Who gets faster A or B?

[Gmedlo]

Asafa powell increased his stride length this season, do you think he went in and did squats and O lifts? hmm... oh yeah... he doesnt do either!

And you say the more powerful your hamstrings are the better your stride frequency? lawl?

FYI, being stronger in the weight room does not equal a longer stride in the world of sprinting. That's a myth.

Let's just make sure this is clear before the debate goes too far:


There is only one way that stride length could possibly be increased: by getting the front foot to extend further in front of the back foot. Now, for any forward motion to take place for any body part, an equal and opposite force is applied to the ground by the back foot. The front foot cannot experience more acceleration without more force being applied to the back foot. There is no mystical way to increase stride length without increasing applied force unless you reduce the mass of your front foot/body mid-stride. It is physically and universally impossible to increase stride length without either increasing force or reducing stride frequency, and conversely it is impossible to increase stride frequency without either increasing force or decreasing stride length, assuming your mass isn't fluctuating mid-run.

I'm not trying to say that athlete B will be faster, but if you take two athletes that have similar genetics, the stronger of the two (in the weight room) will be able to develop more speed because they have a greater capacity for neural adaptation specific to sprinting once the specific training begins. Ultimately it is how well your body is adapted to sprint will be the key determinant of speed, but you have more potential for speed if you are stronger because you have a greater reserve of strength to develop into sprint-specific ability.

[xxsupergman25xx]

i havent read much written so far....i play baseball(centerfield)...i run absolutely zero times outside of running down fly balls or running to bases. I do lots of squats deadlifts lunges calf raises and stretch. Again..i do zero cardio. I run a 3.9 second 30 yard dash.. Probably a 4.6-4.7 40(havent been officially timed cuz i dont care bout 40 yards).

I am 5'7 175. 1 year ago i ran a 4.6 second 30 yard dash.

You need to find what works for u. There will never be a cut and cry answer when it comes to routines. I did what works for me. Try what works for u.



Edit: I do 5-6 sets of 4-6 reps for my exercises.

this is ON TOPIC and directly effects the question.

[secretlifter3]

^ a little off topic... but let me make the choice a little more detailed for the OP, who do you think will run a faster 40 within a couple of months.

Plyo athlete - 38RVJ, 335x1 full squat. 6" 145lbs
Strength athlete - 38SVJ, 375x7 full squat, 5'10 185lbs

both can run 5 sec 40yards right now. these are actual people who WILL run the race.

Plyo athlete.

[secretlifter3]

Let's just make sure this is clear before the debate goes too far:


There is only one way that stride length could possibly be increased: by getting the front foot to extend further in front of the back foot. Now, for any forward motion to take place for any body part, an equal and opposite force is applied to the ground by the back foot. The front foot cannot experience more acceleration without more force being applied to the back foot. There is no mystical way to increase stride length without increasing applied force unless you reduce the mass of your front foot/body mid-stride. It is physically and universally impossible to increase stride length without either increasing force or reducing stride frequency, and conversely it is impossible to increase stride frequency without either increasing force or decreasing stride length, assuming your mass isn't fluctuating mid-run.

I'm not trying to say that athlete B will be faster, but if you take two athletes that have similar genetics, the stronger of the two (in the weight room) will be able to develop more speed because they have a greater capacity for neural adaptation specific to sprinting once the specific training begins. Ultimately it is how well your body is adapted to sprint will be the key determinant of speed, but you have more potential for speed if you are stronger because you have a greater reserve of strength to develop into sprint-specific ability.

Ya you're right, but on your first point you're forgetting about how well your body can transfer force into the ground given your physical structure (ex. long achillies tendon). On top of that, there's many ways to develop how well your body can transfer force. Weight room strength is not specific because the time it takes you to transfer force, during a squat example, is not nearly close as the time your leg is on the ground during a sprint stride. Thus it is general. The closer you are, the more specific you are.

And on your second point, well my answer to you is:

If all else is equal, the stronger athlete wins.

That's something Vince Anderson said, and stood by.

But also, if all else is equal, the athlete who's lighter wins. The athlete who slept better wins. The athlete who took a bigger sh*t that morning wins.

