Impact Force: How to prevent physical improvement

By Joe Mullen

A simple sneeze can injure one's back. Quickly picking up a piece of paper from the floor can injure the back. Performing fast movements during an exercise performance may seriously injure some part of the body.

Each of these activities is related through the law of Impact Force. In simple terms, Impact Force is equal to

1. The amount of weight used during an exercise, added to . . .
2. The weight of the body segment performing the movement, multiplied by . . .
3. The speed of movement of the particular exercise. Another word for speed of movement is: Acceleration.

These individual acts when written as a formula can look like this:

Impact Force = Mass x Speed of Movement

A Simple Example

Imagine you car stalls in the shopping mall parking lot. You call a friend to come to the mall and give you a push so you can start your car.

After your friend arrives, she spots your car and slowly pulls up behind it and gently touches the back bumper with her autos front bumper. So far no problem with Impact Force.

Then, upon your signal, she very slowly begins to step on her gas pedal and slowly begins to accelerate her 3,000 lb. Car until your car gets up to speed and the motor kicks in. You pull off and get on your way.

No problem with Impact Force and yet her auto weighs 3,000 lbs. How come?

Now, lets use the scenario with a little change in the procedure. Imagine your friend, upon seeing your auto in the parking lot, decides to give you a good boost to start your car.

Instead of slowly pulling up to your car, she decides to get a running start and accelerates her auto to 70 miles per hour.
She smashes into your car and instead of a smooth start a serious accident everyone is injured and their life changes immediately. What happened in this scenario that relates to potential injuries during exercise. Impact Force happened!

Nothing changed in the example except the speed-of-movement (acceleration) of the automobile.

It weighed 3,000 lbs. as it gently touched the auto and its mass weighed 3,000 lbs. when it got up to 70 miles per hour. Only the speed of the Mass changed.

Take the 3,000 lb. weight of the auto and multiply it by 70 we arrive at an Impact Force of 210,000 lbs. ramming into the other vehicle and creating injuries.

You can have the same effect on your body by using an excessive speed-of-movement when exercising. This can have ravaging effects on tendons, ligaments, bones and muscles and cause long term injuries.

Throwing The Weight Instead of Lifting It

Increasing the speed of the exercise movement will allow the use of more resistance but will eliminate improvements in an exercise program.

In fact, one is not lifting the weight one is throwing it through the range-of-motion.

In effect, the throw starts at the beginning of the movement, creating the acceleration and all the trainee does is hold on as the weight flies through the air, removing the ability of the muscle to contract.

It is the contraction of a muscle that allows the muscle to tone, become firmer, achieve a better shape, and to become strong and enduring.

To achieve maximum results in minimum time control the speed of each exercise through the complete range of motion.

The only damage will be to the ego!