FWIW I mentioned the PR train in the other thread, b4 seeing you mention it.. lmao!
yup, this is great stuff.
how did those sprints feel a few days ago? you feeling any differences lately, in part due to your PR's?
also, sprints before bench is pretty solid.
Over the 40m I'm feeling more powerful so I might have improved my 40m a bit but I haven't been timing any of my ME sprints. The 100m is a different story for two main reasons.
Firstly I haven't been doing any speed work or speed endurance so I'm physically just not trained to be in the state to run a fast 100m. Secondly and arguably just as, if not more importantly, I'm carrying too much body fat. My weight is only around 83kg but my body fat is probably about 15% mainly due to poor diet. Furthermore, for me personally I run faster when I'm leaner but also when I'm lighter. I've always said for me to run at my peak I need to be weighing around 75kg (165lbs) at <10% bodyfat.
It's kind of like running backs v wide receivers. Generally there isn't a hell of a lot of difference between the 40 times of running backs compared to wide receivers. Sometimes there are running backs that will even run faster 40's than the wide receivers.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/40-yard_dash
"According to a five-year NFL combine report, wide receivers and cornerbacks had the fastest average times at 4.55, followed by running backs at 4.59. The following average times were measured between 2008 and 2012 at the NFL combine".
Position Time
Wide receiver 4.55
Cornerback 4.55
Running back 4.59
Safety 4.62
Outside LB 4.74
Tight end 4.77
Fullback 4.80
Inside LB 4.80
As you can see there is virtually very little difference between the 40 yard speeds of wide receivers and running backs. Take it out to a 100m though and besides the freaky running backs (Chris Johnson 10.38 but he is on the small side for a running back at only 200lbs) the difference is light and day and the wide receivers smoke the running backs over that distance. To put it in comparison there have been lots of wide receivers & corner backs that have ran low 10.0s to combat Chris Johnson example e.g. Jacoby Ford.
nice thanks for the reply! Sounds good, just don't rush the body comp stuff that's for sure.. take the slow approach (nothing drastic) and allow everything to adjust over a longer period of time. Sound like that's what you're doing though. It looks like everything is coming together, your focus is incredible right now.
Yup, RB's would probably be more competitive on average through 60m in track. Not having the length hurts for them because they don't specialize in 100m usually, so they don't have those more natural advantages passed 60-70m. If they specialized though, i'd imagine they could be just as competitive with the WR's who have more length. Traditionally, successful 100m sprinters are built more like corner backs IMHO, not taller like WR's, so if running backs lost some mass and specialized more in 100m, I think they'd be more of a traditional 100m build. All of that is changing with Bolt though, I imagine we'll see tons of tall 100m sprinters in the future. I mean, most coaches would have probably laughed Bolt off the track if he talked about wanting to be a gold medalist 100m sprinter - he's just too tall and massive, no way he can recover from the first 60m. He proved everyone wrong though.. and now we'll see taller kids believing they can be the next "Bolt" in 100m. I'm expecting taller 100m guys in the 2028, 2032+ olympics etc.
Also, those numbers you listed are just the averages of course.. The outliers are absolutely mind blowing, ie when we see Linebackers running 4.4x-4.5x, offensive linemen running 4.7x etc.. Just insane. NFL athleticism is still the most impressive to me, out of all sports.
peace!
Yeah I'm not too concerned about doing anything drastic diet wise. I'm just enjoying the strength gains atm. Once the rugby league season gets closer to starting that's when I'll be more keen to cut back on the calories and focus on lowering bodyfat as historically I have never been able to gain strength during the actual season (just making it to the gym during the season is a struggle).
Good point you make about the corner backs. Honestly I don't watch American Football I just watch highlight tapes and strength videos of them on youtube and like you said they are incredible athletes!!! Hands down the most athletic on the planet, particularly in the speed positions.
As for taller sprinters I'm not convinced yet. It remains to be seen whether Bolt is an outlier or whether he is the prototype of future 100/200m sprinters. Currently he's still an outlier as most of the best sprinters tend to be around 5'10-6'2 over the 100/200.
