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Wednesday, July 19, 2017

Strength Training

“I have worked hard in the weight room, I don’t want to lose it, what do I do now?”









Why Is Strength Training Important for Athletes?
1-    Strength training will help the athlete prevent injuries.
2-    Strength training will improve athletic performance- the athlete will be able to move better and jump higher.
3-    Strength training will help athletes to be able to perform specific skills of their sports better.
4-    Strength training will help athletes be able to perform for longer periods of time.

What Are Basics of Weight Training?
1-    Lifting three to four days per week is needed to build strength.
2-    Rest days are important for muscle building.
3-    Diet is important for muscle building.
4-    When starting, it is important to use light weight and develop proper lifting techniques. Weight lifting is not the reason athletes “get hurt” in the weight room, it is improper technique being used.
5-    Always have a spotter who helps you with the weight but who also helps you identify if your technique is getting sloppy.
6-    You improve strength by lifting to muscular exhaustion. If the weight is lifted with ease, you are not challenging the muscle.
7-    Lifting two days per week will not be building muscle, it will be maintaining your strength.
8-    An important part of strength training is core development. Many experts would argue that this is the most important part of a strength program.
9-    If you are a multi-sport athlete, for 9 months you are “in-season” lifting just once or twice per week, then you are not building strength.
10- Lifting is not “an extra.” Many HS programs have their athletes lifting in PE classes the entire school year. Few successful HS athletes are not involved actively lifting year round.
11- Athletes (especially females) are not going to get “bulky” lifting, they will look firmer and more fit.

What Happens When An Athlete Does Not Lift?
1-    “Training” refers to period athlete is lifting. “Detraining” is any period when an athlete is not lifting.
2-    Studies show an athlete will start to lose strength in 2-3 weeks of not lifting.
3-    Studies show female athletes will lose muscle quicker than male athletes.
4-    Studies show athletes who lift for two months, then stop lifting for two months will lose 50% of the strength gained.
5-    If an athlete is not able to lift, they can slow down their muscle lose by doing body weight exercises and core exercises on a regular basis.

What Does This Mean for the Athlete?
1-    If you have periods of time where you are not given access to the HS weight room three days per week-
a.     You may go to another place to lift.
b.     You want to get access at least two days per week to maintain.
2-    If you have periods of time where you are not given access to the weight room even twice per week. You need to do body weight exercise and core exercises on your own to maintain your strength level.  
3-    Always remember- 3 to Build, 2 to Maintain!!

Workout Program to Slow Strength Loss
10 Pushups
15 Squats- body weight
Ab Exercise of Choice

Repeat the Pushups, Squats, Abs- 5 times
Complete the workout- 5 times per week



How Fast Do You Lose Strength After You Stop Lifting Weights
By Michelle Matte, October 15, 2015
Livestrong.com

Muscle Hypertrophy and Strength
When you lift heavy weights, the overload placed on the muscle causes individual muscle fibers to adapt by increasing in diameter, resulting in an overall increase in muscle size. The storage capacity within the muscle cells for creatine phosphate and glycogen, the fundamental fuel sources for ATP synthesis, also increases. Other adaptations that take place include stronger bones and joints and improved neuropathways between the central nervous system and muscle motor neurons. But holding on to these changes takes work.

 

Detraining Effect

When you stop exercising, the adaptations that resulted from all your hard work begin to disappear, a process called detraining. The Human Kinetics publication "Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning" defines detraining as "Cessation of anaerobic training or a substantial reduction in frequency, volume, intensity, or any combination of those three variables that results in decrements in performance and loss of some of the physiological adaptations associated with resistance training." In other words, when you snooze, you lose.

 

The Detraining Process

According to the American College of Sports Medicine's publication "Primary Care Sports Medicine," a "swift and significant" detraining effect occurs for athletes after only two weeks of exercise cessation, with a measurably "significant reduction in work capacity." The book "Physiology of Sport and Exercise" by Wilmore, Costill and Kenney concurs that for highly trained individuals, the detraining process is rapid. However, a total return to pre-training status takes much longer for exercise neophytes, possibly as long as seven months to lose gains from a nine-week weight training regimen.




Detraining vs. Reduced Training

While a complete cessation of training will cause significant losses in strength, a reduced frequency and volume of training combined with increased intensity has been shown to be effective for maintaining strength levels. In a study of 46 physically active men published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, a 16-week strength training program was followed by four weeks of total cessation by some of the subjects, while others continued with a 'tapering" regimen consisting of decreased total volume of exercise, but increased intensity. The group who totally stopped training saw a marked decrease in overall strength while the tapered group actually saw increases in strength due to the higher intensity.

Holding on to Strength

If you must be away from the gym, look for opportunities to do small amounts of high-intensity exercise. Pullups, pushups, and step-ups all work multiple muscles and can be performed with minimal or no equipment. Returning to your full training regimen will be easier and a lot less painful if you don't allow your body to totally detrain.


What Happens to Your Body When You Stop Working Out?   
By Amy Roberts, August 7, 2014
Women’s Health

THE SITUATION: You had a crazy month at work and stopped your usual four-day-a-week gym habit cold turkey.
THE EFFECT ON YOUR BODY: Doing a mix of strength training and cardio is optimal for weight loss or control, muscle building, and aerobic health. Stop for a month, and you may notice that some areas get softer, that you're not able to lug as many heavy groceries, and that you get winded a little faster from taking the stairs. "In a study of beginners who exercised for two months, their strength increased by 46 percent, and when they stopped training for two months, they lost 23 percent—half the gains they'd made," says exercise scientist Wayne Westcott, Ph.D., who points out that they were still ahead of where they'd be had they never trained at all. Further, the more fit you were to start, the slower the loss; a triathlete on a break may only drop five to 10 percent of her fitness level in a month or two. Still, when getting back into it, go easy. For strength training, start with about 75 percent of the resistance you'd been using—and increase as you feel you can. You’ll be back to where you were in probably half the length of time that you took off.

In the Gym Strength and Conditioning


 

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Core Exercises











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