Weekly Set and Rep Schemes
Over the last few weeks, we have been talking about putting together training programs. Recently we are talking sets and reps. Today, we want to hit on our next progression and variation time frame in training for the week one (or microcycle). Depending on number of training sessions in a week and training frequency (how many times we hit training objective, body part, muscle, biomotor ability) we devise different variations. In the table below, based on work by Dan Baker, we can find different variations for two sessions a week, hitting the squat pattern (this could be any other movement, body part or training objective).
| Method of variation | Day 1 example | Day 2 example |
| 1. Same exercises and other variables, increase repetitions, and decrease resistance | Squat 3 × 10 @ 70% | Squat 3 × 15 @ 60% |
| 2. Same exercises and other variables, increase or decrease the number of sets. | Squat 4 × 10 @ 70% | Squat 2 × 10 @ 70% |
| 3. Same exercises, sets, and repetitions, reduce the lifting speed and resistance. | Squat 3 × 10 @ 70% | Squat 3 × 10 @ 50% (4s/rep) |
| 4. Same exercises and other variables, decrease rest periods and resistance | Squat 3 × 10 @ 70% (3min/rest) | Squat 3 × 10 @ 50% (1min/rest) |
| 5. Same exercises and other variables, decrease resistance. | Squat 3 × 5 80% | Squat 3 × 5 @ 70% |
| 6. Same exercises and other variables, decrease repetitions. | Squat 3 × 5 @ 80% | Squat 3 × 2 @ 80% |
| 7. Different strength exercises, but same for all other variables (same %1RM). | Squat 3 × 10 @ 70% | Front squat 3 × 10 @ 70% |
| 8. Perform a strength and power version of aligned exercises on different days. | Squat 3×5 @ 80% | Jump squat 3 × 5 @ 40% |
| 9. Perform heavier and lighter versions of aligned power exercises on different days. | Power clean 3 x 5 @ 70% | Power snatch 3 x 5 @ 70% |
| 10. Same exercise, sets, and repetitions, different muscle regime | Squat 3 x 5 @ 80% | Squat 3 x 5 @ 60% (3s isometric hold at three positions) |
| 11. Same exercise, sets, and repetitions, different modalities | Squat 3 x 5 @ 80% | Squat 3 x 5 @ 60% + chains/bands |
| 12. Same exercise, sets and repetition, different ROM | Squat 3 x 5 @ 80% | 1/4 Squat 3 x 5 @ 80% |
One frequent application of weekly variations is Hard/Medium/Easy approach of Bill Starr, or ME/DE (Maximal Effort, Dynamic Effort) of Westside.
With higher frequency of workouts, one can chose different combinations of the variations. Certain variations are preferred based on fatigue cycles during the week (biology), priorities (objectives & biology), constraints (context), or just plain preference.
Depending on the workout set and rep schemes selected, weekly variations can have much more variety (e.g. weekly variations for plateau vs. step loading).
