the importance of maximal strength - and how to train it. · explosive karate week by karate...

The Importance of Maximal Strength - And how to train it.

The Importance of Maximal Strength & how to train it.

Explosive Karate Week by Karate Science Academy

The Importance of Maximal Strength - And how to train it.



What’s the relevance of Maximal Strength to Karate?First of all, Maximal Strength is the foundation of all Types of Strength… To a certain point, it will positively influence the performance in Explosive Strength, Muscle Power, and Endurance Strength.

From that point, you’ll really need to integrate more specific methods to increase your Karatekas’s Speed & Power – with Ballistic Training, for example -, but with your untrained students, Maximal Strength training will have highly positive effects in their Explosiveness (even if they don’t train with Ballistic or Power Methods).

Note: When we say “untrained students” we’re refering to Karatekas with less than 2 years of regular Strength training.

Second, Maximal Strength builds a solid foundation that protects your students/athletes body from more intense stimulus – when they have or want to integrate Ballistic Training, for example.



Well, the best way of increasing Maximal Strength is to develop muscle mass!! Yes, that’s right… Simple, right?

You have to use Hypertrophy methods…The goal is to increase the size of your muscle fibers!

But be careful, because this is a very simplistic way of explain it… As we said, from a certain point, you need to mix Hypertrophy training with Explosive Strength/Muscle Power training! If your students/athletes rely only on Hypertrophy training, they will get stronger, but not necessarily faster…

In addition, do you remember both Types of Fibers: Type I and Type II?!?

If you want your athletes/students to become Explosive Karatekas, they can’t train like Body Builders. If they train like Body Builders, will develop bigger muscles, but not more Explosive muscles.

You want to hypertrophy Type II fibers, mostly. Do you remember? You can’t transform Type I fibers into Type II fibers, but you can increase the size and performance of the last ones.



How much Muscle Mass should your students/athletes gain?!?Well, that depends on several factors:

1) If you are talking about Regular Students or Kata Athletes, there isn’t any limit. Especially because they won’t be able to achieve huge amounts of muscle mass training at the Dojo. They will be able to develop a functional and good muscle mass, but without transforming themselves in Body Builders.

2) If you are talking about Sports Fighting Athletes, you must be aware of the bodyweight divisions. Increasing muscle mass may lead to body weight rise.

If you have an Athlete that’s near the limit of weight category and you don’t want him/her to exceed it, you must make a tight control of Hypertrophy methods; but if you have an athlete that is far from that limit, you may have bigger margin to increase muscle mass and, consequently, body weight.

Muscle Growth is also the best strategy, if you want an Athlete of yours to go to a heavier category!



What’s the Protocol to increase Muscle Mass and, consequently, Maximal Strength

levels of your Karatekas?



Protocol for the Development of Maximal Strength

Intensity

Number of Repetitions

Number of Sets

Rest Time

Contraction Speed (Movement)

Number of Sessionsper week

Time for havingsignificant results

65-85%

6-12(15)

5

60-90s between sets

1-3 sec(Concentric Phase)

2-4 sec(Eccentric Phase)

2-3

10-12 weeks



Let’s go deeper into each dimension of Maximal Strength protocol…

1 - IntensityThe First and most Important thing you need to understand is that Intensity is the factor/variable that will have the greatest impact on the results of Strength Training…

… It’s the factor that will, ultimately, define what Type of Strength you are training!

ATTENTION: Every Exercise can be used to train all each Type of Strength... It will depends on how you manipulate Intensity, Volume, and Rest Intervals!

Read the following example:

Maximal Strength needs an Intensity between 65-85%, which means that you must be able to execute only

6-12 maximal repetitions per set… Maximal repetitions mean that your muscles can’t go further, even if you wanted!

So, if you are able to perform 20 push-ups, the exercise has not enough Intensity to stimulate Hypertrophy and Maximal Strength. Even if you just make 12 repetitions and stop, if you were able to perform more, you are not developing your Maximal Strength!

