Explosive power and strength

Expert Discussion Strength Training
1

Has anybody any experience of the book “Explosive Power and Strength” by Donald Chu?

Charlie, what do you think of the principles behind complex training?

On the Amazon website, it is mentioned by one of the reviewers that Michael Johnson used this type of training, any one know if this is true?

Cheers

J

2

Chu’s book is not great - 2 pages of science and 50 pages of poor diagrams.

Effectively the theory is that a limit strength exercise causes a potentiation that allows improved performance in subsequent plyometric/dynamic movements. From research by Schmidtbleicher it appears that for novice and intermediate level athletes Complex training can be effective. Be aware however that it is very stressful on the nervous system and therefore should not be used for prolonged periods.

BTW evidence sugests that potentiation is inversely proportional to the level of the athlete.

3

http://www.charliefrancis.com/community/viewthread.php?tid=979

…will say no more!

4

Originally posted by JohnG109
… that Michael Johnson used this type of training …?

I’m not so sure about that …

5

BTW evidence sugests that potentiation is inversely proportional to the level of the athlete.

Scuse my brain David lol - so this means that the better u are the less effective it is ?

6

Yes

7

Which is one of several reasons why Charlie’s athletes don’t do it and I do - on a limited basis .

Cheers David

8

It works for me - say complexing jump squats and speed squats,

that tells me I’m not Elite :frowning:

9

David W could you post the schmidtbleicher reference (or any other) that suggests that novice athletes get more potentiation that elite… i was under the impression that it was the opposite as myosin light chains in fast twitch fibres undergo greater phosphorylation (than slow twitch fibres) in the conditioning activity which increases the actin and myosin sensitivity to Calcium in subsequent contractions… In other words greater percentage of fast twitch = greater potentiation.

10

I’ll get them for you tomorrow (its 11.30pm here!)… THe fibre type is irrelevent. Its related to excitation of the nervous system. An elite athlete is able to maximally recruit motor units without prior potentiation…

11

thanks

12

Oh yeh I don’t agree that fibre type is irrelevant. You may well be correct an elite athlete can activate maximally though if the muscle is not in optimal condition i.e w/o the prior light chain phosphorylation the contraction will be less forceful… well thats my interpretation anyway!

13

Not neccessarily Cool, it tells me you likely have lots of fast twitch…

14

Rossa: Sorry I was unable to find the specific reference I quoted (My reference files are a mess) I have attached some others that are related:

  1. Sale, D.G.
    Title
    Postactivation potentiation: role in human performance. (Postactivation potentiation: role dans la performance humaine.)
    Source
    Exercise and sport sciences reviews 30(3), July 2002, 138-143
    English Abstract
    Postactivation potentiation (PAP) is the transient increase in muscle contractile performance after previous contractile activity. This review describes the features and mechanism of PAP, assesses its potential role in endurance and strength/speed performance, considers strategies for exploiting PAP, and outlines how PAP might be affected by training.

  2. Ebben, W.P. Jensen, R.L. Blackard, D.O.

Title
Electromyographic and kinetic analysis of complex training variables.
Source
Journal of strength and conditioning research 14(4), Nov 2000, 451-456
English Abstract
The use of complex training as a method of combining weight and plyometric exercises during the same training session is growing in popularity, despite limited scientific support for its efficacy. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of a set of high-load bench press exercises (BP) on a subsequent set of medicine ball power drop exercises (MBPD) via mean ground reaction force, maximum ground reaction force, and mean electromyography (EMGint). Ten male (19 +/- 1.4 years) NCAA Division 1 basketball players with experience in weight and plyometric training performed plyometric exercises under 2 randomly determined conditions. One condition included a BP followed immediately by a MBPD. The other condition included only the MBPD. Mean ground reaction force, maximum ground reaction force, and EMGint were recorded during the MBPD for both conditions. Results indicated that no significant differences exist for mean ground reaction force, maximum ground reaction force, and EMGint for the pectoralis major and triceps muscles between the MBPD and the BP plus MBPD conditions. These results indicate there is no heightened excitability of the central nervous system. However, there also appears to be no disadvantage of performing high-load weight training and plyometric exercises in complex pairs. Therefore, complex training may be a useful training strategy because of the organizational advantages of performing weight and plyometric exercises in the same training session.

  1. Ebben, W.P.

Title
Complex training: a brief review.
Source
Journal of sports science and medicine 1(2), Mar 2002, 42-46 http://www20.uludag.edu.tr/~hakan/sbtd/v2/2/2_2.htm
English Abstract
The effectiveness of plyometric training is well supported by research. Complex training has gained popularity as a training strategy combining weight training and plyometric training. Anecdotal reports recommend training in this fashion in order to improve muscular power and athletic performance. Recently, several studies have examined complex training. Despite the fact that questions remain about the potential effectiveness and implementation of this type of training, results of recent studies are useful in guiding practitioners in the development and implementation of complex training programs. In some cases, research suggests that complex training has an acute ergogenic effect on upper body power and the results of acute and chronic complex training include improved jumping performance. Improved performance may require three to four minutes rest between the weight training and plyometrics sets and the use of heavy weight training loads.
Notes
Review article. Includes abstract in Turkish. Article available in PDF at http://www20.uludag.edu.tr/~hakan/sbtd/v2/2/v2_2pdf.pdf.

