Categories
Meta
Blogroll
Strength Endurance's Articles
EDT For Maximal Strength Development
By Charles Staley, B.Sc, MSS
Director, Staley Training Systems
In this article, I’m going to tell you all about to use Escalating Density Training to build Maximal Strength.
Maximal strength (MxS) is defined as the maximum amount of force one can produce irrespective of time or bodyweight. The qualifiers “time” and “bodyweight” distinguish MxS from power and relative strength, respectively.
MxS is perhaps the core quality that all individuals should be concerned with, because it’s acquisition is the fastest route to all other motor qualities, including relative-strength, speed-strength, strength-endurance, speed, and speed-endurance.
To a lesser degree, MxS improvements also lead to higher levels of aerobic fitness, agility, and dynamic mobility. And to point out a sadly-overlooked fact, MxS development is a precursor to lean-mass gains, since fast-twitch motor units have much greater capacity for hypertrophy than do Type I MU’s. And needless to say, all MU’s must be recruited before they can be trained.
Traditional MxS training involves the use of maximal or near-maximal loads, typically 90% of 1RM and above. The maximal-load method has validity and a proven track record for results. However, load is only one-half of the equation, since it is tension- not load- that provokes anatomical adaptations leading to MxS improvements. These adaptations include improved inter- and intra-muscular coordination, as well as more efficient rate-coding.
Tension of course, is the offspring of load and speed. High loads, performed at (unavoidably) low speeds produce high tensions- that’s a given. Less appreciated however, is the fact that moderate loads, moved at high speeds, also lead to high tensions. So as it turns out, there are two distinctively different methods that can be employed in your quest for MxS. Given what we know about the importance of variety for the sake of preventing physical and psychological stagnation, why not employ both methods?
Here’s how you can do just that:
Set up two training sessions per week for a compound lift you’d like to improve. Any of the three power lifts are good candidates, as are the Olympic lifts.
The “A Session”
The first session (which we’ll call the “A Session”) features the performance of (up to) 14 sets of 2 reps, using a 4RM load, resting exactly one minute between sets. As an illustration, if your 4RM on a deadlift is 352 pounds, that’s your working weight. First perform your warm-up sets, and then set your stopwatch for 15 minutes. Every 60 seconds, perform a set of 2 reps, moving as explosively as possible during the concentric phase.
During this first A Session, one of two things will happen- either you’ll hit your 14 sets, or you won’t. If you fail to complete 14 doubles (let’s say you got 11 doubles and a single), the next time out, you try to get 12 or more doubles. Continue this procedure until you manage to complete 14 sets of 2.
If you (or once you) do manage to complete 14 sets, the next time out, add 5 pounds or 5% (whichever is less) to the bar, wipe the slate clean, and start over.
The “B Session”
The second session (which we’ll call the “B Session”)
Involves heavier loads- 2RM to be specific. You’ll perform (up to) 7 sets of 1, using a 2RM weight, resting 3 minutes between sets. As an illustration, if your 2RM on a deadlift is 374 pounds, that’s your working weight. First perform your warm-up sets, and then set your stopwatch for 15 minutes. Every 3 minutes, perform one rep, moving as explosively as possible during the concentric phase.
During this first “B Session,” one of two things will happen- either you’ll hit your 7 sets, or you won’t. If you fail to complete 7 singles (let’s say you got 5 singles and a missed attempt), the next time out, you try to get 6 or (hopefully) 7 singles. Continue this procedure until you manage to complete 7 sets of 1.
If you (or once you) do manage to complete 7 sets, the next time out, add 5 pounds or 5% (whichever is less) to the bar, wipe the slate clean, and start over.
Troubleshooting:
• If you’re not sure what your 2RM or 4RM weights are, err on the side of conservatism- the system will self-adjust
• If you performance decreases for any reason, use the 5/5 rule in reverse: next time out, reduce the load by 5 pounds or 5% (whichever is greater), wipe the slate clean, and start over.
