Understanding Training Intensities: How to Build Strength, Power, and Muscle

In this post, we’re going to break down training intensities and how they relate to three key methods used to develop strength and power. Each method serves a different purpose but ultimately contributes to the same goal: helping you move more weight, build more muscle, and get faster and stronger.

The Three Main Training Methods

1. Maximum Effort Method – Lifting maximal loads (heavy weights) for 1–3 repetitions.

2. Dynamic Effort Method – Lifting submaximal weights with the intent to move them as fast as possible (also known as speed work).

3. Repetition Method – Performing as many reps as possible to near failure.

Each of these methods trains different qualities of strength but also complements the others. When implemented correctly, all three recruit maximum motor units.

What Are Motor Units — and Why Do They Matter?

A motor unit is made up of a single nerve and the muscle fibers it controls. That nerve might control just a few fibers (for fine movement) or thousands (for forceful contractions). The human body contains approximately 250–300 million muscle fibers and 400,000 to 1 million motor units that control them.

Imagine a steel cable: it’s not one solid strand, but hundreds or thousands of tiny wires wound together. A muscle works similarly — made up of many fibers grouped into motor units.

We aim to recruit as many motor units as possible because doing so activates more muscle fibers, producing more force. Muscle fibers operate in a binary way — they are either on or off. There's no partial activation. If less force is needed, fewer motor units are recruited. As force demands rise, more motor units are called into action.

The Size Principle

The Size Principle describes the order in which motor units are recruited:

• It starts with small, slow-twitch fibers (low force, long duration).

• As intensity increases, the body recruits larger, fast-twitch fibers (high force, short duration).

These high-threshold motor units are only activated during near-maximal or explosive efforts — and they’re essential for building maximum strength and power.

Example: Walking vs. Sprinting

Let’s use locomotion to illustrate:

• Walking activates only 10–30% of your muscle fibers. It’s low effort but sustainable for long periods.

• Sprinting, on the other hand, activates 80–100% of your muscles — recruiting the largest, most powerful fibers. However, this effort can only be sustained for about 5–10 seconds.

How Does This Tie Into Training?

To get stronger and more powerful, you need to tap into the high-threshold motor units.

Take the squat as an example:

• Maximum Effort Method – Work up to a heavy single, double, or triple (e.g., a 1RM).

• Dynamic Effort Method – Perform squats at submaximal weight with maximum speed and intent.

• Repetition Method – Use a moderate weight and perform as many reps as possible near failure.

Each method, if performed with maximum intent, will recruit high-threshold motor units. This not only builds strength but also trains your body to coordinate global contractions — engaging your nervous system and multiple muscle groups together.

Each method emphasizes different qualities of high-threshold motor unit recruitment:

• Max effort builds coordination and absolute strength.

• Dynamic effort builds rate of force development (how fast you can apply force).

• Repetition method builds muscle size and endurance under fatigue.

All three methods are complementary. Ignoring one means leaving a critical part of your strength and power development on the table.

Practical Application

Every exercise in your training should fall into one of these three categories. However, submaximal effort is sometimes necessary before applying maximal methods. For example:

• If someone’s form isn’t technically sound

• If they’re recovering from injury

• If they lack basic control or coordination

• If they are prone to injury

Some exercises can be safely pushed hard (e.g., banded triceps extensions), while others (like deadlifts) carry more risk and require foundational skill and control.

Form always comes first. Maximal effort means nothing if it’s performed with poor mechanics.

Why Does Performance Go Down When You Fix Your Form?

Let me preface before we get into the weeds: sometimes, when you start executing with guidance and form correction, right away your performance actually goes up. But more often than not, the complete opposite happens. In this post, I’ll break down why this drop occurs and what to do about it.

 The Problem with Changing Patterns

When we execute a movement a certain way enough times, we engrave motor patterns into our nervous system. These are the sequences of movement your body “remembers”. This is also known as muscle memory.

The more reps you do, the more automatic that pattern becomes, and the less conscious effort it takes. But once a motor pattern is established, rewiring it takes more energy and focus than just doing what your body is used to.

Let’s say you’ve been lifting without really thinking about it. Then decide you want to focus on your form. Paying attention to bracing, positioning, joint control, bar path and balance. That shift is not just hard physically, it’s also a psychological stressor. It feels weird. Off. Uncomfortable. Inefficient.

Why? Because you’re asking weaker, underdeveloped muscles to take over from the ones that have been compensating. You're also trying to overwrite a well-worn groove in your movement patterns.

There’s a saying that sums it all up: “We get efficient at being inefficient.” And if we don’t address that inefficiency? It comes at a cost, reduced long-term development, higher injury risk, and a limit on the weight you can actually move over time.

Age and Adaptability

The older you get, the harder it is to change motor patterns.

From a physiological standpoint, younger lifters tend to have:

• More malleable connective tissues (tendons, ligaments, bones)

• Faster healing

• Greater hormonal support for recovery and muscle growth

• And most importantly, more neuroplasticity. Their brains are quicker to adapt and learn new skills

Kids and teens are practically working with a clean slate. They haven’t built up years of bad habits or movement compensations yet.

Older lifters? Different story. Flexibility tends to decrease, injuries or tweaks start to accumulate, and the brain and body have years of conditioned responses. This creates a system that’s more efficient, but also less flexible.

It’s like having a toolbox filled with only one or two tool, you’ll use what’s familiar, even if it’s not the best fit.

Psychology and Progress

From a mental standpoint, younger lifters tend to be:

• More curious

• More stubborn

• More willing to push boundaries

• Often addicted to seeing the weight on the bar go up

But that early progress is rarely sustainable. Many young lifters hit a wall and end up quitting when the quick easy gains stop.

