Becoming great at any endeavor follows surprisingly very similar systems. As a lifelong guitarist, learning music has always been an area where I could scoop into the unknown and push the boundaries of what I was capable of. Fun fact, I had a brief stint of a year and a half in college 15 years ago (yeah, I'm old) where I did 3 semesters of classical music including voice, guitar, and a semester of drums. With all instruments there are some basics that are widely accepted as "best practices" to improving your skill. Yes, playing the same song over and over gets you better at that song BUT to get better and play more difficult songs requires a depth of understanding that includes knowledge/education (understanding music theory), application (actually performing the notes to make the music), and experience (the time spent bridging the knowledge and application). And in improving "the basics" you become more able to acquire new songs and skills. Generally when it comes to learning, these remain very commonplace in any endeavor and very especially in strength & lifting technique.
What does technical efficiency mean? Some might say "the groove" or what abides by some magically formed biomechanical standard that we've deemed pretty to the eye. But what is going on that creates this? In my eyes, which I think you will very much agree with, technical efficiency is not so much a specific standard but instead a spectrum of movement with one end having instability, more range of motion, & greater torque demand and the other end having less moving parts (stability), less range of motion, & minimal energy demand pertaining to the motor pattern. And all of the above changes from person to person based on strengths & weaknesses, individual anthropomorphics, and the multi-layered qualities that make an individual unique (including psychology). In a given sport like Powerlifting, Olympic Weightlifting, or even Strongman - we want to strive to boost the competitive lifts by training and maximizing efficiency. So... if we treat the end result of maximized strength & speed within the technical motor pattern similarly to any other motor pattern endeavor we must increase the limiters (current weaknesses) and the drivers (current strengths) through practice (repetition). Now, similar to guitar, if you play the same thing over and over you get good at that same thing but when you stop getting good at that thing what do you do? Pretty widely known, this is what's deemed a plateau.
Plateaus are a scary place to be. If you're 100% reliant on technique then any step back from the amount of volume or intensity you were doing is going to make things feel like they're going backwards..... temporarily..... but this is very much a case for delayed gratification. Not to mention, when you actually start working on your weaknesses things might go backwards as the weak area battles its way through the fatigue of direct training. But this needs to be your point of focus and tunnel vision so you can actually make more progress. The strengths aren't going to fall apart over night and will quickly return with even a small amount of specificity but without truly dedicating volume to your weaknesses then when things do become specific in your training things will gradually tumble. I think this is where a lot of folks go wrong. They continue doing the same thing over and over. Their back goes out. Then they do the same thing again. Their back goes out again. And suddenly the same thing starts occurring more and more regularly. Might be knee pain, might be shoulder pain, back pain, etc. Turn your weaknesses into strengths. And that means you'll have to get away from doing that technical movement you want to do borderline exclusively.
This is where variation becomes very handy. Complex movements that mirror your technical movement while challenging areas that pose real holes in your technique can be a very fast track to getting transfer to the comp lift we're doing it for. One example might be getting stronger at the front squat if your hips are rising first in the squat or you have trouble generally maintaining position throughout - or if your knees are caving doing more widestance squatting to strengthen the hips through the squat. Far too often powerlifters get hung up on training peaking programs back to back to back and miss out on huge gains by skipping offseasons where they can build out a more robust capacity of movement. It should make sense that when a weak point comes up and becomes a strength, it's a heck of a lot easier to get stronger. This is definitely a case of taking 2 or 3 steps back to take 10 steps forward. Don't get stuck in a pattern of plateau! Even the smartest coach doesn't know everything and the best of the best live in a state of always learning more.
Structuring training with variation used to widen the strength "outside" the standard performed bar path can do a tremendous amount, especially considering under max loads there will be inevitable technique breakdown. And chances are, you're probably already doing this to some degree! Incline bench press strengthens a bar path further to the head side of the optimal flat bench bar path. Decline bench press and dips strengthen a bar path further to the hip side of the optimal flat bench bar path. Yoke Bar squats strengthen a more "in front of" bar path than a regular high bar or low bar back squat. Zercher squats strengthen a more "behind of" bar path than a standard back squat. Deficit deadlifts strengthen a bigger range of motion bar path than a standard deadlift. No contact deadlifts and rdls strengthen a range of motion more forward than a standard deadlift. Building out these new strengths do something special, they get you more efficient at a more inefficient position.
