Texans strength and conditioning coach Dan Riley has compiled a ...

performed exercise depletes energy from a muscle and the muscle adapts by storing
more energy.
How effectively this additional energy (strength) can be used in a sport specific task
is the end result. It doesn’t make any difference how much weight a player can
bounce or throw around in the weight room.
We’ve observed players who look like body builders and can lift mega pounds, yet
play weak. When they put the pads on they get pushed all over the field. They have
good “weight room” strength, but they can’t transfer it to the playing field.
There are some known (and probably many more unknown) physical qualities an
athlete must possess to lift a very heavy weight on a particular exercise. Some of
these traits include:
1. Favorable lever (bone) length.
2. Favorable insertion points (where the muscle “hooks up” to the bone).
3. Neurological efficiency (how effectively the nervous system is connected to the
muscular system). An efficient neurological system is probably the one trait that
separates good athletes from great ones.
4. Muscle belly length.
5. Quality and quantity of fiber types.
These are inherited traits. They can’t be changed or altered. We tell our players to
thank (or blame) Mom and Dad, for good (or bad) plumbing.
Check out one of the World’s Strongest Man contests on ESPN. You will observe
strongmen demonstrating a wide range of physical feats that require a great deal of
strength to perform. Some of these feats include lifting big heavy round stones,
flipping heavy tires, carrying a heavy weight up a flight of stairs, and many others.
Does it require a great deal of strength to perform each of these feats Absolutely!
Why does one of the contestants win one event and then perform poorly on another
If he’s strongest on one event why doesn’t he win them all
The same thing happens in weight-lifting meets. In a power-lifting meet seldom does
one lifter win each event (squat, dead-lift, bench press).
This same phenomenon is true in the weight room. There is a specific genetic
predisposition you need to lift a heavy weight on any given exercise. Each exercise
requires a specific combination of physical traits to lift a significant amount of weight.
These traits are inherited. You can’t change them.
Each of our players will get stronger if they adhere to our basic training guidelines.
Some will eventually lift significantly more weight on a given exercise than others.
Eventually one player will be capable of lifting more weight than the rest of his
teammates.
It is not because one player is working harder than the other. Most of our players