Power Training
What is Power?
Not to be confused with Strength, Power is your ability to move weight over time. The basic formula for power is: POWER = WORK / TIME. In non-math speak, the faster you can move the same amount of weight, the more power you exert. So it stands to reason that there are two main ways to become more powerful: #1 get stronger and #2 get faster.
Why power matters;
Benefits of power include:
-Improved reaction time; particularly important in sports that require rapid directional change, enhanced cardiovascular function; power moves ‘teach’ the heart to pump more blood with each contraction and to return to pre-exercise heart rate more quickly after high-intensity exercise
-Increased strength; most power exercises involve rapid contraction of the large muscles of the arms and legs, contractions that build and enhance ‘fast twitch’ muscle fibres, elevated calorie burn (both during and after the workout); using big muscles explosively increases the number of calories burned during the workout and up to 24 hours later (the ‘after burn’ effect)
-Improved efficiency of movement; over time, the body learns to produce more force with less effort, thereby increasing endurance with the energy saved
Power in Sport;
The most powerful players on a rugby field are often the best. High-level rugby requires significant endurance, agility and technical skill. But all other things being equal, the most powerful player usually wins the physical contest in a tackle, ruck or scrum. For athletes of all backgrounds, abilities and ages, increasing your power is a virtual guarantee that you’ll become better at what you’re doing. Sports such as Sprinting, Football, Tennis, Boxing, American Football, Basketball if you look at the top 5 athletes in that profession, you will realise how many of them have power in abundance and how they use that to their advantage.
Weight and Rep Ranges;
Power Workouts often see 80% to 90% of the athletes 1RM; this again brings the athlete past their strength training weight and well past the line of power training. Whilst looking into this I found that experts (on average) agree on training 3-5 sets of 1-3 reps with a 2-3 minute rest between sets, When doing these sets and reps, the athlete is looking to do so as quickly as possible while maintain good technique and control over the movements. I also found that they suggest between 2-4 sessions of power training per week.
An example of this would be a leg based power workout, targeting specifically Rugby players, for the explosive movements.
Stage One;
Workout One:
Back Squat @80/85% of 1RM X3
Box Jumps X3 (medium or above height)
New set every 3 minutes X10 sets
Workout Two;
Front squat @90% of 1RM X2
Box Jumps X2
New set every 3 minutes X10
Then into Stage Two;
Workout One (2);
Back Squats @80% 1RM X3
Single Leg Box Jumps X3
New set every 3 Minutes X10
Workout Two (2);
Back Squats @90% 1RM X2
Single Leg Box Jumps X2
New set every 3 Minutes X10
