The Real Secrets To Sport Performance & Combat Conditioning

Article Title: The Real Secrets To Sport Performance & Combat Conditioning Results

Written By: John H Grissom

In order to understand the totality of the human body in relation to power production, one needs to understand the relationship and interaction of the body's various parts and systems with the environment we function in. While total understanding of these complex functions is not necessary, we must realize that it is the integration of our various body parts and systems and their reaction to gravity, force production , and the environment , that dictates human function.

There are four basis systems that work, respond, and react together within the body. Three of these systems: the nervous, muscular and skeletal systems, are supported by the cardiovascular system. When integrated functionally these four systems are called the neuro-muscular-skeletal system or NMS for short. For the average individual, understanding that this chain produces all forms of function is the key to understanding what types of physical enhancements of this chain are needed for you to attain your goal.
Life or human function is relative to the required or desired functional activities within our day to day environment. Universal functions such as household and job activities, dressing, hygiene and fitness training and recreational activity are all tied into the body's core functional abilities.
These core functions need to be integrated in order to successfully perform our desired universal life functions successfully. Core activities such as kneeling,walking, twisting, standing, reaching, stepping running and jogging, carrying, squatting, accelerating, stabilizing, kicking, bending, jumping,throwing and catching all have direct consequence on our day to day universal activities. All human function is three dimensional in it's nature. We function within three planes of motion (or dimensions) simultaneously. These planes provide us with reference points. The sagittal plane refers to forward and backward movement. The frontal plane refers to side to side motion. The transverse plane refers to rotational motion. When you walk you are obviously moving through is the sagittal plane. However; the dominate plane of motion is occurring in the transverse plane. Even standing or leaning up against a wall of a building requires three dimensional integration of the NMS system. Our joints, muscles and nerves are all hard wired and integrated into this three dimensional core. Together they respond, balance, accelerate, decelerate and create agility within all three planes at the same time. What does all this mean to you? Simply that in order for you to get the most out of your experience you must understand how the functionality of your selected fitness program as it relates to your goal.
To get the most out of your experience you must understand how the functionality of selected fitness program relates to your desired goal.

Bio-mechanical Factors:

There are several biomechanical factors that relate to our physical strength. These include neural control, muscle cross sectional area, muscle length, muscle contraction velocity, joint angle velocity and body mass. Force output is determined by neural signals that are sent from the brain to recruit motor unit involvement. This force production is increased through involving more motor units in a contraction, recruitment of larger motor units, or increasing the rate of motor unit firing . Therefore neural adaptation ( how the brain learns to produce more force from a given amount of muscle tissue) is of extreme importance in your body's ability to continue to progress toward its intended goal.
In general terms a muscle's cross-sectional area relates to the body's ability to create force production. This means that if you have a certain body type (for example having longer muscles) you possibly have less cross-sectional area, and therefore your force production capability might be less. If you possess this body type and creation of muscle mass is part of your over-all fitness goal, the standard routine of more weight,more reps, more sets and more food might not be the ideal method for you to accomplish your goal.

Human Strength and Power:

As the term is commonly used power refers to, " vigor, energy, the capacity for exerting mechanical force or doing work". This falls under the classification of functional universal activity. In terms of the human body, the words "strength" and "power" are frequently used interchangeably to describe our ability to exert force in sports or other life activities. The truth is though that in both science and engineering strength and power have distinctly different meanings.
Strength is recognized as referring to our ability to create and exert force. There are many ways to measure one's strength. The oldest is probably just seeing how much weight the individual can lift. However; depending on your particular functional needs, this is not always the best way to develop effective maximal strength.
Some physical training professionals like to use the term "power" to define the ability to exert force at relatively high speed and the term "strength" to indicate the ability to lift a weight slowly or exert isometric force. A more specific definition of the term "strength" would be: the amount of force that can be exerted at a particular speed. Virtually all physical activities in life involve the acceleration (an increase in velocity) and deceleration (a decrease in velocity) of particular body segments, the whole body or external objects. According to the force-velocity relationship, the force that a muscle can exert decreases as movement speed increases. Thus measurement of strength with isometric or low speed testing ( lifting weight) may not sufficiently develop adequate acceleration that some universal movements or activities require.

Power

Precisely defined in both science and engineering "power" means: the time rate of doing work, where work is defined as the product of force exerted on an object and the distance the object moves in the directions in which the force is exerted. In other words,work = force X distance.
When looking for a way to define the best methods to meet your desired needs and make an educated decision on which training modalities you should employ, it may be best to remember your high-school physics class: Power = (F X V) . Power production/absorption is a function of both force and velocity. A critical velocity or power output is required to execute any skilled movement. Depending on the movement, power production usually peaks at 30 -50% of maximum force or velocity. Force = (M X A) or mass and acceleration.
In order to execute athletic movements, the object must be moved rapidly through the acceleration path with peak force applied for a very short period of time (typically about 0.1 - 0.2 seconds). Absolute max force development requires (0.6 - 0.8 seconds). This means that once the weight is determined maximal force (relative to your strength capabilities) and moto-neural activity are only generated when maximally accelerated.
Since functionally speaking any movement is an act of defying gravity, the central issue becomes -- what is being moved and how fast it is being moved. The operative concept in each case is speed - strength. Many believe that speed is independent from strength. In fact, speed is the result of explosive force. This makes perfect sense if you think about any sport skill in simple mechanical terms.
Whether one is swing a bat or a golf club, throwing a football or a baseball, running or jumping - all movements are based on the same principles: one needs to assume a sports specific power position and accelerate into action as explosively as possible. Simply stated ,submaximal levels of force production and motoneural activation are what occur if the weight is not accelerated to the limits of one's abilities. If you are after results it does not make sense for the individual to engage in any submaximal training methods.
With this knowledge firmly in hand (or mind) what is the best method of conditioning available to you? Well, the answer is neither simple nor complicated. The best form of conditioning training is the one that meets your needs.

In part 2 we will take a look at a few traditional methods as well as some more evolved ones in order to give you an even better understanding of proper design and implementation of sport and performance enhancement. This way you will have a clearer understanding of your needs from which to base your decisions on.

About Author:

John H. Grissom has been involved in the self-defense, sport fighting, conditioning and fitness industry for over 25 years; as a participant, instructor and finally teacher and coach. You can find out more about both him and his products by visiting www.extremesuperpowerpunching.net

Article Source: http://physicalfitnessarticles.net

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