High Performance Physiology

26 Contrast training

Following directly on from last week's podcast episode on potentiation, Chris and Rob talk about contrast training from a physiological perspective. They explain why in most cases, a more traditional approach to athletic strength training workouts (starting with high-velocity exercises, moving on to heavy strength training exercises, and finishing with plyometrics) is much better than doing contrast training methods that mix the various types of training up into complexes.

25 Potentiation

Potentiation is a temporary and reversible increase in exercise performance as a result of a previous bout of exercise (note that this is the exact opposite of the fatigue definition). In this episode, Chris and Rob explain the physiology behind potentiation and describe the most effective ways of using the various different potentiation mechanisms in strength training workouts.

24 Tendon injuries

Following on from the previous episode about muscle strain injuries, Chris and Rob talk about the physiology of tendon damage and how it likely leads to both tendinopathy and tendon ruptures. Afterwards, they describe how isometric training is probably the best training method for reducing the risk of such problems and Rob goes into detail about how he currently programs isometrics.

23 Muscle strain injury

Chris and Rob talk about how muscle strain injuries happen, and what we can do in strength training programs to help reduce the risk of them happening.

22 Sprinting muscles

Chris and Rob talk through what the literature says about the relationship between track sprinting performance and the muscle volumes of the hip extensors, hip flexors, knee extensors, knee flexors, and ankle plantar-flexors.