Strength and Conditioning for Female Athletes E-Book

Keith Barker

• Herausgeber: Crowood
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2018

Beschreibung

Women's sport in general has gained an increasingly higher profile and level of respect in recent years, and it is becoming widely acknowledged that a female athlete's training programmes will differ in several respects from that of their male counterparts. Despite this, there is a dearth of research evidence available to coaches and athletes to guide the planning and programming process, with limited comparisons of training adaptations between the genders and in particular, a lack of investigation into elite female performers. Strength and Conditioning for Female Athletes contains insights from various experts in this specialised area. This text outlines specifically what is and what isn't known regarding female athlete development, and exposes the gaps that currently exist in the academic literature, with practical examples of applied practice. Coaches, sports scientists and athletes themselves will find here a wealth of useful information, with topics including: needs analysis; programme design for the basic biomotor abilities; speed and agility; long-term athlete development; the menstrual cycle and gender-specific injuries.

Leseprobe

STRENGTH

AND

CONDTIONING

FOR

FEMALE ATHLETES

KEITH BARKER ANDDEBBY SARGENT

THE CROWOOD PRESS

First published in 2018 by

The Crowood Press Ltd

Ramsbury, Marlborough

Wiltshire SN8 2HR

www.crowood.com

This e-book first published in 2018

© Keith Barker and Debby Sargent 2018

All rights reserved. This e-book is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher's rights, and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN 978 1 78500 410 0

Contents

1 CONSIDERATIONS FOR PROGRAMME DESIGN: NEEDS ANALYSIS Rodrigo Aspe

2 STRENGTH AND POWER - Debby Sargent and Richard Clarke

3 SPEED AND AGILITY DEVELOPMENT FOR FEMALE ATHLETES Keith Barker

4 ENERGY SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT FOR FEMALE ATHLETES Julian Monk and Keith Barker

5 MOBILITY FOR PERFORMANCE IN FEMALE ATHLETES Debby Sargent

6 RECOVERY PRACTICES TO OPTIMIZE TRAINING ADAPTATION AND PERFORMANCE FOR FEMALE ATHLETES - Keith Barker

7 TRAINING YOUNG FEMALE ATHLETES - Rhodri Lloyd, Lucy Kember, John Radnor and Jon Oliver

8 THE MENSTRUAL CYCLE, EXERCISE AND PERFORMANCE Keith Barker

9 TRAINING DURING PREGNANCY AND FOLLOWING CHILDBIRTH Keith Barker

10 GENDER SPECIFIC LOWER LIMB INJURIES; IDENTIFICATION OF RISK FACTORS AND MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES Lee Herrington

11 COACHING FEMALE ATHLETES - Debby Sargent

Index

CHAPTER 1

CONSIDERATIONS FOR PROGRAMME DESIGN: NEEDS ANALYSIS

Rodrigo Aspe MSc, ASCC

PART ONE — INTRODUCTION

Successful sports performance is a combination of skill and athleticism; athletes need to demonstrate technical and tactical mastery with the optimal application of force during performance. As performance is multifactorial, elite athletes are often resourced with extensive technical staff to develop each quality. These may include a technical coach, physiologist, nutritionist, sport psychologist and strength and conditioning coach. Although each staff member has their own performance metrics within their specific area of expertise, they have a unified goal to enhance performance. Therefore it is important that the coaching staff work together and appreciate the input of others and how this may impact their own work. For example during periods of extensive training led by the technical coach, the strength and conditioning coach should alter their training and the nutritionist should modify calorie intake to fulfil the demand of the total training load. These alterations from each coach provide the athlete with the best platform to achieve the unified goal. The strength and conditioning coach is primarily tasked with enhancing athletic qualities that are key determinants to sporting success. A secondary goal is to create a robust athlete who is able to continually train and be available for competition. Creating a strength and conditioning programme that enhances specific physical qualities is a complex process that must consider the physiological adaptation process and thus address the basic training principles: overload, specificity and variation (Stone et al., 2000; Kraemer et al., 2002; ACSM 2009). This is achieved by systematic manipulation of the acute programme variables: muscle action, loading and volume, exercise selection and order, rest periods, repetition velocity and frequency (Bird et al., 2005).

