For ever athletes have been doing some type of strength training of some sort or another. But have you ever stopped to ask why? Looks, power, strength, explosion, health? If you ask the average athlete they will have no idea why they are lifting weights.
Every person involved in sports now train to some extent for their sport. Do they really know why...I again submit the average person has no idea not only what they are doing but more importantly why they are doing it.
Sports training is a development cycle for the athlete to train their body for the rigors of their particular sport. Depending on your sport will depend on the amount of training you will need. Well....maybe. You see the body of a football player is the same as a baseball player as a track athlete. There is no difference between any of them except for the 'demands' of their particular sport.
Every athlete must be able to do the 'basics' of every motion. That begins with walking correctly using the muscles in the proper order. I can't tell you how many people coming into my office that can't walk properly. Many times it's because of compensation of the muscles but many times it comes down to the fact that they learned on themselves incorrectly and continued with that motion into adulthood. Now when they are attempting to train for their sport they wonder why they can't run as fast as they would like to. (You can't expect to run fast if you can't walk correctly.) They've wired into their brain the wrong use and timing of the contractions of their muscles. That starts at the neurological system before the muscles. Now that you want the muscles to move as fast as possible - the muscles won't respond because the central computer (brain) was programmed wrong.
Some coaches say to the athlete that you need to get into the weight room to get stronger. Really? Do you really think that by lifting weights that you will correct a neurological programming issue. I think not.
It begins as early as infants when attempting to move. You start off on back and over time you figure out that you can roll over to your belly. The next step is getting up on your forearms eventually progressing to crawling. This allows for a the brain and nervous system to develop the proper neurological patterns needed for the muscles to respond properly. If you confine an toddler to a jump seat or to a crib not allowing them to crawl it will slow the maturation process of the neurological response to the muscles. If this sheltered life contiues, not allowing the young child the advantage of out door activity including running, climbing, skipping, jumping, it will deaden the reponce of the neurological development to the muscles. In the long run the child that isn't allowed to explore, fall, fail at certain attempts of movement will be behind the athletic curve in development.
Please understand that in order for the muscle to do its thing....turn on (contract) turn off (relax) it needs a nerve supply, just like your computer needs an electrical supply to work properly. If I've said it once I've said it a thousand times...."if big muscles made great athletes, then body builders would be our best athletes."
So now you want to to the gym to lift heavy pieces of metal "to get into shape." If you have restrictions in your muscles you will begin to "strengthen your weaknesses." The key to training is learning first how to get the muscles to properly hold position. Once there is a clear and direct neurological message being sent to the muscle the muscles will working in the order that they were designed to eliminating the compensation patterns that were developed in the past. Once you can get past this point then you can begin to develop generating power and explosion. As a part of developing this the muscles will automatically get larger and more dense creating even more power. This is a process and it takes time to develop but if you really want to improve as an athlete you have to pay the "proper" price before expecting the adulation's and awards from your sport.
Are you looking in becoming a bigger jock....or a elite athlete? The choice is up to you....
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