BOOK REVIEW - SCIENCE AND PRACTICE OF STRENGTH TRAINING

A commonly asked question among coaches and those that are interested in learning about training is “what book(s) should I read?”.

There are a ridiculous number of books out there, all with at least one bit of information you can leave with.

However, one of the first books I recommend to people is “Science and Practice of Strength Training” by Vladimir Zatsiorsky and William Kraemer.  Compared to “Supertraining” by Yuri Verkoshansky, the information in this book is easier to digest.  You won’t necessarily be scratching your head wondering what they’re talking about, which makes reading it much more enjoyable.

Like all books, there is a lot of stuff that you won’t necessarily need to store in your memory, however, here are some of my key takeaways from the “Science and Practice of Strength Training”:

1. Majority of the training of elite athletes falls between 70% and 80% (suggested that training around 80% is optimal for trained individuals, and 60% for untrained individuals).

2. Force-Velocity Relationship and how to use it to individualize the training of athletes.

3. The three methods of strength training (Maximal Effort, Dynamic Effort, Repeated Effort).

4. Difference between a Training max vs. Competition max (10-15% difference).

5. “The weakest point of a muscle group determines the heaviest constant weight that can be lifted”.

TRAINING BETWEEN 70-80%

There was plenty of evidence in the book about how the former Olympic lifters from the Soviet Union performed the majority of their training within the range of 70 to 80% of their competition maximum.  You may be thinking, “I thought they maxed out or went heavy all the time?”.  Yes, relative to their training max, which is estimated to be 10% less than your competition max.

I believe this is an important concept to take away because so often, athletes and lifters want to work up to weights close to their competitive maximums, when in reality, most of the progress comes from working between 70-80% of a 1RM.  This is probably the result of an optimal balance between intensity and volume, wherein this range you’re training at a high enough intensity to stimulate adaptation, but not too high to where volume is drastically reduced to ensure adequate recovery.

STORY TIME:

Last summer, my deadlift went up from 585lbs to 628lbs in 16-weeks and I didn’t pull over 75% of my competitive max.  I worked within the 50 to 75% range, using different variations to increase the difficulty of the load, and pushed my secondary exercises to build up my weak links.

	AVERAGE INTENSITY
Block 1	50%
Block 2	65%
Block 3	57%
Block 4	68%

FORCE-VELOCITY RELATIONSHIP

Force and velocity have an inverse relationship – as force increases, velocity decreases, and vice versa.  Picture this, if you throw a bowling ball (heavy object – high force), it won’t move too fast, but if you throw a baseball (light object – low force), it’ll move with a lot of speed.  The same concept applies to strength training and sport preparation.  The heavier the weight on a squat, the slower it will move.

A common priority for training athletes is to make them more powerful.  By definition, this means being able to produce more force at a faster rate (Power = Force x Velocity).  This can be accomplished by improving absolute strength (force) and/or speed (velocity).  With the understanding of this relationship between force and velocity and the needs/strengths of your athletes, you will be better able to individualize your athletes’ training to maximize power output.

THE THREE METHODS OF STRENGTH TRAINING

The three methods of strength training are: Maximal Effort, Dynamic Effort, and Repeated Effort (as well as Submaximal Effort).  Each method plays a critical role in the development of athletic ability.

Maximal Effort Method

Use of training loads close to a training maximum, resulting in improvements in INTRA and INTER-muscular coordination, reduction in CNS inhibition.

Dynamic Effort Method

Use of submaximal training loads trained with MAXIMAL INTENT to increase rate of force development and explosive strength.  This method is NOT used to get stronger or handle more weight.  This method is for teaching the nervous system to fire the muscles quickly and improving the velocity end of the force-velocity curve.

Repeated Effort Method

“A motor unit not fatigued is a motor unit not trained” – Zatsiorsky

Involves the use of submaximal training loads trained to FAILURE to fatigue and train all motor units.  This differentiates it from the Submaximal Effort Method, which involves similar training loads, but without being performed to failure.

If I were to summarize it as simply as possible:

Maximal Effort to get stronger; Dynamic Effort to get faster; Repeated Effort to build the “armor” and prevent injuries.  Sounds like a complete athlete to me…

TRAINING MAX VS. COMPETITION MAX

This is a HUGELY important concept that people often forget about.  The difference between the two is the level of psychological arousal, with the competition max involving a high level.  A training max is essentially something you should be able to do on any given day without much psyching up.  This is why I’ve steered away from using tools to jack me up (ex. High dose of caffeine, ammonia salts) during training.  It essentially gives me a false representation of my abilities that day and taxes the body more, requiring a greater recovery demand.

I believe a lot of people (myself earlier on) run the risk of overtraining themselves because they don’t take this into consideration.  Either they base their training percentages off their competition max, which may be too heavy for that specific training day, or they constantly try to push their competition max in training.

In the book, it is mentioned that our training max is roughly 10% lower than our competition max.  This is the same percentage Jim Wendler uses to determine his athletes’ weights in the 5/3/1 System and is something I’ve started implementing with my own training percentages.

Again, this relates to the point of the majority of training happens in the 70-80% range…Most of the time, weights don’t need to be maximal.

WEAK POINT TRAINING

“The weakest point of a muscle group determines the

heaviest constant weight that can be lifted”.

Your abs weak when squatting? Train your abs.

You get stuck at the top of the bench press?  Build strength in the triceps.

This concept also applies to physical qualities.

You’re strong, but not very explosive? Place more emphasis on Dynamic Effort training.

Not only will improving your weak points improve your strength or output ability, but it also minimizes the risk of injuries, as the two are connected.

Weak adductors on a hockey player?  Higher risk of injuring their groin.

Overdeveloped quadriceps compared to hamstrings?  Most likely are going to suffer from some knee pain.

“Strength is never a weakness,

and weakness is never a strength.” – Mark Bell.

There you go.  No need to buy the book…

Just kidding, obviously.  There is a lot more valuable information in the book, but these were the key points that stuck with me and have helped shape my training philosophy.

Train hard folks.

Coach Max

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