Thinking about the word power brings some…well…powerful images to mind. Things like rockets taking off, Lebron James taking off for a dunk, and 100meter sprinters tearing down the track at the Olympics. It almost makes power development seem out of reach for normal folks.

 

Can normal folks ever hope to be powerful?

 

And, maybe, more importantly, is power training worthwhile? What does it really do for someone that’s hoping to drop some fat, get a little (or a lot) stronger, and feel better as they go about their lives?

 

Yes and yes.

 

Power to the People!

 

Ok, we’re going to get nerdy for a second and do a little science talk. There’s this thing called Nerve Conduction Velocity (NCV). It’s a measurement of how fast an electrical impulse passes through a nerve—the faster the better. Folks with faster NCV speeds typically have higher IQs and are able to respond more fluidly to their environments. A couple nasty things happen as we age. Well, more than a couple of nasty things happen when we age, but there are two that directly correlate to NCV—our IQ drops and we become less responsive to our environment—meaning that if a shopping cart is screaming towards our shins, it takes us longer to notice it, react, and get out of the way.

Power training, however, can slow the effects that the ticking clock has on our NCV—it can help us keep our IQ from hitting a decline, and help us move quickly in the case that we need to. It’s simple. If we behave as if we are still powerful, and we train that way, we remain powerful. We may never set 100meter records or dunk a basketball, but training to be powerful helps us live a healthier life—and it may just save us from precarious situations, like preventing falls, and being resilient enough to land well and prevent injuries if we do fall.

 

We Build a Bigger Engine

 

Apart from the health benefits, training our body to be more powerful allows us to generally work harder—and a body that can work harder can change its shape, and its strength, more easily.

 

It still has to do with NCV—nerves that can send, and receive, impulses faster help muscles generate more output, move more weight, and use more energy. This is good regardless of your physical goals—be them fat loss or to hoist a Volkswagen.

 

 

 

Types of Power Exercises

 

At BSP NOVA, we keep our power training simple. We jump. We throw. We slam. And we lift. Power expression is graded to fit the person where they are in their training journey. Some folks are doing complex jumps while others are learning how to jump and land from a good position.

 

We throw medballs in just about every way we can think of.

 

We jump over hurdles and on to boxes.

 

We use agility ladders.

 

We hold isometric positions to teach our body control.

 

All of these movements combine to mimic the rigors of life—allowing us to perform when we need to, or want to, and protecting us from harm when we need to move ourselves away from it. Beyond necessities, power training is just fun. There are few things more cathartic than slamming a medicine ball into the ground as hard as possible.

 

So, if you’re wondering why your personal trainer keeps having you jump and throw stuff, you now know a few reasons why. Next time you’re in the gym, let it rip!