Structural Versus Randomized Training Concepts

By Charles Staley, B.Sc, MSS
Director, Staley Training Systems
http://www.staleytraining.com/ecm8/ezGaffurl.php?offer=bpotemski&pid=1

Recently, through the work of popular fitness movements such as CrossFit and its many imitators, the previously unexplored concept of randomized training has received a significant amount of popularity throughout the fitness community. This popularity is not without reason- randomized workouts have significant benefits, but like all approaches, random training also has its drawbacks.

In this article, I'll compare and contrast random versus structured approaches to training, and then I'll summarize by offering a few approaches that (I think) provide the benefits of both while simultaneously minimizing the drawbacks.

Benefits of Randomized Approaches

"Crossfitters" enjoy random workouts, and I think you will too- here's why:

1) That new car smell:

To borrow a great phrase from my client Dr. Jeffrey Bernstein, there's a palpable sense of renewal at the prospect of a new workout program that you plan to start on Monday (by the way, no one ever starts a new program or diet on any other day of the week, unless it happens to be New Year's Day.) In a sense, randomized training gives you that "new car smell" every single workout. If you're suffering from ADD or are otherwise under-motivated, this can be a great boost to your morale and can make you more consistent than you'd otherwise be. And needless to say, if you're consistent, you'll make more progress than your inconsistent peers, even if what they're doing is "better" or "smarter" or "more scientific" than what you're doing.

2) Specificity to random and/or varied professional or athletic needs:

Some professions, avocations, and sport disciplines (and perhaps people seeking "general" fitness, whatever that means) require or desire a generalized, highly varied, almost random set of physical attributes and motor qualities. Firefighters, police, military and para-military job descriptions come to mind, as do many fighting sports, most notably mixed martial arts (MMA).

Drawbacks of Randomized Approaches

Despite the significant benefits I've just described, random training (like any approach) also has its drawbacks. The most significant of these shortcomings are as follows:

1) Constant soreness:

If you squat anywhere between one and thrice a week, the soreness that you initially experience during your first handful of workouts soon becomes all but a distant memory as your body's adaptive systems and resources solve this particular Rubik's Cube. In fact, once the puzzle's been solved, it'll be nearly impossible to invoke soreness, no matter how hard you push yourself. On the other hand, the more random your training is, the more often you'll be sore- the random nature of the physical challenges you experience makes it far more difficult for you to habituate.

If you're an in-season athlete, or belong to a highly physical profession that presents randomized challenges, you don't really want to be sore all the time. This means that although you need enough variety to keep your nervous system somewhat off-guard, you don't want the variety to be so significant that you're basically starting from scratch each and every workout.

2) Poor learning curve:

In order to learn challenging and complex motor tasks (such as the Olympic lifts for example), it'd be to your advantage to do them often. Learning requires frequent repetition, and motor learning is no exception to this rule. If your training is completely random, you'll never have enough repetition to sustain the learning curve.

3) Limited specificity:

This third point somewhat overlaps with the previous two points, but to put a sharper edge on it, powerlifters need to do their 3 competitive lifts, swimmers need to swim, and climbers need to climb. If you want to be great at pull-ups, you need to work them hard- a lot. And obviously, a completely randomized approach doesn't accommodate this need.

Reconciling Structure And Non-Structure

I've often said that there's no such thing as a perfect program, because even if you could find it, you'll quickly habituate to it and progress will slow to a halt. That being said, there are principles that help us to identify "better" approaches, and one of these principles is that specificity ("structure" in the scope of this conversation) and variety ("randomness" for our purposes here) must be balanced and integrated within the overall scope of training. Here then, are a few suggestions for doing just that:

Use A Structured Exercise List With Random Loading Parameters

If you've determined that a particular exercise tends to move you closer toward your goals, you should probably do that exercise on a regular and relatively frequent basis. One possible drawback (as discussed earlier) of regular frequency is neural habituation and slowed progress as your nervous system "figures out" how to deal with that particular form of stress. The solution to this, which was discovered eons ago by athletes in a wide number of sports, is to randomize the character and/or specific attributes of that exercise stress. In our case, that means providing variety through constantly changing loading parameters (E.g., set/rep brackets, intensity, tempo, and rest intervals.

