THE SLIDING SCALE OF INTENSITY & VOLUME: PRILEPIN’S TABLE

THE SLIDING SCALE OF INTENSITY & VOLUME: PRILEPIN’S TABLE 

There are other factors involved in it like bar speed, rest between sets, etc. I like Prilipen’s table in the sense that it gives you a GUIDELINE for where to start in terms of volume and intensity. You must remember a few things about it.

 1. It is only a guideline. No different than any other program, it represents something to build around. Not something to worship as a holy sacrament.

 2. It was based on the results of Olympic lifters. Olympic lifting and powerlifting or bodybuilding are all different animals, and should not be treated the same.     Olympic lifters, for the most part, do not have an eccentric portion of a lift in their training, outside of the squat. It is the eccentric portion of the lift, or the “negative”,     that most people feel causes the most stress to the system and thus a need for more recovery time. 

As you can see, in the first chart, there is a recommendation of 24 reps as the optimal amount with 18-30 being the “range”. This is why I wrote before that this is a “guideline”. There is no perfect workload for everyone.

With the first chart, it is not hard to figure out that the good ole simple “5x5” scheme works well here. With the second chart, you’re looking at 18 reps. Again, simple math could let us assign 3 sets of 6 here or 6 sets of 3. I personally like 6 sets of 3 with this intensity (up to 80%). The third chart is from the 80 to 90% intensity range it suggests, 15 total reps. 5 sets of 3. Personally, I think this is optimal. 

My preferences are my own because I feel like more sets tend to help reinforce technique and essentially offer more opportunities to practice the movement.

The phases in the base building will be somewhat built around Prilepen’s table. I write “somewhat” because it may not adhere to the chart exactly at times. AGAIN, it is just a guideline and not something written in stone.

For example, Phase I in bench starts with 5x8@ 70%. That’s 40 total reps with pressing. I’ve always felt that people can do more volume on it than they can with lower body movements that take a larger systemic toll, and tax the hips and low back, which take longer to recover as well. There are adjustments made in the phases.

As with most things involved in training, there are no hard and fast rules. There aren’t a lot of absolutes in weight training. If you want to get bigger, you eventually have to do “more” of something, more volume, more weight, and more reps. Something has to increase in the scope of what your body is capable of handling.

That “thing” can be achieved in many different fashions. This is why I use Prilepen’s table above to set a guideline and not a rule. These things can always be adjusted as needed by/for the individual. This is also why I have included waving, tapering, and de-loading into the mix. All of those things are valuable tools in finding the optimum training methodology for you.