In the real world, no one's going to be pretty close genetically to somoene, there will always be a large difference somewhere.

[secretlifter3]

i havent read much written so far....i play baseball(centerfield)...i run absolutely ZERO times outside of running down fly balls or running to bases. i do lots of squats deadlifts lunges calf raises and stretch. again..i do ZERO cardio. i run a 3.9 second 30 yard dash.. probably a 4.6-4.7 40(havent been officially timed cuz i dont care bout 40 yards).

i am 5'7 175. 1 year ago i ran a 4.6 second 30 yard dash.

you need to find what works for u. there will NEVER be a cut and cry answer when it comes to routines. i did what works for me. try what works for u.



edit: i do 5-6 sets of 4-6 reps for my exercises.

I also knew someone who ran 10.6 and swore by deep squats, as well I know someone who claimed squats killed his speed.

a 3.9 30 yard dash = a 4.9 40 yard approx., probably 5.0. And that is hand timed.

[squatnoob405]

Being strong? Certainly.
Being strong in the weight room? Not a requirement.

The best guys can express strength specific to their activity, not neccesarily with a barbell.

il agree to this. you seem to know your $hit. thanks for explaining

[gofastsc]

You dont have a strong understanding of sprinting mechanics/bio mechanics.
You're forgetting about elasticity and neural efficiency, which are much more important than getting stronger in the weight room.

You said one should never be done without the other. If the goal is to get faster, then sprinting is what is going to be dominant in the program. This includes hill sprints and sled sprints, which are going to develop specific strength. Plyometrics will develop elastic strength. And lifting develops muscular strength, and given the amount of time it takes to move the bar, you're never approaching anything that's going to be specific to sprinting. Everything done is only providing a general stimulus.


Asafa powell increased his stride length this season, do you think he went in and did squats and O lifts? hmm... oh yeah... he doesnt do either!

And you say the more powerful your hamstrings are the better your stride frequency? lawl?

FYI, being stronger in the weight room does not equal a longer stride in the world of sprinting. That's a myth.

My argument is not that weights should be left out, my argument is that they are not a requirement to running fast. Neither is a great medicine ball throw, or power clean or whatever..

I agree with this.

With all the variables listed basically saying the weight lifter will not be doing any sprint work in 12wks CLEARLY the sprinter will become faster.

I think in 12wks the weightlifter will actually see a lose of speed since he is not doing any sprint work to supplement his weight lifting over that time frame. 3months with no sprint work only weight lifting but he may become faster maybe more explosive in the start.

[bigguy64]

YOu do not need to be strong to be fast. People who have been fast for their whole life coul dnot squat 500 lbs. when they were 13 but yet they are smoking all the other kids on the playground. An example would be recievers in football. they are usually skinny adn have been fast their whole life, they probably played basketball, ran track in their life. They will not need to squat because they were born with the gift of speed. Now lets talk about an olineman, probably has been big for a while so increasing their squats would be more benfecial for speed because then its easier to carry their big asses. A will get faster, But who the hell would just do sprints for training ( Besides world class sprinters, recievers,rbs,dbs running under 4.4's) and who the hell does just lifting (besides powerlifters and oly lifters). the point is most people should do both, but there are exceptions. I know a kid that is 175, squats 225 maybe, but he runs a 4.4. He will never need to squat to get fast because the lucky bastard is already fast. Just weightlifting and expecting to get faster with no sprint work is insanity.

[_Coach_]

Let's just make sure this is clear before the debate goes too far:


There is only one way that stride length could possibly be increased: by getting the front foot to extend further in front of the back foot. Now, for any forward motion to take place for any body part, an equal and opposite force is applied to the ground by the back foot. The front foot cannot experience more acceleration without more force being applied to the back foot. There is no mystical way to increase stride length without increasing applied force unless you reduce the mass of your front foot/body mid-stride. It is physically and universally impossible to increase stride length without either increasing force or reducing stride frequency, and conversely it is impossible to increase stride frequency without either increasing force or decreasing stride length, assuming your mass isn't fluctuating mid-run.

