Re: Re: Stability and Balance Secret!

[Guest guest]

,

I'm insulted You know I wouldn't be so tactful. Plus it sound like

this writer actually supports some of this " functional training "

baloney.

Loren Chiu

Human Performance Laboratories

The University of Memphis

--------------

Burkhardt wrote:

> My guess is Loren Chiu

--------------

> >Dr Siff and Supertrainers:

> >

> > I thought that you'd enjoy these extracts from a certain article. I'm not

> > going to tell you here who wrote it - I'd like you to read it, then tell me

> > who you think the author was. Later I will let you know, but please don't

> > cheat if you read the original somewhere - just stay quiet and let the

others

> > guess for a while!!

> >

> > --------

> >

> > Stability and Balance Training:

> > Performance Training or Circus Acts?

> >

> > The resurgence of functional training has forced many strength and

> > conditioning professionals to reexamine many of the traditional concepts. At

> > times, arguments and discussions regarding functional training have grown

> > heated. What is interesting is that some of the time, strength and

> > conditioning professionals may be arguing about a topic they agree on - they

> > just don't know it. One of the topics surrounded by heated discussion is the

> > use of unstable training environments for performance enhancement.

> >

> > Some of the confusion may revolve around the assumption that functional

> > training exclusively uses stability and balance training in

> unstable

> > environments to enhance strength and performance. Furthermore, some

> fitness

> > professionals may have inadvertently projected the wrong image of

> what

> > functional training is by performing exercises that more closely

> resemble

> > circus acts and calling them functional strength exercises (e.g.,

> squatting a

> > 135-pound barbell while standing on a stability ball). In my

> experience,

> > these extreme applications are not the norm of functional training

> but rather

> > the exception. The use of unstable training environments for the

> purpose of

> > displaying and developing stability, balance, and athleticism is

> not new or

> > mysterious. It actually has a long history and some well-documented

> science.

> >

> > Unstable training environments have been utilized for many

> centuries by a

> > variety of populations. Martial artists have trained in a variety

> of unstable

> > training environments to enhance stability, balance, strength, and

> power.

> > Training barefooted in sand and walking on a variety of wooden

> poles were

> > some of the simple ways martial artists created unstable training

> > environments........

> >

> > The scientific data also show the efficacy of unstable training

> environments.

> > For example, a recent study (3) showed increased core muscle

> recruitment

> > during an abdominal curl when performed in an unstable environment

> compared

> > with a stable surface. Research has also demonstrated the efficacy

> of using

> > unstable training environments when rehabbing the ankle complex

> (2). Training

> > under vibratory stimulus, which can be seen as a form of an

> unstable training

> > environment, has also been shown to enhance performance parameters,

> such as a

> > vertical jump (1).

> >

> > Discussion.

> >

> > Stability and balance training in unstable training environments is

> no more

> > effective than any other performance enhancement method;

> specificity still

> > governs the training adaptation. The use and effectiveness of this

> training

> > approach has been proven on the field, in the gym, and in the lab.

> However,

> > this does not mean it is magic. For example, training in unstable

> > environments would certainly not be my first choice to develop

> hypertrophy or

> > explosiveness; there is nothing like high-volume training, Olympic

> lifts, and

> > plyos for that. Having said that, I would certainly incorporate a

> measured

> > dose of stability training (i.e., using an unstable training

> environment)

> > within any hypertrophy or power program to help direct and control

> the size

> > and power my program will surely provide.

> >

> > We must all remember that training modalities are just like tools

> in a

> > toolbox. Training with the philosophy that all you need is a hammer

> in that

> > toolbox is a myopic and unidimensional view of training. A more

> professional

> > approach to performance enhancement would be more creative and

> diverse.

> > Personally, I choose to pack my toolbox with many diverse and

> interesting

> > tools, unstable training environments being one of them, using each

> tool

> > appropriately and to the best interest of my athletes.

>

-----------

* Don't forget to sign all letters with full name and city of residence if you

wish them to be published!