Adarq.org

Bear with me, i'm trying to keep this very short



This is easily my favorite quote of all time:

"Nature has provided man with the possibility to enhance his abilities in extreme situations, and we need to utilize it in the training of the high class athlete." -- Prof. Yuri Verkhoshansky

I have my own understanding & interpretation of that quote, but I've noticed people seem to take this quote & run with it in all kinds of directions.

First of all, it doesn't mean that there exists some kind of magical training formula or exercise, that when performed, will allow an athlete to reach arousal levels similar to those seen in an extreme life or death situation. This quote, when taken out of context, can easily be misinterpreted as such.

1. Arousal levels

Now on to the meat of the matter, what constitutes extreme? Well, there exists a natural continuum, let's invent one real quick, with a level of 1 to 7:



 
So for example, using the arousal continuum:

• LEVEL 1: Being comfortable and relaxed
• LEVEL 2: Low intensity training session (LITS)
• LEVEL 3: Moderate intensity training session (MITS)
• LEVEL 4: High Intensity training session (HITS)
• LEVEL 5: Very High intensity training session (VHITS)
• LEVEL 6: Stimulated VHITS (SVHITS)
• LEVEL 7: LIFE or DEATH situation

Now, let's give a general example of each:

• LEVEL 1: Watching Yanni on TV
• LEVEL 2: Low intensity GPP (<50% 1RM), circuits, jogging etc
• LEVEL 3: Moderate intensity GPP ( > 50% 1RM and < 80% 1RM), sprints, jumps, sports, low level reactive work
• LEVEL 4: Intense training ( > 85% 1RM), plyo progressions, low volume plyos, sprints, jumps, sports
• LEVEL 5: Intense training ( > 85% 1RM), shock blocks, overspeed, stim method complexes, depth drops, REA (ie drop catch lifts)
• LEVEL 6: Same as LEVEL 5, except management of fatigue becomes an additional stimulus created by using specially crafted fatigue blocks or fatigue sessions, inducing a supercompensatory response for LEVEL-5 work
• LEVEL 7: I'd get sued if I listed my ideas.

Briefly, an athlete will progress from level 1 through level 4 over the course of their training career. Rarely will athletes master level 4 or experience levels 5 & 6, either through lack of knowledge, lack of progression, or lack of preparedness. Utilizing a training session that makes use of level 7 arousal is possible but not well documented, and especially not "recommended". Actuuuuallllly, I'm pretty sure Halil "Little Naim" Mutlu was a weightlifting slave, that might count.

After progressing through the beginner stage, it might take years for an athlete to be prepared enough to truly experience level 5, so most of the time is spent in level 4. Level 5 & 6 become important when trying to fully peak performance, such as in an elite athlete. Level 5 & 6 can also be used with intermediates, but with care & with modifications, such as less volume & lower supramaximal intensity. Regardless, incorporating level-5 & level-6 requires a great deal of preparation and knowledge about ones self in regards to the training process.




2. The Potential of the Human Organism

Verkhoshansky states that a human has a few important reserves, or resources provided by the CNS (central nervous system):

Easily Available:

• Reserves employed in reactive movements (15%)
• Physiological Reserves employed under conditions of elevated motor activity (20%)

Inhibited by the CNS:

• Special Reserves mobilized only under conditions of muscle performance of great intensity or long duration (35%)
• Innate Reserves (concealed, hidden, defended) mobilized only in extreme, life threatening situations (30%)

Notice that the special reserves & innate reserves are "inhibited by the CNS". This means, the CNS is protecting the body from utilizing these resources, but they are available in extreme circumstances, such as life & death situations. Through progressing one's abilities in level 4, the special reserves gradually become available, ie, less inhibited. Through progressing one's abilities in levels 5 & 6, the innate reserves gradually become available, ie, less inhibited. The difference between the special reserves & innate reserves lies within the training methods employed. The special reserves become available, through volitional (voluntary) effort, such as in sprinting, squatting, olympic weightlifting, etc. The innate reserves become available, through extreme situations of supramaximal overload, such as in the shock method (high volume depth jumps), the stim method (stimulation caused by a tonic exercise, such as depth jumps, to improve a subsequent exercise, such as squatting), and overspeed sprinting.





