Discover the Key To Training Success

12/18/07 9:43:14 PM
Posted By Tony Reynolds, MS, CSCS, YCS II

I’m proud to say that over my training and coaching career, I’ve helped countless athletes improve their on-field performance by properly preparing them for their sports. 

I am also proud to say I’ve played a role in raising my athletes’ performance to play at levels that have earned many of them college scholarships.

Don’t get me wrong.  I’m not trying to take credit for the development of their sport skill.  However, I do take credit for assuring that they are capable of demonstrating their physical abilities to the highest possible level. 

How do I assure that my athletes are the best prepared athletes on the court or on the field?  By applying specific training principles that I’ve determined to be the missing link in most athletic strength and conditioning programs.  These are the principles, when applied correctly, that make average athletes better, good athletes great, and great athletes outstanding on every single play.

So the question becomes…How exactly do I optimize strength for sport? 

Ultimately the answer to this question lies within the athlete’s environment.  Each sport and each position requires unique physical attributes to achieve high levels of success. Therefore, an assessment must be done to analyze the characteristics of the force that must be expressed and absorbed for athletes to function optimally within their sport or position. 

In the end I have found that once an athletes environment has been examined, the strength requirements (and therefore force production) can be broken down into two categories…’sport specific strength’ and ‘strength specific to sport.’  At first you may think this sounds like mere semantics.  However, they are two completely different concepts.

Although not identical from sport to sport, ‘strength specific to sport’ is much more generalized and is associated with the gross movement requirements of the sport. 

Almost all sports deal with forces that are generated to move or stop the body.  These included the forces of acceleration and deceleration.  They also include the forces of momentum and change of direction.  Consideration must also be given to the forces experienced when there is contact with a foreign object (e.g. ground or person).

Sport specific strength on the other hand, is geared toward the “skill” oriented movements of the sport.  This type of strength typically is associated with the interaction between the athlete and implements of his or her sport. This may include swinging a bat, throwing or kicking a ball, striding over a hurdle. 

So…How do we address these concepts in the weight room and optimize strength?  It starts by observing the athlete within the natural environment of the sport. 

Watch how they move.  Note how they accelerate, decelerate, change direction, jump on the move, push, pull, swing, twist, kick and stop.

Also note the direction in which these motions all occur.  Are they forward, sideways, up, down, rotational?  Is there a change midway through?  Are they influenced by momentum? Are they influenced by the movement of an implement or contact with a foreign object.

How was the body of the athlete positioned to deal with the forces of these motions? 

What type of stance was most common: parallel, staggered, one foot, two feet? 

Did they keep their hips square to their base of support or where they more often rotated?  

How often was the axis of their body oriented in a purely vertical alignment? Was it more commonly tilted and if so was their a dominant direction to the tilt?

More often then not you will notice that during sport athletes frequently move in ALL directions… infrequently use a parallel stance…are almost always rotated or are rotating through the hips and midsection…and are very rarely oriented purely vertical. 

Therefore, when you look at the loading encountered in both sport specific strength and strength specific to sport you will see a considerable amount of horizontal force…not just vertical force…acting upon the body. 

In all actuality, pure vertical loading rarely exists in sport. Sans the tip off at the beginning of a basket.phpball game, I cannot think of any sport where the majority of force application/absorption isn’t heavily influenced by horizontal forces.

Additionally, it is very common to encounter these forces with an asymmetrical bodily configuration (one arm/foot or staggered).  When horizontal forces are encountered in this way…you get a significant amount of torque or resistance to torque through the core.

For example:

• Decelerating-Momentum creates a significant horizontal force.  Additionally, athletes typically decelerate utilizing an asymmetrical bodily configuration (ABC)…the creates torque or opposition to torque within the body
• Swinging a tennis racquet.  All rotational and very horizontal. Very often in an ABC
• Cutting-momentum pulls you horizontally along the original path of travel.   You have to push laterally (creating horizontal force) which also create torque through the core.  Athletes typically utilize an ABC to change direction.

