Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Start year right by tracking workouts, progress
Too much strength-training work leads to weakness. But how much is too much? For that matter, how do we measure strength work? With our minds.
The amount of strength work — its volume — is measured by multiplying the total sets of an exercise by the number of repetitions performed in each set by the weight used.
More simply put, V (volume) = S (sets) x R (reps) x W (weight).
This common method effectively quantifies our striving and effort, turning it into a measurable, objective outcome that one can track over time.
This week, I’ll discuss the advantages of tracking workout volume while pointing out some exceptions to this method — including this week’s featured exercise.
In my experience, most exercisers track at least one component of their training. Whether it’s total minutes per week, body fat percentage or caloric expenditure, data tracking has become the norm for the modern fitness fanatic. In many cases, this tracking is done by a wearable device or mobile application.
Logging those data let people study their history and set goals which will challenge them to change, grow and improve. As incremental improvements are made, the overall change from year to year should be significant, and a log makes that change visible.
Traditional strength and cardiovascular training methods are easy to quantify and track, but some fitness activities don’t fall into sets, reps or weight calculations so simply. Isometric training, resistance band training and many recreational sports are more difficult to plug into an equation or calculator.
Rather than trying to fit a square peg in a round hole, I recommend adding a “bonus” category to the training log. The bonus category is not counted in work-volume calculations but can be used for “extra credit” on top of the foundational workouts for a given week. Things like dog walks, lawn mowing, golf and isometric training fall into the bonus category.
This week’s exercise is a good one for the bonus category, because there is no weight involved. Negative Band Pushups are performed using a stretch band rather than weights, but they’re still a fantastic strength training exercise that’s appropriate for more experienced exercisers.
1. Select a thick resistance band and position yourself face down on an exercise mat.
2. Get into the “up” phase of a pushup (kneeling or on toes, whichever works for you) while wrapping the resistance band around your back with each end anchored between your palms and the floor. Make sure there is a lot of tension on the resistance band in the “up” position of the pushup.
3. Slowly lower your torso by bending the elbows until your chest nearly touches the floor.
4. Quickly and explosively press up against the resistance of the band.
5. Repeat this movement by slowly lowering and explosively pressing up until you’ve done 12 repetitions for two sets.
I encourage everyone to start off 2018 by tracking a few key data points of your workouts. Workout volume is a great one for strength training, but you also want to track some type of fitness measurement outcome. Body composition, circumference measurements or cardiovascular endurance are just a few of the many options. Let’s start the New Year right!