1. Resting too long between sets.
Long rest periods are specific to powerlifting competitors. Even Westside Barbell is all short rest except for 1-3 top repetitions on the upper and lower body each week. Chinese weightlifting is known for it's up-tempo workouts as well...
Build work capacity and muscle.
Challenge neural recovery.
Most sports happen on sub-maximal rest.
Elite strength can be built on short rest.
2. Avoiding high repetitions.
High repetition work can:
Heal tissues by bringing fresh blood to the area and pumping the capillary actions. High repetitions also stimulate local hormonal and other changes that stimulate recovery.
Create better neurological connections. It doesn't matter how hard you play the piano once if you play all day you will build a better connection to your hands...
Bigger brain power... neural drive can be improved by challenging the body with a high total volume of work as well as with high intensity.
3. Under developing long range strength.
Long range strength is key for remodelling connective tissues and adding muscle mass.
Another benefit is that new positions can be accessed for sports and life.
Spasmed short muscles don't heal and recover because they don't get the blood they need to regenerate.
4. Using too many straight repetitions instead of special repetitions.
Speed and power matter... Strength might be the primary objective most of the time in the gym but we can touch speed and power safely and effectively in the preparation for strength.
The speed / power work can potentiate strength and also build a bigger foundation of overall skill rather than going through the motions with the only goal being to get to the top set / working weight for the day.
Some Powerlifters might prefer the specificity of slow / smooth concentric actions (hard to argue with Ed Coan who I believe preaches using the same tempo at all weights)... but for everyone else?? Rebound, absorbing, squeeze drop catch, oscillating reps, speed reps,
5. Not developing Tibs / Feet / Calves maximally.
Weak feet and lower limbs stop gym gains being transferred to running and jumping...
Long and short range strength to benchmarks for these areas can impact sports more than any other single change.
6. Not finding a path to nordic hamstring curls.
One of the biggest achievements of ATG has been making the strict Nordic Curl an achievable target to progress towards. There are now hundreds of people around the world performing elite Martin St Louis and Cheetah repetitions. Some are even doing decline, single leg and patrick (slow thighs to bench) repetitions.
Hamstring injuries don't just cripple speed they contribute to knee instability generally and ACL tears specifically.
We all know that the hips are the big muscular driver for acceleration and jumps but without extreme knee flexion ability we're leaving a lot of room for injury and leaked performance.
7. Not progressing tension beyond 1RM weights.
100% sounds like the most someone can do right? But that's just how much tension we can produce at the sticking point of the concentric action a lift. This is the slow, muscular limit for that joint range.
What about the other joint positions?
How strong can they become?
How about receiving and producing high instantaneous tension against over shorter time periods.
Slow strength training from short range to long range is amazing for rebuilding the body... but it's not the end. We must progress to special repetitions in the gym or other activities that challenge these qualities in ALL other muscles (jumping is not enough unless jumping is the only goal).
8. Under developing short range strength.
Short range strength is when the muscle contracts without a significant amount of tension being contributed by the connective tissues because of the joint angle.
A lot of elite sport happens in the short range.
Often this range isn't well / maximally developed.
Even though this range is often under developed it is commonly over developed relative to long range!!!
Short range must be developed eccentrically, isometrically and concentrically.
9. Not identifying and doubling down on ATG Balance.
My hip flexors, lower quads and lower leg were all out of balance.
I was building the upper body.
Most athletes I've worked with have the same issues unless their sport itself has corrected the issue partly or fully.
10. Not progressing training volume enough.
Building a big base of tolerance to volume is one of the keys to elite performance. Using a wide variety of movement and some concentric dominant training makes sense to avoid pattern overload and build resilience but above all we need the ability to do a lot of work.
The size of the base determines the height of the pyramid.
We are very adaptable in terms of how much low / moderate intensity work we can do.
A high tolerance to high volume, high intensity efforts should start first with a high tolerance to lower and moderate intensity (especially when rebuilding from injury).
Sprinters can talk about very short duration, infrequent training sessions but team sport athletes don't have that luxury if they want tissues to be ready for high volume of high tension and unpredictable environments.
11. Under-developing high velocity movements.
Strength is highly trainable and transferable.
If the body feels relatively very light then it will be easy to move fast...
Still if we don't train high velocity movements in the gym or on the court / field then those movements won't be smooth...
High velocity training can easily be added to a program at low / moderate volumes. As it becomes relatively heavier it becomes more demanding.
This means that including some fast training can be done with low training cost. Care must be taken to understand the amount of tension being created and the readiness of the tissues. Not all high velocity is
12. Not understanding and developing brain power (neural drive) enough.
This overlaps with the ideas of doing very high tension work, progressing training volume (total neural output / day) and training high velocity.
How much output can we get from the brain and neural system?
How long can it be sustained?
How fast can it be switched on and off?
Neural Force Balance should be developed alongside ATG / Structural Balance.
We should choose the neural force abilities we want based on the demands of our sports just like we choose the ATG Balance. High jumpers should be very lower body dominant and very (rate) speed dominant and tendon dominant... NFL / NRL players should be more balanced.
They all need big brain output capacity! Long duration work / high volume may play a key role for those not gifted with high output systems.
Have you made these mistakes?
What's the biggest mistake you've made as a coach / athlete?
How can we systematise our approach to decrease the rate of failure?
Drop some thoughts below.
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