While I may not know everything about getting into and maintaining top athletic condition I do, due to my profession, know quite a bit. Because of that, I've decided to share a little bit of my knowledge with all you people in XG.
1.) Achieving maximal force with your motions.
Many people think that strength is what determines the power in your movements. This is not true. Let's use a little applied physics:
Force = Mass X Acceleration
The second part of the equation is usually the easier of the two to see large amounts of improvement on. That is working on speed. Simply perform the motion in a way not to emphasize power, but to emphasize the amount of acceleration you put into it. If you try to "put it all" into a swing, ect, you'll tense up. You need to do it in a fluid, loose manner. How? Repitition, repitition, repitition... Keep going until your arms feel like they're about to fall off.
An easy thing to do, is to perform the motion using weigths. Once you take the weights off, your arms, legs, whatever, will feel lighter, and they will move at a greater rate of acceleration.
Okay, now the first part of the equation takes a lot of fine tuning. The way that you add mass to your movement is simply by using good body mechanics to train yourself to move your body with each motion. Again, the only way to tune your body movements well enough is repitition.
For instance, when you shoot out a jab, turn your hip towards your target. That will cause your shoulders to rotate into the direction of the punch (thus adding the mass of your upper body into the equation). You can add the mass of your lower body into the equation by pushing off your rear foot and sliding your front foot forward two or three inches. This will greatly increase the amount of force in your jab.
Work smarter, not harder. Emphasize form that gives your motion the greatest amount of inertia possible, in order to take full advantage of the mass involved. Do strength training, but don't forget to do speed drills as well.
2.) Strength Training
The basic principles of strength training involve a manipulation of the number of repetitions (reps), sets, tempo, exercises and force to cause desired changes in strength, endurance, size or shape by overloading of a group of muscles. The specific combinations of reps, sets, exercises, resistance and force depend on the purpose of the individual performing the exercise: sets with fewer reps can be performed using more force, but have a reduced impact on endurance. Sets with more reps can be performed with more force, but have a reduced impact on strength gains and muscle size.
Strength training also requires the use of 'good form', performing the movements with the appropriate muscle group(s), and not transferring the weight to different body parts in order to move greater weight/resistance (called 'cheating'). Failure to use good form during a training set can result in injury or an inability to meet training goals - since the desired muscle group is not challenged sufficiently, the threshold of overload is never reached and the muscle does not gain in strength.
Weight trainers commonly divide the body's individual muscles into ten major muscle groups. These do not include the hip, neck and forearm muscles, which are rarely trained in isolation. (Videos of many different exercises are available at exrx.net and from the University of Wisconsin.) The large muscles of the lower body are normally trained before the smaller muscles of the upper body, because these first exercises require more mental and physical energy. The core muscles of the torso are trained before the shoulder and arm muscles that assist them. Exercises often alternate between "pushing" and "pulling" movements to allow their specific supporting muscles time to recover. The stabilising muscles in the waist should be trained last.
3.) Plyometrics
For a muscle to cause movement, it must shorten; this is known as a concentric contraction. There is a maximum amount of force with which a certain muscle can concentrically contract. However, if the muscle is lengthened (eccentric contraction) just prior to the contraction, it will produce greater force through the storage of elastic energy. This effect requires that the transition time between eccentric contraction and concentric contraction (amortisation phase) be very short. This energy dissipates rapidly, so the following concentric contraction must follow the eccentric stretch before this occurs. The process is frequently referred to as the "stretch shortening cycle", and is one of the underlying mechanisms of plyometric training.
Most exercises involve a muscular contraction that starts off rapidly, but decelerates suddenly before the end of the repetition. For example, lifting a barbell involves jerking the weight quickly into the air, then bringing this motion to a sudden halt. Plyometric exercises are characterized by the lack of such a decelerative phase. They are open-ended movements into free space. Other animals take advantage of this effect; one is the kangaroo. If a kangaroo needed to use 100% new energy to contract its leg muscles every time it jumped, it would not be able to jump very far consistently. However, because of the muscles' ability to store energy from its previous jump before like a spring, the kangaroo only needs to use a fraction of the total energy in the jump.
Physical educators have long used various plyometric apparatus—including medicine balls, and Indian clubs. One plyometric exercise involves catching and tossing a medicine ball to an assistant while the exerciser lies on his back. The triceps and chest muscles work both while they are lengthening (catch phase) and while contracting (toss phase).
4.) Cardio
Cardiovascular fitness can be defined simply as your body's ability to get oxygen and blood to the muscles. The slang term "wind" sums it up nicely.
When you do physical activity and your pulse quickens and your breathing gets deeper, you are using your cardiovascular system. You can improve your cardiovascular system's efficiency through regular training.
I prefer running, but for some of you with bad knees or a bad back this may not be an option. Whatever you want to do, make sure it's an activity that involves some type of continuous movement (cycling, swimming, aerobics, rowing, stairclimbing, etc.) Start where you are, not where you want to be. If you're running, go run for as long as you can, and don't be discouraged if it's hard for you at first. It gets much easier. When you run, don't worry about speed, you can always work on that when your cardio gets better. Go for a run, nice and slow, and see how long you can last. Try to run at least 2 more times that week, and try to match the first time. Next week, try to run for 5 or 10 minutes longer, whatever you think you can do, and keep building from there. Trust me, before long you'll be going for miles before you even break a sweat.
