High Tension Training
Have you ever noticed that in life when you grow in a particular capacity this growth overflows into unrelated areas? I can think of a few great examples in my own life, such as when I learn to love deeper and more sincerely in one relationship. That doesn’t just help that relationship - it overflows into every other relationship - but that is to be expected; I improved a skill and can now apply it to more situations. What is cool about growing in love is that it transforms how you see your life and the world; it has the power to transform your entire mental, physical, and spiritual wellbeing. I’ll give you another example of a transcendent skill, strength. Physical strength translates to emotional and spiritual strength. Becoming stronger means you have increased your capacity to change yourself and your environment - that literally is empowering in any direction you choose to take it!
I want to share with you a few lessons I have learned which have really transformed my training. I call this approach to training high tension training (HTT). I began training this way in response to a serious injury that for a time prevented me from doing any athletic training. Three years ago I herniated two disks in my lumbar spine (low back). Since applying these principles I have healed, gotten stronger and leaner, and I spend less time training – win win win win in my book!
High tension training is pretty simple:
1. During each repetition, contract your muscles as intensely as possible.
2. Move through the motion with as much control and fluidity as you possibly can.
3. When tension or form waiver end the set, rest adequately and attack the next set with perfect form and maximum tension.
High tension training is predicated on framing all strength training as a skill. When training any skill, whether it is squatting or playing the guitar, the rate of improvement is determined by two factors: the efficiency and the efficacy of training. Efficiency is determined by how precisely focused the training is on the aspects of skill you seek to improve. Efficacy is the success rate the training has on achieving the intended skill. What I find so interesting is that most people assume the volume has to be tremendous and as a result forget all about efficiency and efficacy, aiming just for volume. While others similarly misinterpret the volume necessary and out of fear never even begin.
Framing training not as “working out” but skill development will change everything. I spent years working out and measured the quality of the working out by how exhausted I was. Now I measure my training by how much better I am at the individual movements and how strong I am in those movements.
The principle that has transformed me is coming to understand that the real skill in strength training is to recruit as many muscle fibers per contraction as possible – the strength you can bring to bear NOW! We are a neuromuscular system, and the skill of strength is training the nervous system to precisely and powerfully contract our muscles. Understanding that the neuromuscular pattern is our ultimate goal is a massive paradigm shift for many athletes, it certainly was for me.
For me the biggest implication is that every rep imprints a neuromuscular pattern. Your skill is then an average of all those repetitions, so if half your repetitions are awesome and half are garbage you only have a mediocre skill. The goal is to perform each repetition perfectly, otherwise we are wiring a less than perfect neurological pattern. Does this make sense? In other words, many people think that if they do 100 pushups (5 sets of 20) that it’s a great workout - because it burned. My answer is that it depends. 100 pushups if done with perfect form and maximal muscle contraction is a bad ass workout. However, if during each set you either compromised form or muscular contraction, then you didn’t get the growth stimulus you could have; even worse you trained your nervous system to apply less power and move in a poor pattern. So there is an easy fix, more sets with fewer reps and more rest between sets. The other answer may also be that 100 perfect reps is beyond you at this time and you would be better served working right up to your limit, and then attacking it just as intensely the next day. Yes, I am suggesting that life is a journey not a destination and growth takes time, so embrace the process and stay committed.
In my next post I want to cover a few different ways that I apply HTT and get a little granular into how often, when, and with what type of movements I like to train, and of course I will give you my why behind all this because my ultimate goal in sharing with you is so that you can grow. I want to have the dialogue with you because I believe we learn best when it is a two-way conversation and both people understand the why behind one another’s paradigm. So if you take away a few nuggets and make them your own I am thrilled! Until next time be awesome and unleash the excellence that is innate and unique to you!
Peace and love,
Matt
I want to share with you a few lessons I have learned which have really transformed my training. I call this approach to training high tension training (HTT). I began training this way in response to a serious injury that for a time prevented me from doing any athletic training. Three years ago I herniated two disks in my lumbar spine (low back). Since applying these principles I have healed, gotten stronger and leaner, and I spend less time training – win win win win in my book!
High tension training is pretty simple:
1. During each repetition, contract your muscles as intensely as possible.
2. Move through the motion with as much control and fluidity as you possibly can.
3. When tension or form waiver end the set, rest adequately and attack the next set with perfect form and maximum tension.
High tension training is predicated on framing all strength training as a skill. When training any skill, whether it is squatting or playing the guitar, the rate of improvement is determined by two factors: the efficiency and the efficacy of training. Efficiency is determined by how precisely focused the training is on the aspects of skill you seek to improve. Efficacy is the success rate the training has on achieving the intended skill. What I find so interesting is that most people assume the volume has to be tremendous and as a result forget all about efficiency and efficacy, aiming just for volume. While others similarly misinterpret the volume necessary and out of fear never even begin.
Framing training not as “working out” but skill development will change everything. I spent years working out and measured the quality of the working out by how exhausted I was. Now I measure my training by how much better I am at the individual movements and how strong I am in those movements.
The principle that has transformed me is coming to understand that the real skill in strength training is to recruit as many muscle fibers per contraction as possible – the strength you can bring to bear NOW! We are a neuromuscular system, and the skill of strength is training the nervous system to precisely and powerfully contract our muscles. Understanding that the neuromuscular pattern is our ultimate goal is a massive paradigm shift for many athletes, it certainly was for me.
For me the biggest implication is that every rep imprints a neuromuscular pattern. Your skill is then an average of all those repetitions, so if half your repetitions are awesome and half are garbage you only have a mediocre skill. The goal is to perform each repetition perfectly, otherwise we are wiring a less than perfect neurological pattern. Does this make sense? In other words, many people think that if they do 100 pushups (5 sets of 20) that it’s a great workout - because it burned. My answer is that it depends. 100 pushups if done with perfect form and maximal muscle contraction is a bad ass workout. However, if during each set you either compromised form or muscular contraction, then you didn’t get the growth stimulus you could have; even worse you trained your nervous system to apply less power and move in a poor pattern. So there is an easy fix, more sets with fewer reps and more rest between sets. The other answer may also be that 100 perfect reps is beyond you at this time and you would be better served working right up to your limit, and then attacking it just as intensely the next day. Yes, I am suggesting that life is a journey not a destination and growth takes time, so embrace the process and stay committed.
In my next post I want to cover a few different ways that I apply HTT and get a little granular into how often, when, and with what type of movements I like to train, and of course I will give you my why behind all this because my ultimate goal in sharing with you is so that you can grow. I want to have the dialogue with you because I believe we learn best when it is a two-way conversation and both people understand the why behind one another’s paradigm. So if you take away a few nuggets and make them your own I am thrilled! Until next time be awesome and unleash the excellence that is innate and unique to you!
Peace and love,
Matt
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