You guys failed to understand what I was getting at.
Humans have the ability to decompress there spines too.
What happens during decompression?.
Go back to Reply #18.
where's the "spinal decompression", i can't find it.
super slow motion:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vf12x5WSLN8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EwlymfYS2I&feature=fvst
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhcGCGyqBVc
etc
^Perhaps MattyG, hold on one sec...
Go back to the first link adarq posted. Watch ASAFA:
There is CLEARLY a head bobbing motion going on. In asafa it is the most pronounced, but if you look at Bolt you will see it during his start, and in the second part of the video/race.
I've done this myself, neck flexion in midair, then neck swings up/back a bit during leg extension and ground contact. MY HYPOTHESIS IS THAT YOU CAN ONLY DO THIS HEAD BOBBING AT SLOW STRIDES IN HUMANS. Both Asafa and Bolt have a slow stride rate. If you look at Tyson yo don't see any of this head bobbing.
My stride rate is fast, and I don't head bob. But when I'm just striding for practice, I can do this head bobbing thing. It doesn't make me faster though, just would give me neck cramps if I tried. maybe I should do plyometrics with my neck. I'm being serious actually because I think the neck bobbing does have an impact in slower stride rates. It's just awkward and probably bad for your brain to bob your head when you're striding as fast as Tyson.
Spinal decompression probably happens anyway without the head bobbing, but I don't understand how it could be the main reason why Bolt is the fastest human being, since asafa is clearly running this way as well and Tyson usually beats him. Well maybe Tyson's spine compresses too.
SO back to MattyG, this rounding thing you're seeing, is the neck flexion, conciding with knee extension in mid-air to prepare for powerful ground contact.
Speaking of POWER, this spinal decompression thing may be more relevant to more powerful activities, such as jumping.
Watch Aarik Wilson TJing, he has a mad head bob during his run, which is probably a lot slower than any elite sprinter, strides are slow.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DR6F2sgfLUc&feature=relmfuHere is Carl Lewis, check out the extra head bobbing in the penultimate step
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5Sg_kACPRMAgain from personal experience, just today even, my head bobs were mad powerful during a heavy squat jump, deep with just 135 lbs. To lift it faster I had to flex at the neck (head bringing down closer to chest), then pop up as the bar goes up.
Ca'nt find any good VJ vids, but how many of you look down slightly before jumping? In 1 footed Vj looking down in the penultimate helps me the most. If I look up the whole time that would not work, with 1 or two.
I hope this fosters some discussion, this should not be ignored