Programming for strength

 

A correct strength training programme is essential for the development of athletes, explains Antonio Robustelli

Posted on October 21, 2013 by Athletics Weekly
 

 

Strength training in the various disciplines of athletics still seems to be one of the most underrated factors in the programming and periodisation training process.

More precisely, and in my opinion, there are two main difficulties encountered in the process of strength training programming:
1. The lack of a good technical and biomechanical knowledge about the execution of the main strength training exercises;
2. The lack of understanding of the concepts of specificity and transfer applied to strength development.

Technique and correct execution are the key factors in strength increases as one of the main mechanisms in relation to its development regarding the increase of intermuscular coordination – namely the ability of the nervous system to coordinate in an optimal way the various segments of the kinetic chain involved in the movement.

Understanding the concepts of specificity and transfer is essential, not only to ensure the maximum transfer of strength gains obtained in the gym, but also to manage the selection of different exercises within the various stages of periodisation and programming.

Technique and optimal strength

The importance of focusing attention on the quality of execution allows us to introduce the concept of “optimal strength”. Each discipline requires different strength levels necessary to a performance, both regarding maximal strength (the peak force that the neuromuscular system is able to express in a single maximal voluntary contraction, regardless of the time element) as well as specific strength (linked to the specific energy system being used).

This means that the methods of strength development in the various athletics disciplines will be different from those used in sports in which the performance model provides different rates of force output and the use of different metabolisms.

Maximal strength development should therefore be targeted to create a “strength reserve” that is functional to the discipline and based on the strength level required by the performance model of the specific skill.

In athletics, both in speed and medium-long distance running events, strength training in the gym must be programmed with track and field training according to the fundamental principle of energy systems alternation, so the training intensity, defined as a percentage of 1RM (one repetition maximum), will necessarily vary according to the periodisation phase.

In athletics, where the time available for strength development is long enough, we will primarily focus on the inter-muscular coordination development, working on improving the execution technique of the main strength training exercises. This is because the preparatory period of an individual sport is long enough and the level of optimal strength required from athletics is different from that which is required by disciplines such as weightlifting and powerlifting where there is no need to simultaneously train the other motor skills.

The lower training intensity (70-80%) will occupy a larger volume than the higher intensity (80-90%).

Specificity and transfer

For good planning, the exercise selection in the gym should be made according to the existing inter-dependence relationship between a phase, such as preparatory and competitive phases and the strength quality to train and the adaptive transfer that is required.

An exercise that involves working on a specific anatomical plan and a specific direction vector may not have the desired effect if it’s placed in a periodisation phase in which both the training session objectives and the training load parameters (sets, reps, rest and tempo) are not functional to the required adaptations.

The latest research on speed/sprint training (Kuitunen et al. 2002, Nummela et al. 2007, Brughelli et al. 2012) has focused on those that are the limiting factors of speed development. Contrary to what was believed in the 1970s, these studies show that the maximum speed is not limited by the vertical ground reaction forces but by rate of force development and that the force expressed has a horizontal vector. This helps us further in the exercise selection at different stages of programming, focusing on the importance of training hip extension pattern through exercises that express a horizontal vector, thus allowing a greater positive transfer on maximum speed development.

Look out for more on these two basic aspects, technique execution and specificity, in future issues of AW where the focus will be on single exercises, technique execution and biomechanics. The articles will also be accompanied by detailed pictures and recommendations about planning and training load manipulation according to the various stages of the year.

» Antonio Robustelli is a strength and conditioning coach and sport performance consultant working with professional teams and athletes around the world in various sports. He is also an expert in the monitoring and management of recovery and physical stress (training@antoniorobustelli.com).