Principles Of Training – Overload

The principle of overload refers to providing an appropriate stimulus for eliciting a desired physiological adaptation and athletic outcome. To promote physiological adaptations the training intensity imposed on an athlete must be greater than what they are accustomed to in normal training. Thus applying overload in a training programme is completed by systematically increasing the training stimulus imposed on the athlete. The most common method of applying an overload stimulus is by manipulation of the training intensity. Within a resistance training environment, intensity refers to the amount of weight employed within an exercise and is typically expressed as repetition maximum (RM), the greatest amount of weight that can be lifted with proper form for a desired number of repetitions, or as a percentage of one repetition maximum (1-RM). As the RM method does not require establishing a 1-RM it is often the preferred load prescription method in practice. Depending on the goal of training (power, strength, hypertrophy or muscular endurance) the repetition maximum continuum identifies the RM range. Relatively heavy loads should be used for power (1– 3RM) and strength (3–8RM), moderate loads for hypertrophy (8–15RM), and light loads for muscular endurance (20>RM) (Bird et al., 2005). Although the repetition maximum continuum suggests specific adaptations from each RM, the training benefits are blended, as moderate loads will also incur strength adaptations (Sheppard and Triplett, 2016). For example, at the beginning of a training programme the stimulus for a back squat 5RM might be 100kg, an appropriate repetition range to elicit and increase in strength. During the initial stages of the programme this training stimulus will cause acute fatigue and a temporary reduction in performance due to the muscle damage caused by the overload (Chiu and Barnes, 2003). However, as the programme progresses, continual exposure to the stimulus of 5RM with 100kg elicits physiological adaptations and the athlete becomes accustomed to the training load and may be able to squat this load for a higher amount of repetitions. At this point the training stimulus becomes insufficient and a greater load is required for 5RM to promote further adaptations and an increase in strength. If the training stimulus is not increased, no further positive adaptations in muscle strength will occur. Whatever the focus of training, applying overload is necessary to promote physiological adaptations. If the goal is to increase aerobic capacity, intensity can be prescribed as a percentage of the lowest running velocity (velocity at VO2max) that elicits maximal oxygen uptake during a volume of oxygen maximum (VO2max) test or average running speed from a 5-minute time trial (Clarke et al., 2016). For example, overload would be applied using an interval session with a training intensity prescribed as a percentage of the average velocity in metres per second (m·s-1) obtained from a 5-minute time trial.

Fig. 1.1 An illustration of general adaptation-syndrome theory explaining response to training. Adapted from Seyle, H., 1956, The Stress of Life (London: Longmans Green).

The adaptive response of the human body is integral in the application of overload. The adaptive response of the human body in regards to training enables adaptation provided there is sufficient time to recover. General adaptation syndrome (GAS) has been adapted to describe the body’s response to training stimuli or stress (Buckner et al., 2017; Seyle, 1950). Training stress provokes an alarm response in the body, which has an acute detrimental effect on muscle function post-training (Fig. 1.1). Mechanistically the acute decline in muscle function is caused by depletion of energy sources and alterations in intra- and extra-cellular metabolite concentrations that are caused by the mechanical tension and metabolic stress (Schoenfeld, 2010). This can be substantially reduced with rest and appropriate nutrition within a few hours (Schoenfeld, 2010). Muscle damage can have a longer lasting effect on muscle function as this promotes an inflammatory response from the muscle, a phenomenon known as delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) which can last up to several days (Howatson and Van Someren, 2008). The culmination of these physiological responses takes time to dissipate as the body undergoes a resistive response and adapts to the training stress. The final stage of the resistive response is supercompensation where the training adaptation surpasses the pre-training level. Understanding of the recovery and adaptation process is essential when creating a strength and conditioning programme; frequent training sessions with insufficient recovery will not enable supercompensation. In fact, a chronic exhaustive state may manifest and could result in injury, illness or overtraining (Carfagno and Hendrix, 2014). Conversely, infrequent training sessions will not provide the athlete with frequent exposure to overload and the supercompensation adaptation from the initial training stimuli will return to that of the habitual pre-training level. It should be noted that the level of fatigue experienced and subsequent recovery required after a training session is highly dependent on the level of stress created within training. For example, the after-effects of an interval session utilizing shuttle runs with frequent accelerations, change of direction and decelerations is markedly different from a training session that includes a continuous linear run at 70 per cent maximum heart rate (MHR). Finally, the summation of several training sessions may exacerbate training fatigue and increase the time required to reach supercompensation. Therefore, to optimize the recovery and adaptation process it is important to plan appropriately within programme design micro and mesocycles. This further highlights the importance of communication and training integration between staff; to promote positive physiological adaptation each member of support staff has to consider the unifed goal of the training block and the amount of total training volume the athlete is experiencing.

Principles Of Training – Specificity

To successfully transfer training into performance it is important that the principle of specificity is realized. The principle of specificity alludes that the physiological adaptions from training are specific to the selected programme variables. These include the muscle actions involved (Roig et al., 2009), velocity of movement (Cormie et al., 2007), muscles recruited and direction of force application (Loturco et al., 2015). The most effective strength and conditioning programmes carefully consider acute training variables to produce specific physiological adaptations. For example, accelerative sprinting necessitates force production via triple extension of the lower limbs with a key emphasis on horizontal force production (Morin et al., 2011). In this instance, the inclusion of horizontal jump squats compared to the barbell back squat or vertical jump squat may be more prudent as this closer matches the contraction velocity, direction of force application and muscle recruitment patterns of performance should the key goal be transfer of training (Loturco et al., 2015). However, this does not mean that the back squat and vertical jump should be permanently excluded from training as these exercises could be employed to provide alternate training stimulus and desired physiological adaptations within other phases of training. For example the back squat may be utilized during a phase where the goal is to enhance lower-body strength and a stimulus of >80 per cent 1-RM is required to stimulate the appropriate neuromuscular mechanism (Shepard and Triplett, 2016). In this scenario both the vertical and horizontal jump squats would be inefficient exercise choices.

