[TrackNation]

TrackNation on November 23, 2011 at 12:11 pm #17988

Hello Elitetrackers,

I would like to hear your thoughts on how losing a light/moderate amount of weight (body fat) can (hopefully)improve sprint performance….for instance, can a female who weighs 135 and drops 5 lbs expect to significantly improve a electronic 30m fly of 3.38?…obviously by not losing muscle mass but by losing body fat. How about a male who sprints 10.75 and weighs 180…can having him drop body fat improve performance.

…I assume they will improve…but I will like to know if anybody has a formula or theory on how much a person can expect to improve specific sprint times given they lose “x” amount of weight and given their strength levels, etc. do not diminish.

[oshikake@ymail.com]

oshikake@ymail.com on November 25, 2011 at 2:36 am #112588

.

[Matt Norquist]

Matt Norquist on November 25, 2011 at 3:28 am #112590

Loss of BF is of course going to help some. It makes a bigger difference the longer the run, and also a bigger difference in jumps.

I would think it mostly depends on current BF levels on whether it will create a huge benefit.

IE – Going from 14% to 9% will make a bigger difference (with limited detrimental energy or training effect) than going from 10% to 5%.

I’d think losing 5 lbs of fat might make a .02-.05 difference for well trained athletes. Would say fat loss should not be a primary focus unless bf is major limiting factor. That training plan, energy and technique are much more important.

[Irish100m]

Irish100m on November 25, 2011 at 8:32 am #112598

what about weight gain?

I stand at 5ft8 and at the beginning of winter i weighed 143 lbs, very light for a 10.73 sprinter

I now weigh 154 lbs due to upping my weight lifting sessions from once to 3 times per week. Now all of that is lean muscle, I’m pretty sure that’s going to help me run faster. I don’t feel heavy, or feel any heavier at all for that matter …