This is a tricky question. It is well known that more strength can improve the performance of most athletes. But is there a limit to how much strength you should gain? Can additional strength make you a worse athlete?
If you talk to a typical strength coach he will tell you that athletes need more and more strength in order to perform better. This is why their typical programs consist mainly of developing more strength. Athletes are judged in relation to how much weight they can overcome.
There is no one answer to this question. Some athletes continue to gain strength for as long as possible and become better with each year of performers. Other athletes gain only moderate levels of strength and set world records.
Because of this we should judge each athlete on his own merits and not push for each of them to continually get stronger unless there is a concomitant increase in performance. In addition, we should look at and develop other physical qualities that the athlete needs.
In general, young athletes through the teenage years need additional strength. But they also need development of many other physical qualities. Thus the main focus of the training should not be limited only to strength training. Technique should be equally important.
Greater differentiation should take place in the 20s and 30s depending upon each individual athlete’s sport. The main focus at this time is usually on specialized – dynamic correspondence- exercises. This is the main type of strength training that the athletes should be doing.
There is usually a considerable debate as to which strength training methods are best but very little discussion of who needs additional strength and how much strength they need. But this is where our attention should be focused.
Strength is relatively easy to develop. The methods to develop concentric, eccentric and isometric strength are fairly well known. It does not take a rocket scientist to develop strength in each of these regimes.
Some of the methods for developing explosive strength however are not as well known. Explosiveness training as a general factor is quite common. But when it comes to developing explosive power in a specific manner related to a specific sport it becomes a different matter.
Because of this we should move away from only thinking in terms of getting stronger measured by how much weight you can lift. We should begin to differentiate the athletes in the different sports and look more closely at the exact physical qualities that are needed for success.
For more information on this topic see Build a Better Athlete and Secrets of Russian Sports Fitness and Training.