Resistance training

In the human body, strength is the neuromotor capability to apply force. Strength performance is the product of a partnership between muscles and the nervous system. The muscles provide the engine that generates force, while the nervous system provides the engine controller. The development of muscular strength through physical training is significant to overall muscle fitness and function. This chapter introduces the basic concepts of muscle action and contraction, the repetition maximum continuum and the overload principle. In addition, it analyses the principal variables that need to be controlled for when designing resistance programmes with specific objectives, such as maximal strength, explosive strength hypertrophy or muscle endurance