Let’s continue…

The percentage is always according to the value of Maximal Strength of each Karateka. What you want is that your students train in 65-85% of their Maximal Strength. So, the same exercise and the same load will represent different stimuli to each one of your athletes/students.

If you decide to ask your students to make push-ups, a group may be developing their Maximal Strength, because they are training at 65-85% of their 1RM, while other group may be training Endurance Strength because a body-weight push-up may only represent 50% of their Maximal Strength (1RM).



How can you evaluate the levels of Maximal Strength in your Dojo?Well, the most practical way is as simple as this: ask your students to perform a given exercise that you want to use. In order to develop Punch Power and Speed, you choose Push-ups with elbows closed to the trunk (like in a good Oi-Zuki)...

... each student counts the number of repetitions they made, until they reached their maximal number of repetitions with good technical execution (technical execution is very, very important – don’t let your Karatekas harm their body).



Look at the table on the right, where you can see, approximately, the relationship between the Number of Repetitions and Intensity…

Reps

123456789

10111215203050

100

Intensity or % 1RM

10095939087858380777570676560504030



If they can’t perform more than 4 or 5 good Push-ups they didn’t had enough training Volume to induce Muscle Growth - you must decrease Intensity!

In contrary, if they were able to execute more than 12 good repetitions, they are not stimulating their muscles enough – in other words, the Intensity is low! In this last case, you must increase the Intensity of the exercises for those students/athletes (we’re anxious to send you the videos with the several exercises and progressions)!

Be aware that it’s important to maintain a certain regularity on Strength exercises, during a period of several weeks, so you can give the right stimulus to your Karatekas. If you always take new exercises, every 1 or 2 classes, from fancy videos you saw on YouTube, it’ll be impossible to know what’s the right Intensity for your students/athletes.

You should have 1 or 2 sessions, at the beginning of a training cycle, to evaluate the exercises that will take your students/athletes to the next level of Explosive

Karate. After that, you plan the right progressions/alternatives for each group of Karatekas (according with the results they had on the assessment sessions) and apply the program for 6-12 weeks, before you think changing it! You’ll see the results…

After that cycle, you evaluate a new set of exercises and apply it the same way, in the new training period.

Besides that, ask your students to tell you when they overcome the 12 repetitions for a given exercise. When that happens, it’s your duty, has a Professional, to give them a progression that takes that students to the Hypertrophy Intensity Zone, again!

If you train athletes that have access to a gym and train 4 or more 5 times per week, follow the next protocol in the first sessions, in order to know what’s their Maximal Strength (1RM) for each exercise so the training sessions can be more accurate…



1RM PredictionHow do you Calculate 1RM with this Predictive Model?

Your athlete must perform 10 maximal reps at most - we recommend you to start with a heavy load that your athlete knows it’s going to be impossible to perform more than 10 reps...

Reps

123456789

10

Prediction Factor

1.001.071.101.131.161.201.231.271.321.36



Example:Step 1 - Your athlete was able to perform 6 reps with 30kg on a Close Grip Bench Press.

Step 2 - You look at the Table and take the correspondent Prediction Factor. In this case, it’s 1.20.

Step 3 - You multiply 30kg x 1.20 = 36kg

Step 4 - 36kg is the 1RM (100% Intensity) of that athlete, in Close Grip Bench Press - approximately.

Step 5 - Now, if you want him/her to train with an Intensity of 85%, the load is, 30-31kg.

We say approximately because it’s almost impossible to know, exactly, the 1RM. If you evaluate the same person, in distinct days, the results will be slightly different.

And there are more complex equations to calculate 1RM but the time you take is worth it - considering that will always be an approximate number.

You must talk with your athlete on every training session, in order to adapt the training load to his/her level of physical and mental readiness!



Can you use this Assessment Procotol in your Dojo, with your regular students? Yes, you could, but, honestly, it would take several weeks to get to a conclusion! Remember that Science has to be practical and useful so it can be applied on daily life…

Remember the definition of Maximal Strength: The Maximum Weight you can Lift or the Maximum Resistance you can Overcome, in a Single Time! The Weight you can Push just for one time and can’t do it twice! The load/weight can be your own Body, a Dumbell or a Partner, for example.

