Wave loading: why it works and how to use it

To be honest, I'm still a little new on this subject. While I'm still a little new to waveloading, I love it with all my heart! In my opinion, few other training modalities compare to wave loading. In fact, I personally use wave loading in almost all my training sessions! Why? Because it works.

First, lets go over what exactly wave loading is. Wave loading, as I briefly went over in a previous article, is a steady change in weight through out a training session. These changes come in "waves", working up to a max, dropping weight by about 50%, and then working up to a new max. Lets look at an example with a previous 100lb santch PR.

Wave 1

Set 1: 50lbsx1rep  Set 2: 75lbsx1rep  Set 3: 100lbsx1rep

Wave 2

Set 4: 55lbsx1rep  Set 5: 85lbsx1rep  Set 6: 110lbsx1rep 

Before we go on to other types of wave loading, lets look at why this works. 

Wave loading is based off the principle of post activation potentiation, or PAP for short. PAP is a nervous system over reaction. When the nervous system lifts a relatively heavy weight, the neurons over fire, giving us the oppurtunity to trick the nervous system. When you go to lift a lighter weight, the nervous system will over-compensate and the weight will feel lighter, allowing for heavier weight to be used. Of course, this only works if the weight load is waved. If one were to strictly move up in weight, the nervous system would have no need to over compensate, for the nervous system is never surprised.

Wave loading is also great for finding a daily max. If you've been in this weightlifting game for any amount of time, you know there are good days and there are bad days. Wave loading takes advantage of this, by giving multiple sets well under your PR. If you miss your PR, you simply lower the weight, and go for a lower weight. This helps give a high volume of work with lots of successes. However, I strongly suggest you stay away from failure. Do not fear failure, but simply stop the exercise once failure is reached. 

Now that you have a basic understanding of wave loading and how it works, lets look at a few ways to use wave loading. 

Contrast sets

These sets take the greatest advantage of PAP, tricking the nervous system into lifting a higher volume than previously possible. I would suggest this movement for those who want to quickly build muscle, for this type of wave loading is based on volume, not neccesarily weight. The goal of each set is to get more reps than the last set. In this example I will use the 6:1 contrast set. I would like to preface that a previous warm up should take place, since you will be starting at a relatively heavy wieght.

Set 1: 200x6reps  

Set 2: 300x1rep

Set 3: 200x7reps

Set 4: 300x1rep

Set 5: 200x8reps

Set 6: 300x2reps

Multiple straight sets:

Much like the example in the begginig of this post, the goal will not be to add reps, but to add weight in a given rep scheme. In this example, I will give a two rep scheme, but this can be used with 1,2, and 3 rep scheme. Anything higher than three reps would be strongly discouraged, for the nervous system does not fire as efficiently in higher rep schemes.

Wave 1

Set 1: 150x2reps  Set 2: 225x2reps  Set 3: 300x2reps

Wave 2

Set 1: 160x2reps  Set 2: 235x2reps  Set 3: 310x2reps

Wave 3

Set 1: 170x2reps  Set 2: 245x2reps (Failed)

When looking at these patterns, you will notice I never go past three waves. This is not to say you cannot go past three waves, but understand the law of diminishing returns. PAP will work to a point, but eventually the body will tire and the weight will simply be too much to handle. Do not be ashamed of when you fail. Simply accept the failure and leave the weight room feeling strong. 

Remember that this is more of a philosophy than a training technique. This modality can be used in any scenario and is very advantageous to those who use it. So go out and try it, and see if its for you.