Muscular Fitness: Lower Body Strength Training Techniques – Study Notes (P12)

Learning outcomes

• Identify the common muscles of the core, chest, shoulder girdle, arms, back and lower extremity, and describe their contribution in the maintenance of posture and sporting demands.
• Describe and explain the importance of safety procedures and precautions during muscular fitness assessment and training.
• Demonstrate skills in conducting warm-up and cool-down before and after muscular fitness assessment and training.
• Demonstrate, explain and correct common resistance training exercises to safely improve muscular fitness of the core, chest, shoulder girdle, arms, back and lower extremity.

Safety, warm-up, and cool-down

• Emphasize safety procedures and precautions during muscular fitness assessment and training.
• Include proper warm-up before resistance training and a cool-down after to reduce injury risk and aid recovery.

Program design considerations (Howley & Franks, 2007)

• Resistance training programs should be based on the participant’s information and goals.
• Checklist to tailor prescription includes SMART goals and their relation to Principles of Training, plus integration into the Exercise setting/evaluation framework (ESE).
• Key inputs to consider:
  • Current fitness level
  • Principles of resistance training
  • Personal goals
  • Health needs
• Practical prompts:
  • Are you able to work with clients to create SMART goals to base exercise prescription on?
  • How do these relate to Principles of Training?
  • How do you incorporate this information into your ESE?

Resistance training status and prescription basis

• Resistance Training Status categories (overview):
  • Beginner: not training or just began training; experience < $2$ months; Frequency per week ≤ $1-2$; Stress: None or Low; Technique: None or minimal.
  • Intermediate: currently training; experience $2-6$ months; Frequency per week ≤ $2-3$; Stress: Medium; Technique: Basic.
  • Advanced: currently training; experience ≥ $1$ year; Frequency per week ≥ $3-4$; Stress: High; Technique: High.
• Prescription should be based on status, goals, and health needs as outlined above.

Types of muscle contraction in resistance training

• Major categories:
  • Isometric: muscle actions with no change in length.
  • Dynamic: muscle actions with movement; can be either constant resistance or variable resistance.
  • Isokinetic: muscular actions at a constant angular velocity.
  • Plyometric: quick, powerful movements involving rapid stretching (eccentric action) followed by rapid shortening (concentric action).

Isometric Training

• Advantages:
  • Requires specialized equipment is not necessary.
  • Low cost.
  • Can yield increases in strength and muscle hypertrophy.
• Disadvantages:
  • Strength gains are specific to the joint angle where training occurred (poor generalization across angles).

Dynamic resistance training: DCER (Constant External Resistance)

• Dynamic - Constant External Resistance (DCER):
  • Weight lifted does not vary through ROM.
  • Muscle tension can vary significantly during the movement.
  • The heaviest weight that can be lifted through a full ROM is limited by the weakest joint angle.
  • Provides enough resistance in some parts of the ROM but not enough in other angles of the ROM.
• DCER sticking points:
  • Occur where lever length is longest, requiring the largest force to overcome the weight used during training.

Dynamic resistance: Variable external resistance machines

• Purpose: To overcome DCER limitations by varying resistance through ROM using levers, cams, or similar mechanisms.
• Theory: Force the muscle to contract maximally throughout ROM by matching resistance to the strength curve.
• Reality: Individual force production varies; a single machine cannot perfectly match every person’s force curve.

Constant vs. variable external resistance

• Constant external resistance:
  • External resistance does not change throughout the range of movement.
• Variable external resistance:
  • External resistance changes to compel the muscle to work harder throughout ROM.
  • Typically involves machines with cables, pulleys, or cams to create variable resistance.
  • Often places the user in a fixed position to limit recruitment of other muscle groups.
• Note: Variable resistance devices aim to align resistance with the user’s strength curve, but individual variation means perfect matching is not achievable for everyone.

Variable external resistance – cams

• At different angles of the exercise ROM, the lever arm length changes, altering the force required to lift the same load.
• This is especially relevant around sticking points in various exercises.
• Cam-based systems attempt to adjust resistance as the angle changes to maximize muscular force production through the ROM.

Elliptical cam and external resistance visuals

• The material references images illustrating how cams alter resistance across ROM and how external resistance can be varied.

Isokinetic training

• Characteristics:
  • Muscular actions performed at a constant angular limb velocity.
  • Speed of movement (velocity) is controlled; resistance is not the primary variable.
• Practical considerations:
  • Requires specialized and expensive equipment.
  • Typically used for single-joint movements.
  • Not common in general fitness settings; more common in sport science, rehabilitation, and testing contexts.
• Training implications:
  • Strength gains are velocity-specific.
  • Best practice may involve slow, intermediate, and fast velocities to develop strength and power at varying speeds.

