INCREASE YOUR RATE OF FORCE PRODUCTION NOT YOUR STRENGTH
BY
Bryan Meyer
PES, HFI, PES, CES
www.bmeyertraining.com
(sorry for the grammer I did this pretty quick and put up for client)
(sorry for the grammer I did this pretty quick and put up for client)
I hope the title got your attention and what is your opinion on this? I do fully believe in sports your rate of force production (RFP) is often overlooked but also agree strength is import but not the end all be all in your program design. Everyone has various methods to making their athletes stronger and faster and I wanted to share a few ideas and thoughts that have worked for me. I'm always trying to improve my athletes and get them to where they need to be faster each off season. Does your trainer or performance coach do the same program each off-season or have them progressed to help you progress?
First, strength is by most defined as the ability to produce force at a given speed. Most will agree with this but there is more to being an athlete then being strong, correct? Strength does translate to increase power but is that all you need to do to improve your performance in the off-season? For most athletes no, but how can I get my athletes strong, flexible, and increase their rate of RFP? Ok, lets add some plyometrics that will help correct? Yes, up to a point now lets look deeper into designing programs for athletes.
Some studies will say .3 to .4 seconds is about the time required to get max levels of force. What do most lifts require? Basic movements or lifts are about .5 to .6 seconds before they are completed. In sports the ability to produce your force the fastest is the difference between winning and losing. Some still think that strength is the only component that needs to be addressed. So am I teaching my body to move at this speed? Fiber makeup and your genetics have a lot to do with this but that is beyond the scoop of this article so I'm not going to dive into that topic. Here are what most programs address.
1. Corrective patterns and increase range of motion
2. Limit Strength or max force you can voluntary apply
3. Relative Strength or strength per pd of bodyweight
4. Starting Strength or ability to turn on as many muscle fibers as possible when movement begins
All are great but we have seen athletes who have great relative strength and starting strength but have trouble generating force quickly. The RFP is even more important the higher level of athletics you get into. Things to think about before you focus on RFP.
1. Joint movement and deceleration strength
2. Sport specific movements? Does the central nervous system understand the difference between sport specific movements or just RFP training? I don't think so and moving quickly is moving quickly to put it simple.
3. Higher loads to get more units recruited but then your at a mechanical disadvantage in early phases of the lift.
4. Light loads are not enough fiber recruitment used or learned.
5. No one program works for every athlete and for example Dwight Howards program is very different from an athlete who is not very powerful or has a low RFP, which is not the case with Dwight. Every program is different pending on the athletes mak up.
Hopefully your not fully confused but this has given you a few things to think about when your training. What does the athlete have and what do they need? Now back to the topic of the athlete that needs to increase RFP, which is most athletes. All of the sentences after each number need to be addressed before beginning RFP focus. I have to say it, if you can't control your body weight don't add resistance as a general rule.
THE PROGRAM
Changing the resistance or variable resistance is a method that works. The use of bands and chains is not new to the world of training athletes but how it is used is something that is not thought about enough. Remember you have the greatest mechanical advantage at certain points in any lift. By increasing the tension (weight of chains or bands) where athlete is more efficient you decrease the deceleration part. Remember the deceleration is not our focus in this stage of training, we already did that. We want increase RFP not deceleration, which happens in most strength training. Lets look at the single leg elevated squat/lunge. When athlete is lower, chains or bands are not at highest tension or weight. When the athlete is coming up resistance increases and at this time the athlete has a mechanical advantage to accelerate through the movement, increasing RFP. What about plyometrics? I'm a big believe in them but they only use your bodyweight. By adding the chains and bands you teach your body to move quicker with increased resistance, where the body has an advantage. The resistance to get max. power is much great then just your body weight. I'm sure some will argue but no one way of training is the best. Using a combination is always the best method but it must fit into the athletes program. Variable resistance does work, now fitting it into the correct stage of training is the key.
