Recovery Day

National Strength and Conditioning Association National Conference - July 2010

Notes:

No doubt this conference was packed with industry studies, abstracts, a massive trade show, and speakers from around the world. There was talk of actin and myosin cross-bridges, sliding filament theory, supplement/ergogenic enhancement, and sports performance in general. No doubt our field is "accelerating" in it's development and coming out of the shadows.

One of the best lectures I attended this week was from Dr. Loren Chiu, CSCS. His discussions on "Force" and "Load" - not being the same thing was fascinating. He also called all of us "Professionals" out. He has asked us to start using the tools we learned in school to start completing "original" research. Most of the studies that are sited today in MANY of the lay press are reproductions of younger studies that have used 'non-original' work. He sited many original studies, that without them we would be nowhere in our profession:

• AV Hill, works in 1922 and 1938; which used heat displacement to evaluate muscle power. Without this work...we would NOT be able to measure muscle strength today
• Stone, et al. -1983; Metabolic and body composition training programs. Without his work - we would not know how to develop muscular strength in our bodies. This boils down to sets, reps, rounds, and time vs. intensity.
• Frey, et al. - 2009 - mechano-sensors; Ballistic vs. Slow Static Contractions - recruitment of more motor units will generate higher Force generation. We see this with Maximal Strength Training vs. Explosive Strength Training. One will provide Strength....one requires the body to be more athletic thus improving Explosive Power.

Ultimately, his desire was to encourage us to spend some time being a professional. Be a coach, be a trainer, be a motivator. But...spend some time in the literature, dive into the studies, be a PRO. Do some work on your own within the collegiate and professional literature. Find out where this field we LOVE came from.