Jones who won 5 Olympic medals in 2000, is planning to plead guilty to lying to federal agents over the use of banned substances.

In December 2004, she sued BALCO founder Victor Conte, contending he falsely accused her of taking performance-enhancing drugs.

Peakspeed will bring you the latest when it happens.

 Alan Ruddock CSCS, YCS

Many coaches, trainers and scientists also assume that athletes know how to change direction at speed (cutting) correctly. WRONG! Many athletes don’t.

It is often these assumptions that are the underlying cause of many non-contact injuries. Note the fact that between 50 – 80% of all injuries are non contact injuries!

Coaches often prescribe agility or speed drills to athletes without consideration of these issues and then get frustrated when the athletes don’t perform the drill as well as expected or get injured!

A piece of research carried out in medicine and science for sports and exercise by Dempsey et al. (2007) looked the effect of different “cutting” techniques on a number of things including peak valgus moments at the point of weight acceptance during the “cut”.

The term valgus refers to the outward angulation of the distal segment of a bone, in the case of this study the knee.

Previous research has identified that peak valgus moments increase the risk of ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) injury.

What Dempsey et al. (2007) found was that different cutting techniques produced different peak valgus moments. The technique that had the greatest potential ACL injury risk was an excessive outward step in the opposite direction to movement (around 49 cm foot distance from the pelvis), followed by a technique whereby the trunk was rotated so it was leaning away from the direction of movement.

This study provides an excellent basis for further research in this area but as coaches we need to identify athletes with techniques that increase risk of injury and modify these techniques. Even better than that, we need to teach correct cutting technique before we identify technique problems!

This way you won’t get frustrated and your athletes won’t get injured!

Peakspeed.net, helping you break the speed limit.

Alan Ruddock CSCS, YCS

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

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 

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

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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

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

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