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THE SCIENTIFIC BASES OF MODERN

STRENGTH TRAINING
By Gilles Cometti, French Atletism Federation UEREPS, Dijon
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TheThr
owsOfficial Report of the European
Athletic Coaches Association Congress, 1987exami
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rength development
methods and reviews the strength development methods proposed by various experts
in the field. Re-printed with permission from the European Athletic Coaches Association.
This expos aims at discussing methods of strength training and corresponding
scientific knowledge. It will be made up of four parts:
In a first part, we will deal with strength mechanisms: among them we will mostly
develop the phenomena of synchronization of motor units and that of elasticity.
We shall then see the methods of development of strength.
In a third part, we will deal with the principle of alternation of types of contraction
which strikes us as being the focus point of modern strength training.
We shall end with the principle of variation of strength in movement with an
appliance called
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.
1) Mechanisms of strength
In figure 1, you see the different known mechanisms that exist in strength development.

The best known mechanism is that of hypertrophy and it has been known for many
years with Zatsiorski, that the best method to increase the muscular volume consists in
making repetitions of series of 10 with weights you can only lift ten times. The number of
series must be relatively high, about 10 series. But the most important factors for
strength development are nervous. They number three: the recruitment of motor units

ruled by the Henneman law, the synchronization of motor units which we will develop
later and the intermuscular co-ordination.
The recruitment of the motor units deals with the strength developed between 0 and 80
% of the maximum, and explains the quick gains of strength at the beginning of a
training period. For us it is not the determining mechanism in the case of high strength
training. The inter-muscular co-ordination is explained as the movement training, which
is to say with good timing of the concerned muscle contractions.
Moreover there exists a third group of phenomena which come into focus when the
muscle is submitted to stretching. They are the myotatic reflex and muscular elasticity.
We shall develop this phenomenon of elasticity.
Synchronization of motor units
As is shown on figure 2, this mechanism was already noticed by Zatsiorski some 20
years ago. He said that for experienced weight lifters, the number of synchronized
motor units could reach 80%, whereas for beginners it is only 20%.
Let us take a simple picture to explain the principle of synchronization: let us imagine a
room full of spectators who would be asked to shout a sound all together. The first time
they would be surprised and would not react at the same moment; the sound would thus
be long and not very strong. After many rehearsals, the answer would be shorter but
also stronger; they would then be synchronized.
The same thing happens due to the training of motor units. However this fundamental
phenomenon has not yet found a coherent explanation which explains the question
mark on figure 2.
We are going to try and find an explanation thanks to the work of French research
workers.
With Paillard we thus learn that the motor-neurons (motoneurons) are at the beginning
systematically in phase, thus synchronized; which is paradoxical in comparison with
what was claimed previously. In fact, noticed Paillard, this phenomenon of
synchronization is unfavorable for everyday life because it would engender violent and
trembling movements. Fortunately there is for everyday life a de-synchronization
phenomenon which is the Renshaw circuit.
This cell starts contact with a collateral of the motor- neurons and ends at the different
neighboring motor- neurons, and as each Renshaw cell acts in the same way, we thus
get a jamming of the different impulses originally synchronized. The de-synchronization
is thus the result of an inhibition sent by the Renshaw circuit. How is this possible?
Another French research worker Pierrot Desseilligny showed that the Renshaw
cell was under the control of nervous centers which could send inhibitor impulses. This
inhibition made it possible to regain the initial synchronization. We thus note in this case
that improvement in strength is considered as due to the removal of an inhibition.

In order to solicit this mechanism, as already stated by Zatsiorski, you must have
weights or muscular tensions superior to 80 % of the maximum. In our opinion the
mechanism of concentration fits this explanation.
We can now deal with the second mechanism which interests us, that is to say
muscular elasticity.

Muscular elasticity
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differentiation is made between an elasticity in series and an elasticity in parallel. The
series-elastic was classically located in the tendons and in the muscular sheathes.
However, for some years, research-workers have also located it in the contractile part of
the muscle, more precisely in the actin-myosin pons.

