Concurrent Strategies in Strength Training, Part 3
By Mladen Jovanovic
This is part three of a three-part series.
Please note that different classifications may be used depending on the
athletes’ weak and strong points, level of development, training period,
emphasis, and additional items. Those classifications are used to help the coach
organize the training system and prioritize things according to the demands of
sport and position. With the average athlete, primary exercises are those
movements that give the “most bang for the buck” and have the greatest transfer
to the field while other exercises aim to assist that transfer and provide whole
body development and injury prevention.
Because every exercise category can (or should) have its own planning
(different loading, progression, and periodization plans for different exercise
categories and their usage/rotation in the training system), concurrent training
can easily be achieved. For example, powerlifters build explosive strength with
dynamic effort (DE) box squats, bench presses, and speed deadlifts with chains
and bands; maximal strength with max effort (ME) squats, presses, and deadlifts
and their special variations (secondary exercises); and muscular hypertrophy
with repetition effort (RE) single leg exercises and dumbbell variations of
presses, chins, and rows.
With the average athlete, explosive strength is developed with Olympic lift
variations, plyos, and explosive jumps. Maximal strength is developed with ME/SE
squats, benches, and deadlifts, and muscular hypertrophy is developed with SE/RE
single leg stuff, dumbbell variations, isolation stuff, chins, and rows.
In other words, primary exercises may use ME loading protocols, secondary
exercises may use SE loading protocols, and auxiliary and remedial exercises may
use RE loading protocols to achieve the concurrent training approach.
| Concurrent training with
priority lifts |
| Exercise group |
Training goal |
Loading protocol |
| Primary exercises |
Explosive strength, maximal strength |
DE, ME |
| Secondary exercises |
Maximal strength, muscular hypertrophy |
ME, SE |
| Auxiliary exercises |
Muscular hypertrophy, muscular endurance |
SE, RE |
| Remedial exercises |
Muscular endurance, anatomic adaptation,
(pre-) habilitation |
RE |
However, if someone wants to nitpick (and that would be me), this can be
considered concurrent training “in a whole” (because all loading protocols are
present) and may not be considered concurrent depending on which movement
pattern or muscle groups we are talking about. For example, in the above
mentioned athletes’ situation, the legs would receive explosive strength work,
maximal strength work, and muscular hypertrophy work. The situation is similar
for upper body “push” muscles, but upper body “pull” muscles (used for chins and
rows) will receive only muscular hypertrophy work. Ring a bell or not?
To be considered “totally” concurrent in a training program, all movement
patterns must receive the same treatment (ME, SE, and RE work; not necessarily
DE), or it would be only partially concurrent. For this reason, most, if not
all, concurrent powerlifting, Olympic lifting, and athletic training programs
are partially concurrent because only legs and push muscle groups receive
concurrent treatment. The upper body pull muscles are the exception. Is this a
bad thing? Certainly NOT! I am just pointing it out, and because most sports
revolve around legs and push muscles, this is a fine situation for me.
However, in bodybuilding, this would underdevelop certain muscle groups. And
because goals in athletic training, Olympic lifting, and powerlifting are not
bodybuilding in nature and because I don’t talk about bodybuilding here
(although some ideas can certainly be used with minor modifications), there
shouldn’t be much concern about it. It would be very useful to classify
exercises for every movement pattern (or muscle group) though in addition to the
sports classifications already explained.
This way we could differ between:
- sport-based or athletic-oriented classification of exercises (according
to the greatest transfer to the field or event or the most used muscle
groups/movement patterns in sport)
- movement pattern or muscle group (bodybuilding) based classification of
exercises
Because I have already provided hypothetical examples of exercise
classifications for Olympic lifting, powerlifting, and average athletic
training, here is a modified exercise classification based on movement patterns
taken from an awesome article by Christian Thibaudeau called, “How to Design a
Damn Good Program.”
