In my early years of working out with weights, I was extremely determined. I was willing to work out hard and my desire numbed me to the existence of workout pain. According to a lot of the hype in the magazines, workout pain was supposed to be a good thing. No pain, no gain; I took it seriously. This kind of attitude made it difficult to monitor any feedback during a workout. All I knew was that I wanted to lift the weight one more time, and if I succeeded at that, I wanted to lift it again, and then again and again. I didn’t check how my body felt at all, I was determined to make it do what I wanted. This mentality worked for a few months. It actually worked really good, but it quit working in spite of my determination.
Honesty and Objectivity
If someone would have told me about the concepts I use now with Precision Point Training, I don’t know if it would have worked. I was so determined to improve that it would have been hard to be honest about the point at which I truly reached my marker rep where rep rhythm begins to slow down in a set. It would have also been very difficult to admit that I could only do two or three strong sets for an exercise or body part before I began to weaken. Because of my eagerness to make progress, it would have been easy to convince myself that I could do 20 sets without growing weaker as that would have made my training similar to the greats like Arnold, Franco, and Robby Robinson.
One of the greatest risks of Precision Point Training is that some lifters are so determined (like I was) that it skews their ability to be honest and objective in regard to how many strong reps and strong sets they can do before reaching marker rep or marker set where strength declines. Others may be honest and objective, but they just don’t have enough of a feel for accurately identifying their marker rep or marker set. It’s also quite possible that some people lack motivation and will have a bias towards not working as hard as they should. This could easily cause them to believe that they have reached their marker rep and marker set before they actually have.
Finding Your Strength Zone with Prilepin’s Chart
If identifying the marker rep and marker set seems to be skewed by over enthusiasm, lack of motivation, or it’s just somewhat vague and unclear, then another excellent option is to use Prilepin’s chart. It is based on research done on the top lifters from the old Soviet Union era and lists different percentages of a one rep max. Each percentage is matched with a range of how many total reps per workout should be done, and how many reps per set should be done. I believe that the range of total reps and reps per set is similar to what most people would be able to do if they used the marker rep and marker set as a gauge for how many reps and sets to do in their workouts. Going by Prilepin’s chart will also keep the over enthusiastic training maniacs from doing too much, and it will push the under-motivated lazy lifters to do enough.
Prilepin’s chart is shown and explained on this video. If you follow the training advice, it will help you to stay within an effective strength training zone where the majority of your training should take place.
Prilepin’s Chart
Percent of one rep max Reps per Set Range Optimal
Less than 70% 3-6 18-30 24
70-79% 3-6 12-24 18
80-89% 2-4 10-20 15
90 + 1-2 4-10 7
If have you been using Precision Point Training, the amount of sets and reps you do is likely to fall within the ranges shown on Prilepin’s chart when using 75% or more of your one rep max. If you use lighter weights below 70%, you’ll probably be able to do more than the suggested range of 6 reps per set. However, if you are training at 75% of your one rep max and above, and you normally train way outside of the ranges shown on Prilepin’s table, you may want to consider adjusting your training if you are not making progress. Best of training to you.