DieYoungStrong
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- May 27, 2013
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Love this stuff.......I teach a part of my colleges classes about this very thing. Your experience falls under Joe Weiders muscle confusion principal and the old Law of Specificity. I have had this same discussion with college strength coaches. Some of these guys claim you have to use exercise and movements in the weight room that mimic what you do on the field, but due to the law of specificity, this type of training will not directly transfer to sport. Being a good Olympic lifter will not make you a good football player. In order to properly train an athlete, you get all the muscles as strong as you can using the specific energy systems used on the field (ATP/PC - glycotic) and turn them over to their position coach so they can learn how to use their new strength. So a stronger athlete is a more efficient athlete and less susceptible to injury.
In your case you were able to do the work outside of the gym more efficiently because you are stronger. You still used you muscles in a way that you do not specifically train them in the gym. Because the work you did involved a much different stimulus to the muscles you forced the body way out of homeostasis (steady state). The fact you got tired and sore means the body now is having to adapt to this new stimulus to return to homeostasis. This adaptation means DOMS (getting sore) and repairing the damage you did to the muscles. So according to the law of specificity, if you want to be good at using a spade/jackhammer you need to use a spade/jackhammer. The work out do in the gym will only help you be stronger doing it.
I remember when I was powerlifting, I was strong as shit and could literally bear hug a refrigerator and take it out of a U-Haul trailer. However, as strong as I was at the end of the day I was sore and totally exhausted. Yet I see these normal size package delivery guys carry 100lb boxes Chewy on their shoulders to my door. I would be crying in pain yet in the gym I am much stronger than they are. Like I said, in order to be good at delivering these 100lb Chewy boxes you have to move 100lb Chewy boxes. But the down size to this is the guys who deliver Chewy boxes don't look like bodybuilders.
Great, detailed explanation that's spot on.
For the less edumacated like myself - it's simply farm boy strong vs gym strength.
For the football guy in me, this makes me think of the old adage - he looks like Tarzan, but plays like Jane. Some guys are look like adonis and are strong as hell in the gym. Get 'em on the field and they can't hit for shit. Either to scared to use the strength to pop somebody, or they don't know how to use it to the field. Power cleans build stallions on the field, but you aren't strapping up and going out there and power cleaning a running back lol