Im 15, 160 lbs, 5 ft 11. Recently I realized how friggin strong my legs have become... i used to only be able to leg curl 140 lbs a month ago, now im doing 3 sets of 280lb for 10 reps. big improvement in my opinion. Anyways, i was wondering that since my legs and calves are so improved, why is it that i cant run sprints very well? i dont seem to have the explosiveness of sprinting, but im great at long distance stuff, especially hiking up mountains for days on end during hunting trips. How can i improve my sprinting/explosiveness, and what workouts are associated with those?
I leg curl 280lb but i cant run sprints well?
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I used to be a pretty good sprinter and I have a few tips for you,
First off sprinting puts your body under massive strain, you need to make sure that you body is perfectly balanced or you'll get a bad injury (I ripped my hamstring 8 years ago and it's still not ready to sprint again). To do that you need flawless technique (see a coach) and balanced muscle power. To make sure your muscles are balanced try and mainly do unilateral leg work like single leg squats and lunges
The machines you're using creates muscle imbalances because they take out the need for stabalizer muscles. It's the stabalizer muscles that'll be under a lot of strain during a sprint
First off sprinting puts your body under massive strain, you need to make sure that you body is perfectly balanced or you'll get a bad injury (I ripped my hamstring 8 years ago and it's still not ready to sprint again). To do that you need flawless technique (see a coach) and balanced muscle power. To make sure your muscles are balanced try and mainly do unilateral leg work like single leg squats and lunges
The machines you're using creates muscle imbalances because they take out the need for stabalizer muscles. It's the stabalizer muscles that'll be under a lot of strain during a sprint
Plyometrics anyone, get out of the gym and onto the track. Bounding, depth jumps overspead training and underspeed training is what you need to be doing.
Even though you can leg curl a **** load its strength, absoulte strength to be exact. You need to develop power which is the fastest a muscle can contract under a load.
If you want to develop power
slow eccenttic (storing elastic potential)
Explosive concentric.
You need to also increase your flexibility think about this the farther you stretch a rubber band the faster and further it will fly. Its because it has more elastic potential stored. Finding the optimal ammount of hamstring quad hipflexor and hip extensor oh an especially glute flexibility and power makes you sprint faster.
Even though you can leg curl a **** load its strength, absoulte strength to be exact. You need to develop power which is the fastest a muscle can contract under a load.
If you want to develop power
slow eccenttic (storing elastic potential)
Explosive concentric.
You need to also increase your flexibility think about this the farther you stretch a rubber band the faster and further it will fly. Its because it has more elastic potential stored. Finding the optimal ammount of hamstring quad hipflexor and hip extensor oh an especially glute flexibility and power makes you sprint faster.
theleip
2
Exactly, firing off that hip and lifting with big compound explosive movements should be your new best friend.
In the weight room keep at the squats, cleans, Oly's in general are great for sprint work. Making full body core and stabilers movements are going to be key for you.
For plyo's, look into some jump box movements, power lunges, and shuttle jumps.
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Explosive eccentric and explosive concentric. Slow does not store elastic potential because there is only a low amount of eccentric loading.
Before we take all of this explosive training advice we should know what type (if any) explosive training you are doing now.
If the answer is none. Do not do depth jumps, box jumps, or any other moves like that. Start with bounding, power skips, high knees, and form running type drills. Then move to the other stuff.
If you want to be fast, train fast. If you want to be slow, train slow. simple as that. =) being fast is power and explosive work. 3-5 sets of 3-5reps of about 60% or below in the weight room. train fast if you want to be fast. =) good luck
and lay off the machines. machine does nothing but make you slow and uses the msucle it says without any stabilizers. you need multiple joint exercises. examples of some - powerclean, squat, deadlift, push up, pull up, chin up, etc.
and lay off the machines. machine does nothing but make you slow and uses the msucle it says without any stabilizers. you need multiple joint exercises. examples of some - powerclean, squat, deadlift, push up, pull up, chin up, etc.
"Because leg curling is not an althletic lift at all."
tell that to an Olympic breast-stroker. seems to me 1/2 of their entire sport involves leg curling, non?
as far as all these "real world" posts are concerned and how it doesn't apply; any mention the power-strength-endurance continuum?
tell that to an Olympic breast-stroker. seems to me 1/2 of their entire sport involves leg curling, non?
as far as all these "real world" posts are concerned and how it doesn't apply; any mention the power-strength-endurance continuum?
Strength does not equal power. Explosive power is a synergistic combination of strength, conditioning, speed, body mechanics, technique etc.
Sugar Ray Leonard was a welterweight 140-147 lbs in his fighting days. I guarantee I can benchpress a lot more than he ever could. I also bet he could (and probably still can) hit a lot harder than I can. I once played a round of golf with a guy who probably weighed 120 lbs and he outdrove me on every hole.
For the same reason strong legs don't necessarily make you a fast sprinter, a strong arm doesn't necessarily make you able to throw a lightning fast fastball .
Sugar Ray Leonard was a welterweight 140-147 lbs in his fighting days. I guarantee I can benchpress a lot more than he ever could. I also bet he could (and probably still can) hit a lot harder than I can. I once played a round of golf with a guy who probably weighed 120 lbs and he outdrove me on every hole.
For the same reason strong legs don't necessarily make you a fast sprinter, a strong arm doesn't necessarily make you able to throw a lightning fast fastball .
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Skeletal muscles contain two main types of fibers, which differ in the mechanism they use to produce ATP; the amount of each type of fiber varies from muscle to muscle and from person to person.
Red ("slow-twitch") fibers have more mitochondria, store oxygen in myoglobin, rely on aerobic metabolism, have a greater capillary to volume ratio and are associated with endurance; these produce ATP more slowly. Marathon runners tend to have more red fibers, generally through a combination of genetics and training.
White ("fast-twitch") fibers have fewer mitochondria, are capable of more powerful (but shorter) contractions, metabolize ATP more quickly, have a lower capillary to volume ratio, and are more likely to accumulate lactic acid. Weightlifters and sprinters tend to have more white fibers.
Courtesy of wikipedia lol, i was going to say the same thing but wiki words it so well.
Red ("slow-twitch") fibers have more mitochondria, store oxygen in myoglobin, rely on aerobic metabolism, have a greater capillary to volume ratio and are associated with endurance; these produce ATP more slowly. Marathon runners tend to have more red fibers, generally through a combination of genetics and training.
White ("fast-twitch") fibers have fewer mitochondria, are capable of more powerful (but shorter) contractions, metabolize ATP more quickly, have a lower capillary to volume ratio, and are more likely to accumulate lactic acid. Weightlifters and sprinters tend to have more white fibers.
Courtesy of wikipedia lol, i was going to say the same thing but wiki words it so well.
Don't quote wiki. Wikipedia is so full of inaccurate information that it should not to be used in a place where people might take it as absolute.