I’ve got a bit of a problem with traditional strength training.
Don’t get me wrong I love the old 5×5, 6×3 and all the other variations for building strength and power.
However, I’ve always got bored with training solely for strength and so tried mixing these in with my conditioning work.
What happened was, I ended up getting so sore following heavy strength sessions that I pretty much limped through the conditioning sessions, giving it 70% if I was lucky!
I then set about trying to find a way to work on strength and power without affecting my conditioning training. I was getting greedy and couldn’t settle for the traditional opinion that you have to work on different elements of physical performance one at a time.
And so Intense Conditioning was born and will be released on June 1st 2009.
As well as delivering 12 weeks of hardcore conditioning tests, I’ve combine plyometric work with isometric and low rep strength training to develop unstoppable conditioning and obvious increases in functional strength and power (never mind the shedding of body fat!)
Isometrics are very underrated and many people don’t even know what I’m talking about so hopefully this extract straight out of Intense Conditioning will help clear a few things up!
Read on then get ready for Intense Conditioning…
**************************************************************
When talking about muscle contractions there are essentially three categories of contraction.
The concentric contraction of the muscle describes the phase in which the muscle shortens under tension. For instance if you perform a bench press, your chest and tricep muscles (amongst others) shorten as they contract to move the bar upwards.
The eccentric contraction of the muscle describes the phase in which the muscle lengthens under tension. For instance, when you perform a squat, as you descend with the bar on your back, your hamstrings are lengthened whilst still under tension.
This leaves the third category – isometric contractions.
An isometric contraction of a muscle is when tension is produced in the muscle without any shortening or lengthening as described above.
An example of this would be if you stood in front of a wall then tried to push it over.
You would feel tension in most of the muscles in your upper body, yet no movement would actually be occurring.
You may well be wondering what the point of this training is!
First, it is an excellent way to stimulate neuromuscular adaptation* without the need for really heavy weights which can be impractical, inaccessible and require lengthy periods of coaching to be safe and effective – none of which are practical for a program delivered via the internet for people who want to be able to train anywhere!
(*Neuromuscular adaptation is improvement of the signals which run from your brain to the muscle you are asking to work. This causes more muscle fibres to be called into use thus increasing the amount of weight you are able to move and the speed at which you can do it.)
Second, performing concentric and eccentric contractions with heavy weights over a sustained period of time usually leads to an increase in muscle size.
Whilst this is highly desirable for some, for others it is actually a bad thing. Some ladies simply do not want increased muscle size, and some athletes are required to remain in a particular weight bracket for their competitions.
Also a tennis player, for example, has no need to increase muscle bulk and so must find ways to increase strength, power and ultimately speed around the court without adding extra weight which may have the opposite effect.
The third key reason for ensuring a percentage of any strength and conditioning program is taken up by isometric training, is that it enables the individual to work on those points in a movement in which they are weak.
For instance, when you press a dumbbell or kettlebell overhead, you will find that you are most likely to fail on the last rep at about the half way point of the movement.
Within a traditional repetition, you will pass through the weak point in under 0.1 seconds giving you little time to train your body to be strong at that point.
This can lead to very slow gains.
Using isometric training enables you to work at exactly the point you normally struggle at, thus focussing on the very spot which is the weak link.
Finally, the fourth key reason for using isometric training in this program is that heavy weight training can often lead to considerable muscle soreness. This will lead to sub-standard conditioning sessions in this program which won’t be tolerated!
This is not to say that isometrics are in any way better than typical methods of lifting, but in this particular program it makes perfect sense!
There are other advantages to isometric training*:
· Only simple apparatus is required
· You can fix the joint angle for maximum effect
· Smaller energy and time expenditure
· Greater potential for teaching and coaching as you are holding the same position for longer
There can however be drawbacks to isometric training*:
· It can tire the nervous system if used excessively
· If you have high blood pressure it is not recommended due to due to the holding of breath required during exerting maximum tension
· It will only enhance muscle performance close to the specific angle used in the isometric contraction. (This can however be overcome by performing repetitions at multiple angles).
· May reduce the functional range of dynamic movement and reduce the elasticity of soft tissue.
*Lists adapted from Siff.M (2003), Supertraining
It should however be noted that the potential drawbacks can be minimised through correct breathing and relaxation techniques as well as sufficient rest breaks.
These are explained fully in the Intense Conditioning program which enables you to ramp up your conditioning levels and increase strength and power at the same time. Keep an eye out!
