Muscular power is one of man’s motor skills, it helps us produce tension.
POWER
COMES FROM THE BRAIN: from here, in fact an impulse is sent along the spinal
cord to the muscle which then triggers off the contraction.
What
determines these capacities is:
The
size of the muscle, in particular its transverse section
The
number of fibres that one is able to co-ordinate with the contraction
ONCE
AGAIN THE PHYSICAL STATE STRONGLY DEPENDS ON THE MENTAL STATE.
Not
only because the impulse physically leaves the brain, but also because to
develop maximum tension I have to really want it, I have to be active and
concentrated, but I also have to have it in me, it has already been ACQUIRED.
In
my opinion, there is an argument tied to learning about power, that has always
been neglected.
This
goes further than technical issues, I am talking about LEARNING TO CO-ORDINATE
AND RECRUIT MOTOR UNITS.
Even
the simplest movement like hanging from an edge, where there is no need for
technique, when done by an evolved athlete, whose brain already knows how to
activate maximum tension is achieved more effectively than someone who does not
have this ability.
WHOEVER
HAS THIS ABILITY, HAS MORE STRENGTH COMPARED TO WHO DOESN’T HAVE THIS ABILITY,
THE SAME WAY SOME PEOPLE’S RIGHT HAND IS STRONGER THAN THEIR LEFT.
This
links us up to the reason why some people hang onto a hold open handed and
others need to crimp on a thin edge or vice versa and this is why we have to
learn how to use the fibres in every single situation. When we notice an
improvement in how we hold edges or pockets after only a few training sessions,
we have only “learned” the exercise. For the same reason that some of us are
really weak on one or two finger pocket holds we cannot activate the motor
skills because we have a strong and partly subconscious fear of tearing our
tendons.
WE
DON’T REALISE HOW MUCH INCREASE IN POWER WE CAN GAIN AT THESE LEVELS.
Without increasing mass and weight.
All
this brings us to the following considerations:
Our
improvement margin is a lot higher than we could have ever imagined.
Power
can increase as you get older because these qualities take many years to develop
and they compensate for the natural decrease that takes place. The morphological
and structural changes that enable our phalanges (finger joints) to support
tension only develop after many years.
This is an important concept, however it is often overrated in sports climbing literature. We define relative power, as the relationship between absolute power and body weight. From this we deduct that two people who lift one,80kg and weighs 80kg, and the other who lifts 40kg and weighs 40kg have the same relative power. (ratio of 1:1).
The value of the relative power represents an important criteria of evaluation, but it is not possible as is usually done, to compare the same people with the same relative power. WE MUST NOT FORGET THAT PRESSURE ON OUR FINGERTIPS AND THE TENSION ON THE CAPSULES OF OUR FINGER JOINT’S ARTICULATION AND ON THE TENDONS DEPENDS ON THE SUM OF YOUR WEIGHT AND LOAD NOT ON THE RATIO!
Therefore he/she who weighs less than another person who has the same relative power, will have a better result, we can also say that on certain types of routes (especially those with small holds) the lighter person (less relative power, but with less body weight) will be more efficient.
The training shown on this website can cause serious damage to your body, especially to your muscular skeletric apparatus, and in certain subjects it can also affect the cardiovascular system.
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