Elite Physique The New Science of Building a Better Body

54 Elite Physique
The Secret Formula of the Soviet Union’s Success
From the late 1960s to 1990, athletes from the Soviet Union dominated weightlifting
competitions. Although many theories can be put forth as to why, the most logical
explanation pertains to the way they organized their strength training sessions. One
striking difference, compared with the way Olympic weightlifters trained in the United
States, was the large amount of time Soviet athletes spent training with submaximal
loads. Indeed, training with loads greater than 90 percent of 1RM made up only 5
to 6 percent of their total reps over the course of years (Zatsiorsky 1992). This is
surprising considering the goal of Olympic weightlifting events (i.e., the snatch and
the clean and jerk) is to lift the heaviest load possible for a single repetition.
Thanks to intense research by a few of the top Russian sport scientists who
analyzed the training schedules of the most successful Soviet weightlifters over the
course of four Olympic training cycles (i.e., 16 years), we now know how much time
those athletes spent training in each loading zone:
Percentage of 1RM
(intensity zone)
Percentage of reps
in intensity zone
50%-60% 61%-70% 71%-80% 81%-90% 91%-100%
10% 25% 35% 25% 5%
So if you’re looking for a novel year-long program to build your squat, deadlift, or
snatch, just follow the guidelines in this table. First, figure out how many total reps
you’ll perform over the course of a year for, say, the squat. Second, plug in the loads
for the squat, making sure you’ll perform the correct percentage of total repetitions
by the end of the year. For example, if over the course of 12 months you plan to
perform 1,000 total repetitions, 350 of them should fall within 71 to 80 percent of
your 1RM. Third, vary the volume around 20 percent between training sessions, which
means it will fluctuate higher and lower over time to create a wavelike pattern. This
is a project I make all my graduate students at the University of Southern California
complete by the end of their semester with me. But don’t worry, I won’t be grading you.
Volume–Intensity Relationship
At this point, calculations for volume and intensity might seem arbitrary. However,
it’s important for some people, such as strength coaches, to know how to
calculate the volume–intensity relationship for lifts that can induce high levels
of fatigue, such as work sets for the squat, deadlift, or snatch. Importantly, the
calculations are not for warm-up sets, single-joint exercises, or other low-intensity
exercises that have a minimal effect on fatigue. For loaded carries, volume
equals load multiplied by steps. If an athlete carries 250 pounds (113 kg) for 20
steps, volume is 5,000 (250 × 20).
In North America, it is generally accepted that athletes focus on increasing
either volume or intensity from workout to workout—aiming for both can be too
taxing, except for short periods. For example, if you performed 4 × 6 for the row
on Monday, you could perform 4 × 7 with the same load the following Monday
(i.e., volume progression), or you could increase the load 2 or 3 percent and perform
3 × 6 (i.e., intensity progression). Indeed, a good rule of thumb is to perform
one less set of an exercise when the load is increased in order to manage fatigue.
Research demonstrates that loading increments as small as 0.5 pound (0.2 kg)