Overcoming the Decelerative and Inhibitory Aspects of Traditional Weight Training

While constant resistance is the most conventional form of resistance training used by athletes, it has one distinct disadvantage: deceleration. Let's use the bench press as an example: you lower the bar to your chest, and then ram it to arms length. You're being explosive, right? Well, not quite. As your arms reach extension, the antagonists (lats, biceps, rhomboids, and medial traps) begin to contract in an effort to decelerate the bar before it leaves your hands. It's simply a protective mechanism. Contrast this with your objective, which is to accelerate your arm, and you begin to see the problem. There are at least two ways to address this inherent disadvantage of constant and variable resistance training: strengthen the antagonists and stabilizers, and use ballistic training.

Strengthening the Antagonists and Stabilizers

Muscles work in pairs- for every muscle in the body, there is another muscle that is capable of opposing its force. This "pairing" mechanism is how we are able to move with precision of movement and speed. However, when one part of this pair becomes too strong in relation to the other, force output capability suffers.

Unfortunately, many athletes unknowingly reinforce this imbalance every time they train, thinking they are respecting the principle of specificity by training only the prime movers (or "agonists"). An example would be a martial artist who reasons that since the quadriceps muscle extends the leg during kicking, the quadriceps should receive the brunt of the training focus. Before long, the hamstrings (which are the antagonists in kicking movements) are weak in proportion to the quads, and power output declines. At this point, the student may conclude that weight training "slows you down," because for him, it did.

Here's the problem in the above example: the weaker the antagonists are, the sooner they will contract and oppose the prime movers (to prevent joint hyperextension), resulting in a slower movement. But stronger antagonists are less sensitive to this protective response- the body "knows" that they are strong enough to decelerate the limb at the last possible moment. The next time you watch elite boxers on TV, notice the development of the lats and biceps. Great punchers always have well developed antagonists.

Insufficient stabilizer strength also limits power output, for very similar reasons. Stabilizers are muscles which anchor or immobilize one part of the body, allowing another part (usually the limbs) to exert force. The most important stabilizers are those of the trunk- the abdominals and trunk extensors. If the motor cortex detects that it can't stabilize the force provided by the prime movers, it simply won't allow the prime mover to contract with full force. In other words, the force output of the prime movers is limited by the strength of the stabilizer muscles.

Ballistic Training

In a recent magazine article, William Kraemer, a professor at Penn State, used the term "ballistic training" to describe movements that are "acellerative, of high velocity, and with projection into free space." Ballistic training involves plyometrics, modified Olympic lifting, jumping, throwing, and striking movements (such as punching a heavy bag or kicking a shield).The obvious advantage of ballistic training is that it lacks a deceleration phase, making it much more coordination-specific for most athletes. Ballistic training is initiated during the conversion phase, as it requires significant preparatory training with lighter resistances to strengthen tendons and ligaments. Without such preparation, ballistic training would result in too much risk.

Note: This article was adapted from Charles Staley's book Special Topics in Martial Arts Conditioning. Reprinted with permission of the author.

About the Author

Charles Staley began his exploration of strength and athletic performance as a martial arts instructor and competitor in New York state during the 1980's. Charles subsequently studied and coached the sport of Olympic weightlifting, eventually producing several state and national level competitors in that sport. Along the way, Charles has also coached track & field, and has competed as a Master's level discus competitor, placing 3rd. in the Master's Nationals in Provo, Utah, in 1994.

Since 1992, Charles has developed policies and course content for the International Sports Sciences Association, and currently teaches several certification seminars per year for the ISSA.

Charles has written over 100 published articles for such magazines as Muscle Media 2000, Inside Kung Fu, Muscle & Fitness, Martial Arts Training, Ms. Fitnes, and several others. He is also author of Special Topics in Martial Arts Conditioning, a training textbook for combat sport coaches.