So, just take the exercise you want them to train and ask them to perform it as many times as possible! Then, look to the Table “Number of Repetitions-Intensity” and you see what type of Strength stimulus they are receiving with that exercise. SIMPLE!!

That’s why the ultimate trend of Body-Weight Training for Muscle Growth is true for some people and false to other people. It all depends how Intense it’s a Body-Weight exercise for that person…

Let’s look again at the “Intensity-Number of Repetitions Chart”…

It’s very easy to understand the Intensity that your Karatekas are performing, looking at the Number of Repetitions they can make correctly:

• If they can finish 6 Maximal Repetitions, they’re training at 85% of Intensity

• If they can finish 10 Maximal Repetitions, they’re training at 75% of Intensity

• Intensity – 65%-85%

• Number of Repetitions – 6-12

Now, do you notice a conflict between the following numbers? 65% of Intensity correponds to 15 repetitions! How can it be possible?

That is the margin where untrained Karatekas can feel results without putting too much Intensity at the



first sessions of the Strength Program. You can easily see that the difference in Intensity between 12 and 15 Maximal Repetitions is only 2% (65%-67%)

With trained Karatekas, the ideal is to have the 6-12 interval as a reference.

Regardless of using the first or the second method, it’s very, very important that you evaluate Maximal Strength, regularly.

What makes the interval 6-12 repetitions the most appropriate one?This is the type of question that I always made to myself… I always wanted to know the “WHYs” :)

The” Zone 6-12 Reps” is the one where your Karatekas will

have the following effects:

• Enough stimulus to the Fast Fibers (Type II). Greater effects if the Intensity only allows them to perform 6-8 maximal repetitions

• Higher Metabolic Stress: a considerable increase in lactatemia, intramuscular lactate, glucose, and glucose-6-phosphate. All these molecules have a strong impact in the anabolic process (muscle growing).

• More intense acute hormone response. Both Testosterone and Growth Hormone increase during the Strength Training session, when compared with less Intense protocols (where your Karatekas are able to perform more repetitions) – one more scientific fact that clearly demonstrates that making 30, 50, 100 push-ups in a row won’t make them faster or more powerful.

• Maximization of Cellular Hydration.

• Moderate Intensity (6-12) maximizes the Hypertrophy of the several Fiber Types. The time under tension is greater compared to higher intensities (1-5 maximal repetitions).



2- Number of Repetitions & SetsWell, these are the two main points to determine training Volume.

The ways you have to define the Number of Repetitions were explained above. We hope it was clear enough.

Regarding the Number of Sets, let’s see why your Karatekas should, progressively, be able to perform 5 Sets per session…

Training Protocols with multiple Sets have consistently demonstrated better results compared to a single set until fatigue. In a Strength Training session, your athletes will only have a significant increase in the levels of Testosterone and Growth Hormone, from the 4th Set!

Note: Be careful with excessive training… Research demonstrates that performing more than 8-9 sets per

training session will increase the levels of Cortisol, what’s negative to Protein Synthesis (the major factor that makes your athletes muscle grow).

Why do we say to increase the Number of Sets, progressively?

Because you shouldn’t make your less trained Karatekas to perform the ideal protocol from the very first day.

Muscle Soreness and Muscle Damage are seen as a natural consequence of training, but it can be highly demotivating to your students! Is there any need of making them pass through that highly painful phase?!? Of course not… If you plan a progressive increase in Volume and Intensity they will feel much better and successful; and even if they feel a light pain and discomfort, they will be proud of their work!

Additionally, sometimes, that excessive Muscle Soreness and Damage can easily result in Muscle Injury! There’s a soft line between those two situations… If you’re more careful, they will increase Performance, protect their Health, and feel Motivated – PHM Factor.



Should you use or not Assisted Repetitions?First of all, Assisted Repetitions may be used when you want your athletes to perform some additional reps... Additional reps beyond the last maximal repetition that they were able to do by themselves.

