Archive for September, 2007
Let’s get straight to the point. Acceleration and top speed running are different for several reasons. One such difference is technique. During acceleration your body position is leaning forward, your stride length is shorter and ground contact time is longer than during top speed running.
The differences are visually obvious and many coaches and athletes will devote a lot of time and attention to coaching specific techniques related to acceleration or top speed running.
However, what’s not totally obvious is the different contributions from muscle groups during acceleration and top speed running. Coaches and athletes often miss these crucial differences.
Now, during acceleration say a 10 – 20-m sprint, the quadriceps, gluteals and upper-body have a very important role to play in the development of force.
Whereas in top speed running, the hamstrings, gluteals and hip flexors have more of an important role to play than the other muscle groups.
Coaches often plan training programmes to focus on one specific aspect of training say, top speed running and at the same time programme resistance training.
What some coaches often forget is that the type of resistance training should compliment top speed running training. That is you should choose resistance training exercises that focus on the development of the hamstring, gluteals and hip flexors when training for top speed.
This relates both to the choice exercise and set-and rep scheme. Generation of high force is required during top speed running and resistance training should therefore focus upon developing high force muscular contractions.
For instance there is no point prescribing, 3 sets of 20 reps of bench press when 1) this rep and set scheme does not develop high force muscle contractions and 2) the exercise develops upper body strength which has less of a contribution to top speed running.
So what resistance exercises are best for developing the muscle used during acceleration?
Squats, power cleans (from floor), push press, sled sprints (medium load), and incline sprints (medium incline).
And for top speed?
Romanian Deadlift, Good mornings, Bounding for distance, Single leg squats and lunges to name a few.
All these exercises should be used with a rep scheme from 1 – 6 and sets between 3 – 5 depending upon your training experience.
So when planning your training, make sure that whatever your major goal is you choose exercises that compliment the attainment of this target. Get specific and analyse the movements and contribution of muscle groups.
If your serious about improving your speed then you’ll find all the information you need and more in the excellent special report training for speed, power and strength. Click on the link to order your copy now!
PeakSpeed.net, helping you break the speed limit.
Alan Ruddock CSCS, YCS
As promised earlier in the week here is part 2 of the interview with Barry Ross. Here he discusses the “juicy” bits about his book and shows how he applies “ground breaking” (pardon the pun) research in the search for faster running.
What important research was the book based around?
Underground Secrets to Faster Running was based on the concept of mass-specific force, as noted in the Weyand study. The research showed that the commonly used equation, Speed= Stride Length x Stride Frequency did not address the main factor in high speed running. The study provided a more accurate, though odd looking, equation: Speed= Freqstep x Favge /Wb x Lc.
What it means is that during constant-speed running, the distance traveled between steps is determined by the product of the average mass-specific force applied to oppose gravity during foot-ground contact and the forward distance the body moves during this contact period.
This equation is counter to the commonly held belief that active push-off occurs at the end of stance time; that strength in relation to bodyweight is a factor in producing force during active push-off, that faster runners swing their legs faster (turn-over rate); that horizontal force application is dominant. None of the foregoing is true.
Your book includes an excellent method for improving mass specific force. Briefly, what is the method and what is mass specific force?
Mass-specific force is force (relative to the runners mass) applied to the ground in opposition to gravity. Ground reaction force plates show that maximum force peaks just prior to midway through the stance time. There is no way to get around that fact! What’s being measured is force created by the runner as a falling body—Pure physics.
If “active push-off” did occur, then force plates would show the runner applying force at the end of the stance time—but virtually no force appears at that point.
The force the runner applies to the ground is to oppose the effect of gravity. For example, if you jumped off a 1.5m box, you would naturally bend your knees to absorb the shock. The amount of knee bend affects the amount of elastic energy your body can utilize for locomotion. It also dictates ground contact time. More strength allows minimization of knee bend (plus some extra bonuses) thereby reducing ground contact time and increasing running speed.
Increasing strength without increasing mass maximizes the whole process because mass is an integral part of the force created at ground contact and the force you need to apply to oppose it.
Our strength training method eliminates the effects of using a modified bodybuilding routine (where mass IS necessary). Had I used our current strength training protocol in 1967 I would have been at least as strong while reducing bodyweight gain from 20 lbs to 3-4 lbs.
How does your training advice improve the physiological mechanisms responsible for running faster?
Increasing mass-specific force reduces ground contact time as well as maximizing the runner’s use of elastic recoil created from an eccentric stretch as the runner’s mass passes over the grounded foot. Elastic recoil drives the runners leg back into the air in the same way that a super ball thrown into the ground recoils back into air (without the need of coaching, I might add!). The effect on the runner is increased knee height. That renders high knee drills as redundant at best.
