TRAINING TIME: 3 strategies for increasing strength & power

There are many different exercises and strategies for improving your athletes’ strength and power. Some of the ones I’m going to share might be something they have already been exposed to. 

The actual exercises and strategies listed below can be very effective, but in the end they are just exercises and the way they are taught, implemented and performed will determine if they will have a positive impact on your athlete’s strength, power and performance.

The fact is that every athlete who is going to be involved in a strength and conditioning program first needs to be assessed by a qualified strength coach. This is vital not only for the safety of your athlete but also the effectiveness of the exercises and strategies being implemented.

If coaches aren’t assessing your athletes, then they’re guessing, and most likely prescribing exercises that are ineffective — and even worse, strengthening dysfunction and increasing the injury potential of your athlete!

The initial emphasis should be to get your athletes mobile and stable in the right joints, so they can properly develop the motor pattern of the exercise progression being implemented and coached. This ensures they can use the strategies below safely and effectively.   

The following strategies are incredibly powerful for increasing strength, power and performance, and are just a piece of building an explosive and powerful athlete.

JUMPS AND HOPS

Jumps are great for increasing power and speed, as well as improving the ability of your athletes to recruit high threshold motor units, which will have a positive impact on strength. 

Trainers will use boxes, vertical, squat and broad jumps as well as single-leg forward and lateral/medial hops and bounds for this purpose. My athletes do these after an effective warm up and before any strength training.

Again, progression is key. The athlete should be taught to properly land first, and then progressively increase the demand by adding hurdles while keeping a focus on landing. Then they should progress to a bounce before continuous (Plyometric) hops.

OLYMPIC LIFTS

These are very effective for increasing power production. My athletes usually use Barbell or one-arm DB hang snatches and cleans for this purpose.

These are complex movements, but learning how to perform them correctly through proper progressions is definitely worth your athlete’s time and effort. 

But sometimes there are some athletes who just can’t perform these safely due to mobility, injury and joint stress concerns. This is where Kettle Bell Swings and medicine balls can be used with great benefit to the athlete’s power and strength.  

MED BALL THROWS

Medicine balls are a great tool for power development. The fact is that no other training mode provides the specific strength and power potential of the medicine ball.

Medicine balls are a tool similar to Olympic lifting and Plyometric for the core musculature.

For overhead athletes like pitchers, tennis players and swimmers, medicine balls in throwing motions (chest pass, side throws, overhead throws) provides great eccentric training for the rotator cuff while developing power in the core.

Total body power in all athletes can be developed through throws with heavy balls and should be done in a large open area to simulate the actions of the Olympic lifts (hip hinging and triple extension). 

These are some of my favorite power-building exercises that are great additions to an effective strength program. No one strategy by itself is effective, and making sure all the parts are effectively implemented in your athletes’ training will ensure that your athletes will get stronger and more powerful.  

Tim Rudd is an International Youth Conditioning Association specialist in youth conditioning (level 3), speed and agility (level 2), and nutrition specialist (level 1). For more information on anything you read in Training Time, email him at Tim@Fit2TheCore.com.