[quote]belligerent wrote:
I know that this is not a thread about sprinting specifically but there is so much misinformation being generated here that I have to participate in the hijacking.
In response to the comments that have been made:
“Speed and strength work should accompany each other when training for speed.”
The necessity of strength training for sprint performance is debatable. Contrary to popular assumption, maximal strength is not a major determinant of sprinting ability.
The best sprinters in the world are incredibly strong, but speed training multiple times per week.
This is a faulty generalization, if not an outright false claim. Among elite sprinters there have been a few that were incredibly strong relative to their bodymasses, but many are not any stronger than your average serious weight trainee who has been at it for 3 or 4 years, and some don’t even lift weights.
An acquaintance of mine by the name of Ato Boldon, who is the second most prolific sub-10 100m sprinter in history and a 4x olmypic medalist, bench pressed in his prima a little more than 300 lbs. at a weight of 175-180lbs. His squat was less impressive. I would say that he is about aveage among elite sprinters in terms of strength.
High-speed movements are all about how many times you can contract a muscle in a certain period of time. Being able to relax the muscle is critical to be able to do so."
This is false with regard to sprinting. Contraction time and frequency are essentially the same in all humans; research has shown that speed of limb movement during sprinting is the same between the fastest and slowest runners. The major difference is how much force can be applied during ground contact.
Actually, it’s quite true. Go ask a track coach how to run the 100 meter dash. If he doesn’t mention relaxing at maximal speed, he’s not a very good track coach. Being able to relax at maximal speed is a skill that takes practice. How do you practice it? Well… by speed training. Thus, if you neglect speed training, you will have difficulty relaxing your muscles at maximal speeds.
The ubiquitous cue to “relax” during sprinting is meaningless. Relaxation is incompatible with sprinting.
Relaxation is incompatible with sprinting. [/quote]
Hey belligerent,
Very informative post, thank you. I particularly like your focus on relaxation being meaningless. Very often, drummers are encouraged to play relaxed when trying to play fast. I find this very puzzling because in order to get faster, there has to be some effort and perhaps a little strain involved in order to encourage the muscles to work, grow and adapt to playing at faster speeds. While their technique shouldn’t suffer, the amount of effort should not be compromised in order to achieve faster tempos. After all, do you ever hear someone say to a powerlifter, lift relaxed? lol
In a related note , I think the issue of increased bodyweight affecting speed and power negatively myth suffered a setback when Hopkins gained at least twenty pounds and destroyed Tarver, while Tarver lost weight and suffered. Interesting huh?
