Isometric strength

Isometric strength is the amount of strength an individual can exhibit at a single point in the range of motion. While displaying isometric strength, there is no joint or limb movement, although there is some shortening of the muscle fibers and tendons. An example of an isometric contraction is holding a weight in a particular position. Isometric strength can be up to 20 percent greater than concentric strength.

Isometric strength is exhibited in every exercise. For example, when you do a bicep curl, after reaching the top position, you must stop movement of the weight in one direction before reversing and returning to the initial position. When you stop, you exhibit the isometric contraction. A recent trend is to hold the maximally-contracted muscle for one to two seconds to develop even greater tension for more strength and muscle mass.

Speed strength

Speed strength, as the term implies, is strength displayed with speed. The best examples of this are the snatch and the clean and jerk in weightlifting. These two lifts require extremely fast execution, maximal resistance and high levels of coordination.

Most examples of speed strength are found in sports, such as the ability to execute a quick jump. (The faster the jump is executed, the higher the athlete will go.) Other examples include swinging a bat or club, throwing implements (javelin, baseball, etc.) and punching. In these sports activities, the athletes must execute the skill in the shortest amount of time with the greatest force possible.

With most sports skills and in strength training, neuromuscular coordination must also be considered. Very often, the effectiveness of the neuromuscular coordination determines the amount of speed strength. And in the initial stages of basic strength training, early strength gains are due to neuromuscular gains, not physiological changes to the muscle. Physiological changes do not occur until a person has been exercising for at least several weeks.

Speed strength is a relatively new term in the U.S. It is usually referred to as power, but because power now means everything from a slow lift with maximum resistance (power-lifting) to an explosive contraction (light to heavy resistance moved with maximum speed), power is not a useful term until there is general agreement on its definition. In a technical sense, power should be the same as speed strength: maximum force exhibited over a distance executed at a certain speed of movement. The faster the work (force x distance), the greater the power. However, this definition is rarely used in gyms. Most often, power implies a maximal weight moving at a slow speed. The mistaken idea is that an individual only has to try to move the weight fast for it to be an explosive or "power" lift. This is a non-scientific interpretation that leads to misunderstanding and confusion.

Absolute strength

Absolute strength is defined as the maximal amount of weight that an individual can lift one time. It is usually reserved for the concentric contraction, but can also apply to the eccentric and isometric. For example, in the typical measurement for hand strength, a person squeezes a dynamometer as hard as possible. The initial contraction is concentric, but at the end point, the squeeze is as hard as possible in the isometric contraction to display absolute strength.

In the iron sports, powerlifting comes closest to displaying absolute strength. In this sport, the athlete lifts the maximum weight possible very slowly. This involves concentric strength, yet has an element of the isometric, since the athlete must hold the end position for a few seconds before the signal to stop is given.

Limit strength

Limit strength is the amount of weight that an individual can overcome when inhibitions are removed. For example, when athletes are under the influence of drugs or are hypnotized, they are capable of lifting more weight than in their conscious states. An individual may fear not being able to lift a certain amount of weight, but when the fear is removed, they become capable of the lift. There are also examples of people who have lifted cars off their loved ones. The people lifting the cars were capable of displaying much greater strength than they ever could normally. Research is also beginning to indicate that it is not only the muscles that are involved in displaying strength, but also the connective tissue, ligaments and tendons.

Relative strength

Relative strength applies to lifting your maximum weight in relation to your body weight. It is a useful method for comparing strength among individuals. For example, if a man weighing 200 pounds is capable of performing only one pull-up, he is capable of lifting 1 pound of weight per pound of body weight. If another man weighing only 100 pounds cannot pull up 200 pounds in one rep, but can perform two pull-ups, he also lifts 200 pounds of weight. Thus, he is capable of lifting 2 pounds of weight per pound of body weight. So, the individuals are equal in relative strength, but not in absolute strength. The 200-pound person is capable of exhibiting greater absolute strength.

All too often, strength tests do not differentiate the amount of resistance overcome per pound of body weight. Instead, the tests rely on the number of repetitions or the total amount of resistance overcome at one time. But if it is to be a true test of strength, then the 200-pound person in the previous example would get a poor grade, but may have greater strength than a person who scores better with more reps. In such cases, relative weight is a much more accurate method of equating individuals.

Strength endurance

Strength endurance refers to the number of repetitions that can be executed with a sub-maximal weight. In other words, exhibiting the same amount of strength for a certain number of repetitions. Usually strength edurance is measured after reaching 20 or more repetitions. Strength endurance also applies to sports skills, for example, being able to exert the same amount of force in the push-off while running 100 strides or more. It can also refer to a golfer who is capable of the same amount of force when hitting drives for 18 holes. Very often, high scores in tests of strength are equated to high numbers of completed repetitions. But it is more accurate to state that these are tests of endurance.

