why r sprinters/runners so muscular ?

**uk boy** · 08-08-2003, 11:12 AM

this thing has been bugging me 4 some time, why r sprinter and others runner so damn muscular from what is essentialy forms of aeribic training. i mean at the v.most i would expect them 2 b lean/defined but rather skinny. i know they train hard but if they do not adhere to major weight training regimes they should not look like that- wat do u think?

**dude544** · 08-08-2003, 11:16 AM

Smart steroid cycles

And a lot of sprinters are dedicated bodybuilders

**PattyMcFatty** · 08-08-2003, 11:16 AM

Sprinters sprint, they don't do long distances. From what i've heard they need to be fairly built to sprint fast. Only running long distances burns muscle.

**goblin6** · 08-08-2003, 11:17 AM

Originally posted by uk boy
this thing has been bugging me 4 some time, why r sprinter and others runner so damn muscular from what is essentialy forms of aeribic training. i mean at the v.most i would expect them 2 b lean/defined but rather skinny. i know they train hard but if they do not adhere to major weight training regimes they should not look like that- wat do u think?

Its mainly becasue they do not have loads of body fat, and train for explosive power, for getting out of the blocks.

**uk boy** · 08-08-2003, 11:19 AM

how come alot of them r dedicated bodybuilders, surely that would simply impede their performance ?

**BIGnaturalBROCK** · 08-08-2003, 11:25 AM

Originally posted by uk boy
this thing has been bugging me 4 some time, why r sprinter and others runner so damn muscular from what is essentialy forms of aeribic training. i mean at the v.most i would expect them 2 b lean/defined but rather skinny. i know they train hard but if they do not adhere to major weight training regimes they should not look like that- wat do u think?

go look at a marathon runner, now compare that to a sprinter.

the type of training sprinters do can actually build some muscle.
are you talking about pro sprinters ? or sprinters in general. pro sprinters could be taking a cycle here or there to stay on top. while if you look at your average teen sprinter that only sprints and doesnt lift you will see they will not be very big.

**dude544** · 08-08-2003, 11:25 AM

Originally posted by uk boy
how come alot of them r dedicated bodybuilders, surely that would simply impede their performance ?

don't mix them up with skinny long distance endurance runners?
The sprinters are strong and fast...with low bf

**HeelingVision** · 08-08-2003, 11:29 AM

More leg muscle= More explosiveness out of the blocks. It worked for me man.

**SquatKing** · 08-08-2003, 11:30 AM

sprinting involves mostly muscle

**Englishman** · 08-08-2003, 11:33 AM

Look at the muscular usage of 100m to 400m sprinters in their chosen events. The longer the distance the less bw there is and the less muscle there is usually.

Now try sprinting and you will find you use many muscles: delts, biceps, pecs, quads, glutes, calves, abs, lower back, upper back, traps, all of these muscles come into play.

The shorter distance runners require more explosive power, massive feats of strength in a relatively short time. Similar training styles would be those of olympic lifters and maybe poewrlifters, but the training may encapsulate and isolate the smaller muscle groups as well whereupon the training enters the bodybuilding realm. The training is not necessarily for muscle mass, yet it is for strength and eventually the stronger you get the bigger your muscles get.

Runners also have some of the best diets in the world and have to stay lean throughout the year when they train, perhaps this is why they look so cut, that mixed with their training over short distance running which can be an hour a day or a couple of hours every other day.

Why not do the dreaded thing and pick up a running magazine to see exactly what is advocated by trainers and what is not, that may answer your question better.

**dude544** · 08-08-2003, 11:34 AM

Originally posted by SquatKing
sprinting involves mostly muscle

Yeah.
I guess that's why I was such a good skinny cross country runner & a really bad short distance runner. (in high school)

**uk boy** · 08-08-2003, 11:37 AM

well i guess im refeering 2 pros i guess, but i can relate v.specificly to my school where there were 3 outstandingly fast guys, who were not even athletes and if u saw there physiques and cuts u would of thought that they had at leat been lifting for 1.6- 2 yrs.

**HyperionGauss** · 08-08-2003, 03:29 PM

Sprinters type of movement makes a lot of their muscle fiber take on type II b characteristics (short explosive movements, large muscles). A runner basically does so much aerobic stuff they're body fat is insanely low and they're usually not in bad shape so they have decent muscle...it adds up to a lean look with runners,a nd a buff look with sprinters.

**Vehementi** · 08-08-2003, 03:41 PM

It takes muscles to be fast.

**$-=SeAn NaL=-$** · 08-08-2003, 03:43 PM

Sprinters possess a higher percentage of type 2 fast twitch muscle fibers, which are the most prone to muscular hypertrophy...

**Azgorath** · 08-08-2003, 03:45 PM

I'm a horrible long distance runner(Have trouble with the mile), but I'll kick anyone's ass at short distance.

**Arthur Saxon** · 08-08-2003, 03:57 PM

Originally posted by dude544
Smart steroid cycles
And a lot of sprinters are dedicated bodybuilders

I don't think they are bodybuilders. They are more concerned with performance than looking "ripped"

**ChinBo37** · 08-08-2003, 04:06 PM

Originally posted by Arthur Saxon
I don't think they are bodybuilders. They are more concerned with performance than looking "ripped"

That may be true, but when Michael Johnson was in his prime, he was straight ripped, from head to toe, and his arms were not small either.

**FortifiedIron** · 08-08-2003, 04:09 PM

Originally posted by dude544
Smart steroid cycles
And a lot of sprinters are dedicated bodybuilders

oh god.. did you say sprinters are dedicated bodybuilders? WTF?

Show me some valid evidence of this if you can, which im sure you cant... btw.. im talking College and elite sprinters.. not your HS 110 hurdler.

Kc

**Jupiter** · 08-08-2003, 04:57 PM

Simple .. coz sprinting is anaerobic and so is weight training

**Arthur Saxon** · 08-08-2003, 05:09 PM

Originally posted by ChinBo37
That may be true, but when Michael Johnson was in his prime, he was straight ripped, from head to toe, and his arms were not small either.

Just because he was ripped doens't mean that was what he was training for.

**A-rod** · 08-08-2003, 05:10 PM

Sprinters train for power and do no aerobic training , olympic lifts and powerlifting training coupled with smart nutrition and a coupla cycles per year do the job nicely ...........

**ShaneG85** · 08-08-2003, 05:33 PM

Sprinting involves mostly fast-twitch muscle fibers. These muscle fibers are easier to hypertrophy than slow twitch. Sprinters have been tested to have up to 80% of their muscle fibers fast twitch. Also, weight lifting and the cycling (not related to riding a bicycle) don't hurt a thing.

Shane

**APerfectCircle** · 08-08-2003, 05:44 PM

I run track and yes, most of these people are right. It involves fast twitch muscles. Not only that, but pumping your arms believe it or not helps you gain speed.

**Beachbum1546** · 08-08-2003, 06:00 PM

i read an article about ben johnson (canada olympic gold medalist, but taken away cuz of winny) would do lunges around the track with 185lbs on his shoulders!! (squat bar, 2 45's and 2 25's)
even ronnie found doing those hard.

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