Base Strength
26 February 2007If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
I once received a lesson in power and strength that lasted less than 10-seconds and provided me mental fuel that has burned for twenty years. In the mid-1980’s I was coaching a friend at a powerlifting competition. Also coaching a friend was another lifter named George Hector. George was a smart, sharp guy who came up as a protégé of iron icon Bill Starr. George bulked himself up to 360-pounds, which is what he weighed on this particular day, and won the national title with a 975-pound squat, a 600 bench press and an 835-pound deadlift. George later reduced down to a shredded 240 pounds and squatted 850, benched 550 and deadlifted 832. George is a hall of fame level lifter who was one of the smartest trainers I’ve ever met. On the day of the power competition he and I and a hundred other athletes and coaches were backstage scurrying around getting lifters ready to lift. George and I had readied our athletes for the squat and after that emotional rollercoaster was over and the lifters were done, we all filtered backstage, drained and spent. George and his athlete were walking ahead and as we passed the warm-up area where a squat bar still sat on the racks loaded to 500-pounds. It had been last weight one of the lifters had used to warm-up with before heading to the platform for the official lifting in front of the crowd. George walked over to the loaded bar, dipped under it, stood erect, took a step backwards and did ten perfect, no sweat reps. He could have done 20 if his cardio had been a little better. He wore a pair of shorts and street clothes. No belt, no warm-up, no spotters, no knee wraps, no dramatic psyche up, no big deal. He repped the weight and replaced it before anyone noticed. I noticed and as he fell back in step to catch up to his lifter I said, “You could have asked for a spot George – shouldn’t you have warmed up a bit?” I prodded. He was dismissive, “It was only 500 Marty.”
That hit me like the old Zen joke: “What is the sound of one hand clapping? A slap across someone’s face” A few weeks later I saw George squat 975-pounds at the Potomac Open as if it were an empty barbell; he was good for at least 50-pounds additional pounds on that day. In the intervening years I’ve replayed that 500 squat set in my brain, so casual, so easy, so effortless – still it was 500-pounds! The lesson I took from it was George had built his absolute strength up to such an astounding level that 500 was “only” 50% of his single repetition maximum. Put it that context, I could very likely squat 50% of what I am capable of at any point in time for 10 reps without warm-up or drama. I would not need spotters nor would I be in any great danger with 50% - what’s the lesson? What if over a protracted period, rather than attempt to raise the absolute strength ceiling, exemplified by a 1-rep max - instead you sought to raise the 50% weight? Would this reverse approach, over time, allow you to increase absolute 1-rep maximum by systematically raising the 50% base-strength level? If for example, you could squat 400×1 and could squat 200 for 10 anywhere, anytime, could you increase the 400×1 limit by working 200×10 to say 250×10 over time? Would this translate? Some folks are better at reps while others are better at single attempts. Whichever way this broke for you would have to be factored into the equation. If a man can squat 500×1, how many times can he rep 250? Whatever that number is, can you increase upon the 500 by extending the 50% repetition limit? Food for thought.
Tags:Popularity: 5% [?]
Related Posts:
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
