Anything that is moving, such as cars, your arms and legs, bowling balls, and bicycles all have energy. This energy of motion is called kinetic energy. For instance, an object rolling down the side of a steep hill has more kinetic energy than a car standing in the parking lot. The key to understanding kinetic energy is that energy can take multiple forms, such as potential energy (the stored energy is in an object; the higher a ball is from the ground, the more potential energy it has to release). Kinetic energy is particular to the energy of moving objects such as moving cars, limbs, bowling balls, and roughly anything else in motion.
To measure the kinetic energy (KE) an object has, there is a formula:
KE = 1/2mv²
m = objects mass
v = objects velocity (speed in a specific direction)
What is interesting is that when manipulating the mass or velocity of an object, the amount of kinetic energy exerted changes at different rates. To put this into practice, as an object becomes heavier, the kinetic energy increases linearly or arithmetically. When the mass is doubled, so is the kinetic energy.
Double mass = Double kinetic energy
However, as an object speeds up, the kinetic energy increases exponentially. (this is because the exponent is on the v variable in the formula).
Double velocity = Quadruple the kinetic energy
Because speeding up increases kinetic energy at a greater rate than increasing mass, the most effective way to increase one’s energy output is through increasing speed. For instance, a tiny bullet traveling at speed has more impact than a giant truck driving at 1 mph. Likewise, if you are in a vehicle that is traveling at 10 times the speed, the force of impact will be 100 times in the event of a crash.
Logically, this principle can carry over to sports training, because it suggests that faster movements with smaller muscles can have a greater impact than slower movements with bigger muscles. Furthermore, increasing the speed at which a muscle can contract can lend itself to improving skills that involve a rapid burst of energy such as kicking or hitting a ball, throwing, or doing a task that requires energy in motion.
For example, sprinters are athletes who do not have extremely large muscles but are still able to generate a lot of energy when they run because of the speed at which their muscles can contract. Speed training should be implemented more into training regimes for athletes who require a lot of force and kinetic energy in motion. This could mean using lighter weights and increasing the speed at which each repetition is performed. According to a study published in the Journal of Sports Science & Medicine by the Medical Faculty of Uludag University, which investigated the use of different loaded weights, weights that were 30% of the 1 rep max of subjects were associated with a great improvement in sprint times than the subjects that utilized 80% of the 1 rep max; using a heavier weight means that the speed, and therefore the kinetic energy output, will be reduced.
Though heavier loads should be utilized for training for their effectiveness in strength training or maximizing the total amount of weight the individual can lift; however, for maximizing energy output, based on the formula, increasing speed will have increased results.
