The procedures (or techniques) used in PNF include:

1. Use of specific manual contacts with the body to facilitate and guide movement
2. Application of maximal tolerated resistance
3. The use of oral commands and non-verbal cues to facilitate correct movement
4. Eliciting of maximal stretch reflex in the lengthened muscle range (Starling’s Law)
5. Use of appropriate timing and sequencing of all actions
6. Application of traction or approximation (compression) to stimulate joint receptors
7. Inclusion of recuperative motion to reduce or avoid fatigue produced by resisted activity
8. Use of Specific Activation Techniques to develop full range of voluntary movement
9. The use of Specific Relaxation Techniques.

The Specific Activation Techniques (of 8 above) need to be elaborated upon, as follows:

• Repeated Contractions (RC)
Repetition of muscle contraction is necessary for motor learning and the development of strength, muscle endurance and flexibility. PNF uses precise sequences or patterns of isometric, concentric and eccentric contraction, sometimes augmented by eliciting various neuromuscular reflexes (i.e. methods which may be similar to some types of plyometrics).

• Rhythmic Initiation (RI)
This technique employs phases of voluntary relaxation, passive movement and repeated dynamic contractions of the major muscle groups involved in the agonistic pattern of movement. It can be valuable with subjects who struggle to initiate activity because of rigidity or spasticity.

• Reversal of Antagonists (RA)
This action occurs naturally in numerous activities such as walking, running and sawing wood. If the antagonists do not reverse competently in terms of strength, speed and coordination, motor efficiency is impaired. PNF uses three methods of reversal: slow reversal, slow-reversal-hold and rhythmic stabilisation.

Slow reversal (SR) involves dynamic contraction of the antagonist slowly followed by dynamic contraction of the agonist. Slow reversal-hold (SRH) employs dynamic contraction followed by isometric contraction of the antagonist, finally followed by the same contraction sequence for the agonist. Rhythmic stabilisation (RS) involves isometric contraction of the antagonist, followed by isometric contraction of the agonist, thereby producing co-contraction of the antagonists.

The Specific Relaxation Techniques (of 9 above) similarly need to be expanded upon, since they include the socalled PNF stretching techniques popularly used in athletic conditioning.

• Contract-Relax (CR), which involves a dynamic contraction of the antagonist against maximal resistance, followed by a phase of relaxation. This technique is repeated several times beginning and continuing from a point where the limb concerned is moved to its limit of pain-free action. The practitioner resists the contraction as strongly as possible and then instructs the client to relax before decreasing the force and waiting for the relaxation to occur. The limb is moved passively to its new limit of extension and the process is continued gently for a few repetitions.

• Hold-Relax (HR) is similar to contract-relax except that isometric rather than dynamic contraction against maximal resistance is applied at the limit of the client’s movement before relaxation is commanded.

• Slow-Reversal-Hold-Relax (SRHR) comprises four stages: dynamic contraction of the antagonists involved, isometric contraction of the antagonists, brief voluntary relaxation, and finally, dynamic contraction of the agonists. These stages are applied to the muscles in the specific pattern needed to relax the group of muscles concerned, using several repetitions to enhance functional flexibility.

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PNF may be categorised in terms of five P-factors: Principles, Procedures, Patterns, Positions and Postures, with joint Pivots and Pacing (Timing) as important sub-categories. The methods comprising these factors were formulated from findings on neuromuscular development, such as the functional evolution of all movement from motor immaturity to motor maturity in the growing child or novice athlete in definite sequences progressing logically from:
• total to individuated
• proximal to distal, distal to proximal
• mobile to stabile
• gross to selective
• reflexive to deliberate
• overlapping to integrative
• incoordinate to coordinate

