I’ve been busting my ass working on form for the last while and been doing everything on the balls of my feet, Walking, jogging, standing even sleeping
I’ve found my calves are always burning when i do this . So it seems very obvious that your calves play a big role when you sprint on the balls of your feet.
So why are the not exercised that often? I’ve looked at umpteen journals that do them rarely if ever.
Also any sprinter ive ever watched at the blocks seems to have huge calves. Like biceps really. Mine just go straight down from my knee with no real belly if you know what i mean.
Is this nmuscle just from constantly sprinting on the balls of their feet or do they do calf raises a lot?
I do them maybe once a week at most.
Working on calves is the last thing you have to worry about. You may have been working on them without even realizing it! When you do sprints, plyos, or etc, you are already working on them! That’s why most people don’t bother targeting them specifically in their workout.
As for running on the balls of your feet, it’s not the calves that you have to worry about, the plantar flexion is the one that plays the role in this.
The sizes of the calves all came from doing sprinting and plyos. Rarely does a sprinter need a huge calf. Like Charlie stated in the CFTS, a huge calves only leads to a heavier weight to carry.
ok thanks.
while im asking, can some1 explain what ankling drill is? any videos?
I think i know why im making no progress in my 40 yrd time. i run predominantly on my heels. i need to get onto the balls of my feet but its damn hard.
anyone recommend some good drills/ footwear that might force me to correct my posture.
What would the knock on effect be on time of correcting my posture? A few tenths of a sec over 40yrds? or a figure much smaller? there has to be a good reason why i can only do 5.2s when i can squat 170kg@ 80kg bodyweight 11% BF
everyone tells me i run like a duck and im too low/flat footed but i cant seem to fix this…
Without seeign a video ankling would be a very difficult drill to descibe. It is pretty much a quick feet running drill where the the foot is stepping over the ankle. Low recovery and very short ground contact time. Hands should be down at the hips with arms slightly bent.
Looks almost like running on the balls of your feet with tiny little strides very quickly.
Please excuse my 3rd grade description if you still dont get it.
How do sprinters learn to run on the balls of their feet?
Do they walk like that too?
It really is sore walking like that. Are there better ways to learn this black art?
Im almost there i think. Another few weeks and it should be second nature i hope. I’ve yet to see an improvement in my times though with my new running style…
Running on the balls of your feet is perfect but don’t take it too far. I run on my toes and I needa change that cause I’m not producing the maximum power from my stride. Just doing As, Bs and Cs and bounding and stuff and concentrating on making ground contact on the balls of your feet is probably the best way to make it second nature. It’s too hard to think about it when running full go.
joconnor, interest your topic;
i´m thinking just like you are this week.
Today for example, i came back from work ( office work not train ) using this method of walking on the balls of feet, i´ve just realized that i can´t go further than 40 steps until the shins muscles start to kill me.
But why is this about ? Well, i´m not sure about you, but i have some strenght, technique, frequency, stride lenght, explisiveness but, i can´t beat the 12.0s barrier.
I believe i´m losing energy each step, since i´m not running on the balls of feet yet.
I guess you already heard about the “toes up”, i believe this is the basis to run on the balls of feet. Try this, just walk pointing your toes to high trying to perforate your shoes, it´s damn hard even after 30 steps.
I´m not sure about the benefits yet but…
My advice to any heel striker is to find some “safe” grass (no sharp or hard objects), and run. This is natural and you will abandon the “lazy” style of running initiated by the wonderful cushion in your shoes and automatically get back to basics.
Heel striking barefoot would rattle your teeth and bruise your heel. Your body shouldn’t let you do it. This will also strengthen your feet.
For your form you will have to find a coach to tell you what you are doing wrong. As for running drills there are about a trillion to choose from. But stick to the basics mach a’s and b’s, High knees, butt kicks… Are you doing hill runs? Short hills about 20-30meters at a 20 degree slope… w/a vol of 300-600m.
