High versus Moderate Load Training: Impact on Strength and Power

A primary objective in the weight room is to increase maximal strength in our athletes. This is because of the strong link between force production and factors such as performance, resistance to injury and even in limiting recovery time between sessions. Relative strength (i.e., 1RM/body mass) appears to be particularly important for speed and jumping …

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Does dehydration impact resistance exercise performance?

Dehydration is known to negatively affect performance and contribute to cardiac strain in endurance sports like running and cycling. Dehydration can also become an issue for team-sport athletes, particularly when competing outside in hot temperatures for prolonged periods of time. Factors such as high body mass and heavy equipment (i.e., football pads and helmets) can …

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Strength and Power Impaired Following Various Conditioning Protocols

Due to time and equipment constraints, coaches often hold strength workouts and conditioning workouts on the same day despite this being less than ideal as a result of the interference effect. With smaller weight rooms (or bigger teams), coaches will sometimes split the team into groups and have one group start in the weight room …

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Relationship between maximal strength and reactive ability in athletes

A major reason why coaches want to make their athletes stronger is because strength underpins performance in numerous athletic movement skills such as running, jumping and change of direction. Essentially, the more force an athlete can produce into the ground, the better. There is also increasing evidence to suggest that stronger athletes are less likely …

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Plyometrics before, after or mixed in with strength work?

Both strength work and plyometrics are typical training modalities that coaches use to enhance performance in field and court sports like soccer, basketball and football. Traditionally, plyometric training is performed early in the workout, following the warmup, but before resistance training. However, some have sequenced training in the reverse order and perform strength work before …

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Lasting effects of eccentric vs. concentric training protocols

The three main muscle actions of the body include concentric, eccentric and isometric contractions. Concentric muscle actions involve force production as the muscle fibers shorten, as in the upward phase of the squat (knee and hip extension). Eccentric muscle actions involve force production as the muscle fibers lengthen, as in the downward phase of the …

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Chain-loaded squat warm-ups enhance 1RM

The pre-training warm-up serves a variety of important purposes. For example, the increase in body temperature and purposeful movement through full ranges of motion prepare the body for intense activity that lower injury risk. With the appropriate warm-up protocol, we can even prime the nervous system to transiently increase performance. We’ve seen this numerous times …

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Will increasing lower body strength improve tackling ability?

Most coaches will agree that in-season strength and power training is critical for maintaining performance in team-sports such as soccer, football, basketball, rugby and so forth. Performance characteristics such as sprinting, rapidly changing direction and jumping are all impacted by lower body strength and power. Failing to address this during the season can therefore result …

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Effects of daily 1RM squat training on strength and body composition

Overtraining occurs when the training stimulus exceeds the individual’s ability to adapt and recover from it. The volume and intensity thresholds for overtraining will vary for each individual. Factors such as training age, work capacity, strength level, nutrition, sleep quality and so forth, will all affect how much training one can tolerate. Traditional training wisdom …

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Should you train the day after a game?

One of the challenges of being a performance coach with a team is planning training, particularly when in-season. Travel schedules and a busy competition schedule make this especially difficult. A common question that many coaches have is whether resistance training on the day after a competition effects recovery. On the one hand, coaches are rightfully …

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