How can I include RPE, tempo, rest, and unilateral movements in my programming?

Follow our best practices for including RPE, tempo, rest, and unilateral movements in your programming.

Being prescriptive with your athletes is important. With customizable programming, you can direct your athletes to perform movements with specific instructions to help drive results.

Here we'll cover best practices for including:

• RPE
• Tempo
• Rest
• Unilateral Movements

RPE

For a lift, prescribe a combination of 'reps' then 'weight.' While you can prescribe RPE in the table, consider prescribing RPE in the Exercise Notes. You can even include specific notes for RPE per set.

That will look something like this, on your end:



The parameters in the table above, 'reps' and 'weight,' is what our system tracks and also will use to calculate an athlete's working max. The benefit of this is that you can use Linear Weight Progression, or percentages and we'll automatically calculate the weight needed for your athlete based on the LWP or % you prescribe.

This also means you'll be able to track an athlete's volume and progress in Analytics, and your athlete will more easily be able to visualize their progress through Exercise History and Past Performances.

Tempo

First, ask yourself, is tempo something I'd like to track, or simply prescribe?

Include Tempo in the Exercise Notes to simply provide your athletes with direction. If you'd also like to track tempo, you can choose to create a custom Exercise with tempo in the title. This will allow you to track tempo for a particular lift over time, while also tracking the athlete's working max.

When creating a new Exercise at tempo, you can choose to:

• Name your Exercise "Tempo _____," for example "Tempo Back Squat"
• Name your Exercise to include the tempo, "5/3/1 Tempo Back Squat"
• Include an Exercise Video demonstrating tempo
• Include tempo instructions in 'Points of Performance'

Rest

Include instructions for rest in the Circuit Instructions orExercise Notes:

For supersets, include rest in Superset Instructions:

Unilateral Movements

First, ask yourself, when will your athletes rest? Are they resting between sides, or performing both sides back-to-back as a single set?

Use this to help decide how you're programming, and include explicit instructions for your athletes in the Exercise Notes.

For example, in this Exercise Block athletes are completing reps for each side within a single set:

In this superset, athletes are alternating sides each round:

In other words, 'reps' should represent total reps.

Similarly, 'weight' recorded should represent total weight. For example, in a DB Shoulder Press, where an athlete is pressing a dumbbell set of 25 lbs each, they'll record 50 lbs in the weight field for each set.

Related Resources:

• 5 Tips For Successful Programming
• Creating Training Sessions
• Creating Exercises