sport

Strength in training for athletics

Strength is the ability of skeletal muscle to produce tension.

In the practice of athletics, strength is one of the fundamental athletic skills and participates in the development of power in the specific athletic gesture; among the various disciplines, the one that requires more power (therefore greater strength) is the throwing of the weight.

Briefly: some principles of physics useful for measuring strength

The peak of Forza (F) during the athletic gesture is given by the maximum muscular contraction (MCV); the unit of measurement for force, according to the International System, is the Newton (N) or the metronewton (Nm) respectively.

In physics, the weight of a "body" is given by the mass product (kg or Lbs) multiplied by the force of gravity (strength of 9.80663 N, rounded 9.81N); ultimately, every 1kg of mass develops a Weight quantifiable at 9.81N (force necessary to overcome its resistance). For example, to move a weight determined by a mass of 5kg 5kg * 9, 81N = 49, 05N are required.

The power is given by the relationship between the Mechanical Work (Work) and the Execution Time (t), therefore Work / to Wxt-1, even if within the athletic preparation it is better expressed as the product of the Force (F) for the speed (V), then P = F * V; the unit of measurement of power is watt (W). The unit of measurement of the angular velocity is instead the Radiant (Rad), or 59 ° 29 'obtained by: 360 ° / 6.28 (2).

NB . Knowing the unit of measurement of angular velocity is also very important in rehabilitation through the "Cibex" which exploits isokinetic muscle tension at a specific speed.

The maximum force peak (max) is reached when the lever arm is in optimal mechanical conditions; for example, for the knee it is 127 °.

Conditioning of strength in athletics training

In athletics it is essential to develop strength, as it is necessary to increase the power referred to the technical athletic gesture (throwing, jumping, fast running etc.). The factors that have the greatest impact on increasing strength are:

  • Transverse muscle section: with the same neural control and muscular insertion (most determining factor), a greater transverse section is associated with greater strength
  • Total body mass: the increase of the total mass with prevalence of the muscular mass increases the strength; this explains why in the disciplines like the launches the total body mass of the athletes is always clearly greater than that of the resistance disciplines, even if in some specialties a compromise is chosen (for example in fast races and jumps).
  • Composition of muscle fibers: fast white fibers develop greater strength, observable in the correlation between isometric force and the percentage of the latter; they also deliver it faster.
  • Nerve factors: the supply of force, even in light athletics, depends on the ability of the nervous system to recruit ALL muscle fibers; take into consideration that the specific exercise increases the excitability of the motor neurons, an aspect that can be observed both in sprinters and in weight lifters.
  • Age and gender: in people without training, peak strength is reached at around 20 years; the woman possesses 40% less of the absolute strength compared to the man, even if the difference varies according to the muscular group in object: in the upper limbs the females have only 50% of strength in comparison to the males, while in the legs they reach 75%. Among the sexes, the discrepancy in terms of strength is dictated exclusively by the quantity and not by the quality of the muscle tissue.
  • Workability: an appropriate training increases the voluntary strength quite specifically on the athletic gesture; NB . the increase in muscle mass is not always welcome.

Training methodology for strength in athletics

In athletes performing jumps and sprints in athletics, subjected to strength exercises 2-3 times a week for 2 months, an improvement in the nerve impulse from the brain to the muscle and an increase in muscle circumference are noticeable. However, this increase in mass is not directly related to the increase in performance of the jump; rather, strength training has proved extremely effective in athletes with a percentage of white muscle fibers fast at least 60% compared to the total. Furthermore, the improvement of the ratio between slow fibers and fast fibers with an increase in the latter (which can be expressed thanks to the specialization of intermediate fibers and muscle satellite cells) represents a physiological mechanism that is probably responsible for improving performance in sprinters and jumps that train for strength in athletics. We also remember that it is never the muscle fiber that conditions the nervous system but the opposite; it is established that the practice of maximal efforts requiring a very long maximal contraction time favors the constitution of numerous actino-myosin bridges (cross-bridge), therefore the increase of the developed force.

Strength training for youth athletics: general principles

The general principles and limitations to be respected in strength training for youth athletics follow orthopedic, biological and methodological reasons:

  • The orthopedic reasons are morphological maturation of the skeleton and the joints being completed
  • The biological reasons are those underlying the developmental mechanisms
  • The methodological reasons are constituted by the prematurity of sports technique and motor skills, which prevents the correct transformation of the general conditional capacity into the specific one

It is also advisable to concentrate the development of the general force towards the fast force, which is the basis of all the executions of special force in the various disciplines. From it originate the explosive force, the reactive force, the resistance to the force, the mixed strength.

Furthermore, the strength for athletics MUST be solicited through the use of numerous (and always different) training means or tools, alternating general tests with specific tests. It should be remembered that hypertrophy, as a component of strength, in athletics is secondarily prompted by fast force, just as exercises for reactive force (pliometry) subordinate to the development of maximal force.

The fundamental exercises for the development of strength in athletics

The fundamental exercises for the development of strength in track and field are 4: pull, turn, momentum and tear. They, especially in young athletes, will have to be acquired gradually through careful training supported by general preatletism, useful for the muscle-tendon structuring necessary in preparation for specific strength training. In athletes under the age of 15, barbell exercises must NEVER be dominant over specific ones, as well as explosive-reactive strength exercises MUST start after the age of 14 and ONLY through careful control of the load and execution (2-3 month cycle, frequency 2-3 times a week, every session 20-30 plyometric or explosive executions).

Other extremely useful exercises for the strength of the lower limbs are: full squat (or squatted), ½ squat, 1/3 squat, 1/3 squat Jump, maximum sagittal and step-up divaricates (specific for lungists, altisti and triplists).

Proposals for the development of fast training strength for youth athletics

As anticipated, in athletic youth the first goal is the development of fast force since it represents the basis of the explosive-reactive, resistant and mixed one.

The fast (or rapid) force can be defined as the ability to develop the greatest possible force in a very short time against a modest weight obstacle (instrument or weight of the subject itself) with the most correct technical execution possible ( Prof. Peter Tschiene ) . To have a sufficiently exhaustive idea of ​​the mechanisms that lie at the base of fast force, I propose the scheme coined by Buehrle :

The development of fast strength in athletics has encouraged (in recent years) the increase in performance in shots, jumps and throws; the interesting aspect is that it is a training ability already from 12-14 years of age but, on the other hand, it has emerged that a good part of the coaches makes it a real abuse on young athletes (in particular for that which concerns the lower limbs, therefore the exercise of the jumps). This inevitably leads to an excessive overload of the joints, NOT yet fully formed and stabilized, increasing the risk of serious complications. We also distinguish 2 types of stress:

  • Explosive force, which only provides for shortening or rapid stretching
  • Reactive force, which also includes a preliminary stretching phase

Explosive strength exercises for athletics training:

  • Jump up and down from standstill without counter-movement (concentric and positive work)
  • Lower limb yields up to 90 ° with and without overloading (poly-competition)
  • Strikes of various tools from a stop to one or two arms.

Instead, they belong to reactive force exercises for athletics training:

  • Jump from standstill with counter-movement and movement (with some start-up steps)
  • Leaps of all kinds in continuous succession
  • plyometrics
  • Continuous, fast and spring-loaded overload exercises
  • Sprint uphill, with towing and light overloading.

Bibliography:

  • The track and field coach's manual - Part one: general information, races and march - Studies and Research Center - pag. 21:38.

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