Dynamic Effort Method

Dynamic Effort Method

The dynamic effort method is the sibling of max effort. Just like the max effort method, we do one dynamic effort day for upper and one for lower each week. This day is utilized to build the skills of the primary lift and improve our ability to produce force (we use velocity as our metric on this day).

Force equals mass times acceleration, meaning our ability to accelerate loads directly impacts our capacity to lift heavy weights. Additionally, speed and acceleration are fundamental to athletic development. For decades, strength and conditioning coaches have used Olympic lifts to develop these qualities, but we can achieve similar results with bands and submaximal loads. Olympic lifting, while a tremendous sport, poses challenges such as; the duration of training time lost to learning the lifts well enough to produce a valuable training stimulus, the demands of the ranges of motion, and exposure to injury in this process.

Like our Max Effort days, we do one lower body and one upper body training session each week. Bar velocity is the guiding principle on these days, with a target range of .7 to .9 m/s. The most effective way to track the speed is with a velocity meter (we recommend RepOne, which we’ve found very effective - See Appendix). Alternatively, we can prescribe a percentage of bar weight along with band tension.

These sessions most often follow a 3-week pendulum wave pattern, slightly increasing the weight while still maintaining a velocity between .7 to .9 meters/second, e.g. in week one, we aim for lifts at .9 m/s; in week two, .8 m/s; and in week three, .7 m/s. We generally use band tension or chain weight that is 25% of our 1RM for that lift. For example, if you had a 400 pound Box Squat, you would aim for 100 pounds (25% of 400) of band tension, which would be #3 bands (if using a monolift or squamish blocks).

Dynamic Effort: Lower

Week 1, Week 2, and Week 3 use Back squat: 12x2, 12x2, then 10x2. Timing is OT30sec. Velocity moves from 0.9 m/s to 0.8 m/s to 0.7 m/s. Bands are none. Bar weight moves from 60% of 1RM to 65% of 1RM to 70% of 1RM.

Week 1, Week 2, and Week 3 also use Sumo deadlift: 12x2 each week. Timing is OT45sec. Velocity moves from 0.9 m/s to 0.8 m/s to 0.7 m/s. Bands are under 400# (#0) and over 400# (#1). Bar weight is 40% of 1RM, then 40%+ if fast, then 40%+ if fast.

Week 4, Week 5, and Week 6 use Box squat: 12x2, 12x2, then 10x2. Timing is OT40sec. Velocity moves from 0.9 m/s to 0.8 m/s to 0.7 m/s. Bands are 25% bands. Bar weight moves from 35% of 1RM to 40% of 1RM to 45% of 1RM.

Week 4, Week 5, and Week 6 also use Conventional deadlift: 12x2 each week. Timing is OT45sec. Velocity moves from 0.9 m/s to 0.8 m/s to 0.7 m/s. Bands are under 400# (#0) and over 400# (#1). Bar weight is 40% of 1RM, then 40%+ if fast, then 40%+ if fast.

Notes from the source:

• Percentages are based off of 1RM of the same lift.

Dynamic Effort: Upper

Week 1, Week 2, and Week 3 use Bench press: 9x3. Timing is OT45sec. Velocity is 0.7-0.9 m/s. Bands are under 200# (#0) and over 200# (#1). Bar weight is 60% of 1RM, then 60%+ if fast, then 60% of 1RM.

Grip notes from the source include best grip, narrow grip for sets 1-3, middle grip for sets 4-6, and wide grip for sets 7-9.

Week 4 uses Bench press: 9x3. Week 5 and Week 6 use Specialty bar bench press: 9x3. Timing is OT45sec. Velocity is 0.7-0.9 m/s. Bands are under 200# (#0) and over 200# (#1). Bar weight is 60% of 1RM.

Notes from the source:

• Narrow grip: index fingers on the inside edge of the knurling.
• Middle grip: hands centered between the inside edge of the knurling and the power ring.
• Wide grip: pinky on the power ring.
• These grip widths are unaffected by height.
• Percentages are based off of 1RM of the same lift.
• Great first choices for a specialty bar for this would be a mutli grip bar or axle bar.