Ever since the early days of modern weight training people have used sets of multiple reps to train their physical capacities. Sig Klien would use single sets of fifteen daily to train himself and Chandrashekhar and Gupta would use single sets of ten (Ed. Note: it should be mentioned that all three of these men also practiced muscle control).
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| Chandrashekhar |
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| Gupta |
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| Klein |
Interestingly success at lifting extremely heavy weights, as in a competitive scenario, is not determined by how much energy a person can use but rather by how little they can use. Dan John recounts how a certain throwing coach (shot?) gave his throwing team a benchmark distance and told them to throw the distance with as little effort as possible. The team excelled by leaps and bounds because they learned how to use the energy they produced more effectively.
So too in the world of physiology. If a lifter (in Russia they call them "arrestors") works against a given load over a protracted period (does sets of more than, say, two or three reps), the capacity of the muscle to rapidly produce energy becomes taxed. This taxation of the muscle results in protein breakdown and a stunningly complex host of biochemical changes that cause the now damaged (by it's own metabolism!) muscle to regenerate and, usually, grow larger.
These changes are really only beneficial to the metabolic (and the aesthetic) capacity of the muscle. It does not directly affect the nervous system's ability to lift a weight in the most efficient way possible for a single all out effort. Now I am not saying lifting weights for reps won't make you stronger, I'd be a fool, but I am saying that the adaptations caused by lifting weights for reps are not the most efficient way to learn to develop tension and, as a result: force.
Tension/force is a result of the nervous system acting upon the contractile units of the body (muscles) and is in fact only limited by the nervous system (in an all out effort). This is how lightweight lifters pound massive weights overhead in the Olympics or how frantic mothers lift cars off of their trapped infants. If muscle were the key to strength, Arnold would have dominated the Olympics in the seventies instead of getting high, wrecking peoples chimneys for money and doing a prodigious harem of beach bunnies.
The long and short of this is that to produce as much force as possible one must practice producing as much force as possible. This means: lift heavy, lift fast and lift perfectly. As Christian Thibideau says: "practice makes permanent". So practicing poorly results in permanent poorness. Perfect practice results in permanent perfection. This is really a no brainer: lift a weight you could do for many reps, one time; repeat many times. This type of training is best done daily as it is almost twice as effective for nervous type strength gains than training less frequently. As well, because the stress on your muscles metabolic capacity is greatly diminished, you'll require much less recuperation after each session.
Now the supposed lack of mass gain from this type of routine may be enough to put some prospective single reppers off the concept altogether. If it is any consolation to them, the program I'm going to lay out allowed me to gain an alarming amount of muscle while I was working a very physically demanding job for ten to fourteen hours a day AND losing weight! My theory on this is that the high tension, total time under tension and minimization of muscle damage/breakdown allowed my bodies resources to be used in a much more efficient way. As in: my food went way farther. This may in fact be a silver bullet for the "hard gainer" (like there is such a thing, lookup: pitta/vata).
On to the routine: I did not invent this, this routine is from Steve Justa, the maniacal American strongman who seems to be some kind of savant for effective training. I did on the other hand take a few liberties with the structure (two exercises instead of one, PTP style). Steve recommends 70% of your one per max to be used for this routine. I went heavier.
Monday:
Perform one rep per minute for eight minutes of each of the exercises. Add three reps each day until:
Friday:
Perform one rep per minute for twenty minutes for each exercise. Take the weekend off and come back the next week with increased load. Five pounds for press and ten for squats/deadlifts. Test you max every three to four weeks and re-calibrate back to 70% and build back up again.
I used:
Clean and Press
Front Squat
This results in you working the whole body every day with push/pull and squats while hardly even noticing and the great thing is that you acquire a significant amount of weekly volume AND it's all with perfect reps because you never do any of them in a fatigued state! As well, you work your speed/explosiveness with the power cleans. Pure genius: thank you Steve Justa, although it is likely that he learned the technique from reading about Joe Dube (edit: and Vince Anello) the American Olympic lifter who was really into this type of training back when Barski and Norbsky were still lifting. But I have digressed.
Lift heavy, lift often and lift perfect. Power awaits!
