Day 340 - Running Speed

The mechanics involved in human running is substantially different than when walking. When human beings walk, the body rotates through various positions including balancing on one leg, while the weight shifts from one leg to both legs, to again on one leg. There is a cadence that rotates through these general positions.

Running, on the other hand, is more of a ballistic action with the body continually launching its weight from one leg to the other. The speed at which someone runs is directly linked to the stride frequency to stride length relationship. For example, when comparing novice to elite sprinters, studies have shown that elite sprinters achieve greater stride length and can increase it further up to about 45m from a static start of a race. Compare this to novice sprinters who peak their stride length around the 25m mark of a race from a static start.

When comparing novice to elite stride frequency, elite sprinters can achieve faster slightly higher frequencies (~5/second) and maintain that pace for a longer period of time compared to novices. When you think about the mechanics behind sprinting, it is easy to understand that a sprinter that has a high turnover stride (stride frequency) and is pushing off for more power (stride length) will elicit a greater speed.

One thing to understand, however, is that due to varying leg lengths amongst different individuals, stride length is difficult at times to train. Stride frequency, however, can be trained effectively to increase running speed.

Sprinting Performance and Stride Analysis

Below is a summarized list of the major muscular requirements during sprinting:

1. As the back (recovery) leg swings forward, eccentric knee flexion controls its forward momentum, prepares it for an efficient foot strike.

2. Muscle action then shifts from eccentric to concentric action and continues to the support phase (leg beneath center of gravity) which transfers power to the leg.

3. During the ground support phase, the high joint angle at the planted foot allows for stored elastic energy. Eccentric knee extensor activity also allows the quads to store and recover elastic energy.

4. There is a triple extension from the ankle, knee, and hip all at once allowing for propulsion and drive forward.

Training Goals

To maximize sprinting speed, I have listed a few training goals below that can help in running efficiency:

Minimize Braking - By aiming to plant the supporting foot directly beneath the center of gravity and maximizing the backward velocity of that leg during the propulsion phase will minimize the braking effect of forward momentum.

Fast Foot Strike - By increasing stride frequency and backward propulsion, you minimize the amount of time the foot has contact with the ground, therefore minimizing the braking effect of forward momentum.

Quote of the day:
"Formula for success: rise early, work hard, strike oil."
~ J. Paul Getty

Check out my new Website: tylerrobbinsfitness.com

Day 288 - Body Beast and Athleticism

Received this question recently:

I'm curious about what those of you who have Beasted (Body Beast) have found about how it has impacted your overall athleticism.

Athleticism? Body Beast has hardly helped at all, and may in fact have 'slowed' me down a bit...but then again, sometimes we have to take 1 step back in order to take 2 steps forward.

No individual who uses periodizational training should do the same thing all the time.

Let's take Professional athletes for example, they don't do the same training all the time.

Power training and Strength training can only take you so far. Sure, it may be great at the start, you feel awesome, you start making some pretty big improvements, but like ANYTHING, you WILL plateau...guaranteed. Your body will simply reach a point in which you can no longer improve. That may be due to a number of factors, but one major factor (in keeping with the theme here) your muscles will eventually reach a capacity, due to their size, to no longer be able to improve (in this case, gain strength).

For someone like yourself, I would recommend spending even a few weeks every year stepping away from the strength training and focus on endurance and hypertrophy. Why? Because not only does it change things up and gives your body a break from all of the heavy forces being placed on it, but it also increases your affinity for success when you come back.

By training your muscles to be more efficient (endurance training, see: high repetitions, lower resistance),  you improve their overall ability to generate energy, therefore improving your success rate with force generation.

By training them to increase in size (hypertrophy), you improve their likelihood to be able to lift more. Bigger muscles don't always mean that they can move more weight, but they certainly improve your affinity to train them to do so.

So, back to Body Beast, although a lot of guys like to have 'big, ripped muscles', hypertrophy/endurance training also plays a tremendous part in periodized training blocks.

I, myself, am trying to gain muscle now, so that when I go back and start doing more functional training, my muscles will be prime to gain strength back (and then some), so that I can push myself even further than I did before.

Quote of the day:
"Success is doing ordinary things extraordinarily well."
~Jim Rohn

Check out my new Website: tylerrobbinsfitness.com

Day 11 - Dynamic Stretching for Performance

The professional strength and conditioning community is constantly evolving. What is thought to be common-practice one day, may be found to be less effective than other methods the next. An example of this would be the once-thought belief that static stretching prior to competition benefits athletes.