| Knee dominant pattern (or
quads) |
| Category |
Sample exercises |
| Primary |
Olympic back squat (hip width stance,
upright torso), power squat (wide stance, moderate torso lean), front
squat |
| Secondary |
Lunge variations, split squat variations,
leg press, barbell hack squat, dumbbell squat |
| Auxiliary |
Machine hack squat, step-up variations, leg
extension variations, sissy squat |
| Remedial |
Terminal knee extension (with band), band
leg extension |
| Hip dominant pattern (or
hamstring/glutes) |
| Category |
Sample exercises |
| Primary |
Deadlift, Romanian deadlift, stiff leg
deadlift, sumo deadlift, snatch grip deadlift |
| Secondary |
Good morning variations, glute ham raises,
leg press (feet high on pad), single leg Romanian deadlift |
| Auxiliary |
Reverse hyper, pull-through, leg curl
variations, cable hip extension, hyperextension |
| Remedial |
X-band walks, Cook lift, Swiss ball leg
curl, band leg curl |
| Upper body horizontal push (or
pecs) |
| Category |
Sample exercises |
| Primary |
Bench press |
| Secondary |
Incline bench press, dumbbell bench press,
dumbbell incline press, neck press, plate loaded push-ups |
| Auxiliary |
Cable cross-over, flies variations, pec
deck machine, chest press machine |
| Remedial |
Swiss ball push ups, wobble board push-ups |
| Upper body vertical pull (or
back width, lats, and teres major) |
| Category |
Sample exercises |
| Primary |
Pull-ups, chin-ups |
| Secondary |
Parallel pull-ups, mixed grip pull-ups,
towel pull-ups |
| Auxiliary |
Lat pull down variations, straight arm lat
pull down, pull-over |
| Remedial |
External/internal shoulder rotation, scap
push-up |
| Upper body vertical push (or
shoulders/ delts) |
| Category |
Sample exercises |
| Primary |
Military press, push press |
| Secondary |
Press behind the neck, log press, seated
press, dumbbell press variations, Bradford press |
| Auxiliary |
Machine shoulder press, lateral raise
variations, front raise variations, lateral raise machine |
| Remedial |
Cuban press, external shoulder rotation |
| Upper body horizontal pull (or
back thickness—rear delts, traps, and rhomboids) |
| Category |
Sample exercises |
| Primary |
Barbell rowing, log row, chest supported
rowing, seated rowing |
| Secondary |
One arm dumbbell row, corner row, fat man
pull-ups, dumbbell chest supported rowing |
| Auxiliary |
High pulley cross rowing, low pulley cross
row, bent over rear delt raise, machine rear delt, chest supported
incline rear delt raise |
| Remedial |
Chest supported incline dumbbell shrugs,
seated cable shrugs (scapular retraction), traps three raise, YTWL,
Cuban row |
| Elbow flexion (or biceps) |
| Category |
Sample exercises |
| Primary |
Standing barbell curl, Scott bench barbell
curl |
| Secondary |
Hammer curl, seated dumbbell curl
variations, Scott bench dumbbell curl, reverse barbell curl (standing or
Scott bench), Zottman curl |
| Auxiliary |
Machine curl, cable curl variations,
concentration curl |
| Remedial |
Upper arm supination with sledgehammer or
Thor’s hammer |
| Elbow extension (or triceps) |
| Category |
Sample exercises |
| Primary |
Close grip bench press, close grip decline
press, triceps dips |
| Secondary |
Close grip incline press, reverse grip
bench press, JM press, decline barbell triceps extension, decline
dumbbell triceps extension, flat barbell triceps extension, flat
dumbbell triceps extension |
| Auxiliary |
Overhead dumbbell triceps extension,
overhead bar triceps extension, cable triceps extension variations,
triceps extension machines |
| Remedial |
Close grip push-up on Swiss ball, close
grip push-up on wobble board |
| Total body (Olympic lifts) |
| Category |
Sample exercises |
| Primary |
Clean and jerk, snatch |
| Secondary |
Hang clean, hang snatch, push press, pulls,
shrugs |
| Auxiliary |
Jump squats, depth jumps, split squat
jumps, step-up jumps |
| Remedial |
Dumbbell clean and snatch variations |
Using this movement pattern-based exercise classification, different goals
can be achieved via the different distribution of loading protocols. I will give
an example using Chris Thibaudeau’s classification of loading protocols.
