APRE Method

Today's post comes to us from our friends at the University of Missouri.  Bryan Mann is behind the article and is a good friend and colleague of mine.  We actually went to school together and he was a strength coach of mine during my college football days.  It's my second post this week from the MIZZOU strength staff which means I believe they're doing things right in Columbia. 

They have an article in the upcoming Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research on Autoregulatory Progressive Resistance Exercise, or APRE.  For those of you who have been around my programs you will know that  I'm a huge fan of the APRE method and we utilize it every year with our baseball athletes for strength development.

There is very little information out there about the APRE method.  This article helps to break it down and compares how effective it is vs. a linear periodized program working up from 70%.  It's well thought out and is actually something that strength coaches can use, unlike most of the information found in the NSCA Research Journal. Give it a read as its well worth your time. 

The Effect of Autoregulatory Progressive Resistance Exercise vs. Linear Periodization on Strength Improvements in College Athletes.

I believe it is one of the best methods in gaining strength quickly, and especially in re-gaining lost strength.  Collegiate baseball athletes have a much longer playing time than most people realize.  Kids often play from January through June for a collegiate season then leave immediately and report to summer ball for another 8-10 weeks.   When athletes play 7-8 months straight through this doesn't always bode well for improving or even maintaining strength.

One of the best methods I've found in re-gaining that lost strength is 4-6 weeks of using the APRE.  One of the biggest drawbacks to the method is that I believe plateaus are experienced relative quickly.  It seems that each time we use the APRE method it becomes less effective for the athlete.   So for our seniors that have possibly used the APRE method 3 times, they seem to hit plateaus in under 3 weeks, whereas our younger guys will still have success into weeks 4, and 5.   All in all it's a great tool for increasing strength quickly.