Figure 4 schematizes the different representations of the myosin molecule. Firstly we


show a simple schema with a head and a tail (fig. 4,A), then we introduce a spring at the
tail level of myosin (
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B)
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Finally nowadays research-workers such as Goubel in France base themselves on


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hemyosin tail the
representation of different anchoring points for the head; these anchoring points having
also a role to play during stretching (fig. 4,C). You can note that things develop at the
elasticity level.
Basically you see a new idea appear, particularly regarding tests. You can thus find in
Bosco two new tests for elasticity. They are the Squat-jump and the Countermovement
jump. The Squat-jump consists of measuring the elevation of the centre of gravity from
a low knee 90 bend; the athlete can thus only solicit the contractile aspect (of course in
a schematic way). Then he does the countermovement jump which consists of
beginning in a standing position then in bending, then immediately extending; the
athlete soliciting this time twice his elasticity. The difference of performance between
the two tests is a significant measure of the elastic qualities of the athlete. This is a very
efficient method of control for training.
2) Methods for developing strength
Still thanks to Zatsiorski, we know that to develop strength you must create maximum
tension in the muscle. This in order to solicit synchronization of the motor units. These
tensions may be obtained:
either in mann ways the weight is maximum and you then have the method of
maximum efforts
or the weight is sub maximum and you must then compensate either with
maximum fatigue or maximum speed. You then discover the method of repeated
efforts, and the method of dynamic efforts, as shown on figure 5.

For a long time these three methods and their combinations have been the major
constituent of the variety of strength training.
With Schmidtbleicher there has been a new distinction which deals with all kinds of
muscular contractions.
You can distinguish 4 types of muscular contractions as shown in figure 6. The
isometric contraction where there is no movement of the muscular insertions, and the
anisometric contractions where the insertions move. The most current contraction in this
group is the concentric contraction: the muscular insertion points approach one another,

the muscle shortens. More recently used, you may find the eccentric contraction where
the insertions move away from one another. This type of work is one of the discoveries
of modern strength training, applied with care it is a method with a surprising efficiency.

Finally since Zanon, we have talked of plyometric work when a muscle sollicited in an
eccentric manner immediately produces concentric work. In figure 6 you can notice the
opening of possibilities brought by these kinds of contractions. With Schmidtbleicher we
can make an inventory of the possibilities offered if we attribute to the three methods of

Zatsiorski the 4 types of contraction. The variety of work is thus much improved; but
modern strength training has found something even better, a combination at these types
of contractions as we are going to see right now.
3) Alternation of types of contraction
The phenomenon against which the development of strength fights is habit. Against
habit you should then use the alternation of efforts. The first alternation which appeared
in strength training as shown in figure 7 is the alternation of weights; this method
is known in France under the name of method of contrasts, or the Bulgarian method. It
consists of alternating in the session heavy and light weights. But thanks in particular to
Pletnev and Komi, the alternation applies nowadays with the type of contraction of the
muscle.

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3 different groups. One of the exercises taken as a support is bench press. Komi made
a group work in concentric only, a group in eccentric only (but still with 25% concentric
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ssake) and a mixed group with 50% concentric and 50% eccentric. You can
see in the diagram the progress of work over 12 weeks. The mixed group is far above

as far as its progression is concerned. Pletnev had the same idea but this time with a
new parameter, i.e. isometric work. He thus had 4 groups: one working in concentric,
one in isometric, one group in eccentric and a mixed group with the three parameters.
The mixed group also had the best results. Pletnev then wanted to know more about the
best possible combination of these 3 types of contraction and he did a second
experiment with 3 groups: one working 50% in eccentric, 25% in isometric and 25% in
concentric; a group with 50% isometric, 25% eccentric and 25% concentric; and a group
50% concentric, 25% eccentric and 25% isometric. The group with 50% eccentric work
performed best. Since then other studies have been made in the same direction. These
experiments show the interest in this type of alternation. We think that nowadays one
should investigate all the possibilities of combinations as suggested by figure 9, taking
into account the fact that one can combine the types of contraction either in the same
sequence or in the same series. Moreover we can combine the types of contraction 2 by
2, 3 by 3, or even 4 by 4. You can thus note the great variety introduced. But the
subtleness of modern musculation does not stop there. Why not vary strength and the
type of muscle solicitation in the same repetition!

4) The modification of strength in the same repetition


This idea is shown in figure 10. Already some methods exist which go this direction.
They are the stato-dynamic method and the 120-80 % referred to by Tschiene. The
stato-dynamic method consists of making a halt with a bar (about 2 seconds), then
finishing the movement very quickly. The movement is thus both isometric and
concentric. The 120-80 % method is even more ingenious as it proposes in the same
movement, to go down at 120 % and up at 80% . Of course with classical equipments
this supposes a way of loading the bar during the movement. This is a rather risky
operation. In this case it is better to have an appliance enabling a change of load during
the movement, as with the Sportonic.

This revolutionary appliance offers the following possibilities: it can be linked to a


computer and thus has an entry and an exit. In the entry as shown on figure 11
you can programme the developed strength according to the movement both for the in
and return movement; the Sportonic having a motor to take the place of weights.
We can note immediately the possibilities. Moreover, thanks to force sensors fixed to
the bar, it is able to supply information in the manner the movement has been executed.
It thus gives the speed of the bar, its movement and the force applied. It is with this kind
of appliance and with the preceding methods that modern strength training will improve.

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