Should we train movements or muscles?
providing useful and insightful science based training material
We will see over the next few weeks, that by following the joint by joint approach, there are ways that we can absolutely improve out joint health and orthopedic longevity, via intelligent considerations. Let’s get started.
This week we focused on the implications of ankle joint mobility/great toe mobility, as well as the implications of stability through the joints down stream. Let’s get a little more nerdy and understand further some of the anatomy as a foundation.
Accommodating resistance is widely used in strength training (for more detail on accommodating resistance click here). However, not all accommodating resistances used (bands versus chains) will result in the same stimulus. Both bands and chains accomplish a similar goals (add resistance throughout the movement), but their influence on the kinematics of the movement are different.
Accommodating resistance can increase the time force is applied during a movement (increases time of acceleration) and total power of a movement (1). Accommodating resistance adds load to the bar as the athlete moves through the range of the motion of the movement, increasing from the bottom to the top. It does not make all movements “better”. However, when used properly it can add a unique stimulus to the athlete’s training.
Human movement/performance is a summation of many different sciences. In order to optimize training we need to understand how these sciences are intertwined. The best way to illustrate this idea is by looking at post activation potentiation (PAP) and how the acute changes in physiology will affect the physics of movement.
PAP is the process of bringing the body to its highest functioning state. Typically, post activation potentiation is done by using some sort of maximal intent movement, over a short range of motion, to facilitate the performance of another movement.
Two window model of PAP (Image 1)Continue reading “Post Activation Potentiation: The Physiology and Physics”
Velocity based training (VBT) is an awesome tool. It can be used in an assortment of ways to better your training. However, because of its diversity, it can cause some confusion as to what methods should be used and how to use them. Below will be several examples of how to utilize different velocity based training methods in your program
Velocity based training can be used in conjunction with the traditional training method of using a percentage of one rep max. This is probably one of the most common way it is used. In this method, velocity is used to auto-regulate training. Instead of only assigning a percentage of one rep max, you will assign a velocity that correlates with the percentage of one rep max. This way, the athlete will focus on lifting as much weight as possible at the desired velocity. This will take into account daily fluctuations in strength, thus making it auto-regulatory.
One of the biggest issues we come across in measurement tools/equipment is whether or not the item we are using is reliable, valid or neither.
Reliable means the piece of equipment you are using is consistent in its measurements.
An example of reliable would be if someone uses the jump mat and jumps the same height three times in a row and the jump mat registers three of the same scores.
Valid means the piece of equipment you are using is measuring what you are actually trying to have it measure.
An example of valid would be if someone uses a jump mat and jumps 30 inches three times in a row and the jump mat measures 30 inches all three times.
Continue reading “Reliable versus Valid (Beware When You Compare)”
Depths jumps are an extremely popular exercise, but also an extremely finicky exercise. If they are not done right they can lead to an improper stimulus (not actually training what you want) and even injury. In order to understand how to use depth jumps, we first have to understand why we use them.
Training for power is a simple, straight forward concept. In order to optimize your power training, you need to take advantage of both the velocity of the movement and the load of bar.
Power = Force (load) x Velocity
In order to make sure both of these qualities (force and velocity) are met, we need to make sure we use a training setup that optimizes our ability to maintain the velocity and load throughout the training session.
Below will be a series of methods you can use to optimize power in your during your training.
In the court of law, the defendant is innocent until proven guilty. However, is the same way we should think when getting advice from others? Should we assume people are right until proven otherwise? Or should we think they are wrong until they can provide evidence in support of their claims?
There are a lot of great pieces of equipment that we use in training. However, we don’t always know how these pieces of equipment work. If we do not know how the equipment we use work, then we cannot optimize it.
The jump mat is a piece of equipment that nearly every single coach has seen in action. People stand on a mat, they jump up in the air, they land and it tells you how high you jumped. The question is, do you know the mat got that number?
There has always been a debate as to whether or not maximal strength is that important, how strong is strong enough, and if not max strength, then what?
It is well documented that increasing maximal strength causes positive adaptations in force output through a wide variety of loads. This carry over from maximal strength to higher velocities is most commonly noted when dealing with relatively untrained athletes. However, as the athlete raises their training state (base levels of strength), such carry over begins to diminish. The brings into question the efficiency of maximal strength training in higher trained athletes and whether or not it is the most beneficial type of training for their sporting performance.
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