Can maximum speed training improve acceleration speed?

Expert Discussion Biomechanics and Physiology
1

Can maximum speed training (due to high frequency) improve acceleration speed?

In a neuromuscular strategy how would you describe the difference between acceleration speed (CNS requirement) vs. maximum speed training (CNS requirement)? Or is it only mechanics (body position / angled vs. tall)?

I’m tring to understad if maximum speed training will improve FTF recruitment and have a cary-over effect on acceleration speed?

Will top speed training and speed reserve play a role in the ability to improve acceleration?

Can anyone help me clarify my understanding?

2

I think that MaxV work does have a strong effect on acceleration, moreso than the other way around. Here is an overly simplified example. Say Runner A improves his MaxV from 9m/s to 10m/s. Let’s say in that it takes the runner 2 seconds to reach 90% of his top speed. Before he improved his MaxV, he would have been going at 8.1m/s after two seconds, but now that he’s improved his Max V he will be travelling 9m/s, so even though he has not improved his acceleration per se, his time from 0 to 20 has improved. There are many flaws with this example, it doesn’t factor in that as your top speed improves, it takes you longer to reach MaxV. I still think it demonstrates though that as you improve your MaxV, your acceleration will improve.

3

How can the two be separated? how did you get to max speed?

4

The example I used probably wasn’t a great one. I wasn’t trying to seperate acceleration and MaxV, if anything I was trying to do the opposite, by showing that how quickly you accelerate is related to the max speed you are capable of reaching.

5

Wondering if their is a need for max velocity training in sports (such as baseball) dominated by short accelerations ?

6

I always thought it was necessary to have a decent MaxV for pretty much any sport because acceleration can be measured as a percentage of your MaxV, and so by increasing MaxV you increase acceleration. Someone correct me if I’m wrong though.

7

Yes, you obviously have to accelerate to get to max speed, but the question is, how fast is the acceleration. I.e. how does one increase the slope of the velocity curve, especially early in the curve (from 0 - 20yds)? This is more important in team sports than the actual top speed that one reaches.

For example, consider the two athletes, Quick and Fast. Quick has great early acceleration, but tops out at 0.9s to cover 10 yards. On the other hand, fast has a more moderate acceleration but can continue to accelerate to a top speed of 0.75s/10 yards. As a (totally contrived) example of their times, say they both hit 90 yards in 9 seconds:

-------10yd—20yd—30yd—40yd—50yd—60yd—70yd—80yd—90yd
Quick - 1.50s - 2.60s - 3.60s - 4.50s - 5.40s - 6.30s - 7.20s - 8.10s - 9.00s
.Fast - 1.55s - 2.70s - 3.75s - 4.75s - 5.70s - 6.60s - 7.45s - 8.25s - 9.00s

(Yes, I realize that it is unlikely that Fast will be able to accelerate that smoothly all the way out to 90 yards…I told you this was a contrived example!)

So, all else being equal, who would you pick for your team? For a track team, you take Fast (unless you are only running indoors :slight_smile: because he wins the 100m every time. But for the football team, you take Quick. Most of the game is played within 20 yards (maybe a bit more for the wideouts and corners) and Quick has a big advantage over these distances.

Now, let’s say you get both Quick and Fast on your football team, how would you go about training them? Would you simply work on max speed for Quick as nap suggests and expect that to carry over to even better early acceleration? For Fast, do you try to get even better top speed and hope that his acceleration improves?

I would think that for Fast, more strength work would probably be called for to help with early acceleration. I’m less sure about how to help Quick. Obviously top speed would would be an area to focus on especially if he also wanted to run track, but I’m not sure how (if) this would contribute to his early acceleration. Also, long term, it seems to me that Fast has more potential since top speed is harder to improve than acceleraton.

Thoughts?

8

Yes, that’s the point I was trying to express.

9

Seems to me that max acceleration training and max speed training both have significant CNS impact, but that max acceleration work has a greater muscular component than pure speed.

10

What about the fact that a lot of the running done in football is near upright position, which would relate more to max velocity, it seems. Would anyone take this point into consideration?

11

That helps guys, but can we come up with a clearer picture?

In baseball they test the 60 yard dash, which would incluce max velocity, but a large percent of the game is played between the bases, 90 feet.

The question still remains does max velocity training affect the recruitment of FTF which could carry over to acceleration speed?

12

Yes, you use the same fibers - you cannot reach max. speed without acceleration - albeit as someone already pointed out, the concentric portion during acceleration is greater than in max. speed where the eccentric portion dominates. You still need both sides of the spectrum in each phase, so why choose between them? Avoid plateaus by alternation.

13

Good answer

14

i think that max speed drills positively affect FTF recruitment in the same way that acceleration does; perhaps what “seperates” them is what xlr8 says, i.e., accereration will be more influenced by strength…
i.e., you may have improvements in acceleration by max speed drills, but if you leave strength out, something might be missing from acceleration’s possible improvement…
helping?

15

on a more practical note on the acceleration/max speed issue, if i may…
the “30+maintain” 60m drills presented in the dvd, are they acceleration drills, or max speed drills? i believe they are there as acceleration drills and you should focus more on the first 30m (hope i’m right); but for a less gifted sprinter, who might be reaching top speed by 30m (or in a later progression of 40m+maintain, if you want), does this drill become a top speed drill? i.e., possibly an almost flat out 60? and should you treat the session as a max speed, rather than an acceleration one?
just trying to clarify this -as many other things :slight_smile:
thanks!

16

That’s a reasonable interpretation as top speed is reached sooner (even with a slower accel) for beginners. As well, the CNS stress for beginners is lower, thus less need for the variability of stress and the interpretation of the demand.

17

so for a begginer, the 30+maintain drill will be about the same with a 60m flat out and you should not differentiate that much between the two, because both are loading the CNS of a begginer in about the same way? and this will vary and should be taken into account only for advanced sprinters?

i’m asking this, because sometimes i’ve got a problem when trying to structure the focus between acceleration and speed work within a week…

thanks!

18

I would think so. Just keep in mind the overall high intensity exposure.

19

A high speed pursuit performed by a cheetah or another fast feline, takes 3 days of rest to recover, and it depends on the success of the hunt.

20

Thats interesting. Anything else that may be relevant from the cheetah world?