In trying to keep my last post readable I realized I left out a lot of the fundamentals of what makes up a person's strength. So I'll attempt to break them down into a couple posts and hopefully give you all a bit better idea what you're working with.
Today's post will be about the characteristics involved in measuring strength levels depending on the training status of the individual in question. Next post will be how strength training will cause different adaptations to those characteristics.
Throughout the next two posts I'm going to be using an analogy that I hope makes sense to most of you: an Amish barn raising. For those of you who haven't seen one of these, it's basically a bunch of guys with ropes tied onto the bigass frame of a barn, and they work together to pull it up to a vertical position to fit together with other frame sections. Multimedia Learning Tool Skip ahead to about the 2 minute mark for a good example, or watch all the way through to get a bit cultured up!
So to start breaking things down, the barn frame is going to represent the bone(s) your muscle(s) is going to be pulling on to move a certain load. That frame may be lighter or heavier, may need to be raised at different speeds, and may need to be raised and lowered for a number of repetitions as well, and the actions of the dudes on the ground will change depending on these criteria.
ABSOLUTE STRENGTH: Depending on the number of total dudes on the ground available to raise that frame, and the amount of barn raising training they've been doing, there is a certain absolute maximum size of frame that they can possibly lift. However, it's highly unlikely, and usually impossible, to get all those dudes to pull as hard and efficiently as they can except in times of dire emergency or extremely abnormal condition. So this absolute strength is somewhat irrelevant, we'll only ever be able to achieve certain percentages of this strength.
MAXIMAL STRENGTH: This number is the highest number of dudes you can get to pull in real life under normal circumstances all on your own. This number can change depending on how long you've been making these dudes raise barn frames, and under what conditions. Generally speaking, athletes who train with very heavy loads, or those that move those loads extremely fast will have a Maximal Strength that's a higher percentage of their Absolute Strength than those that train in longer duration endurance types of exercise.
FIBER TYPE: Within your available group of dudes (individual muscle) there are different types of dudes, capable of raising barns in different ways. Type I, or Slow Twitch dudes, are like 5 year olds. They're not capable of pulling very hard or very fast on their rope, but they can do it over and over without getting very tired. On the other hand, there are Type II, or Fast Twitch dudes, which are more like giant viking strongmen dudes. These dudes can pull extremely hard and/or extremely fast, but can only pull a couple of times before they need a while to rest. There are other types in between these two, but these are the main types. So picture that you've got a field full of mostly 5 year olds and Vikings ready to raise that frame.
RECRUITMENT: Your brain is very aware of exactly how many Kiddos and Vikings it has available to raise that frame, and it's so smart it will only call on the perfect number of each of them to do it. If you need to raise the frame more than once (repetitions) or raise frames on consecutive days (sets) your brain even monitors which of your dudes are fresh and ready to go, and which ones need to rest before they can be called on to pull again. In addition, any time your brain calls upon a dude to pull, they will pull as hard as they can or not at all. This is the All Or None principle, and has to deal with a bunch of big scientific neurological words that won't really help with our story for now.
FREQUENCY: In pulling up a frame, your brain can also change the speed at which it screams at your dudes to pull. The higher the frequency, the stronger and/or faster your frame can be raised. Generally speaking, your 5 year olds aren't capable of being yelled at to go faster as much as your Vikings are, meaning those Vikings are going to be called on much more often if you have a very large frame to raise, or it needs to be raised very quickly. However your 5 year olds will still be there to help out as much as they can. 60 5 year olds can still move quite a bit of frame.
EFFICIENCY: This refers to how coordinated your dudes are pulling when your brain tells them to pull. If they're all pulling at their own pace then they won't be able to pull with as much force as if they all pulled in a more efficient fashion. Picture rowers rowing at their own cadence instead of rowing in perfect unison.
These are some of the basic characteristics of an individual's strength. Many can be altered to a certain extent depending on the type, frequency, and intensity of your training. My next posting will center around those types of adaptations, and how they may affect the next barn you try to raise.
Have fun guys! And have fun picturing all those little dudes the next time you're hoisting some iron!!
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