Explosive Power & Strength: Complex Training for Maximum Results [Paperback]

Donald A. Chu (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 29, 1996

The best in sports conditioning now combines plyometric, resistance, and sprint training, matching workouts closely to the demands and skills of particular sports. Explosive Power and Strength not only offers three training methods in one but also shows readers how to create individualized, sport-specific programs.

Dr. Donald Chu has been a conditioning consultant for the Golden State Warriors, Milwaukee Bucks, Detroit Lions, Chicago White Sox, and the United States Tennis Association, working also with such famous athletes as professional tennis players Todd Martin and Lindsay Davenport, Kevin Maas of the New York Yankees, and Rodney Lewis, 100-meter Olympic sprinter.

In Explosive Power and Strength Chu emphasizes the use of complex training methods to maximize performance. The book features 33 resistance and 45 plyometric exercises, with 115 detailed illustrations showing their proper execution. Many exercises use free weights to isolate the specific muscle groups used most in various sports of interest. In addition, this reference includes three ready-to-use workouts for each of 11 sports and program design forms that athletes and coaches can use to customize workouts.

Explosive Power and Strength offers athletes and coaches the most innovative and effective training and conditioning methods available today!

Editorial Reviews

Review

"
"""Don's complex training allows an athlete to maximize his strength and power without ignoring their sport skills."""
Todd Martin
Professional Tennis Player
"""This book is an excellent overview of how to use complex training and integrate it into a variety of sports."""
Al Vermiel, MA, CSCS
Strength and Conditioning Coach
Chicago Bulls
"

Review

"

""Don's complex training allows an athlete to maximize his strength and power without ignoring their sport skills.""
Todd Martin
Professional Tennis Player

""This book is an excellent overview of how to use complex training and integrate it into a variety of sports.""
Al Vermiel, MA, CSCS
Strength and Conditioning Coach
Chicago Bulls

"

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Paperback: 200 pages
• Publisher: Human Kinetics (February 29, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0873226437
• ISBN-13: 978-0873226431
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #208,414 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Dr. Donald Chu is a leading authority on power training and conditioning. He has been a conditioning consultant for the Chicago Bulls, Golden State Warriors, Milwaukee Bucks, Detroit Lions, and Chicago White Sox as well as for the United States Tennis Association and the 1996 U.S. Olympic synchronized swimming team, which took home the gold medal. He is the owner and director of NovaCare Clinic in Castro Valley, California, where he acts as a consultant to individual athletes.

Dr. Chu is president of the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA). He is a licensed physical therapist, a certified athletic trainer through the National Athletic Trainers' Association (NATA), and a certified strength and conditioning specialist through the NSCA. He has received many honors, including the 1998 Dr. Ernst Jokl Sports Medicine Award, presented by the board of trustees of the United States Sports Academy; the 1995 NATA Most Distinguished Athletic Trainer Award; and the 1993 NSCA President's Award for Service. In 1978, his only year as a head coach, Dr. Chu was named the Far Western Conference Track and Field Coach of the Year.

Dr. Chu, who earned a PhD in physical therapy and kinesiology from Stanford University, is the program director for the physical therapist assistant program at Ohlone College in Fremont, California. He is also a professor emeritus of kinesiology and physical education at California State University, Hayward. He lives in Alameda, California.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Teaches neuromuscluar and strength speed, December 25, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Explosive Power & Strength: Complex Training for Maximum Results (Paperback)

This book combines Weight training and plyometrics. This method is considered dangerous by many but if used correctly is extremly effective.

Two athletes in the USA were said to have improved their 100m best times by over a second, one of them improving from 12.3 down to 11.1 after a years use of this training method along side his sprint training.

If not used correctly this method of training could be the end of your athletic career. Do NOT build up too quickly. Use the preparation phase properly and ease off if you are still tired from any previous training session.

Used wisely you can pretty much abolish the idea that you have to be a born sprinter. Michael Johnson is a second quicker than most because in his training he also uses this method and has been for years.

I started my training a year ago and have improved my 400m time from 48.32 to 46.21 and I believe the complex training has had a major role to play in this.

A very good book.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great instruction for creating team workouts, August 4, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Explosive Power & Strength: Complex Training for Maximum Results (Paperback)

This is an excellent book that is broken up into 3 parts delineating the nature of complex training, then the nuts and bolts of complex training, and finally how to customize a workout routine for your athlete or team.
It is my most frequently used resource on a shelf full of this type of material.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book...., January 2, 2006

By 

Daniel E. Sanchez (Rhode Island, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Explosive Power & Strength: Complex Training for Maximum Results (Paperback)

Yes, the book doesn't have extraordinary exercise descriptions, but the essential exercises are described well... I don't think the point of the book was to describe exercises... the purpose was to explain to you "Complex training" and how it can help you achieve "Explosive power and strenght." If you want superb exercise descriptions, try his book Jumping into Plyometrics (That's the purpose of the book to describe plyometric exercises), but if you want to actually KNOW how to use complex training then this is the right book for you. If you are a beginner and know nothing of exercise I'd try another book, but if you're fairly seasoned and understand good training sense and technique then pick it up.