Elasticity and Force
Strength is easily measured, but that ease of measurement may bias us away from equally important, less measurable physical capacities. During impact sports, forces on the body far exceed those that can be produced by it. Thereby, strength alone does not adequately describe how athletes can withstand such extreme forces. Enter elasticity.
Elasticity describes the capacity of a system to withstand a sheering force by rapidly returning to its original shape, like a rubber ball thrown against a wall.
The engines of elasticity in the human body are mainly found in the collagenous structure of the tendons and the myotatic stretch-shortening reflex.
The work
The work provides two sets of training sessions. The first option is better suited for beginners to strength training, as it provides a template isometric and isotonic strength development. The second training session takes a more creative approach, focusing on a variety of pulling, pushing and jumping elasticity based movements. This session may be performed outside, to take advantage of unique opportunities afforded by environmental variability.