| Distribution of loading protocols according
to the goal selected |
| |
Relative strength |
Absolute strength |
Muscular hypertrophy |
| Primary |
Strength |
Strength |
Functional hypertrophy |
| Secondary |
Strength |
Strength, functional hypertrophy |
Functional hypertrophy, total hypertrophy |
| Auxiliary |
Strength, functional hypertrophy |
Functional hypertrophy, total hypertrophy |
Total hypertrophy |
| Remedial |
Strength endurance |
Strength endurance |
Strength endurance |
The training sessions for intermediate lifters can be easily designed using
the presented information. The attribute “intermediate” is based on the work of
Mark Rippetoe and Lon Kilgore, the authors of Starting Strength and
Practical Programming, both of which are a must for your training library.
For more information, please read my review entitled, “What I Have Learned from
the book, Practical Programming” published at EliteFTS.com.
Here are two examples aimed at increasing explosive strength (via Olympic
lifts and explosive jumping), maximal strength, and muscular hypertrophy. One is
based on a whole body split, and the other is based on a lower/upper split.
Here’s the example of the whole body split:
| Whole body—training session A |
| |
Movement pattern |
Category |
Example |
Loading protocol |
| A. |
Total body |
Auxiliary |
Step-up jumps |
DE |
| B. |
Knee dominant |
Primary |
Squat |
ME |
| C1. |
Vertical push |
Primary |
Military press |
ME |
| C2. |
Vertical pull |
Primary |
Chin-ups |
ME |
| D. |
Hip dominant |
Secondary |
Romanian deadlift |
SE |
| E1. |
Horizontal push |
Auxiliary |
Push-ups |
RE |
| E2. |
Horizontal pull |
Auxiliary |
Cuban row |
RE |
| Whole body—training session B |
| |
Movement pattern |
Category |
Example |
Loading protocol |
| A. |
Total body |
Primary |
Clean |
DE/ME |
| B1. |
Horizontal push |
Primary |
Bench press |
ME |
| B2. |
Horizontal pull |
Primary |
Barbell row |
ME |
| C. |
Knee dominant |
Secondary |
Front squat |
SE |
| D1. |
Vertical push |
Secondary |
DB press |
SE |
| D2. |
Vertical pull |
Secondary |
Pull-ups |
SE |
| E. |
Hip dominant |
Auxiliary |
Single leg Romanian deadlift |
RE |
| Whole body—training session C |
| |
Movement pattern |
Category |
Example |
Loading protocol |
| A. |
Total body |
Secondary |
Hang clean |
DE/SE technique |
| B. |
Hip dominant |
Primary |
Deadlift |
ME |
| C1. |
Horizontal push |
Secondary |
Dumbbell bench press |
SE |
| C2. |
Horizontal pull |
Secondary |
Seated rowing |
SE |
| D. |
Knee dominant |
Auxiliary |
Lunges |
RE |
| E1. |
Vertical push |
Auxiliary |
Dumbbell L-rises |
RE |
| E2. |
Vertical pull |
Auxiliary |
Pull over |
RE |
And here is the lower/upper split:
| Lower body squat—training
session A |
| |
Movement pattern |
Category |
Example |
Loading protocol |
| A. |
Total body |
Primary |
Clean |
DE/ME |
| B. |
Knee dominant |
Primary |
Squat |
ME |
| C. |
Hip dominant |
Secondary |
Romanian deadlift |
SE |
| D. |
Knee dominant |
