Several years ago the United States Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs was in a featured article in a national weekly news magazine. In that article there were two quotes that should ”jump out” at any athlete, coach or trainer. Kevin Ebel, the USOC strength and conditioning coordinator said, “One of the biggest changes in strength training is that we are getting away from pure strength and emphasizing power, or “explosive strength”. “You can recruit more muscle fibers and get them to fire faster”. [Remember we have 2X and 2A fast twitch muscle fibers. 2X fast twitch muscle fibers contract five times faster than 2A fast twitch muscle fibers but are rarely recruited in traditional strength training].
James Walker of the Orthopedic Specialty Hospital in Utah, a USOC training site stated, “We’ve learned that the most effective training replicates the pattern of nerve firing and muscle movements that athletes use in their sport”. [Remember neuromuscular firing rates vary from .5 to 120 meters per second and muscle motor unit firing rates have a frequency of 5 to 50 impulses per second]. Some refer to Walker’s comments as sports specific training.
In the system of Dynamic Force Weight Training for speed, power, strength and flexibility, nueromuscular impusle rates and muscle motor unit firing rates, recruiting 2X fast twitch muscle fibers and not only sports specific but position and event specific training is the focus.
I too often see these issues being ignored and not applied. Either the athletes, coaches or trainers are not paying attention, do not know how to implement these “cutting edge” training methods and techniques, or simply are comfortable with what they were taught 10-20 years ago and are resistant to change. Optimum performance of every athlete requires the athlete, coach and trainer upgrade their weight training programs to focus on these issues.
Optimum speed and power with simultaneous increases in strength and flexibility cannot be achieved without training methods and techniques that focus on what Ebel and Walker have mentioned. The “one size fits all” approach is traditional, neanderthal training and a disservice to athletes, coaches, trainers and their teams. That is not the case with the system of Dynamic Force Weight Training!
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