Supertraining: 3 types of maximal strength

Being strong is more popular today than it has been since bodybuilding dropped the lifting component in the 70s. Guys are tired of being small and wearing skinny jeans, girls are tired of guys being small and wearing skinny jeans, and everyone appreciates the difference. Athletes in every sport from Tiger Woods to Walter Payton to Rich Froning, Jr. know the value of being stronger than the competition. So what are we talking about when we talk about strength? It seems like a pretty simple thing to define, and in some ways it is. Starting out simply, strength can be defined as the ability of a muscle or group of muscles to produce force in certain circumstances. This is intuitively how you would define strength. Let's nuance this just a little bit by splitting the idea of strength into 3 categories: absolute strength, maximal strength, and the training maximum.

Absolute Strength

Researchers talk about absolute strength which is represented by maximal involuntary muscle contraction. You would reach that state if we hooked some electrodes up to your muscles and turned it up to 11. Your body won't let you contract with absolute maximum force because you would literally break bones and tear muscles apart. For our purposes as athletes interested in getting stronger, absolute strength does not have much bearing on what we do in the gym or in sport.

Maximal Strength

In real life, we usually measure strength in the amount of weight you can move in different planes or exercises. Competitors in the strength sports measure strength in squats, deadlifts, clean and jerks, odd object lifting, and a variety of other tests. This is typically represented as maximal strength or the maximum amount of weight you can move with a voluntary muscle contraction. Voluntary muscle contraction means you are willing yourself to move, for example, flexing the muscles in your arms to do a pull-up. Maximal strength is also represented as a competitive max, since it is usually tested only in competition.

Expressing maximal strength through the competitive lifts takes a huge toll on the body and can take days or even weeks to fully recover from. For this reason it is normal for more experienced strength athletes to take time off immediately following a contest to allow for their body to return to normal after the high physical and emotional stress of a meet. In many cases returning immediately to training after setting new competitive maxes can lead to injury as the lifter is over stressed and does not have time to recover for the new training cycle. Trying to set new competitive maxes day after day would very quickly lead to overtraining and quickly going backwards in your training.

Training Maximum

Unlike the competitive max, the training max is the most weight that a trainee can move on any given day without significant psychological excitement. The training max will change daily based on a number of factors including fatigue, sleep, nutrition, and emotional state at the time of the training session. Training in this state is usually preferable. By calmly approaching your bar each lift, you can continue to train at a high level for the rest of your life. Getting psyched, screaming, and being slapped in the face might work for a competitive max, but it will generally lead to burn out or become a crutch for training in the gym.

Using a training max is very useful for newer trainees especially. Programs like Beyond 5/3/1: Simple Training for Extraordinary Results* by Jim Wendler and Brandon Lilly's The Cube Method* both encourage lifters to work with 90% of their competitive max as the basis for training percentages. This allows you to make progress while using submaximal loads which are less stressful to your body, especially your joints and connective tissue. It is also less emotionally and mentally taxing than knowing you have to go to the gym every day looking for a training 1 rep max. If you have ever trained in a system that requires that kind of performance, you know how it can take over your life. I recommend it only for the most dedicated competitors who will give the required effort to recovery and have time to train at that level on an ongoing basis.

Moving Forward...

Here it goes... we'll have a handful of other articles on the nerdy stuff and then start moving into topics like periodization, methods of training, Prilepin's table, and other Russian strength training secrets! If you have questions on this article, post to the comments or ask in our facebook group.

*If you choose to purchase either of these strength training books, I will receive a small portion of your purchase through an affiliate program. That being said, I have and recommend both of them to people looking to strength train intelligently. I will never recommend anything that I have not used and seen results from in the past.