Is The Maximal Effort Method Killing Our Athletes?
What Would Coaches Say?
This article deals with common questions that aspiring, talented athletes commonly ask. With the difference of opinion amongst coaches, trainers and online writers, I hope for this article to be a guide-post that will help athletes reaches a higher level of understanding for what is required of them to reach sport's highest level. At times, especially for certain athletes, there is merit in avoiding max strength work and progressive overload. Some coaches think that they can build tremendous athletes by targeting qualities other than max strength and/or simply focusing on bar speed with sub-maximal loads. But my take is that max strength lays the foundation for many other qualities and should be the cornerstone of a proper S&C program. Yet debates rage about whether athletes should train like powerlifters or Olympic weightlifters, and if the maximal effort strength training impairs the productivity of the athlete.