As we will see, in order for an athlete to attain their greatest potential, power and explosive strength must be analyzed, understood, and improved. Increases in both movement speed (which impacts power) and contraction speed (which affects explosive strength) would be helpful to any athlete, independent of skill level, sport, or external load weight. Power is the ability to do work quickly. Explosive strength is the ability to do work rapidly through rapid muscle contractions. These two types of strength are different but they are also related: the more powerful you are, the more likely you are to have better explosive strength. For example, consider an athlete who has good power but poor explosive strength. This person might be able to jump high but they would need to build up their muscles considerably before they could produce a force great enough to break a glass or move some heavy objects. They would be very vulnerable to injury if they tried to play football or basketball because many collisions involve impacting forces greater than what can be produced quickly by someone with this type of strength profile. On the other hand, an athlete who has good explosive strength but no power at all would be even more prone to injury. They could achieve high jumps but could not push off effectively from the ground when landing after a jump so they would probably sustain damage to their knees early in their sports career.