As the runner increases top end speed, they also increase wind effect. Any sprinter running on a windless day will create wind effect. An elite sprinter can create wind in excess of 40 kilometers. The natural response when walking into a headwind is to lean forward to “cut through” the wind. The sprinter does the same when running, naturally. Is it worth spending training time for a non-elite sprinter to lean at the same angle as an elite sprinter? Not if you do as little as needed, not as much as possible.
For those people who are new to research into human locomotion and are interested in learning how to run faster what resources would you suggest?
There is a wealth of recent studies from several locomotion experts that debunk most of the misinformation created by coaches from false application of earlier works. One victim of faulty training application is Ralph Mann’s study on kinetic analysis of sprinting (Mann’s work is correct, the interpretations were faulty). First and foremost, read the Weyand study mentioned above as well as several others that are focused on high speed running. Chang and Kram have two excellent papers, “Metabolic cost of generating horizontal force during human running” and “The independent effects of gravity and inertia on running.” The former shows why the greater efficiency of the spring mass model of running identifies the reasons why bipeds and quadrupeds run the way they do; while the latter shows how easily human runners adapt sprint mechanics to even the most radical changes in conditions without the need of a “coach”.
Where do you see your work and locomotive research progressing in the future?
There is a large, and growing, body of research that is yet unpublished let alone new research that is already underway. Ken Jakalski and I have opened the door between coaches and scientific geeks a little bit wider by being proactive with the scientists—as they have been with us. Hopefully, many more in the coaching and science communities will drop the notion that the two are a volatile mix!
Many thanks goes to Barry for giving his time to discuss his works. If your interested in reading any more information regarding Barry’s work visit his website. http://www.bearpowered.com
Alan Ruddock CSCS, YCS
Barry Ross is the Author of “Underground Secrets to Running Faster” a book which has gained a lot of attention in coaching circles over the past few years. http://www.bearpowered.com.
The book challenges several training theories regarding speed training and applies sound scientific research and principles of human locomotion to explain why there is a need to change the way we train athletes to improve speed.
I for one love the book, the concept and the philosophies of Barry Ross so asked him to answer some questions for peakspeed.
In this, part 1 of 2, Barry reveals his philosophies, influences and reasons why he decided to author the book. Look out for Part 2 of the interview later in the week.
Who is Barry Ross and what do you do?
I’m a full time coach now, but I was a volunteer coach for nearly 30 years. I’ve owned several different businesses over a 25 year span, some of which included contract negotiations for NBA basketball players and NHL hockey players.
What experience do you have coaching in sport?
I’ve coached 3 top ten all time athletes in California, where I live. Two of those athletes, Allyson Felix (11.29, 22.11, and 52.26) and Elizabeth Olear (11.33, 23.29) are sprinters, and the 3rd, Jessica Cosby, competed in the shot (15.33m).
I’ve been a strength coach for football (American), soccer, volleyball, basketball, baseball, track, cross country, and tennis (pro) for entire teams and individual athletes.
What is your coaching philosophy?
Do as little as needed, not as much as possible. Admittedly, it took me a very long time to get to that understanding. There is simply a lot of bad information out there! We want our athletes to work significantly fewer hours while improving at a faster pace than other methods.
One of the main reasons for shortening workouts is the reduction of exposure to injury. The more the athlete is subjected to high level physical activity the greater the probability of injury, on or off the track.
Who are your influences?
My initial introduction to coaching came from learning how to lift weights for the shot put. I had finished with my junior year in high school in 1967 when I met Dave Davis (who had a world record in the shot for about 10 minutes, then lost it to, I believe, Dallas Long). I did not have a throws coach until that time but over that summer I worked out with Dave Davis and George Woods (shot put silver medalist in the 1968 Olympics). Most of my time with them was in the weightroom but we did throw occasionally. I gained 20 lbs of muscle and won the California State Junior Weightlifting champion in the heavyweight division even though I could have competed in the next lower division. My shot put distance improved by 11 feet.
Interestingly, a few years ago I coached with another famous athlete of that era, Tommie Smith, when he was the head track coach at Santa Monica City College. I’m also very impressed with Pavel Tsatsouline (http://www.dragondoor.com). He is an outstanding individual with a tremendous amount of knowledge of strength training for sport.
Dr. Peter Weyand, without question, and of course my good friend Ken Jakalski, who not only possesses an incredible amount of knowledge about many sports, but has probably tried more training gimmicks and toys than any 50 coaches combined!
