Moments of Clarity Part IV

Strength is the single greatest equalizer in sport and therefore strength training is the most important physical preparation quality

While I was in college we were in the midst of the aerobic training and endurance activity focused period. Strength training studies were few and far between to be honest. And any strength training studies were rarely performed on the more advanced programs we have available today. It was as if strength development were ignored completely – as all “training programs” for sport were based around various cardiovascular improvement programs.

While competing in various martial arts systems it struck me that all combat sports exist in a weight category system. The idea was not to prevent a fighter from facing a heavier fighter – it was based on the idea that the heavier fighter was stronger and therefore more dangerous.

Also – men and women (even of the same weight) didn’t face each other in fighting sports.

(incidentally the female boxer and kickboxer – Lucia Rijker - lost only one kickboxing match ever. By knockout. In the second round. In a match against the male world champion at the same weight).

So matching athletes up had nothing to do with weight or sex – it had to do with the idea that males were stronger than females, and heavier athletes were stronger than lighter athletes.

And when I thought about it more – even looking at activities such as marathon running, long distance cycling or figure skating – activities where excess weight may be a disadvantage – still - males tended to perform better than females.

Strength was the biggest advantage - using weight and sex to divide athletes was an attempt to divide them by strength levels. But there was no actual strength test to validate that - it was just an assumption. Therefore a lighter athlete could gain a tremendous advantage if he had more strength.

So strength training had to be the most important factor in sports conditioning.

Conclusion: Being stronger (not just bigger or heavier) was the biggest single advantage in most sports. Not the only advantage obviously – but definitely a serious difference maker. It was at this point (still in college) that I started to realize that improving strength had to be a primary objective in any sports training program, despite what my professors were saying.

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AC
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