3 Overlooked Factors in Power Development for Athletes

February 16, 2015

1 – The brains intent

Most people believe that the only way to increase power is to use light loads and high speed. This is not the case. It has been shown that it is actually the brain’s intent that determines the adaptation to high-speed lifting. So as long as you concentrate on accelerating the bar, no matter how fast the bar actually travels, you will get the same results as high speed lifting at a lighter load.

This is not to say that plyometric exercises such as depth jumps, box jumps, throws etc. don’t have a place in the development of power, they do, I just feel that most people over use these methods without having a solid base of maximal strength, or they tend to neglect the heavier work which in the long run holds back their development in speed.

When training athletes for power I like to keep the reps low (1-5) so that the high threshold motor units are recruited. If you use higher reps than this more slow twitch fibers are recruited even if you concentrate on accelerating the bar.

Purposely training at slow speeds can increase maximal strength levels but leads to less power output. I tend to use slow speed lifts in the early or general preparation phases of an athlete’s program and progress them to higher speed movements as competition becomes closer.

2 – Neglecting maximal strength work

It is important to remember that threshold levels of maximal strength are needed before a fast lift can be improved. I learnt this from Charles Poliquin. An example he uses is that if you want to power snatch 100kg, you won’t be able to do so until you can full squat between 184kg and 194kg. No amount of power snatches will get you to lift 100kg until you have reached the numbers on your full back squat.

This is why we test our athletes in the power snatch, power clean, front squat, and back squat, we use the data gained to determine the amount of time we devote to power or maximal strength development.

3 – Not resting long enough between sets

Rest periods are also an important factor when training for the development of power. When I watch athletes train for power their rest interval is generally far too short to recover between sets to be able to exert maximal force. The nervous system takes five to six times longer to recover than the muscular system. So although your muscles may not feel tired,you still need to take into account the recovery of your nervous system. This could be anywhere between 3-4 minutes, up to 5 minutes, to be able to repeat efforts at these high intensities.

So to develop power in athletes you can still use heavy loads that may travel at what seems to be a slow speed, as long as the athlete focuses on trying to accelerate the bar as fast as possible. Maximal strength levels play a very important role in how effective your power development can be. You need to be able to determine what your limiting factors are and where to orientate your training for 

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power

athlete

training

strength training

strength

Originally posted on www.totalhealthperformance.com.au

Sleep and Memory

January 17, 2017

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Nathan Waters - Total Health Performance

We stress the importance of quality sleep to our clients all the time. It is one of the first things we work on when someone comes to see us. It is well known that sleeping well can help reduce obesity, improve our response to insulin, improve hormone function, improve our mental and physical health, and just improve our overall health in general. It is also very important in memory and consolidating the things you learn.

It has been shown that just 5 hours of sleep deprivation can lead to a loss of connectivity between neurons in the hippocampus. The hippocampus is associated with memory and learning. This is why you often hear people say that they feel like they have been out partying when they have just had a late night and didn’t get enough sleep. The brain was unable to remodel correctly and make/maintain neuronal connections that had been established throughout the day.

If you want to recall what you have just learned or even relearn something you have forgotten then taking a nap in between study sessions has been shown to help improve these two functions. The good news about this is that the results seem to last over a decent period of time. Probably why places like google have “sleep pods” or whatever they call them, to help improve the quality of work their employees do.

For more on this topic you can read the article below:

http://blog.designsforhealth.com/si-42214/sleep-and-its-impact-on-memory-and-learning

A Few Things About Coffee

Originally posted on www.totalhealthperformance.com.au

I had never realised how many people drank coffee until about 3 years ago when I started drinking it myself. Over 4 billion cups of coffee are consumed each year. It’s not something that I crave every day and I have a few guidelines I tend to follow. I really only drink it before a training session and I have one on a Saturday morning after work. It is always a long black as I don’t do well with milk, and I don’t drink it after 12pm so that it doesn’t disrupt my sleep. These are a few things that I do personally but there are many other things about coffee that you may want to know.

When you are purchasing coffee, whether it be out at a café or some for you to make your own at home, it is important to make sure that the coffee is organic. This is because coffee is one of the most chemically sprayed crops in the world. Many of the companies that produce conventional coffee will say that the pesticides are burnt off during the roasting process but I don’t believe this to be true. I would rather buy organic and not ingest these dangerous chemicals.

Even organic can have some problems with it but at least it minimizes the risk. If you get really into it you may want to find a company that produces coffee that is mycotoxin free and fungal by-product free. Mould often contaminates coffee beans and is one of the reasons you may feel jittery after having a coffee sometimes if you are not sensitive to coffee in the first place.

Another thing is to avoid drinking your coffee out of the take-away cups. The plastic from the lid actually ends up in your body. If you get a take-away regularly then take your own glass cup with you and get them to fill that up. Gemma Smith has written about this in a previous article that you can find here.

Coffee drinkers have been shown to live longer than non-coffee drinkers in many recent studies . Consuming 1 cup of coffee per day reduced the chances of dying from all disease by 6% and by 10% in those that drank 2-3 cups of coffee per day. This seemed to be the threshold as drinking 6 cups or more per day still only reduced the risk of dying by 10% compared to non-coffee drinkers. This has been put down to the antioxidants and certain polyphenols that are found in coffee beans. For some people coffee is the only source of antioxidants they get. Dark-roast coffee will help improve your antioxidant status and coffee can help speed up detoxification.

Coffee also has positive effects on blood vessels which can improve heart and brain health. Coffee can increase the production of nitric oxide which helps blood vessels dilate and it also has anti-inflammatory polyphenols that protect the cardiovascular system. A cardiovascular disease risk reduction of 11% was found in those that consumed 1.5 cups of coffee per day over non-coffee drinkers. A reduction of total cholesterol and triglycerides has also been shown in those that consume coffee.

Coffee has also been shown to help improve brain health reducing the risk for Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, and dementia. Caffeinated coffee has been shown to increase a growth factor that increases the growth of new brain cells. Interestingly caffeine has also been shown to help with depression.

Drinking coffee may also decrease your risk of developing diabetes. Drinking 1-3 cups of coffee a day was shown to reduce the risk of having high blood sugar by 49%. Consuming coffee can increase fat burning and has been associated with lower triglyceride levels.

Coffee has more than a thousand beneficial compounds but a lot of these benefits are being related to chlorogenic acid. It is a polyphenol that has anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Chlorogenic acid can also lower blood glucose and reduce the risk of cancer.

These are a few of the benefits to consuming coffee. If you feel jittery or get anxious when consuming coffee, then it may not be for you. If on the other hand you enjoy your coffee then try to buy organic to stay away from pesticides and other harmful chemicals, don’t over-do it, and drink it at the right time of day to get some of the above benefits.