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AN ELITE ATHLETE IS SOMEONE WHO COMPETES IN ATHLETIC COMPETITION AT AN ELITE LEVEL. THE END.

^^ thats the bottom line.  People can consider themselves "elite" because of things they did in training/ etc., but to be elite you have to beat the majority of other athletes on the planet, in your sport, in your event, in competition.

Quote from: LanceSTS on August 16, 2011, 10:57:56 pm

The day you have deadlifts, hang clean, and box squat is gonna be a hell of a day to try and recover from/ complete, I would either take out the deadlifts or the box squats.  And dont do curls before pull ups. Everything else looks fine.

Alright thanks, for the first workout I'll see how I feel, but I'll probably end up taking out the deadlifts. For some reason I can never manage to perform them properly.

A couple more questions:

- for the overhead db press, I was looking at some video's and stuff, and I noticed that a lot of people say not to lock out elbows and only go about 90% of ROM....another typical stupid rumor or is it true?

no, go to full extension, there is a reason your elbows lock out.

- for the 5x5 routine on bench press, should I ramp up weights (I'm lifting ~115x5 max right now), or use same weight?

doesnt matter, the main thing is that you improve each week the weight lifted, which ever one you think you can improve the most, do that one.

- the squats are starting to get harder with the 10 rep rest pause method...I'm starting to not be able to complete some workouts. I'm probably overanalyzing, but would it be better to change methods or should I continue?

you dont eat enough protein, so youre going to have a hard time as you get stronger, which is what has happened, regardless of which training routine you use.  Use the other rest pause for a while and total 3 sets with some higher reps, see how that works for you, that way you have 3 sets to beat one total.

Quote from: dunkingfreak on August 13, 2011, 04:19:50 pm

Hey I'm interested in getting into sports sciences and I was wondering if you guys had some books you would recommend to expand my knowledge base.

ik you probably have heard of it, but supertraining by mel siff and yuri verkhoshansky and science and practice of strength training

both those are EXCELLENT books ^^

Ok cool the hypertrophy last set makes a lot of sense. I just have one more connected question. I have also read that doing high intensity work, both weights and sprints/ jumps, on the same day has a greater effect because the sum is greater than the parts. Do you agree with this idea of having 2-3 very high intensity days where you combine the weights and sprints/jumps and scheduling a couple of low intensity conditioning days around them? And if so, should the sprints/jumps be done after or before the weights considering that the lifts occur explosively as previously mentioned?

Yes I agree with that assuming that you mean lower intensity in the sense that the skill work/ exercises/drills/jumps etc. are lower intensity themselves and not necessarily the effort put forth.

  I dont believe in a lot of "junk" volume, and that everything you do in training should have a definite purpose and be performed purposefully as well.  You see lots of guys doing "low intensity" stuff with a lot of sub max volume,  that is much more taxing and draining than had they done less volume but performed whatever work they were doing at a higher and more highly focused intensity.  In the end quality always wins over quantity regardless of skill work/conditioning/strength training/ explosives/ etc. 

 Coupling heavy, explosive weight work with plyometrics/jumps and short sprints is very beneficial if done correctly, and complexes are a great way to do this as you get the p.a.p. effect from the preceding exercise.  If you are not doing complexes, then for sure, do the sprints and jumps first. 

Really appreciate the advice Lance as it gives me something concrete instead of the trail & error stuff I do.

no problem bud, good luck with your training.

I've done a good amount of reading on strength training and there is one principle that I'm still very unsure of since the answers tend to vary from source to source. I'll start the question from personal experience and then generalize it since I feel it might be easier to understand that way.

With nearly every exercise whether it be squats, rdls, rows, or bench I feel that I generate more power when I do my reps very quickly and get into a nice rhythm that way. When I say quickly, I mean that I almost drop the weight during the eccentric phase, although I feel that its done in a controlled manner. I can definitely say that I generate more power than I would if I executed the exercise in a "strict" fashion because I move the weight with greater speed and the force of the weight does not stop at the end of the concentric movement but instead contributes to an even quicker eccentric action and so the cycle is repeated throughout the set. Not only do I feel that I generate more power when I lift this way, but the neural drive and excitement is greatly elevated. Naturally, I can only lift this way with submax weight in the 60-85% range (just a guess). I'm sure most people experience this.

 The more you train like that, the higher the percentage of your max you can lift explosively.  Really explosive athletes will often lift their 1rm very fast, especially when compared with average athletes.  They either make the lift or they dont in the first couple of seconds.

So the question I have is whether it is optimal to lift this way? I have heard two different viewpoints. One suggests that lifting explosively for power is sport specific because athletic movements occur in the same fashion. While the other suggests that lifting weights is generally not sport specific at all so strength training should focus on placing the muscles under greater tension. If I'm not mistaken, muscles face greater tension when they are under the weight for a longer period of time so this viewpoint naturally recommends lifting in a strict and controlled fashion which will naturally be slower. This viewpoint would typically suggest that the specific movement and power would be developed through the movement itself ie. developing sprinting through sprinting or something close such as bounding.

Well if time under tension were the ONLY factor that was important in strength training, holding a body weight iso for 5 minutes would be a great way to strength train.  It doesnt work that way though.  If you do an exercise of 3 sets of 5 reps with 85 percent of your max slowly and have a total time under tension of 50 seconds for the set, you can end up with the exact same time under tension for the exercise, by doing more sets of 5, or even 3s etc, explosively, but more sets.  The total tut can equal out BUT, the total force output in the latter will be MUCH higher.  It takes ~101lbs of force to move a 100lb load, but if youre pushing maximally and explosively, you can put 300lbs of force into that rep assuming you are capable of generating that at max f efforts.  

 There are some benefits to creating a hypoxic type enviornment with a continuous tension type of lifting, but for the big compound lifts like squats, explosive powerful reps should be used more frequently.  Both are good, both have different purposes.  The powerful reps train the central nervous system heavily, the smooth continuous tension reps train the musculature but dont stress the cns to the same degree.  It really depends on what your overall goal is and what the rest of your schedule looks like to determine which one is optimal for YOU.  

I'm very uncertain on which strength training principle is more accurate since they both seem very reasonable. I prefer the explosive way of lifting because it feels more natural and the neural stimulant resulting from it is much more exciting and enjoyable but I also want to lift the way that will help my performance the most (sprinting faster and jumping higher). What are your thoughts on the matter?

Use both.  Do explosive, powerful reps on some sets, then finish with a higher rep more controlled "blood" set at the end.  I would keep the volume of explosively performed reps higher than the volume of slow reps though if jumping and sprinting are your primary goals.  

Sorry for the long drawn-out post.

Any tips or cues you can provide?

Ex: How far away should my feet be apart.  How high should I jump?

I know this is probably basic but I feel like I'm doing something wrong.  I just tested my vert at 37 inches but I was only able to broad jump 9 ft 4 in.   I feel like I have the explosive power to atleast be getting 9 ft. 10 in. or even 10 ft. 

 Leg length and height is a big factor in the broad jump along with landing mechanics.  Some guys with big verts dont do as well as taller guys in the broad jump due to this factor alone.   

Getting flexible in the hips is very beneficial to a good broad jump as well as learning to pull the knees in during flight.  There are studies done showing optimum takeoff angle to be between 20-30 degrees. 

The arm swing plays a big role as well.  Practice coordinating the arm swing with the jumps, along with getting the knees up towards the chest and landing out in front but softly.  Most long/triple jumpers have a big advantage in the broad jump due to landing mechanics alone, the more you practice it the better you get at it.