Strength and the prevention of injuries. Highly motivated, highly talented athletes will push themselves to the edge of their abilities in an effort to win.

Since winning is what athletes do. Winning on the field of play takes precedence over everything else,

and athletes must rely on their training to prepare them

for operating at limit capacity on game day.

Operating at limit capacity is by definition more dangerous

than the training environment which prepares for this performance.

An athlete's strength training program should provide some measure of protection against the risk inherent in pushing the performance envelope

by enhancing strength, speed, agility, power, endurance, and toughness. However, torn ACLs and worse remain common

at all levels of competitive athletics. Strength is the ability to apply force to an external

resistance, like the ground, an opponent, an implement, or a ball.

Strength produces human movement.

It's one thing that distinguishes us from plants and rocks,

and there is only one type of strength.

The force of contraction which the muscles exert against the bones.

Skeletal components, in motion, apply force using the hands and feet against objects in the

environment. Greater strength simply means a higher level of force production, and greater strength increases an athlete's ability to effectively interact with the environment during competition.

So it's very simple, really.

Greater strength is the ability to move a heavier weight, since strength is the production of force.

It's not terribly difficult to understand that training programs which gradually

increase the athlete's ability to move heavier loads will increase an athlete's strength.

And all the other physical capacities that depend on strength improve as strength increases.

One of the most important reasons, Emmett Smith played 13 seasons, so effectively with the Dallas Cowboys,

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