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Max Effort Articles
Articles Tagged with Max Effort
![Four Weeks to a Squat PR: Week 4](http://www.westside-barbell.com/cdn/shop/articles/week4fourweeksquat_8ec5cafa-3662-4a89-9ace-a87964d9589f_{width}x.png?v=1702643074)
Four Weeks to a Squat PR: Week 4
A coach's training methods must account for the dynamic nature of sports practice, sports competitions, and daily life. As a coach, if you want your athletes to be as successful as possible, you must be able to design a training plan that meets the athletes where they are currently, not where some pre-written plan expects them to be.
Thu Dec 14, 2023
![Four Weeks to a Squat PR: Week 3](http://www.westside-barbell.com/cdn/shop/articles/week3fourweeksquatg_b2bb2df6-3683-4d44-9719-4d630b9579c5_{width}x.png?v=1701693530)
Four Weeks to a Squat PR: Week 3
Sun Dec 03, 2023
![Four Weeks to a Squat PR: Week 2](http://www.westside-barbell.com/cdn/shop/articles/week2fourweeksquat_fa64d686-e7b5-479f-a841-4904a8948075_{width}x.png?v=1701213039)
Four Weeks to a Squat PR: Week 2
It is now the second week of our four-week squat PR plan. Last week, we performed a 2" mat deadlift, working up to a top-set single. We selected this exercise for two reasons. First, we typically want to perform a deadlift variation once every four weeks. However, with a max effort squat attempt scheduled, we want to ensure we arrive at that day with as little accrued fatigue as possible.
Mon Nov 27, 2023
![Four Weeks to a Squat PR: Week 1](http://www.westside-barbell.com/cdn/shop/articles/week1fourweeksquat_b21f3016-687a-479e-8ace-71c62cfac9ca_{width}x.png?v=1700127623)
Four Weeks to a Squat PR: Week 1
Wed Nov 15, 2023
![Four Weeks to an Overhead Press PR: Week 4](http://www.westside-barbell.com/cdn/shop/articles/overhead-press-pr-week-4_8aa9a658-a03b-4334-b641-d84f80aae54d_{width}x.jpg?v=1686886955)
Four Weeks to an Overhead Press PR: Week 4
Wed Jun 14, 2023
![Four Weeks to an Overhead Press PR: Week 3](http://www.westside-barbell.com/cdn/shop/articles/overhead-press-pr-week-3_d4af1aa6-38c7-4288-8eb8-b1326971c293_{width}x.jpg?v=1685867990)
Four Weeks to an Overhead Press PR: Week 3
Sat Jun 03, 2023
![Four Weeks to an Overhead Press PR: Week 2](http://www.westside-barbell.com/cdn/shop/articles/four-week-overhead-week-two_4a8c155b-daa1-4086-beb0-f519c23d6dc5_{width}x.jpg?v=1684863228)
Four Weeks to an Overhead Press PR: Week 2
Sun May 21, 2023
![Four Weeks to a Bench PR: Week Two](http://www.westside-barbell.com/cdn/shop/articles/four-week-bench-week-two_37d55b08-3650-49ef-90da-160182b8d46c_{width}x.jpg?v=1668357746)
Four Weeks to a Bench PR: Week Two
Ideally, an athlete should be rolling into the training week feeling adequately recovered and ready to handle some heavy weights. This week, we will work up to our first max-effort single attempt of the four-week PR training plan. This week will test an athlete's most significant weakness in the bench press.
Sat Nov 12, 2022
![Four Weeks to a Bench PR: Week One](http://www.westside-barbell.com/cdn/shop/articles/four-weeks-bench-pr_{width}x.jpg?v=1667598188)
Four Weeks to a Bench PR: Week One
As you accumulate training time, you may reach a point you cannot consistently hit a PR lift when you train a max-effort exercise.
Fortunately, this is not that big of an issue. The intention of max-effort training is to lift the heaviest weight possible, with the goal being to recruit the greatest number of motor units possible. By achieving maximal motor unit recruitment, we can improve absolute strength, eventually leading to a new PR lift being established.
Fri Nov 04, 2022
![Absolute Strength for Grapplers](http://www.westside-barbell.com/cdn/shop/articles/absolute-strength-for-grapplers_8d2788cd-92cc-4582-96e9-492b427e3fea_{width}x.jpg?v=1665516928)
Absolute Strength for Grapplers
One important attribute in all sports, especially grappling sports, is absolute strength. Absolute strength represents the maximal amount of force an athlete can produce. Gains in absolute strength for a grappler lead to stronger takedowns, better sprawls, improved control, and the ability to use strength to force submissions when technique fails.
Tue Oct 11, 2022
![Incline Bench Press Variations](http://www.westside-barbell.com/cdn/shop/articles/incline-bench-press-variations_{width}x.jpg?v=1664331607)
Incline Bench Press Variations
Tue Sep 27, 2022
![Exercise Progression: The Barbell Squat](http://www.westside-barbell.com/cdn/shop/articles/squat-exercise-progression_ad66e4f1-8730-4238-a0ba-ac3c0b838647_{width}x.jpg?v=1664518619)
Exercise Progression: The Barbell Squat
Tue Sep 13, 2022
![Starting Conjugate: Basic Press Variations](http://www.westside-barbell.com/cdn/shop/articles/basic-press-variations_73d17365-0a8c-42d8-88fc-5029bac104ad_{width}x.jpg?v=1664518532)
Starting Conjugate: Basic Press Variations
Fri Sep 09, 2022
![Understanding The Standard Template](http://www.westside-barbell.com/cdn/shop/articles/understanding-the-standard-template_693cb259-e3ae-467d-b1f5-d239859601c4_{width}x.jpg?v=1659990538)
Understanding The Standard Template
Mon Aug 08, 2022
![Bench Press Builders](http://www.westside-barbell.com/cdn/shop/articles/bench-press-builders_1a93160f-d308-42a0-a37a-5c822b74cd9d_{width}x.jpg?v=1658954120)
Bench Press Builders
Wed Jul 27, 2022
![Understanding Specialty Barbells](http://www.westside-barbell.com/cdn/shop/articles/understanding-specialty-barbells_{width}x.jpg?v=1657731389)
Understanding Specialty Barbells
Wed Jul 13, 2022
![Starting Conjugate: Absolute Strength Development](http://www.westside-barbell.com/cdn/shop/articles/starting-conjugate-absolute-strength_{width}x.jpg?v=1657295406)
Starting Conjugate: Absolute Strength Development
Fri Jul 08, 2022
![Understanding Max Effort](http://www.westside-barbell.com/cdn/shop/articles/understanding-max-effort_235b43d8-bb6a-40cd-8cfd-c19027b9cf1b_{width}x.jpg?v=1654719761)
Understanding Max Effort
Fri Jun 10, 2022
![Modified Max Effort](http://www.westside-barbell.com/cdn/shop/articles/modified-max-effort_a5005944-a294-479e-94a8-38157ffbb059_{width}x.jpg?v=1653673045)
Modified Max Effort
Instead of achieving maximal motor unit recruitment by performing a lift at 100%, the main exercise is performed for three or five rep top sets that still reach suitable motor unit recruitment levels.
Essentially, we are losing the ability to achieve the highest level of motor unit recruitment with the reduction in intensity. Still, we are gaining a meaningful boost in recovery and decreasing the likelihood of programming failure or injury in the future.
Modified max-effort allows a lifter struggling with recovery to be afforded the benefits of high-intensity weight training while reducing the overall impact on recovery associated with an all-out max effort lift.
Fri May 27, 2022
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