Strength Training Practical

9.Aging Gracefully:

There is no more important reason to making strength training a constant thing in your life, than to ensure you age gracefully. Physical activity keeps us alive and vibrant. Strength training ensures we are strong enough to participate in aerobic activities and outdoor recreation.

10.Feeling Better and Looking Better:

As painful as strength training can be sometimes feel, there is nothing more satisfying than the feeling after a good solid workout. Stronger muscles and joints can have a dramatic impact on posture and leaner toned muscles tend to make everyone feel better about their appearance. This all leads to improved self-esteem and increased self-confidence.

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• Dangers of Strength Training:

• There are certain dangers of strength training associated with teens. This is because the bones, joints and tendons are still growing and developing, it’s easy to overdo it and strain a muscle, or even permanently damage them.

• “However research conducted on youth showed that the strength-trained subjects improved their range of movement more than the control subjects.

• In a recent study, 48 adult participants in an eight-week program of Nautilus strength training improved their hip-trunk flexibility by two and one-half inches without performing any stretching exercises. At the same time, they increased their overall muscle strength by 50%.”

(Lab. Manual)

• Also another danger around strength training is the use of anabolic steroids or other performance-enhancing drugs and preparations that supposedly help muscles develop. The long-term effects on the body are still unknown and they are linked to health problems like cancer, heart disease, and sterility.

• Medicine Ball Training

• Medicine ball training, in conjunction with a programme of weight training and circuit training, can be used to develop strength and power.

• Certain medicine ball exercises can also be used as part of a plyometric training programme to develop explosive movements.

• Medicine ball training is appropriate to all levels of ability, age, development and sport.

• To be most effective the programme should contain exercises that match the pattern of movements of the sport.

• An effective workout with medicine balls can be achieved in about 30-40 minutes, if the athlete works efficiently.

(Lab. Manual)

                             

• Strength Training for Adolescents:

• Strength training for children has always been a controversial topic. In the past, children were discouraged from using weights for fear of injury. But due to recent studies, it was shown that injury risk is low and strength training may prevent injury.

• Most injuries for athletics occur in the tendons and ligaments. A well-designed strength-training programme will result in strengthening the tendons and ligaments and as a result, allow the athlete to better cope with the strain of training and competitions.

• “Strength training can be a positive aspect of a child’s active lifestyle, but careful consideration must be done before commencing a programme for adolescents. The adolescent participating in the programme must be ready physically and psychologically, and also must understand the technique and role of strength in performance improvement. Also the adolescent must have a thorough medical examination as this will determine any potential illness such as heart problems that may prevent the adolescent from participating in a strength training programme.”

(Bompa, 2000)

• Laws of Strength Training:

• The laws of strength training apply to anyone involved in strength training during the stages of growth and development, but are especially important to the young athlete who has just started along the road to high performance.

• Law 1: Develop Joint Flexibility:

Most strength training exercises, especially those employing free weights, use the whole range of motion of major joints, particularly knees, ankles and hips. So it is important to start flexibility stretches early on so that they are maintained in later stages of athletic development.

• Law 2: Develop Tendon Strength Before Muscle Strength:

Muscle strength always improves faster than the tendons abilities to withstand tension and the ligaments resistance to preserve the integrity of the bones forming the joints. Athletes strengthen tendons and ligaments through a programme designed to attain anatomical adaptation (to progressively adapt the anatomy of young athletes). Vigorous strength training without proper anatomical adaptation of tendons and the ligaments can result in injuries of muscle attachments (tendons) and joints (ligaments).

Tendons and ligaments are trainable, resulting in their enlargement (increase in diameter) increasing their ability to withstand tension and tearing.

