Submaximal TRAINING = Maximum RESULTS

This is a topic that's been beaten to death by a number of authors with a lot more books and a lot bigger lifts than me, but since not all of our members and followers would necessarily read much in the topic of strength training, I thought it pertinent to make mention of the idea of TRAINING for strength, rather than simply testing it.

This is something seen in just about every gym in America, week after week, after identical week. Picture the scene. It's international bench press Monday and a group of young guys come in chugging Red Bull (which, by the way, no matter how many lat pulldowns you do, will not give you literal wings used for human flight) and fist bumping each other in celebration of their imminent PRs. The warmup ensues and before long they're at PR weight. They've tried this before, and got close. Real close. Their bro who was spotting said he only gave the bar a little nudge last week. And the week before. Also the week before that. But he's sure this is the week. He carbed up, took extra pre-workout, and even did a few arm circles before hitting the bench. This is the day. The bar is handed off. It descends. It stays there until bro number two hoists it up.

And repeat.

Wednesday rolls around. Deadlift day. (Not squat, because the lunar alignment is off, nobody had enough calories, bobs knee is acting up, and Jim...well Jim doesn't like to squat because its too damn hard)

We start again. Caffeine, a token stretch or two, some chest-beating bravado, and they're off. One plate, two plates, three plates, and time to get big. Big grunt, thousand yard stare, and consecutive weekly attempt number 436 at the same weight...it breaks the floor, a few veins pop out of his neck, his back rounds, and it's back on the ground with a thud before ever breaking past the knee.

Why is this scene reoccurring on a weekly basis?

Simple.

This is TESTING strength, NOT TRAINING for it. It's easy to get into this pattern. You work hard for a month, decide it's the day, and shoot for a PR. If you miss, it could be any number of things. It could be that you're not there yet. It could have been a form slip, a rushed warm-up, or an earthquake. Regardless, you've now strained hard against a loaded barbell with a maximal load and severely taxed your body and nervous system. This requires more recovery than we often realize. A maximal (or supermaximal) load on a major compound movement takes its toll and should not be done with anything near weekly frequency, let alone more than one attempt on more than one lift.

This gets to be a problem when you get into the thought pattern that you need to try again immediately. Maybe you WERE just tired and off that day. So you try again next week. Now you've put your system through the ringer twice in a row. Maybe that day you skipped a meal. Let's try again...this time it'll work, right?

Wrong.

It's time to go back to work on building new strength to ensure a future success. Training with lower weights that require a good deal of effort, but are within your grasp and allow for solid form will equate to sufficient stimulus to gain muscular growth as well as neuromuscular coordination (skill in the movement pattern under tension). Multiple sets of 3-5 reps will build new tissue and new strength to be used in the future. Working up to a heavy max weight single (that you may or may not hit) simply does not create the same level of training stimulus as completing multiple sets at a lower percentage. 

Let's put that into a numerical sense.

Let's say the goal is to deadlift 315 lbs.

Lifter A tries unsuccessfully to pull 315 for 4 consecutive weeks.

315 lbs x 0 reps x 4 weeks = 0 pounds successfully lifted over the course of the month of "training." He/She has essentially done nothing but test and repeatedly confirm that 315 is out of reach, and done nothing to bring it closer to reality.

Lifter B decides to train at lower percentages, building new strength, muscle and coordination for the month before testing. They decide to pull two triples each week in increasing percentages for the 4 week block, starting at 80%, then 85%, then 90%, then 95% the week before the big attempt. (I'm not recommending this as programming - just an illustrative example). That would equal out to 6,615 lbs lifted to create training stimulus to the body.

6,615 vs. 0

I think we know who's getting 315 and who's getting a participation award.

Without getting into complex recommendations about training volume and intensity, my goal is simply to remind those of you trying to build new strength that you need to work on building the body up to a new PR, rather than just keep doing the same thing over and over and expecting new results. 

Happy TRAINING,

Steve Decker