There is much talk about developing a base or foundation in the initial stages of a strength training program, especially for beginners and young athletes. All strength coaches seem to agree that it is necessary to develop a strong base or foundation before introducing more advanced or more complex exercises.
This concept is substantiated by theory and practice. Problems arise however, when defining what the base is or how long it takes to be developed. More specifically, what exercises should be done, how long should they be practiced and are they sufficient for developing a strong base or all-around foundation.
The most common foundational strength programs in use today rely mostly on multi-joint or compound exercises. In general, there are no more than 6 to 7 exercises practiced in one session, 2-3 days per week with some supplementary work on other days.
In regard to workout regimes, the most common ones consist of relatively low repetitions with three or more sets of each exercise. Most programs use a variant of the 3 x 10 RM program. Because of the limited number of exercises and the number of sets and reps executed, these programs are typically considered to be high intensity.
If you closely examine these programs you will see that they are very limited in relation to the number of joints and muscles strengthened. The belief that doing a compound exercise, in which more than one joint is involved, develops all of the muscles equally is erroneous. Because of this you do not develop a foundation.
In a compound exercise as for example, the squat, major emphasis falls on the quadriceps and only partially on the hip joint extensors (if the depth is sufficient), and lower back. In addition, in regard to the lower back muscles they do not contract concentrically but isometrically, so that their development is quite different from that received by the quadriceps This is not conducive to develop a foundation.
Because of this, an effective all-around base or foundation is not developed by doing mostly compound exercises and relatively few if any exercises for the remaining muscles and joints of the body. As a result, not only do you get limited muscle and joint development but you do not develop the needed coordination for learning and perfecting game skills. This should be the core of an effectiveo or all-round foundation.
One program that has proven to be effective in developing a strong foundation and the coordination needed to improve gameplay is the 1 X 20 RM program. In this program you do up to 20 repetitions of approximately 20 or more exercises, depending upon the sport.
Most of the exercises are single joint so that all the muscles and joints are addressed. However and execution of each of the exercises technique is also important. Every repetition must be done with excellent form as the athlete builds up to 20 maximum reps.
In this way the athlete develops the basic coordination for movements in each joint which then allows him to unite the various joint actions into complete skills. However, the exercises must be done done with effective form. If the exercise technique changes during execution, it does not allow the proper coordination to be developed nor the muscles to be developedas well as they can be with excellent technique…
In addition, in practice, the 1 X 20 RM program has been shown to develop even greater levels of strength, speed and muscular endurance than the commonly used strength training programs. Perhaps even more important, is that very few if any injuries occur when being on this program or during game play after participating in the program for at least one training cycle.
For more information see The Revolutionary 1 x 20 RM Strength Training Program