More and more studies have been reported lately, so this one should not be of any surprise to you readers who are already 'in the know', but some folks are still doing things 'the old way'. To this day, I still see athletes performing static stretches before practice or competition because they feel that it will either prevent injury, or improve their performance. Truth is, dynamic stretching has been shown time and time again to be a far more effective form of performance preparedness.

A study that was published a few months ago in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research has found that athletes performing dynamic stretching prior to a 505 agility test statistically perform better when than either those using static stretching, or the control group.

Abstract:
Van Gelder, LH and Bartz, SD. The effect of acute stretching on agility performance. J Strength Cond Res 25(11): 3014–3021, 2011—Static stretching (SS) has shown decreases in many areas including strength, anaerobic power, and sprinting time. Dynamic stretching (DS) has shown increases in anaerobic power and decreases in sprinting time. Research on the effects of stretching on agility performance is limited. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of SS and DS on performance time of a sport agility test. Sixty male subjects consisting of collegiate (n = 18) and recreational (n = 42) basketball athletes volunteered for the study. Subjects were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 intervention groups: SS, DS, or no stretching (NS). All groups completed a 10-minute warm-up jog followed by a 3-minute rest. The SS and DS groups then completed an 8.5-minute stretching intervention. Next, all subjects completed 3 trials of the 505 agility test with 2–5 minutes of rest between trials. A 2-way repeated-measure analysis of variance (Stretch group, athlete category, group × athlete interaction) was used to determine statistical significance (p < 0.05). A Tukey post hoc test was performed to determine differences between groups. For all athletes, the DS group produced significantly faster times on the agility test (2.22 ± 0.12 seconds, mean ± SD) in comparison to both the SS group (2.33 ± 0.15 seconds, p = 0.013) and NS group (2.32 ± 0.12 seconds, p = 0.026). Differences between the SS and NS groups revealed no significance (p = 0.962). There was a significant difference in mean times for the type of athlete (p = 0.002); however, interaction between the type of athlete and stretching group was not significant (p = 0.520). These results indicate that in comparison to SS or NS, DS significantly improves performance on closed agility skills involving a 180° change of direction.

There is no doubt that static stretching has many benefits. It can increase circulation, improve range of motion, improve flexibility, and therefore can improve performance over time, however, static stretching should be used following competition or practice.

Dynamic stretching, on the other hand, is welcomed to those who wish to increase performance. It allows an individual to warmup and prepare the body by following similar actions to those that will be used during practice or competition. This allows the joints and limbs to travel through wide ranges of motion, as well as 'activate' the natural elasticity properties of the muscles and connective tissues in the body.

Quote of the day:
"Difficulties mastered are opportunities won."
~Winston Churchill

Athletic Dietary Analysis

Mark Russel and Anthony Pennock (United Kingdom) did an interesting study regarding the "Dietary Analysis of Young Professional Soccer Players for 1 Week During the Competitive Season".

They discuss the idea that many soccer players, youth players in this study, do not fulfill their dietary requirements especially when partaking in such a strenuous workout regimen with soccer games and practices every week.

The study monitored the diets of some young soccer players (average age: 17) and broke down their nutritional intake on a macronutrient level (proteins, fats, carbohydrates). Their caloric expenditures were also calculated based on basal metabolic rates of the teens as well as the thermic effect of their foods.

Long story short, the study concluded that these soccer players that were studied were competing and living their day to day lives in a calorie deficit of about 750 calories a day. Not only that, but their carbohydrate consumption was not meeting their daily recommend levels for individuals of their level of activity which should be anywhere from 60-70% of their daily caloric intake.

For the most part, these athletes were maintaining their daily recommended micronutrient levels (vitamins and minerals) but seemed to be falling short on carbohydrate levels.

Especially for a sport such as soccer, but also applying to other such high-intense athletic events, recommended nutritional levels should be met (or as close as possible) on a micro and macro scale to ensure proper recovery and performance.

Often times, individuals who set out to live a healthy lifestyle may base their diet and/or exercise regimen around looking good and potentially even feeling good. Such individuals need to make sure they focus on meeting their recommended nutritional values, however, to ensure proper growth and recovery of their bodily tissues.

When it comes to athletic performance, as was shown in this study highlights the importance of individuals, athletes in particular, to reach their macronutrient levels to ensure that they are reaching their maximum athletic potential.

-Tyler Robbins
B.Sc. PTS