  1. Guellich, A. Schmidtbleicher, D.

Title
MVC-induced short-term potentiation of explosive force. (Les MCV engendrant un potentiel de force explosive a court terme.) (La potenciacion a corto plazo de la fuerza explosiva producida por contracciones voluntarias maximales (CVM).)
Source
New studies in athletics 11(4), Dec 1996, 67-81
English Abstract
In numerous sports and sport events performance is, to a great extent, determined by the level of speed-strength. An optimal preparation (warm-up) is necessary to achieve the highest possible realization of speed-strength in training and competition. Some top international athletes are said to have produced the highest speed and speed-strength performances immediately after having performed a few Maximal Voluntary Contractions (MVCs). However, as yet no target-oriented and systematic studies of MVCs, as an element of warm-up programmes, have been conducted. Therefore the focus of the following study is on the following questions: (1) To what extent can the short-term potentiation of speed-strength induced by MVCs be considered a general effect? (2) Can effects of post-tetanic potentiation be triggered in human beings by MVCs? (3) To what extent is there a connection between possible short-term increases in speed-strength and neuronal effects of post-tetanic potentiation? The results of two complex training experiments show that MVCs carried out during the warm-up can really lead to a considerable increase in speed-strength performances of the lower extremities in all athletics sprint and jumping events and of the upper extremities in the shot put and the throws.

15

A 3-1-3 Strength Cycle
Athlete lifts 3 times a week - MWF
3 weeks and then 1 week at reduced vol. (-25%)

To incorporate Westside approach would invlove using at least one of these sessions as a speed session and one as a Max strength session.

How might this be applied over the 6 weeks?

Ideas?

:confused:

16

heres some info i found on post tetanic potentiation that i have saved, any comments?

no reactive strength at all !!!
Friday, September 6, 2002 9:24 AM NEW!

Brian, I remember that article. It was called “In a Few Words: Post-Tetanic Facilitation”.
I first wrote the article for Ironmag.com but the mag kinda died before they could publish it. I do remember posting it on this board though.
I can give you the article, but doubt that it will elucidate the problem and correct the situation of the lack of reactive strength.
"The strength training world has been introduced to the term post-tetanic facilitation by strength coach and author Charles Poliquin in one of his article (The 1-6 principle available at his web page at www.charlespoliquin.net) as well as in his new book (Modern Trends in Strength Training Vol.1.). Poliquin explains this phenomenon by saying that performing a heavy lift will enable you to perform better during later sets for higher number of reps. Here is how Poliquin explains it himself:
“In a nutshell, if you do a 6RM (the maximum load you can lift for 6 reps) load within 3-10 minutes of doing a max single, you can use a greater weight that you could have if you hadn’t done the 1RM set.”
This is very true and very effective indeed. But lately many people have asked what exactly is this post-tetanic facilitation phenomenon, so here it is!