Older lifters, on the other hand, have usually been around the block. They’ve made the mistakes. They know their bodies. And they’ve come to realize that their old approach isn’t sustainable. That makes them more open to learning, more consistent, more process-driven, and more mentally resilient.

 So, Can You Improve Form and Performance?

Yes but only if the lifter is open to:

• Training with full intent

• Letting go of arbitrary numbers

• Redefining progress as a long-term pursuit of better form and incremental gains

Why Performance Actually Goes Down (At First)

Even aside from age and physiology, the main reason performance dips when form improves is this…You’re asking your body and mind to do something it’s not used to and you’re making weaker muscles do the job. That unfamiliarity makes everything feel harder. It limits how much weight you can move. And it feels frustrating. Meet the ego, your Biggest Contender.

This is where most lifters struggle, not with the movement, but with the identity hit that comes from doing less weight and playing the long game. If you're used to using external numbers (PRs, bar weight, # of reps) as your primary measure of success, improving form might feel like a step backward. But here’s the truth… Every lifter eventually hits the ceiling of linear progression. That “add 5 lbs every week” model? It works for a while. But at some point, it has to be reframed to longer timelines, months and years, not days and weeks.  As strength increases, so does the recovery cost. Each session gets more taxing, the margin for error shrinks, and life throws in new constraints, injuries, stress, family, job shifts. Progression then has to be strategic, patient, and sustainable.

Final Words

The slower, more intentional path, paired with solid form, creates room for real progress. It also builds a framework that can adapt to your life, not just your training spreadsheet. So yeah, performance might dip when you fix your form. But it’s not a setback, it’s just a recalibration. And if you commit to it, the long-term return is way bigger than whatever number is on the bar right now.

Clarifying Rep Maxes, AMRAP Sets, and Training Failure

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Hey everyone,

I want to take a moment to clarify some common training terms and concepts, particularly around rep maxes, AMRAP (as many reps as possible) sets, and training to failure in strength training and strength sports like powerlifting, Olympic weightlifting, and strongman.

Rep Maxes: What They Really Mean

When we talk about a one-rep max (1RM), three-rep max (3RM), or five-rep max (5RM), a crucial rule applies across all of them:

A rep max should be performed with good form.

Good form means:

• Efficient bar path – The bar should move in the most biomechanically sound way possible.

• Safe body positioning – This minimizes injury risk. For example, excessive spinal flexion on a deadlift is something we want to avoid.

• Proper bracing and execution – You should be lifting with as much control and technical precision as possible.

A common misconception is that a rep max means lifting the absolute heaviest weight possible at all costs. In reality, the goal is to lift the heaviest weight you can manage with good technique. If form is breaking down significantly, the weight is too heavy to count as a true rep max.

This principle applies not just to rep maxes but also to lighter work. If you’re lifting at submaximal loads with poor form, you’re reinforcing bad habits that will show up when you go heavy.

AMRAP Sets: A Technical Perspective

Another term that often leads to confusion is AMRAP (as many reps as possible). People often interpret this as pushing until absolute muscular failure, but that’s not the full picture.

A better way to approach this is:

As many reps as possible with good form.

If your form starts to break down significantly, the set should stop. Just because you could grind out a few more reps doesn’t mean you should—especially if technique is deteriorating.

A good rule of thumb: Leave a couple of reps in the tank to maintain quality movement patterns. This ensures that you’re building strength safely and effectively.

Training to Failure: When Is It Appropriate?

Failure is a misunderstood concept in strength training. There’s a spectrum of movements where going to failure is either more or less appropriate:

• Low-skill, isolation exercises (e.g., banded triceps extensions, leg curls, sled drags) → You can safely train to muscular failure because technique plays a minimal role. If you can’t complete a rep, the movement simply stops.

• High-skill, compound lifts (e.g., squats, deadlifts, Olympic lifts) → Failure is rarely true muscular failure. Instead, technical failure happens first—such as spinal flexion in the deadlift, bar path deviations in the bench press, or uncoordinated movement in the squat.

For example, on a deadlift, very few people actually reach true muscular failure. Most lifters experience form breakdown first—rounded back, poor hip-knee coordination, or inefficient bar path. The same goes for the bench press, where failure often looks like excessive elbow flare, feet lifting off the ground, or losing control of the bar path.

Key Takeaway: Know When to Push and When to Stop

Understanding this continuum of technical vs. muscular failure is crucial for effective training. Some exercises allow you to push all the way to failure safely, while others require a more measured approach.

By always keeping form and technique as the top priority, you’ll make better long-term progress, reduce injury risk, and develop true strength—not just the ability to grind through ugly reps.

Hope this clears things up! Let me know if you have any questions.

Train smart,
Chris

Don't Take Light Work Lightly: The Key to Strength Sport Success

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When competing in powerlifting, strongman, or Olympic weightlifting, the way you approach your lighter sets can have a significant impact on your performance when it really counts. Many lifters make the mistake of not utilizing intense focus on lighter sets. But these reps are crucial opportunities to refine technique, build consistency, and prepare mentally for heavy lifts.

Light Training Days Are Not Throwaway Days

Lighter training with lifts that closely resemble your main lifts should be executed with the same precision, intensity, and mental focus as your heaviest lifts. Approach them as if you were taking your third attempt in competition or stepping up for a crucial event in a strongman meet. These reps are not just about moving weight, they are rehearsals for success under pressure.