The Principles of PNF

The basic principles of PNF may be summarised as follows:
1. Use of spiral and diagonal movement patterns
2. Motion crossing the sagittal midline of the body
3. Recruitment of all movement components, especially:
• flexion-extension
• adduction-abduction
• internal-external rotation
4. Exercising of related muscle groups
5. Judicious eliciting of reflexes
6. Movement free of pain, but not free of effort
7. Comfortable full-range movement
8. Application of maximal resistance throughout the range of non-ballistic movement
9. Use of maximal resistance to promote overflow (irradiation) of muscle activity from stronger to weaker patterns. In particular, use of successive induction or contraction of agonists directly before contraction of antagonists.
10. Use of multiple joint and muscle action
11. Commencement of motion in the strongest range
12. Use of static and dynamic conditions
13. Appropriate positioning of joints to optimise conditioning
14. Exercising of agonists and antagonists
15. Repeated contractions to facilitate motor learning, conditioning and adaptation
16. Selection of appropriate sensory cues (tactile, auditory, visual) to facilitate action
17. Emphasis on visuo-motor and audio-motor coordination
18. Use of distal to proximal sequences in neuromuscularly mature subjects
19. Use of stronger muscles to augment the weaker
20. Progression from primitive to complex actions
21. Planning of each phase to lay foundations for the next phase
22. All activities are integrated and goal directed
23. Use of adjunct techniques (cold, electrostimulation, massage, vibration, stroking).

Immediately it may be seen that employment of any of the above principles in training implies conscious or
unconscious reliance on aspects of the PNF system.

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PNF makes extensive use of the different reflexes which serve to protect the body, stabilise and mobilise it for action under a wide variety of circumstances. As we have already learned, plyometric methods recruit the myotatic stretch reflex to activate the muscles after a strong eccentric shock phase. There are many other reflex systems in the body which mediate action automatically to avoid the potentially dangerous and inefficient responses that would be caused by reliance on slower voluntary processes. A knowledge of these reflex mechanisms is vital to musculoskeletal conditioning, a fact which is stressed in PNF.

A tendency to focus on bodybuilding or general weight training techniques over-emphasizes the role of muscle contraction, which is really the end-product of the interaction of various voluntary and reflex neuromotor processes. PNF serves the valuable purpose of recognising neuromuscular mechanisms as the dominant feature of all physical movement, rehabilitation and training. Intensity, duration, speed, type and patterns of muscle activity are primarily a consequence of neuromuscular processes and the relevant reflexes of the body.

Relationship of PNF to Physical Conditioning

PNF may be seen to provide a highly systematic approach to improving directly all the S-factors of fitness and several of the other specialised fitness qualities analysed in Chapter 1 (see 1.14.3), except cardiovascular endurance and psychological fitness.

The discipline of PNF teaches therapists to apply repetitions of graded resistance, to incorporate phases of relaxation, to elicit reflexes to facilitate contraction and greater range of movement, to impose specific patterns of passive and active movement, to use supplementary procedures for enhancing performance and to generally stimulate all neuromuscular processes related to voluntary and involuntary movement. No training method could be required to offer much more than this repertoire to qualify as an all-round conditioning system.

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In particular, PNF (Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation) contains many useful techniques which can play an important role in the strength training of athletes. It is one of the aims of this section to show that PNF is a comprehensive conditioning system which includes not only many of the principles already covered in this book, but also adds insights which complement these principles.

PNF is invariably regarded by conditioning coaches as a special type of sophisticated stretching, alongside static, ballistic and passive stretching. PNF is far more than just another stretching technique; it is actually an entire system of therapy comprising a broad spectrum of different techniques and procedures for rehabilitating patients suffering from various musculoskeletal injuries or disabilities. Stretching constitutes but one of many aspects of the full repertoire of PNF methods, yet even those enlightened coaches who use PNF extol only its virtues as a stretching system.

PNF was developed by Herman Kabat from 1946-1951 on the basis of work by renowned physiologists including Sherrington, Hellebrand, McGraw, and Pavlov. It created a practical rehabilitative system for applying findings on the reflexes of the body, motor development of the infant and the neuromuscular responses of adults.

Essentially, PNF recognizes that all physical conditioning depends primarily on neuromuscular processes involving sensitive receptors (proprioceptors) in the muscles, tendons and joints which enable a person to stabilise and move the body and its parts in space and time. Appropriate recruitment of the various stretch reflexes of the body, therefore, forms a vital part of PNF conditioning.

