base tests?????? [Forum Archive]

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base tests??????

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Posted by: steel

iv started a new routine this week after a few weeks of not really doing mush over xmas and new year. i really want to stick to my training well this year and want to moniter my progress closely. as a result iv decided to gague my strength and fitness levels every 8 weeks or so. to do this i obviously need a starting point. i have suffered before with injury and dont think my wrist can be trusted to go for a 1RM bench press e.t.c so i was thinking about seeing how many reps of a particular weight i can do and use that as a gague. this is what i was intending to do but im not sure if im going about it the right way. my goals are to loose fat/tone up and to improve athletic performance.

this is what i intended to use:

my body weight
waist
chest
thighs
calves
arms

max reps of 43kg & bar
max number of pull ups
timed run between two set points - approx 1/2 mile apart

am i going about this the correct way? i realize doing max reps is different from recording a max lift but i take it it'll still work as a gague for measuring my overall physicall improvements? i feel if i can get these tests sorted then it'll add some reall structure thats been missing somewhat in my training in the past.

thanks for any advice/info

Posted by: P-funk

those look pretty good.

for the bench press, instead of max weight on a fixed bar. I would try and test my 10 rep max. Make sure the reps are constant, ie, down 1 up, down 2 up, down 3 up. No rest pause or it will throw the test off. Every 8 weeks see if you improve your 1RM or not. It will be a better gauge of progress for you then just using the empty bar.

Posted by: steel

thanks for the advice - i have bad wrist - waiting for a second operation on it sometime so 1RM really wont work as very heavy load is restricted by my wrist before my 'strength'. i can lift pretty heavy but i think my 1RM would be too much, thats why i was going to do the max reps thing. but as you said a 10rep max would be a good idea i will try that. im just not sure how i would know what my 10 rep max is i.e i might set it to something and only get 9 or on the other hand get 11 or 12! if i tried and got 9, then 12 e.t.c untill i finally 'found' my 10 rep max wouldnt it be unaccurate as i could be fatigued from experimenting with the weight to get to the 10??? just a thought - im a bit new to all this. thanks for your help anyway!

Posted by: P-funk

Quote:

Originally Posted by steel

thanks for the advice - i have bad wrist - waiting for a second operation on it sometime so 1RM really wont work as very heavy load is restricted by my wrist before my 'strength'. i can lift pretty heavy but i think my 1RM would be too much, thats why i was going to do the max reps thing. but as you said a 10rep max would be a good idea i will try that. im just not sure how i would know what my 10 rep max is i.e i might set it to something and only get 9 or on the other hand get 11 or 12! if i tried and got 9, then 12 e.t.c untill i finally 'found' my 10 rep max wouldnt it be unaccurate as i could be fatigued from experimenting with the weight to get to the 10??? just a thought - im a bit new to all this. thanks for your help anyway!

go to the gym and warm up.....

1) start with the bar for 10 reps

2) then add a weight that YOU KNOW you can get for an easy 12-15 reps. do it for 5 reps.

3) rest for 1min.

4) put on a weight that is an easy 10 reps (easy). Do it for 5 reps

5) rest 1-2 min.

6) put on a weight that is your best guess of what you can do for 10 and go
for it.

If you make 10 reps then stop. Rest 5min and add 2.5-5lbs. Do it again and if you make it rest 5min and add more.

If you fail at 8 or 9 or 7 or whatever. Rest 5min. Drop the weight down 2.5-5lbs and try again. If you make it then great. If you don't then repeat again with a 5min rest.

Posted by: steel

thanks - ill give it a go on the weekend. its dark by the time i get home now during winter so for me to do my running test it'll have to be saturday or sunday. do my other 'tests' look ok or have i missed anything out? i have a rowing maching so i didnt know if i should have been seeing how many complete strokes i get in in 30sec or 1min or anything. the running one is important to me but should i be adding some sprint rowing or something?

thanks

Posted by: P-funk

Quote:

Originally Posted by steel

thanks - ill give it a go on the weekend. its dark by the time i get home now during winter so for me to do my running test it'll have to be saturday or sunday. do my other 'tests' look ok or have i missed anything out? i have a rowing maching so i didnt know if i should have been seeing how many complete strokes i get in in 30sec or 1min or anything. the running one is important to me but should i be adding some sprint rowing or something?

thanks

It depends on how often you row and if increasing your rowing capacity is one of your goals. If you don't train to be a good rower (by rowing) then you wont see as much improvement there from training cycle to training cycle. Just because someone is a great runner does not mean that they will also be a great biker, swimmer, rower, etc...It is speceficity and SAID princples. So, you don't need to include the rowing if running is your prime goal. The pull up tests is fine. You may want to try something like a sit up test (max sit ups in 60sec.) as a local muculare endurance test also.

Posted by: steel

yeah maybe those sit ups will be better then. i am not interested in becoming a better rower really, i just thought i should maybe include a measure of my explosive improvement as 1/2 mile is a bit of a distance to run and will be a cardio-related test. i would time my sprints but unless i get someone to help its going to be very inaccurate to test 60,80 or 100m. the margain of error is so small as well. if everything else looks ok to you ill carry on as i am then and maybe throw in the sit ups. taking my body measurments should be interesting too and i always make good use of the mirror which although not a quantative measurment its always been helpfull!

thanks for all the advice

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base tests??????

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