Strength Training

Hypertrophy is the term used to describe the building of muscle, while strength training refers to increasing the strength of the muscle. The difference between them lies in how you train for each goal, the amount of weight, the sets, the reps, and the frequency at which you train per week. When you train your

Power and strength are two words that are sometimes interchanged when talking about training and the ability to move heavy things, however, they are two very different things. Strength is the ability of the body to overcome resistance. Power is the ability of the body to overcome resistance in the shortest period. What is Strength?

Every freestyle wrestling gym has that one strong guy that everyone hates training with. Train with him and you can forget about getting out of bed the next day. If you’re not “that guy”, you need to become as strong as him. People should fear training with you because of your strength and only then,

There can be a number of physical benefits to improved grip strength. Whether it be making certain day to day tasks like opening jars or carrying your food shopping less problematic or increasing overall strength gains in the gym, a strong grip is an often overlooked factor. Research has even suggested that hand grip strength

The PowerBlock Elite Dumbbells 5-50 lbs Weight is our best adjustable dumbbell, which has many weight settings from 2.5 up to 50 lbs and it is quite compact and balanced in its form. In fact, can replace your gym membership expenses for home workouts with this adjustable dumbbell due to its good center of mass.

These two weight training routines are designed to build muscle mass, particularly in harder gainers. Whether you want to gain size and strength for a sport such as football, or whether you simply want to gain weight, they are tried and trusted Most weight training programs incorporate far too many exercises to develop significant size.

These sample weight training programs are designed to develop maximal strength. Training for maximal strength is not the same as training for increased muscle size known as hypertrophy training. Only relatively few athletes require significant muscle mass and bulk whereas maximal strength is an important fitness component even for classic endurance-type sports. The sport specific approach to

These sample weight training programs are designed to develop increased muscle mass and lean weight. The enlargement of muscle size is known as hypertrophy and is the predominant aim of bodybuilding. While bodybuilding may still dominate many sport-specific strength training programs, in reality it is only suitable for a small number of athletes and should only make

These sample weight training programs are designed to develop basic, functional strength. For more sample weight training programs designed to meet other objectives (such as increased muscles mass, maximal strength, explosive power or strength endurance) see the main strength training section. A phase of basic strength training is important for adapting the body for more strenuous,

Sport-specific strength training programs are fundamental to an athlete’s development and success. Long gone are the days when coaches shunned weight lifting for fear that it might hinder the performance of fine skill and correct technique. It’s now accepted that high levels of strength are a prerequisite to superior speed, power, strength endurance and overall

Designing an ideal strength training program for sport in itself can be a complex process. Yet resistance training is only one component of an athlete’s overall training regime, which can also include endurance training, speed training, flexibility training and skill / tactical work. Perhaps the most important element in a total conditioning program is adequate rest and recovery, without

Use these strength tests before you begin weight training and then periodically during your training program. Maximal Strength Assessment (1-RM) Strength tests to measure maximal strength are suitable for many athletes. For the reasons why maximal strength is important to athletic performance, see the strength training programs article. The one repetition maximum (1-RM) is still considered the ‘gold

Stability ball exercises are often central to a program designed to improve core stability. In recent years, health and fitness practitioners have given greater and greater emphasis to core stability training for injury prevention, rehabilitation and performance enhancement. The concept of developing strong muscles in the trunk is believed to reduce the risk of both

Rotator cuff exercises can help to prevent common injuries that occur in sports such as tennis, golf and baseball. During a baseball pitch for example, the posterior rotator cuff muscles (external rotators, supraspinatus, infraspinatus, teres minor) are exposed to considerable eccentric contraction during the declaration phase (1,2,3,4). Unfortunately, many traditional isotonic exercises may ot be

Resistance training is now accepted as an integral and crucial part of any athlete’s training plan… Unlike the generic strength training routines found in fitness magazines, sport-specific strength conditioning involves a few more design variables and takes a little more planning. This guide outlines the seven steps to designing effective resistance training programs for sport… Step 1

Resistance band exercises are widely used by a variety of health and fitness practitioners – both for general strength and conditioning and rehabilitation or injury prevention. Resistance band exercises are ideal for home exercise programs and can easily be incorporated into a circuit training format helping to condition cardiovascular system as well as strengthening specific

Power training enables an athlete to apply the greatest amount of their maximal strength in the shortest period of time. This is crucial for many sports men and women who will rarely be required nor have the time to produce maximal forces. Most athletic activities involve far faster movements and far higher power outputs than

A powerlifting routine can be one of the most intense and demanding forms of weightlifting. Although it will consist of relatively few exercises, each is completed with near maximal effort. Power lifting is often confused with Olympic weightlifting. For the uninitiated, Olympic weightlifitng consists of two exercises – the clean & jerk and the snatch.

Power cleans and other Olympic-style lifts can offer some athletes performance advantages over more common forms of weight lifting… While Olympic-style lifts have long been employed by traditional power athletes such as football players, sprinters and wrestlers, Strength and Conditioning Specialists are incorporating theses exercises into more and more sport-specific routines. Lifts such as power

This Olympic weightlifting routine is an example of how Olympic-style lifts can be incorporated into a strength training program. It is designed for individuals who have little Olympic lifting experience but who do have a significant strength base. It is essential that younger and less experienced strength trainers follow an anatomical adaptation strength phase to prepare

You could argue that off season training is the most important phase of any sport-specific conditioning plan. Not only will it help the athlete to recover physically and psychologically, it can be used to address some of the physical imbalances that are inherent with playing competitive sport. Before moving on to the components of off

The combination of strength and endurance results in muscular endurance – the ability to perform many repetitions against a given resistance for a prolonged period of time (1). It is a crucial element of fitness for athletes such as distance runners, swimmers, cyclists and rowers. It’s also important for success in many team sports like

Medicine ball exercises are an important tool for developing sport-specific power. They can be used as part of a circuit training format or plyometrics program. In fact, upper body plyometric exercises are limited without their use. Strength training for sport, for the most part, is very different from bodybuilding. While a phase of the strength training program should focus

Kettlebell training is rapidly growing in popularity amongst general fitness enthusiasts and athletes. Used by the Russian military and Special Forces, the kettlebell (or girya) has been touted as the most effective, efficient piece of strength training equipment available. Proponents of kettlebell training suggest that it increases strength, power, speed, co-ordination as well as core

Here are the kettlebell exercises and images. If you missed the kettleball training article you can see an example of how these exercises can make up a routine. Here are the kettlebell exercises and images. If you missed the kettleball training article you can see an example of how these exercises can make up a routine. Do

Isometric exercises, also known as static strength training, involve muscular actions in which the length of the muscle does not change and there is no visible movement at the joint (1). The term ‘static contraction training’ is sometimes used to describe isometrics. However, ‘contraction’ signifies a change in length (shortening) of the muscle belly, which

Dumbell exercises are popular with recreational gym users right through to elite athletes. They can be used exclusively to form a wide variety of strength training programs, or they can be used to compliment a program that uses resistance machines, barbells or resistance bands for example. Dumbells are often favored over weights machines and when performed correctly

The Body Solid 7 Feet Olympic Bar is our best Olympic barbell, which has a collar space of 51.5 inches long so it is just right for your deadlifts and power lifting. Likewise, the knurling on the bar is safe to use and okay for most people and exercises. The Olympic barbell can improve the