Practical foundations for the development of explosive strength. Explosive Leg Strength Exercises

S.S. Sloan
IM No. 3, 1999

Revolutionary training with explosive reps for phenomenal strength and power development

Modern athletes have tried almost every possible technology in order to gain muscle mass. One very effective technique one they seem to have overlooked is explosive rep training. When it comes to increasing strength, there is no better method.
Powerlifters already know about the explosive rep method, but bodybuilders have yet to master it. In his section "Power training" Peter Thorn briefly talked about the bench press methods of an outstanding trainer Louis Simmons(See IRONMAN 1/Fall 1998). Those readers who have honestly experienced Simmons' ideas have no doubt achieved good results in the bench press and a noticeable increase in chest muscles. The support program should give all the muscles a real push for new growth.

How Explosive Reps Work

If you want to get massive and/or super strong, you should train regularly with at least 80% of your maximum weight you can handle for one rep. Most extremely strong men and women consistently use 95-100% of one rep max, but they also use lighter weights. Heavy weights should be used to make the muscles bigger and stronger; however, if you exclusively use weights that are 90% or more of your maximum, your strength will begin to decrease after a few weeks. This would happen even sooner if you were doing the same exercises all the time, because you would start to lose coordination and neuromuscular ability to lift such heavy weights. The solution to this problem is explosive rep training.
Whenever you train with very heavy weights, you cannot move the weights in an explosive way, no matter how hard you try. Have you ever seen a powerlifter perform explosive max reps in the squat, bench press, or deadlift? They may be using explosive force, but the weight barely moves.
To perform explosive reps, you need to use a weight that allows you to complete the concentric (ascending) part of the lift in 1-1.5 seconds. If it takes more than 2 seconds, you are not giving the muscles enough neuromuscular loading. Explosive reps also increase the body's ability to "recruit" muscle fibers for normal, ie. non-explosive, sets. It is essential for the development maximum strength And muscle mass. Nothing helps you achieve this like explosive reps.

Explosive Rep Program

The following program focuses on increasing strength in the bench press and squat, as well as increasing overall muscle mass. Do not try to increase strength in many exercises at once. This is too much for a natural bodybuilder.
This program is based on 2 days of classes / 1 day of rest, 2 days of classes / 2 days of rest. Thus, you will train, say, on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. The goal of the first two workouts is to increase explosive strength, and in the next two workouts, you train with heavy weights that are 80-100% of your maximum.
Remember to start every workout with a good warm-up. Before lifting weights, warm up by running on a stationary bike or treadmill for 10 minutes - not particularly intense, but at a slow pace with little resistance - just to raise your body temperature. After that, do 3 sets of the first exercise with a light weight for 3-5 repetitions as a warm-up. You should not overly strain the nervous system during the warm-up.
Once warmed up, you are ready to workout. Try this program for at least eight weeks. After that, I am sure you will believe in it.

Workout 1
Upper body and arms

Take a weight that is 55-60% of your maximum. In other words, if you can bench press 142.5 kg in one rep, then here you are using only 78.5 - 85.5 kg. Change the weight of the weight every week. The more weight you use, the fewer sets you do.
Remember that your goal is to move the weight as quickly as possible on the eccentric (descending) and concentric portions of the lift. Do not beat the bar off your chest, but do not make long pauses either.
Between sets, rest no more than a minute, even better - 45 seconds. This will improve the coordination of the lift and force your body to learn this movement well.
As you know, the progressive increase in resistance is the key to progress; however, don't try to steadily increase the weight on explosive reps. Instead, try to move the weight faster and faster each week.

Perform as you would a strict standing press, but start the lift by generating momentum and force from your legs. Also, do these reps in an explosive way. Between sets, rest no more than 2 minutes and do not bring any approach to complete failure.

Do this with an "explosion" at the concentric portion of each rep. Do as many reps as you can in an explosive way. When the reps become too slow, stop the set.

Follow the instructions above for bench presses. Choose a weight that is 55-60% of your maximum, squat as deep as possible, then, after a short pause, rush up. Rest no more than one minute between sets.

Perform the concentric part of the exercise with an "explosion", and the negative part - slowly and smoothly. This exercise develops tremendous hamstring strength and also develops a good grip if you use heavy weights.