Targeting inefficient positions through strategic variation makes inefficiency more efficient. And by logic, if you get strong outside of your center of gravity then operating within a closer to center of gravity position will be easier.
Now, this is all probably very agreeable but structuring training to bring in more bouts of specificity closer to contest is absolutely necessary. Variation is your key to building a more robust work engine whether discussing work capacity/total volume (repetition/work variation), weak point directed training (addressing technical limiters), or addressing specific strength quality lag points (max velocity, max power, max speed-strength, max strength-speed, etc.) that are crucial for a robust strength profile to transfer to higher peaks - BUT - these must be given priority away from peaking. Peaking phases or blocks need to all about specificity - however - these weak points need to be sustained by leaving in a hair of what has worked to continue to maintain the quality developed. Although this may appear complex, strength qualities as exemplified just a moment ago should always be addressed and the relative % of a 1RM when approached maximally can sustain the more velocity/speed side of the force velocity curve - specifically in the warm up. Always moving the weight maximally. Variation movements can be led into more specific phases by using smaller less fatiguing movements as well - i.e. switching the weak point specific movement from heavy good mornings for lighter back extensions or bodybuilding-esque lower back work. Higher fatigue variation during peaking blocks could definitely impact technique itself so its important to be aware to what the movements you're doing in your accessories during that time. For example, if you're snatching the next day but do heavy back work the day before then it's going to be tough to engrain technique you're striving to obtain and likewise for the powerlifter heavy back work the day before squats could change your typical motion leading to changes in motor coordination and one jank as heck squat. How you implement variation is crucial for improved technical strengthening as well as absolute strength gains.
Technical efficiency matters greatly but always keep your eyes on developing strength. And the only way to bring up strength is to decimate weaknesses that hold back your specific movement strength. A few years ago a certain fitness influencer posed the question something like "Who has a more impressive squat? A 700lb squatter who has knee valgus and butt wink or a 400lb squatter who executes the lift perfectly." This pretty much broke instagram. Obviously the 700lb squat is far more impressive and will win over a 400lb squat 100% of the time in meets. Far too often, we all have an obsession with perfect movement. Obviously we should always move as cleanly as we can but by addressing strengths beyond the standard movement our bodies develop strength that can handle more weight. No matter what, when you reach absolute strength there will be technical breakdown. That 700lb squatter is for sure moving 400lb and 500lb much more cleanly than his max. If your back can handle 500lb but the rest of you can handle 700lb, you're only going to lift 500lb. If your legs can handle 300lb but the rest of you can handle 700lb, you're only going to lift 300lb. If your triceps can handle 550lb but your front delts can only handle 315lb, you're only going to lift 315lb. "You are only as strong as your weakest link" so spend time taking that weak link to space. Guaranteed, everything will get stronger when you start addressing training the right way. Just need to be strategic about how you implement and select variation. Consider what is breaking down as weights go up, consider what is used greatly in the comp movement, consider what you already train hard and why, consider areas that you avoid. This is honestly tough work! Is your bench bar path shooting back too far? Is you bench falling towards the hips? Is your sticking point really high, midway, or on the chest? Once you've found that point, gradually bring up that area. And before you know it, you'll be blasting through sticking points and strength will come much more naturally. Nearly 100% of plateaus are a result of what you don't do. The research finds the same over and over again, total equated volume directs nearly every quality and there is no upper limit. Some might argue recovery and you're 100% right, it takes time outside of the gym to recover. So if you're not sleeping and eating enough or stressing out over externals, then probably any amount of work is going to "feel" like too much. Does this mean you should blast 10x10's 7 days per week? Absolutely not, that would be foolish! Instead, be gradual in all things. Steadily increase volume little by little over time. But nearly 100% of the time, the man who can handle the most can handle the most.
Here is a photo of one of my primary variations (JM Press) I've pushed across the past 10 weeks. For the first 3 weeks I pushed 60-100 reps in the movement. Then the next 3 shifted up the intensity and ran sets of 3-5 for multiple sets. Then in the past 4 I've pushed one heavy single each week - 300lb, 308lb, 340lb, 360lb (shown) - and have been gradually building out the comp lift movement (bench press) to acquire more technical base for later higher intensity press work.
Be smart about when you skim that line because you will have to recover from it. Prepare for it with variation and work to transfer newly acquired strengths and skills to the main lift you're aiming to improve.
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