Mel Siff and Supertraining

[Duncans Donuts]

I've heard this man and his book referenced numerous times. What is so valuable about this text and his opinion?

 

[P-funk]

the book is not a how to book rather more of a scientific text book where he breaks down strength training and sports specific straining. it is pretty incredible. lots of great info in it. I think you would realy like it. that and zatsiorsky's strength training principles.

 

[CowPimp]

I've never read it, but SaturdayFever referenced it to me once as THE text to read on strength training physiology. He claimed that it doesn't spell out routines for you, but instead gets down to the nitty gritty.

Also, to further reference what P-funk said, I read The Science and Practice of Strength Training by Zatsiorsky. Awesome book indeed. It's really what inspired me to start doing Westside. It made WS appear very scientifically sound.

Supertraining is definitely on my list, but it was suggested to me that I read the NSCA-CSCS textbook before reading Supertraining.

 

[Duncans Donuts]

In my dealings with the people at http://exercisecertification.com, I have heard nothing but bad things about the book. There is currently a 60 page critical analysis of Siff's work being prepared for the fall release of Synergy 2005...

He speaks a lot of Olympic Lifters (which indicates his limited knowledge of sports in general since he rarely uses other sports as examples in his book)... there he mentions how O lifters will clean and jerk or snatch a weight and then move about laterally, etc., to impose an unstable environment. This helps to train them for such an occurrence in competition. However, he warns not to wear typical running shoes or anything with too much of a heel since they lack ankle stability. This is an example of a contradiction. Huge contradictions in the book, particularly when it comes to SAID... he speaks of being sport specific, then recommends doing something that is not specific to the sport (while trying to emulate joint position and force production that is 'similar' to the sport).

His recommendation for "speed-strength" could be 50-60% of 1RM at one point in the book, but then changes it to 50-70% at another point. He defines his terms (such as speed-strength) in 2-3 different ways throughout the book... no consistency. I don't see how people did not pick this up (including Siff), but I think they merely read, took the general information from it, and did not compare it to itself (or principles of motor learning, etc.).

I will withold judgment until reading the book, but the idea of improving jumping ability with a pogo stick is ludicrous..

 

[P-funk]

In my dealings with the people at http://exercisecertification.com, I have heard nothing but bad things about the book. There is currently a 60 page critical analysis of Siff's work being prepared for the fall release of Synergy 2005...



I will withold judgment until reading the book, but the idea of improving jumping ability with a pogo stick is ludicrous..

there is always stuff in most books that I find to disagree with. Overall, even if there are contradctions to the percentages that he gives for power training, the book has good materail that you can take out of it. there is always something you can learn. I think it is a good book with some info that can really make you think about things. Like that persons posts says "take the general principle".

 

[Duncans Donuts]

Fair enough...it seems that a book rife with contradictions, though, would have issues establishing principles (as, of course, principles are non-contradictory..)

As far as I'm aware, he invented the term "speed-strength" but couldn't even define it properly.

Again, I'm not in any position to judge because I haven't read it, so I'll order it. Certain excerpts I've evaluated, though, don't seem to flow with my understanding of certain things

 

[gr81]

Zatsiorsky and Siff are defn must reads DD, very good reading. lots of thinking involved