So, here we are in the early stages of 2017 and it has been busy.  What's happened to make me so busy you may wonder, well - 

• More regular 1:1 clients
• Regular articles are being written and shared (which you can find here and here)
• I have created another branch to the business - 'Daniel Lee Media', which will focus upon the content creation side of things - ie, articles, infographics, videos etc. 
• I, and some of my clients, and basically the whole gym, are competing at this month's Team Challenge. 

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​I want to expand a bit on that last point. I'm competing but I've spent the last year injured so I'm just looking forward to a return to the platform.  My clients are also competing, well 3 of them are. Their team '2 Guys, a Girl, and a Gym,' consists of Charles Jupiter, Karen Molden and Ben Cook, who are all looking to push on after their great performances in the North West Novice Competition in October of 2016. 

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The video above only shows examples of Charles' and Karen's squats but I can assure you Ben is doing well also. The three of them look as though they are on their way to some good competition personal bests. However, the Team competitions are always a good, relaxed day so they will at least enjoy the day immensely. 

Onwards and upwards from all here at 'Daniel Lee Online'! Thanks for reading. 

​Speed Squats or Jump Squats:
This is simple, put a bar on your back (with relatively light weight), squat down and then squat up as fast as you can, for even better power output do a little jump. Just make sure you’re strong enough to land safely, if you haven’t learned to jump and land properly yet then you should leave the jump squats for now. At this point the reason for doing these pre squat should be pretty self-explanatory.
Your only job now is to pick the right power exercise for your training session. The rules for power are simple, quality over quantity. The goal here is not to become fatigued. So 3 sets of 3 reps performed as explosively as possible would be a good place to start. The key is intent. There’s no point half-arsing this, put everything you’ve got into each rep and rest plenty between sets.

 Strength
We’re finally onto the meat and potatoes of training, as the saying goes “there’s a thousand ways to skin a cat”, the same can be said for strength training. There’s still debate as to whether a percentage based or RPE (Rate of Perceived Exertion) based program is superior. Personally I think it depends on you as the lifter.

If knowing what numbers you need to hit before going into the session motivates you and fires you up then maybe percentage based programs are best for you. However if you prefer to adjust your training session by how you feel at the time then RPE could be the way to go. If you see 5 x 5 @85% and think “oh I don’t know if I have that in me today, I’ve hardly eaten anything and I slept like crap” this is where autoregulation (RPE) comes in really handy. But more on this another time.
The important take away for today is that as long as there is progressive overload there will be strength gains. So as long as you’re increasing the weight on the bar, the number of reps you can do with that weight or increase the number of sets you can do, you will get stronger.

I've included a great article by Eric Cressey in the references, in the article he explains what he has called the Stage System, which utilises a percentage based model but could be altered to fit in with RPE quite easily. This would be a really good place to start if you’re new to strength training, my advice if you’re a newbie is pay attention the bit about people who need more size. You shouldn’t be playing with super high percentages just yet.
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How much and How often
One of the most frequently asked questions I get is “how many reps or sets should I do of that? How often should I train”, unfortunately the only truly accurate answer I can give to that question is “it depends”.

Those are probably the two words that I say the most (other than “fuck sake” or “coffee”).
It totally depends on your goals. If you’re looking to build size you’re probably going to want to do some heavy (85%+) work and then mostly moderate (65-85%) for higher reps. If you’re after muscular endurance you’ll probably be hanging out in the 50-70% range, if your main goal is strength you’ll probably be staying north of 80%. Now with any goal you should always include a little bit of everything you will of course have a focus.

The only advice I can give with absolute certainty is that frequency is the magic bullet. The standard method of hitting a split routine that involves annihilating one muscle group per session might work for some but it can often take days to recover from and it may not be optimal.

We know that the most important thing when it comes to getting bigger and stronger is progressive overload, increasing volume over time. Now what if I told you that you could increase training volume per week by doing less in each session? Surely that’s an oxymoron, surely I’m a moron for even entertaining such thinking!

Hear me out, say you do 6 exercises for quads, 30 reps on each (3 sets of 10 reps for example) in one day. That’s 180 reps in one session to recover from, you may only be capable of doing this once a week. What if you only did 2 exercises for quads but you did this 4 times a week. Say you did 30 reps again on each, that’s only 60 reps per session but multiply that by the 4 sessions and you’ve gone and worked up to 240 reps for that week. Holy gods of gains! You’re doing less work per session for each muscle group but more over the course of the week. More gains that are easier to recover from between training sessions. This is why I advocate a full body or alternating lower body and upper body training approach.

You may be thinking that full body training sessions take forever and you simply don’t have the time. Again I have the solution for you, supersets and tri-sets.

Pick the right pairings and you’ll be a muscle building, fat shedding machine. Personal favourites of mine are chin ups paired with split squats, Front squats paired with single arm dumbbell rows, bench press with single leg deadlifts and deadlifts (dumbbell or trap bar) paired with one arm dumbbell shoulder press. Spice things up with tri-sets by including mobility drills, activation work, core work or maybe even speed/power work. The key is to not let it become circuit training. The goal here is strength, you do not want to be blowing out of your arse if you want to be performing at your highest level. Rest between supersets and don’t rush through it. This brings us nicely to the last part of your session.​

Conditioning

We get so fixated on people that ‘like’ our posts or think we are amazing for getting a gym rep PB. Those people are not going to be there when shit hits the fan. We are a generation of social media users, frantically seeking followers, ‘OH, if I use this hashtag I will get 20 more likes!’ I’ve been that person, you’ve been that person. We have all been that person. Being narrow minded is nearly natural to us now.

I had my first powerlifting competition last weekend in which I had been training for a year.
I had a shaky start on squats only taking my 1st squat of 110kg. Bench was going well, I got 2 of my attempts and went in for a conservative 50kg lift on my 3rd. I was well braced, strong set up. The best set-up I had achieved in months. Brought the bar down and pop, my shoulder popped out of its socket and I thought my entire world was over.
All the work, the 5am alarms to make it to the gym before I headed to work or university. The missing dinners, parties and holidays because I was training or dieting or just wanted to keep my focus. Gone in a flash.

I lost a lot of ‘friends’ this year and I gained many true friends. I had shit training days and I had amazing ones. I had never put so much effort into anything.
That initial crunch, reminded me of being 15 and tearing the ligaments in my ankle at a netball match and never playing at a national level again. I thought it was game over.

I came off that bench and instantly said fuck that, I’m popping it back in. I wasn’t going to get the total I’d worked for. I wasn’t going to qualify for teams or competitions. All of a sudden the numbers didn’t matter anymore.

Powerlifting is about numbers, but it’s also about self-improvement. Yes, physical improvements but it can mentally save you. I had nothing to gain from finishing the competition in terms of the competition and the sport. But I had to prove to myself that I could gain a total. No matter how small, I knew I could.
My coach and my team said I had no need to. I didn’t need to prove myself to anyone. They were right I didn’t and I wasn’t. I thought I had already known my own strength from my numbers. I was wrong. So very wrong. Anyone reading this, if you are powerlifting because you saw someone else hit 100kg more than you, good luck progressing.

