EDITOR’S NOTE:
The following was shared as an invited contribution for the Canadian Strength and Conditioning Association as part of a special edition to help their members navigate the present pandemic. I hope this finds you well wherever in the world you are reading this. Stay safe out there…
Given the global situation, and with many provinces under varying degrees of lockdown, we are presently faced with finding strategies for remote programming that continue to meet the needs of athletes who do not currently have access to facilities, and in some cases are confined to their homes. In particular, a major challenge we face is providing an adequate training stimulus with minimal equipment and space, to ensure strength and power qualities are maintained, rather than solely providing conditioning with body weight circuits.
Whilst we might be limited on external loading, the more salient issue is what forces are imposed at the level of the muscle-tendon unit. There are a number of ways we can leverage physics to help us to impose relatively high force demands despite the restrictions on what external load we have available, and elicit high levels of muscle recruitment and activation in the process.
For instance, we can play with inertia and momentum. Overcoming our own inertia, particularly in a relatively ballistic (full acceleration) fashion involves significant application of force. We can leverage this by using bottom up variations, and pause sets.
Similarly, whilst we might be limited on the mass part of the force = mass x acceleration, we can nevertheless manipulate acceleration. Performing strength training exercises with whatever resistance we have available in a more ballistic manner during the concentric action increases force output and in turn the force demands on the musculature. One note of caution, however, is to watch out for low ceilings – hence starting from a low position with a split or single leg variation is generally a wise choice.
We can also manipulate momentum to impose higher force demands. Fast eccentric training is one modality that might be part of the solution. Essentially this involves executing through the eccentric range of motion using whatever external resistance is available in a relatively short time (less than a second). This works particularly well when we can take advantage of gravity – so that the descent is performed relatively quickly before coming to a rapid stop. Examples include exercises that involve dropping and sticking the landing. Single-leg and split variations impose a greater degree of loading on the lower limb.
There is quite a body of literature demonstrating the potency of fast eccentrics as a modality, and this includes adaptations that support explosive power expression. Importantly, the metabolic demand is also relatively lower, which helps to avoid the change type II fibre subtypes that can otherwise impair early rate of force development and high velocity force output during unloaded limb movements. As an aside, this is another reason to do something other than circuit training for speed and power athletes.
Finally, by using the coupling between eccentric and concentric phases, and both the velocity of the descent and the ascent, we can increase the momentum that the athlete needs to overcome. The very high ground reaction forces seen with plyometrics and sprinting illustrate how acceleration (notably gravity) and movement velocity can produce a very high intensity stimulus, and we can extend this approach to larger ranges of motion during variations and permutations of strength and speed-strength exercises.
Found this a worthwhile read? Feel free to share with those in your network who might find value.
For more on a variety of topics relating to coaching, athletic preparation, and sport injury, see the Books section of the website.
On that note, we are delighted to announce the new title Prepared: Unlocking Human Performance with Lessons from Elite Sport will be released worldwide very soon. The e-book version is now available to pre-order, and both paperback and e-book versions are due for release on April 4th 2020. Details can be found here (or just click on the image below).