Building Automatic Responses

The way you train in lighter sessions conditions your body and mind for when the weight is heavy. If you consistently execute each rep of the lifts with full intent, you’re training technique and mindset. This will allow a more automatic response when the stakes are high. Think of it as role-playing. The more you practice the right approach, the more instinctive it becomes. When it’s time to compete, you won’t have to overthink. You’ll simply execute.

Focus on Every Rep

It’s easy to let your mind wander when the weight is light, but this is exactly when your focus matters most. Every repetition should be performed with complete engagement. Throughout the duration of each rep train yourself to be fully present, reinforcing the same cues, aggression, and execution you’ll need on the platform or competition floor.

The Path to Optimal Performance

The more repetitions you perform with maximum intent, the greater your likelihood of peak performance when it truly counts. Treat every repetition, regardless of load, with respect, discipline and execution. Your future self, standing on the competition platform, will thank you for it.

Next time you walk up to a weight that is light, take it seriously. Deliberate practice is the source of success.

Essential Lifting Terminology

When stepping into the world of strength training, understanding key terminology can significantly enhance your ability to track progress, communicate effectively, and optimize your training. Below is a breakdown of common lifting lingo that you need to know to navigate your lifting career with confidence.

Proper Notation for Logging Workouts

Recording your training accurately is crucial for tracking progress. Here’s how to properly log your sets and reps:

• 150 x 5 x 3 – This means you lifted 150 pounds for 5 reps for 3 sets.

• 3 x 5 @ 150 – This also means you lifted 150 pounds for 5 reps for 3 sets.

• 3 x 5 – With no weight mentioned, this simply states that you did three sets of five reps.

RPE (Rated Perceived Exertion)

RPE is a scale from 1 to 10 used to measure the difficulty of a set:

• 1 – Extremely easy

• 10 – Maximum effort, hardest thing you've ever done

Most lifters rarely use RPE values below 5. This scale helps regulate training intensity, allowing you to push when necessary and pull back when needed. If you’re new to an exercise and don’t have an assigned RPE, a good starting point is an RPE of 6 or 7.

Cluster Sets

Cluster sets involve short rest periods between reps to help complete all prescribed volume.

• Example: If a program calls for 4 sets of 10 reps, but you fatigue after 8 reps in your last set, you can pause briefly, then complete the final 2 reps. This method helps you maintain intensity without reducing weight. (written as 1x8/x2)

Intensity

In lifting, intensity refers to absolute load or a percentage of your one-rep max (1RM):

• Absolute load – If you squat with 150 lbs, the intensity is 150 lbs.

• Percentage-based intensity – If you are prescribed 3x5 at 75% of your 1RM, the intensity is relative to your max.

Note: Intensity is not the same as effort—your effort/intent should always be to lift with maximal focus and execution unless otherwise noted.

AMRAP & ALAP

• AMRAP – As Many Reps As Possible

• ALAP – As Long As Possible

These are performed within the bounds of good form. For example:

• If during an AMRAP squat set, your knees collapse inward, your balance shifts forward, or your heels lift, stop the set.

• If performing a plank ALAP, stop once your shoulders sag, your spine hyperextends, or you lose pelvic control.

A good rule of thumb for AMRAP sets is to stop 1 to 2 reps before complete failure.

Its good to note that in your program

Rest Intervals

Rest time varies depending on the type of exercise:

• Accessory lifts (6+ reps per set) – Rest 40–90 seconds.

• Heavy compound lifts (low rep, high intensity) – Rest 2–5 minutes.

Why? Accessory movements primarily use the glycolytic energy system, which recovers quickly. Maximal lifting relies on the creatine-phosphate system, which requires longer rest to fully replenish energy.

5RM, 3RM, 1RM

These refer to 5-rep max, 3-rep max, and 1-rep max, respectively.

• Your daily max will fluctuate, so don’t tie emotional weight to exceeding past maxes.

• Instead of chasing an all-time PR every session, focus on consistent, high-quality effort.

Missed reps or specific details of your exercises are definitely important to note. We are not only concerned about your successes but also about recording insights that might help make better decisions in the future. This way, you can better plan and adjust your training.

Wrapping Up

Mastering these terms will help you take better training notes and piece together a more effective strength program. Understanding the language of lifting allows you to communicate with coaches, track progress accurately, and train with greater intention. Keep these concepts in mind as you continue building strength and refining your technique!

Why Pause Lifts?

When you are trying develop a motor pattern having a clear idea on what you should be doing with your body in space is imperative for technique development. Knowing what “right” feels like requires a “feeling”. This Feeling is known as proprioceptive awareness.

Usually before the rep because you can administer a “check list” in your head. When you decide to execute the lift, your attention is diminished because the weight you are lifting may exceed a threshold and because you must be fully committed to the lift thinking more will only inhibit performance.

If you were to choose to focus on specific cues to improve form follow this simple rule, the more thinking the less the weight needs to be. We want to challenge this threshold and a great way to do it is by doing paused variations of the lifts.

Usually within a lift you only have one real opportunity to go through a mental checklist. And that’s before you start the lift. When you pause in a specific part of the range of motion you are giving yourself a chance to bring cognitive awareness to a point you would not have otherwise thought of. Here you can perform a micro check list of one – two things.

Examples:

At the bottom of pause bench press – Feet tight, chest up

At the bottom of the squat – knees out

2” off the floor for deadlift – Straight arms, chest up

At the Bottom of a jerk dip - Mid foot, bar on throat

At at the power position in a snatch - over the bar, lats tight

Pause in the catch of the clean - Balance

Practical Application

If you are struggling to improve your form on a lift, try a paused variation 50-60%. Pause for 1 Mississippi count. Start with 4-6 sets of 2-3 reps. The extra duration pauses have greater time under tension so keep the sets short. Be careful with expectations because depending on training age they may not immediately translate to improved form on your higher weight sets. Pausing promoting us to be slow down and as we all should know, in order to develop maximum strength, we must develop maximum speed. It is recommended to periodize this approach.

