Anatomy for Strength and Fitness Training for Speed and Sport

By Leigh Brandon and James Berrange

What does it take to succeed in sports? The formula for being a champion can be distilled into several skill sets that are essential for playing at a competitive level, with some of the most important being strength, speed and stamina. This full colour illustrated training guide takes an in-depth look at your muscles at work during various sporting activities, making it crystal clear how to tailor your training to your specific needs. Whether you play football, baseball, tennis, basketball, rugby, lacrosse – the anatomical illustrations used in this book show exactly how your muscles are engaged and how to improve your performance. Not only will athletes get the ultimate look at what happens to their bodies during bursts of speed, they will also find running and sprinting activities, elastic band overspeed activities, stretching activities, exercises to develop the muscles around the knees to limit potential injury, and general lower body development.

The book is divided into eight sections that focus on strength training and developing a conditioning programme. Sure to be a valuable reference for professionals and novices alike, Anatomy for Strength & Fitness Training for Speed and Sport features everything readers need to know to utilize and sustain speed and strength the smart way.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IMM Lifestyle Books
• Release date: Dec 1, 2016
• ISBN: 9781743371619

Leigh Brandon

Leigh Brandon, the Founder of BodyCHEK has a mission to help as many people as possible to reach their health and performance potential, so they can live more productive, fulfilling and happier lives. He combines a number of professions to provide a truly comprehensive approach to helping his clients and athletes. Leigh has specialised in injury rehabilitation, wellness and sports conditioning since 1996. In addition to his skills as a practitioner, he is an author of four fitness books and two e-books, an international presenter and a member of the C.H.E.K Institute Faculty. Leigh also produced The Tennis Conditioning Series courses Levels 1, 2 & 3 for the CHEK Institute and teaches and lectures all over the world. Leigh has helped many people overcome back, neck, shoulder and knee pain, chronic fatigue syndrome, irritable bowel syndrome, achieve their ideal weight and has helped athletes both amateur and professional improve performance, win medals and eliminate recurring injuries. Leigh’s clients include British and European champions and record holders and Olympic athletes. Leigh’s approach has enabled him to help clients with the most difficult conditions to achieve success where other modalities have previously failed. His experience has shown that the conventional approach to health, disease, exercise and nutrition don’t sufficiently satisfy the needs of the general population or professional athletes. Leigh is passionate to help people achieve their goals using a holistic approach over the long term and wishes to educate the people about ‘the truth’ to achieving health, vitality and optimal performance.

Book preview

First published in 2010 by

New Holland Publishers (UK) Ltd

London • Cape Town • Sydney • Auckland

www.newhollandpublishers.com

Garfield House

86–88 Edgware Road

London W2 2EA

United Kingdom

80 McKenzie Street

Cape Town 8001

South Africa

Unit 1, 66 Gibbes Street

Chatswood, NSW 2067

Australia

218 Lake Road

Northcote

Auckland

New Zealand

Copyright © 2010 New Holland Publishers (UK) Ltd

Copyright © 2010 in text: Leigh Brandon

Copyright © 2010 in illustrations: New Holland Publishers (UK) Ltd

Leigh Brandon has asserted his moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publishers and copyright holders.

ISBN 978 1 84773 543 0

Senior Editor: Sarah Greaney

Designer: Neal Cobourne

Colour illustrations: James Berrangé

Black and white illustrations: Stephen Dew

Production: Marion Storz

Publisher: Ross Hilton

Publishing Director: Rosemary Wilkinson

Reproduction by Pica Digital Pte Ltd, Singapore

Printed and bound by Tien Wah Press (Pte) Ltd, Singapore

The author and publishers have made every effort to ensure that all information given in this book is accurate, but they cannot accept liability for any resulting injury or loss or damage to either property or person, whether direct or consequential and howsoever arising.

CONTENTS

PART 1 – OVERVIEW OF ANATOMY

• How to Use This Book

• Anatomical Definitions and Terminology

• Systems of the Body

• Body Planes and Regions

• Anatomical Terms

• Joint Movements

• Posture and Muscle Balance

• Preparation for Speed Training

PART 2 – THE EXERCISES

1. Stretching and Warm-up

• Mobilizations

• Cervical/Thoracic

• Thoracic

• Lumbar

• Stretches

• Neck extensors

• Neck side flexors

• Pectoralis minor

• Obliques

• Abdominals

• Lumbar rotations

• Tensor fascia lata

• Hip flexors

• Adductors

• Hamstrings

• Calves

• Pre-event Stretching

• Squat push press

• Standing torso rotations

• Bend and reach

• Walking hamstring stretch

• Multi-directional lunges

• Walking arm swings

• Side shuffle

• Knee-ups

• Heel kicks

2. ‘The Core’

• Anatomy of the Core – Inner Unit

• Exercises for the Inner Unit

• Four-point tummy vacuum

• Horse stance – vertical

• Horse stance – horizontal

• Anatomy of the Core – Outer Unit

3. Primal Pattern® Movements

• Gait, Lunge, Squat, Bend, Pull, Push, Twist

4. Strength and Power

• Maximal Strength Training

• Power Training

5. Agility, Plyometrics and Speed

• Agility

Agility Drills: Hexagon drill, 180° turn ladder drill, Zig-zag crossover shuffle ladder drill, ‘A’ movement cone drill, ‘Z’ pattern run cone drill, ‘X’ pattern multi-run cone drill, 20 metre square cone drill, 40 metre back pedal forward, 40 metre lateral shuffle

• Plyometrics

Plyometric Drills: Standing jump and reach, 5–5–5 squat jump, Two-footed jumps ladder drill, Side-to-side box shuffle, Alternate bounding with single arm action, Single leg bounding, Front box jump, Jump from box, Depth jump

