Strength endurance

When athletes are required to perform movements repeatedly, other capabilities are implicated that relate to the
strength qualities described. Strengthendurance, speed-endurance, and power-endurance are identified as discrete
elements and should be considered independently, as opposed to merely
derivatives of strength, speed, and power (Yessis, 1994). The capacity to
activate musculature under conditions of fatigue has been identified as a
trainable quality (Behm, 1995). Under conditions of fatigue, trained individuals
appear to have superior ability to fully activate the musculature (Behm, 1995).
Neuromuscular co-ordination is implicated in speed-endurance and powerendurance, as movement efficiency
plays a key role in both. Two key adaptations identified as underlying strength-endurance are acid-base buffering
(Kraemer, 1997) and neural mechanisms (intramuscular co-ordination) that
make the athlete better able to more fully activate fatigued motor units
(Behm, 1995).
POTENTIAL ADAPTATIONS TO STRENGTH TRAINING
Neural adaptations to strength training
• Inter-muscular co-ordination:
◦ Enhanced recruitment patterns and co-ordination of (agonist, antagonist, and synergist) muscles employed
during the particular strength
training movement (Young, 2006).
◦ Reduced co-contraction of antagonists.
• Intra-muscular control:
◦ Increased ‘supraspinal’ descending neural drive (increased firing
frequency to motor neurons) from motor cortex (Aagaard et al.,
2002).
◦ Increased net excitatory input to motor neurons at local spinal level
(Aagaard et al., 2002).
Hormonal responses and adaptations to strength training
• For most hormones, the acute release following each training session
appears to be the more critical factor (Kraemer and Ratamess, 2005):
◦ Resting concentrations of the major anabolic hormones (testosterone, growth hormone, insulin) are unchanged
following a period
of strength training when normal volumes and frequencies of
training are being performed.
• Following a single bout of strength training exercise there is an acute
(i.e. transient) reported up-regulation of hormone receptors.
STRENGTH TRAINING 41
• Following a period of strength training players may show an altered
hormone response to individual bouts of strength training (Kraemer and
Ratamess, 2005).
• Strength training also appears to elicit an adaptive response associated
with catabolic hormone receptors:
◦ Down-regulation of glucocorticoid (catabolic hormone) receptors
is apparent following a period of strength training – indicative of
reduced catabolic response to a bout of strength training exercise in
strength trained individuals (Kraemer and Ratamess, 2005).