This is one of these topics that I realize is ‘garbage’ in my eyes because everyone has heard so many different things on lifting too heavy. People just listen to the crap random people tell them about lifting to heavy. I finally tried it and treated the weight room like it was just as important if not more important than running everyday. I went in there and worked, on every rep, set, and exercise. Now that I am in the middle of my season I can sit here and say what I think the benefits of lifting like a monster in the weight room are.
1.) Mental Toughness - When you first start lifting you tend to doubt your ability to be able to lift heavier, and realistically this carries over into all aspects of life. When I started to lift heavy weights on a regular basis I began to see that I am a lot stronger than I ever would of dreamed. Slowly but surely all doubt left my mind, and I knew if I focused really hard I could do anything I choose to.
This mental toughness made me a better athlete because the pain training for track did not seem as bad as the pain of Squatting, or Cleaning. Once I started to believe in myself from the weight room, I was not scared of any weight room no matter what exercise or how tired I was nor how much I had to lift. That carried over to the track, it did not matter where I was running or who I was running against, I still have to perform.
2.) Strength Gains - I love being asked how much I weigh because people always think I weigh more than I do. I weigh 155 and I came into college at 150 but I am lifting with much better form and every single one of my lifts has improved. People think that because you lift seriously and do not play around you are going to get really big out of no where. They do not understand how hard it is to do that, and how much food you have to consume to do that. What you can do is lift to get strong, and if you get a little more cut, and tad bit bigger as a result… who cares. Strength is what makes you run faster. Ever wonder why so many football players come fresh out of the NCAA bowl games and go straight to track and do not miss a beat? Stronger = faster… enough said.
3.) Minimal Soreness – When lifting heavy weights and lifting low reps I find the next day you are not as sore. Meaning it can be done with out jeopardizing workouts for your sport because you are too sore. I find putting on a weight that is between 85-95 percent of your max and hitting it 1-3 times will keep your strength levels high and not totally beat up your body.
4.) Great Place To Start Getting Better - In my oppinion the weight room is an amazing place to begin stepping your game up for the next season. No matter how the last season ended the weight room is where the next one should start. Its a given that when practice starts for the season you are going to work hard and try and be your best. The weight room is like that secret place that you can work extremely hard and know one sees it. It is just you and the bar, and it stays that way. This does not happen from lifting light weights like the rest of the team. You have to go in there and lift like you mean it, and actually put some more weights on. Do not be satisfied with not increasing your maxes.
5.) Boost your confidence - It’s simple, lifting heavy will make your skin seem a bit tighter and show off the striations in your muscles. This really does not matter for any sport, but it does matter in terms of the extra confidence you will step on the field, track, court, or where ever your battlefield is.
There you have it, its simple do not be scared to attack the weight room. Most people have to go in there anyway so instead of playing patty cakes with each lift, throw some extra weight on and throw it up. Stronger = Faster
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
Bingo!
Nice thing about it, when your pissed, frustrated, etc…. you go lift. Take out your frustrations on the iron. You never win, the iron always wins! It’s the only place where you succumb to fatigue, defeat and failure, and leave thoroughly satisfied.
It’s also the only place where total destruction of your body, mind, & spirit, makes you better tomorrow!
Hail to the red boys!
I see you talk about the weight room being a very good place to start for next season. But what about in-season lifting when lifting goes into “maintenance mode.” How do you set up your lower body lifting, and don’t you think the 100m/200m pbs come the best when lower body lifting is very low or tapered out completely?
Thanks for the comment Khash,
You are right pbs do come when you taper off the weights there is no doubt about it but that is one big meet like ofsaa not every single meet of the year. That is my point do not be scared to lift heavy during base training, and the earlier parts of the year because that strength will do you well when you need it for big races. Remember the earlier you taper your weights the more strength you are losing so if you taper 2 weeks out and another guy tapers 2 months out because he wants to feel fresh at every single meet of the year you will be much stronger. It does not take very long to start losing strenth. Basically what I call maintence is a bit more percent of a max than what most call maintnece that is all. Ask if you got any more questions.
Ya thats a good point, being strong for as long as you can. But lets say your outdoor season is 10 weeks long. And you wanna be running fast for all of it (need to be) . You wanna peak in the last 2-3 weeks.
If you’ve been going heavy in the weight room for a long time before these 10 weeks, 85-95% of your max, are you going to lower the percentage down a bit when the 10 weeks start? or continue to go up to 90+ % of your 1RM?
Some people say you can keep your strength for a bit of time, using about 70-80% of your max only.
Part of it is trial and error you have to figure out what works for you. The point of the article was the advantages of lifting heavy and not being scared to throw weights on in the weight room it was not about peaking for the important part of the track season. My point is that most people do not go in the weight room and lift like they mean it at any point in time in the season. If someone does not take the weight room serious and than gets to the big meets and begins to taper they will not be putting very much weight on the bar. That is the point. On top of that you in highschool man you have little to worry about in my eyes because only 3 meets matter lossa, centrals and ofsaa. If you feel like you can get through the first two easy than you can taper later into your season. It is a pay off, what you would lose in running fast earlier in the year you would get back when you decide to drop the weight off because your body would feel extra good since you have not been droppin weights for so long.
Ya you can maintain your strength using 80% of your max. What is better though having a max of 100 pounds, or 200 pounds. All I am saying in the article is the advantages of lifting heavy I never said you had to do it all the time. I am making another article on the advantages of body building, but that does not meen I think it should be done all the time. Khash, what you have been saying about tapering is fine, all I am saying is lift like a monster all year until you get to the point where you have to worry about tapering.
Khash
You seem to be missing the point. Nobody lifts heavy all year around, every phase has it\’s time and place. Every body has a backoff week, where the volume and intesity is decreased to allow the central nervous system, (CNS) to recharge. Some cycle in as little as 3 weeks, and others can go as long as 8 weeks. After that you are definetly creeping into CNS fatigue, and possibly see signs of overtraining.
Honestly, forget the percentages for weights, very few people actually know what their 1 rep max is, it\’s usually based on a calculation, and can be inaccurate. To really find out what your 1 rep max is, takes a lot of time, and energy to sufficiently warm up to execute it properly. You also increase the chance for injury. Your making a mountain out of a molehill!
I\’m assuming you have a coach, then you need to sit down with him a pick the meet that is the most important one to you and peak for that. If the training protocol is adequate, you should be running faster each week while being your strongest when it counts the most! But if you don\’t include strength, and explosive lifting you will be weaker precisely at the moment you don\’t want to be. It takes a lot of work to find out where you lie in the scheme of things. What works for you, may not work for somebody else. You can\’t take the cookie cutter approach to training.
The point is you need to map out the weeks you have to prepare, and what needs to be done to be strong and fast at the meet that is the most important to you. While your worrying about backing off, my athletes are keeping their strength up to go through the rounds, and run successively faster, by applying the strength they have gained. You can be the most technically sound runner on the track, but if you cannot produce more ground force than the race before, or keep your hips forward, you will not see a significant decrease in your times.
Good luck in you quest for OFSAA gold, I’ll be watching.
Good info guys, thanks.
{ 1 trackback }