Think about performing a toss in wrestling, throwing a punch, tackling an opponent, being tackled, swatting a volleyball.  Almost every action in every sport involves interaction with horizontal and rotational forces!!!

However, let’s look at how athletes are normally trained in the weight room.  I am going to give you a fairly standard set of exercises you see in almost all programs.  I want you to tell me how many of them provide any sort of horizontal or rotational loading and how many of them are primarily vertically loaded:

• Squats-Vertical loading
• Bench press-Vertical loading
• Lunge-Primarily Vertical
• Pull Up-Linear loading
• Leg Press-Truly vertical if you analyze what is happening.
• Olympic Lifts-Vertical loading

The list goes on!!!

Please don’t misinterpret the point I am trying make. I am not discrediting the value of these exercises. Other than the leg press, these exercises and their various forms are very prominent in my training programs. I view these exercises as important and extremely necessary for almost all my athletes.

However, I also recognize that on their own, they may not produce the MOST optimal carry over to sport. They will produce good carry over, no doubt, but the results will not be the MOST optimal given that a very big component of the athlete’s true environment is neglected- horizontal loading.

Why do I feel that these lifts will not produce optimal carry over to sport?  Well, it boils down to one very important concept…It is the direction of the force being received or expressed that is ultimately going to dictate which muscles are going to be used, how each muscle is going to respond, and how the muscles are going to react collectively. 

Therefore to optimize strength for sport you must train the body to effectively neutralize and produce the horizontal and rotational forces encountered in sport.

Try this:

First, hold your arm straight out in front of your body and have someone press down on it.  Observe the muscles that activate to deal with the load.

Now hold your arm in the exact same starting place and have them push your hand out to the side.  Once again, observe the muscles that activate to deal with the load.

Did you notice a difference in how you used the muscles around your shoulder?  Did you notice a difference in your abdominal muscles and lower back?  How about in your hips and legs? 

Let’s take this a step further.  Assume a push up position and concentrate on your core area (hips, abdomen, and lower back). What are your muscles doing?  Think about the how gravity pulls downward on the body to activate your muscles in a certain pattern or direction. 

Now pick one hand up without shifting your hips and shoulders (If you’re strong enough!).  Maintain that straight line with your body.  Now, tell me what you feel through your abs, hips, and lower back.  What are your muscles are doing? 

Did you notice how supporting yourself with only one side of your body (asymmetrical bodily configuration) made staying strong and stable a lot more difficult…and impossible for many athletes.

Think about how many times you are starting, stopping, balancing, pushing, pulling, and throwing through only one side of the body.

The interesting this is that form follows function. Take a look at our own muscular anatomy and you’ll see that very few muscles in the body have fibers that are strictly vertical.  Most have fibers that run diagonally and horizontally to allow athletes to produce strength in rotation and against horizontally applied forces.

Rotational/horizontal strength exercises, in my opinion, are the difference makers. They are the glue that helps tie everything together. They are not the total picture, rather a very important (and often times neglected) piece of the puzzle. They are the missing link.

So, how can you incorporate this type of loading into your training? There are dozens of different techniques you can use to manipulate the loading vectors of almost any “free weight” exercise. 

One of the most effective ways I have found to develop horizontal and rotational strength is with an adjustable cable machine.  The ability to alter the height of the cable and thus change the angle of pull makes this type or machine priceless.

It also allows you to train using stances and postures very similar to those experienced during sport. This helps to ensure that you are strengthening the movements required to be successful, not just disassociated “isolated muscle motions”. 

You can use the cable machine to alter loading for almost any type of exercise.  In the upcoming excerpt from my 3-D Strength Training program manual, 3-D Lunges, you can see how I change the orientation of the horizontal loading so it pulls from all directions (front, lateral, and side).  I also demonstrate exercises that utilize rotation and opposition to rotation.

For More Information On 3-D Strength Training and Horizontal and Rotational Loading, and for a free comprehensive 3-D training program visit www.3DStrength.com