Whether we look at football, hockey, rugby, or even middle and long distance running, one thing becomes apparent – the ability to run at speed (aka sprint) is paramount. Training to improve sprint performance therefore becomes ever increasingly important, however the relationship between resistance training and sprint performance does appear to be a grey area in some circles of the fitness community.
Before we look into the benefits of resistance training on sprint performance, I think it’s good to look at what limits sprint performance. Looking purely at anatomical variables there is a relationship between running velocity and muscle mass; simply put, faster runners generally have greater amounts of lean muscle mass. However increased lean muscle mass is only half of the equation, and is ultimately useless unless the tendons of the lower extremities are able to act as a stiff spring to the forces generated.
Sprinting is a quick activity with ground contact times generally less than 200ms. Therefore as large amounts of muscle force are required in short periods of time, one key limiting factor of sprint performance therefore may be the rate of force development and maximal force expression. It is very subtle but looking in detail we have to look to develop two key variables:
- Maximal force development
- Rate of force development
To develop these two key variables resistance training could only be useful if it is specific to the activity of sprinting; luckily it is! If we look at sprinting in detail we know that at ground contact the individual is required to produce rapid concentric contractions of the hip extensors, similar to the action of the second pull during the clean and snatch lift.
As briefly mentioned maintaining stiff joint characteristic in the tendons and muscles during the eccentric loading phase of sprinting is paramount – this is because stiffer tendons are associated with lower ground contact times. Once again it could be argued that this is trainable through variations of the clean and snatch, such as the drop snatch which requires the rapid deceleration of the barbell, or during the catch of the power clean where the body must be kept rigid.
In terms of maximal force development, where not better to look for development than the front and back squat? Through the correct combination of heavy loaded strength exercises and sub maximal high speed Olympic variations, particularly around the second pull sprint, performance can be developed very well. While it is important to consider that resistance training is a very suitable method for developing certain characteristics of sprinting, it forms only part of the puzzle. Not only that but it requires excellent form and execution – poor technique is likely to have a poor transfer to the activity.