Athletes are permanently completing highly specific training by playing and training for their sport. While technical and tactical training is completed with the goal of improving skill, the intensity and volume of the session may cause a physiological training stimulus. Therefore, it is important that the technical and strength and conditioning coaches work collectively and do not attempt to promote diverse physiological adaptation or repeat training stimuli. Reilly and White (2005) demonstrated that twice-weekly small-sided games for six weeks produced similar improvements in both the 6 × 30 second anaerobic shuttle test and multistage fitness test compared with matched interval training in youth premiership football club players. Therefore small side games may be used to simultaneously develop technical skill or tactical plays and aerobic capacity, provided certain parameters such as pitch size, number of players, game duration and work:rest ratios are met (Hill-Haas, et al., 2011). In addition it is important that the strength and conditioning coach understands and appreciates the technical and tactical movements but ultimately carefully considers programme design and exercise selection to apply overload and develop athletic qualities. While the notion of specificity is fundamental to transfer of training it is important that exercise specificity is progressive throughout a training programme; during preseason athletes may train non-specific movements that promote muscle and tissue adaptation whilst improving general athleticism. This general training will serve the athlete well, creating a solid foundation whilst providing appropriate physiological adaptations to facilitate the increased training intensity as the season approaches. Creating a strength and conditioning programme that only meets the training principle of specificity will provide limited opportunities to apply overload and variation, and thus a sufficient training stimulus to enhance physical qualities such as maximal strength.

Principles Of Training – Variation

The principle of variation is the deliberate alteration of the strength and conditioning programme over time; this ensures the training stimulus remains optimal throughout a season. Basic periodization separates the seasonal plan into three main subdivisions: 1) preparatory, 2) competitive and 3) transitional, which facilitates systematic variation of the acute training variables within seasonal planning (Haff and Haff, 2012). Typically strength and conditioning sessions progress from moderate-intensity high-volume training within the preparatory phase, which is achievable due to the absence of competition and reduced technical and tactical sessions, to high-intensity moderate-volume in the competitive phase due to the additional demands of competition and technical and tactical training sessions. As well as manipulation of volume and intensity, periodization enables variation of exercise selection. Within the preparatory phase the primary focus is on muscle recruitment and action. However, as the competitive phase approaches consideration must also be given to velocity of movement and direction of force application, thus progressing from general to more specific exercises.

The amount of variation required is partly dictated by the training experience of the athlete. The law of diminishing returns suggests the magnitude of physiological adaptation is related to the initial starting point, with greater developments in relatively novice athletes due to the large potential for adaptation (Appleby et al., 2012). Therefore basic overload coupled with concurrent technical and tactical training may provide enough stimuli and transfer of training to enhance performance in novice athletes. However, when it comes to advanced athletes, creating a programme requires more astute manipulation of overload, specificity and variation as their window for adaptation is small and requires more attention to detail with regards to transfer of training.

PART TWO — INTRODUCTION

Along with knowledge of the basic training principles, it is important to complete a needs analysis prior to programme design. To enhance performance, the strength and conditioning coach must delineate specific physical qualities that are key determinants to performance and determine the strengths and weaknesses of the athlete (Read et al., 2016). Therefore, before designing a strength and conditioning programme it is paramount that the strength and conditioning coach has coherent knowledge of both the sport and the athlete in question. The process of a needs analysis provides the strength and conditioning coach with a method that enables exercise prescription based on informed choices of the acute programme variables achieved by means of essential knowledge of the sport and athlete in question. The process of a needs analysis has four central components:

•Determination of the physiological demands

•The biomechanical characteristics of the movements involved

•Injury epidemiology of the sport

•Evaluation of the athlete.

Finally, completion of a needs analysis is essential to create a test battery that is relevant to the sport and identifies athlete strength and weakness that may need to be addressed within training. The process of a needs analysis and results from a testing battery provide the strength and conditioning coach with the important information required to create an evidence-based programme to achieve predetermined goals.

Needs Analysis – Physiological Demands

Understanding the physiological demands of the sport considers several aspects of performance. Firstly it is important to determine the predominant metabolic pathway. When a muscle or group of muscles are recruited to produce force, the magnitude and duration of force determines the energy system (Herda and Cramer, 2016). For example, netball has a total duration of sixty minutes and elite runners will regularly complete the half marathon distance in less than sixty-five minutes. However, both sports have distinctly different energy demands; the half marathon is a continuous linear race and elite athletes will work at 75–85 per cent Vo2max, a pace that does not evoke Vo2max (Joyner and Coyle, 2008). Therefore it is no surprise that female champion endurance athletes display extremely high Vo2max values between 63–76.5 ml-1 min-1 (Joyner and Coyle, 2008). Conversely netball is intermittent and players will transition between walking, jogging, shuffling, running, sprinting and jumping (Fox et al., 2013). The actions can be separated into maximal intensity explosive actions such as multidirectional accelerations, declarations and jumps that require high amounts of concentric and eccentric force production; and submaximal intensity actions of walking, jogging and shuffling which provide opportunity for aerobic recovery (Thomas etal., 2016). Additionally, within netball players have multiple opportunities for recovery whether it is during in-game rest periods as play moves from one area of the court to another or via the 3 minutes afforded to breaks between quarters. These brief recovery periods enable repeated maximal intensity explosive actions that are commonly seen within intermittent sports, such as tennis, football, field hockey and rugby. Moreover the work-torest periods are specific to each sport and the metabolic pathway contribution differs consequently. A strength and conditioning programme must address the specific energy system demands and force production profiles for each sport.

