Yes, one reason BB training might be more effective is because of the neural fatigue MaxS methods cause. Beyond that though, other studies show that sprinters exhibit high levels of muscle mass in the proximal section of their thighs, and even further studies have found correlations between sprinters’ hip strength (flexion and extension) and muscular CSA. Basically, in trained sprinters, a bigger muscle equals a stronger muscle, which strongly correlated with sprinting speed.
As for the rest of your post, I’d have to ask how does MaxS (especially that which is accompanied by little or no hypertrophy) gained from a focused block actually carry over to the sprints?
I’m fairly certain I’ve gone over it in this thread already, but muscle strength is limited by only a few key factors:
- Muscle volume
- Muscle quality (fast vs. slow twitch)
- Neural Drive
- Intramuscular Coordination (rate coding, synchronicity of firing, etc.)
- Intermuscular Coordination
Of all of those qualities, the only thing lifting improves that sprints and plyos don’t (as much) is muscle volume. Beyond that, sprints and plyos alone will increase muscle quality, neural drive, intramuscular coordination, and intermuscular coordination (which is task-specific). So, based upon that, the actual purpose of strength work is to provide more muscle tissue that can be trained through more specific work.
Max strength phases are not actually for MaxS, but are periods in which track volume and performance can be reduced in order to gain a little more mass in the right places. This is made even more apparent by the fact that most of today’s top sprinters never actually lift heavy, yet display the correct characteristics required for sprinting.
It sounds simple, but all weight work is there for is essentially to build more muscle in the right places. It can be made more specific by taking notice of applicable ROMs, speed of movement, and even the nature of the loading, but in the end, all it needs to do is increase muscle mass throughout the important muscle groups.