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Out and About: Movement Training As Important As Strength Training

Posted on: Monday, 14 February 2005, 00:00 CST

It's dark. It's cold. Let's admit it -- it's tempting to hibernate in winter.

If you tend to take cover in the cold, consider doing little indoor workouts -- like walking stairs briskly or doing dumbbell curls with a half-gallon of milk -- as a way to outwit injuries and heighten performance once it's warm enough to venture outdoors. So- called "functional training" doesn't take a lot of time or require a gym.

Every active person wants to get stronger. But coaches say strength alone does not translate to power, efficiency or injury prevention. To avoid injury, it's important to stay active by working on stamina, core strength and balance during the off- season.

The key is doing exercises based on the demands of a specific activity.

For example, climbers would work to build suppleness, flexibility and functional strength while minimizing muscle size. Backpackers or hikers would work large core muscles, torso and legs to build strength endurance. Runners work on core strength and speed.

This type of conditioning can help anyone whether they are competing in the Olympics or repeatedly lifting their children into the car.

"All the time we are bending, reaching, pulling, lifting and striding," said expert coach Vern Gambetta, who spoke at a clinic for New Mexico high-school track and cross-county coaches last month in Albuquerque. "The whole idea of functional training is just taking advantage of the wisdom of the body and the rhythm of movements that are natural."

Gambetta, former director of athletic development for the New York Mets, works on Nike's Oregon Project, which was created by marathon legend Alberto Salazar. The project is designed to transform runners' bodies so they're more efficient at using oxygen. Gambetta will help competitive runners with strength, power and speed.

The same approaches he uses with top athletes apply to everyone. He emphasizes that balance is the most important component of athletic ability because it underlies all movement. Poor balance leads to poor technical or skill development, which often results in injury, he said.

"The body is a kinetic chain that functions together to produce efficient movement. Therefore, I do not focus on individual parts in training. Rather, I design programs based on how the parts function together as a whole," Gambetta noted.

Once agility, balance and coordination are developed, his athletes focus on sport-specific skills. They work on core strength before extremity strength. They build strength by doing exercises without weights and eventually add weights. They work on joint strength before joint flexibility. They work on strength before endurance.

Coaches say this systematic, unhurried approach saves time because it prevents injuries. It trains the body to prepare for training -- a step typically overlooked by weekend warriors.

"Winter is the time to build functional strength. Use it as a building period, and take advantage of better weather for higher intensity activities or competition," he said.

Other benefits of strength training include increased bone, muscles and connective-tissue strength and increased muscle mass.

Tim Crowley, a triathlon coach at Carmichael Training Systems founded by Chris Carmichael, the coach to six-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong, said strength training does not cause an athlete to slow down or become inflexible.

Without strength training, a half-pound of lean muscle is lost per year. So Crowley recommends some level of strength training year round.

"Functional strength training does not require a large time commitment. Many times, maximal gains in strength and power can be achieved in two 30- to 50-minute sessions per week, and those sessions don't have to involve going to the gym," he noted.

The training can be accomplished with free weights, cable machines, elastic bands or tubing, stability balls, medicine balls, balance boards or even household items.

"This is the stuff an average person can do regardless of whether they compete or not. If you don't have dumbbells, take a 16-ounce soup can and lift it to the third shelf multiple times. You have stairs. It may seem contrived, but take advantage of your natural environment," Gambetta said.

And it's even appropriate for children age 7 or older. On Monday, the American Council on Exercise recommended strength training as a safe and effective way to help address youth inactivity and obesity.

"For people who don't stay active, they are fighting a losing battle. Gravity will always win -- that's what aging is. If you take three or four months off in the winter, it will take five or six months to get back," Gambetta said.

For more information, visit www.gambetta.com, www.acefitness.org or www.trainright.com.

For books on the topic, check out The Gambetta Method by Gambetta; Core Performance: The Revolutionary Workout Program by Mark Verstegan and Pete Williams; Functional Training for Sports by former Boston Bruins strength and conditioning coach Michael Boyle; or ACE's new book Youth Strength Training by Avery D. Faigenbaum and Wayne L. Westcott.

Every Thursday in Out and About, Santa Fe residents Ben Delaney and Jill Janov provide ideas, tips and commentary about outdoor activities, sports and gear. And they admit that they sometimes workout inside. Contact them at bdelaney65@msn.com or jjanov@comcast.net.

Source: The Santa Fe New Mexican

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