For some reason, probably due to the popularity of Westside Barbell’s training methods, the term “strength” has become all but synonymous with lifting maxes. Because of this, far too many athletes spend their energy pushing heavy singles in the squat and deadlift when their time and energy could be better spent elsewhere.
In truth, strength shouldn’t be defined or measured via a maximal lift, a maximal lift is just one expression of strength. More accurately, strength should be viewed as the maximal amount of tension one can generate under a set of given circumstances. In other words, the strength needed to squat 500 lbs is not necessarily the strength needed to long jump 25′, though they are similar in origin.
Breaking things down, and oversimplifying them somewhat, strength is based upon a number of trainable and untrainable factors. Untrainable factors include limb lengths and tendon attachment points and should be largely ignored as they are, obviously, untrainable. Trainable factors can be further split into two groups: physical factors and neural factors.
Physical factors include:
-Muscle cross sectional area (size)
-Muscle fiber type ratios
-Tendon size and strength (stiffness)
Neural factors include:
-Intramuscular coordination (including rate coding, RFD, and firing synchronization)
-Intermuscular coordination
-Various reflexes and counter-reflexes (myotatic stretch reflex, GTO response, etc.)
Lifting heavy is actually a skill unto itself. It takes a good deal of intermuscular and intramuscular coordination to handle heavy weights, and it’s true that lifting heavy does train RFD and rate coding, but there’s a hitch. The neurological gains associated with lifting heavy are specific to the movement in which they were gained. In other words, all the heavy squatting in the world won’t build up the type of coordination necessary to sprint fast or jump high. What it will do though is create excessive neural fatigue that will impact the rest of the athlete’s training.
Putting the whole concept into a nutshell, neurological gains do not transfer over between dissimilar movements, only physical gains are entirely general. What this means is that athletes should not seek to train their CNS in the weight room, only their muscles, and they should seek to do so in the most efficient manner possible so as to save energy for their sport specific training, where they develop the complimentary neural skills.
The main point I want to get across is that a maximal lift is not the end-all-be-all of strength. Just because someone raises their squat doesn’t mean they got stronger (out on the field), it’s entirely possible they just got more skilled at squatting. However, if their increase in strength was due not to an increase in skill, but an increase in muscle mass, then the gains will transfer onto the field. As long as the muscle is there, it doesn’t matter how heavy you can lift for a single.
To maximize muscle and tendon gain and minimize neural fatigue in the weight room, I would suggest that athletes keep their training intensity to between 65-80% 1RM and think more along the lines of hypertrophy rep ranges (6-12). This type of training provides enough loading to effectively build up the muscles and tendons, but not enough to create undue fatigue. More specifically, I would suggest 20-40 total reps (per exercise) over 1-2 main exercises once every 3-4 days. These weight room sessions will do plenty to train the necessary physical factors and will leave enough energy to train the neural factors out on the field.
To sum everything up, all tasks rely on the same musculature, but on different neurological programs. Build up the musculature in the weight room and do the programming on the field. Don’t wear yourself out trying for heavy singles, they’re as much skill as they are strength.
-RJ Nelsen