[flow]

flow on April 20, 2006 at 6:04 am #11774

hi there. 
ok so its cool being big and comes in handy often, but….
how strong and big does a short distance sprinter have to be in the upper body?
of course core stability(abs/lower back) is very important,  but are strong/huge pecs, lats,  arms and so on important for sprinting?
i figure thats a point where one can get rid of a lot of extra weight.  surely a certain strength
should be achieved,  but when do i know that it is enough? 
would be nice to here someone say:  blablabla pounds in bench pressing is sufficient…
anybody got a guess?

[mjstocko]

mjstocko on April 20, 2006 at 6:59 am #52980

I don't think there is an exact amount for someone to bench press.  As a short sprinter I would concentrate on your olympic lifts, which will actually indirectly help your upper body.  Bench press and other press lifts can be used.  Other than that you should not make upper body lifts your focus if your a sprinter.

[Carson Boddicker]

Carson Boddicker on April 20, 2006 at 7:26 am #52981

While I think it is impossible to say x weight is sufficient I have something to add:  strength with size and strength without size are two different things.  I would argue that there is a point where you can be too big with worthless muscle (sarcoplasmic hypertrophy) which will consequently harm your sprinting.  On the contrary, getting very strong with smaller increases in mass, highly innervated mass at that, would not harm you sprint performance. 

[davan]

davan on April 20, 2006 at 9:01 am #52982

Well, if we look at the 4 guys who have gone sub 9.8, all could bench well over 300lbs (including TMont, the smallest of the 4). I would say at the elite level, most of the guys are very strong all around. In certain systems, upper body lifts aid in the final taper and distribution of CNS intensive work.

[Mike Young]

Mike Young on April 23, 2006 at 9:36 am #52983

I don't think upper body strength is really a limiting factor in most cases. I think your average 225 bench press is probably sufficient to run well. Granted, most athletes who run very fast and supplement there training with weight training will press considerably more simply because they are wired for strength but I don't necessarily means that the upper body strength they have improves their sprinting performance.

ELITETRACK Founder

[flow]

flow on April 24, 2006 at 4:55 pm #52984

thanks guys,  the main reason i asked is cause i  observed that i have a disproportionate mass gains when reaching certain strength-levels.
of coarse ill try new training methods to see if i can exclude those  gains.

[offtheblocks]

offtheblocks on April 25, 2006 at 4:57 am #52985

Granted, most athletes who run very fast and supplement there training with weight training will press considerably more simply because they are wired for strength but I don't necessarily means that the upper body strength they have improves their sprinting performance.

isnt it because their CNS has been tuned so highly?

[Carson Boddicker]

Carson Boddicker on April 25, 2006 at 7:56 am #52986

but I don't necessarily means that the upper body strength they have improves their sprinting performance.

Is it at all a disadvantage provided it is all highly innervated muscle?

[flow]

flow on April 25, 2006 at 2:54 pm #52987

Is it at all a disadvantage provided it is all highly innervated muscle?

i guess any mass that doesnt help to make you faster-  is it muscle or hair (who needs that?!?!;) – is unnecessary

[davan]

davan on April 25, 2006 at 7:09 pm #52988

Mike: What do you think about using lifts like the bench press in the taper as a method to distribute the CNS load? I know this is used in CFTS and to an extent by HSI, but am curious about your thoughts on the matter (this was discussed briefly before I think).

[Mike Young]

Mike Young on April 26, 2006 at 5:27 am #52989

I've never seen any research evidence to directly support this claim but that doesn't necessarily mean it wouldn't work. I've tried it before but can't really speak for it's use because I don't know what exact role it played in the taper. To be honest I'm not completely convinced it would achieve the desired effect of achieving a stimulatory nervous system crossover.

ELITETRACK Founder