You have authored a book called “Underground Secrets to Faster Running”. What were your reasons for writing the book?
I had radically changed my strength training protocol after watching Felix run in her freshman year in high school. I believed that making her stronger in relation to her bodyweight would make her run even more efficiently. I assumed that adding 10 to 15 lbs of muscle would be a good trade off for significantly more strength. In essence, she would be able to “push off” the ground with more force, increase her stride length and stride rate. At that time I believed that Speed= Stride Length x Stride Frequency.
Looking on the internet for other ways of increasing “push-off” strength, I eventually came across Dr. Weyand’s study, “”Faster top running speeds are achieved with greater ground forces not more rapid leg movements.” At the time, I believed that Weyand’s meaning of mass-specific force was the same as my adding muscle to increase the strength to bodyweight ratio.
Shortly after that, I read Pavel Tsatsouline’s book “Power to the People,” in which he described how one could increase strength while keeping bodyweight to a minimum.
Combining Pavel’s concept with Dr. Weyand’s research eventually lead to a method of strength training that would encompass what mass-specific force really meant…and the book.
Alan Ruddock CSCS, YCS
WordPress database error: [You have an error in your SQL syntax; check the manual that corresponds to your MySQL server version for the right syntax to use near 'are small amounts of ge' at line 1]
SELECT ad FROM wp_tpt_OpenAds WHERE ad_id=they are small amounts of ge;
If you haven’t heard of or seen carbohydrate gels before, they are small amounts of gel, about 60-ml, that contain complex and simple carbohydrates. They are widely used in endurance sports such as triathlon and cycling because they are small, compact and lightweight so offer an alternative to comparatively heavy, bulky sports drink bottles.
It is well known that carbohydrate-electrolyte beverages improve endurance and intermittent exercise performance. However, less is known about the consumption of carbohydrate gels during intermittent exercise.
Patterson et al. (2007) set out to investigate the effects of carbohydrate gel and water consumption on endurance performance after intermittent exercise in soccer players. The protocol consisted of 5 x 15-mins of variable intermittent running followed by an intermittent exercise test to exhaustion. The soccer players consumed either a carbohydrate gel or placebo immediately before exercise (0.89 mL/kg body mass]) and every 15 min thereafter (0.35 mL/kg BM). In addition, water was consumed at a rate of 5 mL/kg BM before and 2 mL/kg BM every 15 min during exercise. The researchers found that blood glucose levels were higher and run time to exhaustion longer when players ingested the carbohydrate gel plus water.
This study is interesting as players and coaches now have evidence that another way of obtaining carbohydrates (other than sports drinks) can help improve performance. I will however, advise you to try before you buy because I find carbohydrate gels absolutely disgusting!
Alan Ruddock CSCS, YCS
Who drinks red bull or other caffeine beverages before they compete? I certainly do and I advise drinking or consuming in tablet form, caffeine, to those who compete in intermittent or endurance sports.
This is because time and time again caffeine supplementation has been proven to enhance performance, along with only a handful of other supplements/ergogenic aids (creatine, carbohydrate, caffeine and protein).
It is known that intermittent and endurance sports performance benefit from caffeine supplementation. However there is less than convincing evidence that caffeine aids high intensity performance.
Forbes et al. (2007) studied the effects of 2mg/kg/body mass of red bull on peak and average power assessed by the Wingate cycle test and endurance assessed by 3 sets of bench press at 70% 1RM.
The results of the Forbes et al. (2007) study showed that red bull significantly increased the total number of bench press repetitions but had no effect on peak or average power.
This study suggests that at the dose administered red bull has no effect on peak or average power. It is interesting to note that this dose is lower than some of the doses provided in other studies reported in the literature.
However in practice, the amount of caffeine required to elicit and ergogenic effect will depend on the individual.
Athletes who are habitual caffeine consumers will require a higher dose than non-habitual caffeine consumers. It is important to experiment with the amount caffeine required to enhance performance in training and it is even more important to be aware of any side effects you may experience from higher than normal caffeine doses.
Alan Ruddock CSCS, YCS
The autonomic nervous system or ANS is made up of sympathetic and parasympathetic nerves. The sympathetic nerves speed up various physiological processes such as heart rate and the parasympathetic nervous system slows down physiological processes.
It is possible to measure sympathetic and parasympathetic responses to exercise using heart rate variability. Heart rate variability is the time interval between heart beats and is usually measured in ms.
Scientists use heart rate variability information to study what happens to the ANS during and after exercise.
