Strenght Training, What is it? and how do I get It?
October 26, 2009
In this article I will discuss strength training and the means to get stronger and leaner and what it means to the athlete. First things first though. We need to understand what the different types of fibers are and what they do, Muscle fiber has different functions and we'll discuss what there are now..
Fiber Types:
There are 3 basic Types of muscle fibers, Type I, Type IIa and Type IIb. Type I muscle fiber is slow twitch or commonly called "red" fiber. Type IIa is fast twitch -intermediate- fibers, These fibers are a lot bigger and stronger then Type I muscle fiber. Type IIb fibers you dont train for, they are there to support life so we wont discuss them in this article since they have no real baring on strength training.
Type I fibers: How do we train them:
This type of fiber has the best endurance and is the dominate fiber type in athletes that engage in activities that require sustained muscular endurance like marathon runners. Generally They will train in the higher end of the rep range 10 or more, Very little Type IIa fibers are used.
Type IIa fibers: The Strength fibers!!
These are the fibers that the strength athletes use. They are very strong and fast. These fibers are dominate in power-lifters and sprinters and any sport that requires a fast burst of strength and speed. These muscles are best trained in the lower rep range under 6 reps per set...
Not all programs are the same
Here in the good old US of A.. The typical way personal trainers design their programs is to use "progressive resistance" or "periodization". Well there is nothing wrong with that, there is better ways though. The main issue with periodzation is that if you keep adding weight it will eventually stall or go lower when you reach the over training stages. The worst case scenario is you get injured and have to rest for awhile and all the gains you made are lost.
How I train my Clients:
Lets think about boxing for a minute.. When a heavyweight boxer throws a punch he is very fast and powerful. If you think about that you'll notice two things, 1: their strong and have lots of power 2: their very fast.. Now lets look are strength training. If you bench with such a heavy weight that you can only get a rep or two done. You will most likely be very slow. Now if you lower that weight to about 50-60% of your 1RM. You will become more powerfull. More power means a stronger athlete. Look at how a sprinter is built compared to how a marathon runner is built. Like the Eastern block strength coaches learned is that explosive training makes better athletes and thats why they dominate the US. and that needs to stop. I use a system much like Simmons uses and Tate uses, But I also took things that some of the other great Eastern strength coaches use. My training consist of 4 days a week Mon-Tues and Thurs-Fri, Two upper body days two lower body days.. One speed day for both and one balls to the wall, all out days.. since there is no training on the weekend there is a min-deload period so over training is virtually eliminated so gains come steadily with out the need for layoffs. You will be surprised of the gains you can make when you apply this type of training.
W.A Chapman Jr. ISSA CFT,SPN,SSC
Fiber Types:
There are 3 basic Types of muscle fibers, Type I, Type IIa and Type IIb. Type I muscle fiber is slow twitch or commonly called "red" fiber. Type IIa is fast twitch -intermediate- fibers, These fibers are a lot bigger and stronger then Type I muscle fiber. Type IIb fibers you dont train for, they are there to support life so we wont discuss them in this article since they have no real baring on strength training.
Type I fibers: How do we train them:
This type of fiber has the best endurance and is the dominate fiber type in athletes that engage in activities that require sustained muscular endurance like marathon runners. Generally They will train in the higher end of the rep range 10 or more, Very little Type IIa fibers are used.
Type IIa fibers: The Strength fibers!!
These are the fibers that the strength athletes use. They are very strong and fast. These fibers are dominate in power-lifters and sprinters and any sport that requires a fast burst of strength and speed. These muscles are best trained in the lower rep range under 6 reps per set...
Not all programs are the same
Here in the good old US of A.. The typical way personal trainers design their programs is to use "progressive resistance" or "periodization". Well there is nothing wrong with that, there is better ways though. The main issue with periodzation is that if you keep adding weight it will eventually stall or go lower when you reach the over training stages. The worst case scenario is you get injured and have to rest for awhile and all the gains you made are lost.
How I train my Clients:
Lets think about boxing for a minute.. When a heavyweight boxer throws a punch he is very fast and powerful. If you think about that you'll notice two things, 1: their strong and have lots of power 2: their very fast.. Now lets look are strength training. If you bench with such a heavy weight that you can only get a rep or two done. You will most likely be very slow. Now if you lower that weight to about 50-60% of your 1RM. You will become more powerfull. More power means a stronger athlete. Look at how a sprinter is built compared to how a marathon runner is built. Like the Eastern block strength coaches learned is that explosive training makes better athletes and thats why they dominate the US. and that needs to stop. I use a system much like Simmons uses and Tate uses, But I also took things that some of the other great Eastern strength coaches use. My training consist of 4 days a week Mon-Tues and Thurs-Fri, Two upper body days two lower body days.. One speed day for both and one balls to the wall, all out days.. since there is no training on the weekend there is a min-deload period so over training is virtually eliminated so gains come steadily with out the need for layoffs. You will be surprised of the gains you can make when you apply this type of training.
W.A Chapman Jr. ISSA CFT,SPN,SSC
Posted by William Aron. Posted In : Strength Training
