Dan Wathen

Roundtable Discussion: Flexibility Training

This column will discuss the efficacy of flexibility training to gain a better understanding of how flexibility affects athletic performance and injury rates.

Personal Training 101: Program Variables and Design

BUILDING SUCCESSFUL TRAINING PROGRAMS FOR NOVICE AND INTERMEDIATE CLIENTS DEPENDS ON A TRAINING PROGRAM THAT PRODUCES AN APPROPRIATE OVERLOAD WITHOUT INDUCING OVERTRAINING. THE APPLICATION OF A SPECIFIC NUMBER OF SETS AND REPETITIONS PER EXERCISE, AN APPROPRIATE LOAD, AND CHOICE OF EXERCISES IN A TRAINING PROGRAM IS CRITICAL TO ITS SUCCESS. BASIC CONCEPTS OF PROGRAM DESIGN AND A SAMPLE BASIC PERIODIZATION PROGRAM ARE PROVIDED.

Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise: The Name Says It All

EXPERIENCED MALE COMPETItive volleyball players were trained 3 days per week with a program of electrical muscle stimulation (EMS) to the knee extensors and ankle plantar flexors along with 50 plyometric jumps. Testing was done before training, at 2 and 4 weeks of training, and 2 weeks after training. Strength gains were noted at 2 weeks of training, and vertical jump gains were noted after 4 weeks of training, both of which remained for 2 weeks after training. It would have been interesting to see whether the gains were due to the EMS, jump training, or combination of the two. Maffiuletti, N.A., et al. Effect of combined electrostimulation and plyometric training on vertical jump height. Med. Sci. Sports Exerc. 34(10):1638–1644. 2002.