Responses to LR400 and Chris Aus:
LR1400,
This was taken off pubmed:
“Comparison of viscoelastic characteristics in triceps surae between Black and White athletes.”
Fukashiro S, Abe T, Shibayama A, Brechue WF.
Department of Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Meguro, Tokyo, Japan.
(cut)“Thus, muscle stiffness is greater among black athletes. Greater muscle stiffness could contribute to greater sprint/jump performance among black athletes, compared with white athletes, through alteration of foot/ground contact and take-off phases during sprinting/jumping.”
This is the first study that popped up when I went looking for the benefits of enhanced muscle stiffness on sprinting. There are tons more…you just have to look for it. I think what you may be doing is confusing extensibility with muscle stiffness- this isn?t anything to be ashamed of, lots of coaches do it.
Next, we are talking about the same athlete here right? THE Shawn Crawford that placed fourth in the 100 and 1st in the 200, right? Just need to make sure because he already has problems with his hips over-rotating so why bring that up as a cure?! And notice that I said “overspeed reactive glut hams”, which is a force method where acceleration is magnified, not mass, so it has absolutely nothing to do with “general strength” training whatsoever. It has to do with the fact that the gluts externally rotate the femur if/when they are built to a higher degree than the hamstrings(both muscles play a role in hip extension). This is why you must look at the body as a kinetic chain/closed electrical circuit. Now do you see why his knees are flaring and he is taking on “rotational mechanics” to perform a “linear mechanic” movement? You can also see how these mechanics helped him run the bend in the 200…that is why I said this one cure would help him win the 100 yet preserve his 200 gold. Most importantly, now do you see why “pinch the board overspeed reactive glut hams”(which was the exact prescription by DB) would help him? (functional to technical)
I think you?d be greatly benefited if you read about DB?s functional to technical process. Right now you don?t understand it at all, especially since you are suggesting that most coaches already do it! I mean…?hurdle mobility?..come on! Next time you go out to the track I want you to alternate fly-ins with single leg speed jumps on a box height lower than your knee. You should get good hip flexion when your foot is on top of the box and good hip extension when your foot is on the ground. As you alternate this process from fly-ins to speed jumps be sure to make note of your peak velocity sprint ability(please you FAT timing gates to eliminate human error)! That is functional to technical developments, buddy.
Thanks for you reply!
Chris Aus,
You wouldn?t want to mix DUR with RATE in the same session or the same block. I think that may be one problem with his Basic Prep program is that it leads people to believe you can train RATE and DUR in the same block all the time when really the prep program is the only time you?ll see it.
You need to increase your force absorption abilities one way or another because without them you won?t be able to increase your power absorption (fast-force eccentrics) abilities. Once your power absorption goes up then your power production will go up. So the logical thing to do is increase your force absorption abilities through power absorption work as long as you can?then once this fails you then you can go back and perform the strength template.
There are three ways to absorb/produce great force:
(1) Where mass is relatively small and acceleration/deceleration is relatively large. (RATE)
(2) Where mass and acceleration are moderately sized. (MAG)
(3) Where mass is large and acceleration/deceleration is small. (DUR)
The big problem with mixing DUR with RATE work is that RATE work is trying to teach your body to gain and release tension as quickly as possible (what is discussed as time to peak twitch and twitch decay, respectively, in scientific literature) whereas DUR work is trying to teach your system to delay peak twitch (supported by IIB to IIA conversion) and sustain tension (ever do a biceps workout and not be able to extend your arm? Same type of thing!).
As mentioned in one of the post above, muscle stiffness is neurally driven. This means that you want to fire your muscles as close to transition as possible which means your power absorption abilities need to be high. Strength work will make you move like a robot because you will be firing prematurely and holding on to tension way too long. This will cause a sprinter to hit a wall early in the race or, worse yet, tear up muscle tissue. Reactive ability is reliant upon relaxation leading into the reactive contraction…and injury is saved when energy is conserved.
Peace,
Brad
Man you guys are good!