{"id":526,"date":"2012-02-03T21:02:09","date_gmt":"2012-02-04T02:02:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/madstone.net\/?p=526"},"modified":"2017-01-30T23:23:51","modified_gmt":"2017-01-31T04:23:51","slug":"my-ladder-abacus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/madstone.net\/?p=526","title":{"rendered":"My ladder abacus"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you do your exercises using a variety of interval methods, you probably have heard of or use “ladders.” I believe that the method has various names, but I’m describing the technique of doing one repetition of an exercise, then two reps, then three reps, etc., resting some amount of time between each set. When you reach the point where you probably won’t be able to do another increase set, you rest and then start going “down the ladder,” so… the sets look something like this: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.<\/p>\n

\"My<\/a>
Ladder Abacus<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

My trouble with these is that I lose count! I want to be honest with myself and not cheat, but I also don’t want to do sets that look like this: 1, 2, 3, 4, 4, 5, 4, 3, 3, 2, 1. I know, I know! The “gainz” are the same whether or not I keep accurate count, but I really do feel better knowing I’ve recorded my workout accurately. I can just picture myself ending up doing sets like 1, 2, 3, 6, 5, 4, 2, 1 out of wishful thinking.<\/p>\n

At any rate, I came up with a simple system for tracking my ladder sets, and I think someone else might benefit from the idea (assuming that everyone who can’t keep track on their own hasn’t invented something better already).<\/p>\n

My system is a simple coin counting plan. I take a few coins… a few more than I expect to use for my highest-rep set. I put them on the floor or a table next to me and within reach. During the rest periods between sets, I slide one coin from the resource pile to a counting area for each set. When I reach my highest-rep set, I slide a coin from the resource pile to a secondary counting area. The image shows the resource pile at the bottom edge of the image, the first counting area to the upper left, and the highest-rep counter in the upper right. What this tells me is that I have completed a set of six reps, but more importantly, I have five reps to do in my next set. After that set, I move one coin from the left counting area to the right, leaving four reps to do on my next set. When all coins are in the upper right, I’m done. I record a “6” on my sheet for later transfer to my fitocracy.com<\/a> tracking page.<\/p>\n

So, there it is, a simple solution for you to try if you, like me, have a hard time remembering where you are on your ladders!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you do your exercises using a variety of interval methods, you probably have heard of or use “ladders.” I believe that the method has various names, but I’m describing the technique of doing one repetition of an exercise, then two reps, then three reps, etc., resting some amount of time between each set. When … Continue reading “My ladder abacus”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[51],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-526","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fitness"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pgY3e-8u","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":478,"url":"https:\/\/madstone.net\/?p=478","url_meta":{"origin":526,"position":0},"title":"Day 61\/70","author":"Jorah","date":"January 6, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Jorah\u00a0earned 506 points for: Plank: 124 sec (+43 pts) 182 sec (+63 pts) I'm back! Hoping the back stays quiet today. This isn't going to be an impressive one, as I've wasted my whole morning messing around on the internet. :-} Side Plank: 60 sec (+42 pts) 60 seconds each\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Post"","block_context":{"text":"Post","link":"https:\/\/madstone.net\/?cat=30"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":463,"url":"https:\/\/madstone.net\/?p=463","url_meta":{"origin":526,"position":1},"title":"Day 52\/70","author":"Jorah","date":"December 27, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Jorahearned 307 points for: Mountain Climbers: 30 reps (+11 pts) 20 reps (+7 pts) 14 reps (+5 pts) Nasty rain and cold today. No way I'm going outside in workout clothes. Doing these as the 'pre fatigue' portion of the workout (idea found in 'Corps Strength' book) Body Weight Lunge:\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Post"","block_context":{"text":"Post","link":"https:\/\/madstone.net\/?cat=30"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":412,"url":"https:\/\/madstone.net\/?p=412","url_meta":{"origin":526,"position":2},"title":"Day 45\/70","author":"Jorah","date":"December 20, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Seems I've been forgetting to post for a few days. I'm spending the first day of my vacation working out and reading Fitocracy. I don't feel too bad about that, but the house isn't getting any cleaner. Jorah\u00a0earned 718 points for: Close Grip Push-Up: 1 reps\u00a0(+5 pts) 2 reps\u00a0(+5 pts)\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Post"","block_context":{"text":"Post","link":"https:\/\/madstone.net\/?cat=30"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":311,"url":"https:\/\/madstone.net\/?p=311","url_meta":{"origin":526,"position":3},"title":"Day 5\/70","author":"Jorah","date":"November 10, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Jorah\u00a0earned 744 points for: Push-Up: 1 reps\u00a0(+5 pts) 2 reps\u00a0(+5 pts) 3 reps\u00a0(+5 pts) 4 reps\u00a0(+6 pts) 5 reps\u00a0(+7 pts) 6 reps\u00a0(+9 pts) 7 reps\u00a0(+10 pts) 8 reps\u00a0(+12 pts) 7 reps\u00a0(+10 pts) 6 reps\u00a0(+9 pts) 5 reps\u00a0(+7 pts) 4 reps\u00a0(+6 pts) 3 reps\u00a0(+5 pts) 2 reps\u00a0(+5 pts) 1 reps\u00a0(+5 pts)\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Post"","block_context":{"text":"Post","link":"https:\/\/madstone.net\/?cat=30"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":330,"url":"https:\/\/madstone.net\/?p=330","url_meta":{"origin":526,"position":4},"title":"Day 12\/70 another push-pull day!","author":"Jorah","date":"November 17, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0Jorah\u00a0earned 703 points for: Farmer's Walk: 180' 0\"\u00a0||\u00a068.5 lb\u00a0(+48 pts) 180' 0\"\u00a0||\u00a068.5 lb\u00a0(+48 pts) That's going to be my weight for a while. Whew Push-Up: 1 reps\u00a0(+5 pts) 2 reps\u00a0(+5 pts) 3 reps\u00a0(+5 pts) 4 reps\u00a0(+6 pts) 5 reps\u00a0(+7 pts) 6 reps\u00a0(+9 pts) 7 reps\u00a0(+10 pts) 8 reps\u00a0(+12 pts) 7\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Post"","block_context":{"text":"Post","link":"https:\/\/madstone.net\/?cat=30"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":325,"url":"https:\/\/madstone.net\/?p=325","url_meta":{"origin":526,"position":5},"title":"Day 8\/70: Second day of the challenge","author":"Jorah","date":"November 13, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Okay, I am heading to bed standing (barely) at tenth place in the standings for this weekend's fitocracy heroes challenge. I can't do any more. If I'm at 11 or lower tomorrow, at least I know I did what I could. Jorahearned 1510 points for: Farmer's Walk: 106 m ||\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Post"","block_context":{"text":"Post","link":"https:\/\/madstone.net\/?cat=30"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/madstone.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/526","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/madstone.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/madstone.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madstone.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madstone.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=526"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/madstone.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/526\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":890,"href":"https:\/\/madstone.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/526\/revisions\/890"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/madstone.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=526"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madstone.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=526"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madstone.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=526"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}