• Law 3: Develop Core Strength Before Limbs:

The result of misunderstanding the principle of specificity is that training specialists direct most of their attention towards developing the arms and legs. Although it’s true the arms and legs are the performers of all athletic skills, the trunk is the link between them. The legs and arms are only as strong as the trunk! A poorly developed trunk leads to a weak support for the hardworking arms and legs. Long-term strength-training programmes shouldn’t revolve on only the arms and legs of the body, but should include the abdominals, lower back, and spinal column musculature. Therefore before strengthening the legs and arms, concentrate on developing the link between them, the support, the core muscle groups of the trunk.

                              All trunk muscles can work as a unit to stabilize and keep the trunk fixed during movements of the arms and legs, especially in throwing activities from baseball to track and field.

(Bompa, 2000)

• Strength Training Principles:

• Exercise Selection and Order:

-Use all muscle groups; begin with larger muscles of legs and progress to smaller muscles of torso, arms, etc.

• Exercise Frequency:

-Three days a week with 48 hours rest between sessions.

• Sets:

-Do one good set of each exercise.

• Resistance:

-To develop strength, work the target muscle to fatigue; train 75% of 1 RM.

• Reps:

-Complete 8-12 reps with 75% of 1RM, 6 seconds a rep: 50-70 seconds of anaerobic work.

• Progression:

-Increase training resistance b 5% whenever you can complete 12 reps.

• Speed:

-Moderate to slow exercise speeds are safe and effective.                      -Do 6 seconds a rep (2 seconds for lifting and 4 seconds for lowering.)

• Breathing:

-Exhale during lifting movements.  

 -Inhale during lowering movements.                                                              

• Intensity:

-High intensity requires you to fatigue muscles within anaerobic system. (Reduce recovery periods.)

• Strength Training Program For Adolescents:

• =(Non-applicable)
• Warm-Up:

• “A good warm-up should raise the heart rate gradually to the point where it can pump enough oxygenated blood around the body to meet increasing demand from the working muscles. The most efficient way to warm up is also the simplest. Warming up introduces the muscles to the movements that they are about to do. Also co-ordination improves after a few minutes of practice, thereby reducing the risk of injury. An effective warm up should bring on a light sweat, and leave you breathing hard but not gasping for breath.”  (Bull, 1999)

• “A proper warm-up provides a number of benefits to the body:

• Increased general body and tissue temperature.
• Increased blood flow throughput the cardio-respiratory system and ultimately to the working muscles.
• Increase in the body’s metabolic processes.
• Decreased resistance of connective tissue thus allowing for greater, movement in muscle and associated joint structures.
• Enhanced psychological preparedness of the athlete.
• Reduced chance of muscle/tendon pull.

• An effective, good warm-up should focus on the following:

• To raise body temperature resulting in respiratory and heart rate.
• It should affect as many of the large muscle groups as possible to effectively make tissue soft and flexible.
• It should be made up of general body activities and some sport-related ones. ()

• Warm-up for this program would include a 10 minute gentle jog with agility exercises while jogging, i.e. side steps, touching the ground, changing direction and jumping in the air.

• Massaging a muscle or group of muscles, has the following benefits:

• Increased Blood Flow: The massaging of the muscles helps to warm-up those muscles, increasing their blood flow and improving their circulation.
• Relaxation of the Massaged Muscles: The massaged muscles are more relaxed. This is particularly helpful when you are about to stretch those muscles. It can help relieve muscle cramps.
• Removal of Metabolic Waste: The massaging action, and the improved circulation and blood flow which results, helps to remove waste products, such as lactic acid, from the muscles. This is useful for relieving post-exercise soreness.

• As a general rule, you should usually do the following when doing a stretching routine:

• Stretch your back (upper and lower) first.
• Stretch your sides after stretching your back.
• Stretch your buttocks before stretching your groin or your hamstrings.
• Stretch your calves before stretching your hamstrings.
• Stretch your shins before stretching your quadriceps.
• Stretch your arms before stretching your chest.

