How Much Effort Do You Use?

by Mike Hanley

When we talk about effort in the cheap hermes birkin bag weight room it means many different things. Effort involves resistance, speed, power, endurance, strength and cheap hermes birkin bag the list goes on. The effort that I am talking about here is cheap hermes birkin bag the type of effort that you apply to your training programs. There are cheap hermes birkin bag four main types of effort that I apply when training my athletes and cheap hermes birkin bag each one of them prepares them for their specific sport. I believe all four efforts are cheap hermes birkin bag required of an athlete however some sports may need more training in one particular effort than cheap hermes birkin bag another.

In this cheap hermes birkin bag industry it has become very popular to title a way of training as being sports specific. Well I have cheap hermes birkin bag not seen many types of training that would not benefit an cheap hermes birkin bag athlete. That’s not to cheap hermes birkin bag say that certain training parameters should not be used for certain athletes. For a cheap hermes birkin bag basic example, I would not have an offensive lineman running a cheap hermes birkin bag 5K to get ready for the season. Similarly, I don’t feel it cheap hermes birkin bag is necessary for a tri-athlete to train with the same parameters as an cheap hermes birkin bag offensive lineman.

When I think of sports specific training I think of four variables. These four variables being: maximal effort, sub-maximal effort, repetition effort, and cheap hermes birkin bag dynamic effort. It is from these four types of training, that cheap hermes birkin bag a solid sport specific program is built. Here are the cheap hermes birkin bag four methods by definition and how they can apply to cheap hermes birkin bag your athletes.

Maximal Effort Method

Zatsiorsky defines the maximal effort as "lifting a maximal load" and "exercising against maximal resistance." You might think that cheap hermes birkin bag the definition would be more detailed but that’s it. It is cheap hermes birkin bag simply taking a maximal amount of weight and lifting it cheap hermes birkin bag for no more than 3 reps while keeping the weight at or cheap hermes birkin bag about 90% of your cheap hermes birkin bag 1RM. For safety and functional purposes, this method is only for cheap hermes birkin bag compound lifts such as the squat and dead lift.

The pros to cheap hermes birkin bag using the max effort method are that you get really, really strong. Another pro to cheap hermes birkin bag this method is that you get really, really strong. Need I say more? Max lifting requires the cheap hermes birkin bag athlete to tap into not only their muscle but their CNS (central nervous system). By doing this cheap hermes birkin bag the CNS adapts to the load and teaches the body to cheap hermes birkin bag handle that amount of resistance. The max
effort method will train an athlete’s body to cheap hermes birkin bag recruit to the greatest number of motor units he or she can cheap hermes birkin bag for that lift. This method has the greatest benefit to sports that cheap hermes birkin bag have a weight class (not necessarily bodybuilding, however they would benefit as well). The most obvious sport that cheap hermes birkin bag benefits from this method is powerlifting, however athletes from the Olympics, figure skating, track & field would benefit tremendously from this method.

Where there are cheap hermes birkin bag performance advantages, the max effort method, if misused, can negatively affect how an cheap hermes birkin bag athlete performs. For example, too much max effort training will lead to cheap hermes birkin bag the CNS getting burned out. If you notice an athlete that cheap hermes birkin bag has symptoms like decrease in energy, increase in depression or anxiety. If the cheap hermes birkin bag athlete feels tired in the morning or has high blood pressure in a cheap hermes birkin bag resting state than he/she could be cheap hermes birkin bag overtrained. Another caution with the max method is an increased risk of injury. This training is cheap hermes birkin bag not for the newbie. If the athlete has never trained before than cheap hermes birkin bag I would avoid using this method until they mature as far as training is cheap hermes birkin bag concerned. Some of the guys I train with can use this cheap hermes birkin bag method physically but have the maturity level of a 5 year old. Lastly, if an cheap hermes birkin bag athlete is in need of some muscle hypertrophy, than this method would not be cheap hermes birkin bag optimal for them. That brings me to my next method.

Repeated Effort Method & Sub-Maximal Effort Method

The repeated effort method is cheap hermes birkin bag defined as lifting a sub-maximal load to failure. This method trains the cheap hermes birkin bag muscles to develop the maximum force in a state of fatigue at the cheap hermes birkin bag end of the set. This method will also stimulate some great muscle hypertrophy. Arnold use to cheap hermes birkin bag talk about the "pump" you cheap hermes birkin bag get working out. Well if you want to experience what cheap hermes birkin bag Arnold was talking about or if you have an athlete that cheap hermes birkin bag has never experienced it, have them do a set with 40%-50% of their 1RM until they cannot do anymore reps.

