If I Fail...

What should I do If I fail to complete set of some exercise at week 7 for example?From then on i go to week 1 on that particular exercise or what?I cant find this information in F1

I think you just keep going and finish that week, depending on the training plan you are on, there may be one or two additional sessions for you to complete the progression.

Everyone can have a bad day, and progress, acquisition of strength is not linear... we'll all hit that point at some moment.

I don't know what the official answer is, but I would think that you continue with this cycle to the best of your ability until the deload week; at that moment, if you are still lagging on this specific exercise, you would restart this 4 weeks cycle  - that would keep your deload weeks in line.

Also not an official answer.

What Fred suggest is what I've done as well. 

The week before deload is where I decide to go on or not, in the case of a fail.

After the deload there are a few choices, staying with the Foundation program.

- continue to the next month cycle

- repeat the same four weeks

- scale back to week 1 or 5 after deload

- scale back to previous exercise

The best choice can only be judged case by case.

To add some personal experience & thought process:

- this week I failed on the Push Ups.

- I train 5x per week & I am at week 6 ---> the plan calls for 4x9r

- I failed twice: Monday form fail on the 3rd set the last 3 reps and failed to complete the last 3 reps of the 4th (did on my knees); Wednesday form fail on the last 3 reps of the 4th set.

- I still have tomorrow (Friday) to complete it.

- Then I looked at next week ---> the plan is 5x9 reps... No worries, I think by EO next week I'll be able to do that, then it is deload... so, even if I miss a rep or two tomorrow, I'll plow ahead (*).

I hope that helps

(*) that is of course, unless Coach drops by and says otherwise.

 ok thanx guys

You can also choose to just repeat the week until you meet the objectives.

The difficulty with repeating just the week is that if you don't do the same for all six of the other Fundamental GST elements, your deload weeks wind up out of synch.

I mean to repeat the same goals for all exercises, take deload as it comes every 4 weeks, and continue on. There should be no ill effects from delaying deload one (or a few) week(s), particularly since you aren't adding any more work capacity anywhere, but if it seems a de-load is needed then just deload and start back on that same week again, and take deload 3 weeks later.

For example, if you fail on week 6, just keep repeating week 6 for two more weeks (assuming you don't pass it), take your deload, and continue on with week 7. Your next de-load would be week 10, assuming that you pass each week from 7, but you can just wait until week 12 to deload, as planned in the template, if you feel ok. If not, deload on week 10 by doing 2-3 sets instead of 5, and then do week 11 and week 12 (which is a deload anyways), and start week 1 of the next progression.

I know there will be a lot of other opinions on this matter, so don't take this post as gospel or anything.

I simply see this as being the most practical way to do things. You don't have to mess with things, you don't have to get out of synch, and a few extra weeks every so often in progressions that are "too easy" will not hurt progress at all. You'll still be making gains.

Handling this situation will be up to every individual to figure out, but while realistically you don't always NEED to be synched up, I know most people will want to be. I think what I have presented is the least disruptive solution.

- Do not delay the deload week, stay on schedule.

- If you fail, you were too ambitious with your choice of where to start initially.  Reduce the reps as necessary to finish the micro-cycle and then, after the deload week, begin much further back in the 12 week cycle.

- This is a common error.  People pick their starting point (wk 1, wk 5 or wk 9) based on what they were capable of today and neglect to plan for the increases in intensity and volume that will be occurring in the weeks to come.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

I did just this with RCPE6. Got 2x60, 3x48 on Mon and thought I'd be ok starting from 4x48 on Wed-- no such luck, and not likely to be doing 4x60 by next week. Swallowed bitter ego and will be on the next microcycle down on Friday. It'll feel easy, but I clearly need to ramp up on it gradually. Hopefully it won't take the full 7 weeks from here, but if it does then clearly it was such a weak link that it needs more attention.

Better to be frustrated feeling like you're not working hard enough than getting frustrated and drained failing over and over on elements that are genuinely beyond your current ability, imo. Don't forget, you're being told by a thorough professional that you ARE working hard enough, according to the hard numbers.

Besides, today's workout will be a warmup in a month or two's time, and once the time passes it's really not very long. Chin up!

ewethestuff said:

Thanks for the clarification, Coach. Looks like I will be starting Arch all the way back at week 1 soon.

Charm, keep them puns coming.

I would do them on my deathbed, except I'd probably be too busy coffin.

- If you fail, you were too ambitious with your choice of where to start initially.  Reduce the reps as necessary to finish the micro-cycle and then, after the deload week, begin much further back in the 12 week cycle.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

ok, just to be sure, after deload week i go further back in the 12 week cycle with all elements or just the one I failed at ?

The one you failed.

Don't be afraid of failure, it's going to happen from time to time. Just don't over reach. The first week should be building you up, not feeling like it it taking you apart for example. When you hit a stumbling block, take a step back and rebuild.

ewethestuff said:

"...neglecting to plan for the increases in intensity and volume..."

 

 

I think a personal rule of thumb going forward for me is only to start on a mini cycle if I think I can already perform the hardest workout of that mini cycle.

That was my thought process. 48-60 is a big jump when 48 was close to a max effort at the time. Maybe not *already* perform, but more like if I could get it 2/4 or 3/5 times already.