Importance of Strength and Conditioning

This week, we want to take a look at why strength and conditioning training is such an important part of general fitness and also take a look at some of the research and books that exist around this topic. We encourage you to always be researching different ways to improve your workout and training and find ways to apply them to whatever it is you train for.

Research:

Haff and Triplett published a fantastic book with the 4th edition arriving in 2o15. The book is called Essentials of Strength and Conditioning Training and is considered by many to be the major text in this field. With the help of 30 worldwide exercise experts, this book looks at all the basics of strength and conditioning training and has something to offer everyone to help improve their workouts. The book ranges from introduction training to specific examples of how to plan your workouts and focus more on certain aspects of your fitness. We could not recommend this one enough.

In terms of noticeable benefits for strength and conditioning, plenty of research exists out there to show us direct comparisons between those who do engage and do not engage with this training. One example is a 1991 study by Fry, who took two women’s ice hockey teams and allowed one to engage in strength and conditioning training for 12 weeks in pre-season and another team that did not. It was found that not only was team A’s fitness, flexibility and stamina better at the start of the season but this advantage lasted for the rest of the season.

So why should we all engage in training? Well, according to Young and Farrow in their paper from 2006, whether it is for sport or for general wellbeing, the specialised nature of strength and conditioning training lends itself to constant noticeable improvements and it is encouraged by these adverts that we all get more specific in our training constantly to bring out the best in ourselves.

Conclusion:

We all search for ways to constantly improve ourselves and the way we train and sometimes this can lead us down one way paths. This is why it is important to broaden your training strategies and it is clear that experts argue that strength and conditioning training is an important tool that can help us reach goals we set for ourselves.

 

Daniel

Team PTI

References:

Fry, A.C., Kraemer, W.J., Weseman, C.A., Conroy, B.P., Gordon, S.E., Hoffman, J.R. and Maresh, C.M., (1991). The effects of an off-season strength and conditioning program on starters and non-starters in women’s intercollegiate volleyball. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 5(4), pp.174-181.

Haff, G.G. and Triplett, N.T. eds., (2015). Essentials of strength training and conditioning 4th edition. Human kinetics.

Young, W. and Farrow, D., (2006). A review of agility: Practical applications for strength and conditioning. Strength and conditioning journal, 28(5), p.24.