Unfortunately, the role of exercise in developing countries is changing. With an increased prevalence of disease, we are now using exercise as a tool to rehabilitate unhealthy populations, rather than enhance the performance of healthy individuals. While this is great for the longevity of mankind,
the evolution of sports science is slower. There is good information out there; the only problem is that its scattered all over the place - from the east to the west and amongst it is a whole heap of crap! This allows the trainer to devise his own
methodology, but its also probably the reason why 99.9% of physical
trainers still believe that weight training makes you bulky. But there
is hope… Experts in their respective fields are beginning to open up. Let's take a look at who's out there...
Academics: coming from a university background, the importance of
referencing is huge. If something isn’t scientifically validated, it
cannot be assumed to be right. This places a whole heap of trusts in our
academics. The only drawback is the real-world application tends to be limited as the experimenters results are based on controlling a whole heap of variables - something which is difficult to control outside of a lab. Sometimes the lack of practical experience also handicaps the academic, as they are trying to understand a sport without ever participating in it.
The Powerlifters: these are the meatheads who know how
to get strong. I would say that at least 75% of the training methodology we support has been derived from strength training. Westside and the EliteFTS
crew are probably the most popular groups. Increasing strength is probably the most important (and neglected) goal for any athlete. A NOTE: athletes are not
powerlifters, so principles and not programming should be emulated. Why?
Powerlifting is a sport in itself, and programs are specifically
designed to increase strength for the big three, they are not designed
to enhance athletic performance as a whole.
Conditioning
Specialists: Crossfit are probably the most popular group, but there are
others out there. A common problem with the conditioning gurus is a
belief that conditioning is all you need. By definition, conditioning is
the general ability to withstand fatigue. Fatigue is the inability
maintain a given power output. This quickly shows that you need a
substantial power output to begin with. Do you want to be strong and
conditioned, or weak and conditioned? An argument can be that
conditioning develops multiple motor qualities simultaneously, BUT
intermediate and advanced athletes require more concentrated loading of
different bio-motor abilities for optimal results.
Olympic
Lifters: these guys are the power equivalent of powelifters. They are
explosive and that is what is required in sports. Force application in a
sporting context is typically rapid (<1secs). True Max Effort
attempts usually take 3-5 seconds. This quickly shows that exercises
perform rapidly abide to time specificity better. However, strength
exercises provide a foundation for power exercises which follow and are
critical for sporting success despite their application speeds. Like
powerlifters, Olympic weightlifting is a sport in itself, so training
for the Clean & Jerk and Snatch will quickly limit your results (the learning curve is also very steep to learn the movements).
Training
Modality Specialists: the group who swear that one training modality
works best exclusively. The Kettlebell guys are a great example - their
training is very beneficial for sporting proficiency but one must
realize that each training tool has its benefits and detriments. One
must also realize that with each tool is a limited amount of exercises.
If the exercise pool is too small, the law of accommodation will prevail
and results will stagnate. Also, many of these specialists begun with powerlifting, and have great benefits because they have a huge strength foundation to exploit.
