The problem with auto-regulation

[Pseudonym]

I read this last night, and a light went on inside my head. This is exactly what I've been doing recently, with some pretty average workouts as a result.

http://www.lift-heavy.com/autoregulation/

It was the article I needed to kick my arse back into gear, and start training with a bit more direction.

Plus... as well as being motivating, it's also well-written and just a bloody good read. Check it out.

[fng]

interesting, did you click on ther liza link as well ?

[Spacebound]

From what ive seen many people use auto regulation far to early when the could still be making linear progress. Either they go to heavy to fast or dont progress as they move to slowly and just do the same weights over and over.

[Pseudonym]

interesting, did you click on ther liza link as well ?

No, I haven't looked at that one yet. But he's got some good stuff there. Did you check out LIZA yourself? Worth a look?

[fng]

no i didn't, it was late and i'm sick of these hyper links telling me i need their wonder pill and deer velvet, hence the question did you ?

[Leeroid]

Don't think this guy really grasps what auto regulation is or he's talking about pts that have misinterpreted auto regulation.

That being said, auto regulation by it's very nature requires that you are very familiar with your own body and are able to distinguish between when you are just lazy and when you are actually fatigued. It also requires you to be honest with yourself. So it's not for beginners or even intermediate lifters. However used correctly in an advanced lifter, it can be very beneficial in avoiding injuries, overtraining and plateaus. Key point is that you need to know what you're doing.

Mike Tuscherers RPE system is probably the best way to quantify auto regulation. It doesn't just mean oh I feel tired today I'm gonna lift light

[B_Eden]

Yeah I think he kind of misses the point of auto regulation a little bit. It doesn't mean "just go in and train how you feel is best". You should have a specific plan, where some variable like volume or load is auto regulated, within a specified range.

For example using the RPE scale you may work your way up to a set of 5 at 140kg at a 9RPE on squat, and then reduce the weight 7% (known as using 7% fatigue) and keep doing sets of 5 until you reach a 9RPE again. What this means is that in reality you might get 5 sets on a great day and 3 sets on a terible day, not 5 sets on a great day and go home for a beer on a terrible day.

[Pseudonym]

I'd never heard of auto-regulation before now. Where did it come from? Is it a powerlifting concept?

[B_Eden]

I'd never heard of auto-regulation before now. Where did it come from? Is it a powerlifting concept?

Any good program for advanced lifters will have some form of auto-reg. I believe it originated in olympic lifting programming though, in those cray high frequency programs.