Max Effort Work and Back Down Sets

With returning to the conjugate method I want to make sure I'm getting enough work. It's easy to get caught up in chasing pr's at the expense of not getting enough volume. Prilipen's chart indicates that a minimum of 4 reps needs to be completed when working in the 90% range. Now that I have finished up with my first two planned mesocycles I took the opportunity to review my program. Unfortunately, I noticed I was not hitting those 4 reps in the 90% range. Seeing that I did not repeat a max effort exercise for those first two months, I kind of understand it. I didn't know what my maxes were, so I had no frame of reference when I was working up. Looking forward this poses a little bit of a problem. Of course, I will want to beat those maxes during the next two mesocycles, but if I work up more gradually to hit the 4 lifts in that 90% range, it's less likely I'll hit pr's. A simple solution I had never really considered was taking a few back down sets. From looking at my journal, I would usually hit at least one lift above 90% before that max lift. Sometimes when I was close and I knew I could get a little more, I'd end up with a third. That would leave me one lift shy on some days and two on others. Going forward, if I need another lift or two, I can just drop down to 90% of that max lift and take however many singles I'm short. Is this really necessary? Maybe not. I like tinkering with my program and I always like the idea of doing more work. Yes, I do know more is not always better, but there is a little science to back me up here. Thanks Prilipen. So I will run this for the next two months and then reassess. Stay tuned.