Just wondering if sprinting up hills can improve one’s top speed, or are hills primary a stimulus for improving acceleration up to 30 meters?
Not really, unless you are new to sprinting (when anything that resembles sprinting will still make you faster) or it is part of a contrast workout where you follow uphill sprints by supramaximal downhill sprints.
Does this come under Charlie’s improve one point on the curve improve all points on the curve?
In a sense, however, what robin1 mentioned regarding “new to sprinting” has more to do with the nature of dose: response as it pertains to lack of training history. The reason nearly “anything” yields an improvement in a beginner is because the differential between “anything” and their existing ability is typically high intensity enough to yield an improvement. Charlie wrote about this, in terms of nearly anything a beginner does is high intensity.
For this same reason, special endurance can improve max V for a time (until the sprinter’s speed develops to the point where the special endurance velocity is no longer significant enough to stimulate max V).
It all comes down to differentials.
Hills are typically used to develop acceleration. It has to do with the angle of the body relative to the ground. Running at top speed requires you to be upright for maximum extension and hip height over the ground. During early acceleration the body ideally will be at a sharp angle to the ground. Hill running allows weaker athletes that cannot extend their bodies over the ground at such a low angle to develop strength and mechanics for acceleration by bring the ground up to them.
What would you say is “beginner” in this context? where less specific elements (“anything”) such as hills and special endurance can still improve max velocity? Someone that has less than x number of training age? someone who hasn’t reached x number of sprint times, or someone one who isn’t able to withstand x amount of general fitness routine?
Simply compare the differentials in velocities achieved via the respective training stimuli (hills, sleds, isorobic, jumps, bounds…) relative to velocities associated with the aspect of the race that you are seeking to improve (start, initial accel, late accel, max V, speed endurance…). From there you will be on your way to developing models of transference for athletes of comparable output abilities/profiles
So I guess as long as the stimulus exercise allows 95% speed of the aspect of the race to be improved, it’s fine?
For example, if one is running at one’s 95% of max speed, max v can be improved, but if one is running at like 85% of max speed it can’t improve max velocity?
Not necessarily. The differential’s and the implications of the stimuli will not be identical from sprinter to sprinter unless they are clones of one another (perhaps identical twins). That said, the closer the velocities the higher the direct transfer.
There are means of indirect transfer, however, which apply to instances in which the nature of the preparatory stimuli is not directly related to the competition task. In this way, the indirect transfer comes from a more general causality. For example, heavy sled sprints are a world apart in velocity from any aspect of a sprint; however, the strength developed in the same/similar kinematic positions as the sprint may serve to transfer to faster sprint times for that population of sprinters who are deficient in that particular realm of strength.
Remember, not only is each athlete an individual who must be treated as such; and in addition, that same athlete will demonstrate different adaptive sensitivity to preparatory volumes, intensities, densities, and typologies over the course of their career.
Sounds like determining whether a stimulus is close enough in velocity to the aspect of a race is something that requires more trial and error, rather than calculation using percentages?
Thank you.
Both, because you’ll calculate percentages as a starting point and go from there with trial and error.
Okay, so percentages can be used to get a starting point, then with trial and error, one can find the percentage of max velocity that produces desirable result for that person at that point in time from what I’m understanding. No easy answer, but solid principles that require precise work.
Thank you.
You got it