What is RPE?

RPE is rated perceived exertion. It can be used to gauge a set performed. For example, you do a set of squats and you rate the difficulty level as a 7 out of 10. This means subjectively you were working at 70% maximum effort. Of course, there are many factors involved in your rating system. As you use the rating system over time and get objective feedback on this system you are able to calibrate it to be more accurate.

RPE Scale

A few ways to calibrate it is watching video of yourself after you rated it. If it moved better than it felt then you may want to reduce the rating by ½ value. If you think it felt easy but the speed looked really slow then you may want to increase the rating by ½ - 1 value

Repetition verses Singles

The further away you get from a true 1 RM the more subjective the scale becomes. This is imparted due to the different energy systems that use and the amount of objective data. In a set of 20 reps (glycolytic and oxidative) if you were close to a 10 RPE you’d be able to hold the weight for a couple of seconds and you can probably do another rep adversity in a set 1 rep (phosphocreatine) at an RPE 10 no matter how much rest you take you would not be able to do any more sets of 1 and even at a slightly lighter weight.

Hitting the wall

Finding the wall helps you calibrate your scale for both ends of the spectrum. If you are doing an as many reps as possible set and you have muscular failure at rep 12 then you know that’s an RPE 10. If you deadlift 365lbs and try 385lbs and miss, it can be inferred that RPE 10 is somewhere between 370-380lbs.

Words of Caution

This is a subjective system and needs to be used with a grain of salt. Your rating system needs to time to develop. When it develops into a reliably source you can then use it to fine tune your ability to recover (keep RPE under 7) or to push you beyond you limits (go to RPE 9.5). Like any system it has pit falls and the biggest one it requires lifters to develop a high level of awareness. To get started just observe and rate your sets. Take video and ask yourself “do I agree with what I initially rated that set?”. Change you RPE if it doesn’t line up.  Do a test. If it’s a safe movement to fail on and want to test out your RPE rating, do one additional set and take it to failure. If you’re doing 15 more reps then your work weight, well you are probably going too light. Remember to be safe, use failure points as ways to identify your boundaries and keep practicing it!

Developing Lifter Autonomy

Why is it important?

In the beginning you may be told exactly what to do. After the newbie gains are over the process needs to have a larger influence on the lifters ability to make good training decisions and to larger extent good life decisions. These decisions will shape your training plan. You are the only one in your body and the only one to perceive your experiences. No matter how good an outside professional is your ability to do the self-work required for growth and improvement weighs on your shoulders.

Here are 3 ways to build lifter autonomy

1)      Practice using the rated perceived exertion scale. When you are done with a set, rate it on a difficulty level of 1-10. This helps detach you from a number removing expectation allowing the difficulty level to guide you.

2)      Be okay with changing the plan. If 135 feels really hard, bar speed is slow and your form is slipping, rest longer between sets, lighten the weight or change the rep scheme. This helps you be objective about making better training decisions. Do not to exploit this, be honest to yourself and don’t just change stuff because you don’t feel like trying hard .  

3)      Don’t do things that don’t work. If overhead press hurts your shoulder try changing grip position, load, and reps, and see if it helps. If it still doesn’t help do a different exercise that doesn’t cause pain. Beating a square peg into a round hole doesn’t work for long term success. Gather things that work and rotate through them.

If you’re paying attention you should discover your training guidelines. This helps create your optimal train plan and helps defines your boundaries. Over time you must push the boundaries that are limiting you from growing. Listen to your body, make adjustments and always try your hardest.

Just Try

For the first time don’t go balls to the wall and just try trying.

This could lead you down the path of indecisiveness, burn out, injuries, and growing expectations. If you don’t have a lot of experience in trying new things, the goal when trying something new should be just dipping the toe in the water. This helps push people who are apprehensive and pulls back the reigns on people who are all or nothing. This could look like going at a leisure pace on the air bike, working up to a single at RPE 7, or it could mean doing 2 sets instead of 3. Then ask yourself how hard was it, pay attention to how you are feeling tomorrow and increase according to how you are responding. This doesn’t have tot apply to training it can apply to any other new “thing” you’re trying to incorporate.

When you take this slower approach, you learn how motivation interplays with the body’s effort to action. That last thing you want is to have the bar so high there’s no room for improvement, be super sore the next day or you’ve tweaked something because you don’t understand your body’s limits.

When I start something new my goal is to just do it. I don’t care how much I get thought, how long it takes me or how light of a weight I am using because the 2nd and 3rd time I do it I’ll push a little bit harder.

If you’ve adapted to pushing hard with new stimulus and you know your body well this advice is not for you. But if you struggle with motivating your self to try something new lower the goal to just doing it. You’ll be happy you did.

Perform at Your Highest Level

“Detachment from Thought is the Heart of High Performance”

 

Count Your Breaths

During your session in between work sets, just pay attention to counting your breaths. Think about the breath number you’re on during the inhale and think about that same number on the exhale. If it’s a timed rest you can turn it into a focused game. “Get less breaths in during your next rest interval.” Or you can make it so a breath count is your rest interval “50 breath per rest set”.    

 This does a couple things…

1)      It trains you to narrow your focus detaching you from thought bringing you into the present moment  

2)      It lowers your heart rates calming your nervous system allowing you to recover better between sets

“True power is detachment from thought. If thoughts control you that means anything can control you. Breathe and allow thoughts to pass."

