Why You Can’t Combine Exercises To Get The Best Of Both
Multi-joint exercises, sometimes called “compound exercises,” are great for strength and muscle building because those exercises work many muscle areas at once. Single-joint exercises are a great way to supplement these because those target areas that don’t get targeted as much during multi-joint compound exercises. However, other “compound” exercises - which are usually just disparate exercises put together either in a circuit using the same weight or mashed into one movement - aren’t good for maximizing your effort because they are limited by the weakest area involved in the exercises. Because our lower bodies tend to be stronger than our upper bodies, we cannot progress properly if our lower body lifts (deadlift, squat, etc) are limited by how much we can lift during our upper body lifts (bench, overhead press).
A Humble Proposal: Factoring Percentage of Reps Into Reps In Reserve Calculations
RPE (ratings of perceived exertion) and RIR (reps in reserve) can be useful training tools for some sports where the goal is to train to failure or near failure, but there is no catch-all number that works for all exercises. Generally, RPE is used for managing heavy efforts of weight or reps, and not for exercises where training to failure or near failure would inhibit the continuation of training like working on endurance for running a marathon. Instead of static numbers, RPE/RIR can function as a percentage of total effort to be applied to a wider range of workouts.
The Rest Period Broscience Is Wrong
The old-school belief is that we needed to vary rest periods depending on how strength or endurance focused we wanted our adaptations to be, as well as how much metabolic stress we want to provoke. Recent research suggests otherwise.
No Load Exercise Part 3 - Bands, TRX, Endurance, and BFR.
In the past, I've covered what no load exercise is, and how to use it. However, I haven't covered how to transition out of it, or other tools you can use to get an effective workout while working around injury. One of the most useful options is exercise bands, which are easier on the joints.