It is also important to determine the key physical fitness qualities that are associated with the sport; these could include aerobic capacity, anaerobic capacity, strength, power, max velocity, acceleration, deceleration and/or change of direction. If the sport in question has several fitness qualities then they should be ranked in order of importance and coupled with athlete testing results to systematically determine goals of training that are most likely to have a positive effect on performance. For example within netball, centres have been reported to perform an average of 57.7±10 sprints, 90±11.1 runs, 53.7±6.7 jumps and 134.7±16.8 passes with the average duration of a high intensity lasting 1 to 3 seconds (Fox etal., 2013). While this data suggests anaerobic capacity is an important fitness quality to consistently perform throughout a game, it is equally important that players have sufficient aerobic capacity to efficiently recover during submaximal activities and breaks in play. This is further highlighted by the 75–85 per cent maximum heart rate reported during match play, as the game progresses greater demand will be placed on the aerobic energy system (Thomas et al., 2017b). Therefore it is important to determine the fitness qualities that are determinants of performance and then identify if this is a strength or weakness for the athlete. For example a netball player with a high anaerobic capacity but low aerobic capacity may be able to perform frequent repeated high-intensity activities during the first and second quarters. However, as the duration of the game increases and greater contribution is placed on their aerobic capacity, their ability to frequently perform repeated high-intensity actions will gradually decline. This example highlights the importance of being able to determine the physical requirements of the sport and identifiy the strength and weakness of the athlete; as developing the aerobic capacity of this athlete will be more beneficial compared to developing their anaerobic capacity to improve performance. Finally, it should be noted that the physical qualities required within a sport may be different, depending on playing position. Time-motion analysis data from Fox et al. (2013) identifies that defensive, mid-court and attacking positions all display different game statistics with regards to time spent walking, jogging, shuffling, running, sprinting and jumping.

Slightly more complex analysis necessitates knowledge, and understanding of the physiological undergoing of each fitness quality. For example, physiological mechanisms that contribute toward acceleration are leg extension strength, trunk stability, leg stiffness, stretch-shortening cycle capabilities and rate of force development (RFD) (Morin etal., 2011: Read et al., 2016). Therefore if acceleration is a target fitness quality it is important to determine which mechanism is limiting performance. Thomas et al. (2016) established that stronger netball players, determined by isometric mid-thigh pull, performed more favourably in 5- and 10-metre sprints than their weaker academy counterparts. Furthermore the stronger athletes also demonstrated better scores in change of direction (COD) assessment and measures of lower-body leg power. This demonstrates the importance of strength within performance of explosive movements that involve concentric and eccentric muscle actions. It is likely that netball players routinely perform jumping, acceleration, deceleration and change of direction patterns whilst training for their sport. Therefore a strength and conditioning coach should evaluate technical training and establish which physical qualities are routinely trained, as strength training coupled with netball training may provide greater improvement to speed and COD performance. Moreover it is important to include a variety of assessments within a testing battery to evaluate which physical qualities and underpinning mechanism the strength and conditioning programme should target.

Needs Analysis – Biomechanical Demands

The biomechanical analysis of the sport can be split into two sections, kinematics and kinetics. Kinematics refers to the characteristic of motion from a spatial and temporal perspective without reference to the forces causing the movements (Hamill et al., 2015). Angular kinematics is of particular interest when designing a strength and conditioning programme, as this is an observation of joint movement sequences or segmental velocities within a specific movement pattern. Additionally the planes of motion (sagittal, frontal and transverse) should be considered together with muscle recruitment and coordination. During performance of a netball shoulder pass, the arm movement is initiated with shoulder flexion culminating with elbow extension, wrist flexion and rotation of the torso (Hetherington et al., 2009). Therefore to enhance this movement, exercise selection should consider the key kinematic factors such as muscle recruitment, joint movement sequences and planes of motion. Programming a unilateral dumbbell bench press compared to a barbell bench press may better satisfy the kinematic requirements of the sporting moment whilst targeting strength development. However when targeting RFD, a standing one-arm medicine ball throw will closer match muscle contraction velocity whilst providing movement on the transverse plane with torso rotations that are evident during performance of the netball shoulder pass.

Kinetic movement analysis examines the forces causing movement or maintaining static body positions that have no movement (Hamill et al., 2015). Kinetic analysis is more difficult to perform, as forces cannot be accurately evaluated without specialist equipment (Kraemer et al., 2012). Acceleration of the body or limb will generally be accomplished by a concentric muscle action and deceleration will be achieved by an eccentric action (Hamill et al., 2015). This is important to consider as the forces experienced during jump landing can be in excess of four times body weight and muscles should be conditioned to tolerate these forces to prevent injury (Thomas et al., 2017b). For the strength and conditioning coach, kinetic analysis should be considered as maximizing force production within the body. However it is important that maximal force is developed within the spectrum of high and low contraction velocities (Fig. 1.2). Moreover, the rate at which force can be developed is of greater interest than the amount of force that can be achieved due to the limited time to apply force in a sporting context. McBride et al. (1999) demonstrated strength adaptations are specific to training history and contraction velocity, as Olympic weightlifters outperformed sprinters and powerlifters in a range of assessments across the force–velocity curve.

Fig. 1.2 An illustration of the force-velocity curve with aspects of the force-velocity spectrum identified.