Auxiliary |
Lunges |
RE |
| E. |
Abs and pre-habilitation stuff |
|
|
RE |
| Upper body horizontal—training
session B |
| |
Movement pattern |
Category |
Example |
Loading protocol |
| A1. |
Horizontal push |
Primary |
Bench press |
ME |
| A2. |
Horizontal pull |
Primary |
Barbell row |
ME |
| B1. |
Vertical push |
Secondary |
Dumbbell press |
SE |
| B2. |
Vertical pull |
Secondary |
Pull-ups |
SE |
| C1. |
Horizontal push |
Auxiliary |
Push-ups |
RE |
| C2. |
Horizontal pull |
Auxiliary |
Cuban row |
RE |
| Lower body deadlift—training
session C |
| |
Movement pattern |
Category |
Example |
Loading protocol |
| A. |
Total body |
Secondary |
Hang clean |
DE/SE technique |
| B. |
Hip dominant |
Primary |
Deadlift |
ME |
| C. |
Knee dominant |
Secondary |
Front squat |
SE |
| D. |
Hip dominant |
Auxiliary |
Single leg Romanian deadlift |
RE |
| E. |
Abs and pre-habilitation stuff |
|
|
RE |
| Upper body vertical—training
session D |
| |
Movement pattern |
Category |
Example |
Loading protocol |
| A1. |
Vertical push |
Primary |
Military press |
ME |
| A2. |
Vertical pull |
Primary |
Chin-ups |
ME |
| B1. |
Horizontal push |
Secondary |
Dumbbell bench press |
SE |
| B2. |
Horizontal pull |
Secondary |
Seated rowing |
SE |
| C1. |
Vertical push |
Auxiliary |
L-rises |
RE |
| C2. |
Vertical pull |
Auxiliary |
Pull over |
RE |
Once we arranged the training sessions, we can plan progressions for loading
protocols. For example:
| Weekly progressions for loading
protocols |
| Loading protocol |
Week 1 |
Week 2 |
Week 3 |
Week 4 unload |
| ME |
5 X 3 |
3, 2, 1, 3, 2, 1 |
6 X 1 |
4 X 1, 10% weight |
| SE |
4 X 6 |
5 X 5 |
5 X 5 |
3 X 5, 10% weight |
| RE |
3 X 12 |
3 X 10 |
3 X 8 |
2 X 10 |
| Olympic lifts |
ME: 5 X 1 SE: 4 X 2
RE: 3 X 5 |
ME: 5 X 1 SE: 4 X 2
RE: 3 X 5 |
ME: 5 X 1 SE: 4 X 2
RE: 3 X 5 |
ME: 5 X 1 SE: 4 X 2
RE: 3 X 5 |
Different types of weekly progressions can be implemented, with or without
the unload period. You can use a modified Poliquin accumulation/intensification
scheme for ME and DUP for SE to name a few. You could also use narrow pyramids,
waves, stages, or whatever crosses your mind that allows an increase in defined
goals concurrently and avoids injury and overtraining. Please note that the
mezocycle (usually one month) progressions depend on goals, context, and the
level of the athlete so don’t get too creative. Keep it simple stupid.
One may also implement the Starr Texas method into the proposed system. For
example, for ME work, you would do primary lifts for a 1 X 5 scheme (ramp up),
and for SE work, you would also do primary lifts but for 5 X 5 (sets across).
For RE work, you would do secondary/auxiliary exercises with less weight as
recovery. This scheme uses intensity/volume/recovery instead of ME/SE/RE, and it
is not considered concurrent training. So it isn’t the subject of this article,
but I’m still going to present a modified system (just to show that it can be
done).
