Charles Staley the developer of EDT (Escalating Density Training) has a great understanding of the elements that go into program design and implementation. In this article he looks at some elements that should be addressed in your program design in relation to loading.

10 Thoughts On Loading Parameters

By Charles Staley, B.Sc, MSS
Director, Staley Training Systems

Whenever you perform a workout, you’re exposing your body to a challenge- a form of stress. In order to describe and quantify the character and extent of that stress, we use the phrase “loading parameters.”

Generally these parameters refer to the load used, the number of sets and reps performed with that load, as well as the rests between sets and the speed of movement used on each repetition. However, other parameters can be monitored as well, including frequency of workouts, the number of exercises per workout, the order of exercises within a workout, the duration of each workout, and so on and so forth.

With that in mind, I’ll share a few thought about loading parameters…

“Work” is defined as displacing a load for a specified distance

This is an important distinction, because most people wrongly confuse work with the effort it took and/or how it felt to perform that work. In fact, it’s possible to have a high perception of effort during low-output performances. An example of this is using purposely slower-than-necessary repetitions- they hurt more, but accomplish less. Perhaps an even better example is static contractions, which hurt a lot, even through (technically-speaking) you’re not performing any work at all.

Bottom line: “work” is what you did, what you produced, not the resources you consumed to do it.

“Power” is defined as how quickly a load can be displaced for a specified distance

Accomplishing work in a shorter period of time means you’re more powerful than someone else who took longer to perform the same task. This is what almost every competitive sport is all about.

A single parameter can only be appreciated against the context of the other parameters

If you perform 2 sets of 8 reps, is that the same as performing 4 sets of 8 reps? Clearly it isn’t. Therefore, advising someone to perform “8 reps per set” has no real meaning unless you also specify how many sets should be performed.

Similarly, performing 8 reps in 15 seconds is not the same thing as performing 8 reps in 25 seconds. Performing 8 reps with a 9RM load is clearly different than performing 8 reps with a 12RM load.

The point is this: no single parameter has significant meaning unless it is understood against the backdrop of all other parameters. Remember this the next time you hear say “high reps are for tone” or “low reps are for bulk.”

Loads should be earned, not assigned.

To say that you “should” perform 6 sets of 2 with 242 pounds during next Wednesday’s bench press workout is absurd. It’s fine to use those numbers as a goal, but you have no way to predict your functional capacity on a future date. If you’ve over-estimated your capacity, you risk over-extending your adaptive resources and/or injuring yourself as you stubbornly try to complete your assignment. Conversely, if you under-estimated your capacity, you might lose the chance to hit a new PR, or at the very least, you’ll under-train your bench presses for that workout.

On any given workout, a superior performance (at least in the case of trained individuals) indicates a high functional capacity, and it’s an indicator that the previous training cycle has produced good results. It’s time to “strike while the iron is hot” as the saying goes.

Inferior performance, on the other hand, indicates inadequate recuperation from previous workout loads and suggests the need for rest, not work.

Balancing Specificity Against Variation

First, your training must reflect both requirements- it must be specific enough to render a result, but not so specific that you stagnate and/or develop overuse injuries. The best way to walk that fine line is through the use of what I would term “worthwhile” exercise families, as follows:

* Squats
* Olympic lifts
* Horizontal Presses
* Vertical Presses
* Vertical Pulls
* Unilateral lower Body Drills

The exercises in each category are all cousins of each other: Back squats, front squats, Zercher squats, overhead squats, box squats, and thrusters are all squats, but they’re all different types of squats. Squatting is “worthwhile” because there are so many variations of this exercise, you can do them all the time without stagnating. Same with the other categories listed above.

Quality And Quantity Are Inversely Related

You can’t run a marathon at 100-meter speed, and you can’t perform 10 reps with your 1RM. Volume and intensity must always be balanced. First establish quality (speed, strength, movement quality, asymptomatic joints) and then, if desired, increase quantity.

Strength Is Fundamentally “Motor Intelligence”

Many people under-estimate the neural component of strength training. Although it is true that a thicker muscle fiber can produce more tension than a thinner fiber, the fact remains that muscles are slaves of the nervous system. Most people have enough muscle tissue to accomplish impressive physical tasks. What most people lack is efficient wiring. Only heavy loads, lifted in a relatively fresh state, help to motor cortex improve its force production strategies: inter and intra- muscular coordination, rate coding, and so on. If you value pain over performance, you’ll probably rarely train in the necessary manner.

Resources Are Finite

If your adaptive resources were unlimited, you’d be well-advised to train as hard as possible, as often as possible. But unfortunately, you’re ability to recover from workouts requires a number of resources, all of which have limits. This being the case, you should always strive for maximum efficiency in each workout. By efficiency I’m referring to the resource/production ratio of your efforts. For every unit of resource, you’re looking for produce as many units of work as possible. Smart manipulation of loading parameters is the key.

Always Assume You’re Under-Appreciating Specificity

If your training isn’t producing the results you want, I’d look at specificity first. When in doubt, be more specific, not less. Even seemingly non-specific tactics are often highly specific when examined carefully. Example: A powerlifter practices pin presses instead of bench presses to improve his bench. This seems less specific than simply benching, but if the pin presses are performed under the premise of weak triceps, it becomes clear that pin presses are more specific to the issue of triceps strength than are bench presses.

