Strength training is training for strength. The implement you use doesn't define anything. If you train with a barbell that makes you a powerlifter as much as doing somersaults makes you a gymnast.Let's define our terms. Strength is really the ability to produce force. Using traditional barbell training, you're mostly developing the ability to produce force in planes and ranges of motion that matter to the sport of powerlifting. There seems to be carry-over to other sports, but how do we know how much?
This kind of begs the question, "What is really being trained with strength training?" Once the technique is developed, the gymnast will bench a lot more than most intermediate strength trainees very quickly. The intermediate strength trainee is a long ways from doing various gymnastic moves though. I once spotted a soccer player who hadn't been training very long. He was going to squat 405, 415, and 425 in his upcoming raw meet. He had huge legs from playing soccer.
Strength will always be better than the absence of strength with regards to physical sports. How much depends on the person and this persons goals. It was long thought that strength wasn't;t needed in Golf....then Tiger came along, then Brooks Kopeka, now Bryson Dechambeau just turned the golf world on its head.
General body strength is being trained with strength training. You can't say a gymnast will always life more than an intermediate lifter. Who is the intermediate lifter and at what point is the gymnast at in their training. There are many intermediate lifters that can and do squat 405...and many advanced lifters that don't. Technique decides your level of competence...not just raw strength. Genetics and body composition decides how quickly you progress..even before you have technical expertise. Bearing down and lifting something heavy off the floor is radically different that rings, the horse or parallel bars. That doesn't mean its better or harder...just different. Both require a degree of physical strength and a whole lot of technical proficiency to accomplish.
Size and strength are two different things. There is overlap in that you will gain muscle tissue by getting stronger and you will have increased strength capacity from developing additional muscle tissue...but there is no one on earth who is squatting 405# without training the squat and being technically proficient at the movement.
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