• Pain is bad. Respect your body.
Speed And Load- The Fastest Way To Huge Gains in Maximal Strength!
In addition to the simple fact that you’ve now introduced more variety into your training, you’re also attacking the MxS equation from both angles. The improved speed you acquire on your “A Sessions” will contribute to strength expression during your “B Sessions.” In turn, your newly-acquired strength will improve your rate of force production on your “A Sessions.”
MxS training is a drain on all of your recuperative mechanisms, but fortunately, this two-sided approach provides the perfect amount of contrast to facilitate recovery.
Try this approach on your favorite lift for 6 weeks and tell me how it went. I know you’ll be pleasantly surprised.
________________________________________
About The Author
Charles Staley…world-class strength/performance coach…his colleagues call him an iconoclast, a visionary, a rule-breaker. His clients call him “The Secret Weapon” for his ability to see what other coaches miss. Charles calls himself a “geek” who struggled in Phys Ed throughout school. Whatever you call him, Charles’ methods are ahead of their time and quickly produce serious results.
Click here to visit Charles’ site and grab your 5 FREE videos that will show you how to literally FORCE your body to build muscle, lose fat and gain strength with “Escalating Density Training,” Charles’ revolutionary, time-saving approach to lifting that focuses on performance NOT pain.
Strength And Weight Training For Beginners
The rules of weight training are the same as the rules of strength training, and involves changing the number of repetitions, sets, tempo, exercise type and how much weight is lifted to cause increases in strength, endurance, size or shape.
The specific combinations of reps, sets, exercises and weight depends upon the aims of the individual performing the exercise, sets with fewer reps can be performed with heavier weights.
In addition to the basic principles of strength training, a further consideration added by weight training is the equipment used. Types of equipment include barbells, dumbbells, pulleys and stacks in the form of weight machines or the body’s own weight in the case of chin-ups and push-ups. Different types of weights will give different types of resistance, and often the same absolute weight can have different relative weights depending on the type of equipment used. For example, lifting 20 pounds using a dumbbell requires significantly more force than moving 20 pounds on a weight stack due to the use of pulleys.
When you are strength or weight training you must use good form, defining good form is doing the movements with the appropriate muscle group, and not transferring the weight to different body parts in order to move greater weight. When you don’t use good form it can result in injury or a failure to meet training goals, since the desired muscle group is not challenged sufficiently, the muscle group is not pushed so the muscle will not gain the strength you are trying to achieve.
The benefits of weight training overall are comparable to most other types of strength training increased muscle, tendon and ligament strength, bone density, flexibility, tone, metabolic rate and postural support. There are benefits and limitations to weight training as compared to other types of strength training.
Resistance training involves the use of elastic or hydraulic resistance to contraction rather than gravity. Weight training provides the majority of the resistance at the beginning, initiation joint angle of the movement, when the muscle must overcome the inertia of the weight’s mass. After this point the overall resistance alters depending on the angle of the joint. In comparison, hydraulic resistance provides a fixed amount of resistance throughout the range of motion, depending on the speed of the movement. Elastic resistance provides the greatest resistance at the end of the motion, when the elastic element is stretched to the greatest extent.
Isometric exercise provides a fixed amount of resistance based on the force output of the muscle. This strengthens the muscle at the specific joint angle at which the isometric exercise occurs.
Although weight training is similar to body building, they have different objectives. Body builders compete in body building competitions; they train to maximize their muscular size and develop extremely low levels of body fat In contrast, most weight trainers train to improve their strength and anaerobic endurance while not giving special attention to reducing body fat below normal.
Weight trainers tend to focus on compound exercises to build basic strength, whereas bodybuilders often use isolation exercises to visually separate their muscles and to improve muscular tone.
However, the bodybuilding community has been the source of many of weight training’s principles, techniques, vocabulary, and customs.
Weight training does allow tremendous flexibility in exercises and weights which can allow bodybuilders to target specific muscles and muscle groups, as well as attain specific goals.
Muscle Growth
