I am going to run track in the winter, I have been lifting hard doing some distance work and lifting heavy but mostly explosive plus plyo’s.I am going to start track work in late oct.I was wondering what is the perfect weight for a sprinter.I am 5’9’’ and weigh like 180 give or take. MY body fat is low now like 5% or so am I too heavy…
The average stats for elite sprinters are around 5’9"-5’10" 160-180. I’ve seen slightly heavier guys do fine in the 55m. The indoor 200m is a bit harder for power sprinters as the turns are so sharp (combined with the usually harder indoor surface) that you have to be real careful about shin splints and stress fractures.
For a sprinter, weight really doesn’t matter that much. What is important is that you’re strong and lean…A 6% bodyfat level or less is excellent. You see a lot of these sprinters buffed up and often talk of how they got faster by gaining weight…well it’s not the weight that made them faster, it’s the strength they gained along with the weight. For a sprinter you should be doing lots of explosive movements and always keep the reps low. If you do more then 6 reps per set your building non-functional muscle.
J, I don’t think there is a ‘perfect’ weight per se, but perfect for you. Obviously, you know that regardless of what you weigh that the bottom line for you is your sprint times. Sprinting is anaerobic, and exlposive power is needed. You need muscle for this to happen. Muscular weight unless extreme will not slow you down. No one will weigh you at the meets or bring a bodyfat caliper. They will judge you on performance alone. As long as your times improve, don’t worry about it as there are no weight classes. Judges only care about your times and so you probably should too. Good Luck.