Max Effort!
- Justin Burns
- Sep 21, 2015
- 3 min read
We spoke about the dynamic effort in a previous blog post and how focusing on accurate velocity measurements is of utmost importance due to the changes in training focus. Let’s take a look on the other side of the spectrum in this article and dive into the maximal effort method.
The max effort method is about choosing a movement and trying to hit a 1 to 3 rep maximum every week, always changing the movement and the variables within it.
Good morning variation, squat variation, deadlift variation, pressing variations, using different bars for the movements. All of which can have its own record. The reason for doing this is to defeat the law of accommodation.
For athletes the worst thing we want to for our bodies to build an adaptation to the stresses we put on it. Now this may sound counter intuitive to a lot of those reading this but hear me out. When your body becomes adapted to the stresses you put on it your performance will plateau, that word should be like silver to a werewolf for athletes. Athletes never want to plateau. Plateauing is a symbol of not moving forward or climbing the ladder of performance. When that happens you either get hurt, lose your mental edge due to frustration or eventually the performance will start to slide backwards.
Now let’s get back to the importance of the max effort method. In all sports if you want to become faster you need to have a solid strength base. The stronger you are the fast you move. Absolute strength is the base for which the force/velocity curve originates.
A lot of today’s school and professional teams are looking for speed and quickness but fail to realize that is all the athletes have trained for most of their young lives for the most part. They are missing strength, Lifting heavy and forcing your body to strain against loads previously not put on the body is the way to increase absolute strength. However this method will take a lot of mental fortitude because very few are accustomed to the feeling of having extreme load placed upon them. He is where our PUSH band can be very useful.
Absolute strength is said to be built in the 0.1-0.6 m/s range. So let’s take you through an example of a great way to use the band while performing a Max effort lower body workout with the box squat. Now let’s say you have a previous max of 405 to a box that sits 2 inches below parallel. You have worked your way back to this movement and are looking to hit a new personal best.
You warm up to 365 and hit it with a velocity of 0.6 m/s, this means that it was easy and it is great way to affirm that it was easy. So you move up. Next weight is 410 to get a new PR; the velocity reading comes at 0.35m/s. Now this time you had to struggle a little bit but it still felt strong. Now you need to make a decision here. Stop and move on to the next movement of the day or hit one more single and get a bigger PR. The Band tells you that you have not hit a full out max yet, so you decide to believe in the band as well as yourself and you go for 430 for one more single. You hit it smoothly but with a lot of effort. The velocity comes out at 0.18m/s. STOP you have just hit a 25lbs personal best and you would have quit after the 410 if you didn’t have the push band.
Besides the band offering you affirmation on the weights you choose it also tracks your personal bests as well as tracks how fast you moved them. And as your dynamic effort work takes effect you will see that weight move even faster in the future. That is why the max effort and dynamic effort work perfectly together for building explosive and extremely strong athletes.
In the coming weeks i will break down how you should structure both max effort and dynamic effort days from the main movement through to supplemental movements and finally accessory exercises.
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