How to Test Your Body’s Power Output
Test, train, and improve your ability to generate muscular force quickly
Power, the ability to generate force quickly, plays a pivotal role in health and fitness. Without it, you will struggle in most athletic endeavors. Hitting a 300-yard drive, setting power clean PRs, and dunking a basketball all require significant power.
To improve power, you need to train it. But before you train it, it’s helpful to know where you stand.
While Olympic weightlifters exhibit immense power and rank among the strongest individuals globally on a pound-for-pound basis, it’s crucial to note that this doesn’t necessarily translate to excelling in activities requiring specific skills, such as throwing a 100-mph fastball or executing a precise tennis serve. Activities like a baseball swing, tennis serve, javelin throw, and weightlifting snatch demand significant power, accompanied by finely tuned motor skills that are not solely developed by concentrating on power alone.
While skill is needed for many power-driven tasks and your body composition influences your power generation floor and ceiling, you must train power to improve it. But before you train it, it’s helpful to know where you stand.
