danger in Strip Sets?

[lowsweep]

Our school's basketball coach has the team (kids 14-18) training with strip sets every workout. A strip set is where, say, you begin benching and when you hit failure you have guys take off a few pounds and you keep going until you hit failure again, totalling maybe 6-8 failures depending on your workout. They can be useful to break plateaus, maybe once every several months, but they stress nerves and the whole body. I, along with the track coach who has been a powerlifter for years, am worried about the damage this may cause to their nerves and the stress it puts on bodies that are not yet completely done growing. I am looking for articles from any reliable source or any other information on the danger of strip sets at every workout to present the coach with. Does anyone know of any?
thanks,
adam

[rubthebuddha]

not sure about the neurological and physiological side, but the neurolinguistic side makes me wonder if they are training their muscles to fail, and that failure, not growth, is the goal.

[TigerJaw]

That sounds extremely dodgy to me. Especially with kids who haven't stopped growing yet. I'd be most seriously worried about skeletal problems.

[ElPietro]

They are also called drop sets. I don't really see anything wrong with them. I know people who do them and they aren't bad. It's just another training technique. It will not "damage" their nerves, I'm not sure what reason you have to believe that. You can over stress your CNS, but it recovers just like a muscle does, so there won't be anything physically damaging to the CNS.

It is something that is a good training method, but probably shouldn't be used day in day out.

[IronFist]

What is his goal having them train to failure at all?

IronFist

[lowsweep]

His goal for the players is to make them stronger and more muscular. I believe Pavel says that training to failure so often can damage nerves. I have read that doing drop sets this often puts tons of stress on the joints as well. I am also worried about hormonal imbalances this may cause (I've heard this can lead to infertility, skeletal problems, etc.) because of the stress they are placing on their bodies to repair so much damage. He doesn't have them eating extra calories or protein, either. I have read that the best way to train for a sport such as basketball is a basic weight training regime with 3-4 sets of 6-12 reps of squats and a few lifts for arms and shoulders, as well as verticle jump training. If anyone knows of any articles or books that would confirm what I've heard, I would be very thankful.

[ElPietro]

I don't understand how this would place anymore stress on the joints. What is worse? A few heavier reps or a whole bunch of lighter reps? Heavy stress is GOOD for the skeletal system. This forces your body to adapt and strengthen the structure that supports your musculature. Lift heavy into your old age and you won't be one of those old men that fall over and break their hip because their bone is so brittle and lacks density. Hormonal imbalance? I'm not sure where you got that from, I can't even figure out how this would be a factor in anything. Infertility? This is even worse, I'm not sure who told you all this but stop listening to them asap. Eating extra is debatable. I would say yes, but if you don't eat you will still add most of the strength you'd gain...just wouldn't be feeding your muscles the added nutrients they'd require.

The best way to train for basketball is to play basketball. If you want strong legs squat with heavy weight in a low rep range. You have to choose a goal and then break down that goal into different aspects and decide what is best for each. Drop sets are ok, training to failure is ok, training to failure every single time out is probably not optimal, and if you are already in a low rep range then you will plateau quickly.

Pavel has some interesting concepts, but don't take everything as fact. He is selling himself and his products and must have his own theories. Many of them I agree with, but not necessarily all of them. I see many people going out and buying kettlebells and wonder what muscle a kettlebell works more than some other conventional weight. But I realize Pavel is making some money selling this stuff...and it works..but I doubt it works better than most other decent weight programs.

[wc student]

Check out this web site www.exrx.net They list a book on teenagers weight training.