Thursday, April 30, 2015

Do You Even Sprint Bro? - By H.R. Greer

In the world of training and participating in athletics, the one word that always comes to the surface is
Speed. Speed has a multitude of facets and is very sport specific; for most sports I believe multi-
directional speed is king. For example, when are athletes able to open up and run 10-50 yards without
some type of reactive stimulus and reposition step. So why train linear speed? As Loren Seagrave
states, Sprinting is a Skill. The beautiful thing about skills is that they are trainable. Speed is a Gross
Motor skill involving many muscles and joints. It is such a complex paradigm that it can quickly make
someone feel incompetent. In laymans terms, to run faster you need:

1.) More force into the ground

2.) More Force into the ground at a quicker rate.

3.) More Force into the ground at a quicker rate in the proper direction.

There are so many intricate details to examine when talking about sprinting such as: Posture, Ground
Reaction Forces, Vertical and Horizontal Propulsion, Pillar Stabilization, etc. I am so fascinated in the
neuromuscular system and how it affects locomotion. To speak about it you must learn about it, so I
shall share my learning through this blog.
 Neuromuscular System Benefits of Sprinting

When an athlete sprints maximally, the Central Nervous System is extremely excited. Imagine if you
told a little kid Christmas will be once a week instead of once a year, that is your nervous system when
sprinting, totally hyped! The coordination and timing of agonists and antagonists is a true mark of a fluid
athlete. Mike Young states, Sprinting is an extremely complex motor task involving repeated rapid
switching on and off of practically every muscle in the body. Have you ever seen an athlete sprint, and
you cringe because it looks like they have to consciously think about every movement they make? On
the other hand, have you ever watched skilled guys at the NFL combine run effortlessly and fluid? This
skill of coordination can be trained over time as the neuromuscular system becomes efficient. Motor
unit activation and synchronization is of utmost importance. When sprinting, you tap into larger (Higher
Threshold) Motor Units, in order to complete the task efficiently the body must synchronize the Larger
and Smaller MU for the demand of high rate of force development. This positively effects what is done
in the weight room and vice versa. When the body quickly, efficiently, and relatively effortlessly can
attain High Threshold MU, we have a more twitchy athlete. I love what Mike Young said, Almost
every physical quality relevant to speed and power falls under the category of neuromuscular
coordination.
 Compatibility of Sprinting and Lifting on F/V Curve

The Painting of the tapestry for a strength coach really comes into play when talking about competing
tasks of lifting and sprinting. Hey Bro I dont know about sprinting all the time it might fatigue my
Nervous System and hinder Bench Press numbers. One of my favorite quotes from a speed guru Mike
Young is By considering physical qualities as outcomes of inter and intramuscular coordination we
simplify the training method and place on a continuum rather than different bubbles. Sprinting at high
velocities greatly fatigues the central nervous system. I firmly believe if you want to be fast, you must
train to be fast. This means sprinting all the time in varying volumes. When sprinting year round we have
to be very sensitive to not overflowing the cup of adaptation. IF the body adapts to the strongest
stimulus presented, why not present it with a compatible stimulus with running and weights? During
early off season, when training for more absolute strength, keep sprinting efforts near the same place
on F/V Curve. This would mean staying in the 5-20 yard zone working on acceleration and overcoming
inertia. As you move towards the summer and strength-speed/speed strength become more
prominent, higher velocities and higher volumes of sprinting are palatable. Appropriate volumes and
intensities in weight room and field must be applied in order to sprint year round. Too often we look at
weight training and sprinting in different rooms instead of just looking at the house. Monitor your stress
or you might end up with a sickening amount of musculotendinous injuries.
 Injury Prevention Pertaining To Sprinting?

Yeah I know when you think of sprinting at high speeds you think of a kid grabbing his hamstring like
someone shot them with a 12 gauge at point blank range. But, if we look deeper into neuromuscular
timing, it could be possible. I read an article recently by Bret Contreras, he goes into detail explaining an
interesting and appealing analogy. He talks about NMS timing in the rehab of a rotator cuff for a
baseball player. He says during the rehab a NMS timing has to be learned between the musculature of
gleno-humeral and scapula-thoracic joints for optimal movement efficiency. Bret goes on saying in the
final stages of rehab the throwing progression demands the shoulder to rotate at higher velocities. From
starting in lower velocities and moving into higher velocities, neuromuscular timing works in harmony
with GH & ST for distinct patterns of Motor Unit Activation of prime movers, Synergists and antagonists.
What does this have to do with sprinting? Muscle Groups have Different Nerve Innervations and Motor
Unit Activations. When the NMS timing is off due to fatigue or incompetence, specific patterns can be
altered. Synergists doing Prime Movers jobs all because incorrect motor patterns. The Nervous System
will choose to the path to least resistance, you must train it To Perform Correctly during sprinting.
Taught correctly, sprinting from a short to long approach gives NMS correct patterning for Optimal and
efficient timing to prevent Injury.

Conclusion
Special thanks to our Assistant Director of Strength and Conditioning Shelton Stevens for allowing me
to post on his blog. I humbled by the fact that I work with such a knowledgeable and involved
Strength Staff in the field. I am starting my own blog Please feel free to bash or encourage my work,
both are useful when seeking knowledge to push the envelope of performance training.

If sprinting is such a complex skill that expresses neuromuscular coordination at its apex, and NMS
coordination is thought to be the cloud that all precipitation comes from, why not sprint year round?
There is a difference between sprinting for skill development and running as hard as you can under
immense fatigue. If applying the great Charlie Francis model of vertical integration this can be possible
albeit varying the emphasis and volumes from day to day, week to week and so on. When training
athletes in group settings in college or HS your windows of adaptation are very small, so why wait to
sprint until 1 or 2 months before the competitive season?

H.R. Greer, SCCC, Exos Performance Specialist Certified

Assistant Strength Coach- Football, Baseball

Head Strength Coach- Mens/Womens Track and Field, Womens Soccer

Arkansas State University

Email: hrgreer45@gmail.com
Phone: (901)-828-7370
Thessalonians 4:11-12

Shelton Stevens

Do You Even Sprint Bro? - By H.R. Greer

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