I was gutted. I felt like the world didn’t take hard work and reward it. I felt sorry for myself and I mean really sorry.

Then I got chatting to the other lifters. One was a M2 (aged 50–60) in my weight class (-72kg) and she said, this sport is all about longevity. You’ll look back on this at 55 years old and laugh. That woman went on to win the weight class over all age groups. It’s a marathon not a sprint. So what if 300 people like your pb squat in the gym? Will they be there when you drop the weight and lose a competition? No. But you know who will be there? The real people who love you and are there no matter what happens.

I was over-whelmed by the amount of people that called me and messaged me to check I was okay. I spent a year thinking about numbers on a barbell and forgetting about the people who had always been there for me. Always free to talk to me or let me moan about how hard I found my last training session.

In the end, I went on to deadlift 85kg @ 69kg bw, in a sumo stance, with an awkward alternate grip. It was and will always be the proudest moment of my life. For 2 reasons.

​Reason 1. I did it because I put in the work and I was the one making the most of a shit situation. Giving up is never an option.

Reason 2. I did it for me.
This injury, is a blessing in disguise. Because I could not give a flying fuck who likes my videos or thinks I’m the greatest thing since sliced bread. I give a fuck about what I think of myself. And right now, I am damn proud of me. Numbers are important, they always will be. But they are not everything. Do not wait until you hurt yourself to realise that.

​About the author - 
Rebekah is a 21 year old, Northern Irish student studying for a Masters in Journalism, as well as a -72kg powerlifter. 
You can find her on Instagram at - 
https://www.instagram.com/onearmreb/

Is Speed Work useful for Powerlifters?

​Speed training is any form of training used to develop maximal velocity, or how fast one can move. In powerlifting, ‘dynamic effort training’ is a method used in many training programs with the goal of moving the bar as fast as possible, typically using 50-75% of an athletes 1 rep max. The training method was popularised by Louis Simmons at Westside Barbell, the theory being that speed is an important factor in developing maximal strength. It is often stated that speed training increases the rate of force development, thereby allowing an athlete to move heavier loads with more velocity and with more explosiveness. Often accommodating resistance is added to the barbell by using bands and chains, which help an athlete to accelerate the bar harder, inhibiting a deceleration effect. The dynamic method has been shown to successfully improve a wide variety of sports that have an explosive component, allowing athletes to produce force much more quickly. In powerlifting, speed training certainly has been applied incredibly successfully, with countless lifters swearing by the method and a number of world record holders preaching the benefits of dynamic effort training. But the question is, is it an optimal way to develop force and build a huge total on the platform? It is incredibly important to be able to thoroughly analyse any idea or theory, however popular, to see if it stands up to scientific critique. This article aims to achieve that.   
Force = mass x acceleration
This biomechanics equation dictates that when a mass is moved quickly, more force is produced. A powerlifters main goal is to produce the maximal amount of force. Therefore, dynamic effort training seems to be a very beneficial method of training in theory. Speed is a component of maximal force after all. Lets have a look at what the research tells us….
In the Science and Practice of Strength Training, Zatsiorsky stated that maximal muscle force production takes approximately four tenths of a second (.4s) to achieve. Based on this analysis, it does not seem that maximal force takes much time to achieve at all. This certainly would not be the case in something in a plyometric movement that generally last less than .25s, however based on these findings you would expect maximal force to be able to be achieved when using the dynamic/speed training method. However, this data seems to only apply to single joint movements, and may not apply to compound lifts like the squat, bench and deadlift. In further research, Kawamori et al analysed peak force production in a series of different pulling movements, and found that peak force development is attained at around .205s at loads of 60% of an athletes repetition max (a percentage that’s commonly used during dynamic effort training). This data does seem to support the benefits of dynamic effort training allowing high force outputs to be produced.

However, when it comes to force production, mass will always win.

When we look at recent research that has been conducted using deadlifts from the ground (as specific to powerlifting as possible) Swinton et al found that maximum force cannot be reached at ‘dynamic effort’ percentages. The paper found that force creeps higher and higher as load increases, indicating that although velocity is increased at a lower percentage, adding mass is more superior than increasing velocity to elicit maximal force production. Other studies have since validated the findings that peak force production is associated with load, and not bar speed. In practice, it seems that one just cannot accelerate the bar fast enough to match the force development that is produced in a maximal lift. Indeed, a bar moving with more velocity will always produce more force than a bar with less velocity, but only if the load on the bar is the same. As soon as more weight is added, force production is indefinitely always higher. Max weight beats acceleration hands down when it comes to peak force.

As you can see from the table above taken from the Swinton et al paper, as load increases, so does peak force.

Technical Prowess is not necessarily developed

It is often thought that with lighter weights in the dynamic effort percentage range, good technique can be developed. This is definitely true, but as a powerlifter, it is not important to maintain good technique at lower percentages, only during the three maximal attempts you have on the platform at 90%+ of your 1RM. No one gets rewarded for how good their sets look in the warm up room, only how good their technique holds up under maximal load. It is common to see lifters have flawless technique at 60-80% of their 1RM, but as soon as they get above this threshold, strength weaknesses begin to show. This is why I am such a big proponent of heavy singles at above 85% of an athlete’s 1RM to be regular place in a powerlifter’s program. The motor unit recruitment is entirely different at these weights, and will challenge an athlete to maintain flawless technique. After all, the better an athletes technique at maximal load, the more muscle they will be able to recruit, and thus the higher amount of force they will be able to produce. It is not uncommon to see a lifter grind a lift for up to 6-8 seconds and end up completing it due to zero technique breakdown. I highly doubt that doing triples at 60% of their 1RM was the main contributor to their ability to do this. Specificity is key, and that doesn’t just apply to exercise selection, but also to intensity. Heavy singles are much more specific to a powerlifter, and are far more superior at producing force and developing efficient technique than lighter loads moved quickly.
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Many athletes will greatly benefit from speed training, but probably not powerlifters

​When we look at the force-velocity relationship, we see that there is an inverse relationship between force and velocity. The higher the force produced, the slower the velocity, and vice versa. In order to maximise power (the rate of which an athlete can produce force) a combination of speed training and maximal strength training appears to elicit the best results. This allows an athlete to apply force at a higher velocity, giving them a quicker first step, allowing them to throw further, hit harder, and jump higher. When it comes to solely developing maximal strength however, it is less of a consideration. Although there is a time limit that maximal force can be sustained for, this time component is limited by your ATP and Creatine phosphate stores, which can last up to 10-12 seconds at maximal intensity. It is incredibly rare to see an athlete grind a lift for more than 10 seconds, so this will almost never be a consideration for a raw Powerlifter. Even if a powerlifter took a long time to reach peak force during a lift (studies show it doesn’t take very long) they would still almost always be able to comfortably complete the lift in this 10 second window. A focus on developing maximal force through heavier loads will thus always be much more beneficial than trying to improve the rate at which you produce force through speed training with lighter loads. 
 
