yes your right charlie, i take the bus to the gym from the track so depending on the bus wait can be 30-40mins to reach the weightroom.
Well that explains the issue re warm-up. that’s too long not to do a pretty good warm-up routine. we used to use for squats 10 at 135, 4 at 225, then up by 2s till working weight for 2 x 6reps. working weight for the top guys was from 495 to 600.
so you go from 225 up to 495-600, thats a huge jump?
No, then up by twos- 315, 405, 455 etc to your working weight.
i would assume ben was doing at least 6-8 warmup sets?
Six usually as described. (10,4,2,2,2,2,)
thats crazy lower body strength 2x6x600 after a track workout.
Yes, Ben reach that by 1987 but never went any higher with lower numbers. I felt it wasn’t safe.
would you happen to have ben squat progression over his career?
I’m putting together a strength manual (slowly0 and I’ll have a lot of info in there. I might release it in sections depending on how I go in the next while
Hi Charlie
If you felt it neccessary to limit the max weight you used for Ben in the squat (600 pounds - or what ever it was) how would you improve the max strength stimulus for him or an athlete at his level?
Would this be any different for team sport athletes?
In my training the main function of the MxS phase is to improve the recruitment of FTF, the speed work, explosive work the discharge rate. Where would you look to improve the recruitment of FTF? Would you increase the number of sets, or reps at that (600 pound threshold) weight?
right now in spp i’m doing 5 reps, so near comp i should drop it to 3 or 3 reps only?
The last few reps of the set are the stressor. I wouldn’t consider the strength part different except to say that team sports tend NOT to have special endurance work so the competing demand is a bit different.
If it WERE necessary to advance beyond the load provided in the squat, I’d weigh the options by what I saw. If it looked too easy, I might move the weight up marginally (Ben’s career was toast before he reached that point)
In Ben’s case, using the principle of general strength, I was able to increase the overall load the following year by moving OTHER lifts up without the need to change the squat, which carried the highest risk.
That is not a good warm-up. I’d do more sets with less reps versus sets of 5 to warm-up.
Regarding the training of D1 American footballers, the competitive demand differs not only from position to position (eg down line greater iso-dynamic max strength exertion via collisions that occur during multiple repeats vs big skill/2nd level players greatest degree of high impact collisions with significant pre-run via multiple repeats in comparison to down line, vs small skill/3rd level players greatest stress resulting as multiple repeats of covering ground multiple directionally at the greatest comparitive speeds) but also by the taxonomy of the practice schedule.
Every head man, coordinator, and assistant will structure the contents of the practice a bit differently and as a result, specifically as a result of the biodynamic/bioenergetic demand of the drills, the physiological impact differs.
From experience, with respect to the original premise of this thread, I would describe the physiological nature of sport practice and weekly contests as having very great breadth due to the highly extensive structural demand yielded by the cummulative efforts.
While the intensity, physiologically speaking, is present and cannot be ignored I would not place many single efforts on par with max V work as recoveries are rarely complete and the max V speeds are simply never reached on the field.
Regarding how the athletes tolerate weight work during the competition block, very few (save the genetic freaks) tolerate squats well in the higher percentages of the limit. As a result, leg strength is maintained,and even increased in some cases, via sub-maximal efforts.
Upper body, with the exception of down line and interior linebackers who exert themselves very rigorously in a total body fashion, may be pushed in terms of the strength load.
It should be noted, however, that maximal strength is certainly not high in its importance relative to the speed and efficiency at which tactical and technical aspects of play are executed.
To this end we must observe that tactics and technique play an enormous role at the team sport level, much more than general physical preparation, and, to this end, many players at the D1 level and beyond attain very high results despite suprising physical (most notably strength and work capacity and not so uncommon speed) limitations.
Anyone who has spent time at the collegiate or NFL level surely knows that there are not as many guys out there as you would think, down line included, that are pushing the weight numbers that Ben Johnson was despite the fact that Ben would have been near the smallest man on the field at any given time.
Track and Field, alternatively and not discounting the tactical aspect, requires the athlete to be very highly physically prepared otherwise the highest results are simply unattainable.
would be an awesome gift for new year…
That is a very good point in regards to the use of greater stimuls from other lifts, if Bens carrier had continued, where might have you looked for greater strength stimulus?
Would it be accurate to say that power speed sports with no special endurance can be taken further in MxS direction or returned to more often?