This article will cover the common mistakes I see power-lifters or those interested in increasing strength in the squat bench press and deadlift make. There will be a cross-over of issues between points.
Going Too Heavy and Training too Close to Failure
Intuitively, lifting heavy makes sense and there are periods when lifting heavy may be required to maximise strength adaptations. Based on the principle of training specificity, if you want to get good at lifting heavy things, you should probably practice lifting heavy.
However, there does come a cost with lifting heavy. As one lifts loads closer to their 1RM, there is generally increased fatigue per repetition. Likewise, as you lift closer to failure, there will also be an increased cost of fatigue as approaching failure.
Between 10 to 5 reps shy of failure, fatigue will be minimal within a set.
Between 5 reps to 3 reps shy of failure, fatigue will be moderate
Between 3-2 reps shy of failure, fatigue will be significant
From 1 rep shy of failure to 0 reps (maximum effort), fatigue will highest
Example
Comparing a set of 10 repetitions to a set of 3 repetitions, both being performed at a 2 RIR (for those who aren’t familiar with RIR, a 2 RIR = 2 repetitions shy of failure.
The first 5-6 repetitions of a set of 10 will be minimally fatiguing, and then fatigue will rise per repetition as approaching closer to the 10th rep. During a set of 10 repetitions, volume can be accumulated easily as at least half of the reps within the set will carry very little fatigue.
3 sets x 10 reps x 100kg = 3000kg
For a set of 3 repetitions at a 2 RIR, we’re already starting approx. 5 reps shy of failure from the very first rep. As such, fatigue will accumulate from the very first rep.
3 sets x 3 reps x 150kg = 1350kg
To achieve 3000kg of volume using 3 rep sets at 150kg, 6.6 sets would be needed to accomplish the same workload using 10 reps per set. Doing 6 sets of 3 reps will be more tiring than doing 3 sets of 10 reps as the amount of time and mental energy will likely be more significant. If a lifter needs to accumulate training volume for goals such as technique refinement, building work capacity and muscle gain, lifting too heavy is likely not the most efficient way to do so as the fatigue cost will be high relative to adaptation. As such, lifting heavy and close to failure should be periodised within a lifter's training and not performed consistently / all year round.
Doing Too Much Volume
Literature shows that on average, there is a dose-response relationship between volume and muscle size – As one does more volume, more muscle is built (up to a point). The relationship between volume and strength is not as strong. However, multiple sets are better for promoting strength versus single sets.
Although higher training volumes (total sets per muscle group, per week) can promote more adaptations up to a point, there is a volume threshold whereby too much volume can result in a plateau of gains (more volume is not providing more gains). In extreme cases, too much volume can see a regression of gains.
The Reason for these Points is Two-Fold –
1. The muscles are stimulated enough that signals within the body to trigger adaptations are maximised, and further signalling will not provide more adaptation.
1. Fatigue becomes excessive, so a lot of energy is being spent on recovery with little left for adaptation. Additionally, fatigue is bleeding into subsequent sessions; thus, performance is reduced.
More volume isn’t always better. The amount of volume optimal for muscle growth and/or strength is individual dependant. For example, beginners need less volume than experienced lifters to see progress. You’re likely better off being conservative and doing lower training volume and progressively increasing over time rather than starting too high.
Rushing Load Increases and not Spending Time Learning Technique
One of the most exciting things to a power-lifter is hitting a PB. It’s almost like a natural high when hitting a new PB. As such, this can lead people to increase load too quickly and sacrifice technique. Likewise, new lifters may be eager to get stronger, so they might jump straight into heavy loads without learning how to lift efficiently.
The definition of efficiency in a powerlifting context will be using the least amount of energy to complete a competition lift – E.g., moving a barbell from point A to point B in the most efficient path and technique specific to that particular lifter.
One of the bottlenecks I see in power-lifters as to why they're struggling to get stronger is inefficient technique. Lifters are wasting energy that is not being directly transferred into moving a barbell up and down. For example, during a barbell squat, an efficient squat is when the barbell moves directly over the middle of the feet in a vertical path. If the barbell horizontally deviates forward or backward from mid-foot, energy is being used to pull the barbell back to the mid-foot to avoid losing balance and tipping over. As such, energy is being wasted trying to correct balance, adding unnecessary energy cost and fatigue.
Other technique inefficiencies may be placing high stress on a group of muscles whilst underutilising force output from other muscles. This is commonly seen in the deadlift. If someone starts with their hips too high / legs too straight in the initial pull, a lot of force will be used by the hip extensors and lower back to lift the barbell from the floor without much contribution from the leg extensors (quadriceps). Spreading the force output from multiple muscles rather than biasing one muscle group can produce an additive effect whereby the force produced from multiple muscles will be summed together to move the barbell.
Using arbitrary numbers, let's say someone's knees are too straight and hips too high in the initial pull, so a significant portion of force production is used by the hip extensors and less by the knee extensors.
