Background: I work at OSU as a graduate teaching associate and lift at Ludus Magnus. I am a raw lifter who competes in the 105lb weight classes, and am currently prepping for my next meet (when grad school finally gives me a weekend off) . Currently, I am in the process of trying to accomplish my lofty lifting goals,survive graduate school, and teach undergraduates about what I really love, TRAINING..
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Eccentric Block Wk2: ME LOWER
Warm up
Warm up
1. Stepper
2a. GHR
2 x 20
2b. Abs
Neural prep
1. Clean from hip
3 x 2
Training
1. Max effort eccentric (4sec) back squat
-no belt, no wraps
Up to 15lbs heavier than last week (aka what I hit with reverse bands the week before ... See if they are light enough it works
Assistance x 3 trips
1a. Low bar prowler 30 yard sprint
1b. High bar prowler 30 yard sprint
1c. Kneeling jump to box jump 3x3
1d. same deficit set up but ~70% for 3x3
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Why do a neural prep?
Did you know that one of the fundamentl principles of strength training is that, "productions and increases in strength are both neuromuscular processes. Strength is not a function of muscle size but of muscle and nervous system coordination (Supertraining, 6th Ed, Verkhoshansky)."
Thus, all types of training, even training for muscle hypertrophy, are the result of basic and adaptive nervous system stimulation from the brain to the muscles. What does this mean? That essentially all increases in strength are initiated by the nervous system!
When you normally think of a warm up, you might think of general and specific warm ups. You might assume we are doing it to increase body temperature, prevent injury, provide lubrication to joints, and to prepare body to the necessary work capacity.
However, once the body is warm (higher temperature=more force and faster muscle contractions=increased CNS efficiency), it is important to put it all together with some sort of " neural preparation," at the end of your specific warm up so that you can maximize and optimize that brain-muscle connection, and all training to come in your session! So, Allen Iverson, listen, we're talking about neural prep, not a meet, not a heavy squat, not a dynamic day, we talking about neural preparation ...