by Kerry Taylor
"On a scale of 1-10, how heavy was that? 1 being piece of cake, 10 being gut busting."
More than likely, at some point you have or will hear some version of that question from your coach. Asking this question is an easy way for a coach to get a rough idea of how hard something is for you so we know whether to kick it up another notch, or that we are good where we are at for what we are shooting for. As coaches, we make suggestions about resistance (weight), but we really and truly don't know if we are right or wrong. So we have to explore different tactics to give you the best suggestion we can. When you ask "what should I use," as coaches we gather up different pieces of info quickly to give the answer.
1. Training age: How long have you been training with us or in general
2. Type of exercise: Complex or simple
3. Tool: DB vs Bb vs KB, for example
4. Personality: Go getter and really wants to push it or slightly reserved
5. Experience with exercise: Is this a new movement pattern for you or something you have done multiple times before and your form is impeccable
6. The RPE Scale 1-10 (Rate of Perceived Exertion): How did that feel. Easy vs very hard
7. The RPE Scale 1-10: Can also be used to tell us how many more reps you could’ve possibly done, for example. If you say, It was a 7 out of 10 then that could also mean, I could prob do 3-4 more reps in the tank of this weight.
8. Facial expressions: Normal, scrunched up or just talking throughout the drill and laughing
9. Speed of movement: Very slow and smooth vs clunky, hard and slow
10. Your verbal response: “That was hard!” Vs “Should I go heavier?”
11. How was your day before seeing us: Sucked and stressful vs easy peasy and ready to go vs I’m pissed off and need to punch something
12. History: What did you do last week or the last time we did this drill?
Mix all these together plus a few others depending on the individual, and we give you the best suggestion we can for you at that moment.
So next time we ask "how was that on a scale of 1-10?" know that we are filling in the gaps to help you make the proper adjustment to your next set so you can continue to make the progress you strive for. The only person that truly knows the answer of how you feel is you, and the more you train, you start to know your body better when it comes to training and can make the proper adjustments. Not every day is going to feel the same. Some days you will feel like superman or wonder woman and others you may be dragging ass. It all affects your performance. So the goal that you may have may need to change that day. The key is to just keep going, stay consistent and make some sort of progress. Progress shows up in many different ways.
Til next time, continue to live life 1 degree above the rest!