Define strength. No peeking. You’re not allowed to look at anyone else’s answer, or steal the definition from a website, organization or book. Since we all use this word in training as well as common dialog—the physical world as well as the metaphysical—if we’re to pursue it, attain it, teach it or learn it, we’d better have a strong (see, there’s the word now) personal relationship with what it means.

There’s an easy trick to defining the what of strength; Ask why? Why is strength important? Why would someone (you) want to be strong? There’s your definition.

We’ll come back to that. Meanwhile, let’s start with a physiological definition. What is strength on a very real, physical level? The ability to generate force.

Now this is where science and semantics start to wage war. If we follow this definition of physical strength, which you can find in many textbooks and websites (example: “the ability of a muscular unit, or a combination of muscular units, to apply force,” from the CrossFit Journal) then we have to accept strength as a spectrum, since force development (or ‘force application’) isn’t a dot on a map, or a you-are-here arrow on some fitness pie chart. The definition of strength is not ‘maximum force development,’ it is simply force development, a multi-leveled, multi-situational phenomenon that occurs over a spectrum.

Now that’s a big spectrum, since we can muster up force for many situations, from maximal force development (MFD) to a sub max force over a period of time; the extended version of this is often called endurance. That’s right, endurance is a type of strength, since it is a level of force development. See the possibilities?

The pain a ‘strength athlete’ must feel in trying to accept that a marathon runner is also ‘strong’ must be almost unbearable. It is easy to fear stepping outside of our categories, but without defining the language of our passion, we can’t achieve it. So here’s your introduction to the Spectrum of Strength, which can be a reminder of the many worlds of force development, and, therefore, the giant realm of training possibilities. With an open mind and a pair of eyes, we can probably find deficits in our training rituals when we plot our current program on the Spectrum. For a sport-specific athlete, their gun-barrel focus might be just a dot on the spectrum, and that may satisfy their inner fitness demons if their goal is to excel at one thing. But the majority of the planet is not searching for dominance in one competitive endeavor, and a case can be made that to be TRULY strong, having ability at several points along the Spectrum might be required.

If your sports of choice don’t require a great deal of max force development, playing with it in training may seem like a waste of time, or even dangerous. If you find yourself among the many who, at most, toy occasionally with MFD, maybe adding a WOD of heavy singles to your diet on a blue moon, it may behoove you to consider a couple cycles of serious MFD training.

WHAT.

What is max force development? It’s the ability of your central nervous system to fire as many pertinent motor units, hence muscle fibers, in the shortest amount of time. If the CNS holds back in anyway, your ability to generate force decreases. In other words, that bar (or dumbbell or kettlebell) better be HEAVY or moving FAST.

This is a TRAINED response, since two things have to happen. The motor units needed to create the appropriate movement have to fire like a gunshot, but any muscle that might hinder the movement—we’ll call them antagonists—can’t have tension shooting through them. In other words, it’s not JUST firing as many muscle fibers as possible; it is firing as many useful muscle fibers as possible. For each movement, this will be a different skill, which is why random attempts at MFD usually won’t result in any real progress.

If you throw a powerful punch, which is a great example of a high level of force development, the bicep better not be tensing up as the arm is extending. Now imagine the chains of movement involved in an Olympic lift.

WHY.

The majority of modern training is done with extended amounts of lower levels of force development over a period of time, whether moderate rep hypertrophy training or intense GPP. The body economizes the force development, firing fresh muscle fibers as other fatigue. But whether your goal is workload, power or moving a frighteningly heavy mass, MFD training can be a friend to all.

MFD training freshens up the motor units that may not get to participate in lower levels of force development. There is evidence to suggest that the CNS likes to fire familiar motor unit pathways, so the same ones tend to be utilized repeatedly during moderate force development training. This means that there might be preferential treatment from the CNS, and some motor units don’t get to play often. Regular MFD training forces the nervous system to stop playing favorites and start recognizing more and more motor units. Hopefully you can see the potential. If other motor units start to become familiar with activating, this can cross over to activities that require lower levels of force development, making them less exhausting.

Tom Purvis once said the heart is a slave to the muscles. We often see folks who train the heart to be a well-conditioned pump for a rather specific purpose, often using a small collection of muscles, usually called endurance training. But in a situation where the load may actually require force generation for speed or a load beyond just our bodyweight, like a great deal of sporting events (or your average WOD), then our slave, the heart, needs its masters, the muscles, to be more efficient. A muscle that has created a good relationship with the central nervous system through maximum force development training will be a more efficient tool.

Let’s keep it simple. A greater 1-rep max will make sub-max reps easier. Your heart, the muscle’s slave, will catch up to the reps quicker than your muscles can catch up to your cardiovascular system. The trend to add drills, reps, rounds or exercises to the daily workout might help increase the workload ability, but some of that energy might be better spent towards the other end of the Spectrum, working on maximum force development. That increased ability to generate force will ‘trickle down’ to the sub max efforts.

The list of sporting actions that require max, or near-max, force development is considerably longer than just the world of competitive strength sports like powerlifting or weightlifting. In fact, many MFD situations require an almost laughable load of just a few ounces. A fastball, tennis serve, round kick, rebound, takedown, or even a big drive off the tee are all possible scenarios for MFD. Not a heavy weight to be found, but the same single jolt of muscle efficiency is still needed. And for every coach who says that the movement itself should be the training tool, there will be a handful who know the benefit of supplemental resistance training.

HOW?

Oh, so many models to choose from. Weightlifters, powerlifters and strongmen/women all play with MFD to varying degrees, and their program designs can give you more options than a Vegas buffet. If approaching MFD as a neophyte, keep it simple. Begin two of your workouts each week with some heavy work. Really heavy work. A couple of good foundational exercises that don’t require a huge degree of technicality work well here. Squats and overhead presses are a couple of swell choices.

One workout, start with heavy squats, another with the presses. Start with sets of 3, the first set with a weight that is insultingly light, eventually working up a set where the last rep begins to scare you a little. Then drop to single reps, the first one being manageable, but each following set making you question your existence. By the third single, the battle should be pretty impressive; if, after the struggle, the lift is successful, this is your one rep max (of course if it is easy, it would behoove you to throw more weight on the bar and do another set). Next week you’ll attempt to beat it.

The rest of your workout can be something more familiar, be it WODs or supplemental training.

This is the heavy foundation building cycle. Since MFD can also be generated by speed, the Olympic lifts, or any lift done with explosiveness (like Dynamic Effort Day, made famous by Westside Barbell Club) can compliment the program, using a lower intensity (percentage of 1-rep max), but aiming at incredibly fast bar movement. Starting with a good foundation cycle, though, will prepare you better for speed cycles later on.