‘Speed training’ may not be optimal, but ‘submaximal’ training is
 
We’ve established that speed or ‘dynamic’ training performed in the traditional manner does not seem to sufficiently help to aid maximal force anywhere near as much as heavier loads does. Are there some ways we can take the principles of dynamic training and apply them to a powerlifting program, namely submaximal training?
 
Hypertrophy
 
Increasing the cross sectional area of a muscle is thought to enhance a muscles force-generating capacity. Thus, getting bigger gives an athlete the potential to get stronger. Studies have shown a high correlation between muscle size and powerlifting performance, making it essential that powerlifters incorporate hypertrophy training into their program. Increasing training volume over time and accumulating metabolic fatigue appear to be the biggest drivers of muscular hypertrophy. Using the submaximal percentages prescribed in speed training is an excellent choice here. Training with submaximal loads at 50-75% allows you to accumulate a lot of training volume in a short period of time without accumulating too much fatigue, making it an excellent choice for improving muscular size. The only thing that differs from ‘speed’ training is the number of reps performed – 6-12 reps are suggested as this allows you to also take advantage of the benefits of metabolic fatigue through the increased time under tension.
 
Active recovery days/weeks
 
Powerlifting training can be very physically demanding, particularly when training volumes are incredibly high. Active recovery days at loads of 50-75% of an athletes’ 1RM for sets of 2-3 can help to reduce some of this structural stress that an athlete accumulates when doing heavier weight for high volumes, so an athlete can train harder in subsequent training days, whilst still being provided with a light stimulus to prevent detraining and maintain sharp motor patterns. Active recovery weeks or ‘deload’ weeks can help an athlete to recover between hard training weeks, but also can serve as a way to elicit a supercompensation effect. Supercompensation is the product of a planned period of lower volume/intensity training, and results in an increase in performance capacity. This is especially important when an athlete is approaching competition, where absolute strength needs to be maximised. Thus, many powerlifters reduce their training loads to 50-75% of their 1RM after an overreaching phase in order to drop the fatigue associated with hard training, and elicit a supercompensation effect ready for competition. This is called a ‘taper’, and is a topic for another article. But for now, submaximal training in lower rep ranges can help an athlete recover between training sessions, between training weeks, and optimally prepare for competition.
 
Accommodating resistance to target sticking points
 
There are certain instances where bands and chains could help an athlete to improve their ability to accelerate the bar at a sticking point in their lift. In this instance, developing speed may have merit. If you are weak through a certain range of motion, acceleration will be slower through that range of motion relative to the preceding and proceeding ranges of motion in the lift. If an athlete’s sticking point is at a pretty common place in the lift (ie right at the bottom of a squat, off the floor in a deadlift, and off the chest in a bench press) then just simply getting stronger will be the best approach to take as this is the common strength curve in a raw lifter. However, if an athlete seems to slow down at unusual points of the lift (for example, at lockout in the squat and deadlift, or half way up in a squat) then accommodating resistance may allow the athlete to recruit more motor units and generate more force through this sticking point, thus improving their ability to make it through this sticking point. I would recommend that an athlete use’s slightly higher percentages than ‘dynamic’ percentages when using accommodating resistance – 70-90% of their 1RM. This allows them to get the benefits of increased acceleration, but at a higher force production.

Work capacity training​

Submaximal training can be a great way of building special work capacity for a powerlifter. Developing a good base of specific conditioning is very important for a powerlifting athlete to improve their aerobic system. The more efficient the aerobic system, the greater the athletes lactate buffer system. This is important because an efficient lactate buffer system can help an athlete recover optimally between bouts of alactic exercise (i.e. strength training). It allows an athlete to tolerate higher volumes in a single session, recover optimally between training sessions, and perform well during long days of competition. Aerobic conditioning is hugely neglected in powerlifting, but the truth is it’s something to be taken into account if an athlete wishes to tolerate high levels of training stress and be able to recover efficiently. Performing submaximal lifts with controlled rest periods of 30 seconds – 2 minutes is a great way to improve specific work capacity whilst also increasing your weekly training volume on the main lifts. This method is best performed at 50-75% of an athlete’s 1RM, 2-5 reps, 10-12 sets. This is not the sort of training that should be the main focus of a powerlifter’s program as competition draws closer, but can be a great addition further out from competition to build work capacity and training volume.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGpVXfQUFEw

Above is a video of Chad Wesley Smith demonstrating how he utilises work capacity training in the squat.

Takeaways

• Powerlifting is a simple discipline. High force and efficient technique = bigger lifts.
  
• Submaximal training definitely has its place in a powerlifting program, just not with the goal of solely moving the bar at high speeds.
  
• Accommodating resistance has its place in certain situations.
  
• Submaximal training certainly has its place for hypertrophy, fatigue management and developing work capacity. But when it comes to maximising force production, regularly lifting heavy loads is the way to go, also allowing an athlete to reap the neurological benefits of strength training, and practice perfecting technique in the most specific manner possible.
  
• The rate of force development is very important to most athletes whose sport has an explosive component. However the speed at which one produces max force is not important at maximal loads.
  
• The intent to move the bar as quickly as possible should always be present, from your warm up sets to your working sets. But it appears that in most cases, making speed training a priority of a powerlifting program is not the best approach if you want to have optimal success on the platform.
  

About Matthew Brown

I’m a Strength & Conditioning/personal development blogger currently studying Strength & Conditioning at Uclan University. I have a huge passion for strength training, personal growth and philosophy. My content aims to inspire you to develop mentally and physically, under the barbell and beyond.

Contact - 

http://www.lifeandlifting.com/

https://www.facebook.com/Life-Lifting-517963418368213/?__mref=message_bubble

References:

Brechue, W.F. and Abe, T., 2002. The role of FFM accumulation and skeletal muscle architecture in powerlifting performance. European Journal of Applied Physiology, 86(4), pp.327-336.

Francis, Charlie. The Charlie Francis Training System. www.charliefrancis.com.1992.

Harman, E., Baechle, T.R., Earle, R.W. and Champaign, I.L., 2000. Essentials of strength training and conditioning. Essentials of strength training and conditioning.

Kawamori, N., Rossi, S.J., Justice, B.D., Haff, E.E., Pistilli, E.E., O'BRYANT, H.S., Stone, M.H. and Haff, G.G., 2006. Peak force and rate of force development during isometric and dynamic mid-thigh clean pulls performed at various intensities. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 20(3), pp.483-491.

Swinton, P.A., Stewart, A., Agouris, I., Keogh, J.W. and Lloyd, R., 2011. A biomechanical analysis of straight and hexagonal barbell deadlifts using submaximal loads. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 25(7), pp.2000-2009.

Zatsiorsky, V.M. and Kraemer, W.J., 2006. Science and practice of strength training. Human Kinetics.

Related Articles:

http://www.jtsstrength.com/articles/2013/03/25/why-speed-work-doesnt-work/

https://bretcontreras.com/dynamic-effort-training-bs-or-legit/

​The information in this article is aimed at lifters new to the gym who have very little experience when it comes to exercising.
So let’s say you walk into the gym, it’s day one and you’re feeling confident. You should totally go up to the free-weight area and start lifting heavy things right? You’ve watched a load of YouTube videos so you know what you’re doing right? Wrong. Dead wrong.
Right now you haven’t earned the right to touch heavy weights. In fact for the next few weeks you shouldn’t be touching any weights at all. After all you don’t even know how to move properly yet and that’s key. You need to be able to move properly using just your bodyweight before you can start loading those movements.
 