Simply create 6 different loading protocols, such as:

-5x5/80%/3 minutes rest between sets
-6x2/90%/5 minutes rest between sets
-3x10/70%/2 minutes rest between sets
-10x3/85%/4 minutes rest between sets
-2x20/60%/2.5 minutes rest between sets
-1x5/85%

Next, assign a number to each option, and roll a dye. Whatever comes up determines your loading parameters for that exercise.

Use A Semi-Structured Exercise List With Structured Loading Parameters

If Monday is defined as "squat day," you can randomize what type of squat you'll do by selecting from 6 options: back squats, front squats, overhead squats, box squats, Zercher squats, and dumbbell squats. If you'd like to substitute your own favorites for some of mine, go ahead. Once your list of 6 choices is completed, number each choice from 1 to 6. Prior to squat day, roll a dye and whatever number comes up determines what type of squat you'll do that day. From there, you apply whatever loading parameters you've appropriated for the current cycle you're on, and you're ready to go.

Worth noting here is that only the most useful exercises can be plugged into this option, which is one of it's greatest attributes. You're not likely to come up with 6 variations of tricep kickbacks, leg extensions, or pec deck, but you can easily devise a half-dozen options for vertical pressing, horizontal pressing, unilateral leg drills, snatches, cleans, and deadlifts. This is simply an extrapolation of the "same but different" approach that I've written about in previous articles.

Use A Semi-Structured Exercise List With Random Loading Parameters

This is an amalgam of the previous two suggestions. Both exercises and loading parameters are "semi-structured." On Monday, you know you're doing some type of squat, but you don't know which one until you roll the dye. Then, a second roll gives you your loading parameters. Obviously, this is the most random of the three approaches, but it still provides structure.

What About Periodization?

To further maximize the benefit/drawback profile when attempting to reconcile structure with non-structure, you can employ a cycling concept where you (for example) employ the first option for 4 weeks, followed by the second option for a month, and finally, the last option for the remainder of a 12-week cycle. If your needs require a variation on this theme, go ahead and apply your creative elbow grease to the situation.

Now Go And Make It Yours!

The suggestions I've presented here are for the purposes of illustration and to inspire your own creative thinking. If, during this article, you're struck by alternative applications of my ideas, then I've been successful.

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.

http://www.staleytraining.com/ecm8/ezGaffurl.php?offer=bpotemski&pid=1

 Back to Index

Acceleration: The Middle Path

By Charles Staley, B.Sc, MSS
Director, Staley Training Systems
http://www.staleytraining.com/ecm8/ezGaffurl.php?offer=bpotemski&pid=1

Do some people-watching at the gym during your next workout. At first glance, it may seem that people have very little in common when it comes to their exercise habits and techniques. But upon closer inspection, you might notice that they have two things in common:

The first thing that most exercisers share in common is slow movement speed, regardless of exercise, set/rep scheme, or magnitude of load used. People tend to fall into one or both of two categories when it comes to moving weights slowly:

• The slow, go for the burn, high repetition group (usually recreational and competitive bodybuilders). This demographic chooses to lift slowly, usually for fear that “momentum will take over” if they use faster lifting tempos.
• The equally slow, heavy weight/low rep aficionados, (usually powerlifters or other athletes seeking strength development). These lifters don’t choose to lift slowly— they have no choice in the matter, because the heavy weights they lift cannot be moved with any appreciable degree of acceleration.

Of course, in any other aspect of life, you would never deliberately move more slowly than you had to, because it’s inefficient. More on this later.

Oh yeah— the second thing your gym peers have in common? Very few of them ever make any discernible progress. Can we draw a correlation between slow movement speed and lack of progress. I certainly do! In the remainder of this article, I’ll show you why.

