Auto-Regulation. in Exerbabble III

When I first read about auto-regulation however many years ago, it sounded a lot like, “I go into the gym, make shit up on the spot, and somehow continue to make progress.” It seemed kind of far-fetched that someone would consciously get enough volume, consistently, across all lifts, to remain balanced in terms of progress.

Sometimes I get the itch of deadlift. I’ll load up to a max. ....And then I’m spent. Oh sure, I’ll feel accomplished. But it’s rare that I’ll hit adequate volume after that. (Not that one NEEDS to worry about volume so much.)

That’s just an example.

I need structure. I need to know I’m going somewhere with my workouts. It’s unfortunate that I can’t just walk into the gym and do a bunch of random shit. Even if it’s a deload workout at a hotel gym, it’s a balanced workout with a purpose. Purpose. I lift with purpose.

Beginners absolutely need to stick to some kind of planned linear progression, complete with lots of grinding and learning how to just STICK TO A PROGRAM. I did “Home Grown Muscle” in years 1-2 of discovering the gym. I did parts of the book “New Rules of Lifting” in years 2-3 of my lifting. When did I do 5/3/1? Somewhere past year 5. I bought “Huge in a Hurry”, but despite initial excitment, I ended up hating the workouts. After 8 months of 5/3/1, I did … 5? 6? months of Starting Strength. I walked in every day knowing I’d have to squat. I ground myself to 2 plates, topping off at 230 lbs for 3x5 or something. When I decided I was done with Starting Strength, I somehow beyond all my imagination hit a squat of 265 lbs.

(You don’t understand, my squat is REALLY SHITTY compared to my deadlift. Imagine I were to take a month off. I could comfortably walk into the gym and deadlift 315 lbs. Squat? I wouldn’t feel “comfortable” squatting more than 185 lbs.)

This was supposed to be a post about auto-regulation.

When you grind long enough, it becomes immensely stressful. You start wondering what will happen if you fail. What happens if you really, truly, can’t hit that next required repetition?

Example: You squat say… 225 lbs for repetitions of 5, 5, 3. First option is to do your next workout at 225 lbs and aim to hit one more repetition on the last set. Maybe you will, maybe you won’t. Did the weight feel heavy? Imagine it did. Imagine it felt bone-crushingly heavy. Imagine that last set was all you had. Now imagine that every day you walk into the gym until the end of the cycle, that you have to deal with BONE-CRUSHING WEIGHT during the last set. That’s intimidating. Like I said, maybe you’ll get the rep, maybe you won’t. If you do get the rep, you get the opportunity to get ONE MORE REP at a bone-crushing weight. If you FAIL getting that rep, you have to try and go back into the gym, knowing you’ve failed before.

THIS SHIT IS STRESSFUL.

Part of my own “auto-regulation” solution is due to the nature of the way set/reps are typically programmed. Suppose you do pull-ups for three sets of five (3x5). You do five pull-ups on your first set, five pull-ups on your second set, and five pull-ups on your third set. It’s understood that if you went “balls-out” on any set, you wouldn’t be able to do as much on a subsequent set. But what about that last set? This is the LAST set. Why stop at the required number of repetitions?

I’ve toyed with doing “as many repetitions as possible” on the last set of each exercise. It’s not about “failure”, it’s about doing what I can. What typically happens is I look back at the last time I did this exercise, and all those “bonus” repetitions ended up being more than the last attempt. This is progress, rather than mindlessly walking into the gym for some so-called backcycle.

Auto-regulation?

I ask myself this: Did the weight feel light? Did I hit enough repetitions to make me feel confident with the weight? If so, I’ll increase the weight. Am I unsure? Maybe I’ll repeat the weight. And, no matter what, if the weight “feels” heavy and I don’t hit the requisite reps, I should LOWER THE WEIGHT.

Fuck grinding.

Structure is the exercise choice, the weekly “split”, and the set/rep. Auto-regulation is whether to increase/maintain/decrease the weight. To constantly yield to a weekly increase will only lead to the burn-out that I experience every single time I stick to a program.