Muscle Physiology

“The stronger the wind…the stronger the oak”

As with anything in life, stress forces adaptation. This is especially true when it comes to our strength training program. The amount effort and type of stress (exercise) determines the amount of adaptation.

The two key components to any successful exercise program are specificity and over load.

Before we begin with the specifics of strength training, it’s crucial that we have a firm understanding of the neural adaptations and muscle physiology that occur during training. Neuromuscular Adaptations to resistance exercise:
Neuromuscular system:

Conditioned response discussed the importance of what we believe and how it determines our actions. Now it is time to put our beliefs into action!
Every movement we make is first stimulated by the brain… travels through the central nervous system… to the peripheral nervous system…ending at a motor unit. The motor units are the final destination for muscle fiber contraction (MFC). The amount of motor units stimulated, and the type of muscle fiber contracted, is dependant on the stress of the stimulus. (i.e. weight lifting, sprinting, distance events)

This process is known as Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demand. (The SAID principle) Amazingly a 6 month study of strength trained athletes found that neural activation explained most of the strength gains during the most intensive training months and that hypertrophy was not a major factor. This lets us know that the most important aspect of strength training is stimulating the brain to achieve the desired outcome.

Beliefs, as mentioned earlier, are a powerful driving force with regard to our actions.
The knowledge of neural-functional adaptation is essential in our goal for you to truly believe and understand the purpose of strength, power, and speed training.Anatomy of muscle fibers:
Not all muscles fibers are composed of the same type, nor do they perform the same actions. In order to implement a program to maximize performance, you must know the specific's of one's goals. Aim High’s primary mission is to educate and demonstrate how to improve athletic performance through strength and agility conditioning. Knowing the specifics of muscle fiber types will allow you to focus your training toward the desired outcome… Strength…Power…Speed!

There are three different types of muscle fibers; Slow twitch, fast twitch I,
and fast twitch II.

Slow twitch fibers:
(Due to the focus of this program, we will not dedicate a lot of time to this area)

Slow twitch fibers are used during sub maximal events such as distance running. These fibers are better suited for distance because of their oxidative nature (fat burn) and fatigue resistant capabilities. When endurance events are repeated, there is a shift in the fast twitch fibers to take on the characteristics of a slow twitch fiber. There are two very important factors that need to be considered if you are currently combining endurance and strength training in your program…

1. Strength training greatly enhances the performance level of endurance athletes.

2. Endurance training greatly impairs the performance level of strength athletes.

Strength Training:

The next two fiber types are the primary focus of our program:

The term strength is characterized as the maximal force that a muscle or muscle group can generate. Power is the explosive aspect of strength, and is the product of strength and speed of movement: power (force x distance)/time
Power is the functional application of both strength and speed…
Power is the key component for most athletic performances.


Fast twitch I and II


Fast twitch I and fast twitch II are the fiber type associated primarily with hypertrophy (muscle size) and strength (power). Power lifters, bodybuilders, and Olympic lifters incorporate heavy, explosive lifting in their programs to maximize these effects. This type of training combined with speed, agility, and nutrition, will allow you to maximize your genetic potential and greatly increase athletic performance. These are some of the characteristics of fast twitch fibers:

Oxidative capacity Moderately high (fat burn)Glycolytic capacity high (carbohydrate burn) Contractile speed fast (contractile force strong) Fatigue resistance moderate (endurance moderate)Increase in mitochondria moderately high (availability of fuel)Muscular hypertrophy high (increase muscle size)


Philosophy in the weight room:

“Strength training is an essential component in speed training”

When training for speed, you will need to adhere to workouts that are made for explosion.
Aim high athletes will predominantly use free weights. We believe that free weights offer advantages that some resistance machines do not provide. The athlete must control the weight being lifted. An athlete must recruit more motor units…not only in the muscle being trained…but also in additional muscle to gain control of the bar and to maintain body balance. When training for football, the experience with free weights more closely resembles competition. (Training specificity)
These workouts will include exercises like bench press, squats, dead lifts, military press, power cleans, and snatch. These exercises are called “core lifts” in the workout and are all compound lifts. We will also incorporate exercises like incline bench press, close grip bench press, triceps press down, front raises, lunges, step ups, leg extensions, leg curls, and various abdominal exercises that are labeled “auxiliary lifts”.

Field work: On the fields we will also incorporate several methods of resistance…
(Hill running, plyometrics, cable drag…walking/running, sled pulls)

Only muscle can create movement. The stronger the muscle… and the more forceful the contractions…the faster the player can run. With strength training, not only does a player get stronger, but his muscle mass also increases. So the player not only runs faster but also weights more. The combination of speed and size increases the performance potential of a football player.

Strength training incorporates weights that are 70% to 90% of ones max, and rest periods that are forty to sixty seconds in length. The rep range varies from 5 to 10 repetitions. The combination of heavy weight, explosive movement, minimal rest, and the moderate rep range creates the most neural-muscular recruitment… which in turn leads to greater strength, power, and blazing speed. An additional bonus to our training program is the injury prevention aspect.

Most “speed camps” only focus on running… which sets you up for injuries. The combination of strength and speed work that we offer provides muscle balance and strengthens the muscle attachments and increases the density of bone at the site of muscle origins and insertions…which means fewer injuries.

The number one purpose of Aim high training is complete conditioning. The synergistic approach that we have laid out will maximize each participant genetic potential to become the best that they can…and will become.

We are very excited to have this opportunity and will do everything within our power to ensure that each person is completely satisfied and ready for performance.