"(12 to 15) x 1 @ 65+%, Go every 60-90s"

This (and variations of it) is a very common prescription in our weightlifting sessions. Let's dig a little deeper to see how to make the most out of your lifting with this prescription and why we like it so much.

The first thing to notice is how "loose" this structure is. You can do anywhere between 12 and 15 reps, starting at 65%1RM (and adding weight every 1 to 2 sets if your form is good). There is a lot of freedom to adjust the training to your daily readiness and what you want to get out of the session. It is this freedom that's the essence of these sessions.

Following your general warm up and dynamic mobility work, start by working through the barbell warm up. Your focus here is to move as well as you can, establishing good mechanics for the rest of the session. 

Once you've worked through the barbell warm up with empty bar, begin adding weight in small jumps (depending on your 1RM, smaller jumps for lower 1RM, slightly bigger for higher 1RM). At this point you will want to work on 1 or 2 drills from the warm up or your own drills to help with lifting form. An example could be (for snatch) doing snatch high pull + snatch complex, followed by snatch pull + snatch complex as the weights get heavier to focus on vertical bar path if you have tendency for the bar to go too far forward. 

As you get closer to 65% (or starting point for the day), you can move on to simply doing the lift (e.g. snatch). 

This is quite individual and depends on your preference, your daily readiness and what you want to focus on for today's session.
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Bigger jumps (5 to 10kg, 10 to 25lbs) in the lower range (65-80%) will allow for more volume on the higher %s but also require your technique to be more dialled in already. Smaller jumps allow you to focus on improving your form before hitting a few heavy lifts for the day.

If you're looking for more structure, a good general guideline is to add 2.5 to 5kg (5 to 10lbs) until the weights start to get heavy for you and then move to smaller jumps if needed. This is of course relative to your 1RM (higher 1RM = bigger jumps as you have further to go).

Again, this is individual (as per above). Here's a few ways you can look at it:

If you choose to focus on improving your form - This could be either in general or within a specific %s range. If you're still working on your basic mechanics of the lifts, it is best to stay with lighter %s. The time spent here now will be handsomely rewarded later on in your lifting career. Inversely, rushing to lift heavier weights with questionable form will be penalised later on when you get injured or have to relearn the proper mechanics.

It is of course easier to focus on lifting well with a lighter loads than with heavier ones but the SAID principle (Specific Adaptations on Imposed Demands) says that if you want to lift heavy weights well, you have to practice that specifically. 

Practical advice then would be that if you have a good base and know there is a specific range where your form starts to go then focus majority of your lifting around that range (e.g., if you know that it gets hard for you to lift technically well at 85+%, focus on lifts at 82.5-87.5%, moving up in weight only if the previous lift was good). You, of course, must make sure that your lifts are solid building up to that range too.

If you're feeling strong today and your form is good - So you've had a great warm up and things are feeling good today. These days can be an opportunity to push the heavier weights. You might choose to start at a higher % for your working sets (e.g., instead of 65%, you choose to start counting your work sets only at 70%). Feel free to explore the 90+% range as long as you're lifting well. 

It's normal that you miss more attempts when you're getting closer to your 1RM and it's important that you don't keep hitting your head against the wall by trying the same weight over and over again if you keep missing. Rather, go down a bit on the weight, establish good mechanics again and then re-build back up if you still feel that the weight is there.

It's very adaptable to a range of skill levels, daily readiness and individual needs. Whether you're feeling fresh or tired on the day, you can come in and get some productive work done (either focusing on your form with lighter weights, in a specific % range/weight or pushing the heavier weights).

For something to think about, let's look at two quite different ways to prescribe a (potentially) similar lifting session:

Example #1
Snatch - 3 x 1 @ 70% - 3 x 1 @ 75% - 3 x 1 @ 80% - 3 x 1 @ 85% - 3 x 1 @ 90%

Let's say that you're having a good lifting day and hit all the lifts with good form. A nice, productive lifting session. 

Now, what if you're not having such a good day but try to stick to the prescription anyway? Maybe you get to around 80% and really struggle to make the lifts with decent form. You carry on regardless, miss a few lifts @ 85% and then barely make 1 @ 90% with terrible form. Not a very productive session from a technical perspective (you mainly practised lifting with poor form and missing lifts. Both things you have to work to unlearn in the next sessions).

Example #2
​Snatch - (12 to 15) x 1 @ 65+%

Let's say that you're having a good lifting day. You start by making bigger jumps and work up to a 1 @ 93% and got 5 other good lifts in within 85-90% range. A good, productive session.

Now, what if you're not having such a good day? As you're building up the weight, you feel that your pull is off when you get to 75%. You decide to drop down a little on weight and do the next 3 lifts here. As your form starts to improve you start moving up in small jumps again, reaching 82.5% where you finish off with 2 good reps. While you didn't go as heavy as you might have on a good day, you didn't miss any lifts, got to work on improving your form and still hit a few good ones at a decent %. A different, but still a productive session.

These examples are to illustrate the idea of robust vs. fragile prescriptions. What makes example #1 "fragile" is that while it can be a great session on a good day, it will be hard to stick to with good form on a bad one or if you're still learning the lifts. What makes example #2 "robust" is that regardless of the conditions or your skill level, you can turn it into a great, productive session. 

The challenge of course is to have the self-awareness, the patience and the humility to focus the session on what you can control now rather than chasing bigger weights at all cost. The intent of this kind of robust prescription is to give you sufficient constraints, a framework, to improve while leaving you the responsibility and the freedom to adjust it to your needs.

Our goal, as always, is to provide you with programming that not only prepares you for competitions but most importantly allows you to develop self-awareness and teaches you how to train more effectively.

We are always looking forward to learning more and providing you with better information. If you have any comments or questions regarding this article, please let us know, so we can continue to improve it for you.