Usain bolt percentages

[speedman]

My sense is that way too many people on sprint message boards place far too much emphasis on sets of 3 in the gym, and not nearly enough on 300s on the track, which I believe EVERY high level sprinter (I mean Bolt, Powell, Gay, Dix, VCB, Jet, Felix, you name it....) IS doing.

I think I've gotten far better stimulus from doing 30" box jumps (and listening to Charlie in the early part of Edmonton about not pushing too far in terms of risk/reward) than I ever got from squats or DL of any kind.

Interesting observation re 300's. Any idea how the top dogs run their 300's? At max speed, submaximal or a combination of both?

[ESTI]

Interesting observation re 300's. Any idea how the top dogs run their 300's? At max speed, submaximal or a combination of both?

Gay has responded on Twitter saying the most beneficial workout for him has been 300+100, being the 100 is a full out rep and the 300 sub max.

[lkh]

Gay has responded on Twitter saying the most beneficial workout for him has been 300+100, being the 100 is a full out rep and the 300 sub max.

As I recall in that interview last year, he said the 300+100 was his best workout for 400. He was also asked what the best workout was for MaxV and he said 300s.

There are some old forum discussions around on 300s with particular emphasis on Asafa. Charlie mentioned Asafa doing 300s in 37. I think Doc mentioned 3X300 in 38, same thing for Dix. John Smith has had people getting down to 35-36. PJ has mentioned Bolt doing 350s and 450s, but I haven't seen mention of pace. This is all mostly intensive tempo of course, with accels (or hills or sleds) along with it (not on the same day of course).

I've had better luck with 3X2X150 (becomes 4X2X150 later in GPP) with 60 sec between the 150s, but run at special endurance pace.

[sonicboom]

Would you say that there is an optimal strength to body weight % that an athlete or coach could refer to as a guide? Similar to the same notion of a person benching their own weight.

[lkh]

From "Charlie On Sprinting" in the archives:

THE START

You're strong enough at the start when your drive leg (under load) can extend at the same time as the knee comes forward (no load). If the knee is well forward before the rear leg has much extension, you're too weak. Triple extension is just a way of describing a position where the body is extended through the hip, knee, and ankle. If you have enough strength for the start, you have enough strength for triple extension, as long as you are relaxed and flexible enough If you concentrate on the arms at the start and forget the legs, the legs will take care of themselves.
1: A mechanically efficient start can be defined by speed through the acceleration period.
2: the efficiency/economy of the start will be reflected, in part, by the athletes ability to finish the race.
Most start problems are correctable, regardless of strength levels, by adjusting the start position to reflect current strength levels rather than to establish one final position and wait for strength to catch up. This is not only possible, but necessary, as the start affects the smooth execution of the whole race. When strength is lacking the COM should be raised as much as possible in the set position by insuring that the arms drop straight down from the shoulders to the line (in both planes), that the hips are as high as possible while still maintaining enough bend at the back leg to ensure force on the back block, and a position close enough to the line that the athlete will automatically raise his COM as fast as is necessary. The start can be re-adjusted in lock-step with strength improvements (the needed changes, while effective, won't be huge).

[Angela Coon]

lkh,
Thank-you for digging this up.