of course slow is relative, but even by the standard of "relatively lean, athletic-looking men in their 20s" i feel like i'm pretty slow. don't really have much to compare to; in ultimate i was never the slowest nor the fastest guy on the field but sport speed is a whole different animal anyway. the only time in ultimate you're ever really near top speed is on a deep throw. and then you're probably running in a slight curve, tracking the disc, and thinking about how you're going to high-point it with another dude right next to you doing the same thing.
i digress. the point is, how to become a faster 60m runner? obviously technique is an issue for me*, but i can't help but feel that improving the deficits limiting my top speed (tendon stiffness? "reactivity?") would also improve my jumping. so what's the Rx? more focus on long sprints? flies? if adarq were still reading this i'd ask him if, looking back, he thinks his high-rep MR half tucks really helped his tendon stiffness.
btw my buddy tahar is moving to tunisia next week. gonna find out more this weekend, apparently it all came together fast.
*as is genetics, obviously, but i can't do anything about that now.
You asked some questions about yourself in Avisheks thread and we were already giving him enough shit about his 30m times so I felt like not hijacking it more and bringing it back to your thread. A few points.
1) The first problem is it's hard to compare speed. As illustrated brilliantly by the Nesta Carter video... most relatively lean athletic looking men are really about the same speed till about 20-30m. Sure, he is a step faster than the other guys but the difference is minor compared to what happens by 50-60m. The difference in how long in takes for humans to get up to 8 m/s is relatively small compared to the difference in top speed. To make a decent car analogy; you can think that we all have between 150-160 pound-feet of torque at 2000 rpm but some of us are about to hit ridiculously high peak power at 8000 rpm and some of us essentially crap out at 4000 rpm.... Unfortunately most sports don't involve spend much time at such high RPMs where the huge horsepower resides, so this difference isn't seen. But they ARE extremely related and you have noticed that it want to get better at...
2) Unfortunately unlike the vertical jump, most people don't really know how fast they are. Most of the population you talk about are between 5'8 and 6'3 and know if they can dunk/touch the rim, etc... Which already gives a decent assessment of their jumping ability... But 100m speed. Nobody really knows. If I had to guess I would say if you can run sub 12.... You are fast by the standard you gave. I really wish more people would find out their speed but I think the mean for that population would have to be around 12.5 with a standard deviation of about 0.5 seconds. So over 13... slow. Under 12... fast. But, of course I wish I had more data. I've gathered this from going to large high school track meets in the Los Angeles area which is about the only place where most everyone is made to run. At a standard large meet only the fast kids (ie. the starting wide receivers, etc.) break 12. Only the slower kids (eg. the distance runners, basketball players) go much over 13. 12.x is standard for an athletic fast kid.
3) Your question
' i digress. the point is, how to become a faster 60m runner? obviously technique is an issue for me*, but i can't help but feel that improving the deficits limiting my top speed (tendon stiffness? "reactivity?") would also improve my jumping. so what's the Rx? more focus on long sprints?'.
I completely agree it's helpful and also agree that the RX is all of the above. The main thing you need is just more time on the track. If you told me your entire goal was an increased 1rm max in the squat my advice would be to slowly ramp up to squatting 2x daily. That's the tried and true way to optimize your potential in ALMOST anything.... so it a lot. Running is one of the semi-exceptions (marathoners for example can run 2x daily marathons).... but I would still massively increase your time on the track. The basic gyst would be something like this:
1) Work up to getting to the track/hills/running surface 6-8 times per week. You want to get better at the 60m.... So run a lot of all out sprints from 30 - 90 meters. Work on strength training specific to sprinting. If you want an analogy think of Squat (and others) :: Standing Vertical Jump is to Single Legged Bounding, Sled Drags, Direct Hamstring and Glute Work :: Sprinting. If you don't have a sled you can tow someone who is holding you back with band resistance. You can buy such a device for like 20 dollars. Stride pattern your way to 10 and maybe even 20 meters. So put a tape down on step 7 and step 12/13. DRILL this. Get even leaner. For now really alternate intensity. If today you do 50m single leg bounds, resisted runs and 5 60m sprints.... Tomorrow you can do 40 meter flys (easier on the body), single leg strength training and 5-10 150s. This is the formula but the main RX is more more more running. Run with Avishek or someone faster than you. Get in a 3pt stance, you say go (and get a bit of a head start from this advantage) and try to stay with them to 60m. Find out where they leave you and work on holding them off. Don't worry about your 30 m time but every so often run an all out 200 and figure out if your getting faster. That will work.
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I assume your buddy Tahar is Tunisian. Man I haven't been back since 2007. Don't know if I ever will.... why is he going?
BTW, I'm leaving the country for a week. Then my track pre-season starts up. I aim to copy you guys and have a progress tracker... If I do a good job you are free to get the speed training from it. Most of pre-season is short to long so it will be right up your alley.