This method helps young athletes develop muscle growth. If you cheap hermes birkin bag have an athlete that needs to pack on some quality muscle try using this cheap hermes birkin bag method with them on a weekly basis. Besides stimulating hypertrophy, it cheap hermes birkin bag will also teach an athlete to recruit and will increase the cheap hermes birkin bag amount of motor units being trained. Where this method is cheap hermes birkin bag efficient in growth, it is not as effective in producing muscular strength. The only way this cheap hermes birkin bag method is effective is if the athlete trains the lift to cheap hermes birkin bag complete failure to recruit a maximum number of motor units. The expression "No pain, no gain" holds true in this case.

The sub-maximal effort method is cheap hermes birkin bag very similar to the repeated effort. The only difference in the cheap hermes birkin bag two is the desired number of repetitions. Unlike the repeated effort in which the cheap hermes birkin bag reps are brought to complete failure, this method is used with a cheap hermes birkin bag specific number of reps in mind. You do not train to cheap hermes birkin bag failure but rather "leave a few in the hole" as the cheap hermes birkin bag expression goes. The benefit of the sub-maximal effort is that it cheap hermes birkin bag will add slabs of muscle onto an athlete’s frame if need be. Though efficient in assisting hypertrophy, this cheap hermes birkin bag method does not seem to be as effective at improving muscular strength or cheap hermes birkin bag improving muscle coordination as other methods.

There are exceptions to this method producing strength & coordination as is the case with GTG (Greasing the Grove) and Smolov/sheiko programs. These programs will be cheap hermes birkin bag discussed in detail in a later article of the series.

Dynamic Effort Method

The dynamic effort method is cheap hermes birkin bag designed to lift a sub-maximal weight with the greatest force possible. What we are cheap hermes birkin bag looking for is SPEED with this method. The weight being used is cheap hermes birkin bag usually between 40%-70% of an cheap hermes birkin bag athletes 1RM and it should be lifted as fast as possible. This type of training is cheap hermes birkin bag used to improve explosive strength. Dynamic effort method can also be cheap hermes birkin bag considered plyometric training. In this type of training an athlete is cheap hermes birkin bag using his power to jump, run, or throw as strong and cheap hermes birkin bag fast as possible. This is very similar to the dynamic effort. Example of the cheap hermes birkin bag dynamic effort would be box squats for speed, squat jumps, depth jumps and cheap hermes birkin bag the various Olympic lifts (cleans, snatches, etc.) This does not limit the cheap hermes birkin bag use of the dynamic effort to these lifts. You can take almost any exercise and cheap hermes birkin bag make it dynamic by making the concentric portion of the lift as fast as possible.

The Application

I feel that cheap hermes birkin bag athletes in general will benefit from all four types of training however I believe that cheap hermes birkin bag certain types of athletes will benefit more if certain methods are cheap hermes birkin bag used more often. There is a time and place for everything and cheap hermes birkin bag changing the program frequently is optimal.

The maximal effort method is cheap hermes birkin bag best for the athletes that require short bursts of energy: Powerlifters, football, baseball, hockey, softball require this cheap hermes birkin bag type of strength. The plays in this type of sport only last a cheap hermes birkin bag few seconds therefore to have the ability to use the greatest amount of strength in a cheap hermes birkin bag short period would be optimal for these athletes. Athletes that must keep a cheap hermes birkin bag certain body weight would also benefit from the maximal effort since it cheap hermes birkin bag would not increase muscle size however they would still get extremely strong.

The repeated effort method would best be cheap hermes birkin bag applied to athletes in need of putting on some extra muscle. Football, baseball, hockey, lacrosse would all fall in this cheap hermes birkin bag category. Endurance athletes would benefit as well since they would recruit the cheap hermes birkin bag motor units with the most amount of endurance therefore making their general condition much better. Athletes involved in swimming, biking, running for cheap hermes birkin bag distance would benefit greatly from this method. I like the repeated effort method most with young athletes that cheap hermes birkin bag need to grow. Young athlete’s muscles are cheap hermes birkin bag able to handle this type of training safer than something along the cheap hermes birkin bag lines of a max effort training.

The dynamic effort method is cheap hermes birkin bag a very important method for all athletes simply because in all sports speed is cheap hermes birkin bag essential. In this method we work on explosiveness and speed with many different exercises. This method is cheap hermes birkin bag most useful for athletes that are required to jump, run, hit, throw, and cheap hermes birkin bag catch while possibly being defended. In sports timing can be crucial so therefore this cheap hermes birkin bag method applies to athletes of all sports.

The benefits of combining the cheap hermes birkin bag four efforts are tremendous. In training the proper sport specific variables, your cheap hermes birkin bag athlete can become any combination of bigger, faster, stronger and cheap hermes birkin bag more explosive with the conjugate training method. So how much effort do you cheap hermes birkin bag use?

This is cheap hermes birkin bag part 1 of a series of articles pertaining to the conjugate method and cheap hermes birkin bag athletes. Each method will be discussed in detail in later parts.