Work out to exhaustion

[JimH]

In a couple of the articles on Stadion.com, Tom talks about working some exercises to exhaustion. In my (anecdotal) observation of myself and others, this is exactly the type of activity which invites injury, or at least several days of stiffness -- things that Tom seems to want to avoid.

So, since I am treating myself like a newbie, and backing off several steps to correct my whole workout, what is the rule of thumb about introducing exhaustion-inducing exercises for strength (notably situps/crunches). I am sure that as a newbie, I don't want to try that just yet. But, how do I work up to it, when do I start it? At the 100 rep mark?

[JimH]

*bump*

[cailifo]

I think this is going to be similar to Kurz advice on isometric training. You have to periodically test your body's reaction to this type of stretching. The same can be done for strength training. Make sure you have a good foundation and are training the basics long enough before attempting. When you feel after increasing the load of your workout that your body can still take it, then test your body for an extra push. You will know where to back off and you won't get into too much trouble if you are consistently and gradually building up your level. You don't want to make a jump from a light workout to an exhausting one. Work your way up until where you left off is very close to exhausting, but your body can still handle it. Then go ahead and take the plunge doing as much as you can.

[JimH]

I think this is going to be similar to Kurz advice on isometric training. You have to periodically test your body's reaction to this type of stretching. The same can be done for strength training. Make sure you have a good foundation and are training the basics long enough before attempting. When you feel after increasing the load of your workout that your body can still take it, then test your body for an extra push. You will know where to back off and you won't get into too much trouble if you are consistently and gradually building up your level. You don't want to make a jump from a light workout to an exhausting one. Work your way up until where you left off is very close to exhausting, but your body can still handle it. Then go ahead and take the plunge doing as much as you can.

Again, thanks for the advice on this, califo. As a first goal to aim for, I think I will just try to get to the 150 to 200 rep/workout mark on any given weightless exercise before trying exhaustion techniques, then. I will plan on adding a few more reps per exercise per workout session to slowly build up to reach those points.

[cailifo]

That's the way to do it- steadily and consistently.