If anyone has any questions on anything, feel free to ask! I'll answer them to the best of my ability!
1.) Achieving maximal force with your motions.
Many people think that strength is what determines the power in your movements. This is not true. Let's use a little applied physics:
Force = Mass X Acceleration
The second part of the equation is usually the easier of the two to see large amounts of improvement on. That is working on speed. Simply perform the motion in a way not to emphasize power, but to emphasize the amount of acceleration you put into it. If you try to "put it all" into a swing, ect, you'll tense up. You need to do it in a fluid, loose manner. How? Repitition, repitition, repitition... Keep going until your arms feel like they're about to fall off.
An easy thing to do, is to perform the motion using weigths. Once you take the weights off, your arms, legs, whatever, will feel lighter, and they will move at a greater rate of acceleration.
Okay, now the first part of the equation takes a lot of fine tuning. The way that you add mass to your movement is simply by using good body mechanics to train yourself to move your body with each motion. Again, the only way to tune your body movements well enough is repitition.
For instance, when you shoot out a jab, turn your hip towards your target. That will cause your shoulders to rotate into the direction of the punch (thus adding the mass of your upper body into the equation). You can add the mass of your lower body into the equation by pushing off your rear foot and sliding your front foot forward two or three inches. This will greatly increase the amount of force in your jab.
Work smarter, not harder. Emphasize form that gives your motion the greatest amount of inertia possible, in order to take full advantage of the mass involved. Do strength training, but don't forget to do speed drills as well.
2.) Strength Training
The basic principles of strength training involve a manipulation of the number of repetitions (reps), sets, tempo, exercises and force to cause desired changes in strength, endurance, size or shape by overloading of a group of muscles. The specific combinations of reps, sets, exercises, resistance and force depend on the purpose of the individual performing the exercise: sets with fewer reps can be performed using more force, but have a reduced impact on endurance. Sets with more reps can be performed with more force, but have a reduced impact on strength gains and muscle size.
Strength training also requires the use of 'good form', performing the movements with the appropriate muscle group(s), and not transferring the weight to different body parts in order to move greater weight/resistance (called 'cheating'). Failure to use good form during a training set can result in injury or an inability to meet training goals - since the desired muscle group is not challenged sufficiently, the threshold of overload is never reached and the muscle does not gain in strength.
Weight trainers commonly divide the body's individual muscles into ten major muscle groups. These do not include the hip, neck and forearm muscles, which are rarely trained in isolation. (Videos of many different exercises are available at exrx.net and from the University of Wisconsin.) The large muscles of the lower body are normally trained before the smaller muscles of the upper body, because these first exercises require more mental and physical energy. The core muscles of the torso are trained before the shoulder and arm muscles that assist them. Exercises often alternate between "pushing" and "pulling" movements to allow their specific supporting muscles time to recover. The stabilising muscles in the waist should be trained last.
3.) Plyometrics
For a muscle to cause movement, it must shorten; this is known as a concentric contraction. There is a maximum amount of force with which a certain muscle can concentrically contract. However, if the muscle is lengthened (eccentric contraction) just prior to the contraction, it will produce greater force through the storage of elastic energy. This effect requires that the transition time between eccentric contraction and concentric contraction (amortisation phase) be very short. This energy dissipates rapidly, so the following concentric contraction must follow the eccentric stretch before this occurs. The process is frequently referred to as the "stretch shortening cycle", and is one of the underlying mechanisms of plyometric training.
Most exercises involve a muscular contraction that starts off rapidly, but decelerates suddenly before the end of the repetition. For example, lifting a barbell involves jerking the weight quickly into the air, then bringing this motion to a sudden halt. Plyometric exercises are characterized by the lack of such a decelerative phase. They are open-ended movements into free space. Other animals take advantage of this effect; one is the kangaroo. If a kangaroo needed to use 100% new energy to contract its leg muscles every time it jumped, it would not be able to jump very far consistently. However, because of the muscles' ability to store energy from its previous jump before like a spring, the kangaroo only needs to use a fraction of the total energy in the jump.
Physical educators have long used various plyometric apparatus—including medicine balls, and Indian clubs. One plyometric exercise involves catching and tossing a medicine ball to an assistant while the exerciser lies on his back. The triceps and chest muscles work both while they are lengthening (catch phase) and while contracting (toss phase).
4.) Cardio
Cardiovascular fitness can be defined simply as your body's ability to get oxygen and blood to the muscles. The slang term "wind" sums it up nicely.
When you do physical activity and your pulse quickens and your breathing gets deeper, you are using your cardiovascular system. You can improve your cardiovascular system's efficiency through regular training.
I prefer running, but for some of you with bad knees or a bad back this may not be an option. Whatever you want to do, make sure it's an activity that involves some type of continuous movement (cycling, swimming, aerobics, rowing, stairclimbing, etc.) Start where you are, not where you want to be. If you're running, go run for as long as you can, and don't be discouraged if it's hard for you at first. It gets much easier. When you run, don't worry about speed, you can always work on that when your cardio gets better. Go for a run, nice and slow, and see how long you can last. Try to run at least 2 more times that week, and try to match the first time. Next week, try to run for 5 or 10 minutes longer, whatever you think you can do, and keep building from there. Trust me, before long you'll be going for miles before you even break a sweat.
If anyone has any questions on anything, feel free to ask! I'll answer them to the best of my ability!
