UNDERGROUND ARTICLES Strength & Strength Types By Greg Mihovich In simple terms Strength is the ability to produce force. It would be hard to imagine life and athletics without such a fundamental ability: you would not be able to get out of the car or throw a basketball in the net without it. Therefore it very important to develop and maintain Strength, whether to win matches or to maintain functional independence. Strength training benefits Benefits of strength training are numerous and include: • Increased muscle, bone and connective tissues density • Decreased injury potential • Prolonged functional independence • Muscular and fit physique Other benefits, which are easy to overlook behind more physical ones are good mood and feeling good about yourself and your body. I have been training myself and the others for more than sixteen years and I am very in tune with my body. The best it ever feels are times after a good medium intensity resistance workout, either with weights, bodyweight or other implements. Types of Strength It is important to understand that strength could be expressed differently. The differences between a heavy maximum attempt lift, repetitive effort lifting, lifting a medium weight fast and an explosive throw are obvious. Now I can see somebody making an argument that no matter what I tell him he doesn’t give a baloney, whether he improves on different types of strength and becomes a better athlete. All he cares about is “looking good without his clothes”. Easy there buddy. First of all, you must have skipped all the paragraphs in my article Do You Want to Look Good Without Your Clothes or Another Case for Functional Training where I explain why EVERYBODY is an athlete and how EVERYBODY would benefit from athletic type training, even if all they want is to look good. Second, you must have been on a same “looking good” training program for years and still look the same. In the mean time various athletes at The Underground Gym worked on different types of Strength as a part of well balanced program with a primary objective to improve Performance. While you where “working out” they where practicing and look much better as a result, which is ironically, just a side effect. The “secret” is that by training different types of Strength you train your body differently – shock it, so to speak – and make it CONTINIOUSLY PROGRESS! I explain this in more depth in the future article on Strength Training Cycling. Now, as we are through with that little side step there, let’s take a look at the various strength characteristics: Absolute (maximum) Strength: Amount of musculoskeletal force that can be generated for one all-out effort, regardless of time or bodyweight. Examples: lifting a super heavy barbell once or picking up a heavy relative from a wheel chair. Speed Strength: the ability to develop forces rapidly. Examples: accelerating from zero to top speed on a running track or pushing the car out of the ditch faster and faster. Speed Strength further divides into the following elements: Starting Strength: The ability to quickly develop the greatest possible force at the initial moment of tension. Example: a short boxing hook or uppercut with knockout power on the inside. Acceleration Strength: The ability to build up force as rapidly as possible once contraction has occurred. Example: same as in Speed Strength example. Power Strength: the ability to apply forces quickly. Examples: a fast and powerful Thai kick from a seasoned kickboxer or the ability to quickly clear the garage of a bunch of heavy boxes within five minutes. Reactive Strength (stretch shortening cycle or reversible muscle action): Involves the storage of potential kinetic energy during the eccentric portion of a movement, which is then converted to actual kinetic energy during the concentric phase. This one is one of the most important Strength qualities, especially for athletics, as it determines how fast and with how much power you can react off let’s say a landing from a jump or how fast you can change direction. Failure to develop Reactive Strength results in thousands of ACL injuries every year. Strength Endurance: The ability to maintain force output throughout an extended period of time. Examples: the ability to maintain grip on your opponent in a grappling match or carrying a heavy back pack on a long mountain trip. Athletes from different disciplines will need different combination of the above Strength characteristics. For example, a cross country runner would need a high level of Strength Endurance and Power Endurance. A wrestler on the other hand would need a combination of all Strength types. So does any “recreational” athlete, whose main sport is one of the most overlooked ones – Life. You see, life is literally the survival of the fittest and the smartest. Not necessary the best looking, but the fittest. So by following a well rounded conditioning approach you will greatly increase your chances of survival. And in that quest, that journey to the better self you will discover your true beauty as well. Greg Mihovich Performance Enhancement & Combat Arts Specialist www.UndergroundGym.com |
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