Power Research 1

[Guest guest]

Dr Yessis kindly has granted permission to share extracts from this

interesting article on power training with you from his " Soviet Sports

Review " . I believe that he still has back copies if any of you are

interested in obtaining them (dryessis@...)

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Criterion of Power

U Eremin

Track and Field, USSR 1971

Speed-strength preparation has always been one of the central points in the

theory and practice of track and field. This is very natural, since in the

last ten years progress in sports achievements was accomplished essentially

through rational systems of developing the athletes' motor qualities. Basic

attention was given to regimes of exercise execution, amounts of loading and

the number of exercise repetitions in one attempt. It should be emphasized

that in the research a significant area was devoted to exercises with the

barbell, one of the basic means of specialized speed-strength preparation of

track and field athletes in various specializations.

As in any scientific-practical study, researchers frequently relate the same

varied ideas. Without dwelling on the fine points of these polemic questions,

it is necessary to note that in practice today there are recommendations

(that the load be 30-95% of recorded weight) which cannot satisfy practice

and bring in an element of spontaneity in one of the most important

categories of track and field athlete preparation.

Analysis of the scientific-methodological literature shows that most

recommendations devoted to strength and speedstrength preparation in the

process of exercising with weights are based on research carried out in

laboratory conditions, or on examples from the sport of weightlifting.

We concede to the needed basic methods for preparation of the weightlifter,

but it is necessary to single out a few factors. In weightlifting, exercise

with the barbell is a form of sport and a basic means of preparation. The

greatest task in preparation of the weightlifter is lifting the maximum load.

This logically requires inclusion of a load, similar in nature, in the

training. In track and field, the barbell is only a means of preparation.

Here the basic problem is choosing weight loads which will precisely

correspond with the abili- ties of the athlete.

However, the ways of executing the weight loads are determined by the

particular event. In most track and field events, it is necessary to display

strength in micro-intervals of time, and so the formation of this ability

should be given the main time in training. In this work, exercises with

weights should occupy one of the leading roles. Aside from this, the

effectiveness of preparation of not only the nerve-muscle apparatus of the

athlete, but, also, the effectiveness of the training process as a whole

depends on how precisely the weight load is chosen and with what speed the

exercise is executed.

Specialized studies were carried out to determine objective criteria in

choosing optimal loads. The recording device used was the conversion

mechanograph constructed by Lemeyko-Baranova. This device allows for very

precise recording of the path travelled by a point on the body, or barbell in

time. In Drawing 1, recordings of various movements with the barbell are

presented.

In this study we first looked at the maximum speed of executing an exercise

without loading. Later, the weight load increased to 20, 40, 60, 80, 100, 120

percent, and so on, of the body weight of the sportsman. From the

mechanograph indices of power which the athlete developed with each load were

calculated (Drawing 2).

In the drawing it can be seen that in the process of increasing the weight

there is a progressive increase in power of the movement developed by the

athlete in each of the exercises. However, this continues only to a

determined amount of load. Further increases in weight lead to a significant

drop in power developed by the athlete. Execution of the exercise acquires a

sharply expressed Olympic Press type character.

It has been established that speed in executing an exercise with a load is an

indispensable condition for increasing the power of the movement and the

corresponding level of the work load of the muscles. Electromyographic

studies by

I.P. Ratova (1960) showed that in executing exercises with various weight

loads, but with maximum speed, the electrical activity of the muscles is

practically the same.

Our data indirectly substantiate this: the power developed by the sportsman

progressively increases only to that moment when there is no significant drop

in the speed of the movement. Because of this, in the process of working with

weights it is necessary to strive for maximum speed in executing the exercise.

Logical analysis and mathematical-statistical analysis of the experimental

data showed that precise or even orientative recommendations as to the weight

load to be used is not possible. This applies to the separate events in track

and field the same as it does to groups of sportsmen. Individual features and

the level of specialized preparation bring in substantial corrections in the

indices with which we are concerned (Drawing 3).

Expressed on the graph are the accomplishments of two athletes of the same

preparation in two different track and field events (hammer throw and triple

jump). As can be seen from the data, the optimal load for each athlete is

between 40 to 140 percent from his given weight. In connection with this, we

can talk only of the level of preparation of each of these sportsmen. Uniting

them is not justified, not according to their specialization and not

according to the level of sports mastery. A strict individualized approach is

necessary in the process of analyzing the movement with an aim to choosing

the load most fully answering to the level of preparation of the athlete.

........

Arbitrary choice of load can lead to difficult-to-correct consequences as the

load will not actively function on the nerve-muscle apparatus of the athlete.

The mechanographic method of research used by us can be used as a basic

experimental design. At the same time, we very well understood that in

practice a simple and trustworthy method of quantitative evaluation of

exercises with the barbell is necessary.

It was possible to work out such a method. We proposed a conditional index

called the " Coefficient of Neuromuscular Activity " (CNMA).

CNMA = (M1 + 0.75*M2)*H / (0.43t) kg.m /sec

..... where M1 is the mass of the barbell; M2 is the actual mass of the

athlete; H is the path of the barbell over the completed work exercise in

meters; and t, the time of a full cycle (going into a squat and rising).

Consideration should be given to the fact that tile time of accomplishing the

work regime (rising) progressively increases with an increase in load:

0-0.43t; 40 percent of body weight - 0.44t; 60 percent - 0.45t; ... 120

percent - 0.48t, and so on.

As can be seen from the formula, all calculations and measurements are

extremely simple and can be carried out in the usual training period. In

rising from a deep squat, the path travelled is determined in the following

way. It is necessary to measure with a centimeter tape the position of the

neck of the barbell from the ground in two extreme positions of the

athlete--standing, with the heels on the ground, and at the moment of the

deep squat. The difference will be correlated to the traveled path during the

rise.

