Whether you are designing a
resistance training program for the off-season marathon runner or the in-season sprinter, there are specific rules that you should follow that will dictate your training protocols. These rules are based not on your performance goals, but on the "laws" of basic biomechanics.
As a coach, your primary responsibility is the overall wellbeing of your athletes. Training, by definition, is a process through which the athlete "overloads" his current abilities. This is imperative to elicit a training response, and is the crux of progression, the true purpose of athletic conditioning. However, we must understand that training is a "controlled" stress, and we must optimize the proper degree of overload, while minimizing any which may be undesired.
The first step in designing an optimal resistance training program is to identify what specific motion and related muscle groups you want to effect. Traditionally, trainers and conditioning specialists have been taught that muscles can be "isolated", yet when examining how the body actually moves, we realize that most motion involves small groups of muscles contracting together or sequentially to achieve the desired movement. This is why we should focus on our desired motion instead of specific individual muscles.
Once we have decided what our "movement goal" is, we must determine in what direction the resistance must be applied in order to directly oppose our motion. This is where the specific modality we will be using becomes an important factor. If it is free-weight equipment, for example, we know that gravity will be providing the resistance and will apply that resistance straight down towards the floor. This obviously indicates that our movement should be within a specific plane and the direction of movement should be straight up towards the ceiling.
Now, we must figure out exactly what body position we must establish in order for the resistance to directly oppose our movement. For example, let us say that our movement is horizontal adduction at the shoulder joint, and our intention is to work the chest and anterior shoulder muscles (as in a bench press). If we are using dumbbells, we must position the body supine, flat on a bench, floor or other flat surface parallel to the floor so that our movement is straight up and is directly opposed by the resistance which is applied straight down to the floor.
Now that we have established what the desired exercise should be, we must make sure that the rest of the body maintains optimal body position. That is, we must stabilize the working joints, the joints immediately adjacent to the working joints, and the rest of the body. Our primary focus here is to assure safe and effective movement. The athlete must be able to stabilize his body and all joints involved in the desired movement. Then, and only then, should we apply load (resistance) to that movement.
Once assuring good dynamic stability, we must maintain the desired path of motion that we initially prescribed. Every repetition of the exercise should follow that same path. This will insure optimal efficiency while maintaining safety throughout the exercise.
Finally, optimal range of motion for the specific movement must be determined. "Range of Motion" (ROM) is a term that has been thrown around a lot in the training profession. It had always been said that "full" range of motion was always the ideal regardless of the movement. This recommendation is incomplete. What is "full range of motion"? This recommendation does not take into account individual differences between athletes, or even desired results.
We must look at the individual athlete's dynamic range of motion. That is, the optimal range of motion given the specific joint, the specific movement, and the degree of load. Dynamic range of motion will always be less than passive range of motion. This is because a muscle's ability to contract diminishes as a muscle "stretches" into its more extreme range. In addition, the need for "strength" in these extreme ranges is rare in most activities. Resisted ROM will be even less than dynamic ROM. However, in most healthy joints, and for most athletes, resisted ROM will be adequate for improved strength and function at that particular joint as it applies to their specific activity.
By following the guidelines described above you will be able to design an optimally effective and safe strength training program for any athlete using any type of equipment.
