Is Barbell Lifting Helping or Hurting Your Performance?
Have you ever been told that you shouldn’t do heavy squats or deadlifts because it will make you too bulky, clunky, or susceptible to injury?
There has been a trend in recent years of fitness influencers, especially on social media, publicly criticizing barbell training, making the above claims and stating that the movements are too linear and abusive to the body to be able to translate to improvements in athleticism.
Instead, many fitness influencers are recommending movements and exercise modes that are often described as “flow” training, “primal movement,” or are even just recommending against heavy strength training entirely.
So is there merit to this line of thinking? Does too much heavy barbell training ultimately lead to poor movement quality and increased injury risk?
Generally speaking, the answer is a resounding NO.
Based on the vast majority of the research, not only does heavy strength training tend to improve athletic performance; it is also one of the only modalities proven to greatly reduce injury risk in athletes of all ages.
To understand the rationale behind why heavy barbell training is beneficial for athletic performance and injury reduction, it is first necessary to understand the underlying mechanisms behind what is going on with heavy resistance training.
Barbell training with heavy, near-maximum barbell lifts between 1-3 reps tends to impart benefits from a neuroendocrine and skill standpoint. Essentially, participating in this type of training semi-regularly helps the athlete to learn how to build tension, generate power, and reduce force leakages when performing highly advanced movements that require high levels of efficiency. When force leakages in athletics are reduced, athletes are more likely to achieve the desired athletic outcome, whether that be hitting a home run, jumping higher, running faster, cutting quicker, etc. Regardless of whether your training consists of heavy squatting, deadlifting, or bench pressing, participating in these heavy, full-body barbell lifts will help train you as an athlete to build full-body tension, reduce force leakages, and move more powerfully and efficiently.
This type of training can also be helpful in preventing injuries, as it improves an athlete’s ability to resist and withstand larger environmental forces that might overcome and injure an athlete who has not been regularly exposed to this level of loading.
Barbell training with moderate weights using rep ranges around 5-12 tends to impart benefits more on a musculoskeletal level, although there is significant overlap between the two modes of training. This type of training can help to improve muscular size, tendon strength, bone density, muscular endurance, and ability to perform sub-max athletic activities over time that would be more physically demanding for those who don’t participate in any kind of barbell strength training.
This type of training in particular can be very beneficial in preventing musculoskeletal injuries such as tendinopathy, muscle strains/tears, sprains, and fractures.
While exploring a variety of movements and participating in “flow” type movement training can be beneficial to help the athlete discover new ways of moving, it should be seen as the tip of the athletic pyramid. First and foremost, the athlete should focus on building a solid foundation of strength and power so that they are able to move competently, confidently, and reliably. By participating in heavy barbell lifting, you are training to ultimately be in command of your own body when the stakes are high and, more importantly, are becoming harder to kill in the process.
Dr. Brooks Kenderdine
PT, DPT, CSCS, USAW-1
Co-Owner | The PATH Rehab & Performance
