The off-season is here, and you want to get “stronger.”  You tell yourself if you were just a little bit stronger you’d be a much better athlete.  This can be true, but it depends on what kind of strength you build.

General strength consists of traditional weight training exercises.  If you do leg extensions once a week for three months, you’ll eventually be able to use more weight on that particular exercise.  The problem is, you would never encounter this movement when playing a sport.  Usually, this type of strength does not translate to improved performance, because you’re not mimicking a specific sports movement.

Transitional strength includes joint rotation and movement that is similar to the sport you’re training for.  These exercises not only make you stronger, but they are more sports specific than traditional weight lifting exercises.  Compared to general strength, transitional also places greater emphasis on speed.  Most plyometric and medicine ball exercises improve your transitional strength.

Specific strength is the closest thing to real sports movements.  These exercises involve very similar mechanics, speed, joint motion and rotation to the actual skill you are trying to improve.  These exercises are basically the real life sports movement, with added resistance.

For example, in football, an offensive lineman needs strong pushing muscles for blocking.  These include the chest, shoulders and triceps.  A general strength exercise would be a bench press.  You’re activating these key muscles, but you’re doing so in a stable, balanced position using a moderate to slow tempo.  A transitional strength exercise would be pushing a single blocking dummy.  You’re training the same muscles, but now you’re doing it while moving, so it’s a more sports-specific exercise.  A specific strength exercise would be a two person blocking sled.  You’re still working the same muscles, but now you have to think about your balance and compensate for what your blocking partner is doing. This would be the most realistic strength training exercise out of the three.

To take your game to the next level, try incorporating all three types of strength into your training program.  Getting stronger is a great idea, but make sure it’s strength you can take to the field.