Some people believe that we cannot control our thoughts. That’s only partially true. We have the ability to ruminate on a thought, we have the ability to detach yourself from thought and we have the ability to CHOOSE between the two.  

In lifting, especially when you are going very heavy or doing a weight that injured you in the past, fear, anxiety and doubt often seeps in. The practice of PAYING ATTENTION to your BREATH builds the skill of DETACHMENT. This allows us to use our energy wisely.

Extra Practice

“In times of peace, prepare for war” – Niccolò Machiavelli

Practice what you will experience in a safe environment. Daily mediation helps with that. It can be in the form of counting breaths or a guided meditation. Either form will help because when you’re in battlefield, thoughts will arise and you will know what to do. Like any other practice the more you put in the more you get out. Err on the side of caution. If you meditate already try the focused breathing, if you don’t meditate you may want to just try 10 breaths of focused breathing per day with intention of increasing it over time.

How Not to Allow Outside Factors to Affect Performance

Picture this:

You had a long stressful day at work, you have a planned training session and you are programmed to hit a single.

There are three pieces to this

1.       Your ability to handle outside stressors

2.       How consistent you are showing up and training

3.       How well you adjust your expectations to line up with the current circumstances.

1.       Learn to cope with stress

Take an event and break it into parts. Spend 1 minute on each step. The goal is to distill an action plan.

Step 1: What happened?

Step 2: Why is it stressing you out?

Step 3: What about the event do you have control over?

Step 4: What about the event do you not have control over?

Step 5: What is your action step?

Action steps are physical and acceptance based.

Physical action requires you to plan out a time in the future, to get it done. Some are, one and done, while others require daily, weekly, monthly or yearly maintenance. Planning this action requires you to give yourself permission not worry. Remember its scheduled, it will get done. You’ll cross the bridge when you get there.   

Acceptance is an understanding that there is nothing you can do about the situation. This requires acknowledgment of the thought as it arises. When it arises perform one of the following actions. Refocus your attention the next 10 breaths, give yourself permission to be fully present in what you’re doing, write it down, or have response card and read it out loud. It could say “I cannot change what happened, but I can only control how I handle my thoughts. By choosing acceptance I am choosing to be a strong person.”

Nip the thought in the bud. If you’re good at acceptance this may be a quick process. If you’re not, in a kind and compassionate gently remind yourself what to do when you are triggered.  

Showing up

Depending on individual differences showing up will look different. It could look like showing up to your workout regardless on how you feel or it could look like carving out time in the day for selfcare. The thing is, if we show up to our greatest capacity, we are expanding our limits, creating a more resilient, mindful person. With repeated positive actions will increase our capabilities for performance in all areas of our life.

Adjust

Okay. So, you made it to the gym and started training. You are planned to hit a single for the day. Remember, the outcome is the outcome and how your composure yourself is the most part in developing the ability to not allow outside factors to affect your performance.

If your lifts feel good enjoy the ride! If your lifts are not feeling good, it’s okay to say, “I’m not going for a max today”. It’s okay for that single to be much lower than your best. If your ego is strong, you’ll say “The hell with it!” and try for a max.

What do you think the outcome is? If you’re into lifting for the long haul, what do you think is the better course of action? If you have some control over your impulses, taking the low road will bruise your ego. Trust me you’ll recover from it a lot quicker than an acute injury or dangerous physiological mindset solely driven by the ego. If your mind is resilient, you’ll be okay with making it a light day or doing something completely different altogether.

Remember you have control over how you respond. How you respond builds your character. If you get pissed off, what character trait are you reinforcing? If you are grateful that you showed and are willing to adjust your psyche, what character traits are you reinforcing?

A cut on the skin doesn’t just go away immediately; you need to bandaged it up properly and allow time to heal. Same is true with stress. Have a plan ready to go, show up, adapt, get your reps in and give it time. The magic will happen. You’ll find you become more objectively focused this is what helps you remove yourself from outside stressors. You’ll find that even days that are not your best numbers you still having the best training session possible. Your composure is your foundation to success.

Bands and Chains Explained

Louie Simmons in the 1980’s and 1990’s popularized the use of bands and chains coining the term accommodating resistance. It use is meant to help match the strength curve in an exercise allowing a lifter to build speed and strength through their sticking point.

For example. In a squat the hardest part of the lift is at the bottom. As the lifter stands up the lift moment arms reduce causing the lift to get easier.

This is due to the larger moment arms created at the bottom of the lift. The further away the the fulrcum is from the weight the more force it needs to exert to overcome the resistance.

Bands and chains are meant to vary the the resistance of the movement as the lifter goes through the range of motion, making the way up more difficult than it typically would be. This is also considered variable resistance.

This does two things

1)      It allows the lifter to load a part of the lift that was inherently easy to begin while enabling strength to develop at higher spots in the range of motion

2)      It makes the lifter have to continuously drive with maximum intention. As a lift comes closer to completion the lift gets easier and we tend to not “push” as hard. The bands force us to keep pushing hard.   

Bands and Chains are Similar But Different

Similarities include

-Varying resistance throughout the range of motion, less resistance on the way down (eccentric) and more resistance on the way up (concentric)

-Speed development is naturally developed in order to finish the lift

-Helps stabilize the movement by keeping the bar path vertical (if bands are set up straight down, and chains naturally hang down vertically)

Differences

Bands

-Overspeed the eccentric portion contributing to more potential energy on the concentric phase

-Resistance is not linear its exponential. The more the band is stretched the more resistance increase

-Bands wear out leading to loss of tension, uneven wear from band to band, and they break

Chains

-Lower center of mass which makes the lift more stable

-Chain weight is fixed meaning for every chain link that comes off the ground a specific amount of weight is added to the bar. The resistance is linear.