Workout 3
Upper body and arms

Choose one of the above exercises and do 4-5 sets of one repetition (Note from the Russian editors: In the "lifting" jargon, these sets are called "singles") with gradually increasing weights. Rest for a couple of minutes, then try a one-rep max set with even more weight. If you can handle this lift, rest for 3-4 minutes, then add more weight to the bar and try to set another record.
Alternate exercises every week. Heavy "singles" are necessary for the development of the maximum possible strength of muscles, ligaments and tendons. But if you try to stick to one exercise for more than two weeks, you will notice that you become weaker.
Try doing a max "single" on a regular bench press. After that, do not perform this lift at the maximum for several weeks. Then try doing it again.

Use the set and rep scheme described above for dips. Powerful bench presses require strong lateral muscles.

Perform with such weights that will allow you to achieve complete muscle failure after five repetitions. You may be able to do 2-3 more reps in the last sets. That's good, keep working with the same weight until you can do five sets of five reps.

Workout 4
Lower body, thighs, legs and abs

The weight should be heavy enough to make three reps difficult. Continue with the same weight until you are able to complete six sets of three reps. It may be difficult for you to do even one repetition in the last sets in the first workout. But keep working like this.

To perform a strong squat, you need a powerful back. At first, tilt with a small load, but in the future, you should train with more weights.

Choose one of these exercises and change it every week. Descend deep, hold the bottom position for two seconds, then perform an explosive lift. In this exercise, the weight should not be light, but, on the contrary, as heavy as possible.

This is the only calf exercise in this weekly program, so take each set to complete muscle failure. After that, you can go home, rest for a couple of days, and prepare for the next week's weight attack.

Final thoughts

I have compiled these workouts based on the programs used by many great powerlifters, but also added some bodybuilding exercises. Use the program in this form for at least six weeks to feel and see how it works. After that, experiment a bit. If you have responded well to reduced training in the past, reduce the number of sets for the main body parts, and you may also want to discard some of the accessory exercises.
You will probably achieve better results if you rest two days after two days of training. If so, then keep up the good work. Remember that recovery is the key to your progress.
No matter how you train, try explosive reps. I assure you that the reward for this will be such an increase in strength that you have not experienced for a long time.

Explosive power (high-speed) is the ability to exercise the greatest power at the most a short time. Explosive exercises at the ultimate level are often referred to as plyometric or ballistic movements.

Explosive power is provided by:

• frequency of impulses at the beginning of contraction and synchronization of impulses of various motor neurons (intramuscular coordination);
• contractile properties of muscles (intramuscular coordination);
• the degree of hypertrophy of fast-twitch muscle fibers, etc.

How to develop strength and speed safely
Explosive strength exercises are often used by athletes who need to generate a rapid burst of maximum effort, such as the movements required in football, track and field, and team sports. The types of exercises used to develop rapid explosive strength are movements that require maximum or near maximum power output from an athlete in a short amount of time.

Explosive strength training is one way to increase power output. Ultimately, the goal of explosive strength training is to move significant weight very quickly. But to reach this goal safely, without risk of injury, it is important to start with light weight and slow, controlled movements. During training (several weeks), the weight lifted and the speed with which it is lifted increase.

Explosive strength training Combination of heavy and light exercises to develop explosive strength
Research supports the idea that explosive (speed and strength) exercises train athletic power, but do so better when combined with other types of training. Longitudinal and cross-sectional data indicate that the combination of heavy and light explosive strength exercises produces superior results for maximizing strength and movement speed than either type of exercise alone.

In addition, evidence suggests that to maximize power output or movement speed, the first phase of training should be focused on increasing maximum strength and building solid baseline training, and the second phase should focus on developing power and speed.

A sample 12-week strength and speed training program could include the first five weeks consisting primarily of heavy strength training. The next six weeks will consist of a combination of strength training and explosive high power exercises, and the last week will be dedicated to high power movements.

Explosive strength exercises. Development explosive leg strength
Standard explosive exercises use large muscle movements such as squats, barbell lifts, weighted or unweighted vertical jumps, heavy ball throws, or even hill running. Smaller muscle exercises like bench presses or push-ups can also be used to develop strength, but will limit the overall result to only the muscle groups involved. Exercises to help increase power include:

• Weighted/Dynamic step exercises;
• Lunges with a load;
• Agility exercises;
• Stair running.