This happens, most of the times, at the “sticking point” – that spot in the middle of the movement that everyone already felt and can’t overcome; but a little help will allow you to execute the final phase of the movement by yourself.

You can choose from two strategies:

1 - Ask your Karatekas to perform an isometric (static) contraction for 6 seconds, at the “sticking point” zone;

2 - Ask a “spotter” (partner) to help him/her to overpass the “sticking point”; but the descending phase (eccentric) must be made without any help.

These two strategies must be used carefuly, only with advanced Karatekas, and just in a few sets and times of the year. Why? Because its excessive use can lead to Overtraining and Mental Fatigue.

Note: Why and when the “sticking point” occurrs? It occurrs when you reach 35-45% of the range of movement, with 90% 1RM (it can also appear at 80% 1RM with some individuals). The “sticking” region is the most inefficient stage of a joint movement, when the muscle groups involved cannot meet the demands of the exercise. That region is also affected by a compromised neural Intermuscular and Intramuscular Coordination, resulting in a reduction in the force sustained.



3- Rest IntervalsThe duration is another very important aspect to the effectiveness of Maximal Strength training!

Let’s analyze the 3 most usual Interval Zones:

Rest Intervals

Short Duration (<30 sec)

Long Duration (>3 min)

Moderate Duration (60-90 sec)



Short Duration (<30sec)It generates the greater levels of Metabolic Stress, but 30

seconds are insufficient to allow the Muscles to recover, in order to keep the capacity of producing force in the following sets.

Moderate Duration (60-90sec)This is the best Rest Interval between sets! It allows the best

relationship between Mechanical Tension and Metabolic Stress. It will induce better conditions to an effective hormonal response

after training.

In conclusion, is the greatest option to balance the recovery of Force Production between sets with a sufficient level of Metabolic Stress (which facilitates the anabolic process).

Long Duration (>3min)These Long Intervals allow a complete recovery in the ability

to produce force between sets, but the Metabolic Stress will be compromised.



4- Contraction Speed (Movement)Direct to the point:

• Concentric Phase - 1-3sec• Eccentric Phase - 2-4sec

Slower speeds will not provide enough hypetrophic stimulus; faster speeds won’t give muscles the sufficient time to be under tension.

As you noticed, the speed is slower on the Eccentric Phase… That’s because movement velocity has an increased importance, in that phase.

The Mechanical Tension generated during the Eccentric contraction is fundamental for muscle growth… And it will allow your Karatekas to activate less recruited muscle fibers.

5- Number of Sessions per weekWell, let’s start with a simple obvious statement…

… When your Karatekas reach a certain level of Strength Training, it’s very hard to make them evolve without increasing Volume!

It doesn’t matter what many “muscle gurus” say on the internet… There are no miracles!

With your less trained Karatekas - students with less than 2 years of Strength Training practice -, if you plan good Maximal Strentgh programs, they’ll will improve even if they only train 1 day per week.

But if some of them want to become Top Perfomers (athletes or free athletes), they must increase the Number of Sessions per Week dedicateD to Strength training.



ATTENTION: In several phases of the season, your athletes must make a Taper so they are able to recover, properly!

The same way, if you have regular students that make Strength Training 2 times per week, they’ll have greater and faster results.

What we’re trying to say is that are no miracles, but it’s worthy to plan Strength Training even to your Karatekas that only train 1x week - they’ll always feel results until a certain point.

Now, the ideal Number of Sessions dedicated to Maximal Strength is 2-3 per week and per muscle group. In an ideal scenario, each major muscle group should be stimulated 2 or 3 times per week…

Once again, does this mean that training a given muscle group only 1 time per week is the same as doing nothing? No, the results will be quite different, but any small improvement in your Karatekas strength is worth it!

6 - Time to have significant resultsMuscle Growth will take 10-12 weeks to occur, if your Karatekas train the recommended 2-3 weekly session per muscle group; if your Karatekas train less than that, results take more time to show up!



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the importance of maximal strength - and how to train it. · explosive karate week by karate...

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