Accommodating resistance develops two qualities of strength.

1) Strength-Speed – is the ability to move maximal loads as fast as you can. Loads will be above 90% and ~45% of resistance will be accommodating resistance.  

2) Speed-Strength – is the ability to move a moderate-loads as fast as possible. Loads we will equal ~ 65-75%. Accommodating resistance will constitute about 25%.

The goal of using accommodating resistance is to develop both qualities, the ability to push through a lift’s sticking point and the ability to produce high levels of force using speed. When properly programming in both will contribute to gaining more strength.

1 Tip That Will Make You a Better Lifter

Show up

In the most essential sense it’s actually, planning out your day, getting to the gym and making it a weekly habit.

If you mastered making time for your training “showing up” will be considered being as present as possible. This doesn’t mean thinking about what you’re going to do for dinner, or utilizing your rest intervals to finish a work email, or taking calls in the middle of your session.

Showing up means to be as present as possible while you are lifting.

While lifting pay attention to 1-2 technique cues that pretends to you. Here are several common cueing examples a lifter may be focusing on during a lift…

• All lifts – Big breath, brace hard, balance move with maximum speed/intent

• Squat - Hips back, chest down, knees out, chest up

• Deadlift – Straight arms, hips high, weight back, chest up, bar close, lats tight

• Bench press – Chest high, tuck elbows, feet planted, press back, tight grip

• Press – Elbows forward, press back, hips forward

• Snatch & Clean – Chest high, knees out, hips then shrug, tight elbows (SN), elbows up(CL)  

• Jerk – Weight back, knees out, staggered foot timing, punch it, 50/50 balance

After your set reflect…

• Were you thinking about your cues and were you able to physically put them into action?

• What was the rated perceived exertion?

• How was your overall focus level?

• How can you improve for next set?

This mindfulness practice allows you to be present. You give yourself permission to solely focus on what you are physically doing. Know yourself and be careful not to over analyze by asking too many questions. If you happen to attach emotion or expectations to the mix, be aware that this distorts the objectiveness of the reflection process. Thank yourself for the “critique” making a note of it and look for one thing, if anything, that you would like to improve for the next bout. With the right dosage of conscious effort lifting will become more subconscious, you will give your body the permission to complete the movement with minimum instruction allowing yourself to lift with maximum intention.

Learn how to Brace

Learning how to brace is important because it stabilizes the core this in turn allows the intended joints to be trained. This helps prevent injuries from occurring and allows the more force to be transferred.

Learn how to brace in three steps

Step 1: Press your fingers into your belly

Step 2: Take a big Breath into your fingers, you should feel your fingers push out until your lungs are full

Step 3: Flex your ab muscles

Trouble shooting

You don’t feel your fingers push out when breathing in.

Cause: Unable to use diaphragm

Solution: Follow this progression, Crocodile breathing, Supine belly breathing, Standing belly breathing

Crocodile breathing - lay on your stomach, breath in, feeling your low back rise, then exhale

Supine belly breathing - lay on your stomach, place a hand on the belly and one on the chest, breath into the hand on the belly. Try not allow the hand on the chest rise.

Standing Belly Breathing - do the supine version but standing.

Note: the goal of these exercise is to learn how to use the diaphragm, If you are lifting and cannot fill your belly, taking a big breath in any way you can, will pressurize the torsos cavities and provide more stability then if you didn’t.

You cannot flex the abdominals

Cause: low motor recruitment, weak abdominal muscles

Solution: Isometric core exercises, RKC Planks, and the McGill big three (curl up, side plank on the knee, bird dog hold) that focus on maximum abdominal contractions. While doing these exercises use full and forceful exhales to contract harder. You may want to add these in to your warm up to get your core “firing”

Note: Using a belt helps you contract your abdominal better because it provides proprioceptive feedback giving you something to contract against.  

Getting dizzy when bracing during lifting

Cause: The glottis is pinching the carotid artery

Solution: Let a little bit of air out to during the lift. This will allow the blood to return to the brain. This can be done in quick exhale spirts. DO NOT LOSEN YOUR BRACE, stay tight until you are done.

Final words: Learning how to brace is essential but it is not a prerequisite to getting stronger. As the weigh on the bar increases you will develop a more effective brace. the proper use of a lifting belt will further improve your able to increase intraabdominal pressure allowing you to stabilize better during lifts and every day life.

Reframe Your Mindset For Success

How Does Reframing Bring You Closer to Success?

Here are two scenarios and two mindsets to help answer that question.

Scenario 1

Work up to max squat for the day. You hit 255lbs, your best is 270lbs. How do you handle the result?

Mindsets

• Short-term Outcome-based

  • Do you respond by being frustrated? Are you disappointed? Do you start catastrophizing? Do you place blame on yourself, on your coach, the way your entire life has been going up to this point? Does this “failure” validate your suspicion that you have and will always be a failure? Do you think that there’s something seriously wrong? Do you ask a deeper question…is all this anguish even worth it anymore?  

• Long-term Process-based

  • Do you feel content and accomplished that you’ve listened to your body and attempted the most weight you could for the day? Do you realize that although it wasn’t a personal best your overall average everyday strength has increased? Do you acknowledge that keeping focused, showing up and trying your hardest every single day is what allows strength to increase long term?

Scenario 2

Work up to max squat for the day. You hit a personal best 275lbs. How do you handle the result?

