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Copyright © 2008
Optimal Performance
Over the past decade, the improvement of performance in sports has been ridiculous. We have sprinters breaking records year after year, women tennis players serving over 100 mph, and running backs that weigh what lineman did 20 years ago, but running under 4.4-second 40-yard dash. What was considered to be un-herd of10 to 20 years ago is a norm today.
Why is this?
Are human genetics any different than they were in the past? Are there really people with super human powers? Are the rules in sports changing so athletes can achieve these amazing feats? NO, NO, and NO! Then why are these amazing increases in sports performance happening? Why are athletes able to smash records that have been previously held for decades at a time?
The single most positive contribution to the increase in athletic performance is Strength Training. Today every athletic program and athletes of all ages and levels are greatly influenced by strength training. No matter what the sport, male, or female, athletes now realize that in order to drastically increase their athletic performance, it is a necessity to lift weights and to participate in a conditioning program.
Not too long ago, most coaches frowned upon strength training because it was said that lifting heavy weights would cause athletes to become too muscle bound or bulky, leaving athletes unable to perform their sporting activity correctly. Well, that was a crock. That was just narrow minded thinking. Today strength training has been proven to increase performance.
For example, look at two athletes that share identical technical skills in their sporting activity. The only thing that separates the winner from the loser is that the stronger and faster athlete will prevail almost 100% of the time. That in mind it is important to realize that strength training will obviously increase your strength. However, there are a number of other benefits of strength training such as increased speed, agility, jumping ability, and power. That just goes to show that strength training is a superior method to increasing athletic performance.
An added bonus to strength training is the number one goal of any conditioning program. That is injury prevention. Athletes who strength train tend to have fewer injuries mainly because strength training not only strengthens muscles, but tendons and ligaments (the body's muscle attachments) as well. It will also increase bone density at sites of muscle origins and insertions. And in the event that an injury does occur, athletes who have been participating in a strength training program properly tend to recover faster than athletes who have not.
So the next time someone tells you weight or strength training is just for bodybuilders, take it with a grain of salt. A proper strength training program executed correctly just may be the missing link in your training and conditioning program.
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