In maximal strength training, what is the purpose of having a day where you push yourself to the max, and then having lighter workout days while your body is recovering?
It's counter-intuitive to me why someone training for max lifts would want to train with lighter weights at times. Instead of having light days because your body isn't recovered, shouldn't you just take the day off instead?
What functional purpose does a light workout serve?
Theories:
Does the CNS take longer to recover than the muscular system, and somewhat lighter workouts allow you to still train muscle without taxing the CNS as much?
Or perhaps training at a variety of weight/rep ranges is required for advanced lifters who need more stimulus to force gains in strength?
Either way as I understand it it only seems to really be necessary for advanced lifters whose gains have started to taper off, correct?
>>37399646
Imthink your first hypothesis is correct.
I also think it allows more frequent training without as much injury. Mshit is pretty taxing on the joints and ligaments and shit
>>37399646
lifting heavy weights is a skill, skills require frequent practice
>>37399646
The lighter workouts still offer some training stimulus. Total tonnage/volume is important, just as percentage is. If you squat 150 for a max, a session of 100kg squats at 3x5 is still 1500kg of tonnage, even if you're too fatigued to max out.
Anecdotally, I think it's quite important just to maintain flexibility and practice the movements. If I take a week off I'm always tight and my form is slightly rusty.
>>37399646
light workouts help recovery by shooting blood to the muscles.
Do this little experiment.
Squat one day 5x5, next day you're sore. Then next day your legs are even more sore, you walk like robocop, but this time squat 3x5 with 75-80% of your 5x5 workout. Your legs are fresh now.
>>37399646
What's this girl's name? I've seen other pics of her.
>>37402348
I found her.
hanna hallysem
>>37399646
Practice, motherfucker. Strength is a skill that has to be developed and the more often you can do that the better.
And its a lot more than just advanced lifters who need submaximal work. Maxing out every session is the sort of thing that ends lifting careers pretty often.
>>37399646
Two things you need to understand.
First off all, to create a stimulus strong enough to force adaptation, you must build a cumulative effect of a lot of training.
Is 1 rep enough to get you bigger and stronger? No, it's easy, but it's not your whole stimulus.
Is 1 set enough? No, it's easy, but it's not your whole stimulus.
Is 1 exercise enough? No it's easy, but it's not your whole stimulus.
Is 1 workout enough? Once you're past the beginner stage, NO, it's not enough! The process of stimulus -> recovery -> adaptation is called a microcycle, and while the beginner's microcycle is just one workout followed by 1 rest day, the intermediate trainee needs to build a cumulative effect over several workouts in order to provide a stimulus that's strong enough for him. So you CAN'T look at one training session IN ISOLATION. To illustrate the point, you can see the intermediate's 3 workouts in the same week as the beginner's 3 exercises in the same workout.
So that one light session is only part of the bigger picture. That's the first part of the explanation.
Secondly, when you train, many different systems in the body are going to need to recover. Some of these systems recover quickly (e.g. muscles), some recover a little slower, and some recover quite slowly.
To simplify, you need all systems to be ready to rock in order to perform a maximal attempt safely and succesfully. That's not something you can do very often. However other systems are going to be ready to receive a new stimulus sooner, and the ones that aren't can still continue recovering while being used as long as you don't stress them too hard. Kind of like you can catch your breath while walking after a sprint and get ready again - You don't have to lay down completely to be ready again.
The ability to express maximal strength comes from a combination of several different elements, and some of these can be trained with less than maximal effort.
>lack of appetite
Lmao skelly pls. 5am, having this at the local diner. 4 scrambled, home fries, lamb, feta.
>>37402970
Forgot pic