So, here you go, in a nutshell, from Verkhoshansky himself:




There are two key phrases here. The first one, "becomes very difficult", is referring to athletes who have truly begun to reach a plateau in their abilities. The second one, "involves major expenditure of time and energy by the athlete", is self explanatory, but often overlooked. Training to realize your true potential is NOT easy, it is hard, hard, hard work.

There are no shortcuts to achieving your ultimate potential.



I wanted to keep this short & not get into too much detail about the special means, or anything like that. So as always, if you have any questions, post. All info is referenced from Verkhoshansky's SUPERMETHODS OF SPECIAL PHYSICAL PREPARATION FOR HIGH CLASS ATHLETE.

peace

So what should the approach be training-wise in order to tap into those reserves?

ESAV, good question

My guess would be unless you are somehow super prepared, the majority of team sport athletes would benefit the most from staying in level 4.  Think how many athletes can't activate the correct muscles in the squat, cant squat even 1.5x BW, cant sprint a 4.9 or jump 26 inches. Throw in the already draining practice and life schedule for most high school-college level athletes, and there is barely enough time to focus on basic weighted exercises (squats, GHR, etc) and explosive (low level plyos, jumps, bounds, sprints etc) and other key components of training for athletes (mobility/flexiblity, imbalances, general and specific endurance etc)

darq, have you ever done day before potentiation/stimulation (ie squat singles) + stimulation complexes(ISO stim for PRS) + caffeine   Im guessing thats freaking 4-10 inches on someones vertical...maybe thats one of JS secrets    , seriously would be interesting to try though. 

Question about Iso stim like we have both done before, its obviously a great low back/glute activator, but wouldnt it work better if it was more CNS intensive exercises(90% squat or whatever) or if the ISO was coupled with a CNS exercise(such as depth jump) BEFORE attempting the PR??

I was wondering: don't you think that( apart from the already mentioned knowledge lack and the possible/probable injuries you may run through training "as hard as you can") just playing a sport would be another serious limit?
Wouldn't the sport specific activities "drain" to much of the energy and time?

As you stressed out in your post, the more advanced of an athlete you are, the more the time and effort you have to invest in order to improve.
So how do you as a trainer actually behave managing, for example, a basketball player? Are those concepts really applicable to those who are concerned about so many multiple aspects (among wich the sport specific skills) of the performance?

Well, every athlete should have an offseason where they spend time improving their strength & other abilities. So, with these athletes you have to make sure a few things happen:

• maintenance of strength in-season has to occur
• improvement of strength using low-volume maintenance-like routines can occur, if it does, it's a bonus
• improvement in strength/important abilities in the off-season has to occur

So, this becomes a loop, whereby every iteration through the loop yields a greater long term improvement in performance. For example, each iteration could be a year or half year. So year after year, you get closer to reaching your maximum potential. The closer you get, and the harder it is to make progress, will dictate whether or you not you need to include some special methods. This would fit perfectly within the block system, as special methods are only utilized a few times throughout the year, in special blocks.

So ya, in-season you can't really incorporate special methods in their truest sense. You can implement them at extremely low volume and "lesser intensity" as some sort of preparation for the off-season, so that the motor programming/movement efficiency is there when you need to intensify it. Priority #1 in season is the sport itself, but there cannot be a drastic decrease in what you have built in the off-season.

If you don't maintain in-season, then every off-season brings you back generally to the level of the previous off-season, ie, you go nowhere, spin your wheels, etc.


Using a quick real life example, the baseball players I trained came in initially at one level come 2007. We had a great off-season & improved performance significantly. I educated them on why it was important to maintain during the season (in-season 2008), so we could have a better off-season in 2008. They pretty much all maintained in-season, came back at a higher level than 2007's off season. So we started at a higher point athletically, and made even more gains, which had them going in even better come in-season 2009. The cycle would have continued had I stayed at MSC.

Hope that helps!

peace man

PS: I LOLed at the picture,btw

haha thanks, I was hoping someone would get it you rule

So what should the approach be training-wise in order to tap into those reserves?

What LBSS said..

over the years:

tapping into special reserves = very carefully planned hard work in the weight room, on the track, jumping, etc
tapping into the innate reserves = very carefully planned, yet less utilized, supramaximal methods, 1-2 times a year generally if the experience level is high

peace man

Everytime I read one of your posts I keep finding myself amazed by how you make everything so easy to understand despite of my really poor knowledge about the specific topic. Well thought, better written. Bravo.

So, for what I stated before, I rule not. you rule.








.......ok, let's say we both rule.
XD