This training method includes all exercises in which you must produce a lot of muscular tension (close to your limit strength).
1. Heavy lifting: Using a load of 85-100% in classic strength lifts (squat, bench press, deadlift, front squat, incline press, push press, barbell row, etc.)
2. Eccentric training: Lowering a load close to your 1RM (90-100%) in an exercise. The descent should be under control (2-4 sec.). This is usually done for reps (3-6). A partner or two are required to perform this method (they must lift the weight to get it back to the starting position for you).
3. Isometric training: Exerting strength against an immovable resistance. Generally done for a few sets (2-5) of a few seconds (6-12) generating as much force as possible against the immovable resistance.
While all three of these methods are in the same category, they do have very different impacts on the body.
Heavy lifting (85-100%)
High intensity lifting is the best way to increase muscle strength. It also has a very important neural component. The closer to your maximum you go, the greater the relative importance of the nervous system. That’s why heavy lifting is a great tool for the athlete. When combined with strength-speed exercises it creates the best stimulus for strength and power gains.
However, since heavy lifting is very demanding on the nervous system (and the tendons), volume and frequency must be planned carefully. It is easy to do too much work, especially when the athlete is in good shape and feels “psyched” to beat his record.
Understand that it is not necessary (or even desirable) to constantly lift limit weights in training to maximally stimulate strength gains. Don’t forget that strength levels fluctuate, they do not linearly improve over the course of the training season.
Furthermore, the capacity to lift bigger weights in training doesn’t necessarily mean that the muscles are getting stronger and more effective. Remember that gym performance has a lot to do with the level of arousal, motivation, fatigue, etc. Thus increases and decreases in gym performance are not a good way to gauge the true progress of an athlete’s strength. As such, always trying to lift limit weights is erroneous. When you try to beat your record in a certain lift you are not developing strength, you are learning to demonstrate your strength in that particular lift.
Also do not make the mistake of planning heavy weight lifting out of context. The capacity to produce force will be greatly diminished if the volume of work in other training methods is high. Plan in consequence.
Pros: Best way to gain limit strength. Has an important neural factor which irradiates through the whole body. Increases muscle strength and size via functional hypertrophy.
Cons: When used out of context it can set the athlete back a few days. Easy to overstress the nervous system if overdone. Can be hard on the tendons.
When to use the method: This method should be used throughout the year, but at varying degrees. Early in the preparatory period the importance of heavy lifting is relatively high and increases up to the middle of the competitive preparation period. After that point it is drastically decreased to a maintenance level to allow
Heavy lifting refers to straining to lift a weight. One must attempt lifts with near-maximal resistance to develop limit strength. One should always use multi-joint exercises with this training method.
one to be in top form at the competitions. Even during periods of high volumes of heavy lifting I prefer to use a minimalist approach (2-3 exercises per workout, 15- 30 total reps per exercise, 2-4 times per week). Only multi-joint exercises (squat, bench press, deadlift, etc.) should be used with this method. Note that if you plan to do a workout using loads of 90-95% of your 1RM before a game or test, you must plan a taper of 9-12 days between that session and the game/test. If you plan to go as high as 100% (or test a new max) you’ll need a taper of 12-18 days. Another important matter is that the stronger an athlete is, the less lifts with 95- 100% weights are required, these athletes will benefit more from an increased volume of lifts at around 85-90% of their max.
The following table (modified from the work of R.A. Roman and A.S. Prilepin) illustrates how you should plan a certain heavy lifting session.
1. Select the appropriate intensity level according to your athlete’s capacities at the moment (how much CNS stress can he tolerate?) 2. Once the intensity is decided, decide on the volume in total reps that
your athlete can sustain. This depends on how much volume he already had during the week.
3. Decide how you are going to split the total reps (e.g. are you going to do 3 x 6, or 3 x 5 + 3 x 1 …).
Intensity level, CNS importance, and optimal volume in heavy lifting exercises
Percentage Intensity /
CNS importance
Reps per set Optimal total reps Acceptable volume range 60-69.9% Small 4-8 20 18-26 70-79.9% Medium 3-6 18 12-24 80-89.9% Large 2-4 15 10-20 90-97.5% Near maximal 1-2 5-10 2-12 98-100% Maximal 1 2-4 1-6 +100% Overload 1 1-2 1-4 Eccentric training (90-100%)
It is possible to produce a greater amount of strength under eccentric (yielding, negative, lowering) conditions. While the difference between concentric (overcoming, positive, lifting) and eccentric limit strength varies between athletes, it is generally found to be +20-40% in favor of the eccentric portion. This is evidenced by the fact that you can lower a much heavier load than you can lift.
As such it is possible to place a very large stimulus on the muscles by lowering a near- maximal or maximal load under control for several reps. The effects of this method are very pronounced. It can lead to a very important improvement in tendon strength, in the muscle limit strength capacity, and in the nervous system’s capacity to activate the
muscles. However, this method carries a huge burden on the nervous system and the tendons.
Pros: Can give you important gains in muscle and tendon strength when used properly. Improves the neural drive.
Cons: One of the most stressful training methods, both on the nervous system and the musculoskeletal system. If used in excess it can overload the CNS, injure tendons, and lead to overtraining. Leads to severe muscle soreness and stiffness after training.
When to use the method: Near-maximal to maximal eccentric training should be used seldomly and generally in the middle portion of the preparatory period, if it’s used at all. Only advanced athletes should use this method and when they do they should do so for very short cycles (2-4 weeks) with at least 2 weeks between cycles. The volume should be kept very low (around 6 total reps per workout once a week).
Isometric training
This method was once very popular in the 60s and 70s, but has been disregarded since. It consists of exerting strength against an immovable resistance. The logic is that isometric strength is slightly higher than concentric strength. This method does lead to strength gains, but only at the specific joint angle being worked. It is possible to gain strength in the whole range of movement by doing isometric holds at every 15o, but those gains are not readily transferable to dynamic movements.
With the eccentric training method you lower a near-maximal or maximal load under control and you lift the weight with the assistance of a spotter.
Pros: Can lead to strength gains at a specific joint angle.
Cons: Not transferable to dynamic movements. Can increase blood pressure. Hard to quantify progress and thus to plan volume. Hard to vary intensity.
When to use the method: Isometric training can be used to strengthen a specific weak point in an exercise (sticking point) and during the rehabilitation process. Generally a few sets of 6-12 seconds are used.