Health And General Life Care: [Supertraining] Re:Definition of Intensity? and 1 set training.

Greetings iron scientists.

High intensity definition(s) and examples.

It is with great interest and wonderment that the following experiment was/is
not given much interest or indeed follow-up.

The Research quarterly, vol. 38, No. 4 pgs 715-716, 1966?

Effect of maximum loads for each of ten repetitions on strength development.

RA Berger & B Hartage.

The design included comparing 2 groups of college age males, with no previous
weight training experience, randomly assigned to 1 of 2 "experimental
treatments."

The exercise was bench presses performed on a Universal machine.

Group 1(N-24) performed 10 reps with their 10 RM for 1 set.

Group 2 (N-26) performed 10 reps. Each rep was a calculated max for that rep.
What this equates to in common parlance is 10 drop sets of 1 rep each with a
max weight/effort each rep. Each group warmed up with a 10 rep, 1/2 of 1RM
weight and then performed 1 training set X's 3 per week, X's 8 weeks. The time
interval was ~1-2 secs. between reps for each group.

The subjects were tested for 1 RM after 2 sessions in 1 week to learn the
lift.

Subjects were tested for 1 RM before and after the 8 week training period.

Actual and adjusted group means, standard errors, t ratios and
analysis of covariance were used to determine results. Both groupies gained
strength significantly beyond the .01 level, with the drop set group gaining
significantly beyond the .05 level more strength then the fixed weight group.

If I interpreted the results correctly the fixed weight group gained ~ 22
lbs. while the drop set group gained ~ 30 lbs. That's about a 48% greater
improvement in strength.

Interestingly the fixed weight group lifted more total weight ~ 3100 lbs
total work per set vs. ~ 2990 lbs for the drop set group as measured by mean
ft.lbs.

I assume this means the total time under tension was ~ the same as was the
total averaged tension? Also the drop set group fatigued their muscles to about
45-50% of momentary capacity – that is assuming they started with 95-100% of
momentary resistance their end point would be about 50-55 lbs. as their average
work was essentially the same as the 10RM group.

It has long been my assumption that a muscle fiber fatigued at a higher
momentary tension per rep to a greater degree of momentary fatigue is more
productive (strength and hypertrophy) than fatiguing a muscle at a lower momentary
tension to a lesser momentary degree of fatigue.

While all sorts of questions can justifiably be directed to this study in
terms of degree of experience, carryover to related activities and much etc., the
point remains -- how effective is decreasing resistance training as compared
to fixed resistance when adjusted to specific outcomes, e.g., – strength,
hypertrophy and power?

With recent studies indicating that training past failure is non or even
counterproductive how productive are repeated "max efforts with very little rest"
Obviously if the efforts are "training" maxs as contrasted with "competitive"
maxs and or a multi rep set is terminated before training failure, then
repeated with a lighter weight, etc., the demons associated with excessive neural
failure fatigue maybe negated.

In summation!! I am left wondering why the "training with maximum loads for
each repetitions" protocol was not adequately pursued by RA Berger or any other
researcher. Was it that some or many aspects of the experiment, including
statistical analysis were erroneous?

Maybe as economist Walter Bagehot wrote "One of the greatest pains to human
nature is the pain of a new idea."

Definition of intensity. So here is how Berger sums up the experiment. "The
weight training program employing maximum or near maximum loads for each of 10
repetitions is more effective for increasing strength than a program involving
the performance of 10 repetitions with the 10RM, among lifters with no
previous lifting experience and when training is three times a week for 8 weeks."

Notice that intensity is defined as 1RM X'S 10 reps or 10RM, using 1RM
strength as the measure for effectiveness. For those interested in 1 set training is
the above 1RM X's 10 reps 1 or 10 sets?

Jerry Telle
Lakewood CO USA

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