The Four Types of Movements

by Tim Henriques | 01/25/11

I was skimming the T Nation forums the other day when I stumbled on
this question:
"Hey guys, I play a lot of basketball and I'm wondering what strength
exercises I should do to improve my dribbling ability: triceps pushdowns
or extensions?"
Well, you can probably guess what happened next. The poor bastard
was derided for the question and his general lack of knowledge, and
ultimately told to take his ball and go dribble somewhere else.

I couldn't help but feel a little bad for the guy. Don't get me wrong, it
wasn't a very insightful question, but at least he was trying.
According to his logic, dribbling is basically straightening the arm, and
since a triceps extension is straightening the arm, well, you could see
where he was going although he was clearly missing a big part of the
equation.
This guy needed a way of "classifying" movements, and I suspect you
might need a way, too. The benefit of this isn't merely semantics; once
you can correctly classify a movement, you can then apply the proper
training methodology to improve it.
Let's begin.
I've divided a list of activities that many of us perform regularly into four
basic types of movements. Granted, when you try generalize specific
activities into broad categories there will inevitably be some overlap, but
you'll see that the majority of movements fit nicely into one of the four
categories especially those activities that we often actively strive to
improve.
Once the types of movements are identified, we'll discuss the best
methodologies to improve them.

The Four Movements

1. Low Speed, Light Resistance In this category, the participant is
generating a low level of external force, which means the limb moves

relatively slowly and that a low amount of force is being used to move a
light resistance (or no resistance).
The prior example of a person dribbling a basketball is a low speed, light
resistance activity. Other abilities include drawing, painting, typing,
billiards, darts, shuffleboard, dribbling a soccer ball, shooting a
basketball, juggling, putting a golf ball, and curling (not the cool kind
involving the biceps, the other kind that Canadians play when they can't
get enough guys together to play hockey) also fall under this category.
2. High Speed, Light Resistance In this category, the participant is
generating a high level of external force, meaning the limb and the object
both move rapidly. However, the object being moved is relatively light.
This type of activity is common to many different sports, though rarely
seen in the gym. Examples of this would be pitching a baseball, swinging
a baseball bat, punching something, kicking something, swinging any
sort of racquet, and driving a golf ball off a tee. I'd also include sprinting
in this category, particularly after the initial acceleration takes place.
Sprinting involves moving your entire body which is much heavier than
some of the other resistances given but once moving, the level of
resistance provided by the body is relatively low, at least in comparison
to a heavy squat or dragging a heavy sled.
3. Low Speed, Heavy Resistance In this category, the participant is
exerting effort against a heavy external resistance (heavy meaning
difficult for that individual). Because the object being moved is heavy, the
object's speed is relatively slow.
This type of activity is most common in the gym. Examples of this would
be lifting heavy weights, pushing a car, playing tug-of-war, wrestling

someone (once you're engaged against them), an offensive lineman

attempting to drive their opponent off the line of scrimmage, arm
wrestling, dragging a weighted sled, pushing the Prowler, picking up a
heavy object, and resisting a heavy object's movement (negatives).
4. High Speed, Heavy Resistance In this category, the participant is
exerting effort against a heavy external resistance, however the
participant is generating enough force so that the object still moves
rapidly.
The best example of this type of activity is Olympic weight lifting. Other
examples would be slamming an opponent on the ground, running into
and tackling someone, and putting the shot. I'm also going to include
jumping and most real plyometric exercises in this category (although
doing a chest press with a 4-pound medicine ball doesn't count).

How to Improve these Activities

1. Low Speed, Light Resistance

The primary component that determines proficiency in these movements

is simply one's skill level at that activity.
I love lifting weights as much as the next meathead and resistance
training does many things, but it rarely improves high-skill activities all by
itself. I'm not a better painter or billiards player because I lift weights;
however, that's not to say that exercise has zero benefit to these
activities.
First, you must practice, practice, and practice those activities if you wish
to get better at them. If you do that AND include a basic exercise
regimen, you may find that your ability in these activities is improved,
although slightly (likely due to improved muscular control and increased
endurance).