So what are the fundamental movements you need to know?
In no particular order we have:

• The Bend

This refers to the bending of the knees in exercises like the squat or lunge.

• The Hinge

This is what your hips do during a deadlift, good morning or kettlebell swing.

• The Horizontal Push

Exercises that fall under this category are the push up, the bench press and the dumbbell press.

• The Horizontal Pull

Bent over rows, cable rows and TRX are all fantastic exercises that would be classed as horizontal pull movements.

• The Vertical Push

Dumbbell pressing and military pressing are two fantastic vertical push movements. Basically any time you are pushing a weight above your head that would be a vertical push.

• The Vertical Pull

Last but by no means least we have the vert pull. Pull ups/chin ups and lat pulldown are two examples of vertical pulling and are probably the ones you will do the most.
 
You’ll notice there are no biceps curls in that list and for good reason. For now you simply don’t need them. The learning curve for isolation exercises is so small you don’t need much practice to get them right. These larger compound movements however require a lot more coordination and understanding of what you are trying to achieve.
My advice would be to master the following exercises:

If your gym has a TRX great, crack on. If not then you’re going to want to set yourself up in a squat rack or even better the smith machine. In my opinion the smith machine is garbage and this is one of the few legitimate uses for it, this way you’re not taking up a squat rack. What you’re going to do is set the bar or handles at chest height, grab hold of said bar/handles with either an overhand or underhand grip. Which grip you choose doesn’t really matter for now. From here you’re going to walk forward so that your legs are straight, arms are straight and you are hanging from the bar in a reverse plank/push up position. All you have to do now is, keeping yourself in a nice straight line from head to toe, pull your chest towards the bar and then lower yourself back down.


Okay so I haven’t got any safe way (handstand push ups are not for beginners) for you to do any vertical pushing without using a weight. The safest way to get practicing this movement is either with a shoulder press machine or using cables. If you’re going to use cables I would recommend being in a kneeling position.


Once you have mastered these exercises you can progress onto loading them with resistance bands if you have access to them or dumbbells/kettlebells. When it comes to core work, for now, keep things simple. Front and side planks are your friends. Do them, they will make your core a lot stronger and maybe even help with hip mobility (look up “Dean Somerset hips” on YouTube).
That’s it. That’s the basics. I will follow this article up soon with how best to progress from this point but this should do the trick for your first few weeks of training.

Author Bio –

I’m a personal trainer and coach based in Liverpool, England. I have been working in the fitness industry for a little under 2 and a half years, in both commercial and private gyms, specialising in strength training and fat loss. I have experience with training a wide range of clients from students, to young mothers - post pregnancy, to middle aged and elderly clients. 
For information about 1-1 or online coaching services contact me via email at [email protected]

Common Powerlifting Programming Mistakes
Efficient program design is crucial in making sure that powerlifting athletes not only optimise their performance on the day of competition, but also to ensure that they make consistent progress over time, minimising plateaus and continuously adding weight to the barbell. There are a number of programming errors that I frequently see in powerlifting program design, therefore this article aims to shine a light on a number of different areas where powerlifting athletes go wrong in their training, and how to begin training in a more optimal fashion to maximise long term strength gains.
Neglecting Hypertrophy
Gaining strength can be achieved through neurological adaptations, such as developing better inter-muscular co-ordination and more efficient motor unit recruitment/firing rate. Put simply, practicing the lifts more frequently will bring about plenty of strength gains. However, after a certain amount of time, these neurological adaptations to strength training subside, and one must make muscular hypertrophy a goal of their training in order to continually forge more gains in strength.

Muscular Hypertrophy is defined as an increase in muscular size, most commonly measured by analysing the cross sectional area of a muscle. Increasing the cross sectional area of a muscle is thought to enhance a muscles force-generating capacity, and plenty of studies have successfully identified a very strong relationship between a muscle size, and its ability to exert force. The increase in size of a muscle has also been associated with having a small effect on a muscles moment arm, which could further enhance strength, particularly in larger muscle groups. As we can see, muscular hypertrophy is an incredibly important factor to consider when designing a training program.
How do we train for hypertrophy? Studies have shown muscular hypertrophy has been shown to be achieved through high training volumes.
Training volume is defined as the total workload performed over a given amount of time. Volume = weight x reps x sets.
In order to elicit hypertrophy, an athlete must consistently increase the total amount of workload they perform over time. As the body adapts to stimulus incredibly well, an athlete must continuously increase this stimulus to keep making progress. In short, if you aren’t pushing the boundaries with the amount of training volume you perform, continued hypertrophy will not occur, meaning you will not continue to provide the body with more potential to build strength.

Traditional rep range parameters for hypertrophy have been prescribed between 6-12, the theory being that one can take advantage of a higher time under tension and thus an increased metabolic fatigue, eliciting a superior hypertrophic response. However recent studies have shown that when volume is accounted for (total training volume is exactly the same between two groups) hypertrophy is very similar. So when training for hypertrophy, rep ranges are less important than ensuring the athlete performs high volumes of overall workload (weight x reps x sets). Personally, during my hypertrophy phases of training, I prefer to use higher rep ranges, 6-10 mostly. I feel that this allows you to perform a higher workload in a shorter amount of time, and the lower intensity (% or 1rm) used in higher rep ranges prevents too much fatigue from being accumulated during this phase of training.

There is plenty of evidence to suggest that more muscle mass brings about better powerlifting performance. Literature has shown that a larger cross sectional area of muscle in individuals is a very effective indicator of powerlifting performance, and more successful powerlifters typically have higher degrees of muscle mass. Despite this, I frequently see powerlifting programs that do not directly aim to increase muscle size. In recent years, we have seen a rise in popularity of Bulgarian-style programming, which typically promotes very high frequency with relatively low overall volume. Although high frequency is a brilliant thing for powerlifters (as I’ll discuss later in the article), and these programs are no doubt beneficial for certain periods of time in a powerlifters overall plan, I feel that athletes are selling themselves short if they solely devote all of their training to this approach. Training blocks predominantly devoted to high volume/hypertrophy are a great way to elicit a lot of muscle growth in the early phases of an athletes training program. This new muscle can then be trained to produce high amounts of force later in an athletes program as they approach competition or a test day, where overall volume lowers and intensity (%1rm) increases.

Not Enough Exercise Variation

Powerlifting is an incredibly specific sport, with only three competitive movements. Thus, as will all athletic program design, specificity must be a primary focus for the athlete. This means a lot of training volume dedicated to the squat, bench press and deadlift. However, a program can actually be overly-specific, placing so much focus on the competitive movements that athletes neglect other training that can greatly enhance their strength potential. With overly specific programming, we see the athlete place too much focus on specific strength as oppose to general strength. This is also a predominant feature of Bulgarian style programming. Again, this isn’t to say that Bulgarian programming is innately bad, however if it is not blended with other training methods over the course of an athletes annual plan, athletes may be selling themselves short on taking advantage of the benefits of training variation.

