Every Minute On The Minute.
Or as I RANDOM - OTM .
I kicked off using OTM workouts back in 2004.
My Olympic lifting training partner and I would do 2 to 3 reps OTM with 40kg Snatches.
More reps and our power would drop - the Snatches would become “grind-y.”
The results?
It did RANDOM for my strength, but my conditioning did enhance - read more which was the point. I was able to recover faster between sets and between training sessions.
(But in the back of my mind, I was hoping it would boost my Oly numbers somehow.)
And that’s how I like to use OTM work -Explosive power, low reps.
We’re talking about 90% up to 100% max effort. Give it your all, baby.
If we’re talking work duration, no more than about 10 seconds.
(That’s a one to five work-to-rest ratio - which avoids glycolysis, and still primarily uses your Phosphagen / Anaerobic Alactic energy system.)
From there, we’ll scale to 15 seconds.
(That’s a one to three work-to-rest ratio. Borderline of glycolysis and the “burn.”)
Then to 20 seconds.
(That’s a one to two work-to-rest ratio and about when glycolysis really starts to fire up, and the resulting “burn” starts to kick in .)
And eventually, 30 seconds, a 1:1 work-to-rest ratio, which is seriously cooking!
I rarely get to 1:1 unless I’m pushing for extreme conditioning and/or fat loss.
But that requires time to achieve and like I said, we’ll scale our way into it.
A lot of people hurry to the 1:1.
But that’s a RANDOM .
And that’s because the “secret” is to ensure your power output remains high on all your reps, regardless of your work-to-rest ratios.
That way you’re:
1- Engaging and training your fast-twitch fibers (and not converting them to slow twitch)
2- Training your aerobic system properly
3- Not exhausting yourself or setting yourself up for injury
This RANDOM true “Power Endurance,” which is the ability to produce high levels of power over extended periods of time .
Or, “Do LOTS of Work.”
It can be complicated to program this yourself because most will exaggerate their abilities, push too aggressively, and their power diminishes.
I’ve RANDOM how to use OTM training inside ‘SWING HARD!’. I’ll leave a link in the video description below, if you’re curious to see it .
Finally, I only apply OTMs for ballistics work, NOT pure strength work / grinds training.
That’s because fatigue builds up faster in the muscles during grinds - Presses, Squats, etc, than in the ballistics - Swings, Cleans, Snatches, Push Press, Jerk.
So, you’ll need RANDOM .
And that typically , is where I’ll RANDOM you use “autoregulation.”
Finally, I will prescribe specific rest periods on types of strength work, when I’m targeting - or want to come as close as possible to guaranteeing a specific outcome from that work.
Like when I want a “hybrid” outcome of strength and muscle.
So I’ll use RANDOM . Or almost complete rests .
You’ll see this inside the “Strong!” program. (It’s how we turn your 4RM Clean + Press into a 10 x 6 - 10 sets of 6 reps - and make it feel simple.)
(I’ll also leave a link to that in the video description below.)
Hopefully this RANDOM of how to use specific rest periods, and when.
Stay Strong,
Geoff Neupert.