For example, if you play a billiards tournament but find you can't focus or
get tired by the fourth game, it's possible that exercise may improve that
ability. The more out of shape you are, the more likely exercise could
have a slight positive effect.
To be clear, an exercise program alone will not develop sufficient skill for
one to become proficient at low speed, light resistance activities. You
don't need to be strong or fit to draw, dribble a basketball, play billiards,
or throw darts at a high level; instead, you need to devote significant
time to practicing those activities. Our basketball player example simply
needed to spend more time practicing dribbling and not worry about
training his triceps.

2. High Speed, Light Resistance

The primary physical component that determines proficiency in these

activities is speed (technically speed-strength), however, that speed
must be combined with a very high level of skill as well.
Exercise will help this category of movements more than the previous
category. Speed is powered by muscle, so muscles that are well trained
are more likely to generate a higher rate of speed.
However, don't make the mistake of interpreting "well trained" as just
being strong. Remember, the principle ofspecificity holds true, so just
striving to increase one's 1RM isn't going to cut it. In Supertraining, Mel
Siff presents a fairly straightforward plan for improving speed, suggesting
that an athlete training properly can increase his or her speed by up to
150%.
First, the athlete should get into shape. If the athlete is a novice weight
trainer, almost any form of basic training will be appropriate and should
yield results. I've improved many a client's golf drive by 20 yards or more
by simply having them exercise with weights, without doing any sort of
"golf specific" fitness activity. The good news is that almost any program
will do, the bad news is that after about three months or so those gains
will likely peter out.
Here, we turn to Siff's advice; he suggests that to improve maximal
speed against light loads, one should use the following guidelines:
Five out of six sessions, use 20% of the 1RM. Use a maximal effort
and lift the weight as fast as possible, resting 30 seconds to 1 minute
between sets.

One out of six sessions, use 40% of the 1RM. Focus on accelerating
the weight at the beginning of the movement, resting 30 seconds to 1
minute between sets.
On both of these methods, alternate exercises to minimize fatigue and
achieve the best results.
Unfortunately, Siff doesn't give specific set and rep suggestions, but he
does suggest that the training mimic the demands of the activity as best
as possible. This would mean if you're training for a knockout punch or to
hit a homerun, you'd use few consecutive reps (1-3), but most likely
would perform many sets.
If you were training to put together a flurry of punches or to sprint faster,
then you'd use higher reps (roughly 5-15) and fewer total sets.
If your activity requires high speed while fatigued, then training when
fatigued can be useful, otherwise generally train speed-strength when
relatively fresh.
Of course, you're trying to train the muscles involved in the activity of
choice, but please don't try to precisely mimic the sporting activity you're
attempting to improve. This will likely alter the neural pattern and may
well decrease performance in that activity, even if your performance in
the gym increases.
In other words, don't be that guy who hooks his golf club up to a 40pound kettlebell and then swings it with everything he's got, all while
standing on a Bosu ball. Not only will you look dumb, it's actually making
you a worse golfer.

A Quick Jab of Common Sense

I should point out something about strength and the power of unloaded
movements, so let's use punching as a specific example.
As a powerlifter, as much as it pains me to say, there's
generallynocorrelation between maximal strength as represented by
one's 1RM in the gym and unloaded power generation (punching power).
No correlation doesn't mean a negative correlation (which would mean a
high bench press indicates poor punching strength), it just means there's
no correlation; you can't predict punching strength based on bench press
strength. A 400 pound bench presser might have awesome punching
power, but that person could also have poor punching power there
simply isn't a connection between the two.
While that might be a slightly bitter pill for the weight training community
to swallow, it should line up with what we see in real life. The strongest
punches are delivered by boxers, MMA fighters, and classic martial arts
practitioners people who punch for a living not bodybuilders,
powerlifters, or guys that boast about using every bow on their wife's
Bowflex machine.

