Power, strength and athleticism all together
In compliance with the FTC guidelines, please assume the following about all links, posts, photos and other material on this website: (...)
Many people have the idea that if you are athletic, you don't need power and strength. They believe that you need to choose either an athletic body or power and strength. What happens when you want all of them? Can you have them all together?
All of them together
If you want power, strength and athleticism altogether, it may not be possible in a traditional way. You will need to find a different training program which will help you to achieve all of them together. People have been doing it and it is possible to achieve all of them at the same time.
You need to focus on three principles-
- Incorporating movement and conditioning to get stronger
- Lifting lighter weights as fast as possible
- Performing explosive bodyweight exercises
These three principles will help you to achieve power, strength and an athletic body.
Explosive strength
Explosive strength is your ability to exert and maximal amount of force in the shortest time period. When a sprinter driving himself to the finishing blocks, he needs explosive strength. When a high jumper propelling himself off of the ground, he needs explosive strength. If you are a football player and you're driving hard to the other goal, you need explosive strength. If you are a weightlifter and you are squatting to your maximal load, you need explosive strength. All these instances are different but the need is the same-explosive strength.
Power results from explosive strength. It can be defined as a function of force and velocity and to increase force and velocity, you need to get stronger and get faster. It means you will need to increase your strength and you will need to increase your speed. If you are a beginner, increasing your strength may be more important than increasing your speed. Once you advance, you will achieve maximal strength and then you will need to focus on increasing your speed. When you achieve both of them, it will help you to increase your explosive strength and power both.
Explosive strength is necessary in different sports. For example, sprinting, jumping, driving, throwing, punching, kicking, leaping, rotating all these activities need explosive strength and the sports that include them will need more explosive strength. So, people who want to be good in baseball, basketball, soccer, football, hockey, tennis, wrestling, boxing, golf, weightlifting, track and field and other such sports, will need explosive strength.
Employ fast twitch muscle fibres
You will need to employ fast twitch muscle fibres if you want an athletic body and power and strength at the same time. Your body has two types of muscle fibres-slow twitch and fast twitch. For endurance and for long-lasting activities, you use slow twitch muscle fibres. There are the first and the easiest for the body to use.
Fast twitch muscle fibres unnecessary for explosive and high force activities. Your body needs a greater stimulus to use them effectively. If you are an athlete and you need explosive power, you will have to teach your body to efficiently use those fast twitch muscle fibres. And since those muscle fibres are used during high force and power outputs, even if you are an athlete, you will need to use appropriate explosive power best training so that you can train your fast twitch muscle fibres to achieve what you want.
So, to achieve power, strength and athleticism at the same time, you will need a specific training program which will be different from the traditional programs and which will focus on the elements that will provide you with the necessary power, strength and athleticism.
References
1. Power Primer 2.0
2. The Importance of Muscular Strength in Athletic Performance
3. Strength and Conditioning