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Types of strength
Associate Professor John Cronin (Auckland University of Technology) identifies three types of strength related to muscle function and illustrates this with the types of strength that a weightlifter and a gymnast use.
Acknowledgements:
"The Human potential" produced by Sports Inc.
TVNZ Television Archive
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Transcript
JOHN CRONIN
We can divide the strengths into contraction types. Now the contraction types are basically divided into three categories. Now the three categories involve a shortening of the muscle. Now the muscle in this example is the biceps. The biceps is shortening and that shortening strength is called concentric strength. Now at the same time, if we’re holding a load here, the muscle has to work resisting its way down, and in that example the muscle is lengthening, and that’s lengthening strength and it’s called eccentric strength. And another example, we might have to hold something for a long time and that is called static or isometric strength. If we have a look at a person that might have to lift hay bails all day, they have a specific strength. Then we have another person that might be keyboarding all day, they have a specific strength. What we’ll see in a weightlifter that they’re very strong moving an object. Whereas the gymnast they’re very strong in moving their own body. They’ve got to express all types of strength. They’ve got to have great lengthening, shortening and static strength, so if we see them working on the rings and they’re doing all these exercises, their ups and downs, and etc… like that, but when they come into the crucifixion, they’ll start up top in the crucifixion and it’ll take that lengthening strength, then they have to have a static strength to hold that position.