3. Low Speed, Heavy Resistance

In these activities strength is king, and they're the most improved by

resistance training. Of course, there's much debate as to what exactly is
the "best" type of resistance program to increase this ability, but
everybody agrees it involves resistance training.
Be it a Westside program, Sheiko, Smolov, Starting Strength, HIT, a
classic bodybuilding split, 5/3/1, you name it; the main goals of these
programs are to increase strength that can be expressed by moving
heavy objects. Powerlifting and most strongman events are tests of this
ability.
The textbook answer to improve strength is to train with a heavy weight
(60% of the 1RM or better, often using 85%+), use low reps (1-6 reps),
take relatively long breaks in between sets (2-5 minutes to allow

reasonable recovery), and to perform a reasonable volume of work (2-6

work sets per exercise).
A simple search of TNation's archives will yield a wealth of training
information on this subject, just remember that in this type of movement
it's all about getting strong and then applying that strength with good
technique.

4. High Speed, Heavy Resistance

The primary physical component here is power. To express power, the

activity must be performed rapidly you can't demonstrate power slowly.
Strength is a key part of power, particularly when using heavier loads. If
you're weak, you can only lift so much. If you can't deadlift 315 lbs., you

obviously can't clean 315 lbs., and in general larger muscles are able to
generate higher levels of force.
But it's not all about muscle and pure strength. Strength can be
expressed slowly. Watch a powerlifter perform a true 1RM on the bench
press and you'll likely see the bar slowly creep up. Chances are you
could stop the movement of the bar with just one hand if you wanted to
really piss a lifter off.
Now watch a heavy clean or jerk. The bar moves fast. With high-speed
exercises, you must teach your body to explode into the resistance; in
technical terms you're trying to recruit all of your motor units at once to
work for you (explosive strength). The difference in strength and power is
often a matter of milliseconds, but those milliseconds are important.
With most power exercises, the lifter has .2 seconds or less to generate
power, whereas strength exercises can last up to a second or more. If
most of a lifter's strength comes at the latter end of that curve, say .8
seconds and beyond, then a significant amount of their strength will be
left untapped in power-related activities. The lifter won't have .8 seconds
to express their strength against a clean or against the ground when
jumping, so that extra strength will not be of much use in those
examples.
As with strength training, there is considerable debate as to how to best
train to improve power. Most experts believe that the lifter should lift
rapidly on the majority of exercises. Technique is very important in high
speed, high resistance exercises and a large emphasis should be placed
on learning and maintaining proper technique.

Generally, if you want to improve your power we should turn to the most
powerful athletes, namely Olympic lifters, and see how they train. The
textbook answer is to use a moderately heavy weight (70-90% 1RM,
taking a little bit off to improve speed), low reps (1-5 reps per set, often
just 1-3), a reasonable number of sets per exercise (3-5 work sets per
exercise, sometimes up to 10 sets), and incorporate a reasonable
amount of rest time in between sets to facilitate recovery (2-5 minutes).
For the most part, compound exercises that incorporate as many
muscles/joints as possible should be used, and these exercises should
be able to be performed rapidly. Examples include the snatch, clean,
jerk, push press, high pulls, and power shrugs, with reasonable
assistance work including the squat, front squat, overhead squat,
deadlift, and standing press. High speed, high resistance activities
require a combination of power, skill, speed, strength, and often flexibility
to execute well.

Wrap It Up
I make no claim that this article is groundbreaking or even terribly
original, but regardless, this information is imperative to making gains in
your chosen activity not to mention, it could save you or those you
work with tremendous time and effort in the gym.
Exercise is hard, and who wants to toil away for months or even years
building abilities that have negligible carryover to the activity we're trying
to improve?
Arm yourself with this knowledge and hit the gym with confidence that
the results will show themselves in your chosen activity. Or, you could

just climb aboard a Bosu ball and start swinging that golf club attached
to a kettlebell. It's up to you.