When Do We Physically Peak? (Physical Peaking Part 1)
Peaking in your career and peaking physically are usually going to be different, especially for weightlifters. While many professional athletes retire from competing in their 20s, it is not always because they have physically peaked. Social factors have a huge impact on both career peaks and physical peaks. High level athletes need time, money, and other resources in order to train at the level required to be competitive. A career usually comes to an end or doesn’t meet its full potential because of one or more of these resources is scarce or withheld from an individual.
99% Of Fitness Content Is Garbage
There’s a finite amount of information that can be shared about fitness and a limited number of ways to say it. Only a small portion of the fitness industry is doing research into actually new ideas and methods. Those who aren’t doing that either produce - at best - fluff content or - at worst - misleading or unverified information.
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.
Why Is Lifting Weights Objectively More Fun?
Resistance training is the most fun and empowering way to train because strength gains are more immediate, noticeable, and can be easily tracked. Progress and results that are more nebulous and subjective do not give the same sense of accomplishment, which is why making fitness goals around something that constantly fluctuates like bodyweight is generally unsatisfying. Strength training and other skill based exercises can help people live the lives they want to, and it’s important to find what works best for your life and body.
Are You Wasting Your Beginner Gains?
“Beginner Gains” aren’t a one-time phenomenon - it’s a process that happens whenever you start practicing a skill or exercise your body is unfamiliar with or change up your training programming. Hitting plateaus generally happen when people meet their body’s natural point of diminishing returns or when they’ve exhausted whatever program they’re using that wasn’t necessarily made for longterm progress. Diminishing returns will happen to everyone. Although the progress will not be as dramatic as what you see during the beginner gains period, the most reliable way to keep growing is putting in more time and effort working out.