#2 Tension Training Over Strength Training

We should SCRAP "Strength Training" as terminology for Athletic Coaches.

Why?

Because as legendary strength coach Louis Simmons said "all strength starts with overcoming inertia".

All movement is strength training.

Even bed rest has some strength involved due to gravity.

This might sound ridiculous but is it not equally ridiculous to say someone who trains extreme tension multiple times per week is "naturally strong" when clearly they are elite in terms of tension training.

There are no elite a sprinters or jumpers who don't have elite strength in the positions they are required to be strong in for sprinting.

Wrestlers and farmers aren't "naturally strong".

They are strength trained using implements other than traditional gym equipment. Same goes for the hamstrings of sprinters.

If you wrestle then you strength train.

You might not use weights tactically to support your performance but wrestlers train strength every time they are on the mat.

The physics...

You don't have to be a maths genius to realise you would rather have a 50kg barbell rolled over your body than 5kg dropped on you from the roof.

The 50kg is heavier but it lacks momentum.

The 5kg falling from the roof can crack a skull.

Lesson 1. Load is secondary to acceleration.

Practically this means moving "gently" or with tempo initially will place more emphasis on the muscle and less emphasis on the tendons.

For ultimate bulletproofing we have to move to high tension repetitions. For the lower body this can be sprinting or jumping. For the upper body we have to be more creative to be bulletproof.

Lesson 2. Range Training, tendon ability & skill explains the weight room gaps.

You can’t have great fast strength without great slow strength.

These tissues will have a high capacity for elastic tension and slow strength.

You can have slow strength without fast strength, we see this in bodybuilders who don’t train speed.

For this reason Charles said “choose the elastic athlete.”

Example 1. Non-Specific Metrics, Inaccurate Conclusions

Elite jumping and sprinting are expressions of Extreme Tension (relative strength).

The confusion comes when we challenge an athlete to do something they have not practiced and use strength in ways they are unfamiliar with.

Full depth back squat the elite jumper might be uncomfortable with 60kg because they are unsure, tight and not used to having a bar on their back.

This will fool some coaches into thinking "the athlete isn't strong".

If then we test the Step-Up ability of that athlete along with tibialis and calves we're likely to see that the athlete actually has elite relative strength. They can deal with extreme tension.

The quads and lower leg MUST have a high ability to deal with tension by the nature of the jump.

Sometimes lighter athletes seem not to be strong but the RELATIVE STRENGTH will always be elite in high performing athletes.

The longer the time allowed to produce force the more muscle strength is required Vs tendon ability.

All athletes using extreme tension have high relative strength in those positions.

Example 2. Light Objects Require Elite Maximal Strength

The javelin is a very light object.

Much lighter than a human body being launched into the air to dunk or sprint.

Still all elite javelin throwers MUST strength train to compete at the top level.

World records will not be broken by those not training strength!

The goal of the strength coach for javelin is to create appropriate hypertrophy, connective tissue development and muscle firing capacity to tolerate the training volume and compete in their sports.

Tension when throwing the javelin is extreme. The body is held together by the muscles and connective tissue development.

Strength training is poor terminology that leads to the "we all squat, bench and clean / dead" mentality...

Human engineering doesn't follow this overly simplistic model.

The way we train tension will impact the adaptations we get from the training:

1. Tissue lengths -> tendon and muscle.

2. Tendon strength to muscle strength ratio.

3. The amount of connective tissue within a muscle

4. Thickness of tendons.

5. Strength of the connections bone to tendon, tendon to muscle.

Implications...

The highest tension exercises are explosive.

Louis Simmons realised that he could create more peak tension doing banded work than simply lifting near maximal weights.