More specifically, I’d like to explore a “middle path” that few trainees ever travel. This path isn’t the only approach that can lead to success, but it certainly has considerable benefits which warrant closer consideration from those wishing to acquire strength and power. My use of the term “middle” refers to a slice of the so-called “force-velocity curve” that every exercise physiology student knows by heart. You should too. I had considered stealing a great analogy from powerlifting guru Louie Simmons, but given the fact that he squats 900 and benches well over 600 at 50-plus years of age, I felt the possible consequences weren’t worth it, so here’s Louie’s take on the force-velocity curve:

“If I throw a wiffle ball, it won’t go very far, because it’s too light for max force to exist. Now if I throw a shot put, it does not go very far either, because it’s too heavy; thus no velocity is developed. However, if I throw a baseball, it will go a great distance because I have found a balance between force and velocity.” (1)

In this analogy, the baseball represents the middle path.

Simmons trains his athletes in a manner which is strikingly different from the rest of the powerlifting community. While most powerlifters use very heavy weights for 2-3 reps per set, Louie emphasizes 60% weights for multiple sets of 2-3 reps, using as much acceleration as possible on every set. The results?

At the time of this writing (and it's probably more by now!), Simmons has produced 36 athletes who have bench pressed 500 pounds or more, and 23 lifters who can squat 800 pounds or more.

Why Acceleration?

We know that the more tension a muscle experiences during exercise, the greater the training adaptation. But the weight on the bar is only one factor to consider when designing your training program. Acceleration is the other.

I vividly remember a conversation with Dr. Fred Hatfield (Co-founder of the International Sports Sciences Association and first man to officially squat 1000 pounds). Hatfield, who at the time weighed 265 at 5”6” at 10% bodyfat, relayed the following analogy: If you place a 10 pound weight on top of your foot, no problem. If you drop that weight from 6 feet in the air, BIG problem. The weight is the same in both instances. Acceleration is the difference. How can we translate this lesson into making better progress from our lifting? Compare the following two scenarios:

Scenario #1: You lift 135 pounds for 3 sets of 10 repetitions. In keeping with the “no pain, no gain” philosophy, you take the set to momentary muscular failure, as advocated by many fitness experts. Here is a hypothetical breakdown of how much force you apply to the bar on every rep:

Rep 1: 154 pounds
Rep 2: 152 pounds
Rep 3: 150 pounds
Rep 4: 148 pounds
Rep 5: 146 pounds
Rep 6: 144 pounds
Rep 7: 142 pounds
Rep 8: 140 pounds
Rep 9: 138 pounds
Rep 10: 136 pounds

As you can see, fatigue accumulates during the set which progressively limits your ability to accelerate the bar. If we add all these numbers and divide by 10, we get the average force per rep: 145.

Scenario #2: 135 pounds for 10 sets of 3 reps. In this case, the weight on the bar is the same as our first scenario, and the total training volume (calculated as 135 multiplied by 30 repetitions = 4050 pounds) is also the same.

The only difference is that you inverted the sets and reps. Now let’s look at how the numbers stack up on each set:

Rep 1: 154 pounds
Rep 2: 152 pounds
Rep 3: 150 pounds

The average amount of force on the bar is 152 pounds per rep, as compared to 145 in the first scenario. This means 9.5% more tension, which is quite significant. (Note: I’ve simplified the picture somewhat in order to clarify my argument— in reality, fatigue does set in from set to set, and the average force per rep on the last set will be less than the first. Nevertheless, 10x3 will still result in significantly greater force per rep than will 3x10).

The only difference between scenario 1 and 2 is that the latter minimizes accumulated fatigue and permits a higher level of quality (read: tension).

Editors Note: this section is the essence of Charles' Escalating Density Training program... focusing on acceleration and maintaining high levels of performance while minimizing fatigue.

Click here to check it out now.

Exactly How Does This Work?

