Category: Training

Today I want to do a short review of three different books.   The first is Bondarchuk’s “Olympian Manual for Strength and Size.”  The second is The White Prisoner:Galabin Boevski’s Secret Story”  And the third is “All About Powerlifting” by Tim Henriques.

The Olympian Manual for Strength and Size: Blue Print from the World’s Greatest Coach

Depending on your background, you may or may not know who Anatoly Bondarchuk is.  In brief he’s arguably the greatest hammer throwing coach of all time for whatever that may actually be worth.   If you’re not familiar with it, this is what hammer throwing looks like.

Much of Bondarchuk’s work hasn’t been translated but what has is mostly from a company called Ultimate Athlete Concepts which has done a lot of translated Eastern European texts.

I’ve read several of them, Bondarchuk’s first book on Transfer was an unintelligible mess, Volume II was better by degrees. … Keep Reading

Having finally finished the background for power training methods in Categories of Weight Training: Part 14 I am going to finally wrap things up.  And this will be long.  First let me mention that some people made me aware of some current tech/apps that claim to measure power outputs.

Longtime Internets buddy Jon Kolz mentioned BarSense an Android app claiming to measure a variety of things in the gym while Sam Dao mentioned PushStrength which is an armband promising the same.    I know in 2020 as I’m updating this, there are many more apps and devices available.

You’ll recall from what seems ages ago I presented the force-velocity curve and placed different types of training means (speed, speed-strength, power, strength-speed, strength) on it ranging the continuum from high speed/low force to low speed/high-force.  Now it’s time to revisit that concept and finally look at things in a practical sense.

Revisiting the Force-Velocity Curve for Practical Application

So with all of that finally out of the way, let me revisit the force-velocity curve from last time with another added set of categories: these are the actual training methods used in the training of track and field sprinters in terms of where they fall onto the curve.  … Keep Reading

Having gone over some more physics, looking at the Olympic lifts, and then looking at ways to potentially modify traditional weight training movements for power training, I finished Categories of Weight Training: Part 13 by explaining that, more often than not, power training is done with methods that allow the implement to be released or thrown into the air as this avoids the issues inherent in most traditional weight room movements.

This usually means exercise where the athlete’s body is being “thrown” into the air (i.e. jumping type exercises) or an implement such as a medicine ball is used.  Of course, the Olympic lifts are commonly used for higher load power training but even that assumes the athlete has sufficient competency to do them with loads that generate a training effect.

Before looking at some specific loading parameters and methods in a couple of different sports (every sport has it’s own traditional exercises to train different parts of the force-velocity curve), I need to talk about a few more practical issues and finishing will take two more parts. … Keep Reading

In Categories of Weight Training: Part 12 I went through a bunch of attempts to explain the physics of power production, gave the inevitable car analogy, drew a Pacman for no real reason, and sort of tried to show why most traditional weight training movements aren’t actually ideal for power training.

The basic issue has to do with the fact that most traditional weight training movements start and end at a zero velocity, preventing the weight/implement from being accelerated (and thus allowing the individual to generate maximal power) through the entire range of motion.

I used as an example a car being accelerated til it hits a ramp and flies into the air, attempting to show that in movements where the bar/implement can be thrown or released (then flying ballistically through the air), the deceleration phase can be avoided/eliminated.

So today I want to look at some of the ways that traditional weight training movements can be used for power training, either due to their inherent nature or through some form of modification to allow maximum acceleration throughout the range of motion.… Keep Reading

Continuing from Categories of Weight Training: Part 11, I’m going to forge ahead and get further into the different “types” of power training methods that I outlined in the Force-Velocity curve that I presented last time.  I won’t reproduce the graphic but it presented pure speed training, speed-strength training, power training, strengths-speed training and maximal strength training on the continuum from highest speed/lowest force to highest force/slowest speed.

But before getting into the actual methods and means of training those different ranges, I first need to talk a little bit more about power and the physics of what happens in the weight room a bit; this will lead into the Inevitable Car Analogy.   Hang on for what I’m sure will be a compelling and exciting ride..

The Important of High Power Outputs

When it comes to different types of training, it’s usually assumed that the best way to increase a given capacity is to apply a maximal (or at least optimal) stress. … Keep Reading