Saturday, October 11, 2014

Strength: important or not?


I was browsing through the Annual Digest of Weightlifting of 1986. It is the compilation of articles on the subject of training in this sport in Russian (Ezhegodnik. Tyazhelaya Atletika). That particular issue there contained a few articles on Girevoy Sport. One of them studies the connection between various physical qualities and the result achieved in girevoy sport competition.

This study was conducted by G Vinogradov and M Lukyanov from the Institute of Physical Culture in Leningrad and was based on the following premises.
  1. Girevoy Sport can be classified as cyclical sport, and the most important quality required for it is strength endurance.
  2. As this sport is associated with significant strain, it is necessary to conduct special training directed to the development of strength.
  3. Research shows that the significant achievement in one physical quality is possible only when other physical qualities have reached appropriate (optimal) levels. Therefore strength endurance has to be developed on the foundation of general endurance (emphasis mine - Smet)

Therefore the goals of training in GS include: development of general endurance, development of optimal strength and building of strength endurance on the basis of general endurance and strength.

The main point of the study was to study the associations between various tests for assessment of physical qualities and best results (control runs during training sessions) of gireviks of 2nd and 3rd ranks. In total 16 athletes were studied.

The parameters that correlated best with the results were those reflecting maximal strength:

Bench press (r = 0.75-0.97)
Barbell squat (r = 0.72 – 0.89)
Deadlift (r = 0.64 – 0.87)
Dynamometry of the strongest hand (r = 0.83 – 0.93)

Other correlated variables:

Dips (reps) (r = 0.74 – 0.89)
Pull-ups (r = 0.62 – 0.73)
1000m run (r = - 0.79 to -0.97) – the shorter the time the better the GS performance.

Interesting, but there was no correlation between the GS results and parameters reflecting the ability to develop explosive force – jump and 60m sprint.

In conclusion the authors note that more research is needed.

This is a small article and it would be incorrect to draw final conclusions from it. On the other hand, the results indicate some trends. Better gireviks are stronger and have better endurance. Are they better in GS because they are stronger and tougher, or they are stronger and tougher because they are better gireviks and are better for some other reasons? Strictly speaking it is impossible to say based on these numbers, and only some kind of intervention study could answer this question.

On the other hand it makes sense: the person who can snatch 100 kg will be able to do more 24 kg snatches than those whose max snatch is only 50 kg. The same goes for endurance: the better your cardiovascular system, the easier it is going to be to last for ten minutes under the bells.

The message I take away from this study is: building the foundation of strength and endurance is important for girevoy sport. It means that every session should, along with the technique, aim at the development of strength and endurance. 

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