Breaking Down the Formula...F=MA

 This past weekend I had the opportunity to attend the Functional Range Seminar Internal Strength.  If you have never attended one of their seminars (functional range release, conditioning, assessment)  I would highly recommend it.  

I won't summarize the whole weekend, but I did want to hash out a talk, that really made some of my thoughts much more clear in programming.  The talk was given by therapist John Quint.  John works with some of the strongest people on the planet at Westside Barbell.  

We have all heard the formula F=MA.  F is force.  M is mass.  A is acceleration.  There are a few ways to think of training but they all fall under these methods. 

1.  ME. max effort. 90-100%

2.  DE.  dynamic effort. 50-60 percent of ME

3.  RE.  repetition effort. 40-50 percent of ME

4.  REF.  repetition effort failure (hypertrophy)

Force will be ME.  Once we get an exercise to the ME we desire, lets say 405# on trap bar deadlift, we can then address other issues.  Most athletes are not looking to get bigger.  Runners, bikers, weight class athletes actually improve if they get stronger, but remain the same size.  Hypertrophy is usually not the goal.  REF is not used then in the purpose of bigger muscles.  So M in the F=MA will stay RE for maintenance of the ME or F.  A in the F=MA will the DE.  Moving the weight fast with intent and acceleration.  

This allows you to maintain what you have built in the 405# trap bar deadlift.  Over time, this may well bring negative adaptations in hip quality though.  Continually pushing weights in the same movement pattern is not the recipe for keeping a healthy human being.  

Enter the REF for the M in the F=MA equation.  Repetition effort to failure using CARS (controlled articular rotations) as your exercise (in this example doing the hip) to help the trap bar.  CARS at intense level is designed to get you access to new tissue.  This new tissue will need to be trained to keep it.  It will also be weaker.  So using a percentage in the ME or DE allows you to integrate that new tissue into the programming of the F=MA for the trap bar (any exercise).  

Running this equation this way over and over allows the athlete to not hit a plateau.  Even though the weight (405#) stays the same.  The athlete is continuously integrating new fibers, new recruitment around the hip to keep improving and also not allowing the exercise to ever create negative adaptations.  

Practically what would it look like.  Get the athlete as strong as you think is necessary.  I'm 195 pounds and have decided I want to keep a 2x bodyweight deadlift.  I have worked to get that number.  Now I'm going to work intensely on Hip CARS as part of my workout and my pair then with a percentage of the deadlift done with speed aka DE work.  I could also pair CARS with ME work, again supersetting hip CARS with a few reps at 95 percent of my 2x bodyweight deadlift.  

Quint did a great job of explaining this and made my thinking of this concept so much more clearer for me.  I hope my quick synopsis creates more direction for your training and also more curiosity for theirs.  

Stay strong, stay healthy.