You should use exercises that match your fitness and athletic goals, so keep in mind the principle of training specificity. The exercises you choose should stimulate movement specific to your sport.

If you slowly increase the intensity of your exercise over time, and listen to your body for signs of injury, it's unlikely that training will lead to injury. In fact, some evidence suggests that the risk of injury in many high-speed or strength sports can be reduced with regular explosive strength training.

Explosive strength (power and speed) exercises can improve physical performance and reduce the risk of injury to an athlete during activities that require high energy releases with rapid acceleration, as in most racquet, field sports, running (sprinting) and boxing. Also important is the explosive strength of the muscles in powerlifting, since it is necessary to overcome a large load in a short time.

In bodybuilding, explosive muscle strength can only be useful to an athlete in a state of training plateau, which occurs after 6 months of training according to an unchanged program, in order to avoid this, it is necessary to include explosive muscle strength training.

Force is an indicator that has several components. This can be strength endurance, in which an athlete can do an exercise with a certain load for a long period of time. Or maybe explosive muscle strength - the body's ability to release the maximum amount of energy for muscle contraction in a fraction of a second. Many contact sports require explosive muscle strength, in particular, boxing and kickboxing. Also, a sprinter, a sprinter, cannot do without it. In bodybuilding, explosive muscle strength is not often needed. The only exception is overcoming the so-called training plateau, a condition in which the working weight does not increase and muscle mass is not gained. Sooner or later, any athlete enters a plateau, and in order to overcome it, you need to turn on the explosive power of your muscles. The explosive power of the muscles is also very important for where you need to overcome a large load in a minimum period of time. - Lifting a barbell or dumbbells due to heads up with high intensity. The load should be the maximum possible in order to be able to perform the exercise at a given speed. - Bench press. The load in this case is not more than 70% of the working weight for 12 repetitions. Performing the exercise, you need to quickly throw the barbell up, and lower it to your chest at normal speed. - Striking in the air with dumbbells in your hands. In this case, the emphasis should be on speed, and not on the technique of striking, since you are not a boxer, and you do not need an accented hook. All other exercises are performed with reduced weight (up to 80% of the usual working weight) and at a slightly accelerated pace.

In addition, there is a list of exercises that will automatically build explosive muscle strength even when you are doing these exercises at a normal pace. Among them: -, doubly - if with jumping and clapping; - push-ups on the uneven bars; - bench press and army press; - dumbbell or barbell row in an incline; - squats with a barbell; - platform leg press; - pull-ups. And below a list of exercises that are completely useless in terms of developing explosive strength is presented: - traction of the upper and lower blocks; - layouts with dumbbells of all kinds; - leg curls in the simulator; - exercises for the press; - lifting the load on the biceps. Exercises for the development of explosive strength are very energy-consuming, especially if you perform them at an accelerated pace. Therefore, you should not do more than one of these exercises per workout, and in total there should be no more than three such exercises per week. Inexperienced athletes should not work with such a technique, as it can be extremely dangerous. Only experienced athletes with a long training history can afford it. Monday Warm-up 5-6 minutes Dumbbell bench press, 1x12, 1x9, 1x6 (with increasing weight of the dumbbells) Bench press on an incline bench with acceleration, 3x7 Push-ups on the uneven bars with additional weight, 2x10 Lifting the barbell to the chest from the hang with acceleration, 3x7 Pressing the barbell from the chest while standing with acceleration , 3x7 Torso lift on an inclined board with turns, 2x to failure Wednesday

