Most Athletic Movements Are Too Fast to Express Maximal Force
May 27, 2022
IMAGE: UNSPLASH / Geoff Scott
How to Train Athletes
Recently on Instagram, @ericcressey posted about the diminishing returns point of max strength work for athletes and it got me thinking. There are few sport movements that take place over a long enough time to actually express maximal strength.
- For example: It takes about 0.5 seconds to express maximal strength
- Sprinting at max velocity, ground contact time is 0.09-0.11 seconds
- In the acceleration phase of sprinting: 0.17-0.2 seconds
- Change of direction: 0.4-0.7 seconds
Athletes Should Not Be Trained Like Powerlifters
So while strength definitely matters for joint stability, creating force, etc. it’s not productive for athletes to train like powerlifters.
Unfortunately, a lot of coaches learn from powerlifters and pass down bad information (ex: push through the heels, look up to go up, always squat to depth, etc.).
As you can see in the graph, a more productive quality for most athletes to chase is rate of force development. I’d rather be the soccer player who can cut the hardest in 0.2 seconds than the soccer player who can squat the most to depth.
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