When it comes to building strength, improving performance, and preventing injury, working through your percentages in training is a key principle.
Percentage based lifting programs represent one of the most important and effective strategies to improve strength. The concepts of linear progression, waves, and periodization, in general, are brought into a much clearer focus with the addition of percentages.
The big overarching scenario that deserves attention is that any given percentage will feel much different to a different individual because it is relative to each person.
Don’t get me wrong percentage based program have flaws too but it is a safe and structured program for many reasons.
Here are 2 that stand out – .
- MEASURABLE AND MANAGEABLE
“What gets measured gets managed,” so if you’re keeping close track of your training volume and intensity with percentages, it’s easy to look back at a program to figure out what worked and what didn’t.
- ROOM TO GROW
Perhaps most importantly, percentage-based training done properly gives you plenty of room to grow and get better in the long term. It’s important to see the big picture in strength training and realize that you’re not just training for this workout right this second, but for years and years down the road.
This leads me down a rabbit hole but it is why fitness is so subjective and every person, trainer or even gym will have a different approach. Whatever approach you use will work but they have all different effects. The analogy I can use to represent this is –
‘Getting stronger is like slow-cooking the perfect rack of barbecued ribs. You can go by feel and risk overcooking the meat, or you can use a thermometer, measure your wood chips and know EXACTLY how much dry rub/ seasoning you need to get the best taste possible’
Again, what gets measured gets managed (This is why when you go to a proper steakhouse and I mean proper (not Miller & Carter), the meat is unreal and tastes fantastic).
We all have different taste buds, but ultimately you want the best tasting ribs!
Even if you over cook it, you’ll eat it. It might not be the best, but it will do. Same as the training principle. Even if you go heavier than your prescription, you can still do it but it will do and that’s all it will do.
The lower percentages and higher rep ranges can be used for skill, speed, accessory, acclimation, to conditioning pieces. They are used for blood flow to muscles and to further ignite your CNS. They are easy but so important to making your muscles pliable and tolerate the heavier loads. This is why it is important to build in percentages.
Along with those reasons- here are a few more explanations as to why percentages are important.
1. Progressive Overload Without Burnout
Strength and fitness improvements come from gradually increasing intensity over time—a concept known as progressive overload. By training at specific percentages of your one-rep max (1RM), you create a sustainable path for growth without overloading your body too soon. This prevents burnout, fatigue, and unnecessary injury while ensuring steady gains.
Consider the effect and impact it will have on your training. Possibly reversibility (meaning you don’t actually get stronger or don’t improve – a huge unrecognised problem in the evolution of functional fitness. We often think we need to do more, when in fact that is not entirely true
2. Balancing Intensity & Recovery
Not every session should be max effort. If you always push to failure, your nervous system and muscles won’t have time to recover properly. Training through percentages allows you to control intensity—cycling through lower, moderate, and higher percentages—to balance stress and recovery effectively. This means more longevity in training and better overall performance.
3. Improved Technique & Movement Quality
Lifting heavy all the time can reinforce poor movement patterns. For some in the fitness world, we struggle to understand the concept that it doesn’t need to be heavy to challenge us and stimulate muscle growth/ strength. Working through percentages (especially in the 70-85% range) allows you to focus on technique, control, and consistency. Lighter loads help you dial in form, while heavier percentages prepare you for maximal lifts under control.
4. Consistency Leads to Strength
Strength isn’t built in one session—it’s built over weeks, months, and years of consistent effort and I think we forget that. We very much live in the moment. Many of the people you aspire to perform like or admire have probably spent 15-20 years training. We possibly might even try to trade off heavy lifting/ sweating for the extra cheeseburger we had at the weekend. It doesn’t quite work like that. Following a percentage-based progression ensures that you’re moving forward with purpose. Each session builds upon the last, leading to sustainable improvements over time rather than quick bursts of progress followed by setbacks.
5. Confidence Under Heavy Loads
Training through your percentages conditions both your mind and body to handle heavier weights. By gradually increasing intensity, you develop confidence under the bar. This makes PR attempts less intimidating because your body is already accustomed to handling submaximal loads efficiently. Even though we have trained for years, a lot of us don’t have enough experience and certain loads and that’s why it has to be progressive. Over time your strength increases and so do your loads and in turn your percentages.
The Takeaway
To put things in perspective, I will use 2 examples –
For someone who does want to ‘compete’ in a weight based sport, CrossFit/Powerlifting
They will have a 2-5 year plan on building strength before they even touch the competition floor (if that’s the goal). Fitness can literally be built in 6-8 weeks, but strength, oh boy, that takes years.
The second example is of a weightlifter, some of the Chinese, Russian, Bulgarian Weightlifters hit over 200kg on squats for example. This would have taken them 10 years to achieve through progressive overload and the points we have already discussed. It would not have been a 6 week cycle, it would have been a 6 week cycle for 10 years, varying in reps, loads, tempo’s, movement variations, deload weeks included.. and they manage the other variables – Nutrition, Sleep, Recovery, Managing physical stress on CNS.
Training through percentages is a smarter, safer, and more effective way to build strength and improve performance. It provides structure, prevents unnecessary fatigue, reinforces proper movement, and ensures long-term progress.
Trust the process (even if the weights feel light to begin with), hit your numbers, and watch yourself get stronger over time! A long time.