Warm-up 5-6 minutes Pull-ups on the bar 3x10 Dumbbell rows in an incline with acceleration, 3x7 Lifting the barbell for biceps while standing, slight cheating is allowed, 3x6 Breeding arms with dumbbells while standing in a forward tilt, with acceleration and slow lowering, 3x7 Raising the legs while hanging on the crossbar, 2x to failure Friday Warm-up, 5-6 minutes Platform leg press with acceleration, 3x7 Leg curls on the simulator, 3x10 Jumping on toes with dumbbells in hands, 3x20 (gradually increase the weight of the dumbbells) Lifting the bar to the chest with a deep dip, 3x5 Folding lying on the floor with acceleration, 2x20 There are many different modifications explosive strength training. One of the most famous is the Brooks Kubrick technique, the so-called overloads. To perform an overload, the athlete does only the upper third of the movement. If you adapt this technique for explosive strength development, then you need to slightly lengthen the distance, up to two-thirds of the movement, and perform the exercise at an accelerated pace. This technique is even more difficult than regular exercises, and should only be performed with an experienced partner who will insure every movement .And finally, we note that explosive strength is also formed by removing weight from the bar after the end of the exercise. You just need to shoot pancakes at an accelerated pace.

Many athletes competing in the most different types sports, pays a lot of attention. It is not surprising that endurance, explosive strength, speed, elasticity are incredibly important for a future or current boxer, athlete, skier, etc. Such training should take up the lion's share of the athlete's free time, and he must also apply certain efforts.

Training

Majority sports sections Try to allocate at least 5 days a week for training. It would be good if the student himself devoted time to performing various kinds of tasks. simple exercises to maintain and develop form. Of course, such activities as the development of explosive strength are not simple, and therefore require close attention from the coach, a lot depends on the sport, and on what is more important - the muscles of the legs or arms.

It is necessary to systematize all the loads, combine working, hard workouts with simpler, unloading ones. For example, if on Tuesday you had a big load on the muscles of the legs, then on Wednesday it would be better to put more emphasis on other parts of the body, and just stretch the lower limbs well. This will allow you to avoid unpleasant consequences that may arise.

speed force

Explosive strength training (or speed training, as it's called) has great importance for all athletes, especially those involved in boxing and other combat sports, athletics, cross-country skiing. Speed ​​strength allows you to use the maximum potential of your muscles in the shortest amount of time. For example, it can be measured in the strength and speed of a punch or in the ability to quickly accelerate at distances up to 300 m. The explosive power used at the maximum is also called ballistic, because the athlete's movements resemble a projectile fired from a firearm.

What does she represent

hand strength

Explosive strength exercises vary depending on the categories of muscles that you need to develop. If you need arm strength, then the set of exercises will be aimed at training this particular group. Any exercise must begin with a warm-up, this will allow you to avoid possible damage to the ligaments and muscles, injuries that occur if the body is not prepared for stress.

Ideally, if you devote 4 to 10 minutes to this, especially working on those parts of the body that you will train. If you have the opportunity to visit Gym, then focus on exercises with a barbell, namely, a bench press. Do not increase the load immediately, it is better to take a weight that you are able to lift 5 times, and then increase this figure by 1. After you can bench press such a barbell 10 times, you can increase the load and start again with 5 lifts. Most useful exercise is as well as lifting the bar from the floor (or the so-called deadlift). It is necessary to do 3-5 approaches with a break from 30-60 seconds.

Exercises without a bar

Explosive arm strength can also be trained with dumbbells. good weight to start with is 5 kg. Spread your feet shoulder-width apart, take a dumbbell in one hand, bend it at the elbow and stretch your forearm along the torso in the direction of the head. Thus, the projectile will be on your shoulder.

Then, slightly bending your knees, push the dumbbell up, while straightening your legs. It is necessary to repeat this from 5 to 10 times, followed by a 30-second break and again repetitions. You need to complete up to 5 sets if you are doing it for the first time - at least twice.

Also, explosive strength can be trained with a regular floor press. There are 2 main exercises - "grasshopper" and bench press with claps. To perform the first, it is necessary to focus on the hands not in the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe shoulders, but parallel to the pelvis, clenching the palms into fists. Quickly do this bench press 5 times, then take a break for 15 seconds and 2 more such sets. Increase the load by 1 push-up for each set. The clapping press doesn't need much explanation.

Leg muscle exercises

It turns out to be a little more difficult to train legs in terms of speed strength, but it will be possible to increase endurance faster. One of the best exercises- squatting with further jumping by 10-15 cm. The explosive strength of the legs when performing such an exercise every day 10-15 times with 2 sets will increase significantly.

