rob ryder wrote:
…however that they doubted that Edwards, Backley or Christie would lift much more in full squat cleans and snatches. The point- the power exercises were specially targeted feats of the said athletes.
It was reported in a Norwegian magazine that Steve Backley can’t squat more than 150kg. This was used as an example of how explosiveness is more important than max-strenght in the javelin.
Steve Backley has often mentioned that he is a technique based thrower relying more on rythm than power. That’s how he puts it anyway. He has also noted that other javelin throwers have posted far more impressive numbers in the gym than what he has, including Jan Zelezney(spelling ?). Charlie has mentioned that; "…Even the svelte Petra Felke, a 130 pound javelin thrower, was booming up 205-pound snatch
lifts… " in Speed Trap.
Quote; " Ben was doing squats to parallel normally and only did 1/4 squats after the injury in May 1988. As Ben weighed 173 and Linford was more like 200 lbs, I don’t doubt for a minute the numbers quoted. Also, Linford was an excellent starter." C.Francis.
What would Ben be doing for hamstring stimulation after May 88?
Were reverse hypers sufficient enough to maitain hamstring strength?
Also, I thought that the quater squat was potentially dangerous to the knee, maybe not.
For the video o f linford…
http://www.fidal.it/showquestion.php?faq=12&fldAuto=571
the vhs is the number 30.
for other info,ask…
Eros
One thing is certain though, many track and field athletes in the uk can outlift the best weightlifters in the uk in the power clean exercise. For example, i read on this forum that Linford was capable of 170kg power clean in 1998 at 92kg bodyweight. The British record holder in the 94kg weight class is David Guest (5’7") with 196kg in the clean and jerk. I saw him at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester max out at 185kg in the clean and jerk and he had to dip very low to recover from his cleans. Percentage wise, one would calculate that his power clean would be in the neighbourhood of 155- 165kg. Jonathon Edwards can power clean 150kg at 72kg bwt, and not many weightlifters up to the 94kg class in Britain could match this lift. Interestingly, i had a conversation with a group of weightlifters in the athletes village (i was a volunteer) who were impressed by Edward’s power clean and of Steve Backley’s ability to power snatch 110kg. They did say however that they doubted that Edwards, Backley or Christie would lift much more in full squat cleans and snatches. The point- the power exercises were specially targeted feats of the said athletes.
I have recently thought that since Jonathon has retired he might be persuaded to qualify for, and compete in the National Weightlifting Championships. He could probably drop down to the 69k class and win even with his ‘power’ total (providing he could jerk it!). THis would be great publicity for the sport of weightlifting in Britain and would perhaps dispel some common public fallacies (e.g. ‘Bigger is stronger’). I may actually write to Jonathon to suggest this…
Do it! If he decides to lift, make sure print and television media know it’s happening - it could have a great effect on the profile of the sport in the UK.
rob ryder,
A 270kg full squat with no wraps, no suit, no belt as a 91kg lifter is incredible.
Bill Stellios, a Commonwealth gold medalist, had a best back squat of 210kg when he could clean and jerk 180kg as a 75 kg lifter.
As far as track athletes are concerned, they do have incredible power and strength levels for non-lifters. However, I have been told by several friends who trained with Christie that he got nowhere near parallel with his heavier lifts. But he did run 9.87.
Clemson man,
too bad about that video. Oh yeah, why was Linford in Tampa, did you train him or something?
in case yall didnt get it, i was joking about the russian thing.
peace
As good a starter as Linford was, he was not in the same league as Ben. This may be because Ben was lighter and having shorter legs it would obviously take him less time to get into his running. So on this front i agree that just because Ben was a better starter, it doesn’t necessarily follow that he could out squat Linford, despite the correlation between starting speed and leg strength relative to bodyweight. On the same token, Ben’s shorter leg length put him in a better biomechanical position than Linford to actually put up bigger numbers in the squat. Also just because Linford weighed more does not necessarily mean that he could out squat Ben. He was after all 4- 5 inches taller than Ben and you could easily allow 30- 40 pounds in extra weight for the height difference based on the usual formulas that allow for extra bodyweight for every inch in height above 5’10". Depending on the formula it could be anywhere from 25- 50 pounds. My point is that Ben was muscularly denser than Linford, and he was more than likely stronger. I believe that Ben relied more on his strength to post his fast times than what Linford did on his strength, as Ben’s starts were usually crucial to his victories. Linford relied more on his stride length in relation to Ben. Hence, i would argue that Ben’s legs were both absolutely and proportionately stronger than Linford’s, which is why i still have reservations about Linford’s alleged 300kg squats.
I am going down to Tampa (former home of colin and Linford) the weight room is still next to the track…Linford was in crazy shape right before the olympics…this guy was crazy.
When I was training for competitive olympic weightlifting back in Edinburgh at the Meadowbank sports centre in the late 70’s the sprinter named Alan Wells who if you remember won a gold and a silver at the 80 moscow olympics trained at our gym and I ever only saw him back squat 180kg for 6 reps. Which at that time I thought was not bad for a sprinter.
was that parallel or 3/4 squats?
Allan Wells hardly lifted at all so you can’t rely on that for an indication of his true strength. he relied on gym work and some weighted bounds for power. he did massive numbers of push-ups and sit-ups as well as the “speed bag” that boxers use.
In a “recent” interview Wells said that today he would have relied more on weight training than he did ,and that he thought those workouts with the speedbag made him tight in the upper back.
At the time the interview was conducted he was apparently coaching cricketers.
Christian did you ever work with Steve Wiseman? He was training hard with a lot of the top bobsledders and competed with them as well.
He and I were on the same varsity track team in the mid 90’s and won an AUAA championship together. (He was throwing at that time and I was 300m and 4 x 200m) He is a pretty strong dude I think he is over a 500 pound frontsquat now hehe.
cheers,
Chris
Clemson,
Can you fill us in on what you saw Linford doing in Tampa?
LR1400
Besides the hot women that flocked to him? Dyanmic hurdles, impressive plyos, heavy lifting, and sprinting…also massage.
I can do too one legged hurdle bound, with a much smaller body height, but i’m far to lift as much as Christie did! That’s the difference between explosive strength and maximum strength.
In an article about Colin Jackson’s training prior to Stuttgart’93, Malcolm Arnold gave lift test for Christie, not sure it was in 92 or 93, however, it was during his sprinting career peak!
Bench : 150 kg (331 lbs)
Clean : 135 kg (298 lbs)
1/2 squat : 275 kg (607lbs)
Snatch no test done