Your muscles have three energy systems that cause them to move. All three energy systems generally operate at the same time during exercise, but one will usually be a more dominant energy provider than the others depending on the type of exercise. The three energy systems consist of the aerobic system, the lactate system, and the creatine phosphate system. Does one of the energy systems contribute more to strength gains than the others? Absolutely yes. Which one? The creatine phosphate system. Because of this, strength specific training must be based on targeting the use of the creatine phosphate energy system.
The creatine phosphate system is built upon a reserve of phosphate molecules that are stored within the muscles. The phosphate molecules can be used to instantly form a bond of three phosphate molecules called adenosine tri-phosphate (usually referred to as ATP). ATP is the fuel the muscles use for muscle contractions and for moving. The instant formation of ATP provided by the creatine phosphate system means that an abundant amount of energy can be released during a given moment to produce powerful muscle contractions. Powerful muscle contractions are what make a person strong.
Do Not Exceed the Capacity of Your Creatine Phosphate System
The drawback of the creatine phosphate system is that the reserve of phosphate molecules within the muscles that supply quick bursts of energy can be used up quite rapidly. Once the reserve of phosphate molecules diminishes too much, the amount of ATP that can be released at any given moment also diminishes and strength decreases. This is why it is important to understand when you have surpassed the capacity of the creatine phosphate system. Exceeding the creatine phosphate system’s ability to function optimally will cause the lactate system or the aerobic system to become the dominate suppliers for fuel to create muscle contractions.
When the creatine phosphate system is acting as the dominant energy system during a workout, the body adapts to enhance the capacity of the creatine phosphate system. A better creatine phosphate system will create a stronger muscle. When you perform too many consecutive reps and surpass the ability of the creatine phosphate system to function optimally, your body begins to adapt to enhance the ability of lactate system or the aerobic system. Exercise which focuses on the utilization of these systems will produce suboptimal strength gains.
While the lactate system and the aerobic system also produce ATP as a final product that provides fuel for muscle contractions, these energy systems must go through a longer process to synthesize ATP which causes the lactate system and aerobic system form ATP at a slower rate. A slower rate of the formation of ATP means there will be less ATP available at any given moment to create a release of energy for muscle contractions. The smaller release of energy is inferior for the powerful muscle contractions needed to maximize strength.
How to Target the Creatine Phosphate System
Since the creatine phosphate system must be targeted in order to order to program your body for strength gains, and over-emphasizing the other energy systems can interfere with programming your body to gain strength, how do you train in order to target the creatine phosphate system?
The creatine phosphate system can be targeted as the dominant energy system by perform forceful reps and never exceeding your ability to maintain a steady even rep pace during a set. Do not keep pushing out more reps if fatigue causes your rep speed and rep pace to slow down. If you exceed this capacity, the lactate system will take over as the dominant energy system.
Full Sets, Half Sets, Mini Sets, Partial Sets
Full sets that emphasize the creatine phosphate system are sets where you do the maximum number of reps that you can perform while maintaining a steady rep pace. While some people believe that strength is developed by pushing to do as many reps as possible during a set, many powerlifters stop well short of this point. They do what I refer to as half sets, mini sets, or partial sets. Half sets are done by doing half that number of reps that you can do for a full set. Mini sets are done by doing less than half of the full number of reps that you can perform using a steady rep pace. Partial sets consist of a rep number that is somewhere between a half set and a full set.
Half sets, mini sets, and partial sets allow you to apply maximum force into each rep. The application of force into each rep plays a bigger role gaining strength than the amount of effort it takes to do as many reps as possible within a set. Apply these principles to your training and the focus of your training will enhance your creatine phosphate system. This will help you gain strength. Best of training to you.