Instagram/TikTok @mattvena mattvena Email mattvena@live.ca or DM @mattvena on instagram for coaching/programs 20% off Legion Supplements (Code Vena) legionathletic...
Instagram/TikTok @mattvena instagram.com/mattvena Email mattvena@live.ca or DM @mattvena on instagram for coaching/programs 20% off Legion Supplements (Code Vena) legionathletics.rfrl.co/4qw14
I rarely say to myself: "let's test my true max". Most singles are for CNS preparation and testing the energy level for the day. I used to give them too much importance as you say.
Mindset really is the key to making practice singles work for you, you gotta know that you aren’t testing, your are training, and if something moves icky you probably went to heavy for that single that day
I’ve been powerlifting for a year now and haven’t ever had heavy singles in my program, rarely some heavy doubles but usually 3-4. Had me questioning my coach for a good while but the progress is undeniable.
@@spilledcoffee383 Yeah, early on you most likely don't need them. But they are a stimulus you can keep in your back pocket once you get past beginner and intermediate levels of regular strength growth. A heavy single and a few back-off sets as a percentage of that single work well for many.
Singles are fun and something to look forward to. I prioritize having fun over being maximally optimal for hypertrophy. I'd rather be hyped to go to the gym than see it as a chore, even if it takes me longer to reach the end goal. Sometimes the longer scenic route is the better choice than cutting through the city and tolerating terrible traffic to save 10 min on the drive. For bench I'll usually pyramid up and down to the top set. Some volume work on the way up but far shy of failure. Top set of 1-3 reps, then drop down and do rep work to failure and emphasize technique and slow eccentrics.
I mean It will produce very little muscular gain but its literally impossible to find something that will trigger neural adaptations as much as singles at or above 90% will. Thats the point of sport specificity. You want to move heavy ass weights, gotta train at least some of the time in the >90% threshold. Otherwise how tf Will you adapt to move heavy objects?. Singles do go wrong when you accidentally program them with 102% intensity and or just spam them way too close to your 1RM for too many sets. What happens the day you feel like shit and now your normally 98% single is actually above your daily 1RM? Nah man. Chill. Take singles at 5 weights or 4s and then ramp up. You still make adaptations at slightly below 90% intensity. You can start at 90 or 87 and week by week increase it in a wave style, then regress and do the same slightly heavier or retest or do something else, idk, your plan your goals.
@@teknoreaper9232 Depends on your goals. If you want to increase your 1 rep max, intensity first. If you want to build muscle,+ intensity last. Are you on muscle building phase of your training or are you on nervous-system training part of your training.
Sets build strength in the long term. Allowing you to go even heavier in the future. Sometimes you need to do what's a chore over what's fun otherwise you will not go far.
If you're using heavy singles be very harsh on your RPE. If there's any doubt that your single wasn't an RPE 8 when you meant to do it at that, consider it a 9 or a 10 and adjust your backoff sets accordingly. It's so much better to hit your volume than failing a back off lift.
OK I focus on my 2nd working set. Usually how many reps can I get at x weight. That's where most of my energy goes. Then I do a double triple higher and then just for funsies. If I'm feeling it I do a ath heavy single. In my mind the heavy single isn't the most amount of work it's actually easier in some ways
Great vid Matt, but you could have added some info on your approach to incorporating singles, since you share a ton of "my client doing a heavy max single" videos
Unrelated to the video, but i have a issue with deadlifts i can't seem to find a answer to anywhere. I pull conventional, but during the eccentric, after lowering the bar to the floor my fingers hurt like a bitch. Feels like some1 took a bat to them, idk if my grip is wrong(i do hook) but makes doing any set over a few reps annoying af as i drop the bar instead of doing the eccentric. Any advice?
@@mattvena226 Thanks!!!, i feel like im lowering it slowly but ill try that next time!. Been a huge fan since i started lifting and ur shorts got recommended to me! Fellow 🇨🇦
I personally use my fingers mostly (gripping the bar right above my calluses). While it is harder to grip, I don’t tear my hands up as much. Just my preference though. I used to climb so I already have some grip strength
I got a question. Is pushing close to failure on higher rep ranges less systemically fatiguing than going to failure on doubles triples etc. Is a 10 reps to failure easier to recover from than 3 reps to failure
There is some research showing higher rep ranges create more metabolic fatigue. I think when you’re talking real high load exercises like squats/deadlifts though just the absolute weight from lower reps can cause more fatigue on soft tissues. So would say its exercise dependent.
