The 6 main types of strength in physical education

The different types of force in physical education they are static, dynamic, maximum, explosive, resistance, relative and absolute. This classification focuses on four main aspects: its manifestation, the type of muscular contraction, the acceleration generated, and the resistance to be overcome with a specific speed.

In a physiological context, strength is a fundamental muscular capacity that allows the body to overcome resistance through muscle contraction.

In addition, when trying to move, lift, support or cushion an object, conditions such as weight, gravity or fixed and mobile structures against which opposition is made are counteracted. Strength is necessary for human beings to perform various tasks related to the environment, starting with development and adaptation.

Likewise, it is crucial for certain professional activities and, especially, for the practice of sports. This particular characteristic will determine, to a greater or lesser degree, the required performance levels.

The manifestations of strength depend on different factors, such as age, sex, body temperature, level of preparation, state of fatigue or types of muscle fibers.

Other mechanical aspects are muscle length, muscle cross section, type of lever, intramuscular and intermuscular coordination, and type of muscle contraction.

Types of force in physical education

1. Static force

Also known as isometric strength, it is used by contracting muscles without any variation in movement or angles. This allows you to maintain a certain exercise posture.

Consequently, the internal effort generated and the external resistance counteract each other because they have the same magnitude, preventing voluntary muscle mobilization.

This type of exercise must be managed with great care during practice, in view of the cardiovascular repercussions that can occur when maximum effort is made.

Since the loads used involve limit weights, they require a refined technique to avoid joint or muscle injuries. If they are well executed, they produce great muscular hypertrophy. This means that it increases muscle mass, but not strength.

2. Dynamic force

It is the isotonic or anisometric contraction that results in a movement. The movement generated can be a shortening that causes the concentric dynamic force and in which the internal effort overcomes the external resistance.

On the other hand, the movement can represent an elongation of the muscle fibers, generating eccentric dynamic force, in which the external resistance to overcome exceeds the internal effort produced.

It also refers to the body’s ability to generate tension for a long period of time to counteract non-maximal resistance.

In relation to training, eccentric contractions facilitate the mobilization of high intensities using less energy, despite being associated with delayed muscle soreness.

Some researchers point out that this type of training increases muscle and tendon strength and that it can be combined with elastic exercises to improve rehabilitation methods.

When a contraction movement is performed in real time, a change in muscle length and tension occurs at which isotonic and isometric contractions come together, resulting in auxotonic functioning.

This type of training has important repercussions on explosive strength and on the application of rehabilitation therapies.

3. Maximum force

Also known as brute force, it is given by the preponderance of body mass and refers to the greatest effort that can be implemented during a single muscle contraction.

This means that it will determine the performance in those sports activities in which it is necessary to control or overcome a given resistance, such as weight lifting.

Regarding control, it refers to the fact that the muscular system could be subjected to a static or isometric contraction with maximum or submaximal force demands. The latter is represented by an effort that does not manage to be the maximum and can occur in static and dynamic conditions. It is usually expressed as a percentage of maximum force.

In addition, this type of force can be combined with another kind of demand, such as a high speed of contraction or a high demand for resistance. Some sports, such as hammer throwing, shot put or rowing, can serve as an example.

In addition, as the resistance to be overcome is less intense, the less will be the intervention of the maximum force during the movement.

Within the maximum dynamic force, two additional categories can be distinguished, the maximum concentric force and the maximum eccentric force.

The first indicates that that maximum possible effort occurs when the resistance can move once or a little. The second refers to opposing a resistance that moves in the opposite direction to the individual.

4. Explosive force

It is the ability of individuals to develop maximum muscle tension in a short period of time.

Some examples of this type of strength are weightlifters, when they quickly lift a specific weight, throwers, when finishing the movement, jumpers, when they rise, or sprinters, when they start. In addition, this ability to react is essential for athletic performance.

It is also known as force-velocity or power, in which you try to apply a force in the shortest possible time.

It implies printing a maximum acceleration to the body as opposed to resistance, because the initial velocity generated by said mass depends on this. In this sense, there is a close relationship between what is known as speed and power.

This type of reaction is conditioned by the type of muscle fibers. For this manifestation of strength, the action of the white, fast or FT fibers is critical.

Unlike the red, slow, or ST fibers, the former have a high rate of contraction, can generate more force during movement, and are well adapted to intense anaerobic conditions.

There are investigations that make a differentiation between what is the explosive force and the fast force. For the first, overcoming non-maximum resistances through power is established. In relation to the second, an acceleration less than the maximum is applied to overcome a resistance similar to the previous one. The term slow or pure force is also included here.

The elastic elements of the muscle fibers play a major role in the application of explosive force. The importance given to these components has led to the incorporation of other classes of forces in which the stretch-shortening cycle plays a leading role during movement.

This is how plyometric strength arises, the ability to achieve maximum effort, in the absence of high resistance and given the greatest possible stimulus, as soon as possible and based on the energy accumulated during the stretching-shortening phases.

5. Resistance force

This effort varies depending on the application time and implies the body’s ability to withstand fatigue. This ability to withstand wear and tear during exercise can be of short, medium, and long duration.

Said combination of force and resistance requires the relationship between the intensity of the load and the duration of the effort to determine which of the two is more preponderant.

In short duration resistance strength, an attempt is made to overcome fatigue with respect to intensities greater than 80% of a maximum repetition. In this situation, high muscle tension prevails, the closure of the arterial pathways, the lack of oxygenation, the absence of nutrients in the blood and local factors at the time of exercise.

The resistance force of medium duration allows the efforts to be maintained before loads that go from 20% to 40% of a maximum repetition. In this scenario, strength and stamina related abilities contribute approximately the same value in terms of performance during the training session.

Long-term resistance strength involves the execution of a sustained effort at a load below 20% of one repetition maximum. In this training, aerobic sources related to power generation are essential for the manifestation of local strength.

6. Relative and absolute strength

absolute strength

Absolute force is the pure sense of expression of force. The predominant factor is the body weight of the individual. The more mass the organism has, the greater the force it can exert on a given resistance.

This is also equivalent to saying that the greater the number of muscle myofibrils, the greater the amount of effort generated.

To be precise, absolute force can be understood as the proportion of force that any organism can produce, regardless of its body weight.

This is evidenced if an elephant is compared to an ant. Although the elephant possesses absolute strength that far exceeds that of the ant, when weight is taken into account, the ant is undoubtedly stronger.

relative strength

Relative strength is represented by the proportion of effort as a function of body weight. It manifests itself in gymnasts, trampoline players, and vaulters, whose relative strength levels imply a high degree of this kind of effort.

Based on this criterion, categories related to strength have been established, such as weightlifting, wrestling, judo, boxing, etc.

Another important factor is the limit force, which refers to a magnitude of effort that cannot be obtained voluntarily.

References

7 different types of strengths and their benefits. Retrieved from acefitness.org.
The force. Retrieved from slideshare.net.
Strength, its classification and assessment tests. Recovered from um.es.

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