Fadi
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We're told that speed has more genetic limitations than strength, so in order to improve on power; one may be wise to focus on increasing maximum strength to the highest possible degree. Brute strength is what we want. But wait a minute, that's not what the title of this thread is saying!
You see, it's gonna be a case of give and take, or put differently, what goes around comes around. So far so good, let's continue. Picture the late Bruce Lee for a second, picture him throwing one of his lightning fast punches or kicks. What do you think would have happened to his opponent's face if Bruce's velocity lacked the "punch" in his punches, or as they say, he had no weight behind his punch? What is meant by the word "weight" here is not some nice shiny d/bell, but rather some serious force, i.e. strength behind his punch. So speed that lacks some force behind it is worthless. Still, I haven't touched on the thread's title...yet.
So, to maximise on muscle recruitment, one needs to focus on velocity of movement in addition to focusing on maximal strength gains. Mmm, we're getting there....albeit slowly, so please bear with me.
OK now we're getting the picture that one element without the other, is not much good. Speed has to play a part if you want to gain strength, just as strength has to play a part if you want speed to be meaningful. Is that making sense to you Ausbb?
We gonna have to inject some power-specific training into our lifting program. What would we achieve by doing so I hear you ask? We'd have more neuromuscular control and more muscle fiber recruitment. And how’s that? Fast moves require faster impulses from the brain to the muscle, creating a higher rate of force development. That in turn equals to more strength again. A 100kg moved/pulled/pressed/lifted (say) in 2 seconds, requires more force than the same weight moved in more time than that. So the velocity of your movement speaks volumes of your strength capabilities in that instance.
Time to introduce something different to the usual strength routines, and that is speed-strength training, or rather, applying speed to certain compound exercises in your training. Now to enable you to do that, you’re gonna need to drop the percentages of your lifts to around the 60% mark of your 1RM, and perform about 5 reps with some real explosiveness behind them. You may even choose to take (say) 20 seconds break between those 5 reps, or continue right through, or try both approaches to see what works best for you in maintaining perfect form whilst taking advantage of this method.
Some may argue that of course I’ll be able to do such lifts with added speed (comfortably) since the intensity/load has been reduced. My reply to that would be sure, when compared with your usual way of lifting to maximise on strength, i.e. slow and controlled, this speed-strength addition to your routine has as its prime purpose, the maximising of motor unit recruitment instead. So give this speed-strength training a go if you like, and challenge your nerves, not just your muscles.
You see, it's gonna be a case of give and take, or put differently, what goes around comes around. So far so good, let's continue. Picture the late Bruce Lee for a second, picture him throwing one of his lightning fast punches or kicks. What do you think would have happened to his opponent's face if Bruce's velocity lacked the "punch" in his punches, or as they say, he had no weight behind his punch? What is meant by the word "weight" here is not some nice shiny d/bell, but rather some serious force, i.e. strength behind his punch. So speed that lacks some force behind it is worthless. Still, I haven't touched on the thread's title...yet.
So, to maximise on muscle recruitment, one needs to focus on velocity of movement in addition to focusing on maximal strength gains. Mmm, we're getting there....albeit slowly, so please bear with me.
OK now we're getting the picture that one element without the other, is not much good. Speed has to play a part if you want to gain strength, just as strength has to play a part if you want speed to be meaningful. Is that making sense to you Ausbb?
We gonna have to inject some power-specific training into our lifting program. What would we achieve by doing so I hear you ask? We'd have more neuromuscular control and more muscle fiber recruitment. And how’s that? Fast moves require faster impulses from the brain to the muscle, creating a higher rate of force development. That in turn equals to more strength again. A 100kg moved/pulled/pressed/lifted (say) in 2 seconds, requires more force than the same weight moved in more time than that. So the velocity of your movement speaks volumes of your strength capabilities in that instance.
Time to introduce something different to the usual strength routines, and that is speed-strength training, or rather, applying speed to certain compound exercises in your training. Now to enable you to do that, you’re gonna need to drop the percentages of your lifts to around the 60% mark of your 1RM, and perform about 5 reps with some real explosiveness behind them. You may even choose to take (say) 20 seconds break between those 5 reps, or continue right through, or try both approaches to see what works best for you in maintaining perfect form whilst taking advantage of this method.
Some may argue that of course I’ll be able to do such lifts with added speed (comfortably) since the intensity/load has been reduced. My reply to that would be sure, when compared with your usual way of lifting to maximise on strength, i.e. slow and controlled, this speed-strength addition to your routine has as its prime purpose, the maximising of motor unit recruitment instead. So give this speed-strength training a go if you like, and challenge your nerves, not just your muscles.
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