Strength is a primary component of fitness. Over the years I’ve tried a variety of different programs and methods. I’d like to pass on to you one of them that continues to give me good results. Before I get to the meat of the program, let me give you a couple of guidelines that have worked for me.
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Do ‘big’ exercises – bench, deadlift, squat, side presses, pull-ups, anything that requires more than one muscle to perform. If you are trying to build strength and insist on spending time on an abductor/adductor machine you need to re-evaluate.
Do ‘big’ exercises – bench, deadlift, squat, side presses, pull-ups, anything that requires more than one muscle to perform. If you are trying to build strength and insist on spending time on an abductor/adductor machine you need to re-evaluate.·Don’t train to failure – all this does is teach you to fail as well as making you sore. If you’re an operator the boss is not going to want to hear “Gee, sir, I’d love to duckwalk that bunker up those stairs but I did legs yesterday and……”
Don’t train to failure – all this does is teach you to fail as well as making you sore. If you’re an operator the boss is not going to want to hear “Gee, sir, I’d love to duckwalk that bunker up those stairs but I did legs yesterday and……”·Train often – I typically lift three to five days a week. Before you start screaming about me being overtrained I do not lift to failure and I don’t do silly things like 5 sets of 15 to 20 repetitions.
Train often – I typically lift three to five days a week. Before you start screaming about me being overtrained I do not lift to failure and I don’t do silly things like 5 sets of 15 to 20 repetitions.·Don’t make radical changes in your routines
Don’t make radical changes in your routines ·Use whole body workouts, don’t do split routines. The body works as a whole so the more you train it as such the better off you’ll be. Remember we’re talking about strength, not increases in muscle mass. The two are not necessarily the same thing. In other words, if you need to improve your grip, then grab things hard. Do pull-ups and deadlifts and avoid things like the inverted pinkie curl on a decline bench (yes, I am employing sarcasm here).
Use whole body workouts, don’t do split routines. The body works as a whole so the more you train it as such the better off you’ll be. Remember we’re talking about strength, not increases in muscle mass. The two are not necessarily the same thing. In other words, if you need to improve your grip, then grab things hard. Do pull-ups and deadlifts and avoid things like the inverted pinkie curl on a decline bench (yes, I am employing sarcasm here). The program I use the most was one developed for former Soviet athletes. You begin by finding your one repetition maximum (1RM) for the exercises that you are using. Next break out your calculator and start figuring percentages. The workouts themselves are five sets of five repetitions of each exercise. Begin with 45% of your 1RM for your first set. Increase the weight 5% each set until you’ve finished five sets. The next workout begin at 50%, the third at 55% and so on until you finish your workout lifting 95% of your 1RM five times. Put another way:
Workout #1 45%, 50%, 55%, 60%, 65%
Workout #2 50%, 55%, 60%, 65%, 70%
Workout #3 55%, 60%, 65%, 70%, 75%
Continue this pattern to the final workout in the cycle which should be:
75%, 80%, 85%, 90%, 95%
Some of you are looking at this and thinking the same thing I did when I first saw it. 45%? What a ridiculously light weight! Consider this, if you are new to lifting, use the light weights to perfect your form. If you’ve been at it awhile and know what you’re doing, the light sets act as a warm up, if you need one. They also act as a gear down/gear up. If you’ve been lifting for any length of time you know that you will eventually hit a plateau where you can’t seem to get any stronger. If you back off and begin rebuilding again you will break the plateau and move on. Why does this happen? Beats me, I just know it does. This cycling formula seems to work with that and help you get over the plateaus easier. I’ve also found them useful for learning some of the high tension techniques that a certain evil Russian teaches. I can worry about the tension, not the weight.
The original workout called for at least 20 pullups in as few sets as possible. I currently do as many sets of five pull-ups as I can without failure. You finish with two sets of fifty Indian squats. I also add abdominal work to the mix. When you have completed the 95% workout take a day off, then retest for your 1RM and start the whole process over again. I said earlier that I typically strength train five days a week. If you find that you overtrain at this pace then cut it back. You can get excellent results from three or even two workouts a week using this program.
To achieve maximum strength gains you shouldn’t perform any cardio prior to training. However, some athletes (MMA fighters, wrestlers, boxers, football etc.) and others (SpecOp/SpecWar types, SWAT/HRT) must be able to develop useable strength that they can call on when fatigued. I’d recommend that once or twice a week these folks do something prior to strength training to fatigue them. A short run, two miles or less, a series of wind sprints or a particularly nasty set of body weight calisthenics prior to strength training will teach you that you can go beyond what you thought possible.
Finally, remember that strength training is not a substitute for skill training. Benching 300 pounds does not mean you’ll have a devastating punch or be able to make that hostage shot on demand. Strength training should supplement your primary training, not replace it.
