Today’s topic is Power Development, this can be simply stated as;

F=MxA (F is force, M is mass and A is acceleration). 

Power is one of the most important attributes for any sportsman and its development is often confused with that of Strength.

• Power Development (PD) is not about lifting heavy weight.
• The most effective methods of PD are not concerned with muscular development but with neural pathway stimulation and efficiency of movement.
• Plyometric movements such as bounding and reactive drills are a great method which can also be coached in large groups.  This method is also suitable for use in a warm up.
• Triple joint lower body exercises that create an eccentric stretch reflex in the posterior chain are the most applicable to most sports.
• An example of these PD exercises would be light weight squats or snatches (65% of 1RM) at a low number of reps (2 to 6). These should be performed as fast as possible in both the concentric and eccentric phases.
• Due to the large stress placed on the Central Nervous System (CNS) when employing most PD methods, a low volume is necessary.
• Complex’s; the use of a high acceleration low load exercise to excite the CNS, followed by a high load low rep exercise executed at maximum acceleration, are a great method of PD.  This will train the body to recruit a greater number of muscle fibers and therefore increase force development (power).
• Effective forms of Complex’s are Russian, Bulgarian and German (Not American).  All with slightly differing theories and methodologies. When planning to implement a PD phase into your athletes’ programming further reading on this topic is advised.   
• As I stated in the last article on Session Planning, you should put the most demanding and complex exercise 1^st when the most energy is available therefore allowing the most adaptation to occur.

To summarise; sub-maximal exercises performed at the athlete’s maximum acceleration, at a low volume are most suited to PD and a simple rule of thumb ( this is N/A to Plyometric/Shock training in its true form as more research into this complicated theory is necessary before implementing these techniques).

My next article will be about training for Speed and Acceleration.