Both Zatsiorsky and Bosco mention the fact that an athlete should know what % of his maximum strength he can display in his event. Zatsiorsky used the example of bench press force vs force appled to a shot. Are there any tests I can do to tell whether I need to focus max strength work or speed work?
I know Bosco had some test where you compared your vertical jump to a vertical jump with a barbell with some % of max but I can’t find the details.
I spoke to Zatsiorsky personally about this and asked how I could do some explosive strength deficit test without a $30k force place (which he has in his office) and he basically didn’t have any ideas without the use of the force plate.
Any ideas? How do I know if I need max strength or more speed work? I’m really not looking for a subjective answer…I’m looking for some #'s and guidelines
What about a standing vertical as opposed to a vertical with a drop step? How about comparing numbers in various lifts… squat vs clean for example. And how about looking at your athlete run and how he looks at the start (powerful or weak) and how he looks at max velocity. Sometimes you can see this stuff in training during races and in the gym.
mortac, short of the Bosco data; you indicate that you are unsure as to which motor quality you must focus on developing. Having stated this, why don’t you provide more information about yourself indicating your level of physical preparedness and sporting requirements.
This data alone will often provide the necessary information which facilitates the determining process of which motor skill must be primarily emphasized.
Additionally, throughout the course of the PASM your improvement in physical preparedness will yield stages in which certain abilities must undergo concentrated loading versus concurrent loading the former usually corresponds with very high levels of qualification; and unless you are extremely strong, or participate in a sport whose motor requirements are far distant and unrelated to absolute strength, it is unlikely that you must devote the majority of training volume (for any significant duration) to the development of speed strength alone.
This is generally stated of course, as I know nothing about the state of your organism or level of qualification, and sporting requirements.
Having access to Dr. Z certainly provides you with distinct advantages.
To asses and evaluate ESD and SD (strength deficit) on, lets say, jumping you could compare heights (with no arm swing) from half-squat jump, counter-movement half-squat jump, and drop jump. In first exerc you use only voluntary action, and in second two you add some reflex activity wich increase electric activity of a muscle… just an opininion but I think I missed issue because with this test you measure SD (strength deficit)… but I maybe helped?
Aside from that, based upon all other variables it appears to me as if you would definitely benefit from incorporating certain strategies for raising your speed strength while retaining your max strength. Although, with the 100m being your event I would be hesitant to allott too much volume to DE type lifts as the reactive nature of speed training is tremendous.
On that note, keep in mind that if you are performing a high volume of squat, DL, clean, and snatches in your workouts than there is a terrific chance that you are smoking your functional reserves. Hence, inhibiting recovery and subsequent sprint performance/speed.
I am interested, however, in your training age.
YOur numbers indicate that your strength is very good relative to bodyweight, yet your explosive strength and absolute speed are somewhat lagging.
The speed, however, may largely be a function of your training program and training age.
Bottom line, your max/relative strength is good and certainly not the factor that is keeping you +11s for the 100m
Yes I am still competing occasionally and appreciate any help I can get!
I recently ran 11.29fat at a meet I was coaching at. I hadn’t run or jogged in 8 months prior to that.
Right now I am working on running (2 days a week short hills, 3-4 days tempo) and my calves are killing me. It’s just going to take awhile until my calves catch up because I haven’t done any calf work at all recently.
I think the reason that Duxx gave these tests was because of the title of the thread. In “Supertrainig”, Mel Siff refers to the strength deficit as the difference between limit strength and reactive strength. If the strength deficit is small, absolute strength should be your focus. And if the deficit is large, reactive strength should be your focus.
I am not Duxx, so I may be wrong, but I believe this is what he thought the thread was about. From the title of the thread, I thought that was the topic until I read the posts.
Yes, we must distinguish between strength deficit and explosive strength deficit.
So, for the purposes of clarification, and in preserving Dr. Z’s reference which mortac sited we may view the following example:
Put simply, if you can quantify explosive strength on a movement which most closely approximates the mechanics of a limit strength application then the difference in force generated and effectively applied is the ESD
The difference between strength deficit and explosive strength deficit being a function of time
I have a copy of the unpublished bosco text and will try to look up the exact deficit test you are referencing. Off the top of my head, I’m remembering one of bosco’s deficit tests from the text being a barbell jump squat loaded to an athlete’s bodyweight vs. another %age.
Will try to find it for you but it won’t be for a few days. Please bump this in a week if I haven’t gotten back to you. It’s somewhere in the pile!