Needs Analysis – Injury Epidemiology

Within sport, athletic injury can be classified as contact injuries or non-contact injuries, the difference being the mechanism as to how the injury occurred. A contact injury comes from the body being exposed to an external force or excessive load. Within field hockey, a contact injury may come from being struck with the ball and in rugby during contact within a tackle. Non-contact injuries generally occur during accelerative or decelerative movement patterns, and it is likely that there are a variety of predisposing factors such as insufficient range of motion about a joint, muscle weakness, previous injury, strength imbalance between agonist and antagonist muscles and fatigue (Small et al., 2010). For example sprinting is the primary mechanism for a hamstring strain within soccer due to the hamstring being a biarticular muscle (crosses two joints) and thus working simultaneously during the late stage swing phase to eccentrically decelerate the limb whilst controlling knee extension (Small et al., 2009). Couple this with fatigue, muscle imbalance or previous injury and the likelihood of injury is high. Moreover, within a sporting context sprinting is usually performed in a series of movements that contain a subsequent action such as a deceleration, change of direction or jump, which places considerable demand on the muscles, ligaments and tendons to produce and tolerate force. It is at this point that tissue around the limb or joint fails to meet the demand imposed and becomes injured by way of muscle or ligament damage.

Playing and training for particular sports may increase the probability of injury due to overuse. Overuse injuries are specific to youth athletes and occur due to repetitive submaximal musculoskeletal actions with insufficient time for recovery and adaptation between training sessions (DiFiori et al., 2014). Again there are multiple factors that can contribute to overuse injuries such as growth spurts, high training volumes, previously injury and amenorrhea. Therefore special consideration should particularly be given to youth female athletes (DiFiori et al., 2014). An example of overuse injury may be the repetitive bowling action in cricket or freestyle swimming where a high volume of shoulder circumduction is performed within sport-specific training. Consequently in sports where overuse injuries are a potential risk, such as bowling and freestyle, the strength and conditioning coach should consider strengthening the shoulder stabilizers and antagonist muscle groups, whilst all the coaching staff work together to manage total training volume.

Information from the biomechanical analysis should be utilized within the injury analysis to help establish mechanisms for injury. When this is complete, exercise and training intensity can be considered in a strength and conditioning programme to match the demands of performance and injuries inherent to the sport or movement patterns within this sport. This information should be communicated to other technical staff, such as the physiotherapist and technical coach, so that they are aware of the potential injury risk and plan accordingly within their own work, or integrated with the work of other technical staff. Regardless of the sport there are often multiple related factors that eventually lead to injury; fatigue impairs kinematics, which causes improper loading or uncontrollable movement that increases the probability of injury (Kraemer et al., 2012; Small et al., 2010). It is the role of the strength and conditioning coach to determine how the athlete may encounter injury during performance, and subsequently target the underlying mechanisms within the strength and conditioning programme.

Needs Analysis – Evaluation Of The Athlete

The final part of the needs analysis is evaluation of the athlete; this should include the athlete’s needs and goals. Firstly it is important to establish training status as this may impact the basic training principles and influence exercise selection during programme design. This includes the training age and history of the athlete; this will determine the volume, intensity and frequency of training. Novice athletes respond favourably to basic training principles whereas well-trained athletes require a much larger training stimulus and astute consideration to specificity, variation and the acute programme variables (Appleby et al., 2012). Likewise training history will normally indicate the modes of exercises the athlete has encountered and level of competence. Dysfunctional movement patterns should not be loaded regardless of the experience of the athlete and technical competence should be assured in all exercises that are selected within the strength and conditioning programme (Lloyd and Oliver, 2012). For example the level of skill and coordination required to complete a weighted vest countermovement jump and hang power clean are distinctly different, despite eliciting similar training adaptations with regards to RFD. Programming a hang power clean for a novice athlete over a weighted vest countermovement jump has questionable training efficacy. In addition to training age and history, information regarding illness and injury history should also be obtained as this is a key factor in injury reoccurrence (Small et al., 2010). Finally details regarding the athlete’s personal life should be collected, these include stress level, sleep patterns and quality of sleep, nutritional information and employment details. Discovering irregularities in any of these topics may impact the recovery adaptation process and the desired physiological outcomes of the strength and conditioning programme.

Needs Analysis – Gender Specificity

There are some specific considerations when creating a strength and conditioning programme for females in comparison with males:

•Physiological differences such as menstruation and hormonal profile between males and females, specifically the production of testosterone (Vingren etal., 2010)

•Anthropometrical differences; there are obvious differences between males and females with regards to body fat percentage, muscle mass and hip width in relation to the waist and shoulders (Lloyd and Faigenbaum, 2016)

•Joint laxity is more apparent in females compared to males and this seems to be exacerbated after puberty (Myer et al., 2008)

•Level and intensity of competition and training history relating to the slower development and professionalism of female sport compared to male sport (Zatsiorsky and Kraemer, 2006)

•Coach/athlete relationship and environment may need to be considered with female athletes as there seems to be different perceptions on nutritional intake, body mass and body shape required to succeed in sport between males and females (Adams et al., 2016; McMahon and Barker-Ruchti, 2017).