I'm not trying to say that athlete B will be faster, but if you take two athletes that have similar genetics, the stronger of the two (in the weight room) will be able to develop more speed because they have a greater capacity for neural adaptation specific to sprinting once the specific training begins. Ultimately it is how well your body is adapted to sprint will be the key determinant of speed, but you have more potential for speed if you are stronger because you have a greater reserve of strength to develop into sprint-specific ability.

well said


Ok, last thing I'll say and then I'm done, because I understand that I'm not going to change someone's mind who believes what they believe. A lot of the arguments that many people are bringing up comes back to genetics. Usain Bolt, Michael Johnson...guys of that caliber are where they are because of genetics first and foremost.

No, I do have one more thing. Please do not tell I don't have a strong understanding of speed mechanics. I don't question your lack of knowledge, only your philosophy. You are more than welcome to question my philosophy as well, but don't question my knowledge. I'm very comfortable with my knowledge as I was very lucky to be taught speed by the top guys in our profession.

And I have gone through winter cycles where we did little to no actual speed work, instead focusing on the weight room because our focus was size and strength and still saw our 40 numbers drop across the board.

So, to each their own, but that's my two cents

[secretlifter3]

well said


Ok, last thing I'll say and then I'm done, because I understand that I'm not going to change someone's mind who believes what they believe. A lot of the arguments that many people are bringing up comes back to genetics. Usain Bolt, Michael Johnson...guys of that caliber are where they are because of genetics first and foremost.

No, I do have one more thing. Please do not tell I don't have a strong understanding of speed mechanics. I don't question your lack of knowledge, only your philosophy. You are more than welcome to question my philosophy as well, but don't question my knowledge. I'm very comfortable with my knowledge as I was very lucky to be taught speed by the top guys in our profession.

And I have gone through winter cycles where we did little to no actual speed work, instead focusing on the weight room because our focus was size and strength and still saw our 40 numbers drop across the board.

So, to each their own, but that's my two cents

Those guys you named are like that because of their genetics, but so what? They're in a much higher competitive field and if their coaches felt that doing more strength work would make them faster, then they would be doing that and they'd be improving. Unless you're suggesting they're in a exclusive realm where strength doesnt help them

Steve Franno could have thought that doing squats, would make Powell run 9.5, that's not the case buddy, he doesnt squat.
Perhaps you should fly to jamaica and enlighten the Jamaican training system with your revelations...

And your claim of dropping 40 times with no speed work and just lifting, denies everything I've seen and heard of in the field. I'd question the accuracy of the timing methods, or maybe the kids doing the 40s were low level athletes with low fitness levels?

And I'm questioning your knowledge because of what you claim about strength, stride length, stride frequency, etc etc.

[Willhu12]

Athlete B, if he's doing just lifting, will probably get quite a bit slower actually.

Never heard so much rubbish in my life.

This is the logic behind your statement "Increasing the ability to apply greater force will slow your athlete down".

[madeira17]

So if you have a weak strength base but want to get faster what is the best way to set-up your training schedule. Assuming you have access to a gym and field to run on. Is it more sprinting and less weights then?

[secretlifter3]

Never heard so much rubbish in my life.

This is the logic behind your statement "Increasing the ability to apply greater force will slow your athlete down".

Never heard so much rubbish? You're 14, and in the case of training for athletics, age does matter a lot in how much you can know and experience.

And you cannot break down sprinting into simply saying that increasing your ability to apply greater force will make you faster. That great force doesn't help when when it takes too long to be applied. Neurally, you need to be efficient and there must be constant neural adaptation to the rate of muscle recruitment and contraction.

Too much lifting, especially without sprinting, dampens elasticity and reactivity. It also masks power output when running.

[secretlifter3]

So if you have a weak strength base but want to get faster what is the best way to set-up your training schedule. Assuming you have access to a gym and field to run on. Is it more sprinting and less weights then?

A good program incorporates everything. For sprinters, I'd lift from 0-6 times a week. All varies, most often it's 2-3x per week.

