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What is this Leg stiffness about? the benefits of having leg stiffness and how it can help in sprinting and how do you train for leg stiffness.

would things like shock training be beneficial for leg stiffness?

thanks

I like that article a lot but for me it only raises more questions than it answers.

You ungrateful people!

The concept of leg stiffness isn't too well established anyway.  Obviously short ground contacts are necessary but whether it's weak muscles surrounding the joint that cause it to collapse or whether the tendon is incapable of storing as much force or whether long ground contacts are caused by measurably "loose" tendons isn't really important.  IMO calling it leg stiffness causes people a lot of confusion. 

Anyway, agreed that beginners should focus on weight training and sprinting to get faster.  People underestimate how plyometric sprinting is.  Just want to add two important things. 

1)  Once you have developed even decent acceleration (ie. true 30m < 5 secs) you should include more than just short sprints.  Short sprints (20-60m) are your acceleration work and should be done at top intensity.  Include also some work in the range of 80-150m with varying intensity as well as flying 20's and 30's.  A flying 30 should include a run in of about 40-50 meters, 30m of top speed and 40-50 meters to coast to decelerate.   Top end work well will improve leg stiffness, while also improving your speed endurance.  If you want to run 100m competitively this will be very important.

2)  If you can try to include some sprint work on softer surfaces.  Again this is a way even beginners can improve leg stiffness AND avoid injury.  Try to spend some time sprinting on grass.   

Thanks for the help guys.
 

btw: what type of exercise would be considered 'low level reactive work and jumps'

Quote from: LanceSTS on September 19, 2011, 03:17:24 pm

  The thing that will help you the MOST right now is to get stronger in the squat and rdl, and sprint.  Until youve put at least 100lbs on both those lifts, and done loads of short sprints, you dont need to go into the "training tendons" mode that leads people to the hamster wheel of no return.

 "stiffness" that matters is JOINT stiffness, or no force can be applied.  joint stiffness is stiffness of the tendons AND the MUSCLES.  If you train the way youre supposed to, those things will take care of themselves.  Get stronger in the glutes, hams, quads, and calves, get moving better by sprinting and doing low level reactive work and jumps, along with fixing any mobility/flexibility issues,  get your body composition in order.  If you do those things, youll be very happy with your sprint times.

Ok so get to at least squatting 2.0xBW. What is a standard like that for the RDL? Like is it 1.5, 1.0 or something? They help me with making goals.
Are calf raises beneficial for getting the calves stronger? Do they not cause ankle problems? If they were to be done what would be the set and rep scheme? HOw do you know if your calves are strong?
What kind of low level reactive work and jumps?

Quote from: T0ddday on September 19, 2011, 05:08:06 pm

The concept of leg stiffness isn't too well established anyway.  Obviously short ground contacts are necessary but whether it's weak muscles surrounding the joint that cause it to collapse or whether the tendon is incapable of storing as much force or whether long ground contacts are caused by measurably "loose" tendons isn't really important.  IMO calling it leg stiffness causes people a lot of confusion. 

Anyway, agreed that beginners should focus on weight training and sprinting to get faster.  People underestimate how plyometric sprinting is.  Just want to add two important things. 

1)  Once you have developed even decent acceleration (ie. true 30m < 5 secs) you should include more than just short sprints.  Short sprints (20-60m) are your acceleration work and should be done at top intensity.  Include also some work in the range of 80-150m with varying intensity as well as flying 20's and 30's.  A flying 30 should include a run in of about 40-50 meters, 30m of top speed and 40-50 meters to coast to decelerate.   Top end work well will improve leg stiffness, while also improving your speed endurance.  If you want to run 100m competitively this will be very important.

2)  If you can try to include some sprint work on softer surfaces.  Again this is a way even beginners can improve leg stiffness AND avoid injury.  Try to spend some time sprinting on grass.   

Isnt 30 meters about 32 yards? 5 seconds is very long for anyone. How and when would one incorporate the non acceleration work? I think you have seen my log a couple of times. What should i add on to my track work right now? SHould a sprinter do that even if the season is a couple months away?

30 meters about 33 yards.  Five seconds is slow, but not as slow as you think.  A true timing is very different than a 40 yard dash timing.  Sprinters should train short to long.  Begin the season with acceleration work and top speed work (flying 30's, flying 20's relax for 80 and run top speed for 40m, etc.).  Check out a site like speedendurance.  Many sample workouts there.

Ok so get to at least squatting 2.0xBW. What is a standard like that for the RDL? Like is it 1.5, 1.0 or something? They help me with making goals.

If your squat is a legitimate full squat, and youre an athlete worried about sprinting speed, you want to keep your rdl fairly close to your squat, especially if youre using a high bar squat.  

Are calf raises beneficial for getting the calves stronger?

yes.

Do they not cause ankle problems?

Not if theyre done correctly, in fact, they will help strengthen the ankles and aid in preventing problems, along with making you a better athlete with better feet.

If they were to be done what would be the set and rep scheme?

higher reps tend to work better on calf raises due to the short range of motion and time under tension.  3-4 sets of 12-20 works well.

HOw do you know if your calves are strong?

youll feel it when jump and sprint, also walking around.  Youll have an extra "pop" when you contact the ground instead of the ankles collapsing at higher forces.

What kind of low level reactive work and jumps?

there are about 1000 different things you can do, low hurdle hops, line hops, square drills, etc... Anything thats in that intensity range and category will work.

Flying 30's are good speed drill. you determine where you will start running from then mark a point to where you will be able to reach your max velocity from the start point and then 30m's from that point you marked for you to try and maintain that top speed for 30m's.

|--------------------------------------|<------------------30m----------------------------------------------------------->|
Start_____Top Speed Attained_______maintain speed until the end point____________End

i would probably do the acceleration stuff first then the top speed stuff. i don't know about others.

what are flying 30's. Should i do the top speed stuff before or after acceleration stuff. or on another day. or until later on.