The Law of Repetitive Motion and How It Pertains to Sports
About a year ago I was at a conference at Mike Boyle’s facility where I heard Eric Cressey present on “The Art of Hardcore Corrective Training: Ten Lessons to Keep Athletes Healthy”. During the lecture EC touched briefly on something called the Law of Repetitive Motion created by Dr. Michael P. Leahy, the founder of Active Release Technique (ART). The Law of Repetitive Motion states:
I=NF/AR
I = Insult or injury to the tissues
N = Number of reps
F = Force, as measured as a percentage of one rep max
A = Amplitude of each rep
R = Rest between reps
I liked the equation because I think of training as one big equation. If you control all (or as many) of the variables, then you control the outcome of training:
R=D[(S+M)ST/(N+R)G]
Until recently my training was centered around full body workouts three times a week. However, it wasn’t until I switched to more of a WSB template and revisited this model that the full implications of it became apparent. As I lifted heavier weights I noticed something started to occur…I felt great! I would normally cycle front squats with back squats on 4-6 week rotations with variations of each. I cycled them because of various injuries I have had due to MMA and BJJ. I would also stray away from any type of benching, instead, favoring push up and pull up variations, again because of injuries. However, as I started to get stronger I realized that I was able to bench and squat pain free!
