Fitness Community Board

Power is the ability of a single strand of muscle (and by extension of an entire muscle group or the entire body) to go from rest to 100% performance in the shortest possible time. To use an analogy it is the power of the engine ticking under the hood to the weight of the car (which is what makes those expensive sports cars so, well, expensive). In human physiology you are talking about muscle mass against the number of neurons you find on each extended muscle strand and the strength of the tendons anchoring the muscle to the bone, as well as the strength and density of the bones themselves.

Ok, this is getting very detailed. Ignoring all this the burning questions are why do you need it, is it any good and how can you develop it? Taking each one in turn we can say that irrespective of which sport you do power will help you do it better. It is the Holy Grail of athletics (even marathon runners want to develop it) and developing it is easy enough.

In order to understand how to develop it, it is vital to understand how it works. A muscle, when examined under a microscope is made up of muscle strands which resemble rubber bands. Muscles produce their power through contraction and the part where they tend to be strongest in is the centre of their mass. This makes a muscle relatively weak because it relies on a powerful centre that contracts suddenly and produces an explosion which then creates a ballistic momentum that carries you through the movement. In plain English the hitting of a tennis ball with a racquet, the striking of a golf ball or the throwing of a javelin are like the act of throwing a stone. You do not take the stone from where you stand to where you want it to end up yourself. Instead your arm supplies the motive power (when you throw it) and momentum then carries the stone the rest of the way.

Imagine that the stone is your fist, a tennis racquet, a golf club and you begin to realize that much of the momentum which helps you perform an action comes at the beginning of the action and then continually diminishes (just like the speed of a thrown stone). To make it be more powerful you need to supply a harder and faster initial moment which then begins to create imbalances in the muscle, require more and more training and maybe increase of muscle mass and also make the likelihood of injuries higher.

Martial artists, boxers and ballet dancers who require maximum power know that the secret to getting it is to train the muscle to get strong not just in its centre but also along the entire length. This is what you do:
Think resistance – sprinters sprint dragging a led weight behind them on grass. Runners run uphill on a treadmill going for short bursts and the burn. Boxers go through the movement under full tension, so they tense their arms, chests, abs, lower back and legs and go through the exact movement of punching in slow motion (because they are tensed), again and again. Ballet dancers put on ankle and wrist weights and reduce the demand made on the muscle but not the range of movement. Tennis players play with heavier racquets.Think repetition – you are undergoing through the exact movement time and time again, allowing the muscle group to build up muscle memory, warm up properly and begin, as fatigue sets in, to utilize more than just the centre of the muscle group.Think intensity – you are really looking to work this to failing point. When you finish the muscle groups involved should feel completely drained.Think recovery time – you need time to recover both between exercises and the day after you have done a power-building workout. Either rest or focus on something else.

The benefits of building up power in your workout

The moment you begin to build up power the benefits are that whatever sport you do you will take your performance there up a notch or two. Tennis players become power-hitters. Boxers increase their striking power. Golfers can suddenly send the ball down the fairway like a rocket.

Whatever you do more power in your muscles will help you do it better. The beauty of it is that whatever you do you can adapt to your training and build in some power-training. The results will definitely be worth the effort.