However, if you have a weak strength base, you can still get faster without lifting.
That is my argument. But I'd always lift 3x per week for an athlete who's weak, getting them stronger everywhere and incorporating hills, med ball and plyos on top of that.

The sprint work however, is what is going to be dominant. If you're not running, you're not going to improve at running. It's that simple. If olympic lifters/power lifters were so explosive, and having super high relative strength levels (medium/light weight classes), then they'd be beating sprinters. But they are not.

You can argue that a lifter is going to beat a sprinter to 10m perhaps, after that, it's over. A lot of people say lifters can sort up keep up to a sprinter to 20m or 30m or whatever. Well reality is, how far behind can you really get in a short race like that?

[madeira17]

A good program incorporates everything. For sprinters, I'd lift from 0-6 times a week. All varies, most often it's 2-3x per week.

However, if you have a weak strength base, you can still get faster without lifting.
That is my argument. But I'd always lift 3x per week for an athlete who's weak, getting them stronger everywhere and incorporating hills, med ball and plyos on top of that.

The sprint work however, is what is going to be dominant. If you're not running, you're not going to improve at running. It's that simple. If olympic lifters/power lifters were so explosive, and having super high relative strength levels (medium/light weight classes), then they'd be beating sprinters. But they are not.

You can argue that a lifter is going to beat a sprinter to 10m perhaps, after that, it's over. A lot of people say lifters can sort up keep up to a sprinter to 20m or 30m or whatever. Well reality is, how far behind can you really get in a short race like that?

So something like rippetoes 3 days a week while sprinting on off days would be best mixed in with plyos. I was thinking about Lifting heavy full body Mondays and Fridays and sprinting and plyos on wednesdays. Should I add in sprinting and plyos on another day maybe a Saturday. I play soccer and the first 10-20 yards is probably the most important because unless your running down the wing you rarely sprint more than 40 yards. It is similar to basketball where if I can get a ball quicker within 20 yards of myself and the defender then I will have the advantage. So maybe developing that relative strength first will benefit me more or no?

[jdiritto]

well said
And I have gone through winter cycles where we did little to no actual speed work, instead focusing on the weight room because our focus was size and strength and still saw our 40 numbers drop across the board.

Strength & Flexibility = Speed

running is applying force into the ground in a cylcic manner to propel your center of mass forward horizontally. If you can not apply force (which is a resultant of maximal muscular strength and the quickness in potentiation of neuromuscular systems rate of force development ) you will be slow.

Most people do not get faster because they are not getting stronger. the emphasis on technique will get you to a point, but than it acts more or less to retain proper mechanics in locomation. If you are weak, you will then be slow but have great mechanics.

This is why american footballers at high levels have such incredible speed. If they trained for longer durations (which is the exact opposite of the sports bioenergetic requirements) they would excel at T&F distances, which many do until further specialization occurs.

Read Verkoshansky, his work is top notch for T&F training.

[_Coach_]

A good program incorporates everything.

At least this we can agree on.

Take into consideration that you continue to referance track. I would take your side that mechanics are more important for the track athlete who is running minimally 100m, provided that the athlete had a sufficient level of relative strength to properly execute proper technique.

However, the hypothetical question posed was in referance to a 40yd dash. An athlete doesn't near (~90%) top-end speed until roughly 30m (what I call the primary acceleration phase), and doesn't actually reach top end speed until roughly 60m. This means that an athlete running a 40yd sprint is in a constant state of acceleration.

In this acceleration phase, the athlete's ability to create force is crucial. You've already quoted Vince Anderson, everything else being equal the stronger athlete will win.

As you transition into secondary acceleration, max speed and finally deceleration phase technique becomes increasingly important over strength and power.

Now, like I said before, if the athlete has some serious technical issues, then yes, sprint training will probably create better results.

Even more so, depending on the individual, their background, starting strength/power vs. their starting technique, their response to training and a number of other issues could lean this one way or the other. That's just my opinion to a hypothetical question.

[Willhu12]

Never heard so much rubbish? You're 14, and in the case of training for athletics, age does matter a lot in how much you can know and experience.

