?
Intensification = A focus on developing strength, speed, and power.
Accumulation = A focus on developing capacity, muscle endurance, hypertrophy, and burning fat.
These two themes build off of each other. Accumulation blocks lay the foundation for Intensification blocks to build on.
By alternating between the two themes, we make sure our training stays fresh and effective.
With Pre-Fatigue we’re highlighting the hypertrophy aspect within an accumulation theme.
What is hypertrophy?
Muscular hypertrophy refers to the growth of our muscle cells. This can be achieved through:
Increasing the density of the muscle cell by adding more contractile elements (called sarcomeres) to the muscle cell. This is a more “functional” hypertrophy outcome.
Increasing the size of the area that encapsulates multiple muscle cells (the fascicle) by increasing the volume of fluid in the area. This hypertrophy has less of a “functional” impact.
Both of these types of hypertrophy contribute to the total muscle growth and toning we see from lifting weights.
Increasing Hypertrophy with Time-under-tension
A key to increasing hypertrophy is choosing the right time-under-tension (TUT)
The chart below shows some general ranges for time-under-tension. And what they can mean for your results.
Reference Chart:
Relative Strength: Strength Relative to Body Mass
0-20sec Time Under Tension
Functional Hypertrophy: Increase size of the muscle cell and number sarcomeres along with muscle cell
20-40sec Time Under Tension
Hypertrophy: Increase size of the muscle cell and area around muscle cell
40-70sec Time Under Tension
Muscular Endurance: Increase caloric expenditure with body compositional focus)
70sec Time Under Tension
We can see that intermediate to higher time-under-tension (from 40-70sec) are needed to emphasize hypertrophy.
In addition to hypertrophy, let’s look at another key aspect of this block’s pre-fatigue.
contraction Types
With pre-fatigue, we’re aiming to SAFELY increase hypertrophy.
We can do this by using the 40-70sec of time under tension, as well as considering another key property of muscle action.
This property is: different muscular contractions fatigue at different rates.
This means we are stronger + more resistant to fatigue during the lengthening or static contractions of a lift (Eccentric, Isometric).
The order of rates of fatigue are:
Eccentric having the longest capacity
Isometric second longest
Concentric having the shortest capacity
We typically use eccentric or isometric contractions to reach a target time under tension. Doing this allows us to achieve higher intensities (load) using these contraction’s higher mechanical advantage + resistance to fatigue.
We express these tempo’s in our programs by using the following notation:
1st#/ 2nd# / 3rd# / 4th# , where each number represents:
1st Number - Eccentric (Yielding)
2nd Number - Pause in Contracted Position
3rd Number - Concentric (Overcoming)
4th Number - Pause in Relaxed Position
Example: 3/0/3/0 - 3 Second Eccentric/0 Second Pause/3 Second Concentric/0 Second Pause
The concentric portion will always be the limiting factor in everything we do in the weightroom. Since it is the weakest portion of any lift.
The workaround is something like this block’s pre-fatigue.
How Pre-Fatigue Fits Into “The Big Picture”
A key thing to consider is after an intensification block where we reach very high intensities, we need the next block to be significantly lower intensity. (Intensity referring to load or resistance)
The reason for this “deload” is that intensification blocks cause fatigue of the nervous system. By the end of a hard intensification block, our ability to lift heavy is impaired.
The result is the 1st week of the following accumulation block is always perceived harder than it actually is.
This fatigue is reflected in a handful of metrics, such as:
Higher ratings of perceived exertion
Lower average wellness scores
Higher resting heart rates/lower heart rate variabilities
Decreased jump measures on our forcedeck
Pre-fatigue will help us lower this blocks intensity and still get great results.
As discussed with the original article, pre-fatigue was primarily utilized with machine based training. A classic pairing would be Pull-Over Machine paired with Lat Pulldown.
The goal being to isolate a particular aspect of the movement. Exhaust the muscle fibers associated with that muscle group. Then following that with a multi-joint movement targeting the same muscle group.
The isolated pre-fatigue builds fatigue in the muscle prior to the multi-joint movement. This means we can use less load (safer) and still build up a lot of time-under-tension.
This block we are using this same concept, but with free weight movement.
We can use movements or isolated ranges of that movement to create a similar effect of an isolated machined based movement. Adding time under tensions and limiting premature fatigue due to contraction type.
This is the concept: use a more isolated movement to “pre-fatigue” that muscle group, and follow it with a more expanded movement with better mechanical advantage.
By emphasizing the end-range of our pre-fatigue movement, we isolate that range and reach higher time-under-tensions without concentric ability limiting us.
This means we get the same benefit of a lot of time-under-tension with less absolute load, which means lower risk.
In Summary:
Pre fatigue’s goal is to cause Hypertrophy. Safety is always the first priority, second is performance.
If we are smart, safety and performance are not mutually exclusive. They’re both included in any setting as long as we understand the “why” and the “how” – which makes the “what” relatively easy to select.