Plyometrics is also quite popular. Find a small elevation, this can be a sturdy chair, sofa, step, or special sports instruments. Stand in front of them, and then start jumping on the obstacle and immediately jump back down. Repetition is the best thing we can do, and therefore it is necessary to do it 20 to 30 times, while not overly speeding up, because you can lose balance. Do not increase the quantitative load within one exercise, it is better to increase the number of approaches every 1-2 weeks. Do not forget about the benefits of stairs, running up the stairs perfectly trains the explosive power of the legs, try to run as fast as possible, but do not skip the steps.

Explosive strength is a short-term increase in muscle effort, literally releasing tremendous energy in a fraction of a second. The term is widely used in many contact sports, especially boxing and kickboxing. In bodybuilding, there is practically no need for explosive strength, except for cases of overcoming an athletic plateau, muscle adaptation.

In this case, the development of explosive strength becomes an opportunity to increase the effectiveness of training, increase the rate of growth of muscle mass. Similarly for powerlifting and weightlifting, where it is necessary to overcome a large load in a limited period of time.

Boxers, getting into the gym, often practice the following exercises to develop explosive strength:

• bench press standing or sitting from behind. It is believed that this exercise best degree develops striking force shoulders and arms;
• empty bar bench press with the maximum number of repetitions with the maximum speed of movement;
• standing throwing the neck in front of you with the highest possible speed;
• air strikes with dumbbells in hand.

To develop the explosive strength of a bodybuilder, exercises with empty necks are not enough. Therefore, these exercises are subject to some modernization:

• lifts of dumbbells or barbells from behind the head practically does not change, are performed in a high-intensity mode, with the maximum possible weight for the selected speed and frequency;
• the barbell press is performed not with an empty bar, but with a load of 60-70% of the working weight of the projectile (for 8-12 repetitions), with the maximum speed of lifting the bar from the chest and the usual speed of lowering it here;
• barbell throws in front of you are not practiced, and air strikes with dumbbells are performed at the maximum possible speed (at the same time, the technique is completely unimportant, because the goal is not to deliver the correct blow, but to develop explosive power).

All other exercises are performed simply with maximum acceleration in the positive phase, possibly with a decrease in the working weight of the projectile up to 80%.

The most effective development of explosive strength is observed when performing the following exercises according to the described method:

• push-ups from the floor with maximum acceleration, including with the separation of hands from the floor surface and clapping at the chest in the palm of your hand;
• push-ups on uneven bars, including with additional weights;
• barbell or dumbbell bench press from the chest while standing / sitting, or from behind the back, including dumbbell bench press with a turn of the hand;
• all varieties of bench press on the bench, as well as standing (soldier bench press);
• dumbbell or barbell rows in an incline;
• squats with a barbell on the shoulders (including various varieties: hack squats, with a barbell on the chest, leg press in a press machine, etc.);
• leg straightening in a block simulator;
• pull-ups, possibly with weights (muscles acidify quickly).

This technique is practically useless in exercises such as:

• traction of the upper and lower blocks;
• leg curls in a block;
• all types of wiring with dumbbells;
• lifting dumbbells or barbells for biceps;
• press exercises.

During one training session, you can perform no more than one exercise for the development of explosive strength. The number of such workouts is no more than 2-3 per week. If the recovery rate is low, then you can do only one explosive workout per week.

The technique is very dangerous, and therefore is available only to trained athletes with an average or high level, extensive experience in training, which are able to independently select the working weight of the shells.

A feature of the work on the development of explosive strength is that only up to the first 6 repetitions can be performed at an increased speed. The rest are carried out with a noticeable slowdown. The most famous technique for developing the explosive power of Leonid Ostapenko. But there are other modifications, in particular, you can develop the ideas of Brooks Kubrick, with his overloads.

Recall that an overload is an exercise in incomplete amplitude, in the upper third of the movement. If you increase the amplitude to 2/3 and perform at a faster than usual speed, then we get a good technique for developing explosive strength. It is performed exclusively together with a partner who insures every movement. The technique has an even greater danger to human health.

Finally, explosive strength is also achieved by training in barbell stripping mode. However, this approach also requires an increase in the speed of movement, on the one hand, and the presence of at least two insurers, on the other.