“Why should we be limited by arbitrary guidelines like a 10% load or a 10% decrease in speed. Over twenty yards, ten percent is 2 one-hundreths of a second. The key should be to look at the athletes posture and motor pattern.”-Michael BoyleI am glad that Coach Boyle reprinted his earlier article. After reading it the first time, I had some counter points but we must always rethink conventional w
Acceleration- Resistance Ideas, Breaking Rules, and Swedish Speed
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Good read, i love being able to read a good article. I am with you with the weights and sleds, my strength coach used to say one thing my allamerican season….I want to see that bar moving fast, and if it aint take some weight off and make it move faster. this with proper tech of course. (Before i get bashed by the bloggers)
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Participant
“Why should we be limited by arbitrary guidelines like a 10% load or a 10% decrease in speed. Over twenty yards, ten percent is 2 one-hundreths of a second. The key should be to look at the athletes posture and motor pattern.”-Michael BoyleI am glad that Coach Boyle reprinted his earlier article. After reading it the first time, I had some counter points but we must always rethink conventional w
Carl,
Some questions and comments. It seemed at the beginning of your blog you diverged, slightly, from Coach Boyle when he discussed using observation of mechanics and not an aribtrary %, but then your last line or two you seemed to arrive at the same conclusion he did…the arbitrary 10% can be and is exceeded, we just need to pay attention to posture etc. This last comment sounds like your philosophy is very similar to Boyle’s, and for what its worth, I tend to agree with it.
Now a comment…I have seen videos/images of the Jamaicans pulling sleds. The have the same sled we do. The plates on the sled look like Olympic plates and there appears to be either two 25# or possibly two 35# plates on the sled. Either way, far in excess of 10% bodyweight. Do you have any information about the actual weight on the sled for Bolt?
Which leads me to my last comment…I think if you’re going to use a cutoff, it should be sprint times, not weight. The friction of the sled and the surface its being pulled on dramatially alters the resistance. Our sled (like the Jamaicans) has very little friction and when pulled on grass (like the Jamaicans) it really pulls very easily. My 17 year old son trained with as much as 45# on the sled and you couldn’t tell that it slowed him down hardly at all over 30m. It did, but it was not at all an obvious difference. On a track, the same 45# plate might slow him dramatically due to differences in friction.
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Participant
Weight and speed do have a relationship…and that is unique based on size and speed of the athlete obviously.
I don’t care if Asafa uses 25% of his weight and goes 20% slower than PR times as that’s an advanced athlete and nothing near the numbers shared on the video in the blog post. Elites are going to be able to run faster and load more as things evolve, but not to the point that we are seeing slabs and piles of 45 pound plates.
I think everyone would agree that the use of elite splinters is between 25-50 pounds on a tow sled, not 500 pounds on a push sled. Mike questioned the use of 10% and I like that because people use more. But treat it like a speed limit, sure everyone goes 75 on a 55mph highway, but who goes 200 and thinks it’s the same? 10 percent speed loss has some changes to mechanics. 15% other mechanics. Each load to a point of 25% looses specific adaptations. Also distances of the acceleration must be discussed.
” My 17 year old son trained with as much as 45# on the sled and you couldn’t tell that it slowed him down hardly at all over 30m. It did, but it was not at all an obvious difference. On a track, the same 45# plate might slow him dramatically due to differences in friction.”
Grass, track, sled type, and even length of harness…..most people adjust weight as it’s clear and compare times. What are his times electronically with both the 30m loaded and unloaded? Without electronic splits how do we know?
Friction is the key point and I agree, weight is one thing (compared to weight of the athlete) but shouldn’t we time? Nobody adjusts the friction by watering the grass, so weight is a great incremental load and times as well as mechanics can be measured. And why are we talking about acceleration when after the third step on the video, I don’t see much change in velocity? Steady state pushing?
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Participant
I think one of the best things about this post is it inspires thought.
Similar to Coach Boyle, I see no problem with heavier weighted sled pushes as a special strength exercise to be used on occasion. Carl’s post will certainly get me to pay more attention to the foot from here on out. Sled pushes are just one exercise and one exercise alone can’t sink the ship. I’ve always felt that improvements in speed come from the whole program, not one exercise.
I think resisted sprints are a different animal that would require a much closer monitoring.
One thing that does stand out in Coach Boyle’s article is the statement about top speed being reached in 60 meters. As many know, athletes of different abilities reach top speed at different distances. Some may reach it at 20 meters and others at 45 meters.
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Participant
I have no problem with bridge exercises by working a spectrum, but choosing the middle is often a compromise that serves little with sled pushes. The sled pushes will magically connect the weight room with the track, like turing on a switch? No way. A great option at times but is it doing what we are hearing? What does that research say with regards to heavy sleds and speed development in acceleration? I am sure it’s going to help athletes who are not advanced (read people that are not lifting much or have a shallow training history that allows anything to improve them) but elites are not making record leaps.
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Participant
Agreed!
I would simply say heavy sled pushes help to strengthen muscles of the lower body. Saying they are the key to acceleration, where the arms are involved and posture is not only different, but changes with each step, is internet hype.
While we may not need to see legions of 4.1 or 4.2 guys, it would be nice to see F.A.T. before and afters from those who claim to have cracked the code.
The only athlete I’ve ever seen cover 10 yards in 6 steps was Cam Newton. Wouldn’t we have seen more by now?
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Participant
6 steps sure…fast time no.
The internet hype will continue, but the sport of track will show those experts what reality is.
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