Total time of the entire cycle is fixed by a stopwatch. More precise data can

be obtained with an increased number of squats. Generally 2-3 cycles are

sufficient. It is then necessary to divide the time into the number of squats

and only after this to carry out the calculations according to the formula.

Repeated parallel recording of the barbell movement with the mechanograph and

the above-described method showed fully correlative material. The simplicity

and operativeness of the measurement allow the trainer, in the course of one

or two lessons, to elucidate for each of his charges the optimal weight load

in this or another exercise.

Calculations of the developed power during jumps from a half squat and deep

squat can be carried out with recording of the movement with devices of the

mechanograph type, or with the use of an electro-contact system. However, for

analysis of much experimental material on jumping from a half squat, we

recommend an increase in the load of 20 percent (from body weight) in

relation to the established weight for the squat. For example, if we showed

that the athlete's maximum power in fast squats develops with a weight of 80

percent of body weight, then we recommend use of a 60 percent load in the

process of jumping from a deep squat and in jumping from a half-squat--100

percent of body weight. In this, the aim of the sportsman should be to

achieve maximum speed of leg extension in performing the determined jump

height.

A little bit on the number of exercise repetitions in one approach. Two

calculation variants can be used here. The first and most precise way is

calculation of each of two consecutive squats. To do this, it is necessary to

have two stopwatches, or one two-handed stopwatch. Time of the first and

third pairs of squats are measured. If the mean power of the third pair is

significantly less than the first, a repeat test is done and the time is

fixed for the 2-3 and 4-5 squats.

The second way is less precise, but faster. The consecutiveness of the

measurements do not change; indices of power are not calculated and only the

time of overcoming the work regime is determined (see above formula). As in

the first and so in the second case, it is necessary to draw a graph.

Generally the number of squats at maximum tempo (with a precisely fixed load)

various in a range of 3-7 times. In jumping out of a deep squat, it is

necessary to have an even number of squats, but in jumping out of a half

squat, it is necessary to increase it by 1.5-2 times.......

The principle behind calculation of power in the squat with a load can be

used for expressing the optimal load inthe bench press (for throwers). In

this, it is necessary to remember that the weight of the upper arm, forearm,

and hand is approximately 12 percent of body weight, but the time needed to

execute the work regime (straightening of the arm) is 48-50 percent of the

total time of the cycle (flexionextension). These changes are carried into

the above worked out formula. The remaining calculations remain without

change.

The method proposed for calculation of power and the number of exercise

repetitions in the process of barbell work can be used in two ways: for

evaluation of the level of preparation of the athlete and for directing his

specialized preparation.

Today the basic criteria for evaluation of strength preparation of track and

field athletes appears to be his maximum achievement in one of the three

weightlifting events and in the squat with the barbell. Tied in with this, it

is completely natural that each athlete strives to include exercises with

maximum weight loads in his training. However, after a determined interval of

time, the growth of achievement slows down (first with the sprinters and

jumpers) and, later, stops completely. For further increases it is necessary

to get a significant increase in muscle mass and its corresponding weight, as

well as having to increase the weight work out duration several times.

It is quite natural that this is contrary to logic and advisability in

constructing the training session; weightlifting in track and field is not an

aspect of specialization, but only a means of preparation. Convinced that

further progress with weights is tied in with full reorientation of the

training, the coach and athlete should look at barbell exercises only in

conjunction with the maintenance of strength and nerve-muscle tonus. This

briefly described method, which almost all track and field athletes go

through, shows how exercises with weights, though being a powerful means of

affecting the athlete's organism, muddles the palliative.

The direction of working out with weights, where the athlete works with

precisely set loads (according to the index of power being developed)

characteristically improves other training programs. Here the basic task is

striving not for maximum weight, but toward minimum time of exercise

execution; that is, striving toward maximum speed of movement.

With such an approach to exercises with weights over a span of many years,

there will be a significant effect on the nerve-muscle apparatus of track and

field athletes, raising all the more the high level of his speed-strength

preparation.

A practical program can take the following form, assuming that the greatest

power of an athlete is developed with a load which is 80 percent of his

weight and that the maximum number of squats with this weight is four times

in series. Thus, the training session can be as follows:

1. Warm-up with medium and heavy weights.

2. Squats, 2x4 with load equal to 60 percent of body weight, 4x4 - 80

percent, 2x4 - 100 percent of body weight (after each series there is full

restoration).

3. Jumping up from a half squat, 2x8 - 80 percent, 4x8 - 100 percent, and 2x8

- 120 percent.

Only when the athlete is on this level and works with loads which most fully

respond to his capabilities and preparation is it possible to use a stopwatch

when executing the entire cycle of movements. As trials have shown, this

appears as a powerful means of raising the speed activeness of the sportsman.

Upon expiration of the determined number of sessions, the trainer explains

that in the athlete there transpired significant shifts in preparation and

that the greatest power that he can now develop with a load is not at 80

percent, but at 90 percent, or 100 percent of body weight and proceeds to

make the necessary changes in the training program.

All of this does not, to any degree, contradict sessions with great weight

loads. However, such sessions can be looked at only as a special program of

general physical preparation. As soon as strength preparation is

accomplished, it is advisable to go into more intense forms of work in a

specialized direction. Striving to execute exercises with optimum loads and

with maximum speed, aside from a favorable effect on the nerve-muscle

apparatus, will promote formation and stabilization of the athlete's

psychological setting to maximum speed in execution of movements requiring

significant efforts.

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Dr Mel C Siff

Denver, USA

Supertraining/