One particular interesting study is that of Buchheit et al. (2007) . These researchers studied a phenomenon known as parasympathetic reactivation.
When we are at rest the parasympathetic nervous system is the predominant system we use to control normal bodily functions. However, when we exercise the sympathetic nervous system increases its activity and reduces the effect of the parasympathetic nervous system.
So, parasympathetic reactivation is the study of how long the parasympathetic nervous system takes to recover from exercise and return to baseline or near baseline measures.
What Buchheit et al. (2007) looked at was which type of training affected parasympathetic reactivation the most. The type of training looked at was repeated all-out sprints, continuous running or an intermittent exercise session.
The results showed that the activities that placed the highest demand on the anaerobic energy system ie. repeated sprints had the slowest parasympathetic reactivation.
This study really backs up what coaches have thought for a while, that anaerobic exercise places a considerable demand on the human nervous system.
What’s important is that we recognise that it’s not just muscles that need to recover from exercise but the nervous system too. This means we need to take into account rest periods during exercise and throughout training cycles in order to optimise training adaptations.
This point is especially valid when we are competing in sprint and intermittent type activities.
Alan Ruddock CSCS, YCS
Bryan Habana is the winger for the South African national rugby team. In the current standings, after one game, he’s the top try scorer in the rugby world cup with four tries.
So just how fast can this guy run? I’ve been digging around for some official figures but can’t find any. There’s reports that Habana has run 10.4-s for the 100-m and others that say just under 11-s. I also found an article that said he can run 40-m in 4.63-s.
But it doesn’t matter what he can run on the track. It’s completely different running on a grass pitch, in boots, with pads and kit and against an opposition who want to smash you into next week.
Habana earns his money on the rugby pitch and as long as he’s tearing up defences, scoring tries and entertaining us – does it matter what the official figures are? Probably not.
On another note, I’ve heard that Habana can bench press 160 kg, which for a winger is seriously strong. If his lower body strength is just as good then there’s a good chance we can say that his speed comes from a great ability to apply a lot of force to the ground in a short space of time.
Finally, forget a 40-m, 60-m, 100-m or 200-m race to judge how fast your athletes are get them to do this instead!
This is Bryan Habana racing a cheetah!
Alan Ruddock CSCS, YCS
For those of you who are unaware, the world athletics championships bronze medallist, Asafa Powell, has smashed his own world 100-m record by 0.03-s!
You can watch his world record 9.74-s run in the video below as well as the 9.78-s run he recorded at the same meet.
If you can cope with the cheesy music there’s some excellent race angles.
The most astonishing part of his 9.74-s run is the fact that he appears to ease down after 85 - 90-m.
I’m sure there’s a few sports scientists in the world, including me, interested in putting some force plates underneath Powell and recording the amount of force he puts into the ground!
Alan Ruddock CSCS, YCS
What are multiple sprints? Well, in team games players are required to sprint intermittently throughout the match and thus multiple times.
My advice is that if you compete in an intermittent sport then you should always have an aerobic base, and training like the players in the study above will help you achieve an excellent base for the season.
Sometimes stepping backward to move forward isn’t totally bad. As a young soccer player, probably about 8 years a go, our coach brought in a “speed expert”.
He asked one of the players to perform a sprint and asked the rest of us “what did you notice about that sprint?” We came up with all sorts of answers except the one he was looking for.
The answer he gave us was that when the player reacted to the call to sprint, he took a small step back, and according to the coach this cost him time.
This lost time could be critical to the outcome of a contest when two players are reacting and challenging for the ball. The small step back he was referring to is known as the “plyo-step” (Lee Taft) or “False Step”.
The speed coach then tried to teach us some drills to eliminate the plyo-step which were centred around body position.
Unfortunately, he had little success with our particular group. Furthermore, as soccer is a random multi-directional game, it is hard to position your body to eliminate the plyo-step when you don’t know what direction you will be moving in!
Interestingly, a piece of research by Brown and Vescovi (2004) found that the plyo-step allows for the greater force development with the shortest impulse time compared to the “drop and go” and “staggered step” techniques. This doesn’t mean to say that the plyo-step your performing correct. Lee Taft offers some technical advice in the International Youth Conditioning Association Developmental Essentials.
Your push off leg should be aligned directly behind the body. Your upper body and shoulders should assume a forward lean to line up the angle of push-off. The aim is then to generate lots of power into the ground by aggressive arm and knee actions so to transfer force into the push off leg.
If your looking at improving acceleration, it’s worth analysing your starting technique.
Alan Ruddock CSCS, YCS
