Structural Strength Training - What It Is and How to Use It
It’s no surprise that I’m a fan of strength training (as long time readers of Mattspoint would know).
But strength training is an more of an umbrella term than just one type of training modality. Because there's just so many different ways that we can lift weights. Here are a few examples:
Lift light weights fast - explosive (or speed) strength
Lift heavy weights slow (with a fast/explosive intention) - maximum strength
Lift moderate weights fast - strength speed (or rate of force development)
These are all concentric muscle actions we’re referring to. We can further focus on the eccentric portion of a lift - this might be a strategy employed during rehab settings or for supramaximal lifting schemes (typically used by advanced trainees).
Did I mention that various rep and set ranges can be utilized as well? Which could alter the quality we’re seeking even further. For example, if I prescribe a back squat for 5 sets of 5 reps at 85% intensity, it would be a subcategory of max strength - called ‘submax’ strength, fittingly enough. A max strength scheme might look more like 6x2 at ~95%.
By this point, you get the drift. There's so many different ways to approach strength training - some geared more towards performance while others methods aimed at getting folks back from injury.
Yet there’s one type of strength training we didn’t mention - and it’s the focal point of this article - structural strength training.
What’s Structural Strength Training (SST)
Structural Strength Training (SST) - a term I stole from my mentor - is a form of strength training that employs light to moderate loads. But unlike some of the other methods we outlined above, these loads aren’t lifted in an explosive manner.
While the tempo can be fast at times, typically a moderate lifting speed is used.
But before we get into the intricacies of SST, let me first provide some insights as to what SST is all about. And why most athletes should spend a considerable amount of time incorporating this form of training (in particular, anyone playing or planning to play a significant amount of tennis).
As we’ll outline in detail below, with SST, we use light to moderate loads, performed for higher reps than typical heavy or explosive strength training.
A front squat could be an SST exercise or a sub-max strength exercise, depending on the loading variables.
What’s the difference you might ask? When weights are performed explosively, the benefits are typically more neurally focused. Especially when the intraset reps are low.
When higher rep schemes are used - at slower / controlled tempos - we’re targeting more of the ‘structure’ - hence why they are called ‘structural strength training’.
Structure basically refers to muscle, tendon, ligament and any other areas of the joint (capsule, bursae etc). This often means that those structures are, simply put, getting bigger. And having a bigger muscle, for instance, can tolerate more force.
Ironically enough, SST is sort of the way bodybuilders train. In fact, some track coaches call these workouts bodybuilding circuits.
Now I’m not suggesting we build 25 inch biceps like an elite bodybuilder, but some increases in size may have protective mechanisms.
But beyond just injury mitigation, these types of workouts can prepare connective tissues for larger loading + a progressive increase in physical training later on. Because a bigger muscle (i.e. increase in cross sectional area - CSA), is still correlated with increases in muscle strength (which we’ll need if we’re doing a heavy training session).
It’s why many junior / youth athletes are advised to start with ‘structurally-oriented’ workouts - they are preparatory in nature.
Other benefits of SST include:
Technique improvements - because we’re performing higher reps, it’s a form of practice (just like hitting serves out of a basket).
Increased resistance to fatigue - speaks for itself.
Isolation - We can target certain structures that might get more stress in our sport (like the elbow or shoulder in tennis) via isolatory exercises.
Improved capacity - this can be both muscular and metabolic (the 2 go hand in hand).
Coordination - yes, increasing structure has been proven to improve motor control.
You’ll love to hate this integrative trunk SST exercise. But your lower back + obliques will thank you.
One key point to mention here - SST isn’t the only form of training that develops ‘structure’. Just like SST can have benefits in strength + power, so too can heavy strength training have carryover to increases in muscle CSA.
The same can be said about med ball exercises + plyometrics - especially when performed for higher reps at submax loads (as is the case in Tennis Strength Basics).
Here’s a staple SST exercise we do for wrist/elbow health.
How to Implement Structural Strength Training
Here are a few guidelines to follow when it comes to SST:
Rep ranges should be quite high - 8-15 is the norm but it’s not uncommon to go beyond 15 (just look at the 1x20 Yessis program).
Sets can range from 2-4 during preparation training cycles and 1-3 during in-season cycles (or when you’re just playing a lot more tennis / your sport).
2-3 sessions per week can be done during a prep cycle and less (1-2) during pre-comp or competitive periods.
The overall neural and metabolic demands are usually low (or at least lower than other forms of training) - this means that inter-set rest periods can be low (I’ve found 30-90s to be a good range with 60s being my go-to).
In terms of exercise selection, apart from the Olympic lifts, just about any exercise can work as long as the above parameters are met - and a premium is placed on certain target muscles that need extra tolerance.
Single-Joint vs Multi-Joint
One of the hottest debates over the last decade or so has been the functional training crowd’s bashing of single-joint lifts. As I’ve gone deeper into this fitness journey, my opinion on exercise selection has continuously morphed. Today, I’m not sure there’s a quote on quote ‘bad’ exercise - only exercises that are selected at the wrong time + performed in a sub-ideal fashion.
Having said that, SST should probably include a mix of both multi-joint and single-joint exercises. Yes, a shoulder press is a great exercise for the deltoids (and you’ll get solid tricep recruitment too) but it’ll target less of the lateral delts compared to a lateral raise and very little posterior delt (which means that an exercise targeting that structure is probably warranted).
And as far as tennis players are concerned, making sure all 3 parts of the deltoid are robust enough to withstand thousands of strokes over the course of a training week or tournament, is a good thing.
You can’t tell me that a shoulder ER/IR exercise isn’t important for tennis players, despite it being an isolation movement.
Why the Sudden Shift?
I’ve previously written about maximum strength training and historically, I haven’t done a ton of higher rep training with athletes (even younger ones). In my early days, we still did a lot of 10-12 rep sets but I’d typically steer clear of anything above 12 and certainly wouldn’t veer past 15.
My perspective has changed somewhat. A lot of that has to do with the pandemic - access to heavier weights was, at times, limited. Because of this, I prescribed higher volume workouts more often.
Personally, I also implemented SST workouts into my own training…and the results have been great! Including more arm isolation exercises, for instance, totally annihilated some of the elbow + shoulder niggles I’d experience here and there (usually when I’d play more tennis).
An added benefit to this type of training - you get a nice sweat + pump going. I think this can be psychologically massive for players of all ages and levels. Just make sure you don’t perform this type of training prior to hitting balls (ideally post tennis or on off days is best).