Keeping score is something most of like to do in sports and life. It provides a measuring stick for our progress and achievements. “Score” can mean a time in the 5K and the lower the better. In sales and weightlifting, higher of course, is better. If you know what your competitor’s score is, you know what you will have to do to beat him and that is to get the higher score!

Pretty elemental stuff and necessary for competition. But what if you don’t compete? Is “keeping score” meaningful when lifting weights? I say yes. Setting Personal Records, PR’s, is your record of achievement. You begin by setting your baseline which is the most you can do today. Your training, dedication, genes, diet and more are what determines how much over your baseline you will go. For most of us, setting these PRs is motivating and for a little while, satisfying, but not for long. We enjoyed the last victory and we want another! Just be careful not to go overboard in your quest for PR’s because it can be very stressful and puts a lot of “performance anxiety” on an athlete. There are times you will hit a plateau and as martial artist, George Leonard would say, “honor the plateau”. Keep things in balance. Improvement is assured.

So how do you nail PR’s in your lifts? Chris Cooper of Catalyst Fitness writes an interesting article on how to get PR’s for EliteFTS. Cooper says the secret is in the warm-up. In the article, he outlines specific templates for the squat, the bench press and the deadlift. I am anxious to use his guidelines for my next maximum effort.

I would be interested in knowing if this plan works for you. If you have recently gotten a personal best, tell us about it in the Comments.

Speaking of PR’s, I have added a couple of them, modest as they are to my front and back squats. I am looking to improve my deadlift single soon but my Olympic lifts are woeful and in need of a breakthrough in technique. <sigh>!

By the way, while over at EliteFTS  and after reading Cooper’s article, you might want to check out another good piece, this one written by Jason Hanisak who admonishes athletes NOT to train like bodybuilders. Here is a sample:

“Bodybuilding programs are meant for bodybuilders. Every athlete needs to train specific to his/her sport to become better at that sport”.

Train heavy!

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