Why would a 100m guy do 150s and 200s for SE when he never runs that far in the race?
also, when in the blocks, your front leg is a 90 degrees and for the first few steps its a smaller angle.
I heard he is a raving alcoholic and so is his coach. Who knows.
Ya i mean you build general strength through use of different exercises, specific strength work is done with drills and resisted sprints.
The benefit in doing the high step ups would be in Asafa’s drive phase.
Perhaps one of the reasons why his start is very strong for a tall athlete.
Those heavy step ups require a tremendous amount of stability and proprioception.
I think I shall give them a try tomorrow…
your right, heavy single leg work is the key to having a strong start.
Franno said Safa’s run “31.4 or 5” for 300m SSP (hand-timed I assume)
I believe it, he looked very strong in the first 300m of that 400 the other day.
Kitkat did anyone get his split on that race?
If I get a chance to speak again some day with coach Francis I’ll try to ask. By the way, he says he reads the forum from time to time and, without wanting to quote him out of context, he said he liked a lot of the opinions expressed here. He made a particular point of saying he liked PJ’s posts. And he said he agreed with Charlie’s opinion on Asafa needing more races prior to Osaka.
I was interested that Franno seemed so friendly and candid, I would say a really nice guy. I wish he would come and offer some of his own views on this forum. If I speak to him again I will extend that invitation on behalf of us all, ok.
That’s an interesting point. As a tall athlete with a weak start I need all the help I can get here! Why do you feel the single leg work is of benefit? Is it due to the extra work on the stabilisers in this movement which in turn translate to more efficiency on the track??
yes and running is a single leg activity and ur only as strong as ur weakest link.
get a bigger squat, pretty much guaranteed your single leg strength will go up as well (not true vice versa), unless balance is a big problem, however, balancing ability is not essential in sprinting.
Generally a good level of stability/balance is required, but I wouldnt go too far with it. I saw a program one time putting so much emphasis on stability that the guy was teaching his athletes squats and deadlifts standing on a basketball.
And this was for a vertical jump program I think. :eek:
Not true. You should read the article about Mark Rippetoe not being able to single leg squat with a 600 lb squat.
I have several guys who can 2x BW+ squat who can’t 1 leg squat to parallel.
There was discussion on this forum in the summer about this as well, although on a different focal point (should sprinters use 1 leg squat movements or just 2 leg).
Not being able to do an arbitrary movement you haven’t practice, that takes some skill (something like a pistol for example) doesn’t necessarily mean you don’t have good single leg strength. Pistols and things of that nature take some coordination and practice to get used to.
Look if you can run fast you probably have good single leg strength. Doesn’t mean they arn’t useful but also doesn’t mean they necessarily add anything that specifically productive for sprinters.
Single leg strength doesn’t = pistol. Bulgarian squats, lunge variations, etc. are examples of single leg strength. Who do you think can split squat more, a 600lb squatter or a 300lb squatter? Unless balance is a HUGE issue the answer is obvious.
It inverse also isn’t true. My max squat is weak right now (haven’t checked, but probably about 275 for 185 bodyweight), and I can do a full depth (hamstring touching calf) single leg squat with both legs.
The two movements are not related to each other in terms of transfer of strength. The bottom line, back to the point of the thread, is that it seems that front squats and steps ups seem to be working for AP. Maybe on a L-S this combo is best. For a S-L, maybe a back squat program is best…who knows. Regarding track, if times get faster, you are doing something right.
There are many roads to Rome…or Beijing in this case.
Isn’t it fair to say he has a very strong start…period. Not just for a tall sprinter. His 1st 30m is as good if not better than anyone in history. What s Asafa’s best 30m compared to Ben’s?
Ya what are powells best splits.