Plyometrics (stretch–shortening cycle)

• Definition:
  • Rapid stretch (eccentric action) of a muscle followed immediately by rapid shortening (concentric action).
• Benefits:
  • Enhances power output and reactive strength.
• Cautions:
  • Very demanding on muscles, connective tissues, and joints.
  • Should be prescribed only for athletes with prerequisites such as high relative strength and technical resistance training skill; injury risk may outweigh benefits for some populations.
  • Relevance to S212 content and progression should be considered for next semester.

Modes of resistance training: comparison

• Weight Machines vs Free Weights vs Body Weight vs Ball and Cords
• Key dimensions:
  • Cost: High vs Low vs None
  • Portability: Limited vs Variable vs Excellent
  • Ease of use: Excellent vs Variable
  • Muscle isolation: Excellent (machines) to variable (free weights/body weight)
  • Functionality: Limited (machines) to excellent (free weights/body weight)
  • Exercise variety: Limited (machines) to excellent (free weights/body weight)
  • Space requirements: High (machines) to low (body weight) and low (ball and cords)

Lower-extremity movements and joints

• Hip joint:
  • Type: ball-and-socket
  • Movements (6):
  • Flexion $ext{(flexion)}$
  • Extension $ext{(extension)}$
  • Abduction $ext{(abduction)}$
  • Adduction $ext{(adduction)}$
  • Internal rotation $ext{(internal rotation)}$
  • External rotation $ext{(external rotation)}$
• Knee joint:
  • Type: hinge joint
  • Movements: Flexion and Extension
• Ankle joint:
  • Type: hinge-type joint
  • Movements: Dorsiflexion, Plantar flexion, Inversion, Eversion

Muscles of the lower extremity

• Quadriceps femoris (4 heads):
  • Rectus femoris, Vastus medialis, Vastus lateralis, Vastus intermedius
  • Main functions: Extend knee; Rectus femoris also flexes the hip
• Hip adductor muscles:
  • Adductor magnus, Adductor longus, Adductor brevis, Gracilis, Pectineus
• Hip abductor muscles:
  • Gluteus medius, Gluteus minimus, Tensor fasciae latae, Gluteus maximus
• Hamstrings:
  • Biceps femoris, Semimembranosus, Semitendinosus
  • Functions: Flex knee and extend hip
• Glutes:
  • Gluteus maximus (hip extension)
• Calves:
  • Gastrocnemius, Soleus (plantar flexion of the ankle)

Lower-extremity contribution to sport and movement

• In cycling: quadriceps are primary force producers with assistance from other lower-extremity muscles.
• Overall, the lower-body musculature contributes to many sport skills and movements through knee extension, hip extension, plantar flexion, and stabilizing actions.
• The document emphasizes the contribution of lower-body muscles to posture and sporting demands, as well as the integration with core and upper body musculature.

Lower-extremity training examples (free weights and body weight preferred)

• Barbell Back Squat: primary—Gluteus maximus, Quadriceps; secondary—Hamstrings.
• Forward Lunge: primary—Gluteus maximus, Quadriceps; secondary—Hamstrings, Iliopsoas (trailing leg), Soleus and Gastrocnemius (lead leg).
• Front Squat: primary—Gluteus maximus, Quadriceps; secondary—Hamstrings.

Lower-extremity training examples (machine stacked-weights; generally less preferred)

• Leg Press (Machine): primary—Gluteus maximus, Quadriceps; secondary—Hamstrings.
• Leg Extension (Machine): Quadriceps.
• Leg Curl (Machine): Hamstrings.

Team demonstration and practice

• Students are to practice all listed exercises; instructors may randomly assign demonstrations:
  • Barbell Back Squat
  • Squats with Resistance Band
  • Front Squat
  • Barbell Forward Lunge
  • Smith Machine Standing Calf Raise
  • Leg Press (Machine)
  • Leg Extension (Machine)
  • Leg Curl (Machine)

References (selected titles in the course)

• Binkley, H. M. (2001). Strength, Size, or Power? NSCA’s Performance Training Journal, 1(4), p. 14-18.
• Earle, R. W., & Baechle, T. R. (2004). NSCA’s Essentials of Personal Training. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.
• Hamill, J., & Knutze, K. M. (2009). Biomechanical basis of human movement. Pennsylvania, USA: Wolters Kluwer Health.
• Heyward, V. H. (2010). Advanced fitness assessment and exercise prescription (6th ed.). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.
• Howley, E. T., & Franks, B. D. (2007). Fitness Professional’s Handbook. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.
• Nick, E. (2007). Bodybuilding anatomy. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.

End of notes