Track and Field
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
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
Congratulations goes to Tyson Gay who yesterday won the IAAF World Athletics Championships 100-m in 9.85-s.
As discussed in an earlier post, Gay had to get by his standards a decent start – and he did. His reaction time of 0.143 was faster than Asafa Powell’s 0.145, yet due to Gays poor technique Powell had maybe 1.5-m lead on Gay up until 60-m.
However, thanks to Gay’s superb top speed and slower rate of deceleration he was able to claw back Powell’s lead and actually beat Powell by 2-2.5-m. Obviously Gay’s training programme is a closely guarded secret however he attributes his top speed and slower rate of deceleration to a lot of over-distance running. Rumour has it his favourite distance in training is 250-m. With such an emphasis on over-distance it is not illogical to understand why his start is slightly off the pace of his rivals. When John Drummond (who is tutoring Gay) gets Gays starts up to standard – watch out for 9.75-s!
In the Norwich Union London Grand Prix tomorrow evening Tyson Gay will attempt to break the World 100-m record jointly held by Asafa Powell and Justin Gatlin of 9.77-s.
Certainly he has the ability, and the top speed and has already run faster than the world record this season, albeit a wind assisted 9.76-s.
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=V5s8DgXRjGQ
But as the IAAF World Athletics Championships in Osaka draws closer what will limit Gay in achieving the WR?
Well, this would definitely be the start of the 100-m. Gay has been inconsistent this season but has been working with former US sprinter John Drummond in an attempt to correct his starting technique.
If we look closely at Gays body angle following the initial push out of the blocks this looks to set up his poor starts. Rather than his torso being at an angle of around 40-50 deg and back being straight, his torso is slightly bent and crumpled.
What this means is that the unbelievable force he generates is not optimally transferred to horizontal speed because of his crumpled and therefore weaker core musculature.
If Tyson Gay nails the start on Friday night, floods or no floods, there will be a new world record holder. All comments welcome.
Justin Gatlin
The joint world record holder for the men’s 100-m, Justin Gatlin, will begin the final day of a 2-day United States Drug Authority (USADA) hearing in Atlanta today, with the aim of clearing his name.
Testosterone
Despite failing and accepting both A and B samples contained testosterone or a pre-cursor in April last year, Gatlin is aiming to overturn the life ban imposed on him by USADA.
Athletes fail a drug test if the Testosterone- Epitestosterone ratio is above 4:1, if there are concentrations of androsterone greater than 10,000 ng/ml or concentration of Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) is greater than 100 ng/ml.
Athletes beware
DHEA is readily available on the sports supplements market and is specifically targeted at power sports. Do not be coaxed by gimics or clever advertising – this stuff can ruin your career- plus it’s not even proven to enhance performance!
Research
Your far better to sticking to the stuff that has been scientifically proven time and time again to work, carbohydrates, creatine, caffeine, protein, glutamine (anecdotal) and pay attention to when these supplements have the greatest effect on anabolic hormones.
Carbohydrates: Before, during and after
Creatine: Absorbed faster (5g) after exercise
Caffeine: At least 3mg per kg body mass 60 – 30 mins before exercise
Protein: Immediately before and after exercise
Glutamine: 10 g after exercise.
All comments welcome
