PROGRAM
DESIGN:
Special
considerations when programming for
strength and power - Part I
Prof. Angel Spassov,
Ph.D., D.Sc., University of Texas, Strength & Conditioning Coach
Prof. Spassov originally wrote the following
article in 1988 and it was published in NSCA
Journal. Volume 10, Number 4, 1988. The statistics and theories still
apply today.
We
can trace the first information about women's sports activities back to ancient
Greece. Xenophon and Pausanias left detailed descriptions of the kind of
contests that took place among women at the time, as well as information about
the Olympic facilities and the costumes of the contestants.
Although
physical exercise was not so popular with the Romans as with the Greeks, the
Roman woman had been physically trained since her childhood. Ovidius advised
women against performing physical exercises that were meant for men, whereas
Juvenal, the author of the famous “Mens sana in corpore sano” sneered at
women who trained in fencing. Despite the controversial and even hostile public
opinion, the number of balneological complexes in the towns of the Roman Empire
proves that women took part in the physical exercises popular at the time:
gymnastics and various ball games.
In
393 A.D. the Roman emperor Theodosius the Great banned the Olympic games, and
physical exercises lost their educational nature. Christianity, in its turn,
pronounced itself against all kinds of physical exercise. The Church as a result
of the pervading atmosphere of the Middle Ages banned public games. In 1130 and
1139 Pope Inocentius ll and Pope Alexander III preached against public games.
The lack of independence for women put physical exercise out of the question.
It
is only during the Renaissance that women's sport activities acquired a more
regular character. At the beginning of the 17-th century, physical culture for
women manifested itself in two basic directions; there were the aristocratic
games on the one hand: hunting, riding and fencing; and the popular games, such
as ball games and swimming on the other. Annalists
have described the achievements of physically strong women in typical public
games (wrestling in Bretagne, throwing planks in Savoy and stone-lifting in
Scotland).
In
the 19th century, Amoros worked out the doctrine of physical education in
France, which was accepted in the system of public education. His methodology
gave preference to strength exercises performed with apparata.
Nevertheless,
women's sport events preserved their "occasional" character well into
the 20-th century. The probable founder of the modern Olympic games, Pierre de
Coubertin's objection to the participation of women in sport events has had its
influence to that effect as well. He wrote that the presence of women in
stadiums was not aesthetic and was neither interesting nor real.
Despite
the disapproval of the leaders of world sports, women continued to try to
establish their own position in sport events by achieving significant results in
contests with men at predominantly strength events, such as wrestling.
Historical evidence exists that at the beginning of this century some of the
strongest wrestlers in France and Russia were women, illustrating that from the
very beginning, women turned their attention to sport events which involved a
manifestation of strength.
Today, strength development
determines, to a large extent, the degree of technical achievements, not only in
those events where strength is a leading skill, but also in events where the
primary skills are velocity and endurance. Therefore, great attention has been
paid to building muscle strength in various sports.
Major
points concerning the building up of strength in sports
The
most popular definition of bodily strength is "man's ability to overcome or
oppose some kind of resistance through muscle exertion." Some authors
describe it as the ability of developing maximum muscle tension in motion
activities. The value of tension depends on a number of factors.
As
early as 1846, Weber (later followed by other authors) pointed out that strength
is directly proportional to its physiological rung. A change in the
physiological rung of the muscle occurs at the expense of muscle and connective
tissue growth.
The improvement of motion
coordination is yet another important factor to bring about the accumulation of
muscle strength (N.B. Zimkin, 1956). The majority of motions is due to the
activity of only one part of the neuromuscular units (the motoneurons) which
compose the muscle. The increase of active motoneurons is a result of continuous
training and brings about the increase of muscle contractions. However, muscle
strength depends not only on the quantitative increase of active muscle fibers,
but on their synchronization and simultaneous action as well.
The
power of muscle contraction also depends on the power and
frequency
of the nervous impulses which activate the muscle. In 1886, N.E. Vedensky showed
that muscle fibers develop their most powerful contractions only at an optimum
rate of the power and frequency of nervous impulses. The optimum of these two is
not a constant but alters in accordance with the condition of the central
nervous system. The value of muscle contraction will also depend on the tension
and the order in which the synergist muscles responsible for a given motion
contract. This is important because each muscle of the synergist group has its
own place of fixation, which in its turn determines the direction of the motion
when contraction occurs. Lack of previous training leads to the simultaneous
contraction of both the agonist and the antagonist muscles which decreases the
efficiency of muscle contraction.
