[quote]Karl Hungus wrote:
[quote]StormTheBeach wrote:
[quote]Karl Hungus wrote:
I’ve just been reading Joel Jamison’s Ultimate MMA Conditioning and it’s got me thinking about the type of conditioning most people do for powerlifting.
Powerlifting is purely anaerobic alactic, the anaerobic lactic system won’t come into play in a 1RM, maybe a bit in training but anything below about 6 reps is going to be purely anaerobic alactic.
As far as I can see, in terms of the energy systems that need to be developed for powerlifting it’s the anaerobic lactic plus enough aerobic capacity to allow decent recovery and training volume… the anaerobic lactic system doesn’t come into play much for a powerlifter.
However, most of the conditioning recommended for powerlifting predominantly develops the anaerobic lactic system… dragging/pushing sleds, sprinting intervals, kettlebell swings/snatches etc.
This type of high intensity training doesn’t effectively develop aerobic capacity. For that you need to do steady state at 120-150bpm for 30m+… Intervals and intensities above 150bpm don’t effectively increase the heart’s stroke volume.
Why is the standard recommendation for powerlifting to develop an energy system that isn’t actually that important to powerlifting?
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Conditioning for powerlifting has to accomplish 2 goals (excluding weight loss to be in a specific weight class):
- Fully recover between attempts at a meet
- To be handle to handle gradual increases in training volumes from competition to competition
Both of these goals involve a significant amount of anaerobic and aerobic qualitites. You are slightly mistaken when you say short bursts of intense work/circuits/intervals do not develop aerobic capacity. There are literally thousands of studies validating the EPOC phenomenon and intense peripheral heart action as being superior to traditional aerobics for developing aerobic capacity (in endurance and non-endurance athletes alike).
With all that said, no one modality will be what a powerlifter needs throughout the entire span of a training cycle to accomplish all of the conditioning requirements of the sport. This aspect of the program should be waved and periodized just like every other part of the regime. Longer time duration, lower intensity, more traditional aerobic based training should occur early in the cycle and the more intense work (prowlers, sleds, short & heavy barbell complexes) should occur closer to the meet because those modalities develop qualities that are more specific to the time under tension and force production requirements of the actual sport.
Good thread topic, man. [/quote]
Thanks, great reply. Joel really does know his shit. Although his book written in the context of training for MMA his methodology seems to be applicable to any sport, or just general health and fitness.
Joel’s view in his book is that the tabata study etc have been extrapolated out of context. That although HIIT may appear superior over the course of a six week study, people quickly plateau using HIIT and steady state is superior in the long run for aerobic development (in terms of cardiac output).
Also, HIIT predominantly results in concentric cardiac hypertrophy (which would also result from powerlifting itself). Eccentric cardiac hypertrophy is only effectively stimulated by lower intensity steady state training because the chambers of the heart don’t fully fill with blood above about 150 bpm.
I suppose the question is, aside from the general health benefits of eccentric cardiac hypertrophy, how important is it in the context of powerlifting?
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I think pretty important. As long as the progressions make sense and your total keeps going up in a meet. Thats really all that matters anyway.