Building athletic power is one of the most desired, if not the most desired, quality in athletic performance today. The question is…how do we optimally train it?
Getting athletes stronger is not terribly difficult. Moving a barbell from point A to point B is the result of many factors: better technique, improved coordination of the lift, thicker tendons, etc. Improving any of these factors helps an athlete move a bar from A to B (and gives the coach some credit to brag to peers).
Joel Smith, MS, CSCS is a NCAA Division I Strength Coach working in the PAC12 conference. He has been a track and field jumper and javelin thrower, track coach, strength coach, personal trainer, researcher, writer and lecturer in his 8 years in the professional field. You can connect with Joel on his website.
Power is the ability to recruit a lot of motor units (or at least a large percentage of available motor units) into movement, and do so rapidly.
Power output is important for sport success. Research has shown power outputs are strong determinants of what level athletes will compete in. Getting an athlete more powerful gets their foot in the door to compete at a higher level.
Looking at how powerful an athlete is, or what we might simply call “horsepower,” is not clearly defined by research. We do know that the standby assessment of power (the vertical jump) is actually shown not to be as valid as we might think (although there certainly is some good validity) as various body/muscle-tendon characteristics and even the structure and strength of an athlete’s feet are major players in how high one jumps.
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