Benefits of explosive power in Bodybuilding

How Explosive Power Can Boost Your Bodybuilding Results

Bodybuilding is a sport that requires not only strength, but also speed, agility, and coordination. Many bodybuilders focus on lifting heavy weights with slow and controlled movements, which can certainly build muscle mass and endurance. However, there is another aspect of training that can enhance your bodybuilding performance and physique: explosive power.

Explosive power is the ability to generate a large amount of force in a short period of time. It involves fast and dynamic movements, such as jumping, sprinting, throwing, and punching. Explosive power is often associated with athletes who need to perform quick and powerful actions, such as sprinters, basketball players, and martial artists. But explosive power can also benefit bodybuilders in many ways.

Here are some of the benefits of explosive power for bodybuilding:

Increased Muscle Recruitment:

One of the main advantages of explosive power is that it recruits more muscle fibers than slow and steady contractions. When you lift explosively, you activate both the fast-twitch and the slow-twitch muscle fibers, which are responsible for strength and endurance, respectively. By stimulating more muscle fibers, you increase the potential for muscle growth and development³.

Additionally, explosive power can also recruit more motor units, which are the nerve cells that control the muscle fibers. The more motor units you activate, the more coordinated and efficient your muscle contractions become. This can improve your neuromuscular system, which is essential for optimal performance and injury prevention.

Enhanced Fat Loss:

Another benefit of explosive power is that it can boost your fat loss efforts. Explosive movements have a high metabolic demand, which means they burn a lot of calories during and after the exercise. According to a recent study, explosive concentric muscle contractions may be more effective than slow contractions for enhancing energy expenditure and weight loss¹.

Moreover, explosive power can also increase the production of growth hormone, which is a hormone that promotes muscle growth and fat burning. Growth hormone is released in response to high-intensity exercise, especially when the muscles produce a lot of lactate. Lactate is a by-product of anaerobic metabolism, which occurs when the muscles work without oxygen. Explosive movements can generate high levels of lactate, which can trigger the release of growth hormone and stimulate fat loss².

Improved Strength and Power:

Finally, explosive power can also improve your strength and power output. Strength is the ability to exert force against a resistance, while power is the ability to exert force quickly. Both are important for bodybuilding, as they determine how much weight you can lift and how fast you can lift it.

Explosive power can enhance your strength and power by increasing the rate of force development, which is the speed at which you can generate force. The faster you can produce force, the more weight you can move and the more momentum you can create. This can help you overcome sticking points and plateaus, as well as increase your muscular tension and damage, which are key factors for muscle growth.

Explosive power can also improve your strength and power by developing your elastic energy, which is the energy stored in your muscles and tendons when they are stretched. When you perform an explosive movement, you first stretch your muscles and tendons, then contract them rapidly. This creates a spring-like effect, which allows you to use the stored energy to augment your force output. This can help you lift heavier weights and perform more repetitions.

How to Train for Explosive Power:

Now that you know the benefits of explosive power for bodybuilding, you may wonder how to train for it. Here are some tips and guidelines to help you incorporate explosive power into your routine:

- Choose exercises that involve fast and dynamic movements, such as jumps, sprints, throws, and punches. You can also use explosive variations of traditional lifts, such as bench press, squat, and deadlift, by lifting the weight as fast as possible and lowering it slowly and controlled.

- Use light to moderate weights, around 50-70% of your one-rep max, or even less if you are new to explosive training. The goal is to maximize the speed and power of the movement, not the load. You can also use bodyweight exercises, such as plyometrics, which are exercises that involve jumping and landing.

- Perform low to moderate repetitions, around 3-8 per set, depending on the exercise and intensity. You want to avoid fatigue and maintain the quality and explosiveness of each repetition. You can also use single or multiple sets, depending on your goals and preferences.

- Rest adequately between sets and exercises, around 2-5 minutes, to allow your muscles and nervous system to recover. Explosive power is a demanding form of training, which requires sufficient rest and recovery to avoid overtraining and injury.

- Train for explosive power once or twice a week, preferably on separate days from your regular bodybuilding workouts. You can also alternate between explosive and non-explosive workouts, or combine them in the same session, as long as you perform the explosive exercises first, when you are fresh and energized.

Conclusion:

Explosive power is a valuable skill that can enhance your bodybuilding results and performance. By training for explosive power, you can increase your muscle recruitment, fat loss, strength, and power output. You can also improve your speed, agility, and coordination, which can benefit your overall athleticism and functionality. Explosive power is not only for athletes, but also for bodybuilders who want to take their physique and fitness to the next level.