Give 100% Effort No Matter The Weight!
- Justin Burns
- Jun 26, 2015
- 2 min read
If strength training was a sport would you treat every workout like you’re going to dominate it or would you lower yourself to the competition of in this case the amount of weight that needs to be lifted? You see time and time again across all sports that world championship calibre team’s play down to the level of sub-.500 teams. Why?
It is said that overconfidence is the problem here and I couldn’t agree more. Going into an event and expecting that it has already been won. Problem is if you do not approach any sport and any game with 100% effort than chances are you can be surprised and find yourself losing or close to it. Now what does that have to do with lifting and strength training?
Percentage based lifting is probably the most common style of training at the moment. The only problem with that is the fact that smaller percentages and lighter weight are generally moved at the same speed as heavier weights simply because the lifter is scaling down intensity to meet the rigors of that particular weight. This is a terrible way to look at training for strength.
When lifting, no matter the weight on the bar the goal should always be to move it like a 1 rep max and to move it with speed, the lighter the weight the faster the bar should move!
The reason for this is because you are sending your body the wrong signals when you perform at subpar levels with subpar weight. Speed should always be a priority in the mind of any lifter and the only way that is accomplished is to lift everything at 100%.
Now, let’s get a little more specific here. I am not talking about your bodybuilding movements and movements associated with bodybuilding. That is a different sport that demands time under tension. We are talking about athletes that compete in dynamic environments such as hockey, football, powerlifting, strongman, and etc. In order to progress even at light weights it is important that everything is lifted with 100% and as fast as possible.
Learning to teach yourself to lift with everything is can and will take concentrated effort on behalf of the lifter but the only way to ensure that the most benefit from every single percentage throughout the program they must adopt this way of thinking and always lift with 100% effort. The only exception would be during deload weeks and the lifter can scale back on some intensity but no other time! Practise pushing through the bar at all times from warm ups till the last set.
Strength training for performance purposes should always be done with speed no matter what the load is. And there should never be any scaling down to percentages. Lift with purpose and lift with pride because even the smallest of weights can make you better if speed is the focus!
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