It seems the majority of strength and power programs incorporate the use of complex/contrast training at some stage. But what is the purpose of this training? Is it to improve power production? What kind of power? Peak power? Power endurance?
There are some tough and interesting questions when it comes to complex training and most coaches will have an opinion. I thought that in this article I would share my approach to the subject.
Complex training utilizes a concept or phenomenon known as post-activation potentiation (PAP). Rumor has it that certain elite sprinters have banged out a set of heavy squats before they go out and run because they feel more powerful and switched on for the race. Many people incorporate activation work and short sprints in their warm ups before training or competition for the same reasons. When you ask people for their rationale, it tends to be “I feel strong” or “It makes me faster.” I totally agree with the psychological effects of training and a good warm up is essential for this. I also think that undoubtedly there is some physiological sense in this as well although the exact methods and applications are unknown at the current time.
The training based application of PAP tends to come in the form of complex (or contrast) training. Commonly used complexes tend to be heavy squats supersetted with vertical jumps, bench presses supersetted with medicine ball chest passes, and many, many more.
Fitness or fatigue??
PAP is all about fitness and fatigue. After a set of heavy squats, there is significant fatigue, but simultaneously there is a gain in fitness. As fatigue reduces due to recovery, your overall level of preparedness increases. At the same time, your fitness reduces, which can also affect the overall level of preparedness. This is much easier to see by looking at the graph shown below which is taken from Zatsiorsky’s Science and Practice of Strength Training, a great reference book.
In basic terms, for complex training to produce a performance enhancing benefit, fitness must outweigh fatigue and only then will the session be productive. Where are we going wrong?
Most of the research suggests that heavy resistance exercises cause performance enhancing benefits following a recovery period of at least five minutes and in many cases more like eight to ten minutes. Think about it—if you go out and lift a 90 percent load for three reps, you’re going to need a solid five minutes of recovery before you can possibly go out and produce more power than before.
But what do most programs do when attempting to incorporate PAP? They go directly into the power movement with minimal or no rest whatsoever. In science terms, if you do this, your fatigue is greater than your fitness and your level of preparedness is low. In my terms, you’re smashing yourself for little or no gain!
A better way to incorporate PAP ?
Bearing in mind that a minimum of five minutes are required for performance enhancing benefits to occur when it comes to improving performance, is it possible to incorporate supersets or even trisets of this kind of work into a session? In my opinion, the answer is no. How are you possibly going to get sufficient recovery time to produce power?
An alternative option?
Here is a session structure that I have been incorporating recently for a power day in some of my athletes’ sessions:
1. Back squat, 3 X 3
2. Chin-ups, 3 X 4
3. Broad jumps, 4 X 4
4. Medicine ball slams, 4 X 5
5. Bench press, 3 X 3
6. Split squat, 3 X 3 each leg
7. Single arm power press, 4 X 5
8. Power step-ups, 4 X 4 each
In this session, the exercises aren’t supersetted so the athlete has a full recovery period in between the strength and power movements, which is filled with a lower body/upper body strength movement to optimize the time in the session. By placing the plyometrics on their own rather than following the strength movement, the individual has the mental focus to produce speed and power better than if they were linked. This works well in maintaining and developing power. The slight negative with the above session is the time it takes to complete. But my athletes don’t have anything better to do!
Another option is to put the plyometrics/ballistic movements at the end of the session following all strength movements. This does work well provided the volume of strength movements is relatively low like in the region of ten to 15 sets maximum.
How heavy is enough?
The loading in this session design is a topic for debate. If you’re training to produce power, the intensity needs to be high enough to produce enough potentiation rather than get the athlete stronger. Most studies suggest that three to five rep max loads are enough if you’re training with one set of heavy strength and then going straight to one set of a ballistic exercise. In my programs, because I’m using more sets, I like to use three reps for three sets with the rationale for this being that I don’t smash the system too much and create too much fatigue. I’m a big believer that if you’re training for power, you’re training for power. Don’t confuse the body by incorporating different training goals. So I like to use lighter loads explosively. Somewhere in the region of 80 percent 1RM for three reps works well.
Know what you’re training for!
This is where I come across as a complete hypocrite! I’ve rambled on about how strength to power complexes don’t have a place in your sessions when in actual fact I think there is a solid rationale for including them. It’s just the training objective you would use them for is completely different. Using heavy loads into ballistic movements without any rest isn’t going to develop power, but it might develop power endurance and can also be used to develop special strength for specific sports. For example, here are some examples of some complexes I use to achieve these goals:
General power endurance
1A: Power clean, 4 reps at 85%
1B: Box jump, 4 reps
2A: Band bench press, 5 reps in 5 seconds (weight adjusted to achieve this)
2B: Explosive medicine ball push-ups, 3 reps
3A: Speed chin-ups, 5 reps in 5 seconds (same as band bench press for loading)
3B: Medicine ball slams, 5 reps
It’s important to measure the power endurance work in the above examples. I do this by timing the sets to completion. The same load executed faster equals more power produced.
Specific preparation for MMA fighter:
1A: Trap bar jumps, 4 reps
1B: Explosive sprawls/heavy bag takedowns
Specific preparation for rugby
1A: Back squat with 2-second hold in deep position, 3 reps
1B: Tackle bag explosive hits, 3 reps each shoulder
These movements can be included in the competitive phases of these sports to achieve greater dynamic correspondence to field/cage performance. The athletes like them because they can automatically see the benefits and the variation is also very beneficial at certain times. The general power endurance supersets work well because they can be timed and the movements used are all measurable in that they are either completed or failed. You can’t half complete a power clean!
Summary and recommendations
I hope this has raised some thoughts about how you program your sessions when training for power. Here are some practical guidelines for implementing PAP phases into your programs:
1. Commonsense coaching: A 5RM squat is going to take more than a minute to recover from to produce power enhancing results.
2. Know what you’re training for: It’s unlikely that peak power will occur unless you have the time to devote to individually assess each and every athlete in your gym and prescribe them an individual recovery time.
3. Include core/activation/mobility work in rest periods to provide productive recovery.
4. Consider doing short heavy sessions followed by plyometrics sessions as a way of eliciting more power. For example, perform 4 X 5 squats and 4 X 5 split squats followed by three to five minutes of rest and then do 4 X 4 bounds each leg and 4 X 4 broad jumps. You’ll have a better chance at hitting the optimal recovery time for the majority of athletes.
5. Complex training is excellent for mimicking sport-specific demands such as wrestling to power based activities such as boxing where a heavy dumbbell press supersetted with a light bench throw or medicine ball throw would work very well.
6. Power endurance is achievable with complex training. Look at heavy power movements followed by lighter power movements (e.g. power cleans supersetted with reactive box jumps) and measure your progress by timing the sets.
7. Buy a power measuring device such as Gym Aware or Myotest. This will give you a measure of what loads your athletes actually produce optimal power for. Then you can train for it in these scenarios.
Brendan Chaplin is the CEO and founder of Strength and Conditioning Education, the UK's largest S&C coaching and training company. You can reach Brendan on all social platforms @brendanchaplin where he will be happy to answer your questions and take your feedback.