There are several different basic approaches that athletes use to get stronger. Here is an article about two of the most common approaches- Olympic lifts and powerlifting:
In general, the Olympic lifts, the snatch and clean and jerk develop power while the powerlifting moves- bench press, squat and deadlift increase strength. Olympic lifting requires some time and coaching to develop proper technique. Powerlifting moves require less skill and therefore can be taught more easily and quickly.
There are other popular approaches. Some athletes use bodybuilding techniques, which isolate specific muscles more and work on size development more than strength, speed or power.
Another popular method is a functional approach, which looks at basic human movements and develops those movements, not particular muscles. Bodyweight exercises such as lunges, push-ups, planks, and pull-ups are often used by practitioners of this method. This approach also often uses exercises on Swiss balls.
Some strength and conditioning coaches put a priority on injury-prevention and mainly use prehab exercises. They will often evaluate a particular athlete's weaknesses, looking for muscle imbalances for potential problems that could lead to injury. Rather than focusing on lifting heavy weights or doing Olympic lifts, these coaches emphasize quality of movement, overall fitness, range of motion, and function.
Readers of this blog know that I like the more performance-oriented approach of triphasic training. Rather than drawing on what are essentially different sports (Olympic lifting, bodybuilding or powerlifting), triphasic training starts with the demands of the sport and develops those abilities.
The concept of triphasic training is to develop power by first working on 3 types of strength- eccentric, isometric and concentric, then work on power, and finally on transferring the gains in these areas to the sport via speed training with light loads at high speed. It uses fewer Olympic lifts and fewer functional exercises and few Swiss boall exercises. They tend to favor more advanced sports training techniques such as plyometrics, french contrasts, post-activation potentiation, and timed sets. You can learn more about triphasic training at xlathlete.com.
Readers of this blog also know that I do not favor the bodybuilding approach for athletic training. While many of the people you see at the gym are using these techniques, they are not designed for athletes in other sports. Their goal is to look better and increase size, not improve athletic performance. While they do develop some strength as a by-product, that is not their goal. And they rarely develop power or speed. The exercises isolate particular muscles rather than train useful body movements.
And I believe that many people have decided that weight training doesn't work based upon their experience with bodybuilding techniques. There are some top athletes who don't train with weights and just train in the boat. They feel that weight training slows them down and isn't specific enough. And there is a lot of truth to that.
Slow weight training does slow you down, at least in the short run. Your body can get used to the slower movements you do while weight training and move slowly in the race also. If you don't do faster movements and work on power to help transfer the strength gains to the sport, you might not improve.
So, choose carefully which type of training you use so that it does improve your racing. Here is the link to the article about 2 main approaches- powerlifting and Olympic lifting:
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