Mindsets

• Short-term Outcome-based

  • Do you feel ecstatic and overly confident? Do you feel like nothing can stop you? Do you immediately set your next squat goal to be 315lbs? Does this tempt you to max out your squat again next week? Does it tempt you to max out your bench and deadlift too? Does it make you greedy, feeling like you’ll never be strong enough?

• Long-term Process-based

  • Do you feel content and accomplished that you’ve listened to your body and attempted the most weight you could for the day? Do you realize that personal bests come when your body is ready for it? Do you acknowledge that keeping focused, showing up and trying your hardest every single day is what allows strength to increase long term?

 Let’s analyze the behavior of these two mindsets from these two scenarios.  

Mindset Analysis

• Short-term outcome-based - Drastic swing from depressed to manic. The resulting behavior goes from feeling like you can’t accomplish anything to being on the top of the world.  

• Long-term process-based - Very little change from both scenarios. The resulting behavior is accepting the outcome and acknowledging that putting more time into strength training will produce a long-term increase in strength.  

Why Sticking to a Plan Works?

Working with a coach, sticking to a strength program and addressing your internal dialogue provides the environment to build the traits of a long-term process-based lifter. Throughout the journey you will battle negative thoughts. The process of reframing your perspective is hard but, it is the most important tool to nurture long term progress.

The ideal lifter uses moments of frustration as opportunities to address and rewrite internal dialogue. This dialogue is an impulse, a reaction, something that requires persistent efforts to change. What we choose to do with this reaction determines who we become. When someone is good at reframing, behavior and mindset change is done instantaneously. To get to that point first one must identity  the impulse event and second attempt to reframe during the event. If they miss the opportunity to identify or reframe a reflection at the end of the day distilling an action plan for next event will suffice. Bear in mind the end result is behavior and mindset change during the impulse. So, if you are struggling with that leap, ask for help from your coach or someone you trust.

Picture that you have two jars

Jar 1 - Short-term outcome-based mindset

Jar 2 - Long term process-based mindset

If we react with rage, spite and anger we put a marble in Jar 1

If we react with compassion, acceptance and trust we put a marble in Jar 2

At the end of the year, how many marbles do you have in each jar? Do you want more marbles in Jar 1 or Jar 2?

Success

If you are working with the right coach, your mindset ultimately determines your progress. The right mindset is created through many repetitions. Change your mindset prioritize getting reframing reps in. In the beginning making progress feels like you are faking it. That’s normal, that’s you trying your best. As time goes you start experiencing genuine feelings of acceptance and contentment for your efforts. The sting of failure and the drunken euphoric states of success will all be but a fading shell of how you once thought progress was meant to feel like.  

BOUNS: Practical application

Here are 3 tricks to help reframe your internal dialogue.

When an impulse arises…

1. Think of your role model. How would your role model handle this situation?

2. If you were your best friend, what would you say to yourself?

3. If you were someone who another person looked up to you, how would you want them to see you respond?

Out of Balance?

Being balanced is a fundamental component to strength training.

A system that is out of balance increases effort, this could inherently reduce the amount of strength a lifter can build. As a lifter gets stronger and the weight on the bar goes up the margin of balance deviations reduces close to null.

We us three systems to keep the body in balance.

Vestibular system – located in the inner ear and triggering reflective movements to help maintain equilibrium.  Think of, you’re looking at an object and you rotate you head to the right; you will stay locked on the object by turning your eyes left.

Somatosensory system – Proprioceptive (position) and kinesthetic (movement) - this is our nerves telling us where out body is without seeing it. It is the feel. Think about keeping your back straight in the deadlift.

Visual system – sensing our movement by seeing it.

The goal is to stay balanced while lifting. When in balance we are utilizing the path of least resistance. This is the safest and most effective way to train. We are trying to reproduce perfect movements patterns. When we are balanced it “feels” easy. Once we are there, we want every rep to look exactly the same.

Gravity act straight down on an object.

In the squat and deadlift moving the bar straight up is the most effect way to overcome resistance.

The overhead press and the bench press are a little bit different. Because of anatomical constrictions the path of least resistance is not straight, it’s actually a diagonal path.

Overhead press – the head is in the way and the bar does not start on the shoulder joint, it starts forward of it.

Bench press – in order to keep the acromioclavicular joint safe in during movement, with beginners the humerus should be 75-45 degrees abducted from the body. The closer the arms are to the body the less steep the bar path becomes.

We are trying to be a perfectly balanced system. This allows us to gain the ability to reproduce the safest most effective movements patterns. During this process we want to progressively overload to build strength so we can reinforce proper movement patterns and make the body as robust.

Be aware as the weight increases in order to complete the lift safely and effectively the system need to be balanced above a certain threshold. Mindless lifting is not acceptable. Learning to get strong takes paying attention to detail, striving to be present during every session every rep.  

Keep Your Back Straight

A key component to proper form during strength training is maintain correct spinal position. The spine, with its many joints, wants to move but we do not allow it to. Perfect case scenario the spine is held in ridged extension.

Keeping the spine straight requires several parts

1)      Proprioception (awareness)  

2)      Contraction of the back muscles (spinal extensors - erectors and latissimi dorsi)

3)      Proper breath (thoracic and diaphragmic breath with the Valsalva maneuver)  

4)      Contraction of the core muscles (spinal flexors - rectum abdominis and obliques)

The combination of these four aspects will constitute the most effective bracing mechanics allowing for the spine to stay ridge transferring force through the trunk and into the larger joints responsible for moving a barbell as possible.

Proprioception

As you lean your torso forward it’s the erectors verses the hamstrings which are battling for pelvic control. The erectors must win. If it doesn’t the pelvis will tuck under and back will round.

