not sure if that is directed at me but it was not meant to be rude. i have been involved in bobsleigh for quite a long time and know what it takes.
Bobber:
I belive POI, was only commenting on the stats you posted, for sure not running under 4.0 in a 30 is not good for a world cup level bobsleder. How was he suposed to know that you have run 3.70’s he was only trying to give you some info. Trust me if he is going to give u info he is worth listening to. He is very talented (just not as talented as a certain skeleton guy!!!)
It seems like your biggest obstacle is going to be your lack of speed work. Your strength numbers look good, but my concern would be the current 30m time considering how strong you are at this point. Your power clean is 130kgs this would lead me to belive that you should be able to apply enough force over 30m to have a decent time. Do you know what your 15m was? This would give a more acurate picture of your current situation.
good luck.
I take on your comments in a positive manner, thank you…just to rectify things…I am aware of the level of knowledge of said person…he has enlightened me at length…however …I am aware of my failings…hence ,my asking for construstive positive feedback…like yours.
My 15 m split time was 1.97 secs
So does anybody have any detailed information on the training of bobsledders? The following quotes have piqued my interest in their training:
''I didn’t have the physical abilities these guys do," said Hays, even though he’s 6 feet 3 inches, 235 pounds, and is a former national kickboxing champion. ''All of our guys run 4.2, 4.3, 4.4 and can squat 600-700 pounds. Basically, this is the Olympic 40-yard dash." -Todd Hays
The following is from John Berardi’s forum:
"Just so you know – and this is the reason I asked – bobsled athletes are the most unbelievable athletes in the world. These guys have the speed of NCAA sprinters or NFL wide receivers while being built line NFL linebackers or fullbacks.
Im not kidding. Here are some “typical” stats:
6’, 220lbs, 550lb bench press, 385lb clean, and 4.3 speed
Mere mortals, these guys are not.
You’re either born a bobsled hopeful or you’re not.
Im a pretty good sized guy - 195 right now - and am a former runner - and have some respectible lifts. Yet the US bobsled team wouldn’t have even been an option - not even close - at my best.
Not sure about those numbers being “typical”… the records for USBB are published and available. Other countries tend to have better drivers, but I find it hard to believe that every country has droves of pushers better than the best to ever come from USBB.
I would think that most of those numbers are fairly accurate with the exception of the bench press. Perhaps he meant the squat because a 550 lb. bench at 220 is hardly typical, I don’t care who you are.
Also, would you think that the OL’s would have even more significance in this sport than others? There is definitely a need for RFD at the start.
From Germany and Swiss, there are are absolute monsters out there…the 4 us guys seems visually a bit less than them…
I caan only provide some italians stats.
Our N.1 Brakeman can clean 172,5 kg a t 103 kg bw…(in the spare time, he did a 11"16 100m if I’m correct…), many can clean 140.
for squats. Hefti (swiss) has been seen to perform easy 250kg squat singles (deep) the day before the race in cortina some years ago
What is the reasoning behind the heavy squats the day before a World Cup event? I’ve heard some suggest that it creates tension in the muscle, I believe it was the Canadians who thought this. Perhaps as a potentiation method?
I would have to agree about the Germans and the Swiss, if I remember correctly from the last Olympics they looked so much more physically impressive than the other teams, including the US.
2 reasons:
- Potentiation pre race (as used by many throwrers)
- season is long, and you need to train!!every week in a different location., 5 days of trials and 2 to compete…sparingly at home, you need to mantain and also ( for top brakeman at the beginning fo the season) also increase it…for next olympics, check best brake world cup schedule…usually they do the first 2 races…then gfo home and train…last 2 races…then olympics …and the fly…(same thing for world champs…sometimes)
I suppose that is their form of periodization and peaking.
It is truly a fascinating sport and you can see why some of these guys are just absolute freaks. The objective is to be as big, strong, powerful and fast as humanly possible!
I don’t know if there is anyone in the NFL, or any other sport for that matter (perhaps a handful of 100m men) who can measure up to Todd Hays’ standard ''All of our guys run 4.2, 4.3, 4.4 and can squat 600-700 pounds. Basically, this is the Olympic 40-yard dash."
The funny thing is that even with those kind of freaks on the team, they are still outclassed on the push by the Swiss and Germans.
I’m pretty sure I read somewhere that when bobsledders test their 40 the runs are usually done from a 1m flying start.
Even so 4.2 is still insanely fast.
Well I would assume that only the US would talk about 40 yard times. It would be interesting to see what some of the Europeans would run.
I believe that the standard test that most bobsled athletes use is a 30m and a 60m with a 1m run in. The fastest I have seen is a 3.47 and 6.2x combo by Beat Hefti.
In europe they do test 30m-60m…also in north america:)
Yeah now that I think about it, it was probably the 30m that I read was tested from a 1m run in.
Just out of curiosity, how much of a time difference do you think the 1m run in would make?
Hmm, I would think anywhere from .2-.3
Anybody else catch the 2-man competition? The brakemen for the top 3 sleds are absolute monsters, the two Germans are both around 250 and ran 10.5 as juniors and the Russian, Voevoda, is an arm wrestling champion. Pretty impressive to watch.
How can you watch that stuff, I’m sorry but the winter Olympics is so boring.
Record it on DVR and fast forward through the Ice Dancing.
Bobsled is exciting at least…I also like speed skating and Biathlon.
Germany 2 brake was playing in the german Football League also…a monster…( football federation in germany has something like 40.000 athletes, and a semi pro tournament, gathering more than 30.000 people for the final, named german Bowl).
The most impressiva brakeman was for sure Canadian-Jamaican Lascelles Brown…huge fast freaky guy…the other Canadian, Lumdsden, plays in the CFL and had a stint in the NFL, impressive too…but on another planet.
Unfortunately, Beat Hefti had a concussion in trials, so could not compete.
regarding times…Hefti run 6"69 ( or 72 ) on 60m…FAT on a track meet in 2002, and cedric Grand, another Swiss, still holds swiss record with 6"60…Grand has also some of the best standing jumps ( especially 5 fold), that I ever heard of.