Strength
and Conditioning
Strength
and Conditioning
<Don't worry, the music quits after one play>
Exercising has been a hobby of mine since as a very young boy I picked up a copy of Muscle and Fitness with a picture on the front of then bodybuilding superstar, Casey Viator. It wasn't until recently that I learned that many athletes train like bodybuilders or train for health and fitness. The result is like a soldier who trains for mountain warfare and then fights in the jungle or desert. Initially everything seems the same, but the environment is different and until that is realized, performance will suffer.
Bodybuilding -Focus is on the size and definition of the muscles. Diet is used for growth, cutting up, and is manipulated to produce different results throughout the training cycle. Another purpose is to look good naked.
Fitness - Focus is on health such as cardiovascular, muscle toning, increased endurance, healthy diet, and also to look good naked. Sorry, not my rules but these are the facts. Though a lot of people have problems gaining weight, the primary participant desires to lose weight.
Athletic - Focus is to take strength and turn it into speed and power. This is training for sports, not fitness, and increasing balance while reducing wasted movement are other goals. However a by product is most athletes will probably look good naked.
OK, so you see the trend in all three types of exercise, and that is to what........ You got it, "look good naked." Seriously, exercise to many is a hobby, passion, even a way of life. Most of all it is a fun, fulfilling activity with a lot of benefits.
Weightlifting Videos (large files in mpeg format)
Men's Elite Snatch competition
Canadian National Weightlifter
Links
Article
Athletes and the Olympic lifts
Olympic lifting improves your vertical jump
Unique value of Olympic lifts for athletes