Blackbox FLIPBOOK FINAL

HTKSPORT
Therefore, we often refer to the absorption/rebound ability of the athlete as the
“stiffness” of both the musculature and joints of the legs during sprinting (or other
structures for other movements utilising the static spring). This is why a speed
athlete’s strength foundation should incorporate contractile and absorption strength
work. This is discussed further below.
Another important discussion that stems from this is the type of strength training
speed athletes should focus on. The specific section below “Strength for Speed
Athletes” is useful for such athletes.
2.2 Expressions of Physical Performance
The next thing to understand, for functional performance at least, is that sports are
rarely limited to a single performance output. American football, for example,
requires explosive leg speed, varying degrees of upper and lower body strength and
power, and body mass in order to be proficient at all the demands of the sport.
Different positions demand varying degrees or combinations of each, but it is easy to
see how understanding the continuum of physical outputs is the first step to
designing an efficient training program. The next question is therefore one of
recognising which sporting or physical demands require proficiency is which outputs.
As mentioned above, the neuro-muscular inputs exist on a continuum, where
different points along the continuum may be viewed as different contribution
combinations of the various types of input. Similarly, specific physical performances
may be characterised as combinations of inputs. Speed (as in sprint or running speed)
is comprised of both MAG and RATE inputs – the fastest athletes across the ground
are those who can apply the most force into the ground with every stride, with a fast
stride rate – the most force, in the least time; i.e. track speed is a function of stride
length (force into and rebounded from the ground, and stride frequency. It is also
important to remember that the capacity of an athlete’s MAG potential is affected by
their DUR training, because DUR training should increase their muscular and
absorption force capacities (see ‘The Performance Loop” section below). Traditional
strength, on the other hand, would be a combination of MAG and DUR – the MAG
work would contribute to the ability to recruit a maximal number of muscle fibres,
while the DUR work would represent the amount of time such recruitment can be
sustained.
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JUNE 2018 | ISSUE 01