Speed of weight training

[Nautilus]

I came across this sports medical research paper which may influence how sprint kayakers conduct weights training.

Velocity specificity of weight training for kayak sprint performance.

by, Liow DK, Hopkins WG.

Sport, Fitness and Recreation Department, Wellington Institute of Technology, Lower Hutt, New Zealand.

PURPOSE: Athletes often use weight training to prepare for sprint events, but the effectiveness of different types of weight training for sprinting is unclear. We have therefore investigated the effect of slow and explosive weight training on kayak sprint performance.

METHODS: Twenty-seven male and 11 female experienced sprint kayakers were randomized to slow weight training, explosive weight training, or control (usual training) groups. Weight training consisted of two sessions per week for 6 wk; in each session the athletes performed 3-4 sets of two sport-specific exercises with a load of 80% 1-repetition-maximum. The two training programs differed only in the time taken to complete the concentric phase of the exercises: slow, 1.7 s; explosive, <0.85 s. To determine the effects of training on sprint acceleration and speed maintenance, the athletes performed 15-m kayaking sprints pre- and posttraining; an electronic timing system provided sprint times at 3.75-, 7.5-, and 15-m marks.

RESULTS: Relative to control, both types of weight training substantially improved strength and sprint performance. The improvements in mean sprint time over 15 m in each group were: slow, 3.4%; explosive, 2.3%; control, -0.2% (90% confidence limits for pairwise differences, approximately +/-1.4%). Over the first 3.75 m, the improvements were: slow, 7.1%; explosive, 3.2%; control, 1.4% ( approximately +/-2.6%). Over the last 7.5 m, the improvements were: slow, 2.1%; explosive, 3.0%; control, -0.8% ( approximately +/-1.9%).

CONCLUSIONS: Slow weight training is likely to be more effective than explosive training for improving the acceleration phase of sprinting, when force is high throughout the length of the stroke. Explosive weight training may be more effective in speed maintenance, when forces are developed rapidly over a short period at the start of the stroke.

[Vault Boy]

you mean doing weights slower increases performance in sprint? its a bit counter-intuitive don't you think? technically, if you want to train to go as fast as possible, you have to train to lift the weights as fast as possible so that your central nervous system gets used to contracting your muscle faster right?

i think we need to experiment on this. any teams out there willing to try that?

[monitor_lizard]

I think we still need a balance. bungee cord any1?

[washeater]

I think wad the article is trying to say is tt slow weights training is beneficial for the acceleration phase which i think refers to the take off of the boat here. during 1st few strokes of taking off, the stroke rate is nt high at all as one need to overcome the inertia of the boat. however been the fastest during take off doesn't mean that one will win the race cause after the after 6 - 8 strokes, the stroke rate will usually become dramatically high.

[DrowneD]

Nautilus cleared my 'un'asked question. thanks for such a comprehensive explaination and conclusion for readers, cause i got lost when reading half of the content. thanks!  

[Nautilus]

actually we must also note that the weight training used for this study, is of weight that is 80% of of 1 max rep. 1 max rep refers to the heaviest weight that one can successfully complete for one rep and no more. 80% 1 max rep will probably result in about set comprising not more than 6-8 reps due to the load.

Example: Bench press. Say you can bench press max weight is 80kg only for 1 rep and cannot get up a 2nd rep. That would be your 1 max rep. 80% of that would be about 64kg. You can probably only press this 64kg for 6 to 8 reps before failing.

The study put 3 random group of kayakers into training at this intensity. One group do their 6-8 reps slowly, taking about 1.7 sec to complete each rep. 2nd group do their reps explosively, taking less than 0.85sec to complete each rep. The last group trains as they always train without changes to timing and tempo.

The result shows that for sprint timing over the first 3.75m, the 1st group who trained slow reps were fastest. But the group that trained explosively were faster from 7.5m to 15m mark.

Like what washeater said, training slowly probably help your acceleration from a still position because you learn to apply equal strength throughout the length of the first few strokes. stroke rate cannot be high then. Each slow stroke with super maximal output of strength will move the boat from stop position. As your boat moves, and stroke rate becomes higher, the guys that trained explosively probably got an advantage because they can 'burst' through from the nervous system conditioning by training explosively. The nervous system become used to telling the muscle to contract faster through the explosive weights training.

I guess the moral of the story is the athlete must train both ways to gain benefit of being able to 'move' the boat and then also accelerate the stroke rate up when the boat starts to move.

[dboater]

I guess this would be true for dragon boaters as well... Because we would be doing 3 full strokes to start up the boat from stationary, then the stroke rate would dramatically pick up to almost 100 strokes/min for the next 20 - 25 strokes before going long for maintenance. I guess most teams use some variations of this process. I guess the 3 starting strokes would receive a boost by doing weights training slowly.

[DeepStar6]

its a tough sport .....u need to have the strength of a weight lifter, yet also the endurance of a marathon runner.....woohoo!!!

[ok_doggie]

it is. 

Power endurance sport to be exact.

cheers