The
training process oriented toward muscle building is accompanied by a change in
the chemical composition of the active muscles - an increase of myofibril
content (the muscle-contracting substance) with the increase of its adenosine
triphosphate activity (A.F. Makarov, 1956).
Besides,
it has been shown physiologically that a preliminary extension of the muscles
has a positive effect on muscle strength in sport events such as jumps, throws
and weightlifting (stretch reflex). The relation between the manifested strength
and the preliminary extension (up to an optimum value) is directly proportional.
All
factors mentioned so far defining strength as muscle tension can be perfected
only through long and systematic training. According to A.N. Krestovnikov (1944)
they are of a conditioned reflex nature.
How
to choose the value of resistance
Practice
and experimental research show that an attempt to build up muscle strength
without maximal strength tension proves to be inefficient.
N. Knipst writes that muscle strength increases when lighter or heavier
weights are used in the training process; the heavier the weight, the greater
the increase of strength. According to the author's data, the volume of work
with heavier weights can be up to 4.4 times less than a similar process with
lighter weights, whereas the increase of strength in both cases will be the
same. This fact has led to the conclusion that training exercises in which the
resistance is higher are more economical concerning energy loss.
Strength-developing
methods
Several
strength-developing methods are used according to the degree of resistance:
-
The repeated-exertion method
-
The maximal-exertion method
Motion
with sublimit weights differ in their physiological mechanism to motions with
up-to-the limit or round-the-limit weights. However, the sublimit weights which
are easily overcome at first lifts can be easily transformed into
up-to-the-limit weights as the athlete tires. As a result, the physiological
mechanism of motions with sublimit resistance becomes similar to the mechanism
of lifting up-to-the-limit weights (V. Monogarov, 1957). That is why the method
of repeated exertion involves compulsory repetition to the extent of clearly
expressed fatigue, or as the expression goes, "until refusal." The
repeated exertion method has its advantages and drawbacks which have to be taken
into account in the training process. Work until refusal is energetically
ineffective, as its volume is considerable.
With
this method, the final, most valuable, repetitions are performed against the
background of fatigue, which is already well under way as a consequence of the
decreased stimulation of the central nervous system. This hampers the forming of
the subtle conditioned reflex ties which ensure the further development of
strength.
In
spite of its being less effective, the repeated exertion method is widely used
in practice, especially at the initial stage of instruction. Moreover, at this
stage a direct relation between the increase of strength and the value of
resistance does not exist. V.S. Gerasirnov and V.N. Konnich have found out that
a considerable increase of strength occurs at the initial stage of instruction
when exercising with lighter or medium heavy weights. This could be explained in
the following way:
a.
The method ensures a gradual increase of the volume and intensity of strength
exercises; it helps to avoid traumas;
b.
Exercises with sublimit weight provide great opportunities for technique
control;
c.
The great volume of work brings about considerable metabolic changes which
create conditions for a flexible exchange, contributing to the functional
hypertrophy of the muscles, which in itself has a beneficial effect on the
increase of strength.
The
maximal exertion method is used as a basic method in the training of
highly-qualified athletes in various sport events. The efficiency of that method
has already been proven.
According
to specialists, exercises with up-to-the-limit weights not only increase
strength, but also train skills, such as a well-timed mobilization of will
power, the ability to switch from tension to relaxation. They also stimulate the
nervous and muscle system, i.e. they have a beneficial impact on the complex of
requirements for the development of high sporting assets.
Coaches
often resort to such exercises because they can be easily portioned. However the
application of high resistance will be effective only if a considerable volume
of work on strength-building has been previously done.
The
static exertion method is yet another method used in practice. It focuses its
impact on the weakest muscles and muscle groups, it saves time and ensures
control and portioning of the time and value of the effort. More importantly,
the method is less exhausting (T. Net, 1957).
The
above mentioned method has a number of drawbacks. Scientific research has shown
(R. Berger, 1962) that the application of static exercises leads to a slower
increase of strength than when dynamic exercises are used as well. The
application of static exercises in the course of a month or two leads to a
stabilization of strength, and further training proves to be ineffective (E.A.
Muller, 1963). Therefore, isometric exercises should take 10 to 15
minutes of a single training over the course of a month or two.
Exercise
performing rate
The
rate at which strength exercises are performed can vary. But according to a
number of authors, the building up of strength will be greater if the exercises
are done at an optimum rate (N.V. Zimkin,
V.N. Konnich,
V.D. Monogarov). The maximal motion rate is a powerful stimulant which
invokes a considerable number of impulses; however, such conditions inhibit the
forming of optimal coordination of nervous processes corresponding to the
demonstrated strength.
