Three Essential Training Phases For Explosive Sports Movement

Many athletes are willing to devote the time and effort it takes to become a Champion. So for many athletes the question is why does one athlete's training program produce much better results than another's?

The answer lies in the fact that the best training programs effectively implement Stabilization, Strength and Power phases of training as they apply to an individual's sport. This article will define each phase, and provide an understanding of how implementing each of them will lead to explosive power.

Phase #1: Stabilization. def. - the ability of the body to maintain postural balance and support joints during movement. To maintain correct posture during all movements (NASM, 2004).

Simply put for athletes, stabilization means that they are able to maintain the proper body positioning and balance to generate force while they move. I will use the example of a Baseball Batter to illustrate.

As a batter stands in the batter's box he takes his stance. Stabilization in this example means that the batter is able to hold his head, hands, shoulders, back, core and legs in the best position from which he is able to produce force (strength), creating his swing.

The resulting conclusion that effective trainers come to is that if a baseball player is not able to hold his body in the proper position in the batter's box, the force he generates will be mis-applied in his swing will be ineffective. As a result, Effective trainers design the Batters first training phase around the ability to stabilize just prior to swinging the bat.

Phase #2 Strength (maximum). def.- is the maximum amount of force that a muscle can produce in a single voluntary effort, regardless of how fast the load moves (NASM, 2004).

For the athlete this means that they are able to produce force from muscle contraction during movement. It is obviously true that athletes move constantly during their games. They must use the proper muscles to produce strength while they move. Therefore, Effective Trainers consider the movements made during the athlete's sport and create a Strength training program that increases their strength in these movements.

Let's go back to the Baseball Batter. For the batter there are specific muscles that must activate, in a specific order and at specific time to create an effective swing. The best training program is one that has the batter engage in sets of exercises that mimic the movement the batter creates during the swing. Next training adds resistance to the movement to create increased muscle fiber contraction and muscle endurance.

Therefore it does not make sense for a baseball player to only participate in exercises that do not replicate game movements.

Simply put, bench presses and lat pull downs will not help a batter to increase his strength during his swing.

Phase #3 Power.def.- is the ability of the neuromuscular system to generate force as quickly as possible (NASM, 2004).

For the athlete, power is the ability to add speed to the force created by his strength to achieve explosive power during movement. Once the athlete has trained himself to maintain the proper body positioning prior to movement, and to produce force in the specific movements of his sport, they must train to add speed to the movement.

Let's one more time consider the Baseball Batter. It is not enough for the batter to be able to swing the bat with the proper technique. They must be able to do it quickly enough to have the bat meet the ball before it passes them. Remember, the pitcher's mound is only 60 feet away, and the ball is travelling at speeds between 65-90 mph. The correct power training will include exercises that are completed at maximum speed, in the movements that a batter completes during his swing.

In this case the batter would need to complete power movement in all three planes of motion, specifically while rotating at the trunk.

Simply put just doing squat jumps would not be enough to enable explosive power during his swing.

In conclusion, you have probably noticed that the training protocol outlined above has the consistent theme of utilizing exercises that train the athlete in the movements they perform during their game. The days of simply walking into the gym and doing bench presses and curls, followed by sets of sprints needs to become a thing of the past. If you are an athlete you can make the best use of your time and efforts using this phased approach.