For example, females who participate in sports such as soccer, netball and basketball suffer anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury at a four-to six-fold greater rate than men (Myer etal., 2008). The mechanisms that may contribute to this are multifactorial and may include physiological differences, anthropometrical differences, joint laxity and total training volume (Lloyd and Faigenbaum, 2016; Myer et al., 2008; Zatsiorsky and Kraemer, 2006). This not only highlights the specific considerations required within a strength and conditioning programme for females but also the importance of athlete adherence to minimize the potential for injury with appropriate conditioning. Moreover promoting a positive training environment for female athletes may necessitate a different coaching style compared to males (Adams etal., 2016; McMahon and Barker-Ruchti, 2017).

Needs Analysis – Testing

After completing a needs analysis and establishing key determinants of performance, a suitable test battery can be established to identify the athlete’s strengths and weaknesses in comparison to their peers, characteristics of elite performers and/or relevant normative data. Elite performance data can be searched for using Google Scholar and relative normative data can be found in key strength and conditioning textbooks such as TheEssentials of Strength Training and Conditioning, 4th edition. It is important to identify key benchmarks from normative data outwith the team training data as there is no way to identify if the team scores are a strength or a weakness. For example, an athlete may score the best countermovement jump in comparison with their teammates, which would suggest lower-body leg power is a strength. However, when this is compared with elite data the whole team may score poorly, so in fact it is a weakness and should be a focal point of training. Therefore, creating a testing battery to best suit the needs of your athlete and ensure transfer of training requires appropriate analysis of data post-testing, prior to the creation of a strength and conditioning programme (Read et al., 2016; Brady et al., 2017). Recently Read et al. (2016) published a coherent article on testing specific physical qualities that range across the force–velocity curve – the reader is directed to this article for further knowledge on tests that relate to qualities such as reactive strength index and the stretch-shortening cycle. Finally the testing battery should be periodically revisited to evaluate the training programme and monitor athlete progress. If the planned adaptations have not been reached then the strength and conditioning coach must revisit and evaluate the needs analysis, testing battery and programme design.

The collection of test data also needs strategic consideration and planning. To collect accurate data the tests need to be organized with a specific protocol that each athlete adheres to. Vaverka et al. (2016) investigated the countermovement jump with and without arm swing, determining that the use of arms enhanced jump height by 38%. Consequently it is important that test protocols are clearly defined prior to data collection and the athletes have opportunities to familiarize themselves with the test. Confusion with the protocol and different techniques may provide a data set that delivers an inaccurate reflection of physical qualities. This extends beyond technique considerations and should be reflected in the warm-up, activity recommendation 24-hours prior to testing, test order, trials of each test and rest between trials and tests. One of the most important logistical concerns is the order of the test battery as endurance performance can have a detrimental effect on strength (Häkkinen, 2003). Therefore it would be prudent to determine the most exhaustive and fatiguing tests within a test battery and place them towards the end. For example it would be wise to carry out any maximal exertion aerobic testing after lower-body assessments of strength and power, as in the opposite order this is likely to affect results. Finally, where possible the timeframe between tests should be enough to reduce the negative effect of fatigue without losing the positive effects of the warm-up (McGowan et al., 2015). To ensure reliability of results it would be sensible to determine a reliability measure for tests where applicable. The coefficient of variation is easy to determine and provides a valuable insight to the reliability of data; the reader is directed to an article that provides a thorough explanation of excel techniques by Turner etal. (2016) called ‘Data analysis for strength and conditioning coaches: using Excel to analyze reliability, differences, and relationships’. If sound planning and protocols are not put in place, the validity and reliability of the test data may be reduced, thus decreasing the accuracy of future evaluation.

Needs Analysis – Analyzing And Presenting Data

Upon completion of data collection, appropriate analysis is required. If this is the first time data has been collected, this should be compared with elite or normative values of a similar population to determine the strength and weakness for the athlete, and inform programming. The data obtained can initiate dialogue with both the athlete and technical coach whilst building trust and rapport. Results are important to identify goals and establish physical targets for the athlete, as well as producing integrated physical and performance goals with the technical coach. Analysis, presentation and communication of test data are vital to ensure athlete motivation and unified goals amongst the technical staff (Hoffman, 2012). Advanced methods for analysing and presenting data can be completed on accessible software programmes such as Excel. Total score of athleticism and smallest worthwhile change are two methods that may be of particular interest to the strength and conditioning coach; these methods can provide useful analysis that informs of strengths and weaknesses whilst evaluating the effectiveness of the strength and conditioning programme (Turner, 2014; Turner et al., 2016). For a full explanation and step-by-step application of these methods in Excel, the reader is directed towards the articles by Turner (2014) and Turner et al. (2016).

Testing And Data Analysis – Field Hockey Example

Based on the information provided in this chapter an example test battery, rationale and benchmark scores for female field hockey have been identified in Table 1.1. It should be noted that this example is by no means a comprehensive or complete list of tests that could be included. For example depending on the sport and athlete, further tests that assess physical qualities such as range of motion, flexibility and speed-strength could be included. However, test selection is often dependent on equipment and time available. Table 1.1 has been provided as a guide to illustrate the planning and research that should go into data collection and subsequent data analysis. This will enable coherent determination of athletic strength and weaknesses, thus creating appropriate training goals.

Table 1.1 Example testing battery, rationale and bench mark scores for field hockey. The tests are also listed in order of the least to most fatiguing.

