• Improved speed around the field, court or in a race

   

• A higher vertical jump to win more aerial challenges, score more baskets

   

• Increased distance in your golf game, taking the pressure off the shots that matter

   

• Being able to throw further and with greater accuracy

   

• The ability to kick with more power, distance and precision

   

• Being able to hit the ball or shuttle harder, putting your opponent under pressure with every shot

   

• The ability to hold off opponents and win challenges.

If your goal is to improve your athletic performance then you need an approach that is different than 99% of the strength training programs you'll read about in fitness magazines. This article will show you the foremost strategy for developing sport-specific strength training programs.

Unfortunately most strength training programs fail miserably when it comes to building the sport specific strength you need. Here's why...

The vast majority of sports require significant muscular power or muscular endurance... or a combination of the two. There are a few exceptions but they really just prove the rule. With that in mind...

Strength training programs that simply have you lifting heavier and heavier weights won't improve your athletic performance. And this, as you probably know, is what so many strength training programs are based on. OK, onto the important part. Let's examine...

The Solution

Strength training programs must result in the development of either muscular power or muscular endurance or both. Now don't get me wrong... for some athletes maximum strength and additional muscle mass is essential. And these should become specific goals within your sport-specific, strength training programs. But even sports like football, ice hockey and the shot put still demand incredible levels of power.

If you can design strength training programs to precisely develop the specific types of strength that are required by your sport, well now you have a blueprint for success. Sound simple? It is! Let's try it...

Consider your sport again. What types of activities does it consist of? Does it involve short explosive movements? Does it require longer bouts of intense activity? Or do you have to use your bodyweight and sheer brute strength to move an object... like your opponent! :-)

Not sure? Check out these sports and the elements of fitness their strength training programs should include...

Basketball strength training programs -- Good explosive power is crucial for the vertical jump. It is also important for accelerating up and down the court. Excellent muscular endurance will allow to sustain a high level of performance for the duration of the game.

Golf strength training programs -- Harnessing muscular power is at the very heart of the golf swing. Here is a classic example of how simply lifting weights is not enough. Sure, you must lift weights to develop a solid strength base first, but if you convert that into golf-specific power, well then... bring on Tiger Woods! ;-)

Football(Linemen) strength training programs -- This is one sport where increasing muscle bulk (hypertrophy) and maximum strength is an advantage. But power still plays a major role in reacting and accelerating explosively. As a football player you'll want to develop power whilst maintaining as much maximum strength as possible.

Soccer strength training programs -- Like many team sports soccer is a game of variety. The capacity to still jump high, sprint quickly and turn sharply in the final stages of a game all demand outstanding muscular endurance. While muscular power improves the performance of rapid movements such as kicking, sprinting, jumping and turning.

 

Tennis strength training programs -- Muscular power is essential for powerful forehand and backhand shots, serves and sprinting to reach the ball. Muscular endurance is a must... being able to hit the ball and move around the court as forcefully at the end of a match as at the beginning is a great quality to have.

The point to remember is that for strength training programs to enhance performance they must be sport specific. And to be sport specific, strength training programs must develop the right combinations of muscular power and endurance (as well as maximum strength and bulk for sports like football). So, I guess your next question is...

"What's the best way to develop peak sport strength in just the right combinations?"

Periodization training is the first choice of top athletes and coaches in the world. Did I hear someone say they are just a recreational athlete? Maybe so. But one thing's for sure...

If you model what the best in the world do, you'll get the best out of yourself. Even better...

Very few of your competitors will be utilising periodization in their strength training programs. You can commit the same time you always have to your strength conditioning, but just structure it differently. Periodization is simply a way to maximise your returns.

Imagine for a moment that your sport requires different types of strength... bursts of maximum force and explosive power underpinned by excellent strength endurance or maximum strength.

Which type of strength do you train for? All three?

Trying to develop every type of strength... following 3 different strength training programs at the same time is crazy. There's a good chance you'll burn yourself out, but just as importantly you're restricting the gains in any one area! Periodization offers a solution...

It allows you to develop the different components of strength in the optimum combination for your sport, limiting the counteracting effects they have on each other.

The world's leading authority on periodization training, Tudor Bompa, outlines 5 distinct phases of strength training programs...

Phase 1 - The Anatomical Adaptation Phase
This acts as preparation for your body setting it up for more intense, specific strength training later on. Let's face it, you wouldn't want to jump into a full blown, intense resistance training program if you've never lifted weights before... would you?

What if you're a strength training veteran? You don't need to complete some 'beginners' preparation phase… right? Well not really. Here's why...

The main objective is to develop a solid and balanced overall level of baseline strength, preparing tendons, ligaments and joints -- something an experienced strength trainer already has. But it also allows the athlete to regain some balance...

Soccer players for example, tend to have highly developed thigh muscles compared to their hamstrings. A right handed badminton player may have significantly more strength in her right arm and shoulder muscles compared to her left side. Restoring the equilibrium greatly diminishes the risk of injury.

How long should this phase last? For experienced strength training athletes no more than 3 to 5 weeks. For young or inexperienced athletes as much as 8 to 10 weeks in this phase is advised.

Phase 2 - The Hypertrophy (Bodybuilding) Phase
There are some athletes that would benefit from building additional bulk... such as wrestlers, shot putters and linemen in football. During this phase 'bodybuilding type' strength training programs could be useful for such athletes.

Most athletes don't require this phase however and can move on to...

Phase 3 - The Maximum Strength Phase
Believe it or not the objective of this phase is to develop maximum strength! ;-)

You've laid the foundations during the anatomical adaptation phase, now it's time to build a solid structure which can be converted into either sports-specific power or strength endurance or a combination of the two.

The duration of this phase depends on the sport. For a wrestler, maximum strength is important so this type of strength training may last for 3 months. A hockey player may need only as little as 4 weeks in this phase.

Once you've developed maximum strength there's one more phase to complete before you reap all the benefits of sports-specific conditioning...

Phase 4 - The Conversion Phase
After the last period or phase of training hopefully you're stronger than ever. Now comes the trade off. It may be very satisfying to see your strength improve so much and it's also good for the ego, but remember the outcome... forgotten already?

To improve your performance!

So depending on your sport you want to convert the maximal strength you've developed into either power or strength endurance. If your sport involves lots of short explosive movements focus on power training...

If you think your sport is purely an endurance type event, focus on muscular endurance. There's a good chance it's a combination of the two. If it is... split this phase between both.

Phase 5 -- The Maintenance Phase
The 4 phases above have to be planned around your competitive season. So after the break of the closed season you start with the anatomical adaptation phase. The maximum strength and conversion phases should make up the rest of your pre-season training, perhaps overlapping slightly into the competitive season.

Now it's just a case of maintaining as much power, strength endurance and maximal strength as possible... in the right combination for your sport.

This really is just a sneak preview of what periodization offers. It really is the number 1 approach for developing sport-specific, strength training programs.

If you are an athlete... if you do any type of strength training (and you should be) there is only one book you should invest in...

Periodization Training For Sports by Tudor Bompa. It contains everything you need to design the comprehensive, sport-specific strength training programs and was written by the World's leading authority on the subject...