Science and Practice of Strength Training

This new second edition of Science and Practice of Strength Training comes with many additions and changes. A new coauthor, Dr. William Kraemer, joins Dr. Vladimir Zatsiorsky in expanding on the principles and concepts needed for training athletes. Among Dr. Kraemer's contributions are three new chapters targeting specific populations—women, young athletes, and seniors—plus the integration of new concepts into the other chapters.

Together the authors have trained more than 1,000 elite athletes, including Olympic, world, continental, and national champions and record holders. The concepts they divulge are influenced by both Eastern European and North American perspectives. The authors integrate those concepts in solid principles, practical insights, coaching experiences, and directions based on scientific findings. This edition is much more practical than its predecessor; to this end, the book provides the practitioner with the understanding to craft strength training programs based on individuals' needs.

Science and Practice of Strength Training, Second Edition, shows that there is no one program that works for any one person at all times or for all conditions. This book addresses the complexity of strength training programs while providing straightforward approaches to take under specific circumstances. Those approaches are applied to new physiological concepts and training practices, which provide readers with the most current information in the science and practice of strength training. The approaches are also applied to the three new chapters, which will help readers design safe and effective strength training programs for women, young athletes, and seniors. In addition, the authors provide examples of strength training programs to demonstrate the principles and concepts they explain in the book.

The book is divided into three parts. Part I focuses on the basis of strength training, detailing concepts, task-specific strength, and athlete-specific strength. Part II covers methods of strength conditioning, delving into training intensity, timing, strength exercises, injury prevention, and goals. Part III explores training for specific populations. The book also includes suggested readings that can further aid readers in developing strength training programs.

This expanded and updated coverage of strength training concepts will ground readers in the understanding they need in order to develop appropriate strength training programs for each person that they work with.

Vladimir Zatsiorsky, PhD, is a professor of kinesiology at Penn State University in State College, Pennsylvania. A strength and conditioning consultant for Olympic teams from the former Soviet Union for 26 years, Zatsiorsky has trained hundreds of world-class athletes. He has also authored or coauthored 15 books and more than 350 scientific papers. His books have been published in several languages, including English, Russian, German, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, Portuguese, Italian, Polish, Czech, Rumanian, Serbo-Croatian, Hungarian, Bulgarian. He has received honorary doctoral degrees from universities in Poland and Russia and is an honorary member of the International Association of Sport Kinetics. In his spare time, he enjoys reading, listening to classical music, and exercising.

William Kraemer, PhD, is a professor in the department of kinesiology at the University of Connecticut at Storrs, where he works in the Human Performance Laboratory. He also is a professor in the department of physiology and neurobiology and a professor of medicine at the University of Connecticut Health Center.

Kraemer held multiple appointments at Pennsylvania State University, where he was professor of applied physiology, director of research in the Center for Sports Medicine, associate director of the Center for Cell Research, and faculty member in the kinesiology department and the Noll Physiological Research Center.

Kraemer has served on the Sports Medicine Committee for the United States Weightlifting Federation and on the Sport Science and Technology Committee for the United States Olympic Committee. He received the Provost's Research Excellence Award from the University of Connecticut in 2005 and National Strength and Conditioning Association Lifetime Achievement Award for bringing science into the development of strength and conditioning programs.

He is editor in chief of the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, an associate editor of Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, and an editorial board member of the Journal of Applied Physiology. A former junior high and college coach, Kraemer has coauthored many books and articles on strength training for athletes.