Here at Illiana Power Asylum (IPA) we have a variety of lifters from all different backgrounds with drastically different styles of jobs. We have hit a time just prior to a strength block (conjugate training) where people are beaten to crap. We have been training straight for almost 15 weeks and although there were block changes there were no full-on breaks. The entire team here ran into a brick wall yesterday and aking everyone drop weight was a frustrating conversation and phrase to hear. I decided to make a video and make a shallow dive into some of the variables that people were facing and how it requires autoregulation. There are always decisions to make that can allow us to progress, not every change during training means we are regressing, in actuality, that rarely is the case if it is only a few days that are adjusted for.
Dave Tate posted a great video regarding his take on autoregulation and percentage based training
Quick Tips for autoregulation:
- Moving a training session back a day does not ruin the world, especially if peaking. Adjust or straight skip the day, depending on what the rest of the week looks like.
- percentage training will always be based off a different "max" number depending on the day you come in and how hard variables outside of work will be. Example: your max best squat is 500lbs and you are supposed to squat 50% for 15 today but just worked a 12 hr shift. your 50% for that day is really on 200lbs not 225.
- skipping the main movement
- setting a time limit on training
- only doing accessories
all can be used to spare training when other aspects of training do not feel right on that particular day.