First off, let’s get something straight: by acceleration I’m NOT talking about the mindless, high-speed slop that many trainees employ as they attempt to impress their gym peers by lifting the heaviest possible weights. In fact, the technique I’m advocating involves using only about 70 percent of maximum on any given set.

Here’s a hypothetical upper body workout that implements an accelerative approach to lifting. Your training weight for the first exercise will be 70% of your 1RM (which stands for one rep max, or the most weight that you can lift in good form for one rep, but not two). If you’re not sure what your 1RM is, your training weight is one that you can lift 10-12 times in succession. As an example, if you can bench press 192 pounds for one rep (1RM), your training weight will be 135 pounds.

One last point: always use a capable spotter whenever you bench press.

Here’s how the workout stacks up:

Notes:

• Complete all 10 sets in 10 minutes or less. Take whatever rest intervals you like between sets, as long as you finish within 10 minutes.
• On each rep, lower the bar in a controlled fashion, staying as tight as possible. As soon as the bar touches your chest, explode it upward, backing off near the top

Notes:

• Perform 2 progressively heavier singles, approaching your maximal ability. If you performed the 10 sets of 3 reps using 135 pounds, then you might select 155x1 and then 175x1.
• Complete the two singles within 5 minutes or less.

Notes:

• Due to the heavier weight loads used on these 2 exercises, the lifting pace will be less rapid.
• Perform these 2 exercises “back to back,” meaning you will perform a set of incline presses, rest, then a set of curls, and so forth, until all 10 sets are completed.
• Complete these 10 sets in 25 minutes or less. Take whatever rest intervals you like between sets, as long as you finish within 25 minutes.

Notes:

• Perform these 2 exercises “back to back,” meaning you will perform a set of incline presses, rest, then a set of curls, and so forth, until all 6 sets are completed.
• Complete these 6 sets in 20 minutes or less. Take whatever rest intervals you like between sets, as long as you finish within 20 minutes.

This sample workout requires 60 minutes or less to complete. It successfully develops greater explosive strength (particularly during the first 10 sets), maximal strength (through the heavy singles), and muscular hypertrophy (through the sets of 5 and 12 toward the end of the workout). It should be performed once a week for 4 weeks, and progression should be attempted by either completing the same workout in less and less time every week, or by using gradually heavier weights on weeks 2 through 4. After 4 weeks, you’ll want to completely change your workout, by selecting a new set of exercises. This helps to avoid habituation (and stagnation) through the introduction of new training stimuli.

Is Acceleration Safe?

I do realize that the fitness intelligentsia scoffs at accelerative lifting— you must lift slowly in order to avoid injury, they say. However, I think it’s a sad state of affairs when walking is considered the best exercise (rather than what is it— locomotion); where one must be careful not to move too fast or breathe at the wrong moment, or let one’s knee flex too far, for fear of injury. Give it another 100 years, and the “fitness” community will advocate almost total inactivity in the interests of safety, while those in the know will continue to shatter World records in the power sports, while incurring far less injuries than their more “knowledgeable” fitness peers.

The cold hard fact is that danger is relative to preparation. Some people incur injuries from doing next to nothing; others experience no injuries despite regular intense physical activity. So if you’re new to the concept of using accelerative lifting technique, resist the temptation to go from A to Z in one fell swoop! Instead, implement the technique gradually and progressively. In this way, you’ll avoid the possibility of unwanted surprises.

Is Acceleration Efficient?

The phenomenon known as the stretch-shortening cycle (or SSC) strongly hints that the body is in fact designed for ballistic and accelerative stress. To better understand the SSC, imagine your muscles as elastic bands that stretch during eccentric activity, and contract during the concentric portion of the movement.

For those interested in the physics of the matter, what happens is that the muscles develop potential kinetic energy during the eccentric phase of the movement, which is then released during the concentric phase, creating a more powerful action than what could be accomplished through concentric activity alone (2).

