A question of strength

Q: I never see you advocating taking a break from training or even reducing your efforts. In other words, this means always training at full effort. Should I never plan a training-free week or a week during which I only train at say 50% effort?

A: I think holidays like Easter and Christmas often take care of this issue. You can plan a five-day break from training during these holidays so that you can enjoy time with family and relatives while regenerating your entire neuromuscular and neuroendocrine system.

However, the longest period of time I would recommend for a training break is 5 days. If you can't fully recover within five days, then you already have other serious problems.

I don't believe in weeks with only 50% effort, but I think it makes sense to reduce the total number of sets by 40% once every four weeks. It's very difficult to reach a state of overtraining if you only train at high intensity - your body simply won't be able to move the weight before then. It's much more likely that you'll reach a state of overtraining through too much volume.

In other words, if you perform 10 sets per muscle group during the first four training sessions, reduce the number of sets to six sets per muscle group during the fifth and sixth training sessions. Then you change the program. Scientific studies support this concept of periodic volume reduction. The exact physiological reasons are not yet fully understood, but obviously this concept works.

Q: I have read that the leg flexors should have about 2/3 of the strength of the quadriceps. Is there a way to test this? I was thinking of comparing the weight I can move in leg extensions to the weight I can move in leg curls, but does this really make sense? Wouldn't the machines have to have the same strength curve for this?

A: First of all, the concept that the hamstrings should be 2/3 as strong as the quadriceps is antiquated. This concept is based on inadequate testing equipment and these values were proposed at a time when ergometers were about as technically advanced as computers from 1950. To perform a realistic leg flexor torque measurement, you need to be able to measure torque at very high speeds.

Based on data from various Canadian national teams, I would guess that the minimum leg flexor to quadriceps strength ratio should be at least 80%, although the optimal ratio will vary depending on the sport. Alpine skiers, for example, have a lower risk of injury if the ratio is close to 80%, while bobsledders should aim for a 125% ratio (meaning their hamstrings should be even stronger than their quadriceps).

Interestingly, the leg flexor/quadriceps target ratio can easily be achieved by using deep squats through a maximal range of motion. During my first year with the Canadian National Ski Team, I had the athletes replace their half squats with squats through the full range of motion and their ratio improved from an initial 57% to 79% within 11 weeks.

As for the idea of testing the strength ratio using ordinary gym training machines, this is almost impossible as there are so many different machines on the market.

Q: Football season is approaching and I'm still a bit underweight and need to gain weight quickly. Are there any tricks that can get me into an anabolic state quicker?

A: You could use branched chain amino acids (BCAAs) during training. I learned this from Dr. Serrano and Dr. DiPasquale and use this strategy with my athletes who are struggling to build serious mass. I have found that such strategic use of BCAAs during training can significantly reduce post-workout muscle soreness. I recommend taking 0.44 grams of BCAAs per kilogram of body weight. In other words, this means that if you weigh 90 kilograms, you should use 40 grams of BCAAs. If this exceeds your budget, then use at least 20 grams. Of course, you could also save your BCAA store for the training days when you train your weakest muscle groups, which can save you some money.

How does it all work? Well, BCAAs consumed during training will simultaneously increase your natural growth hormone levels and your insulin levels, thereby increasing both anabolism and anti-catabolism. A study conducted by Carli et al. in 1992 showed that pre-workout supplementation with BCAAs not only reduced post-workout testosterone levels, but actually increased post-workout testosterone levels.

You can use BCAAs either in powder form or in capsule form. If you prefer capsules, you can take three to four BCAA capsules whenever you take a sip of water during your workout.

Q: I'm a high school basketball player, so whenever someone talks about increasing vertical jump height, it always makes me prick up my ears. I realize that genetic predisposition is also involved here, but a few centimeters would be enough for me to be able to shoot the ball better. You once said something about power cleans and explosive movements to improve vertical jump height. Aren't these more like football exercises? My basketball coach just has us do reps with high speed and light weight - usually in combination with circuit training.

A: Improvements in the Olympic weightlifting exercises and their variations, as well as increasing the weight you use on squats, are a guarantee for increased vertical jump height.

As for performing fast repetitions with light weights, these do not recruit the high threshold muscle fibers as much as rapid acceleration of heavy weights. Performing speed repetitions in combination with circuit training is even more useless because the lactate buildup will lower the pH of the blood, making it more acidic and impairing the recruitment of high threshold motor units.

Your high school coach strikes me as someone who thinks eating kangaroo meat will improve vertical jump height.

Q: Can I really get strong without putting on too much fat? I've noticed that most powerlifting champions are fat. Franco Columbu looked good and was strong enough to compete in powerlifting competitions, but people like him seem to be the exception.

A: Of course you can get strong without putting on excessive fat. The reason you perceive powerlifters as fat is because television likes to show the people who can move the most weight and therefore focuses on the super heavyweight division, whose members tend to have a higher body fat percentage. This is not the case with competitive athletes from the lower weight classes. For example, when Mauro DiPasquale dominated the world championships in the 148 to 165 pound class, his body fat percentage was in the neighborhood of 3%.

You've also probably only seen American powerlifters, who tend to have a higher body fat percentage due to their diet. If you look at world-class powerlifters from Finland, Japan and Sweden, you will see that they are more on the leaner side and have a body fat percentage below 7% in most weight classes.

If you are training for relative strength, you should use the following parameters when training with maximum weights:

1. Intensity should be between 85 and 100% (the weight used should be 85 to 100% of the maximum weight you can perform a clean repetition with).
2. The repetition range should be between one and five repetitions.
3. The number of sets should be between five and twelve.
4. The rest intervals should be four to five minutes long.
5. The time you need to lift the weight should be between one and four seconds.
6. The time you take to lower the weight should be between three and five seconds.
7. You should pause for one second at the highest point of the movement between lifting and lowering the weight.
8. A set should not last longer than 20 seconds.

