Strength
Strength is an ability. It works for everyone. We need to be
strong in most situations. We develop true strength in the weight room.
Strength is the ability to produce a maximal force. Improve
this ability and improve your life. Who do you think is more capable of
producing enough force to absorb a car accident a strength athlete or a
marathon runner? Don’t get me wrong the fastest marathon runner is a lot
stronger than the average person. This athlete is all about sustained force
production not maximal force production. If they practice strength work,
proper, they are more capable of sustaining force production and better at
marathon. Strength is a matter of activation pattern more than muscle mass. Our
body adds muscle to the system so it can activate at a lower rate and frequency.
Until the neural network is established strength is not improved from muscular
growth (hypertrophy). Down regulation is all that has happened. Any strength
gains happened previously. It takes months for new muscle to establish a
neurological connection sufficient for willful activation. Then and only then
can more strength be gained. After the coordination is set again and again.
Lifters who are relegated to a weight class practice low rep sets to avoid
weight gain. Coordination is how they gain strength. There are different kinds
of hypertrophy. Sarcoplasmic hypertrophy is “the pump” we have all read so much
about. The sarcoplasmic reticulum is the part of the cell where energy
production takes place. This growth is very, very, temporary. Take the stimulus
away, high reps, and the growth goes away with the fluids involved in energy
production. Myofibrillar hypertrophy happens when we add contractile proteins
to the system and add muscle density. This growth is more permanent than
sarcoplasmic hypertrophy.
Do I need to be this strong? You bet you do. If I am capable
of squatting with 100 and you can squat with 200 you are more capable in all
things we both practice. If you sit at a desk all day you will be better at it
once you get stronger. If you stand all day, or night, at work it will be less
stressful if we make you stronger. An emergency room doctor once told me I
would have died had my body not been so strong. There was an imprint of my head
and shoulders in the windshield of my old car. I only had a scratch on my
cheek. I lifted the next day. The car was totaled. Exercise is stress. Training
is a planned, controlled, stress. We plan and make changes so the systems are
coordinated in a specific way. We avoid osteoporosis. We make our posture better. We are more
capable in all situations if we make the body stronger. More strength means
more ability.
There are many tricks of the trade in training these days.
“I don’t need to squat double bodyweight.” “I don’t need to bench press my
bodyweight.” “I will use a kettle bell. It is heavy enough.” True, you do not
need to lift at a world class level to get through your easy life. We would all
benefit from doubling our efforts in the weight room though. Get stronger and make
everything a little easier. We would all be much healthier if we took the same
zeal applied to running in the 1970s and spent the time lifting and getting
stronger. Any weight lifted is only appropriate for improvement for a maximum
of six weeks. The neurological adaptations happen well within this timeframe.
After adaptations occur the systems down regulate if the stress stays the same.
After down regulation occurs the stress becomes negative again. We call it
progressive resistance for a reason. We need to gain strength in the same way
most people go after money. Get as much as you can because you will retire
someday. That day comes sooner than you think.
Get stronger because your health and happiness depend on it!
docsgym@live.com
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