Formally, PNF is defined as a system for promoting the response of neuromuscular mechanisms by stimulating the proprioceptors. Knott and Voss state quite simply that PNF techniques involve placing a demand where a response is required. Its relation to the well-known SAID (Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demands) principle then becomes clear.

Essentially, two types of PNF may be recognised: classical PNF and modified PNF. The former refers to the hands-on clinical approach described in the Knott and Voss text, while the latter refers to an approach which adapts certain PNF techniques and principles for application by hand or apparatus in physical conditioning.

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In using the summary depicted in Figure 7.2, it is important to note that some of the training methods may be used to achieve several different aims by altering variables such as the load, number of repetitions and rest intervals. For example, pyramiding should not be regarded merely as a bodybuilding method, because it may also be used in the earlier preparatory stages to meet several general training aims such as increased muscle hypertrophy, strength and endurance, depending on the load and number of repetitions (which are inversely related). Therefore, pyramiding has been classified separately to show the different forms of pyramiding that are commonly used in the broad field of strength training.

Figure 7.1 Broad classification of the major aims of strength training. The development of power refers to the qualities of strength-speed and speed-strength, as discussed throughout this text.

The method of quasi-isometrics occurs as a natural consequence of training with near-maximal loads, since it is impossible to move any heavy load at high speed without the use of ballistic techniques. However, there is a discrete method of quasi-isometrics (nowadays popularised in bodybuilding circles as the superslow method), which entails performing very slow controlled repetitions with even moderately heavy or lighter loads. In this case the athlete chooses to move the load slowly; with heavier weights he has no option but to move slowly.

Flexibility training has not been elaborated upon beyond its broad subdivision into static, active and other forms, since details of its development were discussed earlier in depth (3.5). It should also be noted that several of the other training methods with heavy resistance used over a full range of movement constitute very effective means of active stretching.

In organising any training programme, it should always be remembered that great emphasis should be placed on increasing the mass and strength of the connective tissues, such as the tendons, ligaments, cartilages and joint capsules, particularly during the early stages of training and transition phases to levels of higher competitive intensity (see 1.6.2). An essential part of the general preparatory phase of all training is also low intensity, prolonged cyclical activity to enhance cardiovascular and circulatory processes, as well as capillarisation in all the relevant muscle groups. This same type of activity can also play a useful role in restoration between intensive training sessions and phases.

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The preceding chapters have extracted many of the principles, means and methods of strength training, but it cannot be claimed that the task of presenting an exhaustive holistic system is complete. Many further steps haveto be taken to produce an integrated system of strength conditioning, guided by thorough research and examination of practical methods implemented by anyone for whom the quest for strength is important. As mentioned in Chapter 1, the sources of information on the art and science of strength training are the following:

• Weightlifting and Powerlifting
• Bodybuilding
• Supplementary resistance training
• Physical therapy
• Scientific research

The weight training gymnasium, whose origins lie in Grecian and pre-Grecian times, has provided a natural laboratory replete with subjects who have used weightlifting, powerlifting or bodybuilding to explore the boundaries of human muscle development for their specific purposes. It should not be surprising that this should have become a fertile setting for experientially discovering strength training methods. Weightlifters have become experts at developing explosive strength and skill, bodybuilders at producing massive hypertrophy and low body fat, and powerlifters at developing slow speed and maximal isometric strength.

Only in recent years, has science begun to investigate seriously the foundations, validity and scope of the vast amount of practical information gathered by several generations of adherents of the ‘Iron Game’.

Consequently, resistance training is rapidly losing stigmas such as ’slowing one down’, ‘making one muscle-bound’, ‘decreasing flexibility’ and ‘causing back injury’. Scientists entering the field of strength training have been surprised at the enormous body of knowledge accumulated by competitors in the strength sports and have been devoting their ingenuity to devise reproducible experiments to investigate all training methods for different subjects at different stages of fitness. Their research has also led them to add to this encyclopaedia of strength training techniques various methods taken from other sports requiring the display of different types of strength fitness, in particular, track-and-field. Thus, plyometrics, circuit training and cross training became recognised as valuable training methods.