And you cannot break down sprinting into simply saying that increasing your ability to apply greater force will make you faster. That great force doesn't help when when it takes too long to be applied. Neurally, you need to be efficient and there must be constant neural adaptation to the rate of muscle recruitment and contraction.

Too much lifting, especially without sprinting, dampens elasticity and reactivity. It also masks power output when running.

No, actualy - and if you don't agree with me, go and argue with Mark Rippetoe (3 DECADES OF EXPERIENCE). And there is nothing one cannot look up with a search engine.

Lifting does NOT decrease flexibility, or elasticity. Look that up to.

If I recall, there was a test which showed olympic lifters not only outjumped high jumpers and basketballers, THEY ALSO BEAT SPRINTERS IN TWENTY YARD DASHES. DO OLYMPIC LIFTERS TRAIN BY SPRINTING???

[Willhu12]

You do know that Bolt does a lot of his weights by using machines and has no set up in his program at all for his lifting. No one's denying his increased strength levels, and it has helped him. But his times were so fast at a younger age (15-16 years old) that what he has done now was just waiting to happen, and it took him just some focus on a full time program to get there.

Bolt program focuses on barbell squats, lunges and step ups in sets of 8.

[DocHollidy]

I did not read the whole thing but I think the argument is something like you need to be strong to be fast which is false...


Their are many kids who are naturally fast, and others who need to lift weights to reach their max potential... obviously the kids who are naturally fast will get a faster with strength training, however its just like supplements...


Someone can be naturally lean, and gain muscle with a respectable build without supplements... however if they take supplements they will gain more muscle, but that doesnt mean they couldnt have gotten big/strong to begin with


being strong does not always correlate with speed, however most powerful people are fast in short distances


for example me, I used to be 205lbs and run a 4.5-4.6 and I would run 40s one or two times a week for average and had a very weak lower body


now I'm 245lbs much stronger, actually slightly faster in the 10 yard and 20 yard range, but run about a 4.7-4.8 in the 40 I still do not have great lower body strength, my squat sucks, my deadlift is good though

I beleive my extra weight prevents my body from maintaining the speed I have the last 20 yards, could be a conditioning issue, but I'm sure the weight doesnt help

[GoforGold]

Athlete A every time.

[secretlifter3]

So something like rippetoes 3 days a week while sprinting on off days would be best mixed in with plyos. I was thinking about Lifting heavy full body Mondays and Fridays and sprinting and plyos on wednesdays. Should I add in sprinting and plyos on another day maybe a Saturday. I play soccer and the first 10-20 yards is probably the most important because unless your running down the wing you rarely sprint more than 40 yards. It is similar to basketball where if I can get a ball quicker within 20 yards of myself and the defender then I will have the advantage. So maybe developing that relative strength first will benefit me more or no?

Read my post here:

A problem with many programs is having too much high intensity work spread out through the week. Intensity is defined by how much of a neural stimulation it provides to your CNS (Central Nervous System).

Lets look at what training = what intensity.

High Intensity Training

Sprinting (95-100% effort)
Plyometrics (anything that involves maximal effort jumping)
Throws (involves maximal effort in the throw)
Heavy Lower body Lifting + sub maximal/maximal upper major upper body lifts
Dynamic lower body lifting (moved at maximal effort)
Hill sprints
Sled sprints


Medium Intensity Training

Running at 75-90%
Upper body heavy lifting/dynamic lifting
Upper body plyometrics
Agility drills
General conditioning work

Low Intensity Training

Running at below 75% speed
Jump roping/hops
Body weight exercises

To clarify a bit, major upper body lifts such as the bench press, military press, weighted dips/pull ups, and anything that's done at complete maximal effort, so basically a 1-2RM bench press or its equivalent, is high intensity work. Anything that's lighter, or if you're putting up any major iron, then you're performing medium intensity work.

Now the general rule of thumb is, 48 hours of recovery approx. for high intensity work. Optimally, this would allow 3 days of high intensity work, 1 day of medium intensity and 1-2 days of low intensity work. Low intensity work requires just a day, and medium intensity for most, a day is enough.

