We continually encourage athletes to get as strong as possible, and that strength is gained in the weight room and on pull-up bars and rings and on the floor. Why can’t we simply get stronger by doing our sport and call it good? Why can’t we just run uphill to build leg strength, why can’t we just go rock climbing to build strength in our backs?
The problem with just going whole-hog into specific strength is that the failure points tend to be out at the ends of our limbs, or when working with loads at the very ends of the range of motion. The big prime movers—the lats, the glutes, the quads, and the pecs, just don’t get much stronger unless they are pushed really hard. We do this by training without stressing the connection to the strength implement, and in normal human ranges of motion.