Few coaches have realised that physiotherapy also offers many useful adjunct methods of musculoskeletal and neuromuscular training, such as electrostimulation, accelerated recuperation and PNF (proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation). Because of the broad scope of training offered by PNF, this system is discussed in detail later in this chapter.

As has been stressed throughout this text, all strength training depends on two dominant factors (e.g. see Ch 1), namely structural conditioning and functional (central nervous and neuromuscular) conditioning. Thus, strength training may be categorised according to its major structural and functional aims relative to the importance of nervous system training methods (Fig 7.1). The numerous methods and techniques of training may then be added hierarchically below each of these major aims.

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Rather, quickness may be referred to the ability of the central nervous system to contract, relax or control muscle function without involvement of any preliminary stretch.  Its primary role is to produce high-speed movement which do not encounter large external resistance or require great strength, power or energy consumption.  It is measured as the time interval or reaction time be¬tween stimulus and response (or initiation of movement).  This time must be distinguished from the movement time, which is the interval from the end of the reaction phase to the end of the movement (i.e. from beginning to end of movement).  It is important to note that no correlation between reaction time and movement time has been demonstrated (Harbin et al, 1989).  The reaction time consists of two stages: a latency phase between receiving of the stimulus and the appearance of electrical activity in the relevant muscles, and a response phase between the appearance of the EMG signal and the motor action.  There are two electrical transmission lags associated with the reaction time (excluding any central processing time):

•  the time taken for the sensory input to reach the central nervous system
•  the time taken for a motor impulse to travel from the central nervous system to the muscles.

Average reaction times for simple tasks are (Harbin et al, 1989):

•  0.142 second for auditory stimuli
•  0.155 second for tactile stimuli
•  0.194 second for visual stimuli.

Since the early research of Helmholtz, it has been known that reaction times are long and variable, and that nerve conduction velocities do not account for the length and variability of times.   Work by Hanes and Schall (1996) examined changes in firing rates in monkeys deciding to initiate eye movements and found that the variability in reaction time is due to the variability in how rapidly the neuronal rate of firing reaches a fixed threshold, at which point movement is initiated. In another experiment, they found that movement was not initiated until the firing rate actually cross the threshold level.

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The general definition of strength presented in Chapter 1 needs to be expanded to cover its specifics in actual sporting activities. The concept of strength must be sought in physics and physiology.  In physics it concerns the interaction of bodies to cause their movement.  Therefore, as the ability to produce force, the concept of strength is used to analyse  quantitatively the body’s interaction with external objects.  In other words, when assessing the force as a cause of movement, we are examining its working effect.

In physiology, strength refers to the ability of muscle contraction to move the body or any of its linkages in a specific situation.  Further, the concept of strength is used as one of the characteristics of voluntary movement to execute specific motor tasks.  Here, in conjunction with fitness factors such as speed, endurance and skill, strength is a concept used to describe the qualitative aspects of movement.

The great diversity of human movements makes it necessary to evaluate the strength components of movement (sub-maximal strength, maximal strength, impulse strength, work and power), analyse the ability to produce strength (absolute strength, relative strength, and the moment of the force of muscular contraction about a joint), and to comparatively evaluate the strength components of movement (explosive strength, speed-strength movements, strength-endurance and others) which reflect the specificity of movements.   Hence, one is able to select appropriate methods for developing strength fitness.

Thus, muscular strength is a specific motor quality and it is involved functionally under extremely diverse conditions in sport.  Therefore, before discussing the  methods of special strength preparation, the fundamental characteristics of producing muscular strength in sports movements must be examined.

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In other words, any attempt to exceed limit weights requires an increase in nervous excitation and interferes with the athlete’s ability to adapt, if this type of training is used frequently.  In attempting to understand the intensity of loading prescribed by the apparently extreme Bulgarian coaches who are reputed to stipulate frequent or daily use of maximum loads in training, one has to appreciate that training with training maxima (which do not maximally stress the nervous system) is very different from training with competitive maxima (which place great stress on nervous processes).