The problem arises, when you have high intensity or medium intensity work done 4-6 days out of the week (like I've seen in too many programs).

Example:

Mon: sprints + plyos
Tues: heavy lower body
Wed: plyos
Thurs: heavy upper body
Fri: sprints + dynamic lower body
Sat: plyos + dynamic upper body
Sun: rest

I've seen things like that or very similar, the major problem is that there's no room for recovery, hence no room for optimal adaptation.

The CNS is like a cup, it takes it 48 hours to empty after it's been filled. You can fill it by putting in more and more tea, but once you reach the top, it's gonna overflow. That being said... those who are younger and at a lower level, simply cant stimulate their CNS enough to actually fatigue it, and will wear our their muscular system ages before they wear down their CNS. For high level athletes, it'll work the other way around.

Doing heavy lifting on different days than speed and plyos is not a good idea. Keep them on the same days. If you're playing soccer, you want to develop RSA (repeat sprint ability), something I discussed in another thread.

[secretlifter3]

Strength & Flexibility = Speed

running is applying force into the ground in a cylcic manner to propel your center of mass forward horizontally. If you can not apply force (which is a resultant of maximal muscular strength and the quickness in potentiation of neuromuscular systems rate of force development ) you will be slow.

Most people do not get faster because they are not getting stronger. the emphasis on technique will get you to a point, but than it acts more or less to retain proper mechanics in locomation. If you are weak, you will then be slow but have great mechanics.

This is why american footballers at high levels have such incredible speed. If they trained for longer durations (which is the exact opposite of the sports bioenergetic requirements) they would excel at T&F distances, which many do until further specialization occurs.

Read Verkoshansky, his work is top notch for T&F training.

Strength in what regard? Your 1RM squat? I hope that's not what you're saying...

Strength that is expressed on the track is important, and applying force requires more than just high weight room numbers. I've lost a lot of squat strength, yet gotten faster. There is no direct correlation between the two.

Dwain Chambers added 50kg to his squat and didnt see 0.01 of improvement.

[secretlifter3]

At least this we can agree on.

Take into consideration that you continue to referance track. I would take your side that mechanics are more important for the track athlete who is running minimally 100m, provided that the athlete had a sufficient level of relative strength to properly execute proper technique.

However, the hypothetical question posed was in referance to a 40yd dash. An athlete doesn't near (~90%) top-end speed until roughly 30m (what I call the primary acceleration phase), and doesn't actually reach top end speed until roughly 60m. This means that an athlete running a 40yd sprint is in a constant state of acceleration.

In this acceleration phase, the athlete's ability to create force is crucial. You've already quoted Vince Anderson, everything else being equal the stronger athlete will win.

As you transition into secondary acceleration, max speed and finally deceleration phase technique becomes increasingly important over strength and power.

Now, like I said before, if the athlete has some serious technical issues, then yes, sprint training will probably create better results.

Even more so, depending on the individual, their background, starting strength/power vs. their starting technique, their response to training and a number of other issues could lean this one way or the other. That's just my opinion to a hypothetical question.

Ya see.. you're right on all of that. My argument though, has been that you dont HAVE to get stronger to get faster, even for a 10m sprint.
I fully stand by that strength helps, but it is not a requirement to running fast, and countless examples prove it.

[secretlifter3]

No, actualy - and if you don't agree with me, go and argue with Mark Rippetoe (3 DECADES OF EXPERIENCE). And there is nothing one cannot look up with a search engine.

Lifting does NOT decrease flexibility, or elasticity. Look that up to.

If I recall, there was a test which showed olympic lifters not only outjumped high jumpers and basketballers, THEY ALSO BEAT SPRINTERS IN TWENTY YARD DASHES. DO OLYMPIC LIFTERS TRAIN BY SPRINTING???

Why would I argue with Mark Rippetoe?

Lifting can enhance flexibility (ex. deep squatting). It can also tighten you up at the same time.

And lifting DOES dampen elasticity temporarily. Specifically, heavy lower body lifting, done at certain volumes and up.

