BUILDING STRENGTH
Maxing out every week, is a sure of way slowing down your progression, increasing the risk of injury and not allowing for enough recovery.
Here are some tips to help you gain strength:
– Maximal strength can be built using lower percentages (70-90%). You do not need to consistently train with maximal loads to gain strength. Varying your training loads should allow you to steadily make progress while being able to handle the training volume and allow for recovery.
– Test true maxes 1-3 times per year. You do not need to test your 1RM regularly, there are many other ways of getting feedback that you have increased strength. If a weight that previously felt heavy & slow for 6 reps becomes less difficult and moves faster, you have gained strength. If you can use a weight for 10 reps that you could only get 8 reps with 6 weeks ago, you have got stronger. Getting stronger does not have to be grinding all out maxes every week.
– Use AMRAP’s ( As many reps as possible ) sets are a useful tool in a training program, providing they are programmed right, they won’t affect recovery as much compared to 1RM testing. AMRAP sets are 1 all out set that can be used to monitor progress during a training block, typically using sub-maximal loads.
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