Vladimir Kravtsov is perhaps the most extraordinary personality in the world of Russian power sports. Learn the secrets and principles of training by Vladimir Kravtsov. In domestic powerlifting today it is difficult to find a brighter personality than Vladimir Kravtsov. He was the first among Russians to become the winner of the most prestigious Arnold Classic, and this already speaks volumes. Today we want to share with you the secrets of Vladimir Kravtsov in the bench press for 300.
Principles of training by Vladimir Kravtsov
The first point to pay attention to is the cyclicity of the loads. For constant progress, an athlete needs to make micro and macro cycles of his loads. If mistakes are made during this intensity planning, as well as in the choice of exercises, then progress will be significantly slowed down.
It is best to compose the complex yourself, since only the athlete knows all its capabilities. You should immediately decide on the tasks that you need to achieve. It seems to an ordinary person that everyone in the gym is doing the same thing. But athletes understand that through strength training, you can get rid of excess body fat, build muscle mass, or increase strength.
Currently, all powerlifters can be divided into two camps. Some are in the gym six days a week, while others are satisfied with 3 or 4 training days. By the way, Vladimir belongs to the second category of athletes. It should be noted that the effectiveness of training for representatives of each camp can be exactly the same. Actually, this is most often the case. The main reason for this lies in the fact that the number of sessions and their intensity must be proportional.
Simply put, the more often you visit the gym, the less intensity should be and vice versa. Athletes who spend a lot of time in the gym very often use training at maximum intensity and, for obvious reasons, cannot work constantly in this mode. The body simply does not have enough time to recover.
Classification of occupations according to the severity of Kravtsov
All training sessions can be divided into three categories: light, medium and hard. During heavy workouts, maximum working weights are used. An example is the bench press while lying down. Let's say the exercise must be done in five repetitions and in this case it is necessary to press until the moment when you cannot lift the sports equipment on your own. Then, using a companion for safety net, one or two more forced reps should be done. During heavy training, you should not pay attention to the exact number of repetitions. This figure should only be a guideline.
With an average load, you should still have 5 to 6 more repetitions in reserve. With light training, everything should be clear. For example, the already mentioned bench press Victor trains two or a maximum of three times during the week. This is not due to the fact that he is opposed to frequent training sessions. It's just that more frequent training will soon lead to pain in the joints and a state of overtraining.
Thus, during the week, it will be enough to conduct three sessions. Their intensity is descending: heavy, medium and light.
The duration of the microcycle in Kravtsov's training
When everything became clear with the frequency of training sessions, then you can proceed to determining the duration of a microcycle, or, more simply, the number of days. The microcycle range is very wide. Most often, it is in the range from 7 to 16 days. When choosing the duration of the microcycle, the main attention should be paid to the number of days the body needs to recover.
In other words, when you have carried out percussion training of one of the muscle groups, then to achieve the maximum effect, you should rest for several days. For each athlete, this is a purely individual characteristic. During this rest, training should be of medium to light intensity.
If you are preparing for competitions, then a month and a half before they start, you can use short microcycles. For example, the same bench press in the supine position at maximum intensity should be done 2 or 3 times during the week.
With this mode of training, you should not count on serious progress in results. It is more likely that they will be at the same level or, at best, slightly increase. Gradually, the performance will begin to decline and this should happen as many days before the start of the competition as you need to recover. In other words, if your body is recovering from the bench press for 9 or 10 days, then it is precisely this amount of time before the start of the competition that you should come close to the state of overtraining. Of course, here it is necessary to subtly feel this boundary and very carefully dose the load. As a result, if the body rests 9-10 days before the competition, the results of the performance will be excellent.
In this case, it is necessary to monitor the condition of the ligaments and joints so that they are not injured from high loads. When during training you feel severe discomfort in the joints, they can probably be injured soon.
Of course, such a training method is probably not suitable for novice athletes. For example, at the initial stage of training, it is very difficult to feel the boundary of the state of overtraining. Do not forget that Vladimir Kravtsov is currently the first in the country in the bench press.
More experienced athletes can take the secrets of Vladimir Kravtsov in the bench press for 300 into service. However, they should also be careful. It is very difficult to give specific advice on weight and the number of sets with repetitions, since it all depends on the athlete himself. The same applies to precise recommendations when choosing the duration of microcycles. You should experiment and find the settings that work best for you.
In this video, you will see how Vladimir Kravtsov set a record in the bench press of 310 kg:
