02 Apr Was It Really a PR?

By Will Kuenzel

A PR is an abbreviation for personal record.  You might also see PB or personal best.  Normally, we associate these terms with completed lifts done in a competition.  There are times, however, when you’ll see them tossed out without much thought.  I do tend to find it highly entertaining to see someone write, “hit a minimal sleep, pre-lunch, beltless, flat shoe, high bar squat PR.”  What the hell does any of that mean?  Was that really a PR or was it just a string of thoughts tossed together you make you feel better about having an off day?  Was it really something worth tracking, or does just saying “PR” somehow make you feel better?

[wa-wps]

PR’s are important.  Very important.  I’m a huge advocate of keeping track of your progress.  I believe having a written log is critical for maintaining progress.  I’ve talked about this in the past.  However, for all intents and purposes, a true PR is something that has definitive meaning.  A competitive squat, bench, and/or deadlift done in competition.  Those are definitive PR’s.  Those carry weight (see what I did there?). 

As for that 5-rep max done on a Sunday afternoon, what’s its significance in the training plan?  Here’s where I pay attention to PR’s outside of competitive lifts: does that accessory lift have a correlation to improvements for training and competitive purposes?  For example, my best 2 rep max off a 2 board during my bench prep has significant meaning for me.  When it is up, I’ve hit a full ROM bench PR.  My best 3 board had little to no correlation to my best bench.  So, what do I really keep track of?  Yep, I look to the 2 board. 

This translates into making sure you’re looking at the appropriate exercises to track.  Don’t lose sight of the importance of training because training is how we get better at competition.  Nobody trains to trains.  There is some reason underneath it all.  Whether we want to look better, be healthier, or be stronger, the training has a purpose.  Are the PR’s we’re tracking comparing to the proper improvements?  It’s cool to hit PR’s, but a PR without a purpose is a wasted effort.  Why PR on something that won’t help?  Time and effort could have been better spent focusing on a specific goal without being side-tracked by ambiguous and bizarre goals. 

This gets into the whole idea of picking the correct exercises to be training.  As a powerlifter, some form of squat, bench, and deadlift needs to be done.  I’m a fan of hammering the basics with specific weak point exercises as my 2^nd lift.  Brian talks a lot about weak point training in the 10/20/Life Book.  The lifts where I’m the weakest (generally) are the lifts I track the most often.  I know these are going to have a profound impact on my training.  We are only as strong as the weakest link.  Bringing up those weak points will push the improvements.  While we don’t want our strengths to fall off, training a strong lift just because we’re already good at it does not help.  If a deadlifter is weak off the floor but has a great lockout, why continue to train rack pulls from above the knee?  Wouldn’t that time spent be better doing deficit deadlifts or snatch grip deadlifts? 

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Technique is always on the table, so while we’re talking about PR’s, lifts shouldn’t count when technique is completely tossed aside.  “I’ll fix it on meet day.”  Powerlifters say this all the time.  Guess what?  Yep, they never fix it on meet day.  Squat depth?  Bomb out.  Butt coming off the bench?  Bomb out.  Hitching those deads?  Bomb out.  Don’t reinforce bad habits.  Fix technique first.  I understand that things will start to break down a bit as we cross into a higher RPE’s, but when technique completely breaks down, it is no longer positively contributing to training. 

PR’s might start to become a bit more arbitrary when considering technique, but can still be applicable – for example, pulling 600 one week with a hitch versus pulling 600 on a subsequent week without it.  In most of these incidences I wouldn’t even count the initial PR, though.  That’s a personal decision, but be prepared for some flack if you post a crappy lift on social media.  The internet hates anything but perfection. 

Sure, there’s cool PR’s, but then there’s real PR’s.  What PR’s make you proud?  Those PR’s are going to be the ones that have true carryover.  Just abstractly assigning PR’s to an exercise is not going to do yourself any favors.  

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Low Country Strength

Will Kuenzel is the owner of Lowcountry Strength (www.LowcountryStrength.com) in Charleston, SC. Will started his athletic endeavors as a pole vault; finishing up his collegiate career with a best vault of 16’9” at a whopping 160lbs. He the track and field world to pursue bodybuilding, his first show in 2005, he won 1st place in Men’s Novice as a middle weight. One year later he took 2nd as a Men’s Junior heavy weight. Since 2007 he has been a competitive powerlifter and totaling elite as a 220lber. His best lifts in multiply equipment are a 710lbs squat, a 605lbs bench press, a 615lbs deadlift and a 1930 total. In 2008 Will started Lowcountry Strength out of his garage. Since then it has moved into a 16,000 sq/ft facility and shares space with a mixed martial arts studio. With all disciplines of powerlifting, strongman, MMA, jiu jitsu and other sports in the Charleston area getting trained under one roof, Will heads up the strength and conditioning for a wide variety of athletes and clients.

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