Consider How You Train
When considering how often you should work out, and how many sets and reps you will be doing each workout, you must consider how you perform your reps; specifically, do you tend to use grinder reps to derive a training effect, or do you depend upon explosive reps for a training effect? There are great lifters who use grinder reps, and great lifters who use explosive reps, even when going for a max.
What are Grinder Reps and Explosive Reps?
Since I brought up the subject of grinder reps and explosive reps, it is important to define the difference between the two. A grinder rep is a rep that is slow and strenuous. The lifter squeezes out the rep over the course of three to five seconds. Grinders occur when using maximum or near maximum weights, or they come at the end of a set when training to failure or beyond. Explosive reps are done as quick and fast as possible. You will find that some explosive lifters never grind because they will miss if they grind. If they can’t get the weight up within a second or two, the bar just isn’t going to go up. Either their muscles were never designed to grind, or they aren’t able to grind because they never trained themselves to grind.
Olympic Lifters vs. Powerlifters
Olympic lifters must do a lot of explosive lifting because it is impossible to do a heavy clean and jerk or snatch using a slow grinder rep. The exception to this can be occasionally seen when an olympic lifter grinds when coming up from the front squat phase of a clean and jerk, but for the most part, they lift explosively, even when using heavy weights. Powerlifters can go either way; some explode on their lifts, and some grind. We will take a look at some examples of explosive lifting and grinding.
Adalberto Arranda is an Olympic lifter. He is ridiculously strong and squats with 285 Kilos (625 pounds) without straining. If you watch the video, notice that he descends quickly into the bottom of his squat and springs right back up. His squatting speed remains nearly constant whether using light or heavy weights. He always lifts fast both when lowering and lifting the weight.
The lifter in the next video (Sa JaeHyouk of South Korea), is mega strong without being exceptionally big. I’m impressed with how he explodes and moves quickly through every phase of the clean and jerk while lifting 211 kilos (464 pounds). This is an explosive lifter.
Andrey Malanichev breaks a world record with an explosive lift while doing a 1014 pound squat. World record lifts are often a struggle, but Malanichev doesn’t grind at all and makes it look easy. His video is followed by a clip of Ed Coan benching 555 pounds. Ed did not do dynamic speed training like some power lifters do today, but for the most part, he stayed away from grinding in his training, although he grinds just a little bit on his second rep when benching heavy with 555.
One of my very favorite lifters is Charles Staley. He was never a super talent and started out without much strength, but he is now over 50 years old and still manages to improve. For his size, age, and ability level, he is very strong. Charles sometimes grinds on heavy reps in his workouts. I personally don’t like to use grinder reps when working out, but Charles has definitely made this type of training work for himself.
Of the top bodybuilders that I have observed on video, Phil Heath, Ronnie Coleman and Jay Cutler do most of their training with faster explosive reps on basic exercises, but they often grind on shoulder and arm exercises. Kai Greene also uses explosive reps, but he’s not afraid to push himself to grind on any exercise. The video of Kai grinding out some heavy reps is followed by Arnold Schwarzenegger doing bench presses. Arnold often went all out and would grind at the end of a set to do as many reps as possibly.
Arnold
If you surf through weight lifting videos on the internet, you may think that grinding is the norm or conclude that certain lifters grind all the time. There may be a few lifters or bodybuilders who grind as a normal practice, but most of them only grind occasionally. If they happen to be going for a big lift or an all out set, it’s a highlight that they want to capture on video, but they don’t necessarily lift this way all of the time. Don’t make the mistake of grinding on every set of every workout because you are trying to imitate a bunch of lifting highlights on youtube that represent occasional all-out attempts instead of normal training.
In general, grinding is much more taxing than explosive lifting when using heavy weights. For the most part, lifters who grind shouldn’t work out as often as it takes longer to recover from grinding. Lifters who avoid grinding will usually be able to do more sets and work out more often without over training. It is also important to mention that while explosive reps are not usually as taxing as grinder reps, they are more taxing than lifting with a casual rep speed. For example, a common scheme for sets and reps when developing explosive lifting speed is to do 10 sets of 3 reps with 50% of your single rep max. This would be easy if you lift with a casual rep speed, however, it can be quite taxing when exploding as forcefully as possible on each rep.
If you are interested in developing explosive lifting power, you may find the following videos to be helpful. Keep in mind that the workouts are being performed by elite lifters and you should adjust the weight to 50 to 60% of your own single rep max when training for explosive power. Avoid explosive lifting if you are a beginner and have not mastered your lifting form for a given exercise.
Consider Your Own Training
When considering the amount of sets, reps, and how often you should workout, you must also consider your workout style and the type of reps you use. Think about this when formulating a training plan and make adjustments accordingly. Best of training to you