Explain your client hitting a 80lb PR on bench... he's just never maxed out and a certain number was his pr before? just numbers with no context? beginner gains? but wait thats 315... did look like a half rep how does one hit a 80lb bench PR?
Problem is how do you work that volume that you need to increase when it comes to deadlifts? It's a very fatiguing exercise so a lot of times you just want to do a top kind of all out set, after warm up's of course. Do you recommend multiple sets of deads for volume? Most powerlifters i see get the volume from accessory work and that's why they go low reps on the deadlift.
Deadlift volume work is awesome if you can handle it. Go lighter if you're fatigued. Do paused deadlifts a couple of inches off the floor with 50 percent of your 1rm. Only do heavy singles on your deads once a month. Isolation exercises are okay but deadlift is the exercise that benefits least from isolation work. Only saying what works for me, obviously we're all different. Good luck brother.
@@stooge_mobile Thanks man appreciate it. Yeah i have only seen advances in my squats since i started putting in higher volume rep wise. When i was doing lower reps i wasn't improving very much at all. It's cos when you're regulating your intensity via RPE it's very easy to deceive yourself into thinking you're working harder than you are. When i started pushing my reps up and going harder i realised that i wasn't training hard enough before i was leaving too many reps in the tank. If i hadn't gone to higher reps in the squat i'd never have realised that.
If you can’t handle lots of volume on deadlifts, I recommend higher rep sets (more reps to practice form), lower load variations to manage fatigue (ex pauses), and more machine work to make sure muscles are fully worked.
Honestly, I think an RPE 10 deadlift where your back is rounding more than usual and you're just doing whatever you can to stand up is kind of a different lift than an RPE 7 where technique is immaculate. The RPE 7 technique is more often going to be the bread and butter for improving the RPE 10 strength when testing. My preference is to mostly do a moderate amount of low rep work around RPE 7 for competition deadlift and then push the reps and RPE on Romanian deadlifts. Obviously, your mileage may vary (I'm a conventional puller with short arms/legs, so things would probably be different if I had more of a "deadlift build" and had a very upright sumo technique).
@@mattvena226 Training can be very confusing. When I got back into it I read people saying ah five reps for the deadlift and you only want to do one working set. Then on the other hand I got a program from Brad Arbic a great lifter who has you starting a periodised program with 5 x 12 at around 60%. Then I read a lot of guys saying that's ridiculous doing 5 x 12 on deadlifts that's what your accessory exercises are supposed to address! It gets you don't know what to do for best improvement.
Matt's approach is different from mine. Which is good, because I'm a newbie and Matt's a pro. My personal initial thoughts is that we should master doing 1 rep maxes. But after we have mastered that skill. Things to master: fear of failure, for example. Our 1 rep max being limited by we never really pushing our 1 rep max. To push your 1 rep max, we should keep doing 1 rep max lifts as long as we keep seeing good progress by doing it, e.g. increasing your 1 rep max by 2.5 kg every week. Meaning once per week you do your 1 rep max lift workout (102% intensity). Perhaps on 4th week take a rest week and do something else. Keep doing this until your 1 rep max attempts stagnate, e.g. you fail to improve your max 3 weeks in a row. After you have done your initial 1 rep max work, switch to Matt's advice. Volume first and heavy singles at 85% of your max at rpe 6. Perhaps do 1 rep max workout every 3 weeks at this point (e.g. 4 week periodization, weeks 1-3 are progressive overload, week 4 is rest week - at week 3 you do 102% effort).
Heavy singles feel bad for me because if I'm doing a single and it's not a PR, it feels useless. I like doubles and triples because a double @RPE8 for is most likely the first time I'm doing a double at that weight each time.
I agree that most don't use it correctly, but paused singles, different types of slow eccentric, pushes off the pins, pin presses are all good singles to program that will build strength.
Im not going to lie to you I had stopped training powerlifting and focused purely on 10-12 reps high intensity body builder style and omg my physique progressed insanely fast
Hey Matt! Your videos are awesome, but your channel is dead, i jag seeing all this potential being wasted, you need to try starting a new one. Just a recommendation, hope everything works out!
You shouldn’t do heavy singles ever, your heavy single should be at the meet. Look at someone like Kazmaier who maybe only did at most 2 sets of 2 with about 90% if that, he had a massive build, was well rounded & his 2425 lb total he set in 1981 would still place him as the 13th strongest powerlifter competing now not to mention his 660 lb bench he did in a full meet is still one of the heaviest ever in powerlifting history as he’s one of only 24 men out of over 200,000 who’ve ever competed in powerlifting to bench 650-700 lbs.
