In the conclusion he seems to be making a case against strength training and instead focusing on training the speed of activation, but won’t the increased speed mean jack if the muscle can’t support the body at those speeds? Won’t the lack of muscle stiffness cause a loss of power?
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Also, if greater backswing velocity of the thigh is what is trying to be attained, why was the vastus lateralis being observed rather than something on the higher end of the posterior chain? Maybe its just too early for me, lol. Thoughts?
What a crappy article. It doesn’t even define what “rapid dynamic training” consists of; it doesn’t state what was the single exercise used in the study; and it is based on a sample size of 1! And a 37-year-old at that. And, apart from the possible benefits of rapid dynamic training, the author is pleased to inform us that to race fast you have to train fast. Wow, who would have guessed?
Also, if greater backswing velocity of the thigh is what is trying to be attained, why was the vastus lateralis being observed rather than something on the higher end of the posterior chain? Maybe its just too early for me, lol. Thoughts?
I think a lot of people study on muscles such as vastus lateralis because it’s an easy muscle to get an EMG on. I’m sure Mike would know more.
It isn’t a true research project and wasn’t really intended to be. The data presented is more as a case-study as I understand it. The author is actually a member of the site so perhaps he will chime in.
As for the use of vastus lateralis, it is, as Mort said, a commonly used EMG site for high speed movements. Also, it can indirectly assist the ACTION of hip extension if the hip is in a flexed position.
For those who are unfamiliar, it’s very difficult to do EMG for full body high-speed activities like sprinting because sweat can short the circuit and the movement of clothes, skin, etc. creates a lot of signal noise.
The choice of vastus lateralis was four-fold: (1) I can draw a comparison to the study by Criterio & Agostoni (1984) who related increased rate of cycling to selective activation of fast fibres in the quadriceps; (2) the fibre composition in the vastus lateralis is studied by Mero, Dawson, Tihanyi, and Jansson and as I am relating the exercise to the selective activation and development of the quadriceps I thought I better start with analysis of the VL; (3) knee extension is still the fastest movement according to Kivi and I am challenging the limits to sprint performance; (4) the activation rate of the VL is the shortest of the primary muscles when sprinting according to Nummela and Kyrolainen and I am challenging the rate of muscle activation.
In terms of the exercise, it seems to be a common exercise as I have participated in it at training and seen Institute of Sport soccer players doing it as well. As far as I’m aware the exercise doesn’t have a name (Rapid steps, leg frequency drill etc.- suggest we set the standard and name it). However, from training and watching others training with this exercise, I decided to experiment to see what the limit was in terms of frequency of movement and whether this limit could be improved through training. Furthermore, I experimented with increasing the load in the movement to strengthen the joint if higher speeds of movement could be achieved.
As to the importance of the joint movements higher up the posterior chain, I am in agreement as to the importance that developing speed in this area would be for sprinting. However, the exercise that I developed to address that aspect is (1) completely novel as far as I am aware and therefore more likely to draw scepticism, (2) the exercise is kinda dorky, and (3) to maximise the effect of the exercise in terms of appropriate strength to sprinting (designed with the use of inverse dynamics) I invented a shoe that is even more dorky especially in the prototype phase.
Please ask more questions - I’m happy to help people understand this concept more.
Thanks for the clarification on the usage of the VL. That makes a lot of sense, especially for what you are trying to challenge.
However, the exercise that I developed to address that aspect is (1) completely novel as far as I am aware and therefore more likely to draw scepticism, (2) the exercise is kinda dorky, and (3) to maximise the effect of the exercise in terms of appropriate strength to sprinting (designed with the use of inverse dynamics) I invented a shoe that is even more dorky especially in the prototype phase.
I’m pretty much open to hearing and trying anything once as long as there is a good reason for it, so I’d love to hear/try this if it is possible without the dorky shoes. Can you give a fair description online or is it something that needs to be seen?
No doubt my theory is going to draw plenty of controversy. I would start by measuring the rate of angular velocity of the thigh when doing a leg cycling drill (Sports Speed-Dintiman & Ward 2003). This involves cycling one leg through a sprinting action. Hold on to a post and swing your leg back almost pawing the ground and extending your thigh until it is at least perpendicular to the ground. Then bring your leg back up to parallel with the ground. I prefer to do this in 20 continuous repetitions because any improved muscle recruitment strategies by the brain seems to benefit more beyond 10 repetitions. Time how long it takes for 20 cycles and then divide the total time by that number to work out how many degrees per second it takes per cycle. The test then becomes the exercise. Remeasure after a few days. This exercise will only benefit top end speed and even then it must be carried out in conjunction with some other exercises which I might disclose in another article. Please measure your split time between 20-30m or 30-40 m if you are an accomplished sprinter before embarking on the exercises so that we can gauge your improvements. Cheers
Excellent. I’ll give this a try. I don’t have another speed day until Tuesday next week, so I’ll get my flying 30 measured and start then. How often is the exercise done?
The exercise is very taxing on the CNS and so I would give it at least 48 hours between successive sessions. I would caution against doing more than 2 sets of 20 cycles per leg. If you find it particularly fatiguing mentally, reduce the number of cycles below 20 but keep it above 15. Cheers
...Hold on to a post and swing your leg back almost pawing the ground and extending your thigh until it is at least perpendicular to the ground. Then bring your leg back up to parallel with the ground…
Can this exercise/test be as effective doing a continuous fast leg drill for 20 cycles with either leg on a track as opposed to the stationary position?
Isn’t this primarily training the speed of the swing phase....something which Barry Ross says is completely and totally unimportant to sprinting speed. What would say to the argument that speed is completely generated at ground contact and not during the swing phase?
Isn’t this primarily training the speed of the swing phase....something which Barry Ross says is completely and totally unimportant to sprinting speed. What would say to the argument that speed is completely generated at ground contact and not during the swing phase?…
That was my initial thought as well until I re-read the article. Could neuro-muscular recruitment be more of the purpose here?
Regarding the “pawing back” action I wouldn’t particularly recommend that. Rather an emphasis to “step over” and direct straight down. Having said that, I am familiar with Derek Kivi’s work.
I’m not exactly sure how the continuous fast leg drill goes on the track but the cycling of the leg is an unloaded movement to the complete range of motion of sprinting. The objective is to use a stopwatch to encourage the athlete to move the leg faster in both phases. Almasbakk & Hoff (1996) determined that velocity improvement is the result of an improvement in coordination and Schneider (1989) showed changes to the pattern of neural recruitment of muscle as a result of rapid movements. If the athlete achieves an improvement in movement velocity of the leg, it could be the result of synchronous firing of motor units, earlier recruitment of fast twitch muscle fibre or reduced inhibition of the antagonist muscle. Ultimately, the objective is to increase the back-swing velocity of the leg which will increase the momentum of the leg (Momentum= mass x velocity) to the benefit of force production on impact with the ground. If an improvement is made to the forward swing velocity of the leg, a sling-shot effect could eventuate from the rapid transition from forward to backward swing. For the benefits of this aspect to be realised, we will have to wait until the connective tissues in the tendons of the upper leg/ glutes can adapt which takes a few weeks. Too much information?
