Is doing speed lifts necessary to become as powerful as possible?

[fixationdarknes]

I'm talking about speed deads, speed bench, and speed squats. If I were to want to gain as much power as possible, would this task require having to do speed lifts?

And I know you guys have said don't worry about the speed lifts right now, but why not? I'm just curious as to whether or not they benefit you that much.

And can you not develop speed from doing heavy lifts by lifting it as fast as you can?

[HelpMeLift]

I'm very curious about this also... an experienced lifter that I know told me to speed lift, well bench because that's all I asked him about. He said it will increase strength and mass, provided that you have decent form. hmm but I am not quite sure either. a few magazines out there recommended speed reps also.

[Sensei]

These are really good questions! Some of them have more straight-forward answers than others... IMHO, a lot of it depends on your training goals. PowerManDL and I had a debate about some of these issues in a different thread about lifting to failure(HIT) (http://wannabebigforums.com/showthre...t=66466&page=1)

I'm talking about speed deads, speed bench, and speed squats. If I were to want to gain as much power as possible, would this task require having to do speed lifts?

Do you 'power', or do you mean maximal strength? If the answer is 'power', then you probably will need them. If you mean max strength, then probably not (Westside does them though and no one can argue with their success).

And I know you guys have said don't worry about the speed lifts right now, but why not? I'm just curious as to whether or not they benefit you that much.

I think most of us would agree that relative newcomers don't really need "speed" work in the gym and the time would be better spent on just getting stronger.

And can you not develop speed from doing heavy lifts by lifting it as fast as you can?

Depends on what you mean by "speed".

[fixationdarknes]

Hm, well I want "power" because I seem to lack a bit of explosiveness in all my lifts. They all usually go up slowly but surely. I feel that if I had some more explosiveness I could hit higher numbers.

And if time was better spent on me getting stronger, does this mean that my explosiveness (power) will still improve from just normal lifting?

[Canadian Crippler]

If you start out benching 135 for 1 real slow rep, then increase your max to 165 over time... then obviously the 135 will now go up much much faster.

So in essence, yes. However I wouldn't bet on your new max lifts going up any faster than your previous max lifts.

[fixationdarknes]

K, I'll start some explosive training later then. But was just curious now. I'm an inquisitive guy.

[drew]

Force = Mass x Acceleration

THerefore, the faster you can move under stress, the more force you will generate and therefore the more mass you can move. Speed work increases your ability to move weight faster, so you'll generate more force, and you'll be able to lift more. Simple.