Understanding the Confusion Regarding Back Pain and Strength Training

A general foundation in exercise science  required   is   for   those interested in back development and performance. This chapter   is   intended   to   introduce and   discuss   some of the more salient elements of this foundation   to   justify   the   general approaches   to   training that   are   documented in later chapters.  Some readers will find this chapter long, while others will find it brief in places. For   those readers wanting the highest level   of   background expertise in general exercise science, I wish to recommend some excellent sources.   For   general neuromuscular function   with   relevance to   training,   it   is   hard   to   beat   Dr.   Roger Enoka's book   Neuromechanical   Basis   of   Kinesiology.   Some of   the introduction into the   Russian   systems of training presented  here   can   be   found in  more detail in   Dr.   Mel Sift's excellent book entitled   Supertraining,   a "must read". There  a notable contrast in developments within exercise science between the West (North   is America  and Western  Europe) and the   East   (the former Soviet Union and the   Eastern   Bloc), particularly since WWII. The   East   continued   to   perform scientific investigations into performance development in what we would consider today the fundamental understanding   of   motion and motor patterns.   In   contrast, the West increasingly focused  on cardiovascular components, with the Swedish influence and the publishing and promotion of very popular fitness books   such   as   Dr. Cooper's "Aerobics".   To   be   "fit"   in the West required a high   MV02   score.   We   have  measured many people with high   MV02   scores   who   do not   have command of some simple   motor   patterns, and while they could run a distance, they literally would have trouble running   with   another simultaneous challenge - be   it   carrying a load or chewing gum!   As   a consequence, the exercise physiologists became fitness experts - many   of whom   had little or no expertise beyond cardiac and muscle hypertrophy   issues.   Their general ignorance of musculoskeletal function   has   led   to   the proliferation   of   exercises   which replicate injury mechanisms. Many machines have been developed to   isolate muscle and enhance hypertrophy   to   the detriment   of   performance.   In   contrast, the   East continued to develop science on   all   aspects of fitness and with application, produced enviable results   in international competition during this period. Certainly over the   last   decade, the 'Western" science   has   broadened and   has   created a place   for   an approach contained in this book. Too much effort  directed towards training the "muscle" in many performance programs.   is Isolating a muscle about a   joint   and training   it   with   progressive overload  purely a body building   is hypertrophy  approach.  Functional  training  incorporates  the  goal   of   enhancing  strength throughout the body segment linkage.

This post was created by Zach Cooper, a coach and author of fitness material.