[quote author="andersheha" date="1263407276"][quote author="Chad Williams" date="1263359247"]MTCs that are involved in large ranges of movement, such as many athletic hip or shoulder movements, will benefit from being compliant (longer and thinner). MTCs involved in short ranges of movement, such as the ankle and knee in running, will benefit from being stiff.
Very interesting. I am not sure I’ll buy it though. What’s your reasoning behind this? Or perhaps you have 2rd party references?[/quote]
The reasoning is above behind why I give 4-6 perhaps even 8 weeks without squats. At some point, strength no longer matters. Yes, by all means, you want to develop strength, hence the bear droppings thread, but IMO, there are a lot of other limiting factors in sprinting that are far more important in season.
The hips need to be free to move, unless you are doing full range squats, ATG, you will be limiting the mobility of biggest force generator you have. I will always quote Tellez, “Stroke from the hip.” I had performance gains in my hurdlers this year, approx. .3 and .4 tenths over 60m because we made their hips more compliant.
The most taxing movement in sprinting is the recovery of your lower appendages and repositioning them. If the hips are tight and not free, you will waste more energy than someone who has more compliance.
PM me and I can give some references.[/quote]
Ok, you are basically talking about hip mobility, which of course if essential for a hurdler. I thought you were talking about tendon compliance/stiffness. I am not really keen of using those terms (compliance/stiffness) for the whole muscle (or as you say muscle tendon complex) as only parts like the tendon, or connective tissue of the muscle membrane, possess elasticity-like properties. But I understand what you are saying.