Re strength: Don’t be too surprised if you consider the percentage difference in performances and the fact that women can be 90% as strong as a man in the lower body and 65% as strong in the upper body.
If women can be 90% as strong as men in the legs and 65% in the upper body, this would mean that 9.79 for a man would equate to around 10.87 (at 90%) and since women have run this speed and faster wouldn’t thsi render upper body strength as irrelevant in the 100m sprint.
I know it’s not but I’m just going by the figures, unless my math is out … please correct me if I’m wrong.
Obviously, there are many factors at work in the 100m and the womens’ differential is much closer than 90%. As for upper body strength being irrelevant, you could play with stats and conclude that the main difference between performance levels is upper body strength for men (equally questionable)
Point taken. There are just some stats need no conclusion but are just interesting and in this case it would be very interesting (or amazing) to see a woman, who’s shorter than most men and much lighter, lift just as much … and more. A 59Kg woman full squatting 130Kg, as stated above, is amazing. Now that’s power to weight ratio.
Just to add some stats, my wife…
BW 56kg, height 5ft 3
Back Squat (Full, butt to heels) 105-110kg
Deadlift 100kg
Bench 70kg (ages ago)
Clean 70kg
100m 11.61/11.41w
60m 7.36
I also found that I had a number of Girls around 12.00 who
could squat similar #'s but were well behind in cleans/Deadlifts.
How much stronger are male sprinters in the core compared to female sprinters?
I must mention that the reason I have gone off heavy max benching is nothing to do with not needing upper body strength, I actually very firmly believe that a strong upper body is crucial, especially in early acceleration. In this above case I actually think that the 6 rep 80% style bench workout seems to work a little better for the upper body, manages to help the upper body to move more freely during sprint workout and has a lower CNS demand to spend on things like deadlifts which also work the upper body very effectively. Upper body work also includes 5 x 10 various pullups and chinups and various pushup styles but all seem to give a good balanced overall upper body strength.
aj, that’s a very interesting observation. The deadlift is a great indicator of total strength as it involves just about everything. Any upper body weakness would manifest itself in a lower deadlift ability.
From the stats i have for sub 10sec and sub 11sec sprinters:
MEN body weight 80kg
bench 140kg (bw x 1.75)
full squat 210kg (bw x 2.6)
WOMEN body weight 60kg
bench 80kg (bw x 1.3) 60% of 140
full squat 150kg (bw x 2.5) 70% of 210
But great variations can be found, of course.
Anyway, that tells us that assuming the body weight, women are about as strong as men in the lower body, and clearly weaker in the upper body.
I have Privalova’s stats for 1994, the year she ran 10.77 and 21.82w:
bench 60gk and full squat 130kg. Those figures are not really impressive, and she was the best starter in the World! Her max strength wasn’t incredible, but she had terrific elastic strength.
Charlie (or others)
Realizing that anatomical differences make it impossible to completely compare athletes, I guess my question is-What are some of the strength levels of the top female (or male sprinters) such as Griffith Joyner and Jones. I have looked for this info everywhere and cannot find it.
Angela Issajenko’s numbers astound me. At a a height of 5’11 1/2 and a weight of 160 the most I have ever squatted is 295 for six reps. I am humbled, awed and almost embarrassed because it is difficult for me to even imagine a 136 pound female squatting 450 for six reps. My goodness!
I am however able to run an 11. 2 at any given time and have posted a 4.47 40 time.
So to reiterate: what are some of the strength levels of all-time female sprinters and how important is maximum strength?
Thank you, fellas.
Malcolm
We have discussed Flo’s lifts before. I don’t think we had her PBs though I do know that she did full squats. I know that Marion’s lifts are not particularly high, especially in the bench, though she has terrific elastic strength and does a lot of plyos.
How does it hamper the ability to develope max velocity? Or more importantly, how should the training be cycled so that max V can be developed when needed.
I prefer to lift all year round.
I work with our sprinters here at New Mexico State in the weightroom and when I first got here last year I asked the same question: what is appropriate strength levels for a good to elite level female sprinter? I am looking mainly for a way to discover the missing link in training so we can focus on it. Problems before I got here were that strong people were just trying to get stronger and neglecting other qualities so I was searching for the point when a coach says enough is enough and focus on something else. Based on some replies from coaches and my own prior experience here is what I came up with for weightroom lifts.
Squat - minimal level of 1.5x bodyweight and elite level of 2.2x bodyweight
Bench Press - minimal level of .9x bodyweight and elite level of 1.15x
Clean - minimal level of 1.0x bodyweight and elite level of 1.3x bodyweight
Snatch - minimal level of .8x bodyweight and elite level of 1.0x bodyweght
We go by bodyweight becasue sprinters/throwers can be on equal ground. Also I always thought of sprinting and jumping as throwing your own bodyweight so the lighter and stronger you are the better you will be. Hope this helps. Keep in mind this is for college level sprinters (18-22 years old).
Scott Weiser
Leave room for individual differences, based on leg length etc. Just as a matter of interest, in the leg press, Angella (then Taylor) could outlift her then boyfriend, John Smith, but no-one would suggest she was stronger than he was!
Privalova’s 130 kg full squat is a great lift. I have heard that Flo-Jo has done a 145kg full squat, 2.5 times her bodweight.
Comparison of leg strength from clean and jerk and squat current world records.
C&J
56kg men 168kg female 58kg 133kg (79%)
62kg men 182.5kg female 63kg 137.5kg (75.3%)
69kg men 197.5kg female 69kg 148.5kg (75.1%)
77kg men 210kg female 75kg 152.5kg (72.6%)
Powerlifting squat.
52kg 300kg female 195kg (65%)
56kg 287.5kg female 222.5kg (77.4%)
60kg 320kg female 220.5kg (69%)
67.5kg 330kg female 247.5kg (75%)
75kg 330kg female 255kg (77.2%)
Both sports indicate that female strength per bodyweight is around 75% as good as men on average, a figure much higher than for bench press.
Its fine to lift year round but not so good to do a max strength phase all year round. For example, after the max strength phase you may switch to 80% of your new strength levels and reduce the volume which will then allow you to focus your training on other areas of your training.
I don’t think you should stop lifting altogether. I’m a very firm believer in vertical integration.
Remember, what is now 80% may have been 100% the year before if you are progressing in strength, therefore you should then consolidate these gains into other elements of your training.
Scott,
do you have a similar table for male athletes?
I have read that Flo-Jo did a 150 kg lunge.
However, the Lunge and it’s variations leave room for leeway.
E.g it might have been a split squat rather than a lunge, but even
so, that’s incredibly strong if she did it.
Some of my HS girls more impressive lifts over the past few seasons:
A 2:17 800m runner, 130-135 lbs, box squatting 315 x 2
A 12.4 100m, 106 lb. girl deadlifting 235 x 1 (wow!)
A 59.5 400m, 125 lb. girl deadlifting 185 for 8 reps (she didn’t like or try to max)
A 25.4 200m, 17+ LJer who can do 3 1-arm pull ups (as a soph last year - she’ll be trying vaulting this year…)
Interestingly, some of my fastest girls in HS (12.0, 24.4, 56.6) have had relatively normal lifts for their bodyweight, but have shown great muscular strength endurance ( ie 25+ full pull ups, deep bodyweight squats to the 250 - 300 rep range). They all ran faster in college, as well - maybe in part to heavier lifting/higher power output.
I agree - interesting. If anyone else has info, share it with us.
DAM!!:eek: