| Strength Training It Shares Common Ground With All Sports |
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| Dianne Vives, CSCS of Optimum Performance Systems couldn't have used more appropriate words, when addressing the issue of strength, when she said: "Functional Strength is strength you can use." As a junior runningback at Arizona State University, I was 5'8 " tall and weighed 173 pounds. Jon Cole coached the weightmen on our track and field team. He helds the World Power Lifting Record in both Heavy Weight and Super Heavy Weight Divisions. I had never worked with free weights, nor with a person of Jon's caliber. My body weight increased 25 lbs, my 40 yard dash time decreased from 4.50 to 4.40 [official]. My strength increased, significantly. Why was I able to gain weight, improve speed and increase strength? Was it functional strength?...Yes! |
I coached a small receiver that was 5'8" tall and 145 pounds. His fastest 40 yard dash time was 4.69. He had never worked with free weights, nor was he ever exposed to the regimented training he received from me. The results: He gained 10 lbs. and improved his 40 yard dash time to 4.47. Ultimately, he was drafted by and played for the former Super Bowl Champion Washington Redskins. He currently the Wide Receiver's Coach for the 2001 Fiesta Bow Champion Oregon State Beavers . Eric Yarber is his name. Was it functional strength? You Bet! As previously mentioned, "Functional strength is strength you can use".. in competition. Functional strength involves a regimen of exercises designed specifically to improve performance. Vern Gambetta, President of Gambetta Sports Training Systems developed The Performance Paradigm. This paradigm consists of three components, which are key to performance: Force Production, which looks at things that produce force, Force Reduction, which looks at those elastic components such as joints, ligaments and muscles...those components which absorb force, and Proprioception, which involves feedback from receptors in the joints, ligaments, and muscles... biological memory components. The key is transferring kinetic energy from force produced to the recipient of the force. Once received, and absorbed; kinetic energy travels back through the body and released. |
| Multi-joint exercises builds functional strength. The Clean and Jerk among others illustrates Vern Gambetta's performance paradigm. The animated lifter employs such multi-joint movements as the ankles, knees and hip flexors when bending or absorbing force and employs ankles, knees, hip extensors, shoulders, elbows and wrists when extending or applying force such as the case when performing the clean and jerk. These movements are similar to those used to lift a box from the floor to shelf above. Placing a bar on the shoulders and performing split squat-jumps in an alternating fashion simulates the downward push action of the hip, leg, ankle and foot during the drive phase when running. Building functional strength would coincide with the performance paradigm. Force is produced, absorbed and stored in the memory component of nerves and muscles. The hips and the shoulders are key joints when absorbing and transferring kinetic energy. As strength and conditioning coach at Los Angeles Valley College, I talk to athletes about exercises, which produce natural explosive-movments. These exercises must be sport specific. Just as coaches urge athletes to emphasize good technique during athletic competition; the same must be emphasized in strength training. The primary emphasis must focus on transferring kinetic energy from the ground through the hips through the shoulders to the sport object. The primary emphasis of strength building is repetition and the speed of the lift rather than the amount of weight used. Conclusion: Strength train for PERFORMANCE...not for perception. |
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