In a previous discussion, the definition to what is specific was brought up, an important term to see what is specific. Actual vs simulated is going to be used more since sprinting while specific to sprinting, is obvious. Currently corrective exercises are used, often to replace real training. Bodybuilding usually combines compound exercises with isolated exercises, and the same is being done in the performance world except the compound work is lighter or excluded (bilateral training is another post), resulting in a never ending series of activation nonsense. If you are rehabbing a muscle group, perhaps Mike Reinold’s suggestions are appropriate, but lying on your back with a band is not the same as a football player doing a few sub maximal fly sprints or build up runs, as the second burst of the psoas is getting massive eccentric loading, far more than a isometric hold with a rubber band.
The isolate before integration concept is not a law or concept that is written in stone, but one option that may or may not work. Everything is dysfunctional, so technically you can activate all 600 muscles and hope that things are perfect, but the reality the body needs tutoring, not spoon feeding. We need to see what great things happen naturally from general athletic development, not trying to do pseudo rehab exercises that don’t build freaks. Does anyone think that guys like Ndamukong Suh are going to dominate the NFL from TRX lunges? Does anyone think you are going to put slabs of muscle mass on Power Forwards with DNS? Of course not it’s all part of the progressions people talk about, implying they are going to be crushing weights down the road after they get functional. After some of the articles on rehab, I always ask where are they now?. Now that the 3 year corrective phase is done, surely the athlete is sprinting, jumping, and weight training? Corrective exercises have merit, but the addiction is usually a road to nowhere.
The integration of sensors and Moneyball is going to change training by measuring some of the cleaning up movements or seeing how much strength is in some of the new exercises. My guess is that people are going to jump off one bandwagon to another one when the AD or GM starts looking at reports. I am not necessarily against dong specific exercises but don’t remove general athletic exercise that has far more bang for your buck and is likely to work better down the road.
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