THE TRANSFORMATION OF STREGTH AND POWER
By David Westerman LMT, FAFS
Are we utilizing “authentic” principles of Function when designing our strength and power programs?
Is there a special population that might be missing two of the most important bio‐ motor abilities in their training and rehabilitation programs?
As a former collegiate and professional strength and conditioning coach, strength and power were (and are) the two most emphasized bio‐motor abilities.
Take, for example, the “power clean” in an athletic weight room. This is one of the most utilized exercises in “power” training. The typical strategy is to put as much weight on the bar and successfully lift it one to four times. Let’s see if we can use part of our litmus test of “authentic” strength and power principles to better understand its carryover to three‐d imensional Function.
· Is it three-dimensional? The power clean is a sagittal plane‐dominate
movement. Most activities require three‐dimensional movement in all
muscles and joints.
· Is it specific to activity? Considering most sports and activities have a
horizontal component to load, the power clean is m ostly a vertical load.
· What is the neural input and range involved? If the weight is too heavy and
we go through long ranges, we may actually slow down the neural input which
will inhibit our power and strength transfer to activity.
· Are we taking advantage of the Transformation Zone? The fact that most
of our power is utilized at the zone in which a direction is reversed in a
motion needs to be considered (i.e. – plyometrics).
Above are a few key questions that we can use for any population or exercise we choose to work with.
Typically, we associate strength and power with athletes. However, the population that may need it the most is our senior population. With the baby‐boom explosion, more and more of this growing population are getting injured and becoming more sedentary. Consider the following scenario and proposed training / treatment approach:
Scenario: A 75‐year‐old woman has balance problems when walking. Through
functional assessments, the practitioner finds abdominal muscles are weak
and significantly lack the ability to move in all three planes of motion.
Potential strategy: Position client in a small stride position with the left leg
forward in front of a wall for support and as a target. To create a load in the
abdominals we want to reach with the left shoulder posterior (backward) at
shoulder (height) towards the wall in a short range of motion at a moderate
to fast speed.
Rationale: This facilitates tri‐plane loading of the abdominals in the
Transformational Zone of walking with an exercise that replicates the activity,
while creating more power that will transform into better strength of the entire
kinetic chain by using a short (safe) range and increased speed.
Whether you seek strength or power, our strategies and exercises need to be based on “authentic” principles of Function.