Power lifts verse strength lifts

Any lift can be performed as a power lift or a strength lift. It depends on the speed at which the bar travels. Of course, if you are doing a power lift, the weight or resistance will not be as high as on a strength lift, due to the need for increased bar speed. Typically, when people think of power lifts, hang cleans, power cleans, snatches, and the other olympic lifts come to mind. However, a squat, box squat, and even bench press can be performed as a power lift. It's all about the bar speed! For a power lift, (increased bar speed) the general guideline for the amount of weight to be used is around 50% of 1 rep max (if this is wrong, please feel free to correct me anyone). An exception though would be the ballistic bench press (performed on a smith machine, ideally). I use around 20-30% of my 1 rep max usually on the ballistic bench. Set up a flat bench inside the smith machine, load the bar with the correct amount of weight, lower the bar to your chest and explode the bar up, releasing it at the top (throwing the bar into the air), then drop your hands to your chest as quickly as possible, and explode back up, catching the bar on the decent, and then back down, that qualifies as 1 rep. You may not feel like you are "working your muscles" but the key is really working your central nervous system to learn how to contract your muscle fibers quickly, and explosively. I think it is a great exercise for football players, especially those that have to block, or defeat blocks. Think about it, on a typical bench press for max strength, it may take some players 2 seconds to raise the bar up. Now, how many times in a game do you have 2 seconds to explode your arms forward to make a block, or defeat a block? I can't count one time that I have ever had the luxory of 2 seconds to complete that task, nor have I ever seen a player that has. That's not to say that strength lifts have no place however. You must incorporate both into your routine. Hope this answers your question!