• Always stretch your muscles in the following order:

1. Back
2. Sides (external obliques)
3. Neck
4. Forearms and wrists
5. Triceps
6. Chest
7. Buttocks
8. Groin (adductors)
9. Thighs (quadriceps and abductors)
10. Calves
11. Shins
12. Hamstrings
13. Instep

• After the warm-up light stretches should be included, examples of some stretches that could be used are shown overleaf.

• Cool Down:

• After the exercises have been completed, a cool down should always be initiated. It is important as the warm-up. It lowers body temperature and helps guard against D.O.M.S (Delayed Onset of Muscle Soreness).

• A cool down for this program would include a brisk walk, gradually going into a gentle pace. The cool down would also include some more light stretches, so as to train the muscle to stay in the plastic stage and thus give it greater range of motion.

• D.O.M.S.

• “Delayed muscle soreness is an overuse injury common in people trying to develop muscle strength. It usually appears 24-48 hours after strenuous exercise. Several causes of muscle soreness have been proposed over the years. These include lactic acid build up, torn tissue, muscle spasm, and connective tissue damage.

                                         Available evidence suggests that delayed muscle soreness results from injury caused by excessive mechanical forces on the muscle and connective tissue. Direct examination by electron microscopy of sore muscles that were previously eccentrically loaded has shown extensive tissue damage, principally in the area of the Z-disk.” (Brooks et al, 1995)

• D.O.M.S.

1. Excessive mechanical forces disrupt structural proteins in muscle fibres, connective tissue, and sarcolemma, and alter the permeability of the cell membranes.
2. Abnormal amounts of Ca2+ accumulate in the mitochondria, which inhibits cellular respiration.
3. The build up of Ca2+ in muscle results in the activation of proteolytic and phospholipytic enzymes, which degrade the membrane phospholipids, Z-disks, troponin, and tropomyosin.
4. Cell destruction causes an inflammatory response accompanied by the increased activity of macrophages, mast cell, histocytes, and lysozomal proteases.
5. Accumulation of histamines, kinins, and potassium in the interstitial spaces along with the accompanying edema and increased temperature stimulates sensory nerve endings, resulting in pain (Delayed Muscle Soreness).
6. Cell protection is accompanied by the synthesis of “stress proteins”, which protect the cells from further damage. That explains why an exercise session that causes soreness one time won’t cause soreness the next. Protection provided by the stress proteins is temporary if training is discontinued.

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• Detraining:

• A reason to keep up with the strength training once it is begun is detraining.

• Detraining is the loss of muscle strength and associated factors once strength training stops.

• “In one study of male power lifters, a 2-week detraining period caused a 12% loss in isokinetic eccentric muscle strength and a 6.4% reduction in the type 2 muscle fibres. No change was noted in the type 1 fibre area. This relatively rapid strength loss has been attributed to a reversal of the neuromuscular and hormonal adaptations that occur as a result of training.” (McArdle et al, 1991)

                                           

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• Overload:

• A muscle will only strengthen when forced to operate beyond its customary intensity.
• The load must be progressively increased in order to further adaptive responses as training develops, and the training stimulus is gradually raised.
• Overload can be progressed by:

• Increasing the resistance e.g. adding 5kg to the barbell.
• Increasing the number of repetitions with a particular weight.
• Increasing the number of sets of the exercise (work).
• Increasing the intensity – more work in the same time, i.e. reducing the recovery periods.

• Each time an overload is created the nervous system responds with renewed excitability. (Lab. Manual)

• Specificity:

• It is an important principle in strength training, where the exercise must be specific to the type of strength required, and is therefore related to the particular demands of the event.
• Although it is important, it is necessary in every schedule to include exercises of a general nature, to give a balanced development, and provide a strong base upon which highly specific exercise can be built.

(Lab. Manual)

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• Push –Ups:

• Line prone with your arms straight, your palms flat on the floor, and your hands shoulder-width apart.

• Hold your feet together or very slightly spread.

• Inhale and bend your elbows to bring your torso near the floor, avoiding extreme hyperextension of your spine.

