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| Introduction | How can you tell if you are "strong enough,"
without comparing yourself to your "peers" or some other external
standard? Are there signals in your own body that you can use? Absolutely! There is an interesting critical point in the training cycle which leads to a wonderfully simple but effective gauge for your development. Since this is new stuff, it should have a name. How 'bout the The Maximal Exertion Theory, or perhaps the Optimal ROI (Return on Investment) Theory? The "indicator in this method is DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness), which is a soreness that develops about a day after "excessive" exertion. You may want to read the page on DOMS. But the bottom line is, you use DOMS, or its absence, to see if you are "strong enough." So, for the first time in the anals of exercise and fitness literature, you now have an internally generated OBJECTIVE CRITERIA by which to gauge fitness. |
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| What the Indicator Tells you | The very rapid strength gains observed in the untrained or
de-trained are almost exclusively neural in origin (ie, no muscle growth)! And
the Maximal Exertion Theory is this: When you can do a number of repetitions
(5-15) of a motion at maximal exertion WITHOUT incurring signs of
DOMS, you have reached a significant milestone in your physiological response to
exercise: The maximal recruitment and coordination of motor neurons in your
muscle has been achieved! Congratulations! This is the first, and according to some, the predominant adaptation in exercise (body building notwithstanding). You can thus use this point as a measure of ADEQUATE FITNESS, and most likely can reduce the duration (but not necessarily the intensity) of your exercise routine, say, from 4x/week to 2x/week, or every day down to 3x/week, etc., and still maintain your level of fitness. Reduced "maintenance levels" of exercise are well documented in the exercise physiology literature, but none have pegged them to the occurrence of DOMS as an indicator, to my knowledge. You have read it here, first. |
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| Putting Theory Into practice | The key to using this theory is never actually getting full-blown DOMS, but just hints of it. With progressive training, you have to exert yourself more and more before DOMS occurs. There comes a point where no matter how hard you exert yourself (within reason), DOMS does not occur. This is the milestone you have been seeking. | |
| Biggest Bang for your exercise buck | You can certainly get stronger past this point--much
stronger--but with a lot more effort and time! That is why I mentioned the
alternate name of this theory, the Optimal ROI Theory, because you have gotten
the most bang for your buck of exercise effort. It's like buying a stereo for
$1,000. Do you get a stereo twice as good (100% improvement) for $2,000? Not
at all. In terms of objective criteria (distortion, range, etc.), you will be
lucky if it is even 10% better! We intuitively make these decisions all the
time when we decline to pay more for supposed "better quality."
Now, it is perfectly valid to REJECT this point. Many might say, Fine, I have gotten the most bang for my buck at this point, but I want that $2,000 stereo ANYWAY--I am willing to pay double the price for 10% more! And this is a personal, subjective, and maybe even legitimate decision. It is my opinion that FOR THE VAST MAJORITY OF PEOPLE, THIS STRENGTH FITNESS LEVEL IS SUFFICIENT, AND IS AN INTELLIGENT STOPPING POINT. That is, when you can maximally exert yourself in a motion for 5-15 repetitions, with no soreness after-effect, you have reached that critical point. It is up to you if you want to proceed, but the returns on your efforts will diminish. Note: DOMS should not be confused with the ache you probably feel at the END of that set of repetitions, which is the so-called lactic acid burn. It may be possible to recast this theory slightly, and replace the criteria of 5-15 reps at maximal exertion with "to the point of lactic acid burn." They may be effectively equivalent. But the principle is the same in terms of motor-neuron reruitment. |
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| Some people (the misguided) WANT DOMS! | There is another crucial point that I mention on other
pages, but it fits in well here. There is dispute among exercise gurus, the
body building crowd leaning toward "serious" DOMS as a sign of
development. Others including myself stress this point: NEVER GO BEYOND THE
FIRST SIGNS OF DOMS! All you do is lose exercise time, and damage tissue. The
subsequent strength gain after DOMS is IN SPITE of it, not because of it. JUST REACHING THE DOMS POINT IS THE IDEAL STOPPING POINT FOR EXERTION regardless of who you are. |
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| Dilemma | But here is the dilemma: How do you know if you have
passed the DOMS point if you cannot tell until about 12-48 hours later? Good
point, and the answer is, Experience: you will have to suffer with it a few
times to learn your body and to then be able to ANTICIPATE this point. It's
really not that hard, and you get the hang of it after a while. For example, when I am de-trained (which is all too often), and I have a problem like a chain saw or lawn mower that won't start, and I am jerking on the starting cord like crazy, I KNOW what is in store for me the next few days: PAIN! When I start exercising again, I always start very modestly. And as you age, modest beginnings must become even more modest! |
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| It's EASY to get DOMS! | Never underestimate the ease with which DOMS can occur, if
you are sedentary, and especially as you age. Simple stretching causes DOMS!! I remember being on a construction job where the company screwed up a tile floor. So we basically just sat on the floor and chiseled up the grout. No big deal. The next day, I could hardly move! One of the worst cases of lower body DOMS I ever had. Why? Because prior to that I was very sedentary, and the simple stretched and unusual positions were enough to cause this DOMS! And I was barely 30 yo! |
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| DOMS and the HoloBarre (of course!) | The HoloBarre is absolutely ideal for avoiding DOMS,
because the loads are so easily and intuitively adjusted. For pushups, make
sure the bar is suitably high, and do not do them aggressively. In doing
chinups, make sure the bar is at chin level, and give your arms plenty of help
from your legs (go to Categories and click on these specific exercises for more
detail). REMEMBER, IF YOU ARE UNTRAINED OR DETRAINED, YOUR MUSCLES ARE "LEARNING" HOW TO EXERT THEMSELVES AGAIN! SPOON-FEED THEM! Do exercises at a level that you think is TOO LOW! Gradually increase duration and intensity until you get hints of DOMS, then gauge your workouts accordingly. |
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| How do you know if you are aerobically fit? | A related concept to this topic. Basically the same principle. | |
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