Power to the People!: Russian Strength Training Secrets for Every American

Ellington Darden, Ph. D. made a good point that most people do not have what it takes to be successful at any endeavor, marriage, studies, or a diet, for more than six weeks.

neurological, or ‘bulk free’, strength training can be summed up as acquiring the skill to generate more tension.

Do only things that help most. Concentrate your energies on doing few tasks well, rather than many tasks poorly.”

High tension training has five key conditions: 1) slow exercise performance; 2) maximizing muscular tension, or ‘flexing’, regardless of the weight used; 3) employing heavy, 85-95% of one’s maximum, weights at least some of the time; 4) minimizing fatigue; 5) taking advantage of various neurological phenomena.

Tension = Force. The tenser your muscles are, the more strength you display. It is that simple.

Here is how you can minimize various types of fatigue and get the most out of your strength training: 1) limit the repetitions to five and fewer; 2) increase the rest intervals between sets to a duration of three to five minutes; 3) limit the number of sets to two; 4) pause and relax between reps; 5) do not practice a lift more than five times a we

It is estimated that an average person can contract only 20-30% of his muscles when trying his hardest. Even a top lifter uses no more that 50% of his impressive muscles!

For the record, there is a reason why big guys are usually so partial to squats. Comrades who gravitate to serious iron games often have big muscles, short legs, and a long torso. These characteristics give them an advantage in the squat while making the deadlift very difficult.

the stabilizing muscles are prematurely fatigued during high-rep sets