If you watch people carefully in various situations, you'll notice that, whenever there is an option to accelerate a load, people will take that option. On stairclimbing machines, people will (especially as fatigue sets in) tend to step in a bouncy, choppy manner. When a heavy box must be lifted from the floor to a high shelf, a person will accelerate the box throughout the lift. Further, wherever possible, the motor cortex will prefer an acceleration path where the largest possible number of muscle groups can participate in the effort, in order to conserve energy and avoid dangerous levels of stress to any single muscle involved in the movement. Deliberate attempts to move slowly or to ”isolate” any particular muscle during a challenging task (whether it be in the gym or in everyday life) contradicts this reality.

Final Considerations

I’ll finish with a few points that you’ll need to know before employing acceleration in your workouts:

• Use the technique primarily on fairly large range of motion exercises such as squats, bench presses, and deadlifts. For other movements, stick with more deliberate lifting speeds.
• Ease into the technique slowly and gradually, especially if you have been lifting for a year or less.
• Joint pain is a contra-indication for accelerative lifting. If your joints hurt, seek appropriate medical intervention before continuing your lifting program.

The Technology of Acceleration

Conventional barbell training, although effective, can be improved upon when it comes to accelerative lifting. Here are a few of the more effective strategies which have emerged over the past few years:

• CAT (Compensatory acceleration training): Originally coined by Dr. Fred Hatfield (3), this training method has been used by east European athletes for decades. Most people tend to “coast” once they get past the sticking point in the squat or bench press, which reduces muscular tension. CAT requires the lifter to compensate for momentum by accelerating the bar even further, which intensifies adaptive stress to the working muscles.
• Elastic bands: One problem with accelerating barbells is the need to “back off” at the end of the lifting stroke to protect your joints and to prevent the bar from flying off of your back or out of your hands. An ingenious way of circumventing this problem is to attach heavy duty elastic bands to either end of the bar. These bands can add as much as 50 pounds or more to the total weight of the bar— in other words, a bar loaded to 135 pounds “weighs” 185 at the top, and 135 at the bottom. This configuration allows the lifter to maximally accelerate all the way through the lifting stroke in complete safety. The best equipment for this purpose is IVER (Integrated Variable Elastic Resistance) by IVER Systems. Call 414-228-9792 or point your browser to http://www.strengthcats.com for more information.

References:

1). Simmons, L., What If? Milo: A Journal for Serious Strength Athletes.. Vol 4 No 1. (c) 1996. Ironmind Enterprises, Inc. p.p. 26.
2) Komi, P.V., (Ed.), Strength and Power in Sport. (c) 1992. Blackwell Scientific Publications, London. p.p. 169.
3) Hatfield, F.C., Power: A Scientific Approach. (c) 1989. Contemporary Books. Chicago. p.p. 123.

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.

http://www.staleytraining.com/ecm8/ezGaffurl.php?offer=bpotemski&pid=1

Back to Index

Understanding Training Foundation

By Charles Staley, B.Sc, MSS
Director, Staley Training Systems
http://www.staleytraining.com/ecm8/ezGaffurl.php?offer=bpotemski&pid=1

Although people engage in fitness and sports activities for various reasons, the fact remains that they are inherently physical activities.

So whether you exercise for stress reduction, weight loss, or sport, it makes sense to train in a manner which is consistent with accepted training principles and methodologies. Doing so will make the outcome of training less haphazard and more predictable. It will also enhance the appreciation of movement one should derive from any form of physical activity.

As all coaches know, mastery of a sport is accomplished by developing a foundation before progressing to more advanced levels of training. As accepted as this principle is, many people possess only a vague understanding of what this means in concrete terms. The purpose of this article is to expose the reader to foundational training concepts derived from the world of sports science. And while you might not be a competitive athlete, I believe you can benefit greatly from recent developments in sport science.

One such development comes from Dr. Tudor Bompa, former Romanian rowing coach and currently a professor at York University in Toronto, Canada.

Bompa has developed a useful schema called "The Training Factors Pyramid,"* which can be used to develop long term training plans, based on a foundational progression of factors over time.