Variation is defined as ‘The manipulation of training variables to prevent staleness and injury and to magnify the long term adaptive response to training’.

In powerlifting terms, exercise variation will predominantly come in the form of developing general strength. Developing general strength should always be performed with the predominant goal of improving the sport specific movements, in this case the squat, bench and deadlift. This prevents the athlete from violating specificity, and ensures that the training program has a clear focus of enhancing the competition lifts. This is where assistance training becomes an important part of a powerlifters program. Assistance work is often characterised as exercises directed at improving movement strength. For example, if you frequently miss your squat right at the bottom of the lift, implementing pause squats may help you to build a lot of static and supportive strength in the hole by eliminating the stretch reflex and helping to maintain tightness. Similarly, if you often miss bench presses right off the chest, long pause training can help to develop strength in this position in exactly the same way. This is where individual differences come into play. There are plenty of brilliant assistance movements out there- it is up to the athlete/their coach to decide where their weak points lie and to implement relevant assistance exercises accordingly.

In addition to performing movements to target weak areas of the competition lifts themselves, exercises can also be added to athletes training programs to target specific muscle groups that are weak or underactive. We can describe these as supplementary exercises. As they are not as competition specific as assistance exercises, they are best performed during earlier phases of an athletes training program to promote muscular balance and postural integrity. For example, an athlete may have weak triceps in their bench press, in which case tricep-specific work such as close grip bench pressing/skull crushers can be added to address this issue. Similarly, an athlete may have weak glutes, which may be affecting their hip extension strength in the squat and deadlift. Exercises like weighted glute bridges/cable pull throughs would be a brilliant option here.

Consistently performing competition specific exercises without applying exercise variation in the form of assistance/supplementary exercises can massively hinder an athletes long-term strength potential.  Not only will weaknesses remain weaknesses, but the athlete will likely hit plateaus due to the adaptive resistance associated with performing the same exercises over and over again. We will hinder our ability to build new functional muscle mass and strengthen connective tissues that may be hindering our competitive lifts, and will hit technical plateau’s caused by failure to address movement weaknesses.

It can also increase our likelihood of injury. The competition lifts emphasise the development of a lot of larger musculature, however in many cases neglect smaller muscle groups that can play an important role in posture and muscular balance. For example, muscle groups like lower trapezius and serratus anterior play a key role in promoting shoulder girdle health. Due to the fact that the humerus moves independently of the scapula during a bench press, these muscles receive no activation. Consistent bench pressing without addressing these crucial muscles could result in shoulder injuries. A powerlifting program must give some focus to musculature that is needed to maintain overall muscular balance, as this will allow them to perform the main lifts at higher training volumes without injury occurring.

Neglecting specificity altogether​

As mentioned above, specificity is crucial for every athlete, especially powerlifters, given the incredibly specific nature of the sport. Specificity needs to be the main focus of an athletes training program, particularly as competition draws closer. Just as an athlete can rely too heavily on specificity and neglect weaknesses, many powerlifting programs often neglect specificity to the point where it becomes detrimental to performance. We often see this in programs such as Westside barbell templates, which often involve rotating exercises on a weekly basis, with very limited training volume being accumulated on the competition lifts themselves. This leaves the lifter never actually developing technical prowess on their competition specific skills, and often spending a lot of time performing exercises that arguably don’t even have high transfer to the main lifts. Thus, there is a fine balance between providing enough specificity to ensure the athlete makes the most specific training adaptations possible, however enough variation so the athlete does not stagnate from movement inefficiencies and muscular imbalance.

In powerlifting terms, performing a one rep set, to competition specific technique requirements whilst wearing competition specific equipment would allow an athlete to optimise specificity. Although this should be more emphasised as competition draws closer, it is also a good idea to keep this sort of training in a powerlifters training program year round. This allows the athlete to consistently work on developing technical prowess under heavy load (85% + of their 1RM) whilst taking advantage of the neurological adaptations to heavy strength training. This is a valuable skill for powerlifters, therefore completely neglecting this strength altogether may result in a de-training effect. Many training programs utilise this method of training even during hypertrophy/volume phases of training with great success. For example: an athlete will often work up to a heavy, submaximal single (in the 85-95% range) before dropping down in weight to perform their remaining working sets of volume.

Not enough frequency​

Several studies have examined the effect of training frequency on muscular size and strength gains. When volume is controlled for, higher frequency programs appear to elicit more strength and hypertrophic adaptations. It is theorised that this is because protein synthesis is peaked more frequently - which causes more muscle growth. As we’ve already discussed, a larger muscle has the potential to exert more force. In addition, training with a higher frequency allows an athlete to get more practice at performing competition specific movements, which will improve neuromuscular adaptations and promote more strength gains. A study on Norwegian powerlifters revealed this exact result. It found that athletes who divided their training program over six sessions made more muscle size and strength gains than those who only divided their training over three.

Put simply, dividing training volume over more frequent training sessions is very beneficial for a powerlifter, as long as volume is kept in check. The key point here is that volume must spread over the course of more sessions, as oppose to just increased. Dramatically increasing your volume and frequency simultaneously is likely to quickly hinder your recovery capacity.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this article on just a few different common mistakes that are often found in powerlifting programs. It is also very important to mention two of the most important factors that will dictate an athlete’s long-term strength progress – sleep and food! If these two things are not kept in check, the most optimal program in the world will not elicit optimal results.

About Matthew Brown


 
I’m a Strength & Conditioning/personal development blogger currently studying Strength & Conditioning at Uclan University. I have a huge passion for strength training, personal growth and philosophy. My content aims to inspire you to develop mentally and physically, under the barbell and beyond.

Contact - 

http://www.lifeandlifting.com/

https://www.facebook.com/Life-Lifting-517963418368213/?__mref=message_bubble


Further Reading - 

Brechue, W.F. and Abe, T., 2002. The role of FFM accumulation and skeletal muscle architecture in powerlifting performance. European Journal of Applied Physiology, 86(4), pp.327-336.

Bryanton, M.A., Kennedy, M.D., Carey, J.P. and Chiu, L.Z., 2012. Effect of squat depth and barbell load on relative muscular effort in squatting. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 26(10), pp.2820-2828.

Erskine, R.M., Fletcher, G. and Folland, J.P., 2014. The contribution of muscle hypertrophy to strength changes following resistance training. European journal of applied physiology, 114(6), pp.1239-1249.

Lovera, M. and Keogh, J., 2015. Anthropometric profile of powerlifters: differences as a function of bodyweight class and competitive success. The Journal of sports medicine and physical fitness, 55(5), pp.478-487.

MacDougall, J.D., Gibala, M.J., Tarnopolsky, M.A., MacDonald, J.R., Interisano, S.A. and Yarasheski, K.E., 1995. The time course for elevated muscle protein synthesis following heavy resistance exercise. Canadian journal of applied physiology, 20(4), pp.480-486.