  1. Potentiation
    A physical/muscular activity can have an effect on subsequent activities. The prior activity can either decrease the muscular performance in the later exercise (mostly due to the fatigue factor) or it can increase the performance during the later exercise (Abbate et al. 2000).
    In the second case the performance is enhanced via a phenomenon called potentiation. Potentiation refers to an increase in force output as a result of previous muscular activation (Abbate et al. 2000). Thereare many kind of possible potentiation, the two best known ones are post-tetanic potentiation and high-frequency initial pulse potentiation.
  2. Post-tetanic potentiation
    The tetanus refers to a state of muscular activation that occurs either during a long muscular contraction (so brought on by muscular fatigue) or a very intense contraction (so brought on by a maximum contraction). The tetanus can be explained as the summation of all the available motor-units.
    It has been found that the force of the twitch of a muscle fiber is more important after than before the brief tetanus. This effect is present even 5 minutes after the tetanus (O’Leary et al. 1997). In fact, during a 7 second tetanus, the capacity to apply force decreases by 15% while this capacity is increased by 28% after 1 minute, 33% after 2 minutes and 25% after 5 minutes (O’Leary et al. 1997). So it appears that the capacity to produce force is greater 2-3 minutes after the cessation of the tetanic effort.
    This increase in the capacity to produce force after a certain stimulation is called post-tetanic potentiation (PTP). The most effective way to promote a large PTP is to give maximal stimulation to a muscle via a maximal effort/maximal tension for a length of 5-10 seconds (Brown and von Euler, 1938, Vandervoort et al. 1983).
    PTP can increase contraction strength, especially in fast-twitch fibers (Bowman et al. 1969, Standeart, 1964). PTP also improves the rate of force development (Abbate et al, 2000).
    PTP works by increasing the phosphorylation of the myosin light chains which makes the actin-myosin more sensitive to calcium in the subsequent twitch (Grange et al. 1993, Palmer and Moore 1989, O’Leary et al. 1997). This is not chiefly important, but, if you wish, you can grab a physiology textbook and review the sliding filament theory of muscular contraction to see how this would increase the capacity to produce force.
  3. High Frequency Initial Pulse Potentiation (HFIP)
    While this phenomenon is outside the scope of this article, understand that HFIP occurs at the start of ballistic movements (Abbate et al. 2000) and that is increases the power output, the rate of force development and peak force (Mardsen et al. 1971, Burke et al. 1981, Hennig and Lomo, 1985).
  4. Post-tetanic Facilitation (or post-tetanic facilitation)
    Post-tetanic facilitation (PTF) is simply another term for posttetanic potentiation. Both mean the same thing. PTF means that the tetanus facilitate a subsequent effort while PTP means that the tetanus increase the potential for a subsequent effort. So it’s basically word play that means the same thing! Just to give you an idea, there is yet another term to describe that same phenomenon: postactivation potentiation (PAP). The terms are complex, but don’t let them fool you… the basic premise is simple:
    A maximal/near maximal muscular contraction, or effort, increases the capacity to produce force and power for up to 5-10 minutes, with a peak occurring 2-3 minutes after the maximal effort.
  5. Applications of the PTP
    Coach Poliquin gives us a very good way to use PTP to increase size and strength with his 1-6 training, he also gives us a good way to use it for strength with his wave loading approach. But PTP can be used for other purposes.
    For example, you can follow a maximal effort with a set of explosive lifting (since PTP increase the rate of force development). For example you could perform a heavy deadlift, rest 3 minutes than perform a set of power cleans.
    By understanding the basic premise of PTP you will be able to find your own ways to apply this phenomenon to your own training!
  6. References
    Abbate, F., Sargeant, A.J., Verdijk, P.W.L., de Haan, A., Effect of high-frequency initial pulses and posttetanic potentiation on power output of skeletal muscle, Journal of Applied Physiology, 88: 1, 35-40, January 2000.
    Bowman, W.C., Goldgerb A.J., Raper C., Posttwtanic and drug-induced repetitive firing in the soleus muscle of the cat. Br. J. Pharmacol. 35: 62-78, 1969.
    Brown G.L., and von Euler U.S., The after effects of a tetanus on mammalian muscle. J.Physiol. 93: 39-60, 1938.
    Burke R.E., Radomin R., Zajac F.E., Catch property in single mammalian motor units. Science 168: 122-124, 1970.
    Grange R.W., Vandenboom R., Houston M.E., Physiological significance of myosin phosphorylation in skeletal muscle. Can. J. Appl. Physiol. 18: 229-242, 1993.
    Hennig, R., and Lomo, T., Firing patterns of motor units normal rats. Nature 314: 164-166, 1985.
    Mardsen, C.d., Meadows J.C., Merton P.A., Isolated single motor units in human muscle and their rate of discharge during maximal voluntary effort. J. Physiol. 217: 12-13, 1971.
    O’Leary, D.D., Hope K., Sale D.G., Posttetanic potentiation of human dorsiflexors, Journal of Applied Physiology 83(6): 2131-2138, 1997.
    Palmer B.M., Moore, R.L., Myosin light chain phosphorylation and tension potentiation in mouse skeletal muscle. Am. J. Physiol. 257 C1012-C1019, 1989.
    Poliquin, C., Modern Trends in Strength Training Vol.1: Reps and Sets 2nd ed., 2001
    Poliquin, C., The 1-6 Principle at www.charlespoliquin.net
    Standeart. F.C., The mechanism of PTP in cat soleus and gastrocnemius muscles. J. Gen. Physiol. 47: 987-1001, 1964
    Vandervoort A.A., Quinlan J., McComas A.J., Twitch potentiation after voluntary contraction. Exp. Neurol. 81: 141-152, 1983"
    In my opinion the program I outlined in my “Canadian Ascending - Descending Power Training” would be a good option to correct the problem.
    http://www.ironmag.com/ct_canadian_ascending_01.html
17

heres another one.

Yes, I have and I would like to support Charlie Francis and congratulate him
with an original idea that was worked out by him.

Being a professional track & field coach in sprint and jumping (fiftieth -
sixtieth) I used weightlifting for development of explosive strength,
starting strength and reactive ability of the neuromuscular apparatus of the
sportsmen. The main task of this exercises was creating a strong training
influence on the CNS for the generalization of more power stream of the
nervous impulses on the motoneurons and synchronization them at the
moment of the muscle effort beginning.