Here is a modified whole body split:
| Whole body—training session A |
| |
Movement pattern |
Category |
Example |
Loading protocol |
| A. |
Total body |
Auxiliary |
Step-up jumps |
DE |
| B. |
Knee dominant |
Primary |
Squat |
Intensity (1 X 5) |
| C1. |
Vertical push |
Primary |
Military press |
Intensity (1 X 5) |
| C2. |
Vertical pull |
Primary |
Chin-ups |
Intensity (1 X 5) |
| D. |
Hip dominant |
Secondary |
Romanian deadlift |
Recovery |
| E1. |
Horizontal push |
Auxiliary |
Push-ups |
Recovery |
| E2. |
Horizontal pull |
Auxiliary |
Cuban rows |
Recovery |
| Whole body—training session B |
| |
Movement pattern |
Category |
Example |
Loading protocol |
| A. |
Total body |
Primary |
Clean |
DE/ME |
| B1. |
Horizontal push |
Primary |
Bench press |
Intensity (1 X 5) |
| B2. |
Horizontal pull |
Primary |
Barbell row |
Intensity (1 X 5) |
| C. |
Knee dominant |
Primary |
Squat |
Volume (5 X 5) |
| D1. |
Vertical push |
Primary |
Military press |
Volume (5 X 5) |
| D2. |
Vertical pull |
Secondary |
Pull-ups |
Volume (5 X 5) |
| E. |
Hip dominant |
Auxiliary |
Single leg Romanian deadlift |
Recovery |
| Whole body—training session C |
| |
Movement pattern |
Category |
Example |
Loading protocol |
| A. |
Total body |
Secondary |
Hang clean |
DE/SE technique |
| B. |
Hip dominant |
Primary |
Deadlift |
Intensity (1 X 5) |
| C1. |
Horizontal push |
Primary |
Bench press |
Volume (5 X 5) |
| C2. |
Horizontal pull |
Primary |
Barbell rowing |
Volume (5 X 5) |
| D. |
Knee dominant |
Auxiliary |
Lunges |
Recovery |
| E1. |
Vertical push |
Auxiliary |
Dumbbell L-rises |
Recovery |
| E2. |
Vertical pull |
Auxiliary |
Pull over |
Recovery |
As I have pointed out earlier, this concurrent solution will work very well
for intermediate lifters. Some of the characteristics of intermediate lifters
are as follows (taken from my review article entitled, “What I Have Learned from
the Book, Practical Programming”).
- They progress from week to week (hit PRs) due to a greater need for
recovery.
- This is why ME work is done only once per week for a movement pattern.
- They need regular off days during the week or within week load
fluctuations (wave-like).
- The DE/ME/SE/RE rotations within a week provide variety and unload (in
some cases). Also, the lower/upper split provides this kind of unload during
the week.
- This doesn’t necessarily mean total unload, but rather unload for a
particular movement pattern.
- They need longer unloads (mostly a week) with a greater reduction in
load.
- Unloading week every 4–6 weeks may be beneficial.
Dave Tate gave the following recommendations in one of his Q&A posts on
EliteFTS.com.
| Loading protocol |
Average cycle length |
Deload |
| Dynamic work (DE) |
3–4 weeks |
After 1–2 cycles |
| Max effort work (ME) |
1–3 weeks |
Every 3–6 weeks |
| Supplemental work “main” (ME/SE) |
5–8 weeks |
Every 8–10 weeks |
| Supplemental “hypertrophy” work (SE/RE) |
n/a |
Every 6–8 weeks |
| Accessory Work "Prehab" (RE) |
8–12 weeks |
Every 8–12 weeks |
The average cycle is the duration of the usage of the specific exercise.
After this cycle, the exercise rotates, and the lifter uses another exercise
from the movement pattern group.
Please note that those numbers are just estimates, and they will be different
for everyone because we all have different recovery needs and training
backgrounds. Some abilities may be deloaded while others are pounded. This
should be the way it goes for most of the year. Before a meet or when worn down,
a full blown deload should take place. A full blown deload involves deloading
all abilities.
The art of deloading is a topic in itself, and I guess Eric Cressey did a
fine job explaining it in his new manual titled, The Art of the Deload:
Special Report, although I haven’t read it yet. You can use a larger number
of exercises and their variations. This is why the usage of primary, secondary,
auxiliary, and remedial exercises has its place.
For beginners, this is too complex. Beginners can improve at a much faster
rate and with less complexity using programs designed for beginners. These
programs utilize only the primary lifts with a higher frequency during the week
(they can hit PRs every time that they take the bar) and much less volume.
Lucky for me, almost all of my athletes never left the intermediate stage.
This is because their other obligations (skill work, speed work, plyometrics,
general and specific conditioning) and priorities limited their strength
increases compared to those athletes in the iron sports.
Advanced athletes are notorious because of the following characteristics:
- They can’t develop everything at once. They need to prioritize their
training goals, or they will suffer from overtraining and limited progress.
- The cumulative/delayed training effect of a series of workouts becomes
more and more important.
