The strong person is defined as one who is able to exert great bodily or muscular power. Another component of muscular fitness that is crucial is muscular endurance, which is the ability to perform a specific muscular action for a prolonged period of time. For example, performing 50 squats with a weight of 50 kilograms on the shoulders requires both attributes, 150 squats without weight requires more muscular endurance while the ability to perform a single squat with a weight of 200 kilograms depends on muscular strength. Different tests are used for assessment of these different components of musculoskeletal fitness.
To determine the strongest person in the group, multiple factors needs to be taken into account, including age, height, gender, weight, etc. To determine the strongest person in the group is challenging because of different size, weight, age and gender. The biggest and heaviest male, subject 2, excelled on all muscular power and endurance tests, scoring between “very good” and “excellent”, especially on the upper body strength. Notably, subject 3 who is lightest among the males performed better at flexed arm hang or as well as subject 2 on exercises, which require muscular endurance.
It is possible that lower body weight of subject 3 contributed to the better level of muscular endurance. There are different sources of potential errors depending on subjects (fatigue, motivation, hydration, injuries), technician (level of training, experience), the equipment (calibration) and environment (room temperature, humidity). With a small number of observations and participants cost of each error is reasonably high and more difficult to detect. Muscle power and muscle force are different terms and increasing the muscle force will not increase the muscle power if the speed of the action is decreased.
The power is only increased with increasing force if velocity remains constant. The formula Power (P) = Force (F) * Velocity (V) is a basis for all martial arts when training focused on increasing both force and velocity to achieve bigger impact (power). It is important to consider that more muscular strength entails greater growth in muscle mass. Muscles with more size tend to physiologically drop in speed as a result of the need of greater recruitment of motor units for the muscle. Three types of muscle fibers provide different contribution into muscular fitness.
Because type 1 fibers (slow oxidative muscle fibres – SO) are rich in oxygen supply, mitochondria, and myoglobin, they are slow but fatigue resistant and are utilized in activities require of muscular endurance, for example, a long-distance swimming (Tortora et al. , 2013). Type 2a (fast oxidative glycolytic – FG) muscle fibres with low myoglobin content and few mitochondria, can produce stronger contractions than Type 1 fibres. They are used for intense anaerobic movements of short duration, such as weight lifting.
Type 2b (fast oxidative-glycolytic fibers – FOG) are generally the largest fibers. They generate ATP by anaerobic glycolysis and contain large amounts of myoglobin and also have a high level of intracellular glycogen levels. These fibers are faster than So fibers and have a higher endurance than FG fibers. The highest degree of muscular endurance is required in water sports such as swimming (Lan et al. , 2015) and rowing (Lawton et al. , 2013).
As the similar importance of muscular endurance is stressed in distance sports such as nordic skiing (Losnegard et al. 2011) and marathon running (Joyner et al. , 2008). Boxing requires the athlete to sustain long periods of intense physical exertion without reaching muscle failure (Nasr et al. , 2008). However, these activities also require different levels of muscle power, coordination, and flexibility. For instance, marathon runner needs less muscle power than a rower. In addition to traditional ways to improve endurance through training, there is a study supporting wearing blue lenses in order to maximize muscular performance among athletes (Fisher et al. 2015)
The physiological factors limiting endurance depend on hydration, genetics, oxygen consumption and adequate fuel provision (Kravitz, 2002). Dehydration increase body core temperature affects the cardiovascular system and impairs the function of mitochondria. Oxygen consumption depends on maximal oxygen uptake, exercise economy, and lactate threshold. Prolonged exercise requires energy to maintain muscle contraction. The energy in the form of ATP is produced through mitochondrial respiration, which strongly depends on the continuous Oxygen availability.
Both central physiological functions (the cardiorespiratory system) and peripheral physiological functions (e. g. mitochondrial enzyme levels, muscle diffusion capacity, capillary density) play a role in it. It is easier to examine the central component, but the peripheral component is also important. Exercise economy means that athletes with similar oxygenation can have very different endurance levels based on biomechanical techniques for performing the specific physical activity, which can be improved with training. With endurance training, the lactate threshold also can be improved.
In addition to oxygen for ATP production, the body requires lipids and carbohydrates (Robergs & Roberts 2000). By increasing exercise intensity, the use of these substances shifts to more carbohydrates. Up to some degree with training can increase the reliance on lipids of a workload of the same relative intensity, which improves the endurance activity and performance at low-intensity exercises. However, it does not work near lactate threshold. All mentioned above parameters vary among people and depend not only on training but also on genetics in 10-50% of people (McArdle, Katch & Katch 1996).
Furthermore, proprioceptive neuromuscular stretching (PNF) more effectively increases flexibility than static stretching. For PNF contract-relax or contract-relax-contract methods can be used individually or with the help of a partner. It also can be more time consuming than other types of stretching. Static stretching is commonly used as a reasonably safe and effective method. However, it has a higher risk of compromising joint stability than PNF. Elite athletes include dynamic or ballistic stretching when these types of the movements are part of their sports.
Stretching provides more benefits when your muscles are warm (during cool-down). Stretching prior to exercise may increase the risk of injury. It is better to focus on gentle warming up and light stretching than on simply stretching muscles prior to intensive workout. After intense exercise, stretching helps to relax contracted muscles and avoid stiffness and soreness later. After intense exercise, stretching helps to relax contracted muscles and avoid stiffness and soreness afterward. It was noted the different level of flexibility in the subjects, with one doing significantly worse than others.
Long-term benefits of properly done stretching will be especially important for this subject (subject 1). In the sport of hockey, many athletes stretch before the game in order to maximize performance on the ice. As a result of hockey being a collision sport, stretching is a preemptive measure to minimize the risk of sustaining an injury. Furthermore, hockey requires short bursts of maximal effort on the ice, which causes hockey players to prioritize power training, yet the importance of flexibility cannot be overlooked.
The full body nature of hockey stresses that the entire body is properly stretched. This importance is amplified for a goalie where the athlete stretches the body when moving laterally between the goal posts or stretching out to deflect a puck. The goalie needs to be the most flexible player in order to avoid trauma and the groin area is most prone to injury for goaltenders. Proper stretching allows them to perform reactionary saves with ballistic movements and remain at a diminished risk of injury.
Dynamic stretches that any hockey player of any level may incorporate before stepping on the ice include alternating toe touches, arm rotations, side bends, trunk rotations and body weight squats. A goalie often performs standing hip circles that begin with hip flexion, followed by lateral rotation at the hip; together these movement stretch muscle of the hip. In comparison to other ice sports, flexibility is not the determining factor in the success of a hockey forward or defenceman; whereas in the sport of figure skating, one’s flexibility is essential in order to execute proper spins with correct technique (Bryne et al, 2006).
