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Greater performance with lower loads

24.2.2020

Translation: Eva Francis

Sometimes, less actually is more. This is the result of a study by researchers from the United Kingdom. They demonstrate that reducing lifting load might improve performance.

Researchers at the University of Lincoln in the UK show that strength athletes can boost their performance by reducing the weight they lift. The results were published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. By using these results to optimise strength training, athletes might be able to maintain or even improve their performance.

Two types of strength training

Weightlifters traditionally work on their muscle strength by lifting a certain percentage of the maximally possible, let’s say 80 percent. This percentage-based training is also called PBT and is used to build muscle strength over days or weeks by repeating the exercise. An alternative weight lifting method is called velocity-based training, or VBT, in which athletes measure the time they need to lift the weight during each training. This way, they can make changes to training variables such as load, intensity and frequency.

The study

At the beginning of the research period, which spanned six weeks, 16 athletic men with an average age of 22 carried out a strength exercise routine. It consisted of bench presses, traditional deadlifts, overhead presses, a counter movement jump (an extended jump from standstill) and squats. The participants were afterwards assigned to either the VBT or PBT training group and both groups were given according exercise schedules. At the end of the study period, the athletes repeated the test they took at the beginning – with surprising results.

They had worked out with less weight in total, but the test athletes who ran through a velocity-based training schedule managed to boost their performance more than those in the group following percentage-based training. Nevertheless, the differences in performance increases between both types of training were not significant. Depending on the exercise, the increase ranged between one and six percent.

Fewer injuries

Being able to train with less weight while also boosting performance is an important insight for weightlifters. The reduction in weight can help them reduce muscle fatigue, shortening their recovery periods and ultimately also helping reduce the number of injuries, for example of the joints.

Author of the study, Dr Harry Dorrell, explains: «The idea of velocity-based training has been around for a while, but until now there hasn’t been any science to prove that it actually works; the science has finally caught up.»

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Patrick Bardelli

Senior Editor

Patrick.Bardelli@digitecgalaxus.ch

From radio journalist to product tester and storyteller, jogger to gravel bike novice and fitness enthusiast with barbells and dumbbells. I'm excited to see where the journey'll take me next.

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