How Athlete's Bodyweight Strength Training Powers Explosion

Build your athletic body with strength and power training to explode your body past your opponent. Stay stronger and more explosive for longer periods during your games and you will win most of them!



Overall body strength training is a given.  Core strength training is where many athletes fall short.  Since all movement begins with the core, you can't take shortcuts or your power and explosion will suffer.  Your power will experience a shortage before it reaches your arms and legs.

See 5 -Part Core Training Series

The goal of the core training program is for you to develop optimal levels of functional strength and dynamic stabilization.

You can start at the highest level of core stabilization training you can control. As with other areas of integrated training, a core training program should be:

1. progressive, systematic, sport-specific and challenging,

2. multi-planar (sagittal, frontal, transverse), multi-dimensional (stabilization, strength, power) and variable (sets, repetitions, intensity, etc.),

3. varied with contraction velocities (different speeds), and

4. varied with modes of training (airex pads, foam, floor, disc, etc.) and body positions.

Core training exercise progressions should follow these paths:

1. Slow to Fast
2. Known to Unknown
3. Stable to Controlled to Dynamic
4. Low Force to High Force
5. Correct Execution to Increased Intensity

One of the first signs of fatigue that I look for in an athlete is whether he or she can remain strong and upright towards the end of the game. If your core is weak, you will start to "bend over" and lose power and explosiveness when you run. Next, your arms will start to "flail" instead of pumping powerfully to fuel your running.

Adequate core strength helps your speed endurance, which is the ability to maintain maximum velocity or a percentage of maximum velocity for a prolonged period of time or in a fatigued state. The best players and teams have excellent overall body strength, core strength and speed endurance (and they win the most games).

Interval training for speed endurance is different than regular speed training. Speed endurance sprint intervals last from 30 seconds to 3 minutes. Also, recovery time is reduced to prevent complete recovery by the athlete. Here is an example of speed endurance training:

Shuttles - Place cones at 5, 10, 15, 20 and 30 yards. You would sprint to the 5 yard cone and sprint back to the start. You would then sprint to the 10 yard cone and sprint back to the start. The same would be done at the 15, 20 and 30 yard cones. That is one set. Rest for 2 minutes between sets. Do 5-6 sets.

Get after it with the following download.....

Free Bodyweight 500 Metabolic Fat Burner Workouts

Mark Dilworth, BA, PES
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