The Strength/Technique Relationship

Strength and technique are often assumed to be distinctly separate entities, but I’m losing faith in that distinction. I now think of strength and technique as two sides of the same coin. For example, holding the back in the correct position during a deadlift is thought of as a technical issue, but frequently the inability to achieve this position can be attributed to a lack of strength. And of course, lack of strength in the squat can often be traced to insufficient technique. These two qualities are inexorably linked- neither one can exist without the other.

About The Author

Charles Staley…world-class strength/performance coach…his colleagues call him an iconoclast, a visionary, a rule-breaker. His clients call him “The Secret Weapon” for his ability to see what other coaches miss. Charles calls himself a “geek” who struggled in Phys Ed throughout school. Whatever you call him, Charles’ methods are ahead of their time and quickly produce serious results.

Click here to visit Charles’ site and grab your 5 FREE videos that will show you how to literally FORCE your body to build muscle, lose fat and gain strength with “Escalating Density Training,” Charles’ revolutionary, time-saving approach to lifting that focuses on performance NOT pain.

Remember to sign up for my 5 part Building Muscle and Strength e-course.
If you are interested in me personally designing your programs and helping you achieve your size and strength goals go to busy-fitness.com/online-personal-training/
Wayne

One of the most common questions I get asked is “What is the best way to get big and strong?” Generally the person who asks it then looks at me expectantly and waits for me to give them THE SECRET. Unfortunately there is no SECRET unless you consider good eating, hard training and adequate rest to be THE SECRET.

Obviously appropriate exercise and weight selection and program design does play an important part but there is no one best way. Programs need to be changed regularly to ensure progress. As Charles Staley (the developer of EDT) says the best training program is the one that you’re not on at the moment.

I’m sorry that I can’t give you the ONE special exercise, technique, program that will make all the difference to your training. I can however encourage you to focus on the basic compound movements, limit yourself to about 25 reps for any exercise and don’t spend more than an hour in the gym. (There are times when these do not apply.) Couple this with good nutrition and adequate rest and you will give yourself a good chance to reach your training goals.

Remember to sign up for my 5 part Building Muscle and Strength e-course.
If you are interested in me personally designing your programs and helping you achieve your size and strength goals go to busy-fitness.com/online-personal-training/
Wayne

I like many other long term trainers have shoulder injuries to show from their training. The main culprit for most is the bench press. In this article Jason Ferruggia, author of Muscle Gaining Secrets discusses building muscle and shoulder injuries. Definitely worth a read.

How to Build Muscle Fast and Avoid Shoulder Injuries

By Jason Ferruggia

Many moons ago when people asked me how to build muscle fast I told them that they had to squat, deadlift and bench press. That was before I injured my own shoulder and saw it happen to countless others. It happened again yesterday. My friend and ex training partner called and told me he tore his rotator cuff while benching heavy over the weekend. This did not come as shocking news. This bench press has been injuring shoulders and tearing pecs since the first time it was ever performed.

Back in the golden days of the Iron Game, when the military press was the main upper body exercise of choice, nobody ever heard of rotator cuff injuries or pec tears. It was only after the bench press achieved extreme popularity that shoulders and pecs started getting obliterated at record rates.

The bottom position of a heavy bench press puts your shoulders in a very vulnerable and dangerous position. Some people can tolerate this for decades. For others it will only take a few years. But sooner or later it’s bound to happen. It’s really not a question of if, but when. The flat bench press will eventually lead to some kind of shoulder problems or pec tear in the majority of lifters who do it heavy enough and long enough.

Like a lot of you, I have always been obsessed with learning more about how to build muscle fast, and the bench press has long been a staple in popular mass building programs. For years I proudly proclaimed it to be a great size and strength building lift and measure of upper body power. Nothing made me happier than helping one of my athletes add 50 pounds to his bench in the off season and watching him go to camp and destroy the competition.

But after 20 years in the game, having been witness to far too many injuries resulting from the flat bench press and getting my own shoulder cut open recently, I have finally had to look myself in the mirror and admit the truth that I have been hesitant to come to grips with for far too long…

Bench pressing sucks!

I have discussed this issue with many of the worlds top shoulder specialists in recent months and they are all in full agreement.

That’s not to say that you can never bench again. I know many of you will refuse to stop and I can relate to that mindset. If you get tested on the bench or compete in powerlifting, of course you have to do it. For the rest of you, who still love to press big weights and impress your friends and gym members I recommend you do so with extreme caution.

Make sure your technique is picture perfect and you bring the bar down to the right spot while properly activating your upper back and lat muscles. Secondly, don’t use the flat bench for more than 4-6 weeks without switching to a safer version of a barbell press like an incline or floor press.

The smartest route, however, is to get rid of this destructive exercise forever. There are far more effective movements that will build mind blowing strength and size in your chest, shoulders and triceps while saving you years of frustrating and costly injuries.

While the bench press is probably the most dangerous exercise most of you are doing on a regular basis, it is not the only harmful one. Unfortunately many of you are probably doing damage to other body parts without even realizing it.

To learn how to build muscle fast and to discover the most effective and safest exercises that will replace the bench press and many other useless movements, check out MuscleGainingSecrets today… before it’s too late.

Train smart,
Jason Ferruggia

Remember to sign up for my 5 part Building Muscle and Strength e-course.
If you are interested in me personally designing your programs and helping you achieve your size and strength goals go to busy-fitness.com/online-personal-training/
Wayne