1.How should a athlet train who wants to increase his relative strength (no weigth gain or minimal weigth gain! ).
The athlet is lean and at the end of his weigth class.What is better for the strength increase?
Complex training or seperate strength and speed days.
How should his muscle mass be maintained?
Its quite simple, You want to stick to compound lifts i.e squat , dead , bench and olympic lifts if the technique is in place, i.e snatch and clean. the rep range should be low under 6 reps you can start with higher reps i.e 8 on the compund lifts for a block at the start to familiarise yourself but when you start getting into max weights the reps need to stay low 1.3 4x5, 4x4 3x3 etc throught the year this maximises wight fibre and cns potentiation whilst keeping cross sectional gains low as the sheer volume is not sufficient to get any bigger
What sport, what wight, bodyfat, prior experience in lifting…
I agree with january22 to keep rep low, but it is hard to generalize (if he is a begginer he should avoid this approach and do more higher reps - 15-20RM)
Expirienced Lifter (used bodybuilding methods to gain mass (Hst training system))
80kg 1.77m
lean
Goal maximal relative power
In Squat movment (Jumping and sprinting -> basketball)
In Upper Body Pushing (Big Bench)
In Upper body pulling (big Row or Chin)
I do not want to gain any bigger ! I think I am heavy enought!
I have done this with some success. In fact, during this year, I gained 80 lbs. on my deadlift max. (and made gains in all lifts) without gaining one ounce of bodyweight.
The formula that worked for me was this:
–very heavy weights
–low reps ( 5 or less per set)
–low number of sets
–plenty of rest time between sets (up to 5 minutes)
–keep diet in check
I did heavy deadlifts and overhead presses four days per week. Each workout consisted of two sets of five reps. The first set was with around 75% of max. The second set of five reps was with around 85% of max. (eventually I did the 2nd set with up to 90%) with up to 5 minutes rest between sets. The more rest you get between sets, the more weight you’ll be able to put up. Less rest has more of a conditioning effect. Workouts were short, sweet, but heavy and intense. As for speed work, I would do that first.
Following this method, I was stronger than I have ever been for my one rep maximum and my bodyweight stayed the same at 177 lbs. Diet is also important. Eat more=gain weight; eat less=maintain current weight. Try it out and let us know…
"…don’t call my name out your window when I’m a leavin’, I won’t even turn my head. Don’t send your kinfolk to give me no talkin’, I’ll be gone like I said…
I’ve done work similar to heatwave, relying on bench and deadlifts, primarily. Sometimes adding push press, squats or cleans. Lifting at 85% max or higher, 1-5 reps, 3 sets. Good strength gain and no weight gain. I agree that it’s best to do it after speed, but due to my work schedule, gym access issues and such, I often do lifting during lunch hour and train for speed in the evening. Hasn’t been a problem so far, but I’d rather be 100% fresh for the sprinting as opposed to the lifting if I could. Still, in the SPP, I don’t think it’s as much of an issue as it might be in CPP. Just doing what I can when I can.
did your sprint speed increase? and did you squat or do anything else?