Muscle Power = Functional Power
Plus 3 sample power workouts FOR FREE!!!
Muscle Power is one of the most significant determinants of physical health as we age. Physical health is one of the most significant determinants of all other aspects of health, including mental health.
Muscle power is also one of the first qualities of our physical abilities to decline, which is why it is important to pay attention to it.
Let's first start with what muscle power means.
Muscle power is the amount of power your muscles can generate. When discussing human movement, we need to calculate mechanical power.
Mechanical power is the time rate of work done. So,
Power (P) = Work (W) / time (t)
Work is calculated as a force applied over a distance. So,
P = (Force (F) x distance(d)) / t.
Or,
P = F x (d/t)
Since we know d/t = velocity (v),
then, the equation of mechanical power boils down to
P = F x v (Power = Force x velocity).
Now that you have a clear understanding of the technical definition of mechanical power and can understand the components involved in muscle power, let’s go over what this looks like from a more practical perspective.
Anything that moves has a power associated with it. That’s because anything moving has had a force applied to it, and if it’s moving, it has a velocity associated with it.
If you walk, you generate power. You apply a force to the ground at a certain rate, which causes a propulsive force forward at a certain velocity, resulting in an output of power. The same applies to standing up from a chair, getting up off the ground, picking up a laundry basket, sprinting, lifting weights, etc.
Something that is still, like you sitting on the couch, is not generating any power because you’re not moving. (And to eliminate nuance, you aren’t applying any force to make yourself move).
In order for you to move, your muscles apply a force against the ground, the seat, and the bones in your skeleton to lift you up to standing.
Try this:
Sit down, stay still for a few seconds, then stand up with your legs only.
Now, do it again. Only this time, stand up as fast as you can.
If you moved faster than the first time, you generated more power! But how were you able to do that? Well, you moved faster because you applied the same amount of force at a faster rate.
Your body weight didn’t change. I didn’t ask you to wear a weight vest or hold an object. So you didn’t have to apply more force. You just had to apply the same force at a faster rate.
Now, if I told you to put on a 20-pound weight vest and do the same thing: sit down, stay still for a few seconds, then stand up as fast as you can, what do you think would happen?
You would likely stand up slower.
You now had to apply 20 more pounds of force. You still applied it with the same intent as last time. But because the total mass is higher, the rate at which you could apply this force was likely slower, resulting in a slower velocity standing up and a lower power output.
Bringing this back to the point of this article, think about an older population and how they sit and stand. They likely struggle to stand up from a chair if they haven’t been training to keep their power up as much as possible into their older ages. So, they might start leaning forward to gain leverage, moving forward quickly to gain momentum, or just using their upper bodies to push off the table.
Their lower body power output has dropped significantly enough that they struggle to stand up. This becomes increasingly more serious the worse it gets. Losing muscle power results in losing function, which in turn results in losing independence, increased health risks, and all-cause mortality.
Not to mention, the less physically capable we are, the less physically active we become, resulting in further health complications such as depression, Alzheimer's, and CVD.
I used the older population to highlight the importance of maintaining muscle power. But I really want to target the younger and middle-aged populations about this topic.
Losing muscle power isn’t only serious for the elderly; it’s just as important for everyone in their younger years.
As I mentioned earlier, muscle power is one of the first and fastest-regressing physical traits. We start losing it in our mid-30s, and it declines at two to three times the rate of strength and muscle mass loss.
Muscle power can also decline within a week of the last stimulus, as opposed to a month or more before you start losing strength and muscle mass.
So, needless to say, muscle power is absolutely the most important characteristic of our physical health that we need to maintain. If you want to remain as functional as possible throughout your entire life, not just when you’re younger and not just when you’re older, but both, then you need to train for power at all times. And you need to do this more frequently than maximal strength training or hypertrophy.
For youngsters and middle-aged readers, every daily physical activity revolves around how much power you can generate. And if you’re in your 30s now, you’ll lose that power if you don’t use it regularly. As we get older and busier and life constantly changes, we cannot rely on allowing our daily physical activity alone to train this characteristic. You need to stay ahead of it!
The main question I get about this, at least from people who are more experienced trainees or coaches themselves, is
“If I’m lifting weights and getting stronger or maintaining my strength, isn’t that going to be enough to influence my power output?”
This is a very valid question, but as with everything in the exercise world, it depends!
There’s a reason we are able to apply forces at different rates. If we weren’t and only had the ability to apply forces slowly, we would be sloths.
This comes down to two physical qualities: recruitment and rate coding.
Recruitment is the process in which the nervous system recruits the number of motor units a muscle needs to apply a voluntary contraction. Motor units are basically just the nervous system signals responsible for coordinating a muscle contraction.
Recruitment is more significantly involved in lower force contractions.
Rate coding is how fast the motor units are sent from the nervous system to the muscle. This is the more important factor in muscle contraction velocity at higher forces.
So, to answer that question, we have to consider the context of how we want to develop or maintain power.
If your function in life only requires you to apply low forces (this is relative to your force output potential), then you probably don’t need to “speed up” your weight lifting much.
If your function in life requires you to apply high forces (again, relative to your max force output potential), then you should absolutely “speed up” your weight lifting more often.
BUT,
if you are someone like me, who wants to be ready for everything (in a reasonable perspective), who knows that life happens unexpectedly, who knows that life demands us to be athletic, and who also has goals of maintaining a high function as late into life as possible, then you know you have to train with a well-rounded approach.
This is why I train for muscle power and encourage my clients to do the same. It’s not because I think we should all be playing sports or sprinting. It’s because our lives depend on it, and life demands it.
So, to reward you for reading my article, I have three sample power workouts that you can incorporate into your weekly routine.
Just type “Power!” in the comments below, and I’ll send you the document.
Enjoy!
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Muscle power decreasing within a week of last stimulus is such an important stat. Consistency is key.
Power! Looking forward to seeing your workouts!