My practical experience as a coach and results of the many years scientific
work have been published in some monographs in Russia and translated in
other countries (“Basis of the strength training” - 1970 and 1977;
“Programming of sport training” - 1987; “Basis of physical
preparation in the sport” - 1988). Principles of the special strength
training were formulated in this monographs including so-called
“supermethods” that are intended for top class athletes. One of them was
named as a “Stimulation method”.

The idea of this method consist in the usage of the hyperexcitability of the
CNS crated by short-term power muscular strains, for rise of the vigor of
the subsequent specific work, aimed at the development of explosive
strength and reactive ability of the neuromuscular apparatus.

The stimulation method thus includes two successive muscle activities. The
first (tonic) is carried out slowly with major resistance and restricted
amount of repetition. The second activity (developing) is conducted with
extremely concentrated explosive effort with smaller weight of resistance
(30-40 % from the maximum) and considerably higher (optimum) amount of
repetitions. The activity with essentially increased power by tonic
influence at the CNS arises during the first (tonic) activity, exerts the
main training influence on the organism in the stimulation method.
The stimulation method has confirmed its extreme effectiveness for the
development of explosive strength and reactive ability of the neuromuscular
apparatus of sportsmen. Its value consists providing a fast and steady
accretion of this parameters at a small time expenditure and energy of
sportsmen.

For example, squat with the barbell on the shoulders (90% from maximum) used
in for tonic work. Two approach (sets) of 2-3 reps with the rest 3-4 minutes
are conducted. Then after rest 4-6 minutes follows the second (developing)
exercise - jumps up with the barbell on the shoulders (30% from maximum).
Three sets of 6-8 reps with maximum effort and with the rest between the
sets 3-4 minutes are carried out. This series are repeated for 2-3 times
with rest 8-10 minutes.

When the stimulation method is used, it is necessary to mean the following.

  1. The form of the first (tonic) exercise movement has no principal value.
    However, it is important, that those muscles groups which necessary for
    training are activated and that they work with a major effort. As to the
    second (developing) exercise, its motor structure should approximate
    competitive exercise as much as possible and be conducted with extreme
    effort.

  2. Between the sets it is necessary to executes exercises on flexibility,
    relaxation and stretching of muscles, and between series - work of moderate
    intensity by the same muscle groups (for example, light jumping exercises on
    relaxation and flexibility. The first (tonic) and especially second
    (developing) exercises should be fulfilled with maximal effort.

  3. During training it is necessary to rise gradually the force of the
    stimulation influence of tonic work, not at expense of the augmentation of
    its volume but of the weight of load. As to the second (developing)
    exercise, it is not necessary to change the total amount of work (number of
    repetitions, approaches, espies), the weight of load or intervals of rest
    between the approaches and series.

  4. The stimulation method should not be utilized at the end of the training
    session or in fatigued state. The stimulation method should not de used in
    addition to any other training activity. The method can be effective only in
    case of the so-called «fresh» forces.

  5. The stimulation method can expediently be utilized as a separate training
    session with the duration of from 40 minutes to one hour and it should be
    the first within the day (in case there are two tracings per day). The
    interval between the following training session should not be less than four
    hours.

I beg your pardon for my poor English.

Yuri Verkhoshansky

18

DavidW thanks for the references… seems to be stuff in the Sale ref that confirms both our points of view!!
Good posts gb33
SO correct me if I’m wrong but the situation in a nutshell seems to be that fast twitch muscle can be potentiated more but it is also more susceptible to fatigue and as such the fatigue induced by the stimulus contractions may more than offset the gains in contractility… So if you are a complete fast twitch animal (eg elite sprinter) maybe more time is required between stimulus sets and subsequent explosive performance (this concurs with Gullich and Schmitbleicher ref in NSA, 11(4) pgs 67-81, 1996 for H reflex potentiation) OR you need a non-fatiguing stimulus that is still sufficiently strong so as to induce phosphorylation of the myosin light chains… maybe less reps or duration for the stimulus set…?

Have also been wondering whether any of the stimulus which people alledgedly get from vibration may be related to this and maybe this is an excellent way of inducing non fatiguing MLC phosphorylation… ie potentiating the fast twitch muscle without the fatigue… Might be completely wrong on this but would be interested to hear from anybody thats up on the vibration research in this context…

19

No23: I don’t believe a sprinter (or weightlifter) would require a ‘speed’ lifting day since RFD is developed on the track (and with the technical lifts). Some Westside principles that could be adapted: Shorter recoveries to increase density and recruitment, waving of intensity, changes of stimulus, ‘specific’ core work etc.

20

Point taken,
So you don’t see any advantage in dropping the weight % to 60% for one session (of the 3 Sessions) a week to allow faster RFD?