And a test? Do you mind giving a link to this study, cause I've heard about it SO many times, I'm really anxious to see it .
Stop believing everything you read on the internet.

Look up Dwain Chambers on youtube and see if you can find a video of him racing an Olympic lifter to 60m, Dwain smoked him, and oh ya... he hasnt squatted heavy in years.

Bolt program focuses on barbell squats, lunges and step ups in sets of 8.

lawl wut?

Negged for making bullsh*t claim because you have no clue what Bolt does and never will. I know two people who've gone to Jamaica, and seen Bolt's camp and MVP.

Who really told you this btw?

[xxtwistedxx]

gonna go with SL on this one especially since hes owning this thread

been a track coach for bout a decade and this isnt much a brainer. sure sprinters need to have the horsepower to accelerate to top speed quicker but the only true way to do that is a dedicated sprinting program with weight training as a supplement. comparing football players and their 40 times to world class sprinters is apples to oranges. hell we could compare my throwers to our sprinters. gotta kid thats 205 lbs and a 285 clean. he can dominate any sprinter on our team for the first 20m or so but once they reach top speed he loses. could i train him to be an effective sprinter? sure. but then it would take away from developing maximum strength and power to throw a 12lb object farther than the others guys. which he also does well (56')

[secretlifter3]

gonna go with SL on this one especially since hes owning this thread

been a track coach for bout a decade and this isnt much a brainer. sure sprinters need to have the horsepower to accelerate to top speed quicker but the only true way to do that is a dedicated sprinting program with weight training as a supplement. comparing football players and their 40 times to world class sprinters is apples to oranges. hell we could compare my throwers to our sprinters. gotta kid thats 205 lbs and a 285 clean. he can dominate any sprinter on our team for the first 20m or so but once they reach top speed he loses. could i train him to be an effective sprinter? sure. but then it would take away from developing maximum strength and power to throw a 12lb object farther than the others guys. which he also does well (56')

Yep. All I gotta say lol.

[Miki61]

"As a precaution, Usain didn’t begin lifting weights until he was 18 or 19 years old; but now he regularly incorporates a reasonable dose into his training. “I didn’t want to harm myself by beginning too young, and I always made sure to learn how to do the exercises correctly first,” he recalls. “Even today, I’m not a real heavy lifter; I just go heavy enough to develop the muscles. I don’t go after it like some other guys, mostly the shorter runners [laughs]. I’m not really that kind of sprinter.”

Although Usain keeps things lighter than most, his lifting has noticeably carried over onto the rubber. “It really has helped me with strength endurance,” he says. “And it’s good to have that strength, because you can run fast for longer periods.”"

h ttp://magazine.stack.com/TheIssue/Article/6717/in_the_weight_room_with_usain_bolt.aspx

To gain world class speed you don't need to lift weights at all

[secretlifter3]

"As a precaution, Usain didn’t begin lifting weights until he was 18 or 19 years old; but now he regularly incorporates a reasonable dose into his training. “I didn’t want to harm myself by beginning too young, and I always made sure to learn how to do the exercises correctly first,” he recalls. “Even today, I’m not a real heavy lifter; I just go heavy enough to develop the muscles. I don’t go after it like some other guys, mostly the shorter runners [laughs]. I’m not really that kind of sprinter.”

Although Usain keeps things lighter than most, his lifting has noticeably carried over onto the rubber. “It really has helped me with strength endurance,” he says. “And it’s good to have that strength, because you can run fast for longer periods.”"

h ttp://magazine.stack.com/TheIssue/Article/6717/in_the_weight_room_with_usain_bolt.aspx

To gain world class speed you don't need to lift weights at all

Well quoted lol.

[BoxingAthlete08]

K buddy. What do you know about speed training? How much theoritical knowledge do you have? How much practical experience?

Can you explain to me what training stimulus is? General stimulus? RFD? Neural efficiency? Neural adaptation?

If you don't thoroughly understand those things, you wont be able to really understand the point I'm making.

And 80s? lawl? is that a joke.

you claim your some expert coach and a 'speed expert' yet use words like 'lawl'?

sounds very similar to some 15 year old fraud that used to post here