Athletic Strength Training

Strength training is a diverse topic that can help you achieve different fitness goals. It can help improve your body composition, increase strength and make you look better at the beach. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, it can also help reduce signs and symptoms of arthritis, osteoporosis, and other conditions. Strength training can also help you become a better athlete. There are even actual sports devoted to strength training.

Strength Sports

Three sports can be considered "strength sports": weightlifting, powerlifting and bodybuilding. The first two deal with lifting the most weight possible in certain exercises. Bodybuilding is a sport in which participants are judged based on how their body looks, and the participants use weight training to increase their muscle mass and reduce body fat. The snatch lift and clean and jerk lift are the ones tested for in weightlifting. In powerlifting, the barbell back squat, deadlift and bench press are tested. Both sports have judges who ensure the athletes complete the lifts according to established rules.

Other Sports

Athletes in most other sports use weight training as one method to help them perform their sport better. Thomas Baechle, Ph.D., provides a large degree of scientific evidence in his book "Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning" that weight training improves strength, speed and power. These improvements are why athletes in team and individual sports use weight training to improve. In long jumping, for example, improving your power enables you to jump further. In football, being stronger can help you overcome your opponent.

Types of Programs

Lifting different ways produce different results. Changing the intensity or relative weight used in an exercise changes the training adaptation more than changing any other parameter. Usually as the intensity increases, the number of repetitions per set l decreases. According to "Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning," programs designed for increasing strength involve repetition ranges from one to five per set. Programs designed for increasing muscle size range in repetitions from six to 12 per set. Programs designed for muscular endurance list repetitions per set more than 12.

Types of Exercises

Weight training exercises that most closely resemble the movements performed in specific sports are most beneficial. For example, the ability to jump high is important in basketball. In this instance, weight training exercises that help improve jumping ability are more important than exercises that help improve arm size. In most sports, lower body strength and power are important. Exercises such as back squats, front squats and power cleans help improve lower body strength and power.

Implementation

Because there is variation in what one athlete needs in terms of her training versus another, in college and professional settings strength coaches are charged with designing sport-specific weight training programs. In the college setting, these professionals are often in charge of developing programs for several different sports teams. In professional sports, strength coaches need to develop different weight training programs to meet the needs of different position groups, or even individual athletes. They specify exercises, number of sets and repetitions, rest periods and even sometimes nutritional strategies for athletes.