You can approach a strength-building workout in a number of ways, but the basic principles are the same. Subject your muscles to progressive overload and more stress than they’re accustomed to. That’s the secret to making your muscles grow and become stronger. On the other hand, variety and change are also important. If you keep exposing your muscles to the same stimuli repeatedly over time, there’s no reason for them to become stronger.
One often overlooked aspect of training is power development. Strength refers to the amount of force a muscle or group of muscles can exert against an external load, independent of speed. One way to quantify strength is using a one-rep max test, a test that measures the maximum amount of weight you can lift for a single rep. Power, on the other hand, has a time component. It refers to how quickly you can generate force and can be measured with a standing broad jump or high jump. Strength only addresses part of the power equation:
Power = Force x Distance/Time
Lifting heavy weights or working with a resistance that’s greater than 80% of your one-rep max and gradually increasing the resistance is a solid approach to building strength, but developing strength won’t necessarily make your more powerful. When you increase the speed with which you lift a weight, moving the weight rapidly through space, you’re training for power. Plyometric training like squat jumps, lateral hops, and clap push-ups can also help you develop explosive power.
Why should you even be concerned about power anyway? If you play certain types of sports, becoming more powerful can improve your performance – but that’s not the only reason. With age, people not only lose strength, but they become less powerful. Research suggests retaining power is just as important, if not more important, than holding on to strength. Think about it. When you get up from a chair, you need a certain level of strength, but you also have to move against gravity quickly enough to avoid falling back down into the chair. That’s where power comes in.
Complex Training: Building Strength and Power
Now that you know how important it is to build strength AND power, there’s a way to do it in a single workout – complex training. This type of training, also sometimes referred to as contrast training, pairs a resistance exercise with a plyometric exercise that works the same muscle group. An example would be a set of squats, a resistance move followed by squat jumps, a power move that uses the same muscles. Complex training not only is a time saver, but it also offers greater training benefits because the strength move maximizes nervous system recruitment, so your muscles are already “primed” when you do the explosive movement. As a result, you can generate more power than you would normally be able to.
Complex training takes advantage of a phenomenon called post-activation potentiation. When you do a strength exercise you activate your nervous system, and your nervous system sends input to the muscles you’re working telling them to contract. Because your nervous system is already on alert after a strength move, you can generate more force when you contract the same muscles again. Post-activation potentiation, or PAP, simply says a muscle’s ability to generate force is influenced by its previous contractions. After a strength exercise, the neural drive to the muscles you just worked is higher, and you tap into that drive with the explosive exercise that follows.
When your nervous system is already hyped-up and ready to go, performance will be enhanced because your nervous system is capable of recruiting more motor units and better synchronizing them, thanks to PAP, and will, therefore, activate a greater number of muscle fibers. As a result, you’ll generate more power on the plyometric move following the strength move. Your power training will be bumped up a notch since you’re maximally activating type 2B muscle fibers that generate power. Bonus: complex training can make you a better jumper and sprinter and allow you to throw with more power.
Rest Period between Sets in Complex Training
How much time should you recover between the two exercises in a complex training sequence? Post-activation potentiation, the period during which your nervous system is primed, lasts from several minutes up to a half-hour. It’s not clear the optimal rest time between sets, but a study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research found between 8 and 12 minutes is optimal for allowing full recovery, which research suggests is important for getting the full benefits. Other resources suggest that rest periods of one to five minutes are sufficient. With rest periods longer than 12 minutes, you run the risk of the post-activation potentiation being extinguished.
How Much Resistance Should You Use?
To maximize post-activation potentiation, you’ll need to use a relatively heavy resistance on the strength exercise, between 70% and 90% of your one-rep max. Do no more than 5 repetitions of each exercise to avoid completely fatiguing the muscles and not getting the full potentiation on the explosive movement. Complex training isn’t a technique for beginners. If you haven’t been strength training for a while, you run the risk of fatiguing your muscles so much during the strength exercise that post-activation potentiation doesn’t occur. Wait until you’ve been training for 6 months or more before introducing complex training into your workouts.
Some examples of Complex Training Pairs:
Lunges followed by plyometric split squats
Push-ups followed by plyometric push-ups with claps
Bench press followed by medicine ball throws against a wall
Squats followed by squat jumps
The Bottom Line
Complex training is another way to add variety to your workout and an equally effective plateau buster. This form of training combines strength and power training, so you get more benefits out of a single training session. If you play sports, complex training can also improve your athletic performance. It’s one of the many approaches to training you can use to keep challenging your muscles.
References:
J Sports Sci. 2009 Dec;27(14):1617-25. doi: 10.1080/02640410903365677.
Journal of Sports Science and Medicine (2002) 1, 42-46.
Strength Cond Res. 2007 Nov;21(4):1134-8.
Eur J Appl Physiol. 2000 Dec;83(6):524-30.
N Stud Athlete 11: 67-81, 1996.
National Strength & Conditioning Association. 21.2 (2007): 500-505.
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What Is Contrast Training and How Can It Help You Build Lean Body Mass?
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STS Strength 90 Day Workout Program
All of Cathe’s Strength & Toning Workouts