SUMMARY

Designing a strength and conditioning programme to target specific physiological adaptations is a complex process. The strength and conditioning coach must have sufficient knowledge of the basic training principles of overload, specificity and variation. The process of a needs analysis then guides the strength and conditioning coach through a methodical process that considers the fitness qualities typical of elite performers, movements and muscle recruitment within performance and the injuries inherent to the sport. Finally evaluation of the athlete, determination of a specific testing battery and appropriate analysis of test data compared with elite data or relevant normative values should ensure that the strength and conditioning coach has all the information for programme design. Furthermore intelligent manipulation of the acute programme variables should provide transfer of training and improve performance. The secondary goal of training should be to create a robust, well-balanced athlete that has minimized the potential of injury with an appropriate training intervention. On a final note, the strength and conditioning coach should understand that they are often working as part of a technical support team, where communication is vital and sometimes alterations in programming are required to support and develop the unified goal.

REFERENCES

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CHAPTER 2

STRENGTH AND POWER

Debby Sargent, MSc, PGDip, ASCC and Richard Clarke, MSc, ASCC

University of Gloucestershire, UK

Power is the product of force and velocity (Stone et al., 2003; Haff and Nimphius, 2012; Newton and Kraemer, 1994) and, for the vast majority of sports, generating high power outputs is suggested to be ‘the most important factor in determining success’ (Stone et al., 2003). Movements involved in explosive sports such as rapid changes of direction, sprinting, throwing, jumping, kicking and striking are all dependent on maximal power output to achieve a high velocity at release, take off and/or impact. (Newton and Kraemer, 1994; Haff and Nimphius, 2012; Stone et al., 2003).

Cross-sectional comparisons have demonstrated superior power-generating capabilities in athletes with greater strength levels (Stone et al., 2003; Carlock et al., 2004; Peterson et al., 2006; Stone et al., 2016; Secomb et al., 2015; Pallarés et al., 2012), such that these attributes have been shown to successfully differentiate between levels of performer (Carlock et al., 2014; Baker, 2014; Cronin and Hansen 2005; Abdelkrim at al 2010. Platzer et al., 2009; Secomb et al., 2015; Suchomel et al., 2016; Naisidou et al., 2017), with stronger and more powerful athletes more likely to perform at higher levels within their sport (Baker et al., 2014; Granados et al., 2013).

Optimizing strength and power development is therefore an essential training outcome for female athletes. The purpose of this chapter is to firstly provide an overview of the mechanisms that underpin strength and power development, followed by a brief discussion of the relevance and contribution of specific resistance and plyometric training methods to enhance strength and power development. The final section will include recommendations and examples of how to apply these specifically to the needs of the female athlete.

PHYSIOLOGY OF STRENGTH AND POWER

Force–Velocity Relationships

The ability of the muscle to generate force is not only determined by the sarcomere force-length relationship (Herzog et al., 2016), but by the speed and type of muscle contraction (isometric, concentric, and eccentric), with different contraction types demonstrating differences in force behaviour (Kuriki et al., 2012; see Fig. 2.1). An understanding of the force–velocity curve in relation to muscular strength and power production is paramount for the identification of appropriate integration of training methods to optimize sports performance.

Fig. 2.1 Force-velocity curve for an isolated muscle.

When the velocity is zero (no movement occurs), the amount of force produced by the muscle exactly matches the external load – this is known as an isometric contraction. When the external load is less than the isometric strength, the muscle contracts concentrically demonstrating an inverse relationship between force and velocity. In simple terms, this means that as the velocity of contraction increases, the amount of force the muscle can produce decreases, primarily due to the fact that at high velocities of shortening, the number of actin-myosin cross bridges that can attach at any one time is reduced (Cormie etal., 2011a). Negative velocities occur when the muscle is lengthening whilst generating tension (eccentric contraction). The amount of force a muscle can generate is greatest during an eccentric contraction, with the force increasing as the speed of lengthening increases, plateauing around 1.2 times the maximal isometric force (Beltman et al., 2004; Babault et al., 2001). At the very highest rates of lengthening, reflex inhibition may prevent further increases in force generation occurring (Newton, 2011; Beltman et al., 2004; Babault et al., 2001). Various theories have been proposed to explain the greater force outputs demonstrated during eccentric contractions (see review by Nishikawa, 2016; Herzog et al., 2016). Firstly, preferential recruitment of the fast-twitch motor units (MUs) due to a reversal of the size principle is suggested to occur (Hortobágyi et al., 1996; Shepstone et al., 2005; Nardone et al., 1989), although the evidence to support this is equivocal (Enoka and Duchateau, 1985). Secondly, the stretching of the muscle and the cross bridges themselves are thought to add to the overall tension produced by the muscle, with titin suggested to play a key role (Nishikawa, 2016; Herzog et al., 2016). For most sporting actions, stretch-shortening cycle muscle actions (SSC) are inherent and involve the coupling of eccentric and concentric muscle actions to enhance power output (see plyometric training section).

From an athlete perspective, the optimization of power development requires three key elements (Newton and Kraemer, 1994; Haff and Nimphius, 2012):

•An improvement in overall muscle strength development in order to maximize the force generating capacity of the muscle under all three types of muscle contraction (eccentric, isometric and concentric)

•An increase in the ability to develop large forces at fast contraction velocities – that is, high rates of force development

•An increase in the capacity to continue producing high forces as the velocity of shortening increases.

