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General Physical Qualities And Their Role As “Dimmers”

This post idea stems form Tim Gabbett’s research. For those interested in reading more about Tim Gabbett’s work, feel free to check out the link at the bottom of the post.

 

The roles of general fitness qualities are often debated. To what extent is enough of a general quality is heavily dependent on the specifics of the sport, athlete, and position. For example, it is hard to pinpoint what the exact demands of aerobic capacity are for a football player. Depending on the team the athlete plays for, the position they are, and the amount of workload they handle, it can differ quite a bit. However, this does not diminish from the fact that in a perfect world, assuming no conflicting demands on adaptation and time more is typically better. But, this is never the case. Regardless, the purpose of this post is not to give specific details, instead to highlight the role general qualities work in the grander scheme of development.

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Rate of Force Development (Early versus Late)

Rate of force development (RFD) can be broken down into two stages. There is an early stage rate of force development and a late stage rate of force development.  Early stage RFD is typically measured from 0-100 ms while late stage RFD is anything after.

Importance of Early Stage RFD

Sporting movements are often required to be fast, reactive movements that occur over a small amplitude. For example a large countermovement jump can take between 500-1000ms, while a squat jump with no countermovement may take around 300 to 430ms (1). In sport, movement amplitude is going to be much more similar to that of a squat jump (zero to minimal countermovement) than to that of a large CMJ. At the same time, sprinting ground contact times can last as short as 100ms. With this in mind, it is easy to see how early RFD may play an important role in sporting movement, especially those covering a small amplitude over a short period of time (ranging from 100-430ms).

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Muscle Slack and High Velocity Training: An Integrative Approach

Velocity Deficient

 

The idea of measuring and training for velocity deficiencies has become popular since the recent studies of JB Morin and colleagues. In one of their studies, they examined several different subjects and based on their profiling methods, determined whether or not the individuals had a force-velocity profile that was either velocity deficient or force deficient. Once the deficiency was determined, the subjects were trained using specific methods emphasizing the velocity component of the movement (slow velocity for max force and fast velocity for speed of movement). After the study’s training cycle, J.B Morin and colleagues were able to show that the specific training methods, either slow or fast, improved vertical jump performance and overall balance of the subjects’ force velocity profiles.

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KINETIC HYGIENE: THORACIC MOBILITY SUMMARY

This week, we explored arguably one of the most significant areas of the body when it comes to contributing to pathology.

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The thoracic spine is 12 segments (vertebrae) that are the bridge between the cervical spine and lumbar spine. On top of that, the ribs/ribcage articulate with the thoracic spine, and that scapula articulates with the ribcage…this creates a pivotal relationship with the thoracic spine and the shoulders.

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What Are We Testing?

Assessing athletic development can be done in an assortment of ways. Typically, such assessment is done by testing maximal strength in a movement, dynamic strength in a movement, and possibly some other type of “sport specific” movement. There is nothing wrong with this type of testing, but it can leave the coach asking some questions.

One of the issues with this style of testing is that it may not give enough “insight” to the development of the athlete. Every movement has many variables that influence its performance and it is hard to discern whether or not those variables are influencing the outcomes of the tests. Typically, such variables arise most often in a “dynamic” style of testing.

Why Test

It is important to understand why testing is done. Testing is done to help guide a training program, which means the more accurate the testing is, the better of an idea the coach will have at pinpointing areas of improvement. Granted, any form of barbell/weight room testing is relatively non-specific, it can still provide insights into possible “general” physiological and neurological qualities that influence performance.

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Stretch Shortening Cycle

 

The stretch shortening cycle (SSC) is the physiological mechanism involving an eccentric muscular and tissue stretch, followed by an amplified concentric contraction. There are several physiological properties that play a role in the SSC. There is the muscle spindle (wants to speed up contraction), the Golgi Tendon (wants to slow down contraction), the muscular pre-stretch (puts muscles in better length for contraction forces and increases tension), there is an increase in neural output, neural facilitation, and many more possible unexplored physiological mechanisms (fascia, tendons, proprioception, intra-fiber proteins, intramuscular timing etc…)

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Strength Qualities (VBT)

Strength is not as simple as some might make it out to be. Strength is highly contextual. Being strong at faster velocities compared to slower velocities may be a more desirable trait to have for your specific sport. Researchers and coaches over the years have sought out ways to quantify different training zones to pinpoint specific strength qualities. Traditionally, these training zones have been looked at from the standpoint of the force velocity curve. However, I think it might be a little more applicable and easier to understand these qualities when extrapolating the findings from a power-velocity curve.

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