Strength and Conditioning Applied to Bodybuilding!
Strength and conditioning is a field of study and application that accesses the recommendations or training prescriptions for athletes to better their athletic performance. This so called exercise prescription for the betterment of the athletic performance, if it’s a good program, should always be tailored to fit the needs of the sport and more specifically the position played in that sport, or the athlete as an individual. Now, that being said, bodybuilding is not quite a contact sport or a sport that involves dynamic movements used in a game like setting. This will affect bodybuilding as a sport in terms of training type. However, bodybuilding borrows much of the foundational principles and basics that are also applied to athletes who train for pro and semi pro sports.
Weightlifting for bodybuilding purposes, and strength and conditioning in general operates on the foundation of adaptation. That is, we as humans, adapt to stimulus and adjust to these stimuli accordingly. For a simple example, we lift weights, our muscles adapt by growing stronger. However, adaptation relies on four key principles. These principles are as follows: overload, accommodation, specificity and individualization. Overload refers to the fact that we cannot continually lift the same amount of weight and expect to see the same results we did at the onset of lifting this very weight. Overload must occur for adaptations to take place. Overload is achieved by increasing the training load via either changes in intensity, or volume. This can be translated to either changes in amount of weight lifted or number of repetitions completed. The second principle is accommodation. Bodybuilders are probably more familiar with the term plateau, which is in reference to accommodation in a sense. The principle of accommodation is the precise reason as to why we never would want to perform the same workout back to back or even in close proximity with itself. Being presented with the stimulus, the body will adapt, and will therefore, become stronger from a workout. Performing the workout again will produce a lessened response from the body and therefore to get the most out of your workouts it will be important that they differ from one another. This could be as simple of a change as changing the order of the exercises or as complex as entirely changing the exercises. The third principle, specificity, is not as of as great importance to bodybuilders as the first two, but is still important. This one is the principle that caters more to the specific sport of the athlete. However, since bodybuilding is our sport, we will chose to alter our training and choice of exercises, and how we perform these exercises, accordingly. For example, it will be of no use for a bodybuilder to perform agility training such as sprints and cuts as a football player would use. We will choose most weightlifting exercises instead because it is these exercises that will produce our desired results of muscular growth. Lastly, individualization is also important for any athlete. That is the program that you are executed should be tailored to you, not your mom, not your grandma and not your friend. It should be for you. For example, bikini competitors workouts are going to differ from a women’s physique or women’s bodybuilding competitor. The workouts may different in a variety of different ways but the programs are designed specifically for that athlete’s goals. Individualization would also include changes in training for a specific athlete in terms of previous or current injuries. If you cannot perform certain exercises due to injury this would be specific to you as an athlete.
Generally speaking, as bodybuilders we operate under the assumption that gains in strength means gains in muscle growth. It is important to understand why we as bodybuilders borrow these principles from strength and conditioning practices of athletes. So why do we borrow them? Because they work! There is a scientific methodology behind them. You should always know why you do what you do when you train. That is, if you are doing heavy weigh
t low reps, you should know why. You should have a specific goal in mind and a timeline in which you are operating. By using the principles discussed above you will prevent yourself from falling into the rut in which all other averages Joes end up falling into. Despite popular belief, there is much brain behind the brawn in bodybuilding. All training programs are designed based on these specific principles in some shape or form. If they are not, I suggest you get a new coach. So, set aside some time to access your goals, and determine which things about your training are aiding to the completion of your goals and which are not. Avoid the plateaus and keep making good gains by tailoring your training program to your personal goals!
Sources and Photo Credits:
Vladimir, Zatsiorsky, and Kraemer Williamson. Science and Practice of Strength and
Conditioning. 2nd. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics, 2006.
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