maximal strength is not a panacea REPLY

i've found this article published in a italian site. i've read it and now i'm just confused because in the post named "maximal strength is not a panacea" is clear the point of the Coach, but reading this article i was surprised, nothing wrong with the words of the article..

i'm sorry that the article is in italian, if i can i try to translate it but now i'm on exams, by the way if you have some time i think you can find very interesting this article.

the author is analizying the balistic bench he written these conclusions:

-The power of the bench ballistic is equal to the power of the bench not ballistic for loads ranging from 30% up. No need to do the ballistic bench to generate power, the bench is fine, contrary to what until now had always thought.

- The power generated with light loads by those who have a high maximal is much higher than that of those who have a low maximal: the maximum counts for the generation of power, with all the loads, even with those first deemed to be specific for the power.

he is reporting the study of Hill about strength and also talking about Vladimir M.Zatsiorsky ' s book.

he said "I repeat it yet again ... the maximal is important.

The practical application, therefore, is that if you're training for the strength you are training also the force power. If you want to be powerful in the upper body, just be strong in the upper part of the body"

this seems to be in contrast with the idea of coach Sommer that maximal strength limits the explosive strength

http://www.accademiaitalianaforza.it/forti-o-lenti-la-panca-balistica-e-la-potenza-della-parte-superiore-del-corpo-di-paolo-evangelista/

i wait for more opinions

the article put the weigth on the benchpress, maybe this approach cannot be applied to all the strength exercise

Sorry for my ignorance, but is the ballistic bench press where you use momentum from a bounce on the chest or block to help press the weight up?

I remember reading in a track & field forum where one member said to use 30% of the weight from your barbell squat max for your plyometric jump squats to optimize power production.

B1214N said:

Sorry for my ignorance, but is the ballistic bench press where you use momentum from a bounce on the chest or block to help press the weight up?

I remember reading in a track & field forum where one member said to use 30% of the weight from your barbell squat max for your plyometric jump squats to optimize power production.

Ballistic benching is when you lower the bar very fast, almost dropping it. Then before it touches the chest you're trying to reverse the motion and explode the barbell upwards with as much speed/power you can.

Oh, so it is an explosive or plyometric bench press that uses the stretch reflex. Thanks!

Maximal strength is not a limiter of explosive strength in the way you're thinking. The first problem is that there are diminishing returns. You get to a point where the weights get so heavy that the your technique actually changes. Also to continue to increase maximal starts to become more time intensive. In regards to the bench press itself I would have to argue that dynamic work done properly has a large impact of continuing to raise the maximum. Think of the wear and tear on the body and the pure neural stress of pushing a 90+ percent load all the time. Get your bench over 4 plates and tell me again. Look up early Westside Barbell articles from Louie Simmons for some information. I also had an athlete set new national bench records(raw) using a slightly modified version of westside.

For the weekend warrior and general fitness crowd aside from training variety they will get more explosive from just getting stronger. That is true. For those looking for more the training of explosive strength will also help their maximal strength returns as well as condition their connective tissues for explosive activity. More importantly it conditions the nervous system.