It is one of the objectives of the book Supertraining is to show how a deeper understanding of the phenomenon of strength can enable one to consistently and safely develop all types of specific strength without resorting to drugs.
Although its title might imply that it is solely for the purpose of developing strength in sports competitors, this book presents information which is relevant to anyone who needs to enhance any of the strength-related qualities for effective participation in any form of physical exercise. This sports specific strength refers to the particular fitness quality comprising a series of strength-related factors which determine efficient motor performance and sporting excellence (see Ch 1).
Thus, this text is highly relevant not only to the athlete, coach, physical educator and personal trainer, but also to sports physiotherapists and doctors whose task it is to provide specific forms of musculoskeletal rehabilitation, all of which ultimately necessitate enhancing stability and mobility by some form of strength-based physical conditioning. For this reason, one of the chapters relates strength training to the physiotherapeutic system known as PNF (Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation).
One of the main aims of this book is to fill one of the gaps in the applied strength training field, i.e. the lack of a scientific methodology for systematically applying the different forms of strength training to improve sporting performance, particularly at the highest international level.
A major aim is also to extend the limited concepts of strength and fitness which have been perpetuated in many training books and exercise physiology texts in the West. These books have identified the most important fitness components as cardiovascular endurance, muscular endurance, strength and flexibility, but often have not recognised the existence of more specific components such as speed-strength, speed-endurance, flexibility-strength and speed-strength endurance. Consequently, sports training programmes which have been based on these simplistic fitness models often have been seriously deficient in key aspects of sports preparation.
The numerous books on strength training and bodybuilding have also had a profound impact on the use of strength training in sport. Some of them cover the general principles of non-specific weight training very adequately, while others offer much the same compendium of traditional physique or fitness conditioning exercises which have been used since the turn of this century. The proliferation of commercial fitness centres and popular physique magazines in the West has created the often-faulty impression that these centres, well-known bodybuilders and commercially-accredited instructors are ideally equipped to provide strength training for everyone, including elite athletes. Moreover, many of the more popular books on applied exercise science have been written by scientists with considerable knowledge of cardiovascular physiology, but less experience of specialised strength training in sport.
At the same time, some of the finest strength training experts and books are in Russia and Eastern European countries, so that the average physical educator, coach and sports scientist in the West has little or no access to them. Where English translations of these books exist, they are usually literal and do not adequately interpret their often-unfamiliar terminology and philosophy for Western readers. That the information they convey is definitely valuable is borne out by the dominance of most Olympic sports by athletes from these countries.
For the above reasons, the need for a more extensive book on applied strength conditioning became obvious, especially if it could synthesize scientific and practical findings from East and West. The new era of glasnost or 'openness' in the former Soviet Union also seemed to provide the opportune time for such a venture.
Article Directory : http://www.articlecube.com
