Power V Strength

I t was pointed out by a friend that on an earlier post I was getting myself mixed up with STRENGTH and POWER and referring to my lack of strength in cycling, where what I was really discussing was my lack of power in cycling.  So this has lead me to do a bit research on the subject, I am not saying that my finding are complete (or totally correct) but they are what I have discovered so far: -

Firstly a couple of definitions: -

STRENGTH : is the maximum force that an individual can apply to a resistance, quite often expressed as an individuals maximum lift for a single rep, I.E. an individual may be able to bench press 110kg for 1 rep then this world be the representation of his strength.  In reality though if 111kg was attempted the individual would not be able to lift the weight but the force would be slightly high, as maximum strength has zero velocity, but most people use the maximum lift for 1 rep method.

POWER: this adds speed/velocity into the equation as power is the rate at which work is performed and can be represented as the equation:  power = force x velocity or power = (force x distance)/time.

For some triathletes (runners or other athletes) , pure strength training well only have limited benefit and in the early stages of training as there is evidence that increments in absolute strength does translate to increments in power BUT as strength training progresses this effect becomes less and less.

Training to improve power on the other hand can improve a triathletes performance, if we examine the formula above it suggest this can be done in 1 or more of 3 ways : -

• Increasing Force
• Increasing Distance
• Decreasing Time

FORCE: here I mean increasing force while keeping velocity and time constant this would in a cycling specific session involve intervals in a high gear, recruiting and building strength endurance capabilities while not sacrifice speed or the time of the overall ride.

DISTANCE: in running terms this world be doing increasingly longer session keeping intensity (force) and the duration of run constant, it is suggested that flexibility and efficiency improvements can contribute to improving distance, as is shown by the countess studies on stride length and running style

TIME:  Decreasing the time it takes to cover a distance at a set force is another way of improving power, improving skill levels have shown to have helped decrease time, if you look at swimming a large proportion of gains are maid through becoming a better swimmer, through drills etc

NON-SPORTS-SPECIFIC

When I talk about non sports specific training to increase power I am referring to time in the gym, this is a highly contentious subject amongst most triathletes  where some swear by it, others yes but only in the off season and other no way kept to sports specific. A recent poll I ran on the beginnertrieatlete website produce the following opinions: -

 

Yes,I weight train all year round	48%
Yes, but only in the off season	21%
Nope, only sports specific	9%
Would like to but have not	17%
Yes and no	5%

But for those that do believe in gym work to compliment the sports consider training to increase power rather than strength, don’t worry about that one rep maximum an instead look to increase the weights you use in more explosive exercises such as cleans, jump squats, kettle bell work etc.  This will help build and recruit the appropriate muscle fibres for power in you sport and help you burn calories, thus helping out in another formula which is the power to weight ratio.

POWER TO WEIGHT RATIO

If increasing you power is your aim then you need to consider you power to weight ratio (power(in watts)/ weight (in KG))  if an increase in power is matched (or superseded) by an increase in body weight then the gains may not be translated into improved performance, alternately a drop in weight while maintaining current power could again see an improvement in athletic performance, this is due to the power to weight ratio.

Ideally those undertaking specific power training should also consider their ability to reduce the amount of body fat they carry thus improving both sides of the power to weight ratio equation and helping further capitalise on any power gains…

There we having it … my ramblings for the day … I am not saying any of this is gospel … but it is my current understanding

Feel free to correct me, add your comments, or argue your own point …

WW