- Training must be organized into longer periods of time, and those
periods progress from higher volume and lower intensity toward lower volume
and higher intensity.
I must admit that I haven’t had a chance to work with advanced lifters yet so
the text that follows is my opinion based on other’s work (as is most of the
text anyway), not my own experience.
I advise you to explore block training (conjugate sequence system). Although
it is sequential in its nature (and also criticizes concurrent or mixed
training), it is a valid form of training for advanced athletes who utilize
cumulative/delayed training effects and training residuals. I suggest reading
Vladimir Issurin’s article, “Block Periodization Versus Traditional Training
Theory: A Review,” published in the Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical
Fitness. In my opinion, it is far more readable and understandable than most
of Verkhoskansky’s stuff.
In the mentioned programs for intermediates, lifters seek to improve
everything at once—Olympic lifts, squats, deadlifts, benches, chins, presses,
and rows—while also pounding secondary and auxiliary movements for muscle mass.
This will work for a decent amount of time (if the week structure is optimally
organized based on the athlete’s adaptability and recoverability), but after
some time, you will soon find out that you can’t do everything at once. Trying
to increase your clean performance will leave you fatigued for squats. Squats
will leave you fatigued for presses and so on. This is the time when you need to
prioritize your training. You need to focus on a couple of things while
maintaining others (unless you utilize block training where you are using
training residuals instead of maintaining them). This is the basis for the
emphasis method (modified concurrent training)
In my humble opinion, there are three things that may direct prioritization
in strength training:
- Movement pattern: One may decide to pursue Olympic lifts (or the
clean, snatch, or jerk), concentrate on improving his bench press, or
concentrate on developing his deltoids. In the bodybuilding world, this is
called “muscle specialization.”
- Physical quality: One may decide to pursuit relative strength and
maintain his hypertrophy or one may maintain fat levels and strength while
aiming for maximal muscular hypertrophy.
- A combination: One may decide to pursue his speed in the bench
press and work on his sticking points while also maintaining strength and
hypertrophy in his pectorals and the rest of his body.
Lyle McDonald, a man whom I quoted earlier, in his article, “Periodization
for Bodybuilders,” presented loading guidelines for loading and maintaining
different strength qualities.
| Lyle McDonald’s loading
guidelines |
| Type |
Training load |
Maintaining load |
| Strength training |
6–10 sets |
2–3 sets |
| Intensive bodybuilding |
2–8 sets |
1–2 sets |
| Extensive bodybuilding |
3–6 sets |
1–2 sets |
| Really extensive |
1–2 sets |
1 set |
Certainly this depends on many factors such as the level of the lifter, the
number of exercises per movement pattern/muscle group, and so on. But you get
the point. Thanks Lyle.
Implementing this idea would be pretty easy. For example, a lifter may use a
couple of training blocks (note the similarity with block training; don’t let me
confuse you because this is not block training per se, although there are some
similar points) to develop muscular endurance, muscular hypertrophy, and maximal
strength.
| Emphasis method |
| |
Block #1 |
Block #2 |
Block #3 |
| Emphasis |
Muscular endurance (RE) |
Muscular hypertrophy (SE) |
Maximal strength (ME) |
| Maintenance |
Muscular hypertrophy (SE) |
Maximal strength (ME) |
Muscular hypertrophy (SE) |
| Maintenance |
Maximal strength (ME) |
Muscular endurance (RE) |
Muscular endurance (RE) |
| Loading recommendations |
ME: 2–3 sets of 1 rep over 90% 1RM SE:
1–2 sets
RE: 3–6 sets |
ME: 2–3 sets of 1 rep over 90% 1RM SE:
2–8 sets
RE: 1–2 sets |
ME: 6–10 sets SE: 1–2 sets
RE: 1–2 sets |
Weekly progressions can be utilized for the ME/SE/RE loading protocols for
each training block and easily implemented into either the whole body split or
lower/upper body split examples that I gave earlier. This would allow advanced
lifters to concentrate on a given physical quality while maintaining others
without overtraining and limited progress.
