Mr Kurz, can an athlete to be too strong?

[Wudan]

There was an interesting discussion on the Dragon Door forum about whether too much maximal strength will have an adverse effect on strength by making relaxation difficult and interfering with coordination and efficiency of movement. Thomas Kurz was cited as saying that one should not be too strong for one's sport.

So is it true that strength can adversely affect relaxation? What about weightlifters, who are probably the strongest athletes in the world, but also display highly developed coordination and dynamic relaxation?

[dragon]

I'm not Mr.Kurz and i certainly don't have access to any research that may have been done on this subject but i'll give my views anyway....



Reading the posts on the Dragon Door forum there seems to be an argument about strength causing too much tension.If this is applied to a fighter,tension usually occurs when the fighter is unconditioned(legs/arms feeling heavy,shoulders tightening,etc).This would happen to an unconditioned fighter whether he/she is strong or not.
Tension can also occur when you are nervous.Ever been sparring with an easy opponent and felt your movements flowing easily?Then you switch sparring partners to someone who you are weary of(maybe because of reputation or because you've fought them before) and you suddenly feel tired/out of breath?
This is only personal observation though.There may be some research to refute this.

Personally though, i think some people tend to over analyse their training.
Wondering whether or not max strength may harm your athletic training may not even apply if you are nowhere near your maximum strength potential anyway.
If you were an amazing power lifter and an amazing martial artist and had the choice of turning pro then you may have to pick one over the other to excel in.Until that day,it would probably be better to work hard at both.


Dragon.

[Maxim]

my trainer in olympic lifting and his collegues seem to agree too much strength work can make one slower, which i assume should be translated as "don't neglect speed work when working on strength", 'cause they also agree on "a lifter can never squat, pull or push press too much".

i also think strength work will make an out of shape individual person faster, but not forever, speed work must be added.

in the end, you're probably too weak to worry about any of this, keep lifting, running, jumping and whatnot