5 Common Mistakes in Strength Training

 

5 Common Mistakes in Strength Training

 Are your strength training programs on the right track?

By Strength Sensei CP

Publication Date: 1987

Coaching traditionally deals with our experiences and mistakes; therefore, a negative approach to teaching is sometimes practical.

Regardless of your knowledge of strength or power training, chances are you’ve committed one of the following five common strength training mistakes, mistakes you should avoid. Their avoidance can often be accomplished by changing your focus, or by simply eliminating unwanted features. In this way, the negative approach is used. Accompanying it, however, is the positive approach, as I offer alternatives so that these mistakes are not perpetuated.

  1. Interference between aerobic work and strength training.Numerous studies suggest that aerobic training interferes with the development of maximal strength. The hormonal response, enzymatic changes, and neuro-muscular patterns associated with aerobic training drastically differ from those that occur with strength training. Therefore, when working on improving aerobic capacity and strength improvement at the same time in a given part of the training cycle, very small improvements in both physical qualities occur.

As the Soviets put it: mixed training gives you mixed results. If you’re coaching athletes in a sport that requires strength and aerobic power, you should alternate macro (2-4 weeks) cycles that respectively deal with improving aerobic power and strength. Soccer, volleyball, basketball, and hockey would fit into this category.

  1. Working solely in one plane of movement.Many strength training programs exclusively favor strength development in two dimensions, flexion and extension. However, great strength development of the trunk rotators is essential for many movements in sports such as discus throwing, gymnastics, and judo. Strength training should involve adduction, abduction, flexion, extension and inward/outward rotation of the hips, shoulders, and trunk. In the case of the knee, however, only flexion and extension movements should be used.

 

  1. The use of isokinetic equipment in power sports.In isokinetic sports, such as swimming, canoeing, and rowing (where speed of the limbs or implement in the water is sometimes constant), there is a uniform expression of force. This is similar to isokinetic training, which can be performed on certain strength apparatus such as Hydra Gym. In contrast, in power sport events such as jumps, throws, and sprints (that essentially require great accelerations with varying parameters of force development), isokinetic training is of little use. However, isokinetic training is useful for these power sports to establish muscle bulk or increased muscle cross-section only in general preparation or rehabilitation training phases.

 

  1. Lack of variety.Lack of variety, which results in psychological and physiological staleness, is probably the main cause of inefficient strength training programs. To achieve maximal gains, one must frequently change his or her training content. Soviet research by Rodionov has determined that the same training program should be followed for periods of no longer than four weeks. Other Eastern Bloc countries have applied this “variety principle” to their training program. In fact, former Romanian Olympic weightlifting coach Istvan Javorek trains his athletes on a 24-week cycle in which no single workout is identical! In contrast, some national team weight programs in Canada are performed for more than six months.

Russian sport scientists believed that a single workout program should not be performed for more than four weeks. One of Russia’s greatest weightlifters, pound-for-pound, was 1976 Olympic Champion David Rigert. Rigert broke a total of 63 world records in three different bodyweight classes! Bruce Klemens photo.

For optimal results, one should vary reps, sets, rest intervals, and exercises in the various macro-cycles (2-4 week blocks). A caution, however: You must understand how to manipulate concentric, eccentric, and isometric movements with variation in load to do this effectively. If you’ve not sure how, seek the advice of someone knowledgeable in this area. Usually, Olympic lifting coaches are better versed on this subject.

 

  1. The sole use of low reps for hypertrophy training.Some sports other than bodybuilding require great muscle mass increases. These include football and, when it’s necessary to move up a bodyweight class, wrestling. Often coaches recommend athletes use low repetitions (4-8) for building muscle mass. However, low rep training is responsible for the stimulation of only 40-50 percent of the muscle fiber’s components. As such, repetitions in the order of 8-25 are needed to stimulate the growth of the remaining cellular components (e.g. mitochondria, capillaries, enzymes).

 

Although bodybuilders often perform lower reps to stimulate maximum muscle growth, their focus is on higher reps. One bodybuilder who was as strong as he looked was 8x Mr. Olympia winner Ronnie Coleman, who could squat and deadlift over 800 pounds! Milos Sarcev photo.

The lesson here is that one should use both intensity zones in different macro-cycles (5-8 and 8-25) when seeking maximal hypertrophy. However, maximum hypertrophy (cross-section) is the goal of the general preparation phase only. Macro-cycles (of 2-3 weeks duration) of high repetitions should be alternated with macro-cycles of low reps (3-4 weeks duration) for best results.

 

It’s important for athletes to train hard, but it’s just as important for them to train smart. If you identify your mistakes and how to improve your coaching in these areas, you’ll be a better coach today than you were yesterday!

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