Why building strength first is usually better than just adding endless high rep body weight movements.
Key Takeaway
The last article we discussed local and peripheral fatigue. This article we are going to talk about the concept of the strength continuum.
A basic definition of the strength continuum is the overall categorization of loading, speed, and rep ranges that will usually elicit certain adaptations in strength and conditioning.
I will review three of the main subsections- absolute strength, strength speed (or power), Speed Strength (sometimes reactive strength). It is important to train all of these qualities as this will create a physically well-rounded First Responder.
Absolute Strength
This means how much weight you can lift for a single repetition, or your one rep max. Building this quality is done by lifting heavy(ier) weights anywhere between 1-5 Reps, or 1-3 reps at 90%+ of your max lift. The heavier you go the lower the volume should be as this is extremely taxing on the body. We typically keep it around 4-7 reps in our training program. You can build this to some degree by even going slightly higher with your rep ranges while also building some muscle. Again, doesn’t have to be the traditional lifts all the time. Even heavy sled pushes for shorter distances can work.
Strength Speed
Think of this as power training, or moving moderately heavy loads as fast as possible. For some this could be the traditional powerlifts with lighter loads done with maximal force and for others this could mean throwing medballs or various “snappy” kettlebell/landmine movements. Even loaded jumps, plyo push ups, or pushing a sled in an explosive manner could qualify and work quite well for certain populations. The tool used will depend on the experience of the athlete, injury history, and goals.
Speed Strength
This is light(er) resistance done with the intention of max speed. Band resisted or slight incline hill sprints, unloaded jumps, lighter medball throws, and anything else that lets speed be the focus. Again, the tool used will depend on experience level of the First Responder.
Importance and Application
Not only does training these qualities in a well rounded program matter for optimal performance, it is important to note how all of these qualities are related:
Absolute Strength- Power Improvement
By improving absolute strength, at least at first, you’ll also improve power. More strength means you have created a larger base that lets you move lighter weights faster. This will not work forever, as at some point there is a point of diminishing returns. Meaning, if you don’t specifically train for power than you will just keep getting better at moving heavy weight slowly. This usually occurs somewhere in the intermediate phase of training.
Absolute Strength- Repetition Work
Increasing absolute strength will result in someone being able to do more reps with submaximal weight. Meaning if someone increases their max on a horizontal press variation they will more than likely be able to do more pushups.
Example:
If a future SWAT Operator weights 185lbs, and a push up is roughly 2/3 their body-weight, than when doing a pushup that hopeful candidate is pressing 124lbs on each rep. If that Hero keeps their body weight constant, and lets say increases their bench press from 185 to 225, they went from doing 67% of their max bench press for reps to 55%. That is a massively different test now. Keep in mind I just used the bench press as an example. You can also use this same logic with weighted push up variations or other movements.
It should be noted building strength takes time and not everyone has that leading up to a selection so the traditional “just do more push ups” might be a better strategy for preparation. This will build more local muscular endurance and lots of specificity/practice for the movement.
However, once that selection is over there is a much higher likelihood that adaptation fades much faster than if the trainee built strength over a longer period of time. That is why we usually start with more traditional strength work early in our SOF and SWAT Selection Plans before moving to more dedicated higher volume work that is needed to be successful at these events. Strength takes longer to build, but it also stays around longer. Local muscular endurance peaks and fades much faster without training it regularly.
It is also worth noting, there is no reason why one can’t work on building strength and then follow up with some targeted higher repetition work, or even have a separate higher volume day. Depending on what phase we are in we employ both strategies even in our day to day programing.
Now, if your number one goal is to do as many unbroken pushups as possible you will have to spend more time on pushup variations. Specificity is important. My only argument is being stronger will help with this endeavor, and the strength you built will hang around much longer than the local muscular endurance adaptations you get from just doing higher reps.
Closing
All of these components are important, but for long term sustainable progress at some point you should do dedicated strength training with a combination of all of the methods above in some capacity. Absolute strength will be the foundation to everything else discussed in this article. The stronger you are, the bigger the base you’ll have to build from.
The amount of time and where you spend your effort on this strength continuum will depend on where you’re at in your journey and what events you may have coming up. If you’re just looking to improve your general capacities then something like our yearly programming cycle is where you need to be. We train all of these facets of strength and also include conditioning work to complement it. We systematically build you up to take advantage of these methods regardless of where you’re at in your journey.
If you’re getting ready for a selection we have dedicated programs that build you to more specific training for these events and then show you how to taper so you can display that fitness you worked so hard for.
Questions? Reach out.
