Muscle Power – Use it or lose it!

If you don’t use it, you lose it. Strength loss is an indirect effect of ageing. Strength qualities are not lost simply because you’re getting older, but because of a decrease in deliberate training and general activity. But rate of muscle power loss exceeds that of muscle strength or size.

What is power?

• Power = Force x Velocity

• Put simply, power is the ability to move things, or oneself with speed. Power therefore holds great functionality in sport but also in everyday life.

When we talk about training “power” we are likely talking about training somewhere at or between the speed-strength and strength-speed qualities. “Peak power” can be described as producing the greatest amount of force in the shortest amount of time, a quality that is clearly of great importance to an athlete.

When training for maximal strength the load being lifted is the most important factor. But training for muscular power involves using submaximal loads, and moving these loads at maximal speed becomes of paramount importance. In order to train speed or power, intent is key. Proper loading parameters, rep ranges, and rest times are important. But load and reps aside, the most important point to remember is this, if you aren’t moving it fast, you’re probably not training power.

3 of my favourite ways to train power:

• Olympic Lifts and their derivatives

• Loaded Jumps

• Throw, Jump, Sprint circuit

Olympic Lifts and their derivatives

The olympic lifts include the snatch and the clean & jerk. Both are very complex movements and require a lot of practice to perfect. At the elite level, both lifts require high levels of power output. Bar speeds will reach 2-2.2m/s in the snatch, and 1.6-1.8m/s in the clean & jerk. However, these lifts are performed through large ranges of motion, with athletes catching the bar at the bottom of a squat position. These lifts therefore rely on maximal strength as well as power.

Most of us are not elite level Olympic Weightlifters, so training the full version of each of these lifts may not be necessary or optimal. This is where the derivate lifts come in to play. The “power snatch” and “power clean” typically require the athlete to catch the bar in a higher position, somewhere above 90 degrees of knee flexion, a position that relies less on maximal strength from extreme ranges of motion, and more on power. The joint angles in these catch positions look more like those seen in sport. Furthermore, performing these lifts from the “hang” position around the hip and knee puts the athlete in a similar position at the start of the movement. A “hang power snatch” or “hang power clean” will require an athlete to move through 3 key positions in the loading, triple extension, and catch phase of the lift.

Learning the olympic lifts takes a lot of practice, and learning the proper technique comes before worrying too much about power output. Maneuvering your body around the barbell definitely requires a certain level of athleticism, and once technique has been learned to a decent level, the olympic lifts and their derivates prove to be a fun and effective way to train power.

When using olympic lifts to train power, living in a rep range of 1-5 reps per set is optimal. Anything above 5 reps is likely going to lead to a decrease in bar speed and therefore power output.

Loaded Jumps

Loaded jumps are exactly what they sound like. They can be performed using dumbbells, a barbell, a trap bar, a medicine ball, a weight vest, or really any implement that will add load to the movement. Jumps are most commonly performed with a vertical or horizontal emphasis, but if we throw in bounding and hopping as well, we can pretty much load and train all planes of motion. The big advantage of loaded jumps over the olympic lifting derivates mentioned above is that there is much less technical skill required to perform the movement. This means athletes can get to performing these movements with absolute maximal intent a lot earlier, which is key to improving power.

Just like with the olympic lifts, living in a rep range of 1-5 reps per set when performing loaded jumps is optimal. The amount of load you use will depend on your specific needs. Lighter and faster loaded jumps would be more beneficial to an athlete who wants to improve utilization of the stretch shortening cycle and/or top end velocity. Heavier and slower loaded jumps would be more suited to an athlete who wants to improve concentric strength in the jump. This is where force-velocity profiling can be valuable in the planning and implementation of a program. And if you aren’t an elite athlete and just want to live your life to the full, the goal should be to train across all points of the force-velocity curve, which means including light fast jumps, as well as heavy slow ones.

Throw, Jump, Sprint

Throwing, jumping, and sprinting – three actions most people could all do at some point, but ones that if you don’t practice somewhat regularly, are likely to get you injured when you do pull them out at the family BBQ.

When throwing a medicine ball, jumping using your own bodyweight as resistance, or sprinting, we are likely training closer to the velocity end of the curve than when using olympic lifts or loaded jumps, and probably without enough force to truly train peak power.

Performing these 3 movements together as part of a circuit is an effective way to train for power and speed and will get you warm and ready for your heavier training to follow. Here is an example of a Throw, Jump, Sprint warm up circuit with an emphasis on horizontal power, and one with an emphasis on producing power in the frontal plane.

Throw, Jump, Sprint Circuit 1

• Medicine Ball Squat to Throw x5

• Continuous Broad Jump x5

• Resisted Sprint x10 meters

• X 2-3 rounds with 60 seconds rest between rounds

Throw, Jump, Sprint Circuit 2

• Medicine Ball Side Toss x3 Left/Right

• Continuous Lateral Hurdle Bound x3 Left/Right

• Resisted Lateral Push x10 meters Left/Right

• X 2-3 rounds with 60 seconds rest between rounds

Many people are aware of the effects of ageing on strength. But power qualities are lost at a greater rate than maximal strength, and this can have huge carryover to sport and everyday life. Find a method to train power that suits you and your needs and remember to train fast!