History
I am a long jump coach. In the last 2 years I have taken on a senior male sprinter 60m 6.88s/100m 10.8s/long jumper 7.60m.Weight 73kgs. He had 6 years out following a partial achilles tendon rupture. He didnt have surgery just continued in the weights room. 3 years into his break, he started cycling professionally, training his VO2 Max & lactate threshold. His Vo2 max improved from 56 when he was a sprinter to 74 as a cyclist. Now after 2 years of intense rehabilitation on achilles he is totally injury and pain free. His current training levels are :
deadlift 200kgx3=86%of previous PB
power clean 120kgx1=88%of previous PB
snatch 75kgsx1=88%of previous PB
1 foot Depth Jumps 1m=57% of previous PB level
All through the last 2 years he has sprinted and jumped in training technically well. Question
Training levels are high but competition performances are currently low. He is running 60m 7.31s, 11.35s for 100m and jumping 6.60m. Weight still 73kgs. His box splits and sprinters sprints flexibility has improved over the 6 years by 10-15%.
1)Did the cyling change his muscle fibres from type 2B to slow twitch?
2) Is this irreversable? If not, how do you reverse it?
3)Does he need to perform closer to or in excess of his previous PB levels to transform the fibres back from slow to fast?
4)Can improved flexibility ever decrease speed and power?
Not irreversable, although will take time - if of course that is the central issue; maybe best if you can post a brief video of your guy doing a runthrough or two, close up from the floor to the topof his head. Then we all would have a better idea of the subject.
I know from having worked with a woman who trained to be a sprint cyclist (1km time trial) that she had a shocking time trying to return to the track (400m), largely because the bike imposes different mechanics on the athlete (personal opinion).
Once she jumped off the bike and had to rely on her personal mechanics - rather than metal bike frame etc -she fell into very poor position.
But the good news is that a year later she made an Olympic 400 final and ran PBs at every distance from 20m to 600m.
Thank you very much. Please could you re-read the post because I have edited it with more detailed information. The cycling did change his biomechanics which we have re-corrected. (hip flexors out of balance with gluts due to SPDs hence limited backward extension). We dont have video footage. Sorry.
Muscles are plastic. In other words they will change or adapt to what ever training you give them. The outcome will be determined by adaptability of your athlete. The problem your athlete will experience maybe due to less co-ordination, different neural pathways being chosen, different type of elastin cells that make up tendon and ligaments. Even shortened ligaments and tendons. An imbalance or widening of strength ratio between quads and hamstrings. Rest and appropriate trainng leads to fibre re-transformation. Flexibility or compliance will improve performance.
Are you sure about that last number? If 1m is 57% of his previous pb, then he was depth jumping 1.75m before. A 69" vertical from a 1 foot drop is not humanely possible at this stage in evolution.
