Life involves movement and our ability to move dictates the quality of life we have.  Children run, jump, and climb when playing.  As we age we loose our ability to run, jump, and climb.  This lose is largely due to a decrease in our overall strength, specifically our strength-to-weight ratio.   So if you want to be able to play as you age than you need to be strong!  The building of strength should start at the base of your training goals in your General Physical Preparation (GPP).  This foundation will carry into your Specialized Physical Preparation (SPP).  Dr. Siff, an expert in sports sciences describes it as, “GPP is intended to provide balanced physical conditioning in endurance, strength, speed, flexibility, and other basic factors of fitness, where the SPP concentrates on exercises which are more specific to the particular sport. (Siff, 2000)” Most people will not move past the SPP level of pyramid (borrowed from Scott Sonnon) so for the purpose of this post I will just describe GPP and SPP.

GPP vs SPP

GPP, the base, consists of low-intensity movements to improve all-round conditioning. This stage builds work capacity, gets the body ready for sport specific training, and addresses mobility weaknesses.  This stage begins a body composition transformation by increasing muscle and decreasing fat.  

Moving up the pyramid, SPP provides more focus on sporting skills.   This stage creates work sophistication, increases range of motion,  corrects past injuries, postural problems, and improves neuromuscular skill.

Strength-to-Weight Ratio…What Am I Talking About?

The young athletes today are required to run faster and jump higher no matter what the sport.  That means strength is essential for their success.  Is that a bad thing? No, it sets them up to to start from a higher level of relative strength for the dreaded age related strength decline.   Does the decline in strength mean they will not be able to move as well with age? Not necessarily, and this is where strength-to-weight comes into play.  A strong muscle contracts more forcefully so compared to your bodyweight you can still run, jump, climb, or just play. 

Building maximum strength provides a great reservoir as we age, but don’t let that be the only goal of your training plan.  To borrow an economic concept, the law of diminishing returns applies to size and mass.  Added strength, when carried to the extreme, usually results in added weight, slower movement speed, inability to achieve positive acceleration (think explosive strength).  Quality of movement needs to be the long-term goal!

That is why absolute muscular strength must first be brought to optimal levels (GPP) and simultaneously blended into strength that you can use for your sport (SPP), or “functional” strength. Maximum strength can be displayed through 2 types of muscular actions:

1. Concentric Strength: the ability to overcome a resistance through muscular contraction, i.e., the muscle shortens as it develops tension. Lifting a weight is an example of concentric strength.
2. Eccentric Strength: displayed when a muscle lengthens as it yields to a resistance. Eccentric strength is normally 30-50% greater than concentric strength, meaning that you can lower significantly more weight in good control than you can actually lift.

The amount of force you can generate will increase with your strength.  This translates into the ability to move faster, jump higher, and all round play better. 

The Benefit of a high strength-to-weight ratio

Absolute strength refers to strength regardless of bodyweight, relative strength is a term used to denote an athlete’s strength per unit of bodyweight (his or her “pound for pound strength”). So, if two athletes of different bodyweights can squat 275 pounds, they have equal strength for that lift, but the lighter athlete has greater relative, or pound for pound, strength.  Athletes who compete in weight-class events depend heavily on relative strength, as do athletes who must overcome their bodyweight to accomplish a motor. Further, sports which have aesthetic requirements demand the development of strength without a commensurate gain in bodyweight.

The easiest way to tell if your strength-to-weight ratio is increasing on track is if your strength is going up faster then your bodyweight and your performance is improving as well then you’re on the right track.  If one weighs 150 pounds and squats 200 lbs and increases his bodyweight to 175 lbs and improves his squat to 300 lbs, his strength:bodyweight ratio has improved considerably! Oftentimes a 10% increase in body-mass will lead to as much of a 30% increase in strength or more!

How do you build strength?  There are numerous good training programs out there, but the key to long-term movement is choosing a health first program.   When is strong to strong? Eventually increasing strength and body-mass could result in negative effects on speed, size, and relative strength.  That is why it is so important to pick a health first fitness plan to build your strength-to-weight ratio while keeping you mobile into old age.