Another solution for a powerlifter would be to devise special blocks toward
improving the squat, deadlift, and bench press.
| Example for advanced
powerlifter |
| Block #1 |
Block #1 |
Block #2 |
Block #3 |
| General bulking |
Squat |
Bench press |
Deadlift |
| Increasing whole body muscle mass and GPP;
maintaining ME qualities in bench, squat, and deadlift with maintenance
loads |
Aimed at increasing ME, SE, and RE in
squat; maintaining strength in bench and deadlift; maintaining muscle
mass and GPP |
Aimed at increasing ME, SE, and RE in bench
press; maintaining strength in squat and deadlift; maintaining muscle
mass and GPP |
Aimed at increasing ME, SE, and RE in
deadlift; maintaining strength in squat and bench press; maintaining
muscle mass and GPP |
It’s pretty easy for me to get creative with this emphasis switch, utilizing
training loads and maintenance loads. However, once again, I must repeat, I
haven’t done this yet! Take my words with caution.
Another solution that can be utilized with advanced lifters is based on a
volume/intensity interaction. Accumulation phases (where the aim is to
accumulate training volume and elicit cumulative/delayed training effect) may be
rotated with intensification phases (where the aim is to express the delayed
training effects and utilize maximal training intensity with lowered volume).
This is similar to the volume/recovery/intensity solution from the Starr/Texas
method for intermediate athletes, although with intermediates we are talking
about workouts and here we are talking about weeks and even months. The more
advanced the lifter, the longer the durations of the phases.
| Accumulation/Intensification
with no emphasis |
| Strength quality |
Phase 1 accumulation |
Phase 2 intensification |
Phase 3 accumulation |
Phase 4 intensification |
| ME |
6 X 3 |
1 X 3 |
8 X 1 |
1 X 1 |
| SE |
5 X 7 |
1 X 7 |
5 X 5 |
1 X 5 |
| RE |
4 X 12 |
1 X 12 |
3 X 10 |
1 X 10 |
I guess this may kill someone so we could rotate between
accumulation/intensification for a particular strength quality.
| Accumulation/intensification
with no emphasis |
| Strength quality |
Phase 1 |
Phase 2 |
Phase 3 |
Phase 4 |
| ME |
Accumulation 6 X 3 |
Intensification 1 X 3 |
Accumulation 8 X 1 |
Intensification 1 X 1 |
| SE |
Intensification 1 X 7 |
Accumulation 5 X 7 |
Intensification 1 X 5 |
Accumulation 5 X 5 |
| RE |
Accumulation 4 X 12 |
Intensification 1 X 12 |
Accumulation 3 X 10 |
Intensification 1 X 10 |
Advanced athletes may use 1–2 week phases while the most advanced athletes
may use longer phases up to 4–6 weeks to accumulate and express strength
potential. In addition, the classical linear scheme (higher volume/low intensity
to low volume/high intensity) may be used in the ME block. This is just an
example.
| Linear scheme in ME block |
| Quality |
Week 1 |
Week 2 |
Week 3 |
Week 4 |
| ME |
7 X 5 |
6 X 4 |
5 X 3 |
4 X 2 |
| SE |
3 X 6–8 |
3 X 6–8 |
2 X 6–8 |
2 X 6–8 |
| RE |
2 X 10–15 |
2 X 10–15 |
1 X 10–15 |
1 X 10–15 |
Various other schemes may be developed for advanced athletes utilizing the
three mentioned requirements. For more valuable information, I suggest checking
out Mark Rippetoe’s book, Practical Programming. I fulfilled my need to
“spare my wisdom,” although I haven’t tried this advanced stuff yet. I love to
have pre-planned plans of action if I find myself in that situation. Maybe I
won’t use it as written here, but I guess it is ok to have some starting
opinions and solutions from which you build on depending on the situation and
experience.
As Mark pointed out in his book, the programming of strength training for
advanced athletes is so complex that it must be approached individually without
any generalizations. To be honest, talking about programming for advanced
athletes is way out of my league. I deal with a bunch of kids who can’t even
squat well.
Mladen Jovanović is a strength and conditioning coach at a renowned soccer
club in Belgrade, Serbia.
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