What does the improvement percentage reflect?
Improvements in Personal Records are calculated based on four fundamental metrics:
- Volume- Total amount of work done or resistance times reps.
- Density – Amount of work done per minute or volume divided by time.
- Intensity – Resistance or weight being moved.
- Adaptifier Index – A proprietary formula that accounts for volume, density, and intensity that enables comparison of disparate training sessions as well as a way to understand training load.
When a training session results in a Personal Record, improvement is reflected as a percent improvement. Improvements only in volume, density, or intensity are denoted by V, D, I. Improvements in total AI are reflected as a percent.
Adaptifier Index helps compare improvements in workouts that are similar, but not identical in variables. For example, consider the follow two deadlift workouts:
225lbs for 25 reps in 10:00
245lbs for 20 reps in 8:30
Which of these is a more significant workout? Which is “better”? How do you compare the two? Traditionally, it would be impossible to draw a direct comparison between the two. The total volume of the second workout is 725lbs less, but the density is an almost insignificant 14lbs per minute higher.
However, calculating the Adaptifier Index we see this:
225lbs for 25 reps in 10:00 is an AI of 160,323
245lbs for 20 reps in 8:30 is an AI of 169,415
Thus, we can conclude that the heavier workout is slightly better. To take it one step further, a training session of 185lb deadlifts done for 45 reps in 10 minutes would have an AI of 237,341. The increased volume and density, despite the lower intensity, reflects a significantly greater training load.
The quantification represented by the Adaptifier Index has proven itself to be an accurate and reliable representation of training load over years of hands-on testing in our own facilities.