Raastad T, Kirketeig, A, Wolf, D, Paulsen G. Powerlifters improved strength and muscular adaptations to a greater extent when equal total training volume was divided into 6 compared to 3 training sessions per week (abstract). Book of abstracts, 17th annual conference of the ECSS, Brugge 4-7 July, 2012.

Schoenfeld, B.J., 2013. Potential mechanisms for a role of metabolic stress in hypertrophic adaptations to resistance training. Sports medicine, 43(3), pp.179-194.

Schoenfeld, B.J., Ogborn, D. and Krieger, J.W., 2016. Dose-response relationship between weekly resistance training volume and increases in muscle mass: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Sports Sciences, pp.1-10.

Schoenfeld, B.J., Ratamess, N.A., Peterson, M.D., Contreras, B., Sonmez, G.T. and Alvar, B.A., 2014. Effects of different volume-equated resistance training loading strategies on muscular adaptations in well-trained men. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 28(10), pp.2909-2918.

Sugisaki, N., Wakahara, T., Murata, K., Miyamoto, N., Kawakami, Y., Kanehisa, H. and Fukunaga, T., 2015. Influence of muscle hypertrophy on the moment arm of the triceps brachii muscle. Journal of applied biomechanics, 31(2).

Wesley Smith, C. Israetel, M. Hoffmann, J. Scientific Principles of Strength Training.

I have a very specific goal in writing this post. I want to convince you the reader, and myself the writer, of something very important. I am not trying to convince you that over training is dangerous – we already know that. I am not trying to convince you that some of you are addicted to exercise – we certainly already know that. I am trying to convince you that we really, really need to take action and do something about it.

                I work in a fitness environment. I absolutely love teaching classes and coaching people and pushing them to their limits. There is no greater satisfaction than seeing someone dig deeper than they have before and give a workout everything they have got. You recognise that passion in people that you see in yourself in your own training sessions, and it’s inspiring. So I encourage it, of course.

                Recently I have noticed a worrying number of people coming over before a class to let me know that they’re feeling like shit, but will do what they can. “I’ve just got this sore throat that won’t budge” “My hip is playing up again” “I’m still so sore from last week”. At first, these comments didn’t worry me. Niggly pains and little injuries are common…as long as they had addressed that and were reigning it back in their workouts a little, they would be fine. It was only when I recently noticed it happening to myself that I started getting a little concerned.

Results​

                How many times have you found yourself getting frustrated about not quite getting the results you want, or expect, from your training? Your 1RM just won’t increase, your physique just doesn’t seem to be changing, you can’t quite shave that last second off your running time. I’ll bet you’ve complained about this to a number of people and been met with the question “are you getting enough rest?”

                And I’ll bet you probably brushed them off and kept on searching for the answer to your lack of results. Stupid hippies and their rest. I don’t have time for rest.

                Or maybe you are well aware that you could do with a little more rest (like myself), but you just enjoy training so damn much that you’d actually rather sacrifice those results a little in order to keep the training sessions in. You’re in love with training. You’re not in love with results.

What are you training for?

                It is time to sit yourself down and ask yourself what you are really training for. You don’t need to have a competition coming up or a beach holiday in the near future. Are you training because you want to be the strongest version of you? Are you training because you want to feel at your most confident? Are you training because you want the energy to play with your kids? Whatever your reason, you have a goal – you have results that you wish to achieve. It is time to start prioritising moving towards that goal, over training for training’s sake.

                When we train for training’s sake, we are training for our own short term gain. We are training for the endorphin rush, for the feeling of being strong, the feeling of accomplishment and pride we get from that hour (or two or three or four…) we spend in the gym. These feelings are incredibly addictive, and that’s why we keep going back for more. Training on our rest days, extending our workouts, getting exercise in any way we can. If you always had your goals as your top priority, you would train sensibly, eat appropriately, and sleep as much as possible. If you can see that your training session is becoming more important than your results, perhaps is it time to re-assess.

Mental health

                Mental health is just as important as physical health. The effects of training too hard or too much on your mental health can be very, very bad. Using myself as an example – I didn’t realise just how much over training was having a negative impact on my life until I noticed these mental effects. I have had a niggly injury for two or three months, and have been feeling a little sore and fatigued since around the time I came out the womb, but these aren’t the things that stuck out to me. In the last few months I have been up and down more times than that Grand Old Duke of York (I know, that was a good one. I’m here all week…) and I have definitely noticed a link between my emotions and my training sessions.

                If you have a bad training session, how does it affect the rest of your day? Are you irritable, snappy, upset? Would these feelings be reversed had you had a good training session? The last bad training session I had was last Tuesday. My parents (who I very rarely see) had driven up North to spend the week with me and were meeting me at my house after my Tuesday morning training. I had been so excited to see them, the trip had been in the pipeline for a while. It was actually my dad’s birthday celebration. When they got to my house they found me un-showered, miserable and teary, still lay in bed, struggling to find the motivation to move.

An addiction to exercise can lead to clinical depression.

                The important thing to remember is that you are more than your training. Just because people respect you for being strong, muscular, lean or super-fast does not mean that this is the only thing that defines you. You probably have a lot going for you, and people recognise you for those traits just as much as they recognise you for your outstanding dedication to the gym. It is okay to focus on your other attributes for a while.

Physical health​

                I have seen many people’s health take a hit from over training – in terms other than injury and emotions. If you have ever found yourself with a cold that just won’t quite go away, you’ll probably find that your excessive training is to blame. I recently have developed sores on the sides of my mouth that just won’t heal. I cut my feet to shreds on my last holiday from wearing shoes which gave me blisters, and I have never known cuts take so bloody long to scab over. I know fully well that I am simply run down from pushing my body to the absolute limits.

                Bad skin, baggy eyes, struggling to sleep. Sound familiar? Our bodies need the chance to rest up and use our resources in order to get back to good health. We are wasting those resources dragging ourselves through hour after hour in the gym. Ultimately, if you give your body a chance to get back to good health, you are far more likely to actually be moving towards those goals we discussed.

Before it’s too late

             You often find that when people go through some traumatic event – a car accident, illness, family death etc. – they always say “I just never thought it would happen to me”. Guess what? Nobody goes into the gym predicting they’re going to get injured that day. Right now, I can’t squat or deadlift because of injury. Do you know what I love more than anything in the world? Squats and deadlifts. If I could print off this article, go back a few months and say “hey Gina, I think you should take a read of this” then maybe I could have prevented injury. Having said that, I’m so bloody stubborn that it probably wouldn’t have made a difference.

                So please, don’t be as stubborn as myself and many others in this industry. Anyone can push themselves in their training, but actually taking the time to look after yourself mentally and physically is what will take you to the next level. Being passionate about training is awesome, and you should certainly cling on to that passion and use it to move forward in every way you can, but don’t be an idiot. Figure out your goals and always, always have them in the back of your mind. I guarantee that missing a training session when you’re feeling run down is in no way going to stop you reaching those goals.