Figure 1.1 Different types of maximal strength.  Absolute strength (or Fmm, maximum of maximum forces) is produced under involuntary conditions, whereas the other two maxima are the result of voluntary action.  The strength deficit, the difference between absolute strength and maximal strength, is discussed later in this section.

Strength is a relative phenomenon depending on numerous factors, so it is essen­tial that these conditions are accurately described when strength is being assessed.  For instance, muscular strength varies with joint angle, joint orienta­tion, speed of movement, muscle group and type of movement, so it is largely meaningless to speak of absolute strength without specifying the conditions under which it is generated. Sometimes, the term relative strength is introduced to compare the strength of subjects of different bodymass.  In this context, relative strength is defined as the strength per unit bodymass produced by a given individual under specific conditions (e.g. executing a well-defined lift or combination of lifts, such as the squat, snatch or the weightlifting Total).

It is also useful to recognise that one may define isometric, concentric and eccentric strength maxima, since every sport requires distinct levels of each one of these types of maximum.  The importance of these maxima is discussed later in the subsection entitled ‘Strength Deficit’.  As a matter of interest, these maxima given in order of magnitude are: eccentric, isometric, concentric.

Later, several other important strength-related terms such as explosive strength, starting-strength, acceleration-strength and speed-strength are analysed in detail. In particular, this text discusses strength and musculoskeletal conditioning in terms of the following fundamentals:

•  The physiology of muscle action

•  The biomechanics of strength production

•  Neuromuscular stimulation and control

•  Adaptation to physical loading

•  The various types of strength fitness

•  The specificity of muscular and neuromuscular training

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Strength is the product of muscular action initiated and orchestrated by electrical processes in the nervous system of the body.  Classically, strength is defined as the abil­ity of a given muscle or group of muscles to generate muscular force under specific conditions.  Thus, maximal strength is the ability of a particular group of muscles to produce a maximal volun­tary contraction in response to optimal motivation against an external load. This strength is usually produced in competition and may also be referred to as the competitive maximum strength, CFmax.  It is not the same as absolute strength, which Zatsiorsky (1995) calls Fmm, the maximum of all  maxima, and which usually is associated with the greatest force which can be produced by a given muscle group under involuntary muscle stimulation by, for example, electrical stimulation of the nerves supplying the muscles or recruitment of a powerful stretch reflex by sudden loading.

For certain practical purposes, absolute strength may be regarded as roughly equivalent to maximal eccentric strength, which is difficult or impractical to measure, because a maximum by definition refers to the limit point preceding structural and functional failure of the system. Thus, it is apparent that specific neural feedback mechanisms, like governors in a mechanical engine, exist to prevent a muscle from continuing to produce force to the point of mechanical failure.   This is why it probably would be more practical to use the maximum explosive isometric strength (produced under so-called maximum plyometric conditions or explosive thrust against a dynamometer) as a working approximation to absolute strength (or Fmm).  To prevent confusion, it also should be noted that the term ‘absolute strength’ sometimes is used to define the maximum strength which can be produced by an athlete irrespective of  bodymass.

It is vital to recognise a training maximum TFmax or training 1RM (single repetition maximum), which is always less than the competition maximum CFmax in experienced athletes, because optimal motivation invariably occurs under competitive conditions (Fig 1.1). Zatsiorsky states that the training maximum is the heaviest load which one can lift without substantial emotional excitement, as indicated by a very significant rise in heart rate before the lift (Medvedev, 1986).  It is noteworthy that, in the untrained person, involuntary or hypnotic conditions can increase strength output by up to 35%, but by less than 10% in the trained athlete.  The mean difference between TFmax and CFmax is approximately 12.5  2.5% in experienced weightlifters, with a larger difference being exhibited by lifters in heavier weight classes (Zatsiorsky, 1995).

The merit of identifying the different types of strength or performance maximum lies in enabling one to prescribe training intensity more efficiently.  Intensity is usually defined as a certain percentage of one’s maximum and it is most practical to choose this on the basis of the competitive maximum, which remains approximately constant for a fairly prolonged period.  The training maximum can vary daily, so, while it may be of value in prescribing training for less qualified athletes, it is of limited value for the elite competitor.

See Part II of ‘What is Strength’ for more!

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