NS Training

At P3, a major route to improve nervous system functioning is the focus on enhancing the Stretch Shortening Cycle (SSC). This employs the energy storage capabilities and stimulation of the stretch reflex to facilitate a maximal increase in muscle recruitment over a minimal amount of time. This ability to utilize the SSC is the cornerstone of athleticism and may be differentiated by an athlete’s ability to jump higher with a countermovement jump, where you dip quickly down to load and then jump up, as opposed to jumping from a chair or squat jump.

In any given movement, the net force is a trade-off between agonist muscles, which produce concentric or positive work to accelerate the limb, and the counteracting force of the antagonist muscles that work primarily through eccentric contractions (Baratta, 1988). These antagonist muscles serve to decelerate movement, distributing forces and providing joint integrity. The relationship of agonist and antagonist muscles in ballistic movement has been described as triphasic, simplified into an “ABC” pattern (Jaric, 1995)

Large ACTION burst of activity by agonists

Shorter BRAKING burst by antagonists

Short CLAMPING burst by agonists to complete movement

P3 uses contrast complexes, which alternate agonist and antagonist movements to alter the timing of this BRAKING burst. A shorter or lesser braking phase allows a stronger, longer agonist contraction in the desired direction. A recent study found improvements in bench press throws, when alternated with its antagonist movement, bench pulls (Baker, 2005).

High-class athletes have been found to have a rapid alternation of these agonist and antagonist muscles, due to their enhanced neural functioning from training (Verkhoshansky, 1988). This process known as intermuscular coordination, can be contrasted with intramuscular coordination, or the ability to contract and relax INDIVIDUAL muscle fibers. This aspect of the nervous system is determined by the increase of reabsorption of calcium into the muscle. Such increases are dictated by the number of calcium-ATPase pumps and receptors which occur at a higher frequency on fast twitch, or type II muscle fibers (Szensi, 2001). This evidence supports the use of the ballistic training that encourages the development of these more powerful motor units.

REFERENCES

Baker D, Newton RU. Acute effect on power output of alternating an agonist and antagonist muscle exercise during complex training. J Strength Cond Res. 2005 Feb;19(1):202-5.

Jaric, S, R Ropert, M Kukolj, and D.B Ilic. Role of agonist and antagonist muscle strength in rapid movement performances. Eur. J. Appl. Physiol. 1995.

Szentesi, P, and Zaremba W. ATP utilisation for calcium uptake and force production in different types of human skeletal muscle fibres. J Physiol (Lond) 531: 393-403, 2001.

Verkhoshansky, Y.V., Fundamentals of the Special Physical Preparation of Athletes, Fizkultura I Sport, Publishers, Moscow, 1988:17.