Starting strength

Starting strength is the amount of force that can be generated when first starting a fast or explosive movement. It applies to athletes in various speed strength sports, including weightlifting. The greater the starting strength, the faster and sharper the movement. Examples of starting strength are sprinters coming out of the blocks or weightlifters beginning their lifts.

Explosive strength

Explosive strength is the ability to maintain an initial, quick explosive contraction of a muscle. Explosive strength can be generated using little or no resistance, moderate resistance or maximum resistance. Jumping with only body weight or throwing a baseball are examples of light resistance, while throwing the shotput, jumping while holding dumbbells, and throwing and catching medicine balls quickly are illustrative of moderate resistance. Weightlifting events and quickly catching and throwing heavy medicine balls are examples of heavy resistance.

To differentiate between starting and explosive strength, remember that the lighter the implement that you have to move, and the shorter the distance over which force has to be applied, the more important starting strength is. The heavier the resistance and the greater the distance, the more important explosive strength is. Keep in mind that great distance here means only inches.

In general, explosive strength is a combination of eccentric, isometric and concentric strength. The muscle must first be prepared eccentrically so that it has great tension. It then switches to isometric strength and then immediately to concentric strength, with the total amount of time being approximately 0.15 seconds or less.

Dynamic isometric strength

A relatively new addition to strength types is dynamic isometric strength, which was coined by the Russians. They found that before the muscle can change to an explosive concentric contraction after a strong eccentric contraction, it must undergo an isometric contraction, which then quickly switches to the concentric. In other words, the isometric contraction is used to prepare the muscle for the explosive concentric contraction. The muscle does not simply switch from the tensed eccentric contraction to an explosive concentric contraction.

When the muscle is isometrically contracted, it becomes dynamic for a very brief time as it switches to a concentric contraction. It is distinguished mainly because this quality can be trained separately from the usual methods.

General strength

General strength applies to overall fitness conditioning. For general strength, an individual performs exercises to develop all the major muscles and joints of the body. The main purpose is to strengthen the muscles and joints to become more fit and to prepare the body for special strength and more explosive-type exercises.

Special strength

Special strength is specific to executing specific sports skills. Special strength exercises have very specific criteria:

1. The strength exercise must duplicate the same motor pathway (technique) as in the particular skill or portion of the skill.

2. It must duplicate the exact range of motion in which the strength is displayed in the sports skill.

3. The exercise must involve the same type of muscular contraction as seen in the sports skill or in a portion of the total skill.

For example, a push-up or a pull-up may be effective for strengthening the shoulder joint muscles, but they are not specific to the golf swing or sidearm throw, in which the arm-movement pattern is distinctly different. The pull-up is a general exercise with the movement in the anterior/posterior plane. In the golf swing and sidearm throw, the movement pathway is diagonal or horizontal.

Functional strength

Functional strength is included because of the increased use of this term in the fitness and sports fields. Most often, functional strength is used for exercises to enhance a person's sports performance. To do this, however, the exercises must be special strength exercises (as discussed previously). But, most functional exercises as described in the popular literature do not fulfill the criteria for special strength exercises.

Functional strength only applies when strength is developed in a manner that will have an immediate effect on performance. Special strength exercises accomplish this task. Merely involving the same muscles in an exercise as used in a sport does make the exercise functional or sport-specific.

To illustrate, many people perform squats to improve their running or cycling performance. Both of these sports involve the same muscles that are used in the squat. However, if you only perform squats and run, when you switch to cycling, you will be sore because the same muscles are used differently. The only specificity from these sports is the aerobic component. Developing the respiratory muscles would enhance both cycling and running, as well as other endurance-type sports. But the same does not hold true for the other muscles that are involved.

Merely performing exercises that involve the same muscles as are involved in a sport does not mean that the exercises are specific or functional. They are good exercises that make a person more fit, which may have a positive effect on sports performance. But for the greatest transfer of strength and improvement in a sport, the exercises must be special. They can then be considered functional.

Relationships among different types of strength

Although the different categories of strength are quite distinct, they are all interrelated. For example, absolute strength is the basic strength that is typically developed because it influences speed strength, starting strength, endurance strength and other types of strength. The greater your levels of absolute strength, the greater your levels of speed strength, starting strength, explosive strength, etc., can be. But simply increasing absolute strength does not guarantee that you will continue to reach greater levels of speed strength, or any other type of strength. Each is a separate quality and must be trained differently. Their close relationship exists only in initial strength training.

Age and level of training also play an important role in the development of different types of strength. For example, when a young person who has not been involved in weight training starts a strength-training program, there will be a concurrent increase in speed, endurance, explosive and absolute strength. However, a person who has been in serious training for several years and who has already developed a high level of absolute strength will find that further increases in absolute strength will have a negative effect on forms of strength with a speed component. Absolute strength training must be supplemented with speed strength training to develop a more explosive-type muscular contraction.

By Michael Yessis

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