The Training Factors Pyramid helps to identify a logical sequence of training factors, and can be used by athletes and fitness enthusiasts alike to identify objectives and evaluate training programs and methods. When problems develop, as they inevitably do, The Training Factors Pyramid can be used to determine what level these problems originate from, which speeds up the corrective process considerably.

The pyramid consists of four ascending levels. The athlete enters the pyramid at the first level—physical preparation. This level is the cornerstone of an athlete's training, because without it, further progress is impossible. Physical preparation refers to the development of what sports scientists call "biomotor abilities"— strength, power, speed, balance, flexibility, agility, endurance, and coordination.

The second level of the pyramid involves technical preparation— or perfecting physical techniques. While some techniques can be mastered with a low level of physical preparation, many cannot. Many currently popular recreational sporting activities, such as in-line skating and rock climbing, to name two, require a fairly high level of physical development before many skills can be practiced.

Of course, technical mastery is not the final objective, for any athlete. We all know of athletes who have beautiful and "correct" techniques, but who lack the ability to apply them in a sport setting.

This brings us to the third level of The Training Factors Pyramid: tactical preparation. Tactics simply refer to the ability to successfully apply techniques in a sport situation. It should be obvious to the reader at this point that technically sound technique must be established before entering level three. Further, the athlete must have a high level of physical development before correct technique is possible.

The fourth and final stage is called psychological preparation—a very important consideration for athletes who hope to compete successfully. But clearly, psychological preparedness— let's just call it confidence— cannot be established if the athlete has not successfully ascended through the previous three levels.

How can The Training Factors Pyramid be used in an everyday, practical setting? Let's suppose you're a serious recreational beach volleyball player, and you're having problems with your spike. The first step is to determine whether or not you can execute a technically correct spike in an isolated situation (i.e., in practice).

If the answer is no, then we go down a level and try to find faults your physical preparation— perhaps you lacks adequate explosive strength to clear the net. Once your physical attributes are improved, you should be more successful in delivering the spike in competitive situations.

If the answer is yes (you can deliver a proper spike), the problem lies in either tactical or psychological development. Both areas are closely intertwined— a lack of tactical skill can obviously impair confidence. And vice versa. Athletes commonly progress well through physical and technical training, but falter in tactical/psychological realms. The solution is more time in the trenches, with careful progression through gradually more difficult encounters. When tactical successes begin to outweigh the failures, confidence increases along with tactical ability.

Although the four training factors have been isolated for the sake of discussion, in reality, they must be integrated if a successful outcome is desired.

For example, is a serve a technique or a tactic? At novice levels of play, it is primarily technical, but at high levels of skill, techniques and tactics are one and the same. Also worth noting is the fact that the direction of influence is not only ascending, but descending as well. For example, the techniques you'll use affect the physical preparation you'll need to do.

Aside from day to day considerations, The Training Factors Pyramid should also form a template for long term planning, as well.

Accordingly, the first several months of training should be dedicated to improving physical attributes, although simple technical and tactical skills may be presented as well. The second phase of training is characterized by developing technical mastery of your sport skills. Physical condition must be maintained, but this involves less work than it took to develop it. Advanced stages of training target tactical and psychological concerns, with comparatively less time spent on physical and technical development.

While achieving mastery in sport involves years of hard work, those years yield far more result when they are spent wisely. The time you spend developing your foundation is miniscule compared to the time it takes to correct long-entrenched errors from years of poorly-conceived and executed training.

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.

http://www.staleytraining.com/ecm8/ezGaffurl.php?offer=bpotemski&pid=1

EDT For Maximal Strength Development

By Charles Staley, B.Sc, MSS
Director, Staley Training Systems
http://www.staleytraining.com/ecm8/ezGaffurl.php?offer=bpotemski&pid=1

In this article, I'm going to tell you all about to use Escalating Density Training (http://www.staleytraining.com/ecm8/ezGaffurl.php?offer=bpotemski&pid=1) 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.

http://www.staleytraining.com/ecm8/ezGaffurl.php?offer=bpotemski&pid=1