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July 4, 2005
'Interval circuit training' for power on a tight time budget
Question: Watching my friend turn into a powerhouse on a routine of high sets of low reps with plenty of rest in between has convinced me that it is the way to train for raw power. Unfortunately, I can barely spare forty-five minutes for a workout twice a week. Am I doomed to remain a pencilneck?
Not if you try interval or ‘slow’ circuit training.
Lee (1988) found that the already awesome gains reaped from variable practice, or mixing up the poundage from set to set, can be far greater if it is combined with random practice. RP is the opposite of blocked practice, or completing all the trials of a drill before moving on to the next one. Doing all your sets of squats before moving on to the bench press is an example of blocked practice. Random practice involves alternating between various tasks within a practice period. It is kind of like circuit training, except adequate rest is provided between the drills.
Random practice delivers predictably great results. The idea of switching between squats, benches, and deads every set may strike you as a bizarre way to annoy the gym owner by tying up three bars and most of the plates on the floor. Yet a breakthrough study by Shea & Morgan (1979) determined that random practice is the way to train. Although it results in poorer performance in practice – you don't get a chance to gradually work up to your meat set and simply do not have the luxury of focusing on one lift and getting in the groove – it delivers better numbers when you go for a PR.
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Posted by james at July 4, 2005 6:17 AM