Should you do higher reps or lower reps for strength and performance?
The is a question I often receive and a problem that I have worked hard on solving.
If you’re looking for growth then you really should be doing both high repetitions and heavy work. You only have to look at the calf development of soccer players or the forearms of mechanics to know that high reps work for muscle growth but both of these groups are dealing with endurance and strength demands. Combining the 2 is the key to continual growth.
If you’re one of those few people that needs strength without mass then you should be working GTG principles. That is “Grease the groove” this a concept as old as time made popular by Pavel Tsatsouline. Basically it means if you want to be good at something then do lots of it. If you want to produce a lot of force in a certain movement, practice producing a lot of force in that movement.
Pavel Tsatsouline – 1 arm push-up
Squat to improve your bench.
John Broz told a story about promising his star weightlifter Pat Mendes that if he stopped benching and got his squat weight higher then his bench press would also go up, without training it … at all!
When Mendes finally hit Broz’s coaches squat goal he told coach and organised 2 prep sessions before having an attempt at the promised weight. He hit the weight and the coaches credibility stayed. Broz went on to explain, if your squat max is at 100kg and you get it to 200kg would your bench press have improved? Would your nervous system have a higher output? Would total body weight be up? Of course they would!
Bottom line, get better at squats or deadlifts and everything will get better. I know that when my squats are up my body weight will be higher. Box squats, powerlfiting squats and full squats are all valuable squat options depending on your goals.
If you have questions about what you need to do to improve your strength post them below.
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