Strength
building should not be an end in itself. In most sport events strength training
encourages the advance of motion velocity, which eventually improves the sport
result. In cases when the velocity of the motion requires the overcoming of a
considerable resistance, motion velocity depends on the athlete's strength
skills. The bigger the external effort he has to overcome, the more the increase
of maximal strength will bring about the increase of motion velocity. If
external resistance is insignificant, the influence of strength on velocity will
also be insignificant.
In
our work, we aim at methodological advice on strength building for female
athletes who are involved in sports requiring the overcoming of great external
resistance or in which resistance, although insignificant, is sustained for a
considerable period of time. For example, a sprinter's power at the start
reaches 263 kilograms per second, that is about 3.5 horsepower, whereas the
effort during the race to maintain speed is slightly less.
The
greatest power that can be reached in sports in general is manifested in putting
the shot. When A. Andrew (Italy) hit the world record (22.92 meters) his power
was approximately equal to 8.85 horsepower, for women this index is about 5
horsepower.
In
rowing, the power of each tug at the oars is about 25 to 30 kilograms. The
number of tugs during a 2,000 meter race is about 150 to 200 kilograms at a rate
of 26 to 42 tugs per minute.
The
goal of strength training in the above sports is to increase motion velocity.
Absolute
strength increases predominantly through the growth of muscular mass, as well as
through improving motion coordination. The increase of relative strength is
possible either at the expense of the increase of absolute power or through
losing individual weight and yet preserving the level of absolute strength at
the same time.
Despite
the close link between absolute and relative strength, the methodology
concerning their increase is different.
Strength
exercises used for the building up of muscular mass should meet the following
requirements:
-
The weight in a given exercise should be the optimal so as to ensure six to 10
repetitions at a medium rate
-
The time for performing an exercise should be sufficient to stimulate the
metabolic processes in the muscles to the required extent.
Strength
exercises oriented toward the accumulation of strength where a considerable
growth of muscular mass is not involved (relative strength) should encourage the
forming of conditioned reflex ties ensuring the nervous and muscle coordination
of effort. Therefore training should be conducted with limit or round-the-limit
weights with only a few repetitions and longer intervals between the attempts.
Weights should be lifted once or twice with maximal tension. A greater number of
repetitions proves to be ineffective.
Relative
power plays an important role in sport events which require powerful but brief
efforts (sprints, jumps and others). Here velocity is closely related to the
strength of the corresponding group of muscles. That is why strength exercises
develop an ability for strong effort in quick motions.
Sport
events belonging to this group use the following methods for developing strength
skills:
1.
Exercises with a medium weight (70 to 75 percent of the maximum result) with
numerous repetitions (until refusal) in each series and performed at a moderate
rate.
2.
Exercises with heavy weights (80 to 95 percent) with three to four repetitions.
3.
Exercises with a resistance gradually increasing up to the limit or round the
limit - the method of brief strength load.
Specialists
share the opinion that exercises with a progressive increase of weight (50 to 70
percent) performed at a maximal rate in each series of repetitions develop the
so-called explosive power typical of velocity strength exercises.
However,
those velocity strength exercises should be used only in combination with the
other strength building methods which lay the basis for the cultivation of the
ability for quick demonstration of strength. Strength exercises have a favorable
influence on velocity only when strength is increased in a motion which aims at
the demonstration of the highest velocity.
A
close relation exists between the level of special strength and the sport
results. Therefore the means of accumulating special strength should be selected
in accordance with the structure of the basic motion: its rhythm, rate,
direction, order and the nature of the effort to be developed.
It
has to be taken into account that an interruption of the training process will
consequently lead to a considerable decrease of the chief level of strength. For
the untrained, for example, this decrease starts if the value of the effort
applied becomes less than 20 percent of the maximal strength (P. Hettinger,
1955). For athletes training after the method of maximal exertion, strength will
begin to decrease even when the weights that are lifted, though heavy, are
lighter than previous training weights.
N.V.
Zimkin thinks that the interruption of strength training for a period of two
weeks will diminish strength by 10 to 15 percent; after an intermission of three
months only about 77.7 percent of the strength is preserved; after a six month
intermission - 60.2 percent, in nine months - 45.7 percent and in a year only
20.7 percent of the previous strength level is preserved.
All
the peculiarities mentioned above concerning strength building are equally valid
for men and for women. However, the nature of the female body presents some
specific requirements in the development of strength in women. |