About the Author - 

I'm a 21 year old psychology graduate with a passion for health and fitness which has blossomed over the past three years. I have battled and overcome an eating disorder, and come out the other side as a much stronger person. I am currently lifting competitively as a member of the North West division of the British powerlifting federation. I am a firm believer that we never stop learning, and I try to be the sponge that soaks up as much information as possible in order to broaden my knowledge of this industry.

You can read more about my views on life, health, fitness and travelling as well as getting information on nutrition plans on my personal blog: smallstepstochangingyourlife.wordpress.com

You can follow me on Instagram here: instagram.com/georginastanway

And contact me via email: [email protected]

This post may come across as a little bit nerdy, but that’s how I am so I don’t mind. What I wanted to talk about here is Compensation, which occurs at the end of periodised training programme. I had an idea of relating this principle to the ‘Zenkai’ technique in the animé series Dragonball Z, so you can see where it’s going to get nerdy. If you’re a fan of Dragonball Z, then great, if you’re a fan of fitness, great. If you’re a fan of both then I think you’ll love this. Otherwise, I’ll do my best to explain it all without boring you.  

Quick Summary of Dragonball Z 

Dragonball, and Dragon ball Z (let’s not mention GT…) is a popular animé/manga series that originated in the 1980s in Japan. A number of its main protagonists are part of an alien race called the Saiyans, who are a savage warrior race. The Saiyans were famed for being able to take all kinds of damage, recover and then come back even stronger, this is known in the story as ‘zenkai.’ At one point in the series, the main protagonist, the ridiculously benevolent Goku (who until his 20s believed himself to be human), trains himself into the ground then takes a ‘senzu bean’ (a bean which is able to fully restore all health and strength) and then train again, and he does this repeatedly. However, while doing this he is unknowingly taking full advantage of the Saiyans’ Zenkai ability and increasing his power and fitness exponentially.

You’re probably wondering why this is featuring on my personal training blog right now. The answer is that with a well periodised plan you can recover in a similar way to how these guys did in the show, although you won’t have to go to near death for it and the results won’t be quite as dramatic. It’s known as compensation or peaking.

What Compensation is –

A temporary state of training when physical and psychological efficiency are maximised and where levels of technical and tactical preparation are optimal. – Tudor Bompa (1983)

When your body becomes used to a particular amount of training volume it begins to recover to that amount. If some of this volume is removed then, for a short time, your body will still recover by the same amount as before. Meaning that if the body is used to being broken down to 70% and then recovering up to 100%, you could all of a sudden train so that you are only dropping to 75% and your body will still recover by the previous 30%, putting you, for a short time, at roughly 105%. This, however, will only last for a short time as your body yearns for homeostasis and will then start to recover to your regular 100%.

This is why ‘over reaching’ is utilised in sports such as powerlifting. The athlete will be trained to a point close to over training in order to take advantage of the compensation effect (just like Goku’s Zenkai). Meaning that, if planned correctly, a powerlifter could turn up on meet day at something resembling 105%.

There are obvious issues with this, as it is difficult to monitor a person or athlete to a point where they are just hovering over the point of over training. Rest and recovery need to be perfect, unfortunately we don’t have access to Goku’s senzu beans in the real world. However, this post aims to look at how you can get close to this effect in a safe way. This state of optimal awesomeness can only be maintained for around 7-10 days and it should be quickly followed by a phase of rest and then back into training.

In this state you would be functioning as close to perfectly as possible, your functional capacities, mental arousal, as well as your neuro-muscular coordination would be perfect. Training to reach a level where you can fully accommodate all of your functions and movements sounds very inviting, but it makes sense to aim for this state after increasing these capacities as greatly as you can over a span of training. In other words, before attempting to reach this stage of training you should possess a good foundation of training, i.e – a high level of physical preparation, as well as all the biomotor abilities required for your particular area. The higher your level of training before embarking on this, the higher your effectiveness will be in this training state.

In the Dragon Ball universe this state would preferably fall in line with a World Tournament or massive duel with a ferocious enemy. In real life this is likely to be before an event or competition that you train for.

​Periodisation is where you put yourself, or your athlete/clients, through a variety of training phases geared towards reaching the goal of Super Saiyan…I mean compensation.  The different training phases involve an increasing and decreasing of both the volume and intensity. As the volume in your routine goes up, the intensity should go down, and vice versa.
 
Volume is the amount of work done throughout a workout or programme, it covers –
 
-the time or duration of a workout
 
-the loads used or distance covered
 
- the repetitions of an exercise performed. 
 
 
Intensity is the difficulty of the work, it is the qualitative aspect of a routine as opposed to the quantitative volume. A high intensity workout might involve lifting weights of 85% or more of your one repetition maximum or practising a particularly advanced and difficult skill.

​The way in which you would periodise your own routine depends upon your goals and sport. I am from a powerlifting background so for someone like myself it is likely to follow a high volume phase at first, including some heavy work. This might only be heavy singles or doubles. Throughout this initial phase the volume is likely to slowly increase until a point just below overtraining. At this point I would take a deload week where I still train the movements but the volume is drastically cut down, and the intensity is kept moderate.  Following this would be a strength phase, which would focus more upon the heavy weights and less upon the volume in the previous phase. This would be done in line with a competition phase, where I would likely take the week before the competition easy. By this point I will have acquired the essential training benefits, such as the improved functional capacities and neuro muscular coordination, and they would be difficult to improve further in a week’s time. So this energy would be saved for competition day. 
 
How to best use this –
 
Compensation is best utilised at the end of a well periodised routine which would be geared towards a specific event or competition. It is something that should be worked towards, after a long phase of training. This is due to the fact that involves getting to a tired state and then taking advantage of your increased recovery cycle, as well as the fact that it works best when your neurological skill patterns and attributes (strength, speed, endurance, etc) are at a high. This state of optimum functioning only lasts for roughly 7 days also, so time and use it well.
 
In Conclusion – 
 
You won’t turn Super Saiyan, nor will you improve at the amazing rate some of the characters in the series do, but you will find that you outperform your expectations. Use it wisely. 

Variables


Volume

Volume has been shown to be a decisive factor in your training, particularly in relation to strength and size increases. Volume incorporates - 

• time or duration covered

•  Distance covered/weight lifted

•  The repetitions of an exercise performed

 As these tips are in relation to increasing your strength, it is the second and third bullet point which you need to concern yourself with. The way to determine volume is weight lifted x sets x repetitions.

For example, if you were to squat 142.5kg for 4 sets of 8 you would have a volume of 4,560kg.

The weekly volume is also important when it comes making gains. If your weekly volume does not beat that of the previous week then you are not progressing. Simple as. 

Volume, coupled with progressive overload are two of the main factors in increasing your strength and size.

Intensity

Whereas volume is the quantitative variable, intensity is the qualitative one. The more work that a person does within a single session, then the more intense that session is. The intensity depends on the load, speed of performance and variation of rest between sets/reps. One point often overlooked about intensity is the psychological effect it can have on a person.

In the case of strength or size gains intensity would depend mainly upon the load utilised in a workout. For example reps at 80% would be a lot more intense than singles at 70%.

Relationship between Volume and Intensity. 

