How to improve your one rep max lift strength by 125%

I recently embarked on a journey with my athletes to improve their
strength for the upcoming track season. It was 12 weeks before the
main competition of the season and I wanted to build a good strength
base for the long season ahead. But where does one start?

There are as many programs to use as there are strength and
conditioning coaches. Add to that, that I am not an S&C coach or have
access to any proper weight training equipment. So what did I do? I
read everything I could get my hands on, the old Russian and East
German texts, the modern cutting edge literature and loads of body
building texts. Many hours and dollars later I developed a protocol
that improved my athletes one rep max’s in the dead lift, bench press
and squat by an average of 125%.

So what did we do? It was done in two phases done over 12 weeks,
combining a weights protocol and a supplementation protocol. The first
6 weeks consisted of a wave pattern protocol for the weights and a
Creatine protocol for the supplementation. The final six weeks we
followed a diminishing set protocol and a Beta Alanine protocol. In
the end the athletes ended up 125% stronger and with 5% less body fat.

At this point I have to state who my athletes are and what background
they have. They are all 400m athletes with a few years weight training
experience. This I tell you to make you understand that there are
other factors to take into account. For instance the body fat they
lost. This could be due to the enormous amount of cardiovascular
training they do. Other factor could also contribute to their strength
improvements, like the plyometric training they do, the technique
drills they do or the muscle activation techniques we employed. That
said, you could actually improve more that 125%, as I am extremely
cautious about body weight and increases thereof. Obviously a 400m
runner wants very little muscle mass to drag around the track. You
might not be that worried about increases in muscle mass.

Phase 1 (Week 1-6)

The idea behind the protocol is to raise you 1RM by a few percent each
week, adding up to loads more after six weeks. The lifts are done in
waves, starting with a light warm up set, of 10-8-5 reps, this is
followed by a second wave of 3-2-1 reps, ending with your previous
week’s 1RM. The third wave pushes you past your IRM, again done 3-2-1
reps. The final 1 repetition will then be 102-105% of your previous
1RM. The data below is actual data of one of my athletes, Sumari:

Bench press:
Week 1 (40kg 1RM)- Wave 1: 10 x 15kg
8 x 20kg
5 x 28kg
Wave 2: 3 x 35kg
2 x 38kg
1 x 40kg
Wave 3: 3 x 35kg
2 x 40kg
1 x 45kg

Week 3 (50kg 1RM) Wave 1: 10 x 15kg
8 x 28kg
5 x 38kg
Wave 2: 3 x 45kg
2 x 48kg
1 x 50kg
Wave 3: 3 x 45kg
2 x 50kg
1 x 55kg

Week 6 (70kg 1RM) Wave 1: 10 x 15kg
8 x 30kg
5 x 40kg
Wave 2: 3 x 55kg
2 x 60kg
1 x 70kg
Wave 3: 3 x 65kg
2 x 70kg
1 x 75kg

She weights 50kg and improved her 1RM from 35kg to 75kg. That is 25kg
or 50% more than her own body weight. Her improvement: 215%! The
average for the whole group was 125%.

The strength plan was complimented with a Creatine protocol taken over
six weeks, with a one week loading phase prior to that. This was
worked out from their body weights, for instance Sumari only took 3g
before and 3g after training. See http://www.atletiek.co.za/blog/?p=389
to work out your ideal dose. This low dose was only taken to increase
their capacity to train and to help them recover quicker. If you are
sensitive for increases in body weight and muscle mass these doses
should be low. They drank enough water and I am happy to report that
none of my athletes had any increases in muscle mass.

Visit the site http://www.atletiek.co.za/blog again next week when I
will give details of the second phase.