This document has implications for injury prevention.  Please read our medical disclaimer before continuing.

Physical speed is an important requirement in Badminton.  It requires the neuromuscular system to produce maximum forces.  Muscles work less efficiently when they are moving quickly (1) (higher forces can be produced with slow movements – such as weight lifting) and development of high speed requires adaptation of the physical capability of the muscle, and the neurological control mechanisms.

The physical force capability of a muscle is defined by its size.  By increasing the size (hypertrophy) larger forces may be produced (1).  However, for a given task, neurological adaptations have to develop that are specific to the task for that physical capacity to be utilised.  As a basic illustration of this, improvements in the first few weeks of a weight lifting routine are more due to increases in neurological drive than muscle hypertrophy.

The ability for a muscle to operate at high speeds (where it is less efficient) appears to require special adaptations (technically speaking – the first few twitches in a tetanus need to be produced very quickly (1)).  We have only located a small amount of research on this specific point but there is enough to formulate an approach to training.

When weight training is used on its own, the benefit appears to be speed specific (1).  So if training uses heavy weights moving at slow speed, it poorly benefits fast speed movements.  However, when heavy weight/slow speed is combined in a training regime with sport specific skills training, there does seem to be a positive effect from the weight training (2).  This would suggest that high speeds are required to improve the neurological component but this can be gained from normal sports technique training.  Therefore, it appears that maximum benefit of weight training would be when using heavy weights/slow speed as this maximises hypertrophy.  The technical training (which for a badminton player occurs anyway) then takes care of the neurological requirements and the combined effect leads to improved performance.

We present here a routine that is supported by research (2).  It should be said that many different routine structures appear to work for generating hypertrophy.  However, there are benefits to this particular routine that we shall mention further down.  Further research may change practises as more optimum approaches are found, but at this stage the presented approach is something that should work as it has support from research data and appears no less effective than other regimes.

• Be sure at follow safety procedures for weight training.
• For each target muscle (or muscle group) the player should weight train it once a week.
• For each routine, warm up with a light weight.  You should be aiming to increase muscle temperature without create a noticeable acid build up:
• Perform twelve reps.
• Rest 2 minutes
• Perform twelve reps
• Rest 5 minutes (and consume sports drink if available)
• Switch to target weight.
• Perform 1 set of repetitions to exhaustion.  Each repetition should have the following timing: 4 secs eccentric, 1-2 secs concentric and 1 sec isometric.
• Within 1 hour after training, consume both carbohydrate and protein.
• If player achieves 12 or more reps, increase weigh next time
• If player achieves less than 8 reps, previous increase was too much.  Different target groups and training methods will demand different increases (e.g. 5kg, 2.5kg or 1.25kg).
• In establishing initial weight for a new routine, experiment until reps are between 8 and 12.  This is an ad-hoc guess work process but once achieved, future progress is straight forward.
• The coach (and player to themselves) must continually reinforce the importance of quality over quantity.  It is too easy to achieve more reps/higher weights at the expense of technique (incorporating more synergist action) or rep speed (increasing speed and thus making the rep easier).
• The slow speeds can induce a large amount of acid build up.  However, the single set nature of the task should keep compliance high.  Feel the burn!

This routine has the following advantages:

• The slower speeds/higher reps require the player to be training at a lower weight than their maximum.  This should reduce the risk of injury.
• Because there is only one set, once a week, it is psychological easier and should improve player compliance.
• Minor injuries (for example, those that are not initially detected) have more time to heal because of the once a week training.

There is debate as to at what age weight training should start.  There is a fear that weight training at a young age may do damage to muscle growth plates which may result in long term complications.  Others advocate that weight training is safe if done properly.  Also, it should be noted that some bones in the male do complete their growth into the early 20’s on average (with individual variation this may go higher!) yet we have not noted objection to 20 year old males weight training.

In badminton training there is a lot of separate components to success, and although weight training is cumulative over several years, there are plenty of other things for young players to concentrate on (e.g. technical).  Also, until later adolescence, hormone levels will be less conducive to physical training – in other words, the effectiveness of weight training in the young is questionable.  We therefore recommend a minimum age of 16 for females, and 18 for males.  Also, introduce the training schedule early (identify weaknesses and concentrate on them first) and emphasise the quality first before moving on to high weight objectives.

References

1) “Neuromechanics of Human Movement”, Roger M Enoka, Human Kinetics, ISBN: 0-7360-0251-0

2) “Strength Training Methods And The Work Of Arthur Jones”, Journal of Exercise Physiology online, Volume 7 Number 6 December 2004

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