As the volume goes up in a workout the intensity should come down, and vice versa. Whichever variable you decide to focus on will have a different effect upon your body's adaptation. Finding the optimal balance of both is a tricky task. Strength athletes could use Prilepin's chart to this end.

To sum up -

Volume is an important factor when it comes to increasing size and strength, however, keep the intensity in check. You would be right to assume upping the weight lifted would lead to an increase in volume, however the effect that this would have upon your CNS could be devastating. Learn to keep them both in check!

Progressive Overload

Progressive overload put simply is the slow  increase  of the work done during a workout. This increase can be done via the weight lifted, the repetitions per set or the sets themselves. 

The body yearns to be in a state of homeostasis, if you push it past its normal point it will get your muscular system and your nervous system to a point where it returns to being comfortable. So if you were to do 3 sets of 8 of 60kg on the bench press your body would get used to this quickly (assuming its not too heavy for you) so you could either : - increase the weight by a small number, or the repetitions. For example you could either do 3 x 8 at 62.5kg on the next workout, or you could do 3 x 9 at 60kg on the next one.
If you were to follow the repetition increase I would go with adding a rep each week until you hit sets of 12, then you would increase the weight by 10% and go back to sets of 8. This simple progression scheme is what I did when I first started and it worked remarkably well for a good while.  The reason this works is that by adding one rep to your set you are, theoretically, increasing your one rep max by 2.5% each time - hence the 10% increase. 
Don't be fooled by it being called an overload, you do not want to make big jumps too suddenly. This can lead to injury or overtraining and either would be detrimental to your training. 

A simple, and often overlooked, tool in increasing your strength is a notebook. This notebook can serve as your training diary/journal, in it you can write how your workout went with the difficulty and how you felt before, during and after. If you want to be really detailed you can also include your nutritional intake (the day of, and the days before the workout) and sleep quality in order to make evaluation easier.

The factors mentioned above can all be included in your self-evaluation. I'm sure many of you have had a particularly brilliant workout and wondered just why it happened as opposed to all those other workouts that have seemed like a mere grind. This is the way to figure it out. When keeping your diary be as detailed as you can, things to jot down would be : -

• the workout itself, i.e the sets, reps and exercises
• the rest inbetween
• your sleep quality the night before
• your nutritional intake, both the day of and the day before
• how you felt before, during and after (physically and emotionally) 
• how busy your day has been

I'm sure that there are many more but even with these factors included in your evaluation you could figure out what it is that causes a great workout, or alternatively a poor one. Another obvious benefit of keeping a training journal is that you have a record and can see how far you've come, how much volume/intensity you have manipulated and how much progressive overload you have implemented. 

When people try to get bigger and/or stronger they tend to learn towards working as hard as they can without stopping to think about the toll this is taking on their body and their mind. I include the mind here as when you tax yourself physically you also tax your central nervous system which leads to psychological and emotional stress also. 

After an athlete has trained they become fatigued, and the more fatigued they are then the greater the repercussions are on the athlete. These aftereffects include - poor coordination, low recovery rate and, decreased speed and power in muscular contractions. Emotional fatigue is also a common aftereffect of physical fatigue, as mentioned earlier, especially after a particularly hard session or a competition. It's easy to see here that training again in this condition could be detrimental to your training. 
Recovery must become a daily part of your training plan, allow yourself this time to recover so that you can truly give it your all the next time around. 

There are also various factors that need to be considered when looking at recovery rates, which include : - 

• Age - Athletes over 25 need longer to recover (creeping up on me this one.) Whereas athletes under 18 need more time to facilitate overcompensation
  
• Gender - female athletes have a lower recovery rate due to endocrinal differences, such as the lack of testosterone
  
• Environment - Training at high altitude or different temperatures
  
• Mobility/freedom of movement - tight myofascial tissue make it difficult for the blood supply to deliver the necessary nutrients 
  
• Type of muscle fibre - fast twitch fatigues much quicker than slow twitch
  
• Type of exercise/energy system used - an aerobic session would take longer to recover than a sprint session
  
• Psychological factors - this effects hormone production, a negative athlete will likely produce more stress hormones which can have detrimental physiological effects
  
• Injury - another hormone related one, an injury will lead to increased levels of catabolic hormones and ammonia
  
• Diet - if the diet isnt sufficient then the body is not getting what it requires for metabolism, creating energy or muscular reconstruction
  
• Efficient energy transfer - A better conditioned athlete will be more efficient at turning fuel into energy and dealing with the waste products from this transfer. 
  

That is quite a list for you all there! All of these things need considering when it comes to your recuperation. 
When it comes to recovery you can try various means, such as - 

• kinotherapy - this is where you rapidly discard of the waste products in your muscles, such as Lactic Acid. This would entail either some light aerobic work or stretching. More commonly known as 'Active Rest' 
  
• Complete rest - This is basically just sleep. It is recommended that you 9-10 hours sleep when you are an active athlete. Not all of this sleep has to come at night, 10-20% can be made up in power naps throughout the day. 
  
• Massage
  
• Heat Therapy 
  
• Contrast baths/showers - This is one I use, beware though if you finish with cold you'll feel more awake, but if you finish with warm you'll feel drowsy quickly. Keep that in mind if you're about to drive home! 
  

This is just a brief overview of the factors involved in, and the ways of incorporating,  rest and recovery into your training plans. I hope this has helped you all! 

Periodisation will encompass all of the tips from the previous posts this week. A well periodised plan will include: sufficient volume and intensity (in relation to each other) ; progressive overload ; evaluation and ; sufficient rest and recovery. 

What is periodisation?

Periodization is a form or resistance training that may be defined as strategic implementation of specific training phases. These training phases are based upon increasing and decreasing both volume (which is reps times sets) and intensity (which is the load or percentage of 1RM) when designing a training program.

By using a periodised plan you force yourself to do all of the tips which I have described this week. For example a plan could be written for you to do squats 3 x in a week, each day with different sets, repetitions and percentage of weight (an example of manipulating the volume and intensity), the next week would be the same but plus 5kg (progressive overload), the days in between would be an example of the rest and recovery. The evaluation would be where you look back at a workout and decide whether your form was good enough, how easy you found it and how you felt during it - if anything needs changing then this is where you find it and it will be upto you or your trainer/coach to find these issues. Or alternatively, to highlight your awesomeness.

A good periodised plan can be anywhere from a week to multiple years, Olympic athletes would have their training laid out for the next 4 years at a time! Using this style of training lets you know how on track you are to achieving your goals. Personally, since I've properly periodised my training I've found myself surprised at how easy it is to not only reach, but massively surpass, certain goals. 

Definitely give it a go, if you've never written a workout before then I'd suggest you ask for help, you likely won't get it correct the first time. This is not just so I can offer my own services to do so, obviously - I've got to put food on the table, of course, but it does take experience and knowledge to do so and I'd hate for anyone to get disappointed with their training and quit, or worse, injured. 

6 Week Strength. - Beginner level. 

If you've been looking to get into strength training but haven't found an ideal way then luckily I have a 6 week plan starting in February 2018 which is ideal for you. 

>> dannyleeonline.co.uk/6-week-strength.html << 

​Or to sign up - look below. 
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