Accelerated Eccentric Bench -Tendo Unit

Here is another Bench exercise that is being monitored by the Tendo Unit ( see it on the floor under the bench) 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KmfCQJ9mNo

Coach,

Though not a big fan of Smith machines what about using the smith machine so the athlete can release the weight and not worry about deceleration they create in the standard press....  would allow to accelerate thru full range....  I ahve messed with it a little at the local commercial gym... strange looks especially with the tendo unit

What types of bar speed you looking for or should I look for or does the intent of being explosive suffice in your book.

Terry

Buddy he is using the tendo unit to measure bar speed and the force of the bar.  He likes to use it to measure the eccentric phases of lifts and create a greater eccentric load... it is confusing to me as I use the Tendo to measure squat speed on the concentric and my pulling movements.  He is hoping to come up with greater eccentric numbers to create greater tension then can be achieved concentrically.  Thus the load adjusters- plates on side that drop off. 

I too would like more....science

Tendo Sports Machines designed a power measurement device, called the FIRTROdyne Sports Powerlyzer, known by most strength coaches as the Tendo Unit.  The Tendo Unit provides coaches and athletes instant feedback on muscle power (meters per second or watts) while weight training.

The Tendo Unit consists solely of a velocity sensor (dynamometer) and a microcomputer. The velocity sensor connects to the weight complements of a Kevlar elastic cable. The user must manually input the weight he plans to lift into the microcomputer. The velocity sensor is connected with a wire to the microcomputer which will subsequently read and analyze the velocity data and combine the results with the weight data to obtain the power measurements.

Bar speed is measured in meters per second, power output is calculated, reps are counted, and percentage breakdowns of all values are provided.

Here are the device's specific features:

- The microcomputer with LED displays shows average / peak power and average / peak velocity, number of repetition and the percent value of the best repetition in a particular set.

- Decrease / increase of power below / above a certain predefined percent value of max. power will be indicated by means of an audio signal.

- Adjustable lower and upper limit of audio signal.

- Data from up to 90 repetitions can be stored and later retrieved from the memory.

- The microcomputer can be used for barbells and most weight exercise machines.

- Metric and English measurement system.

The Tendo Unit is used by approximately 81 college, university and professional coaches and athletes as well as rehabilitation specialists, primarily in the United States.

We had 4 of the most well known strength coaches at a convention last year, with a round table style talk about their combined 100 years as professional strength coaches. Between them was about 4 Super Bowl Rings, 6 NBA Rings, 5 National Championship Rings, and a few National Records. When it was all boiled down, the collective concensus was

THESE ARE THE TWO MOST IMORTANT FACTORS IN POWER SPORTS:

1. Power (velocity x mass) produced with in the first .2 seconds

2. speed of deceleration and change of direction (reversability)

Basically, after that everything else is details. If you are not training for these components specifially in mind, you are giving away huge performances. period.

"Good and slow ain't good"

Great comment Bert. Out of curiousity who were they?

There was a guy I was beating years ago at every games. I knew I was a very average pro but this guy should have been beating me. He was "good and slow." I knew what to say to the guy but I was enjoying beating him too much and didn't want to lose out on the money. Finally I looked at him in the middle of throwing the 28 and said, "You look great you're just slow. Speed up."

I never beat him again.

The faster you go the greater the pull on your body with centrifugal force. Hence the need for all the strength to hold the positions correctly. I'm sure someone here can comment on how much pull there is on your body if you're throwing the disc 200 feet or a wire hammer 220. It's amazing.

Two things I wish I had had the opportunity to train seriously with are the Tendo unit and the safety squat bar.

I've read up on Boyd and been around the huskerpower site.

I'd love to hang around there for a week and see how they do things.

To see some cool stuff go to huskerpower.com

Kerry,

I would have to say no based on seeing powerlifters try to become throwers over the years. If you're serious about throwing you have to eventually give up training like a weightlifter of any kind (power, olympic) with the weights and begin training like a thrower with them.

The struggle as a thrower is to maintain strength AND speed. Since we're all built differently many of us can do it differently. The stuff that Valenti is using is very interesting to me in regards to this.

I like how Mac will ask every now and then something to the effect of, "How strong do you have to be to be a thrower?"

Bert,

Wow I didn't even think about what training would be like combining the hr monitor and a tendo unit! It's got to be much more efficient and productive. I'll try to read that tonight.

I'll agree with Mark. The point where you can stop worrying about how strong you are as a thrower is waaaaaaay out there.

Craig tell me where you disagree with me and I'll tell you where you're wrong.

I'll try to clear it up with this... You need train with the weights in a way that will make you a better thrower, not necessarily a better weightlifter.

For example I never benched that much because I didn't think it would help my throwing that much and I saw a few throwers that benched a lot get screwed up shoulders. However I hit my low back, glutes, and hammies hard in the weightroom (good mornings, weighted hypers, and especially straight legged deadlifts off a block) because I felt like it gave me the biggest gains in throwing.

kover wrote: Ok guys not to rain on this tendo parade here but, I have a question for you.  Do you think if your stronger your more exposive?  Example if I take a kid out here and say that he can squat 100# for a max.  Now 6 weeks later this kid squats 135# for his max but does it slower than he did the 100#  is this kid less explosive?

Not if his power output is higher. 

Based on my calc, his power output is about the same if it takes him 1.3 secs to squat 135, versus 1 sec to squat 100.

C. Smith wrote: Jason Pauli wrote: Craig tell me where you disagree with me and I'll tell you where you're wrong. Me. I don't think anyone would ever look at my training and mistake it for a thrower's training.  Bert trains like a thrower, i don't.

You are abnormal, but in a good way.....

kover wrote: Now would everyone agree that sprinters are explosive.  Well the more force that they can be applied to the ground the faster you are.  Highland games, the more force you apply into the ground to lift the implement the farther it goes.  .

Kerry,

While I agree that a KISS approach is generally good, I am going to respectfully suggest that you are greatly oversimplifying both points above in trying to make your point.  Without getting into specific numbers, you must understand that the individual periods in which decent sprinters are actually applying force to the ground are very brief - much, much faster than the period in which anyone develops their max force levels.  So, while completely agreeing that sprinters are explosive and benefit from being powerful, let's just say that the relationship between limit stength, which is what I believe you are referring to, and speed is complicated and perhaps even tenuous.  Much more relevant are the two factors Bert originally noted, namely starting strength and reversability or elastic strength. 

The same thing would be true for any throwing event, since the period it takes to generate one's full limit strength exceeds the delivery phase of most throws.  Rather, the ability to effectively absorb the forces generated in the preliminary stages of the throw and very rapidly explode through the delivery stage is key, and this involves a combination of reversability and starting strength. 

Increases in limit strength are (very) valuable to the extent that they help increase starting strength and reversability, but there are other, more specific, ways to increase these factors (in addition to actually throwing, of course) that should not be ignored.  Olympic lift variations, speed squats, "heaving" (overhead shot toss), box jumps, plyometrics, and intense sprinting all work these factors in ways that a gut-busting deadlift or squat with a 3 or 4 second concentric phase just cannot.  So get "strong" - it certainly will help and this is an important part of any thrower's off-season program.  But don't ignore the other, more specific types of strength.  As a thrower, you should be trying to achieve a state more akin to a BMW M5 than a Mack truck.

Whatever you are doing is obviously working well for you (as well as Craig and Myles), but I wanted to share my thoughts on the subject.

Kindest Regards,

Peter Ingleton.

p.s. Why do you think Kearney is wrong?