Jeremy asked that I post this for him:
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.
ELITETRACK Founder