• Push yourself back to arms extended position, exhaling as you complete the movement.

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• Hip Crunch:

• Sit on an exercise mat with your knees bent and upper body supported on your hands.

• From this position, rotate your hips and back until your knees come in contact with your chest and your abdominals are completely flexed.

• Slowly return to the starting position while lowering your legs but keeping abdominals tight as possible.

• For added resistance, hold a medicine ball between your knees.

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• Overhead Throw:

• Work alone or with a partner, and start by standing holding the medicine ball overhead.

• Step forward and bring the ball sharply forward with both arms, throwing it to your partner, or if working alone, over a specific distance.

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• Medicine Ball Sit up throw:

• Partner A stands feet apart, holding the ball.

• Partner B sits, feet apart, knees slightly flexed.

• Partner A tossed the medicine ball toward the chest of partner B.

• As partner B catches the ball, he or she rocks toward the floor, then, using the momentum of an upper-body thrust, throws the ball back to partner A.

• Return to starting position.

• Alternate roles.

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• Abdominal Sit-Up:

• Add Attachable weights to the wrists.

• Lie on your back, with your calves resting on the seat of a chair, and your knees and hips supported at a 90degree angle.  Gently cup your hands around your back of your neck.

• Contract your stomach muscles and raise your head and shoulders slightly of the ground.

• Without touching the floor, “crunch” up and down by moving your chest toward, then away from your knees.

• Front Raise:

• Attach weight to wrists.

• Keeping your arms straight but not hyper extended, raise arms until they are parallel with the ground without leaning backward.

• Lower the arms without bending them to return to the start.

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• Cable Adductions:

 

• Fasten an attachable weight to your ankle.

• Bring your leg with the attachable weight toward and then across the other leg.

• Return to the starting position.

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• Sit-ups:

• Lie on your back with your legs bent and your feet on the floor.

• Place your hands behind your head.

• Inhale and curl your torso of the floor.

• Exhale as you complete the movement.

• Return to the starting position without resting your torso on the floor.

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• Floor Hip Extensions:

• Kneel on one leg with your elbows or hands on the floor and your core arms straight.

• Tuck your opposite leg under your chest.

• Move your tucked leg to the rear until your hip is fully extended.

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• Triceps Dips:

• Place your hands on the edge of a flat bench and rest your feet on another bench.

• Assume a torso-leg angle of about 90 degrees.

• Inhale and bend your arms.

• Straighten your arms to return to the starting point, exhaling as you complete the movement.

 

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• Strength Training Bibliography
• Bompa, T.O, (2000), Total training for Young Champions, Champaign, IL, Human Kinetics.
• Brooks, G., Fahey, T., White, T., (1995), Exercise Physiology: Human Bioenergetics and its Applications, 2nd Edition, Californa, Mayfield Publishing Company.
• Bull, D., (1999), Vitality Plan, London, Dorling Kindersley.
• (2002), (Internet), www.canadianhockey.com/google, (20/4/02)
• Chu, D.A., (1996), Explosive power and strength: complex training for max. Results, Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.
• Delavier, F., (2001), Strength Training Anatomy-Your Illustrated Guide to Muscles at Work, United States, Human Kinetics.
• (2002), (Internet), , (25/03/02)
• Lab Manual.
• Lockette, K., Keyes, A., (1994), Conditioning with Physical Disabilities, USA, Human Kinetics.
• (2002), (Internet), www.longfellowclubs.com/google, (16/04/02)
• Luttgens, K., Hamilton, N., (1997), Kinesiology-Scientific Basis of Human Motion, 9th Edition, U.S., McGraw-Hill Companies.

• McArdle, Katch, Katch, (1991), Exercise Physiology-Energy, Nutrition and Human Performance, 4th Edition, London, Williams and Wilkins.
• (2002), (Internet), www.smartplay.net/google, (25/03/02)
• (2002), (Internet), , (16/04/02)