• Speed

Speed Drills: Ankling, Butt kickers, Ladder speed run, Ladder stride run, Hurdle fast legs, Single leg hurdle run-through, Hurdle run-through, Falling starts, Ankling to sprint, Hurdle run-through to sprint, Ankling to hurdle run-through to sprint

PART 3 – THE PROGRAMME

• Designing Your Programme

• Needs Analysis

• Goal Setting

• Strength Qualities

• Biomotor Abilities

• Movement Pattern Analysis

• Energy System Requirements

• Reflex Profiling

• Open Versus Closed Chain Exercises

• Periodization

References

Glossary

Index

Resources

HOW TO USE THIS BOOK

Anatomy for Strength and Fitness Training for Speed and Sport is a visual, anatomical and textual analysis of effective exercises that will help you in your chosen sporting field. It is also a guide on how to do the exercises and how to safely and effectively develop speed for your particular sport. The book has three distinct parts: the first is a basic introduction to anatomical definitions, terminology and an overview of the development of speed. Essentially it helps to demystify the language used in part two, making it easier to follow the instructions in that section.

Part two contains five sections: section one covers stretching and warm-up, section two covers ‘the core’, section three covers Primal Pattern® Movements, section four covers maximal strength and power development and section five covers agility, plyometric and speed drills. Within each section, the individual exercises or drills featured are defined and given some background. There is a ‘how to’ guide for doing the exercise, as well as a visual and technical exercise analysis of the main muscles that are working. The start or finish position is usually depicted and training tips may be included.

Part three helps you to understand how you might put these exercises together into a programme over a season to achieve optimal speed and performance.

The adult human body has 639 muscles and 206 bones; this book illustrates approximately 92 muscles involved in movement and stabilization. Many smaller muscles, including the deep, small muscles of the spine and jaw and most muscles of the hands and feet are not given specific attention, in order not to confuse the reader.

This book has been designed to help you to improve your speed in your chosen sport. Before introducing speed training, the body has to be prepared to handle the loads or stress put on the body during such training. Therefore, it is advised that the sections are completed in the following order:

1. Primal Pattern® Movement beginner exercises

2. Primal Pattern® Movement intermediate exercises

3. Primal Pattern® Movement advanced exercises

4. Maximal strength training

5. Power training

6. Speed/agility/plyometric drills

The length of time spent in each phase is dependent on your level of training experience. The more experience you have in training and the stronger you are, the less amount of time you need to spend in each phase. It is advised that you should have one to two years of resistance training before commencing ‘maximal strength’ training.

Many of the exercises have a degree of risk of injury if done without adequate instruction and supervision. We recommend that you have a thorough assessment with a certified strength and conditioning coach, C.H.E.K practitioner or personal trainer before undertaking any of the exercises, and that you seek qualified instruction if you are a complete beginner. This book does not constitute medical advice and the author and publisher cannot be held liable for any loss, injury or inconvenience sustained by anyone using this book or the information contained in it.

ANATOMICAL DEFINITIONS AND TERMINOLOGY

Anatomy has its own language and whilst technical, it has a basis in logic, originating from Latin and Greek root words that make it easier to learn and understand the names of muscles, bones and other body parts.

Whether you’re an athlete, personal trainer or strength and conditioning coach, using the correct terminology enables you to interact with other professionals and professional materials.

Like most medical terms, anatomical terms are made up of small word parts, known as combining forms, that fit together to make the full term. These ‘combining forms’ comprise roots, prefixes and suffixes. Knowing the different word parts allows you to unravel the word. Most anatomical terms only contain two parts: either a prefix and a root or a root and a suffix.

For example, if you take the terms subscapular and suprascapular, the root is ‘scapula’, commonly known as the shoulder blade. ‘Supra’ means ‘above’, hence ‘suprascapula’ means something above the shoulder blade and ‘sub’ means ‘below’ indicating in this instance something below the shoulder blade.

Common prefixes, suffixes and roots of anatomical terms

SYSTEMS OF THE BODY

The human body can be viewed as an integration of approximately 12 distinct systems that continuously interact to control a multitude of complex functions. These systems are a co-ordinated assembly of organs, each with specific capabilities, whose tissue structures suit a similar purpose and function.

This book illustrates and analyses the systems that control movement and posture – namely the muscular and skeletal systems, often referred to jointly as the musculoskeletal system.

The other systems are the cardiovascular, lymphatic, nervous, endocrine, integumentary, respiratory, digestive, urinary, immune and reproductive systems.

The muscular system

The muscular system facilitates movement, maintenance of posture and the production of heat and energy. It is made up of three types of muscle tissue: cardiac, smooth and striated.

Cardiac muscle forms the heart walls, while smooth muscle tissue is found in the walls of internal organs such as the stomach and blood vessels. Both are activated involuntarily via the autonomic nervous system and hormonal action.

Striated muscle makes up the bulk of the muscles as we commonly know them. The skeletal system includes the tendons that attach muscle to bone, as well as the connective tissue that surrounds the muscle tissue which is called fascia. A human male weighing 70 kg (154 lbs) has approximately 25–35 kg (55–77 lbs) of skeletal muscle.

Muscle attachments

Muscles attach to bone via tendons. The attachment points are referred to as the origin and the insertion.

The origin is the point of attachment that is proximal (closest to the root of a limb) or closest to the midline, or centre of the body. It is usually the least moveable point, acting as the anchor in muscle contraction.

The insertion is the point of attachment that is distal (furthest from the root of a limb) or furthest from the midline or centre of