Strength training has many connotations and effects. For athletes, strength training is the first step in maximizing one’s athletic potential. Strength training provides the athlete’s body with the motivation to make the necessary changes to increase core maximal force production while preparing the body for the many devastating forces that exercise can involve. Take control of your athletic ability by laying the right foundation first. The later stages of a complete training regimen include more specialized exercises which are simply ineffective without a proper strength foundation first.
Specifically, nature shows that we must crawl before we walk. We must learn to walk before we run. This is a simple fact that forms the basic foundation of our movements for the rest of our lives. However, this simple idea of gradually reaching a certain level can be overlooked and rushed, resulting in a completely unsuccessful attempt to reach a goal, sometimes with undesirable consequences.
Take jumping for example. Jumping is an activity that athletes of all ages begin to take for granted. However, jumping before strength training is a bit like running before a crawl, in terms of unnecessary risks. Due to the properties of hardwood and/or asphalt, the forces upon landing on the spot can be many times higher than the athlete’s body weight!
This is very abnormal, such surfaces to design human body tissues. Without a foundation of proper strength, an athlete’s muscles will not be able to eccentrically contract the joint effectively and will likely transfer unhealthy stress to fragile connective tissues. Even though the environment (i.e. the surface) is unnatural, with proper training combined with the body’s amazing flexibility and ability to redesign itself to adapt to the demands imposed, one can easily minimize the risk of a potentially harmful scenario. The key is slow and gradual overloading. Please refer to the article “Squat for Success – Landing Gear” for a more detailed explanation of this theory.
Strength training, at its most basic level, is a form of progressive overloading of the neuromuscular and skeletal systems in the workload of more strenuous future tasks. It has many different forms, variations, and branches that address different goals. However, all goals still ultimately involve overburdening.
With so many exercises available, it is important to first select a true strength training exercise to maximize an athlete’s capabilities in a particular sport. The focus of pure strength training should be on increasing the cross-sectional area (CSA) of the muscle tissue, increasing the recruitment of motor units (i.e. training the nervous system to properly activate as many muscle fibers as possible), as well as increasing the strength of the connective tissue to reduce future injury. So what exactly constitutes a true strength workout? A true strength training workout consists of the following basic elements:
1. Gradually adjusting the load is allowed
2. Density, volume and total workload can be easily calculated and monitored
3. Consists of both eccentric and concentric phases
4. Simple enough to reduce the chances of technical breakdown
The reason for including both an eccentric and a central component relates to muscle physiology. The eccentric overload has been shown to be actually as beneficial, if not more so, than the concentric phase, for producing strength gains as partial damage to muscle fibers can be greater during this phase. Technique is also a benchmark for strength training because it is critical that the athlete not be tempted to cheat and use additional muscles at a higher intensity, resulting in ineffective mechanics. The next advantage to choosing the right real strength exercise is an examination of the forces involved in the exercise. The exercise forces should burden the skeletal structure according to the following bases:
1. Compatibility with the direction of the force – The net direction of the force produced must match as many forces encountered during the competition as possible
2. Similarity of force pattern – The magnitude of the force should vary with the position in a manner similar to the target activity
3. Force Adjustment – The exercise should allow easy adjustment of the magnitude of the force to be overloaded along the intended direction
Aligning with the direction of power can be a daunting task at times. It is important to remember that an exercise for each movement has not yet been designed. Strength training is a more general phase, laying the foundation. Instead, the exercises used need to give as much “bang for responsibility,” or allow as many troops as possible to be trained to the highest degree in the same exercise. Since the goal of this phase is to build strength, heavier weights will be used and too much volume (eg, too many different exercises) may be counterproductive as the volume exceeds the body’s recovery capabilities and overtraining syndrome may begin to set in. A somewhat cost-benefit analysis should be done by the sports performance specialist to select the best exercise for this phase which will lay the foundation for more advanced and specialized phases.
For example, in the case of basketball, properly strength training the lower body can be a very grueling task due to the myriad forces that the lower body muscles face during competition. Some of the basic and fundamental movements that occur in the horizontal plane include sprinting, tumbling, and left/right side shuffling. Additionally, vertical jumping is ubiquitous throughout the game. How do you take into account all these forces in the most accurate way?
What if we simply did each of the movements under tension (like a resistance band)? Wouldn’t this satisfy the specificity of movement while providing force in the required direction? Yes. But can any of these exercises be classified as a true strength training exercise? of course not.
The reasons for this seemingly counterintuitive conclusion are manifold. Remember, this doesn’t mean that resistance movements aren’t very beneficial – we’re considering real strength exercises right now. First of all, let’s use a sprint as an example. If we want to use the sled as resistance, the criteria for having an eccentric component will not be met. The sled’s force simply counteracts motion through a non-conservative force – friction. This type of resistance is similar to isokinetic machines that use hydraulic resistance. Resistance increases when one tries to move faster, providing a variable force. However, in order to have an eccentric component, the force must be conservative – meaning it has the ability to store potential energy. Gravity is the conservative force known everywhere.
In addition, sledding may cause the technique to collapse as the load becomes heavier. Since the focus is on the movement of the sled, the athlete may change technique as the load becomes heavier. For example, an athlete may start taking shorter steps to reduce the range of motion the knee is exposed to to provide favorable leverage for moving a heavy load. This can be counterproductive to sprinting technique if strides become too short and the load may shift more to the calves. Of course, the coach can tell the athlete to maintain proper form, but the athlete’s focus is on moving the sled at all costs. Sports psychology may play a role in how a particular exercise motivates the athlete to perform the exercise and the athlete’s exercise goal(s).
In turn, let’s examine the barbell squat. First of all, using weight as a source of resistance provides conservative strength, as mentioned earlier. This automatically provides eccentric overload. In terms of technique, it is easier for an athlete to understand that range of motion dictates a successful rep. A box may be placed behind and below the athlete as a depth guide. In addition, the athlete can focus on pushing off by extending in the hips and knees while maintaining a flat back because this technique should allow the athlete to overcome the load more efficiently.
With regard to the direction of the forces, it may initially appear as if the forces are directed vertically and may only satisfy a static vertical jump unlike the many horizontal forces in basketball. While this is true, it is important to remember that we are talking about general strength training exercises that aim to overload a specific muscle group. The barbell squat mainly takes into account several oblique forces in all directions in a net direction – downward and vertical. The vertical force direction of the barbell squat is a pseudo, or intermediate, combination of multiple directions which is still done via a linear extension of the hips and knees simultaneously, similar to a squat. The perfect workout? not exactly. The most useful and effective of those available? certainly. And remember, squats are also largely performed during many basketball moves. We’ll get to more advanced, specialized aerobic exercises in the more advanced stages after the foundation of core strength is laid. Remember, crawl before you walk.
To summarize, true strength training is the stage where the foundation for future stages is being laid. Psychological benefits may also be realized, as the athlete may gain a new level of confidence in their own body after pushing their limits and getting stronger. As the athlete becomes stronger for the demands of the sport, the athlete is ready to transition from the crawl into more advanced training, namely the speed-strength phase where newly acquired strength is converted into higher levels of speed and power.
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