The thing about NBL is it's an incomplete measure. You also have to know the the distribution of intensities. For example, Sheiko #29 is somewhere around 1000 lifts in a 4 week period (including all lifts above 50%, not including any of the assistance) - which is more than Keo's 496. But most of the work is done between 75 and 85%, with almost nothing at 90%+.
So while NBL is a useful measure of total training volume, there's only certain kinds of comparisons you can make with it. It's also only one measure, for example, it'd be normal to progress from periods of a greater NBL and a lower intensity distribution, to a period of fewer NBL, and a greater intensities - so fewer NBL can actually mean training harder.
And I'm sure this is really nothing new to Keo, but for those following along but aren't doing the "required" reading, maybe it makes thing cleared.
I'd like to have an idea of average intensity level, but I didn't have the patience to do the calculations.
Accommodating resistance also makes this difficult, since I'm routinely performing sub-maximal weights at maximal intensity, and these sub-maximal weights will sometimes be as much as 85% of my 1RM at the top of the lift.
NBL will give you an idea of training volume and intensity, but intensity is only found in an implied inverse relationship to NBL; in other words, as Tosa said, the more work you're performing a month, the less the intensity. In Roman's book, the drop between preparatory and competition periods in total volume can be as much as 35% or more, but that decrease in volume is exchanged for an increase in intensity.
So, I'd like to know my NBL for each lift, plus an average intensity level. My deadlift, for instance, probably contains less than 50 lifts per month, but the average intensity level might be at or above 90%, whereas the average intensity level for my squat and bench press is likely around 85%, and 80% for my row. Those numbers are just guesses, but they're averages I'd like to have over the course of a macrocycle.
The other thing missing here is an average RPE (rate of perceived exertion), since NBL and average intensity wouldn't truly measure the "difficulty" of each lift. One who performs 20 squat singles at 90% is working at a high average intensity range, but depending upon the rest intervals, he or she isn't working at a very high RPE; maybe an average of 6 or 7, depending on his or her work capacity. In other words, a five-rep max performed for a single is, while close enough to one's one-rep max to qualify as a high-intensity lift, not overly exerting.
So, I'm still thinking out loud here. With the work I do each month, devising a way of measuring and analyzing my workload would prove helpful.