In the proper hinge position, you should feel a stretch in the hamstrings. To exhibit incorrect pelvic position, allow your back to round. This will cause the tension in your hamstrings to go away. This shortens the distance between ischial tuberosity and the head of the tibia and fibula, the attach sites for the hamstrings.

Slacked hamstrings do not effectively aid in hip extension, not to mention it places the back and knee in a vulnerable position for injury

Back

Now that we’ve establish spinal position, we’ll need maintain that with a conscious effort to extend. Arching the back hard and keeping the chest up while hinging is what the lifter needs to think about. There are some cases where this overcorrection cue will place the lifter in hyper extension. In this case it will require some fine tuning to get the right amount of extension.

Breath

Before we start moving the bar, we must hold a big breath. A good rule to impart: anytime the barbell is moving you are holding your breath.

There are two ways you can breathe using the diaphragm or using the chest. Ideally, we want the diaphragm to contract first then the thoracic respiratory muscles.  

Many people will be chest breathers. Meaning if instructed you to take deep breath with your right hand on your chest and your left hand on your belly and asked you which hand rose. If the chest rises that means we are not effectively using the diaphragm.

To effectively brace a we’ll need a combination of both for the best spinal tightness. This can be done by breathing into the belly as much as you can then continuing to fill the chest cavity as well.

If you can’t use you’re diaphragm this doesn’t mean you can’t brace it just means it will limit your ability to produce maximal intraabdominal pressure. In some cases where one holds a lot of mass in abdominal region there is very little difference between bracing only using thoracic breathing and a combination of both diaphragmic and thoracic breathing because of the reduced space in the abdominal cavity.

Core contraction

After the air has filled up the ventral cavities of the body it’s time to lock it all in place by flexing the abdominal. This tightness should be fine turned for the application. 1RM attempt, you’ll full exertion, for something your doing 20 reps with, you made need about 60% core tightness.

Fun Fact:  A lifting belt works by restricting the expansion of the belly. When you breath in, the breath expands to belt then start to pressurize the abdominal cavity.  You are able to start with a higher intrabdominal pressure before the abdominal contraction, making the core even tighter.

Keeping the spinal immovable will allow for the safest most effective lifting as possible. As you get stronger your ability to brace effectively will get better. A lifting belt allows for more effective bracing. Coupled with a strong back from frequently lifting will allow you to lifting heavier weights. Getting you one step close to your goal of being stronger.  

The Perfect Repetition

Clear guidelines become the predecessor for growth increasing the possibility of pursuing mastery.

When I started getting serious about strength training, I questioned an important concept. What actually constitutes a repetition? Before I could answer that I needed to know the movement standards of a particular exercise.

The process of performing a movement to a specific standard develops a few components, motor pathways (the physical movements the mind is requesting of the body) and mindfulness (the ability to stay fully present). These together are considered proprioception (your body's ability to sense movement, action, and location).

Learning a new movement can require lots of effort, especially if a lifter has a poor ability to sense the position the body is in while it is moving through space.

Example: A lifter is unable to keep the spine in extension while hinging at the hips.

This a classic case of poor proprioception. The lifter will train movements that require a ridged spinal extension. The lifter will try to consciously fix their spinal position during training sessions. This process should create some proprioceptive awareness.

Two possible outcomes…

1) Lifter does not know to position their spine during training, so they apply minimal effort to stay focused during lifting then because of lack of feedback or importance they may stop trying or forget what they should be focusing on

2) During training they can position their spine correctly but it takes lots of mental effort during work sets. This continued effort of holding the back in extension while hinging at the hips then becomes habitual, requiring far less effort to preform when compared to when they first started.  This process of skill acquisition allows the lifter to possess the possibility of operating the body on a subconscious level.

When something is subconscious, it’s much harder to change.

So beware of the what patterns you choose to develop.

The Perfect Rep

To constitute the best repetition, we need to deliberately practice the barbell lifts with the best form possible. Having each repetition look exactly the same, from start, to finish, with the most effective range of motion (with a few small details in between) is a byproduct of establishing the correct motor skills needed for the task.

During this process the coach’s goal for the lifter is to create the most effective movement patterns over the greatest range of motion. With emphasis on perfect form this enables the lifter to move the most weight in the most effective manner possible.   

When the best form is not used we are able unable to safely overload a movement pattern. Having the best reps from the lifter allows the coach to safely program based off the lifter’s strengths and weaknesses both physical and psychological.

Repetition Guidelines …

• Full range of motion

• Starting and ending each rep deliberately with a momentary break between each rep

• Spine not deforming anytime during the lift

• Every rep looks very identical to each other

• Bar speed is consistent, no loose of tension during eccentric phase

• A smooth, balanced and appropriate bar path

• Joints tracking correctly

• Lifter is balanced over the mid foot

• Lifter stays as tight as possible throughout the entire range of motion

Red Flags to look out for...

• Shortened or varying range of motion over sets or workout

• Not starting or ending in the appropriate position

• Any and excessive movement in the spine as the bar is moving

• Repetitions that are drastically different from one another

• Choppy bar path, inconsistent bar speed and lose of tension in the eccentric phase

• Inconsistent bar path

• Excessive joint flaring or joint collapsing

• Excessive weight shift (this will be evident in the feet)

• Lifter is varying their core and appendage tightness

Words of Advice

As you go along this journey, I recommend to hold all lifts (not just barbell lifts) to a high standard and do not change those standards to accommodate an inflated ego, peer pressure or your inner voice. The key is to perform each rep as perfect as possible, exactly the same. If you can maintain consistent movement patterns the body will adapt to those specific angles allowing the safest overloading to occur.