Dynamic power can only be generated during the concentric portion of the force–velocity curve (Newton, 2011), with sporting events typically requiring athletes to produce power under loaded conditions. The ability to overcome a heavy resistance is called ‘strength-speed’ – in sporting situations the resistance may be an athlete’s own body weight, an opponent’s body weight (grappling and collision sports) or an implement (for example in strongman events). In contrast, the ability to overcome a lighter load (javelin, basketball) and generate high forces at high velocities is called ‘speed-strength’ (Siff, 2003). Both strength-speed and speed-strength are subsets of power (Baker et al., 2014; Siff, 2003). For most athletes playing their sport, they will need to maximize power over a continuum of loaded conditions, spanning a large portion of the force–velocity curve. For many sports it can be argued that power development over the full concentric range is necessary. Therefore, an athlete’s development programme needs to fully reflect this using a diverse range of training modalities to adequately prepare that athlete for the demands of playing the sport.

Adaptations to Strength and Power Training

The main physiological mechanisms underpinning strength and power development are changes in the quantity and structure of the muscle (hypertrophy, pennation angle and fascicle length), together with modifications in the nervous system.

Hypertrophic response

Anatomical and physiological cross-sectional area (CSA) of a muscle is directly proportional to its maximal force-producing capabilities (Cormie et al., 2011a). Whilst this is true for all fibre types, the CSA of Type II MUs is particularly relevant in this chapter because of their superior abilities for power generation per unit CSA (Cormie et al., 2011a). Traditional heavy resistance training stimulates a hypertrophic response (increase in myofibrillar proteins, actin and myosin) (DeFreitas et al., 2011; Coffrey and Hawley, 2007; Phillips et al., 1997; Dreyer et al., 2008), with preferential increases in the Type II MUs (Fry, 2004), reported to occur through a combination of mechanical tension/stretch, increased metabolic stress and muscle damage (Schoenfeld, 2010). CSA increases can occur through the addition of sarcomeres in parallel or in series (increased fascicle length), or through architectural alterations in pennation angle (Stone et al., 2016). Compared to traditional heavy resistance training, eccentric training methods involving supramaximal loads (>100 per cent of 1-Repetition Maximum) have been shown to elicit a greater degree of hypertrophy as well as an increased fascicle length, which produces favourable increases in the velocity of shortening (Cormie et al., 2011a; Aagaard, 2010; Norrbrand et al., 2008; Roig et al., 2009). Hypertrophic responses have also been demonstrated following high-velocity plyometric training (Vissing et al., 2008; Kubo et al., 2007).

Traditionally, skeletal muscle hypertrophy has been deemed to be a relatively slow process, with some authors suggesting that significant increases in whole muscle CSA are only apparent after six to seven weeks of training (Phillips, 2000). However, more recent evidence suggests that this can occur in as little as two to four weeks (Seynnes et al., 2007; Abe et al., 2005; DeFreitas et al., 2011). Acute increases in muscle protein synthesis have been shown to occur within hours of the resistance training session (Dreyer et al., 2008, 2010; MacDougall et al., 1992; Hawley, 2009), with some authors reporting that this can remain elevated for up to 24 (115 per cent) hours in trained individuals, returning to basal levels by 36 hours (MacDougall et al., 1995). In a study comparing male and female responses to high-intensity resistance training (bilateral leg extension), post-exercise muscleprotein synthesis rates increased in both male (52 per cent) and female (47 per cent) physically active subjects and remained elevated for 2 hours. No significant (p<0.05) differences were found between groups (Dreyer et al., 2010). This data supports previous review findings that show that the rate of gain in CSA per day between males and females who have followed the same training programme is similar, with increases of 0.13 per cent and 0.14 per cent respectively (Wernbom et al., 2007; Hunter, 1985).

Olympic Weightlifting World Records

Men

Women

Weight Class (kg)

Snatch (kg)

Clean & Jerk (kg)

Total (kg)

Total/kg BW

Weight Class

Snatch (kg)

Clean & Jerk (kg)

Total (kg)

Total/kg BW

56

139

171

310

5.54

48

98

121

219

4.56

62

154

183

337

5.44

53

103

134

237

4.47

69

166

198

364

5.28

58

112

141

253

4.36

77

177

214

391

5.08

63

117

147

264

4.19

85

187

220

407

4.79

69

128

158

286

4.14

94

188

232

420

4.47

75

135

164

299

3.99

105

200

246

446

4.25

90

130

160

290

3.22

Table 2.1a A comparison of male and female weightlifting world records.

Track and Field World Records

Event

Men

Women

% difference F vs M

100m (secs)

9.58

10.49

9.50

200m (secs)

19.19

21.34

11.20

400m (secs)

43.03

47.6

10.62

High Jump (m)

2.45

2.09

-14.69

Long Jump (m)

8.95

7.52

-15.98

Triple Jump (m)

18.29

15.5

-15.25

Table 2.1b Comparison of male and female track and field world records.

Although the rate of CSA gain is comparable between the sexes, males are reported to have a 20–30 per cent larger initial CSA than females (Fry, 2004; Dreyer et al., 2010; Hirsch et al., 2015; Maughan et al., 1983; Hunter, 1985; Bishop et al., 1989; Costill et al., 1976; Healy et al