[quote author="star61" date="1240043471"][quote author="trackspeedboy (Khash Farzam)" date="1240035573"]
I always thought that vertical jumps were more targetted towards MaxV than acceleration ?
My understanding is that most of the training focused on explosive strength (heavy squatting, Olys, DE squats, jumps, plyos) really only impact the early phase of acceleration…start to 30m or so. There is carryover in top speed, but it is the indirect result of the better acceleration. In other words, Max V is not greatly impacted by explosive strength training. The one exception seems to be bounding, which may have some effect on Max V.[/quote]
Isnt ground contact times too high while bounding?[/quote]I’m not really refering to the specificity of the movement, but the correlation between certain training modalities and improvements in acceleration and top speed. Improvements in limit strength, olympic lifts, sled dragging, hill running, stadium running and plyos have all been shown to correlate to (at least to some degree) improvements in explosive strength, vertical jump and acceleration. The correlation to top speed is not as clear however, but apparently bounding has shown (I can’t put my hands on the study(s) at the moment) to correlate soemwhat to improvements in top speed.
Not meaning to take the thread off topic, but I gathered that the OP indicated that endurance is in place and improvements in top speed is needed. Keep in we’re talking about the 400m. If speed is what he’s looking for, I think additional Max V work along with skipping and bounding may better serve that goal, rather than hops, jumps and landings, regardless of the intensity. If it is in fact improved performance in the first 30-50m, then acceleration work, including plyos, would help, keeping in consideration the thoughts expressed by others earlier in this thread.