POWER TRAINING

There are various ways of assessing strength. For example , If I can lift 300 pounds and you can lift only 250 pounds , I'm stronger than you in one rep strength. However if you can lift 250 pounds ten times and I can lift it only eight times , this is a different kind of strength , you would be surpassing me in muscular endurance , the ability to continue to be strong over a series of movements.

To shape and develop the body , it is necessary to do a lot of endurance training that is - the appropriate number of sets and reps. But I think the fact is , unless you do low rep training you will never achieve the hardness and density you want a truly first class physique.

In old days all bodybuilders trained for power. Being strong was considered as important as having a physique that looked good. But there were then and now are different kind of strength. 

Including some power sets in your training also helps to make you stronger for the rest of your training. You will be able to move up to heavy weights easy and fast so your muscles will grow that much faster. It also toughens and strengthen your tendons as well as your muscles so you will be much likely to strain them while doing light weight training with more reps even if you lose concentration at some point and handle the weight with less than perfect technique.

Heavy training strengthens the attachment of the tendon to bone. Separating the tendon from bone is called a avulsion fracture and the right kind of power training minimizes the possibility of this occurring.

Muscle size and density that is created by heavy training are easier to maintain for a long period of time , even with minimum of maintenance training. With high rep training only much of the growth is the result of transient factors such as fluid retention and glycogen storage but muscle made as hard as a granite wall comes with an actual increase in muscle fiber size. The muscle cells walls themselves grow thicker and tougher so they tend to resist shrinking.

When you do power training you find out what your body can really do how much weight you can really move and this gives you a mental edge over someone who never does power training.

Modern bodybuilders need to master many sophisticated techniques but you can't forget that the basis of bodybuilding is developing muscle mass by lifting heavy weights. This does not mean that I believe bodybuilders should train like weight lifters. I recommend a program of total development that includes a certain number of power moves to give you the advantage of both kinds of training.