20 sets of 2 reps force yourself to recover or your performance will suffer

What are Diminishing Returns? When doing more of something doesn’t get you more, it gets you less. How does this relate to training?

This Team block, we are going to embark on an Intensification Block that will be 20 sets of 2 reps. This block will be hard on our nervous system. And any time where we have the term ‘extreme’ built into the block’s description is as good of a time as ever to talk about contingencies. Meaning: plans for recovery.

Diminishing Returns are contingencies with training. At what point is what we are doing no longer effective? Do we have leading indicators that help us prepare for an earlier-than-expected diminishing return? Do we have training indicators that guide our decision-making during training when we hit diminishing returns? When we toe the line of performance and recovery, there is always a choice of which one we choose. And the question is are we making the correct choice consistently over time? 

Allegiate requires leading indicators every day, tracked in the bridge app, at the beginning of each session. Sleep quantity is really important during intensification blocks. CNS (central nervous system) function drops dramatically when we have even a small quantity of sleep deprivation. If you have a wearable you can track this via resting heart rate (indicated by spike in HR) or heart rate variability (indicated by drop in HRV). Subjective wellness is also an indicator of CNS readiness (tracked at Allegaite). Specifically Mood (<3), Sleep Quality (<3), or Stress (<3) –all tracked at Allegiate. All of these would be indicators of decreased performance during an Intensification block.

In addition to your body’s readiness indicators, we have indicators with technology in our training – also tracked by Allegaite during training. ForceDeck jump height or RSI would be a clear indicator ‘not having it.’ NordBord or Dynamo force would be as well. Loss of bar speed or tempo are an obvious drop in performance which we track on GymAware. Chances are a loss of range of motion or position can be a clear indicator we have lost the ability to execute at a high level. 

For the members new to Allegiate this is high-performance training: push to the threshold and understand there are inherent downsides of too much. We want to push as hard as possible and take the appropriate measures to recover between sessions. If we don’t take care of ourselves between sessions (sleeping, hydrating, nutrition) we’ll make things worse.

There is a learning curve to Allegiate. Blocks like this expedite that learning curve. Some of the more veteran members manage this by making sure they are getting every practice every 48 hours. They may start out conservatively week 1 or back off week 4. They may attend Strength class the last week of the block. If you’re newer here, follow their example. The value you get from Allegiate is not what you can endure, but what you get from the time spent. Focus on making each day valuable by making sure you are ready and listening to what your performance is telling you to handle. The trick is to get out in front of something like 20x2 before you get behind.