Guest Blog from Annalise at TrueFitness – What is Power Training?

Over the next few weeks there will be a new guest blogger at YSC! The trainers at TrueFitness in San Diego, CA  will be sharing a rugby focused training post each week on Wednesdays. We would like to formally welcome Annalise to YSC!

What is Power Training?

Merriam-Webster defines power as: to move with great speed or force.  In essence it means the ability to produce force.  Power training is an application of that force moving with great speed.

At TrueFitness we like to train power.  We train power in many ways.  We train power in many ways because we want to apply game-like situations.  During a game, there are situations when an athlete is exhausted but must apply maximal force.  There are times when an athlete is fully recovered and needs to apply power.  And there are times when that athlete must try to maintain power for as long as possible even when fatigue begins to overwhelm them.

So we train power in all the ways that an athlete must apply power in a game.  Fresh, tired, slightly rested or completely exhausted. If we use specificity to simulate a game then we ensure that are athletes are game ready and properly preparing our athletes for sports performance.

Most people feel that power is defined by a number of repetitions for an exercise.  As in, power cleans are done between 1 to 5 reps.  This is partially true in our belief but does not allow for game situation specificity.  We also like to include the true aspect of power which is the creatine phosphate system.  This system creates more ATP (energy) and helps us to produce the energy needed to power the power we use to apply maximal force.  The creatine phosphate system a.k.a. the Phosphagen system will last for about 30 seconds and its fatiguing rate can be slowed with training and the proper overload.  This kind of adaptation to fatigue is what we are trying to improve with our athletes in order to maximize sports performance.  This adaptation will allow our athletes to maintain power longer than the competition and be able to add an extra burst while the competition is in full fatigue.  That adaptation pushes sports performance to our advantage and that is the goal of TrueFitness PVC training.

So, at TrueFitness we absolutely train power as a pure aspect but also like to fatigue the power system and then call upon power reserves to improve conditioning and the athlete and their sports performance.

Some people might argue that power can only be trained while at full rest.  The power system must be working at 100 % in order to be improved.  Well this simply is not true.  Power can be applied at all times.  When an athlete goes for a run and then determines that a sprint is needed, he won’t stop and rest till he feels 100% and then sprint.  He just simply sprints because the situation requires it.  We therefore make sure that our athletes are ready for this situation.  That is the basis for PVC training and including power, velocity and conditioning aspects integrated into one exercise is a premise that we apply in most exercises and workout.  The results speak for themselves.

Anyone in the San Diego area is welcome to drop in at our studio at 2949 Garnet Ave.  3rd floor, Pacific Beach, CA.  We would love to put you through our workout. Please feel free to call or email Annalise Evans of TrueFitness with any questions: (760) 809 1848 annalise@truefitness.biz and join her fan page on Facebook: TrueFitness Annalise Evans.