Desibaba
New Member
What Is Strength?
Strength is an infinitely complex concept that cannot be adequately described or understood in a single fleeting thought process. So many factors interrelate to produce the concept of strength. If there were a single statement that could describe strength it would be as follows:
Your ability to contract your muscles with maximum force, given constraints stemming from:
1. Structural/anatomical factors
2. Physiological/biochemical factors
3. Psychoneural/psychosocial factors
4. External/environmental factors
Putting it into fitness-related terms, strength is your ability to exert musculoskeletal force against an external object (such as a barbell, the ground or an opponent), and it comes from four main sources:
How your body is put together as an efficient machine
How your internal systems work to create energy and promote repair, remodeling and growth in response to training
How your skills, attitudes, belief systems and tolerance to pain interrelate to allow your body to function at peak efficiency
How factors external to your body (e.g., weather, gravity, equipment) can be manipulated to produce greater force output
This definition of strength is, to some, a somewhat radical departure from the traditional definition wherein strength is distinguished from endurance. This old definition is related to the aerobic-anaerobic continuum, with strength (in the one repetition-maximum tradition) at the anaerobic end of the continuum and endurance at the aerobic end. Thus, strength and endurance were seen as opposites of one another. This notion seems reasonable upon first thought. However, it makes infinitely more sense to view the aerobic-anaerobic continuum as the template or superstructure for understanding strength.
As you read on, you will begin to understand strength and all the factors that affect it. You will learn how to manipulate them at will as part of an integrated approach to scientific training. As a result, you will be able to perform better than ever.
THE CATEGORIES OF STRENGTH
The factors that are known to affect force output must be accounted for in ones use of the word strength. A distinction must be made because the array of factors affecting each kind of strength is unique. The training regimen used to acquire each kind of strength is also unique.
Limit Strength
Limit strength is the amount of musculoskeletal force you can generate for one all-out effort. It is your athletic foundation. All of your muscles should have a good level of limit strength. It is like building your house on a rock instead of in the sand. While it is important for all athletes, only powerlifters need to maximize their limit strength for competition.
There are three kinds of limit strength:
Eccentric strength: how much weight you can lower without losing control
Static strength: how much weight you can hold stationary without losing control
Concentric strength: how much weight you can lift one time with an all-out muscle contraction
Absolute Strength
Absolute strength is the same as limit strength with one important distinction. Limit strength is achieved while under the influence of some form of work-producing aid (supplements, hypnosis, therapeutic techniques, etc.), while absolute strength is achieved through training alone. That makes limit strength more important for your purposes. All athletes should take every available advantage science has to offer, short of using drugs or other illegal techniques or strategies which are against the rules. Absolute strength is still an important concept for fitness enthusiasts, kids, and weekend warriors.
Speed Strength
You may have heard this kind of strength referred to as power. Speed strength, however, is a more descriptive term. There are two types of strength under the general heading of speed strength: 1) starting strength and 2) explosive strength (explained below). Speed strength is how well you apply force with speed. Its importance in most sports cannot be overemphasized, as this kind of movement is what it takes to stimulate your fast-twitch muscle fibers to respond.
Starting Strength
Your ability to turn on as many muscle fibers (muscle cells) as possible instantaneously is referred to as starting strength. Firing a 100 mph fastball requires tremendous starting strength. So does each footfall in a 100-meter sprint, or throwing a quick knockout punch in boxing.
Explosive Strength
Once your muscle fibers are turned on, your ability to LEAVE them turned on for a measurable period is referred to as explosiveness. A football lineman pushing his opponent, or a shot putter putting the shot as far as possible are examples of explosive strength in action. Olympic-style weightlifting (snatch and clean and jerk) is perhaps the best example of maximum explosive strength in action. The ultimate form in which explosive strength is displayed is called acceleration.
Strength is an infinitely complex concept that cannot be adequately described or understood in a single fleeting thought process. So many factors interrelate to produce the concept of strength. If there were a single statement that could describe strength it would be as follows:
Your ability to contract your muscles with maximum force, given constraints stemming from:
1. Structural/anatomical factors
2. Physiological/biochemical factors
3. Psychoneural/psychosocial factors
4. External/environmental factors
Putting it into fitness-related terms, strength is your ability to exert musculoskeletal force against an external object (such as a barbell, the ground or an opponent), and it comes from four main sources:
How your body is put together as an efficient machine
How your internal systems work to create energy and promote repair, remodeling and growth in response to training
How your skills, attitudes, belief systems and tolerance to pain interrelate to allow your body to function at peak efficiency
How factors external to your body (e.g., weather, gravity, equipment) can be manipulated to produce greater force output
This definition of strength is, to some, a somewhat radical departure from the traditional definition wherein strength is distinguished from endurance. This old definition is related to the aerobic-anaerobic continuum, with strength (in the one repetition-maximum tradition) at the anaerobic end of the continuum and endurance at the aerobic end. Thus, strength and endurance were seen as opposites of one another. This notion seems reasonable upon first thought. However, it makes infinitely more sense to view the aerobic-anaerobic continuum as the template or superstructure for understanding strength.
As you read on, you will begin to understand strength and all the factors that affect it. You will learn how to manipulate them at will as part of an integrated approach to scientific training. As a result, you will be able to perform better than ever.
THE CATEGORIES OF STRENGTH
The factors that are known to affect force output must be accounted for in ones use of the word strength. A distinction must be made because the array of factors affecting each kind of strength is unique. The training regimen used to acquire each kind of strength is also unique.
Limit Strength
Limit strength is the amount of musculoskeletal force you can generate for one all-out effort. It is your athletic foundation. All of your muscles should have a good level of limit strength. It is like building your house on a rock instead of in the sand. While it is important for all athletes, only powerlifters need to maximize their limit strength for competition.
There are three kinds of limit strength:
Eccentric strength: how much weight you can lower without losing control
Static strength: how much weight you can hold stationary without losing control
Concentric strength: how much weight you can lift one time with an all-out muscle contraction
Absolute Strength
Absolute strength is the same as limit strength with one important distinction. Limit strength is achieved while under the influence of some form of work-producing aid (supplements, hypnosis, therapeutic techniques, etc.), while absolute strength is achieved through training alone. That makes limit strength more important for your purposes. All athletes should take every available advantage science has to offer, short of using drugs or other illegal techniques or strategies which are against the rules. Absolute strength is still an important concept for fitness enthusiasts, kids, and weekend warriors.
Speed Strength
You may have heard this kind of strength referred to as power. Speed strength, however, is a more descriptive term. There are two types of strength under the general heading of speed strength: 1) starting strength and 2) explosive strength (explained below). Speed strength is how well you apply force with speed. Its importance in most sports cannot be overemphasized, as this kind of movement is what it takes to stimulate your fast-twitch muscle fibers to respond.
Starting Strength
Your ability to turn on as many muscle fibers (muscle cells) as possible instantaneously is referred to as starting strength. Firing a 100 mph fastball requires tremendous starting strength. So does each footfall in a 100-meter sprint, or throwing a quick knockout punch in boxing.
Explosive Strength
Once your muscle fibers are turned on, your ability to LEAVE them turned on for a measurable period is referred to as explosiveness. A football lineman pushing his opponent, or a shot putter putting the shot as far as possible are examples of explosive strength in action. Olympic-style weightlifting (snatch and clean and jerk) is perhaps the best example of maximum explosive strength in action. The ultimate form in which explosive strength is displayed is called acceleration.
