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ÆÃ©33Ð€wÞody strength curve will not receive maximal overload. (Incidentally, performing full-range exercises adheres to a workout strategy called peak-contraction training.) Accentuation training is popular because it fulfills the requirements of exercise specificity. The principle of exercise specificity says exercises that have the most carryover to specific athletic activities share the same biomechanical properties as the activities the athlete seeks to improve. For example, because a power clean is basically a jump with weights, it would be a better exercise than a bench press for improving the vertical jump of a volleyball player. In fact, as I pointed out in my article The Power of Giants in the Spring 2001 issue, shot putters who practice the power clean often have exceptional vertical jumps, even those athletes who weigh over 300 pounds. Accentuation training is especially needed in such sports as figure skating, since the additional bodyweight developed from full squats could add extra muscle mass that would decrease jumping height (and, for some athletes, adversely affect the aesthetics of the performance, which greatly influence the athletes placement). Other athletes who may not want to develop additional muscle mass from emphasizing full squats are gymnasts, divers, high jumpers and even swimmers. Let s examine the box squat in more detail by looking at the concept of starting strength. Getting a Head Start on the Competition First, it s time for some more definitions. During a concentric contraction a muscle develops tension and shortens, causing movement to occur. During an isometric contraction a muscle develle !%13Ð€wÞ take many years to put into effect. As late as the 1970s, girls' sports not only were neglected, they were often actively discouraged. In the government publication "Title IX: 25 Years of Progress," it was cited that "In 1971 a Connecticut judge was allowed by law to disallow girls from competing on a boys' high school cross country team even though there was no girls' team at the school. And that same year, fewer than 300,000 high school girls played interscholastic sports. Today [1997], that number is 2.4 million." Legislative efforts to sabotage the original intent of the amendment were waged almost yearly until 1980, when the Department of Education was established and given the responsibility to oversee the implementation of Title IX through the Office for Civil Rights. From that point, Title IX began to work its magic, slowly though, as most social reforms do. Understanding Title IX's impact requires us to look not just at the burgeoning statistics in female sport participation but also at the mindset of the young women athletes of today. While sports have created the most controversy regarding Title IX, the gains in education and academics from the amendment are also noteworthy. Title IX bans sex discrimination in athletics and academics. Before then, many schools saw no problem in refusing to admit women or in imposing strict limŠÕà‘H>]¸íï‘pOÊòŸ¥,èGùA—øáäš“)¬–‘·Íkúð«Íj