A Three-Pronged View of Strength
Having clear goals is important in any undertaking and strength training is no different. Unfortunately, many novices don’t have precise aims. The only thing they use to measure progress is how many hours a week they managed to drag themselves into the gym. Others ask themselves the wrong questions. How ripped do I look compared to the other guys in the fitness center? Are my arms looking swollen? Fitness improvements are easier to objectively record and quantify if they are based on performance and not aesthetic appearance. Besides, having the chiseled definition of a fitness model isn’t a direct indicator of how well one could push a car out of a ditch. Yet even those that do measure progress by functionality often only consider their 1-rep maxes. In reality, there are actually three distinct types of strength according to conventional sports science:
1) endurance;
2) max strength;
3) explosiveness
In other words, maxing out is only a third of the puzzle. An effective resistance training program should specifically state which of the three strengths will be targeted.
Special Cases: Isometric and Weight-For-Weight Strength
Two other types of strength, isometric and weight-for-weight, are occasionally also cited. They are really just offshoots of the aforementioned strengths. Isometric strength is the ability to maintain a posture against external force, i.e. a wall sit or plank. It is often considered a subdivision of muscle endurance. Weight-for-weight strength is just an extension of max strength. It’s worth assessing for sports where athletes must compete within a weight class or propel their own bodyweight .
Training for Excellence
Holding an ‘iron cross’ in gymnastics, swimming across the English Channel, bench pressing 300 lbs, and running a 100m in under 10 seconds are all extreme examples of isometric endurance, dynamic endurance, max strength, and explosiveness respectively. The mark of a well-conditioned athlete should be being truly strong in an all-around sense, not bragging about following the toughest workout on or sounding like an authority on protein supplements. Elite fitness means having top notch muscle endurance, strength, and explosiveness. All three prongs of the trident must be present.
Endurance
This should not be confused with cardio-respiratory endurance. A situation challenging one’s muscle endurance would be moving furniture over the course of a day until one’s whole body feels sore. On the other hand, cardio-respiratory endurance would entail hiking up a mountain until one is out of breath.
Slow-twitch muscle fibers are the primary contributors to muscle endurance and bodyweight exercises are the best way to train it. Bicycle crunches, lunges, and chin ups are examples of dynamic bodyweight exercises. Try V-sits and elevator pushups for a focus on the isometric side of things. The pushup, pull up, and sit up scores of the US military are the gold standard as far as muscle endurance tests are concerned.
Max Strength
Max strength corresponds to one’s fast-twitch muscle fibers. Lifting weights is the most straightforward way of training it. Barbells, dumbbells, and kettle bells are all preferable over machines. Free weights have the added bonus of training one’s stabilizer muscles, auxiliary muscles, ligaments, and smaller muscle groups because motions aren’t restricted to one dimension .
Explosiveness
Explosiveness is sometimes also called power or speed-strength. The stretch-shortening cycle, a phenomena occurring in the elastic interplay between muscles and tendons, provides the biological explanation. The numerous ways of training explosive strength include:
1) Plyometrics
2) Medicine ball tosses
3) Hitting a heavy bag
4) Football quickness and agility drills
5) Lifting weights in a fast and explosive manner
6) Olympics-style power cleans
The kneeling power ball toss featured in Nike’s SPARQ training is a great test of upper body explosiveness. A vertical jump or standing broad jump assesses the lower body.
Sources
Kraemer, W. J., and R. U. Newton. “Factors for Training Explosive Strength.” . 1994. Web. 27 Mar. 2011.
“Nike SPARQ – Kneeling Powerball Toss.” . 2010. Web. 27 Mar. 2011.
Price, Robert G. . Cleveland: Price World Enterprises, 2003. Print.
Thyberg, David. “Machines Vs. Free Weights.” . 2011. Web. 27 Mar. 2011.
Tsatsouline, Pavel. . St. Paul: Dragon Door, 2000. Print.
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