How to Read Workouts
So you open your workout and you see something like this…
Romanian Deadlifts (DB)
3x6
Tempo: 3131
Load: 7RPE
Rest: 90 Secs
What does this all mean?
Understanding the notation in a workout can help answer questions off the bat, like:
"What does 3x10 mean??
"How do I read sets and reps?"
"How many reps or sets should I do?"
"What weight should I use for workouts?"
"How long should I rest for?"
We'll address all those questions to ensure you're reading + performing workouts correctly.
Intentional execution = intentional results.
Workouts use these ingredients to create a recipe:
The amount of times we perform an exercise (Reps + Sets)
How fast or slow we do the exercise (Tempo)
The weight we use (Load)
How long we rest for changes the way our body adapts to the work. (Rest)
Understanding the workout notation brings up the quality of your training, making your workouts more straightforward.
Romanian Deadlifts (DB)
3x6 (Sets and Reps)
Tempo: 3131 (Tempo)
Load: 7RPE (Load or Weight)
Rest: 90 Secs (Rest Time)
Sets & Reps
Reps (or repetitions) are the amount of times you perform an exercise.
Sets are the amount of time you repeat the reps.
For example, if you have 3x6 Romanian Deadlifts, you have 3 sets of 6 reps.
Do 6 RDLs, rest and repeat 2 more times. (18 total reps).
You’ll normally see reps written like this “3x10”, sets on the left, reps on the right.
How to say it: “3 Sets of 10,” or “3 by 10.”
Rep Brackets
Sometimes you’ll see a range of reps called rep brackets. They look like this: “3x10-12”
Rep brackets give you a rep range to hit instead of a specific target in case you’re fatigued.
Shoot for the higher number whenever possible. If you’re constantly needing to hit the lower number in the bracket, reduce the weight so that you can hit the higher number.
Keeping Reps "Unbroken"
With strength training, you want to hit all of the reps of an exercise without a break in between. If you did 6 squats, put the weight down, then picked it back up and did the last 4 gives different results than doing 10 in a row!
This is because each rep range drives a specific stimulus. If needed, adjust the weight to allow 10 unbroken reps, OR at least get to the lower number in the rep bracket (3x10-12) and then adjust on the next set. There are some exceptions to this like using “cluster sets” but that doesn’t apply here.
Tempo training (And why it's useful)
Tempo is simply the speed you do an exercise. Technically you're always doing "tempo training” whether you think about it or not. It’s like if you sing “Happy Birthday” you’re singing at a quantifiable speed whether you measure it or not. By manipulating tempo, we emphasize different parts of an exercise to change the stimulus.
For example, by pausing at the bottom of a squat, you improve strength in that position.
If you explode quickly out of a pushup, you can increase power.
Manipulating tempo changes up resistance in our training. That resistance is called, “time-under-tension." It’s the literal time our muscles are under tension.
The benefits of different tempos
Tempo allows you add more time-under-tension to a specific part of a movement. It allows you to get more from an exercise without needing a ton of weight. We can slow down to build muscle, speed up to build strength and power, or pause at certain points to focus on technique.
You use muscles longer, allowing you to build more strength.
You work on your weaknesses by spending more time in a specific position (pausing at the bottom of a squat for example.)
Improve your technique through controlled reps.
How Tempo is Written
In a workout, tempo is usually written with four numbers that indicate seconds in different parts of a movement, like “3121”
For example:
Dual Rack Squats (DB)
3x6
Tempo: 3121
First number = The negative (eccentric) phase of a movement (Down)
Second number = Time at the bottom (Pause, aka isometric)
Third number = The up (concentric) phase of a movement (Up)
Fourth number = The time at the top of a movement (Pause, aka isometric)
I like to think of it as “Down, Pause, Up, Pause”
The 3121 means:
3 Seconds down
1 Sec pause at the bottom
2 Seconds up
1 Sec pause at the top
How to say it: "Three-One-Two-One Tempo.”
In total, 1 rep of this squat would take you 7 seconds.
Add the amount of reps you did which was 6 and thats 42 total seconds in the squat. That’s a lot more time than if you just went down and exploded up for each rep.
Not all movements start in the same place like a squat. A pull-up for example starts in the bottom position and you pull up as the first movement. In this case you’d pull up which would start the “up” phase first. This is why the “down” is technically called an “eccentric” phase and the “up” is called a concentric phase.
Weight and Resistance (Load)
Load is the weight used in the workout.
It could be a fixed weight like “135lbs”
It could be a percentage of your max, like “80% of your 1 rep max”
It could be a number out of 10, from the RPE scale. “@6-7RPE”
I like to use the RPE scale often because you can gauge it based on how you’re feeling that day. While 100lbs may feel really heavy on some days, and light on others, a 7RPE is a specific feeling. You can focus on effort instead of external factors like the weight.
RPE Scale
RPE stands for the Rate of Perceived Exertion.
It’s a fancy phrase that refers to how high you rate the difficulty of an entire set out of 10.
So for example:
Bench Press
3x10
Load: @7RPE
It would be a 7RPE for each set of 10. Each set should feel like a 7/10 in difficulty.
If needed, you can swap weights for the movement to feel like the 6RPE.
If it felt like a 8, reduce weight. If it felt like a 5 and below, add weight.
A more subjective way to measure RPE is to count the reps you have left in the tank.
At a 10RPE, it would be a MAX set where you wouldn’t be able to perform another rep.
From there, every RPE down would be +1 Rep left in the tank.
It would look like this:
10RPE = 0 Reps left in the tank
9RPE = 1 Rep left in the tank
8RPE = 2 Reps left in the tank
7RPE = 3 Reps left in the tank
With this scale, you can gauge whether a weight is the right RPE for any exercise.
Different Rest Time Lengths
Rest is just like it sounds, rest time! Usually it’s rest between sets or rest between sides for single arm/leg movements. This is a good time to keep track of sets, reps, and weights used, and write any notes about the movement.
Common rest times you'll see:
30-60 Secs (Short rest periods) Usually for programs based on conditioning.
1-2 Min (Medium rest) Usually for general strength & conditioning programs.
2-3+ Min (Long rest periods) Usually for strength or muscle-building programs.
Exercises vs Workouts
An exercise = A single movement.
A workout = The training session. Usually a series of exercises.
The Cheat Sheet
A simple tldr of everything here.
Reps: The amount of times you perform an exercise.
Sets: The amount of time you repeat the reps.
Tempo: The speed of an exercise. Noted with 4 Numbers that represent: negative, pause at bottom, up phase, pause at the top.
RPE: Rate of perceived exertion. How subjective number to gauge exercise or workout difficulty out of 10. Can change set to set.
Rest: Rest longer for strength and muscle (2-3+ min) Rest shorter for endurance and conditioning (30-120 Secs)
And that’s it! Thank you for reading! Feel free to refer to this as needed. Have a great workout!
