I’ve always been told that the initial acceleration is supposed to be “PUSH, PUSH, PUSH”, so I slam the ground as hard as I can with each of my initial steps. People have noticed that they can hear my loud pounding, no matter what surface I’m on. I always thought that maximal hip/knee extension force is the way to go, but this no longer seems right to me… any advice for max acceleration? Thanks!
BTW-My Tibias are KILLING me because of this.
I know your supposed to power and push when acc, but not stomping, I think work on technique and the power with the steps will develop from weights and practice of technique.
By concentrating on stomping the ground you’re probably gesticulating strength more then necessary and this leads to tightness. There is a sprinter in my group who precisely does this, he is an animal in terms of strength and it’s pretty much become a norm for him to accelerate in this way, stomping the ground, he likes to showboat a lot and this way everyone looks at him, that’s for sure. Unfortunately gesticulating force so much at the beginning makes him get tense and his 6.8 60m. tranfers to a mediocre 11.4 100m. PB, because he dies later in the race because of all the lack of efficiency in his STRONG, POUNDING acceleration. So I guess the key is powerful acceleration. Not raw, pounding, devastating strength, but SMOOTH, graceful and RELAXED power directed in the right direction. If your case is like my friend, you’ll also need to get out of your head the idea that noise makes you look more powerful, it doesn’t, you’ll look more powerful then the rest when you power ahead of them during the acceleration and all the way to the tape, not just the first 30m. Also, think basic physics, if you’re making that much sound, it means that the more sound you make the more energy you’re wasting, to make sound energy is required, and that energy which is converted to sound is not used to make you move forward, it is wasted into the air.
Of course … maybe it’s just the way you step that makes you make the noise and you won’t be able to change that without biomechanical changes … maybe something as stupid as using appropriate insoles for your feet.
“Gesticulating”? Dude, you made that word up!
I guess it’s hard for me to get over the idea that the greatest speed is acheived by exerting the maximum force against the ground (theoretically equating to greater stride length???).
Again, I appreciate the input guys!
I dont disagree with that, I am saying by focusing on pounding your feet and not a smooth powerful acc, with very good technique(which with the technique the start will come) I think energy is wasted. Remember your always running the fastest when it feels effortless and its not how hard you feel like your exerting force, but the net force. For ex if you can prod 100N of force but because you are tense your atagonist only allows 50N. But if you relax and your atagonist relaxes you put out 80N, feels easier, but more net force. I think i read it like that from an article by charlie.
Ha! 
Yeah, I thought so too, but then I looked in the dictionary and found it meant sort of what I meant to say, to make visual gestures with your body of what you’re trying to do. Well. I think you understood what I meant LOL. 
Good points, I also read that one, if I remember right it’s from his tmag article. I think that’s a great physical explanation to what the theory behind relaxing is. Less energy wasted by the antagonist, so although you will put and feel less force with your agonist what matters at the end is what the total net force is. A massive, stomping, tense 100N (100N is probably low, just throwing it as a figure) with your quads in acceleration, will be countered by 50N of your antagonist, thus net force is 50N. But a relaxed 80N with the antagonist only offering 10N of resistance will deliver 70N of net force. Conclusion : option number two will result in a much more efficient and powerful acceleration or run.
mmm kind of, the goal really is to keep the 100N and have only a 10N detraction, so it feels as though you are putting out less force with the agonist, but really it is the same effort with less of an atangonist pull because of relaxtion and proper muscle firing sequences allowing for a higher net force.
http://www.charliefrancis.com/community/showthread.php?t=3444
"For example, if, by maximum effort, you generate 100 pounds of force in the desired direction while putting out 30 pounds of force with the antagonists, you’re left with 70 pounds of net force. If you completely relax and put out an easy 80 pounds of force in the desired direction and no pounds with the antagonists, you are left with 14% more net power with 62% less effort (80 verses130 pound total output)! "
A coach i spoke to about the issue since i think that force application may be my main problem since during my acceleration my steps are a million miles an hour side to side (skating) had a different opinion…
i emailed him and said…
i said do you think this could be my problem…
""For example, if, by maximum effort, you generate 100 pounds of force in the desired direction while putting out 30 pounds of force with the antagonists, you’re left with 70 pounds of net force. If you completely relax and put out an easy 80 pounds of force in the desired direction and no pounds with the antagonists, you are left with 14% more net power with 62% less effort (80 verses130 pound total output)! "
tell me what you think. i think it was illustrated well…
he responded…
Not sure I agree with you…I believe that the antagonist vs. the agonist is a theory that some scientist put together in regards to weight lifting. In my opinion, this theory has no relevance to actual running. On foot contact, the agonist (quads) and the antagonist (hamstrings) act together at the same time to create force which propels the foot underneath the hips. To be so scientific with running is a joke. The important thing for good sprinting to take place is that each athlete have the awareness of sprint technique followed by a good
training plan. I like the plan we are on. It is in the area of sprint technique where you haven’t been able to break previous bad habits that will hold you back until the corrections are slowly made. Your acceleration needs to be steady,progressive and linear…not side to side. The force you create is not 100% in the desired direction and that is where you lose optimum efficiency. If you can’t do it slowly you’ll never do it faster. Relaxation is important in the whole scheme, but not the most important ingredient.
Now guys listen… before you get all worked up jus keep in mind that this is a coach i highly repect and trust. He is a very intelligent individual and i would like to know honestly what you guys think about his response so i can comment back.
thanx in advance.
U said at the top your arms and legs go side to side (skating)
As it happens I do inline skating for recovery sessions, do u think this will mess with my sprint technique?