I just dissected my sprint form and I found that I’m not leaning far enough. Anyone got any suggestions? Also, it seems that I can’t post replies for some reason, so thanks in advance for your input
How long are your sprints? Im no track star, but you should have a lean out of the blocks (if you start from a sprinter’s stance rather than starting on the fly) through the acceleration stage, but your posture becomes more vertical as you maintain the speed over distance. Find some vids of a 400 meeter sprint on youtube. Looks like a very fast run. Hills do help keep the lean. I have a 30 yard dam i run up and can keep the lean to the top, but i have a 180 yard hill i sprint up that starts out gradual, increases to a very steep grade for about 60 yards, and levels out a bit after that. The lean is almost gone when i reach the top.
Also, if you start from a sprinters stance, or from a dead stop in any stance, be careful. i popped a calf after about 6 months of regular hill sprints. Warmed up good and everything. Blasting out of the blocks up hill is very stressful on the calves. I saw a vid of Riptoe giving Wendler shit about the same thing, following Wendler’s advice and tearing a calf. Also, my wife tore a calf a few months earlier doing hills with me. I thought she was just in bad shape, then ate crow when it happened to me. I think it is safer for regular guys to start the sprint on the fly. That’s what i do now and so far, no more problems.
this clowns always blasting an endurance athlete or someone who cycles or runs or whatever isnt pure weight training…rip needs to stay away from giving someone shit about running. what about the million great runners world wide that do hill repeats 1 day a week and have no calf trouble?? a heavy and out of shape as rip looks, maybe he ought to back off the weights a bit and start doing some running…lean out a bit. that guy is built terrible…
Read the article DeFranco Prowler training by Joe Defranco.
The paragraph where he talks about HASD’s ( heavy ass sled drags) is spot on for your question.
i wasn’t trying to get a Rip controversy going. I was just pointing out that if you aren’t a track athlete that sprints 5 days a week (and Rip most certainly isn’t), there is a higher risk in going balls out with a hill sprint. In the Wendler vid, Rip wasn’t criticizing Wendler’s advice or arguing against hill sprints, just giving him a good-natured hard time.
Since my calf tear, i have read from a number of sources (internet, for what they are worth) that the effort level should be about 95%. So far, my experience has supported that. Or maybe at 51, i am just an old stiff fart and should leave the hill sprints to the young guys. I’ve been starting the sprints from a slow run now for three months since the tear with no problem, but time will tell. If i get another tear, i guess i will have to go back to breathing squats.
Leaning forward indicates acceleration…once you hit top speed or are decelerating, you will be upright. The amount of lean you can sustain is usually a function of strength rather than a function of form. You change it by getting stronger; if you try to do a quick fix and just lean forward more, you will fall on your face.
You may be lacking core strength. You need a strong core to hold proper sprinting positions.
Pose Method of Running - Nicholas Romanov
…read…absorb…
Leaning is for winning races. You’ll shave fractions of a second off your time. Posture and mobility is your friend if you want to lean, balance is a developed trait.
If you’re burning fat, no lean would actually be ideal. You’re working hard to push your body over space.
In fact, if you strapped a parachute on to yourself and then ran as hard as you could it would be awesome, and the parachute would see to it your lean would be less than ideal for touching chest to finish line ribbon first.
Honestly the forward lean is overrated.
Worry about proper hip extension with a punch-drive action of the foot. Try falling starts with your lean, that should get you into a natural position.
What distances are you sprinting, what’s the goal?
Honestly the forward lean is overrated.
Worry about proper hip extension with a punch-drive action of the foot. Try falling starts with your lean, that should get you into a natural position.
What distances are you sprinting, what’s the goal?