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