Example A = Hips too high/hip extensor dominant
Hip extensor force production = 2000 Newtons
Knee extensor force production = 1000 Newtons
Total force production available to be transferred into the barbell = 3000 Newtons
Example B = Hips height adequate – Even contribution from hip and knee extensors
Hip extensor force production = 1700 Newtons
Leg extensor force production = 1500 Newtons
Total force production available = 3200 Newtons
Suppose one group of muscles is being stressed more than another area. In that case, fatigue will accumulate quicker in the area being used more, which may lead to a reduced load lifted and/or repetitions performed as the muscle group is too fatigued to continue. Versus if more of that force can be spread over multiple muscles, thus, fatigue is spread and lift failure occurs later than sooner. Spreading force contribution over multiple muscles will minimise certain muscles from fatiguing early to avoid premature failure.
Lifting too heavy too soon and/or quickly can create technique inefficiencies which may in-grain poor lifting technique. This ultimately may lead to someone not reaching their full lifting potential as inefficient technique is a bottleneck in getting further strength improvements.
Competing Too Often
After someone does their first comp, it’s common they become very eager in wanting to compete again. What can end up happening is falling into the trap of competing too often. How often may be individual-specific. For example, a beginner may see improvement gains more rapidly. In contrast, someone experienced may need a longer time gap between 1RM maxing to see performance improvements since progress is much slower when getting closer to one's genetic potential. We could also argue the opposite. A beginner may need longer gaps between comps to accumulate time working on technique, building muscle and work capacity. Whereas a highly experienced lifter may be capped out in building muscle and they may gain more from the practice of and skill of competing.
If looking to compete, we need to calculate the cost to reward in doing so. A training block leading into a competition generally involves -
higher training intensities, lower repetitions, high specificity, less focus on building muscle and in some (but not all) cases, putting technique improvements on the back burner, particularly when loads are getting quite heavy. Additionally, high amounts of fatigue can result in technical breakdown to complete the lift. Technique can be challenging to fix when using heavy loads and fatigue is high. For these reasons, improving technique and/or making significant changes to one’s technique is generally better using lighter weights so load can progressively increase whilst maintaining lifting technique.
Training blocks leading into competition are great for specificity and peaking strength to display performance. They transfer the gains built in the off-season, such as building muscle, work capacity and technique refinements, to be translated into competition-specific performance (the ability to do one heavy repetition on the competition lifts).
In contrast, offseason blocks are generally characterised by lower intensities, higher training volumes and repetitions and less specificity, which can be efficient for building muscle, improving work capacity and refining technique. Off-season blocks build the base upon which competition blocks build from.
As muscle size is highly associated with powerlifting performance, it’s a good idea to spend a significant amount of time trying to build muscle mass, which can later be transferred into specific strength. As building muscle is a slow process, competing too often (for example, every 3-4 months) may not be enough time to spend on training blocks focused on optimising muscle gain. Someone's long-term progress may be significantly limited as they may need a better base to build upon (having large amounts of muscle mass) if not much time is spent in off-season training blocks.
As previously mentioned, what is the cost to benefit in competing? Is someone in a place where they can spend less energy on gaining muscle and optimising technique to peak for a competition? Or is the benefit of building muscle and refining technique worth more than competing? Off-seasons that are too short may lead to longer-term disappointment. E.g - Someone's 1RM / powerlifting total may not increase as much as expected relative to the amount of work put into training due to not spending enough time trying to build muscle.
Trying to Always Stay in a Lighter-Weight Class
As previously mentioned, there appears to be a strong correlation between lean muscle tissue and strength gains. Research comparing stronger to weaker powerlifters shows muscle mass is the strongest variable separating the two.
In many cases, athletes might be sitting with a couple of kilograms higher than their weight class or in between two weight classes and will cut weight before competing to make weight. Lifters will generally want to max out the weight of their weight class as they are usually more competitive. Whereas if moving up to the next weight class, their body weight might be towards the bottom range of the weight class, thus, typically not being as competitive.
As lifters become more advanced, it can be increasingly more challenging to achieve body recomp (losing body fat and building muscle simultaneously). Maintaining body weight or being at energy balance, particularly if a lifter is quite lean, will be difficult to put on lean muscle tissue. To optimise muscle gain, being in a small calorie surplus is ideal so there is energy available not only to fuel recovery, but also to meet the energetic demands of adaptation (build muscle tissue). However, being in a surplus is generally going to increase body weight, which might make it difficult for one to remain in a lighter weight class if they are naturally sitting a little heavier than their weight class already.
The issue with always trying to stay in a lighter weight class is lifters may either get stuck at being at maintenance calories or regularly implement deficits to avoid body weight drifting too far above their weight class. The issue in both scenarios (particularly the latter) is that the opportunity to build muscle mass may be hindered or non-existent. If a lifter wants to improve their strength and is having trouble getting stronger, they will likely need to suck up that they have to get heavier and move up to the next weight class.
Sure, moving up may mean they initially won’t be very competitive as they are lighter and have less muscle mass relative to the heavier competitors within the class. However, muscle mass and strength will build over time and eating more can unlock future gains in strength.
If someone wants to see their strength improve progressively, there will likely come the point where they have to commit to eating in a surplus and putting on body weight to create an optimal environment for muscle growth. Otherwise, athletes may make little to no progress due to insufficient food to gain muscle tissue.
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