Due to the high number of sets you will perform in this type of training program, you will only need one to three exercises per training session. However, you could use up to four exercises if you train agonists and antagonists together (opposing muscle groups such as chest and back, biceps and triceps or quadriceps and hamstrings) instead of training each muscle group separately.

Scientists have found that the ability to achieve full activation of the motor units is improved if an agonist contraction has taken place immediately beforehand. For example, you could pause for two to three minutes after a 3RM set of close tricep presses and then perform a 3RM or 4RM set of dumbbell curls for the biceps. You could then pause again for two or three minutes and alternate between these two exercises until you have completed the desired number of sets. This method has the added benefit of allowing you to double the workload per training session.

Q: You have always been openly critical of Joe Weider and Nautilus guru Arthur Jones. What is wrong? Didn't these men pave the way for modern training techniques?

A: Stop it, you're killing me. My spleen is about to burst. Did you fall on your head as a child...or from the second floor at 15? Or are your parents cousins?

Did they pave the way for modern training techniques? NO. But they have made very significant contributions to the fitness industry.

Even though Joe Weider claims to have developed the hole in the donut (better known as the "Joe Weider Donut Hole Principle"), he popularized bodybuilding as a mainstream activity through his magazines. He had the genius to recognize the amazing marketing potential of Arnold Schwarzenegger, who was the real factor behind the acceptance of iron sports by the general public.

His brother Ben has spent years trying to legitimize bodybuilding by lobbying to make bodybuilding an Olympic sport. Unfortunately, based on IOC standards, bodybuilding will accomplish this in the same year as midget long throw, underwater field hockey or surf clay pigeon shooting.

Arthur Jones was the best elixir that ever invigorated the gym industry. During the seventies, his ideas led to the birth of hundreds of Nautilus clubs, which eventually evolved into larger fitness clubs with more equipment and ultimately became health and fitness clubs. I can honestly say that he created a whole new industry of more sophisticated strength training equipment, but the training methodology he promoted has been disproven time and time again by controlled scientific studies. This is one of the reasons that his greatest disciple Mike Mentzer was booted out of Muscular Development magazine (MD columnists like the highly respected sports scientist William Kraemer used numerous scientific studies to show that Mentzer's training dogma went out of style around the same time that the idea that the earth is a disk went out of style).

All kidding aside - these men contributed valuable things to the sport of iron, but in this day and age, it's what you've done lately that matters.

Q: You've used the term "dynamic stretching" several times. What exactly is that?

A: Dynamic stretching is also known as ballistic stretching. Unfortunately, it has undeservedly gotten a bad reputation thanks to physical therapists and trainers who claim that this type of stretching is a sure way to get injured.

Contrary to popular belief, there is very little correlation between static flexibility and dynamic flexibility. This is why you see black belt karate fighters who can kick you in the face while at the same time barely manage to touch the center of their shins with their fingertips when they bend forward.

If ballistic stretching was really that taxing on the body, then any martial artist who kicks in this manner (Tae Kwon-Do, Hapkido, Savate) would be dead by now, which would also be true for any rhythmic gymnast, ballet dancer or diver - ballistic stretching is a fundamental practice of physical preparation for all of these athletes.

Interestingly, when the Philadelphia 76ers won the NBA championship in 1986, they were coached by a conditioning coach who was also a ballet teacher and who used numerous ballet-style exercises to teach basketball players how to best utilize the concept of acceleration and how to relax antagonistic muscles.

Dynamic stretching involves quick movements that subject the muscles to a rapid but very short stretch. Opponents of dynamic stretching will argue that this stretch is too weak in duration to be beneficial and only increases the risk of strain. However, these people do not understand that the correlation between dynamic and static flexibility is very low (r=0.42). In other words, it is possible that a person who can barely touch their shins in a static stretch test can still kick you in the face.

Similarly, it is possible that a person who can go further than their feet in the same static test can barely manage to kick you in the navel. There is more involved in a dynamic expression of flexibility than simply the ability to relax muscles and connective tissue. It also requires the ability to activate the antagonistic muscle in order to expose the muscles to rapid stretching. In our example with the kick, you may be able to stretch your hamstrings well in a slow stretch test, but you may not be able to activate the quadriceps at high speed to subject the hamstrings to a rapid stretch.

However, there is a correct way to perform ballistic stretches - the pendulum method. Don't try to reach a maximum range of stretch on the first stretch. Instead, build up this stretch gradually. For example, to warm up for an upward kick at face height, you would first kick at ankle height, then mid-shin height, then knee height, etc. until you finally reach your maximum kick height. However, you would definitely not start with your best copy of a Jean-Claude Van Damme kick.

Q: What's the deal with sprinting and, for lack of a better term, big toe strength? A coach once told me that you can actually sprint faster if you train your big toe. Of course, he had no idea how to train the big toe. Is there any truth to this?

A: In case anyone thinks this question is a joke, there was actually a study done in Finland that showed that training the toe flexors can improve sprinting speed.

If you want to train your toe flexors, lay an unfolded beach towel on the floor and place a weight on the end of the beach towel furthest away from you. In a standing position, place your bare foot on the other end of the towel and pull it towards you by opening and closing your toes. When the weight has reached your foot, repeat with the other foot.

Of course, you could just forget the whole thing and focus on increasing your squat weight instead, which might be far better than all the toe training in the world.

Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/question-of-strength-23, https://www.t-nation.com/training/question-of-strength-24, https://www.t-nation.com/training/question-of-strength-25

By Charles Poliquin