Strength training provides the basis for healthy sport

Topic 7

Lucile Steiner, Master of Sports Science, ETH Zurich

For sport, you need a strong and healthy musculos- keletal system. If sport is to be fun, we must prepare our bones, tendons, ligaments and muscles for their tasks. For the body, sport is mainly stress and energy consumption whereas Kieser Training is build-up and preparation.

Each sport involves various parts of the body in differing degrees with the result that the musculos- keletal system adapts in a way that is specific to that sport and often one-sided. For example, cyclists have well-developed leg and gluteal muscles, whereas their upper-muscles are relatively weak unless given specific attention. A right-handed tennis player will have stronger muscles in the right hand, arm and shoulder than in the left. Muscle groups not crucial to sporting performance are often neglected and the one-sided load can cause a muscular imbalance which in turn results in painful symptoms.

Sport-specific training programmes

Kieser Training has developed specific training programmes for 17 different sports, each of which reflects the following criteria:

• Performance muscles are trained on both sides (left and right side of the body)
• Both performance muscles and their opposites (agonist – antagonist) are strengthened
• Muscles important for a particular sport but not necessarily developed by it (e.g. postural muscles) are included
• The programme covers the whole body and not just individual parts of it
• The wishes and health constraints of the individual need to be reflected in the training programme.

If you are new to strength training, we recommend that you start with an introductory programme. Only embark on a sport-specific training programme when you have become used to training. If you are interested in a sport-specific programme, please ask an instructor.

Training format

Strength training should be regarded as an addition to the actual sport. Arrange your strength training at a time when you are not still recovering from acti- vities associated with the sport. It makes no sense to do a strength training session immediately before or after an intensive training session for your particular sport. Additional training when you are tired is not effective. Provided that you allow sufficient recovery time between the two sessions, you can do endu- rance training and strength training on the same day. However, in this case, do the strength training first so that you can do good-quality exercises to the point of local muscular fatigue. If you have a compe- tition coming up, you can continue training but stop increasing the weights three weeks before the date of the competition and do each exercise for a maximum of 90 seconds. Do your last strength training session 5 - 7 days before the competition.

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