Why do sprinters pull muscles?

I do not run 9.7 for the 100.

Most sprinters pull at the point of extension just as they are making ground contact. The reason is because the muscle is starting contraction. The problem is that it is also lengthening, so there is the problem. To produce this dynamic in practice is very hard. It is not common to put yourself in a position where the muscle is lengthening and contracting at the same time. There are exercises that can simulate this a little but not at high speeds. Faceplants, the glute ham raises doing the negative (like a faceplant), and, of course, sprinting itself.

As for the criminal mentioned above, he/she is probably not going as fast under the situations that a sprinter in a race is. The adrenaline is pumping as he/she is trying to run to freedom.

The hoodlum running from the cops is (a) running further than 100m and (b) not activating anywhere near his threshold of muscle fibers.

100m, 200m sprinters are able to activate nearly all of their muscle fibers in a sprint, producing an ungodly amount of power. No matter how fit they are, how trained their muscles and connective tissue are, producing that much force, at that velocity, in that little of time puts a remarkable stress on the body.

I don't have any numbers in front of me, but I wouldn't be surprised if yours or mine tendons would actually snap if we could produce that much force in one go!

You can't coach raw speed, you either have it or you don't. Maybe sprinters should work out less and just focus on start technique and form so their muscles aren't so likely to pull.

Why do the fastest land animals (cheetahs, lions, horses) go from resting positions to all-out sprints without warming up or pulling muscles? How is it that a football or basketball player comes off the bench after sitting and goes to full speed efforts without warming up or pulling muscles?

kato wrote:

How is it that a football or basketball player comes off the bench after sitting and goes to full speed efforts without warming up or pulling muscles?

I feel like a broken record, but the basketball player or football player isn't producing as much force as the sprinter is.

Professional sprinters have incredibly fast contracting muscle fibers that can use energy at an ungodly rate. The force they produce because of this is higher (absolutely and relatively) than most other athletes, and no matter how much they have trained their bodies, sometimes the force is so great they seriously damage themselves.

Imagine a Honda Civic, and an F1 car both driving at redline, which one's going to last longer, and why.

anon wrote:

kato wrote:

How is it that a football or basketball player comes off the bench after sitting and goes to full speed efforts without warming up or pulling muscles?

I feel like a broken record, but the basketball player or football player isn't producing as much force as the sprinter is.

Professional sprinters have incredibly fast contracting muscle fibers that can use energy at an ungodly rate. The force they produce because of this is higher (absolutely and relatively) than most other athletes, and no matter how much they have trained their bodies, sometimes the force is so great they seriously damage themselves.

Imagine a Honda Civic, and an F1 car both driving at redline, which one's going to last longer, and why.

Maybe I don't understand your analogy. I think the F1 would last longer. Why? Because it was built to go fast.

The original poster has a point. Why do sprinters pull when they train just to run fast?

Also, I disagree with your assessment of basketball and football players. They put a great deal of stress on their bodies.

Football and Basketball players go down with cramps and pulled muscles all the time...

Let's see..."a basketball player or football player isn't producing as much force as the sprinter is"...not sure what your ground force plates tell you, but you can rest assured that a running back accelerating past the los (line of scrimmage) and impacting a free safety at 20 yards downfield is producing as much or more muscular force at ground contact as an elite sprinter. Add to that a basketball player fastbreaking and dunking is producing much more ground force at take-off than an elite sprinter, maybe not as much as a triple jumper, but damn close.

sirsimple wrote:

Meanwhile, some hoodlum in Chicago running from the cops never pulls a muscle, and he’s never worked out a day in his life. He never warms up before the chase. He is most likely high or drunk. He is running on pavement full of pot holes and dodging cars. He is wearing his IFCs (Italian Fence Climbers, not made for running, more ideally made for stepping on roaches in corners). He has everything going against him, yet he gets away fast and clean, and without any pulled muscles.

How do you know that people don't injure themselves running from the cops?

There is a strenght ratio between the quadricep and hamstring. The typical ratio cited is that the hamstring should have two thirds the strenght of the quadricep. The further the hamstring fall below this ratio, the greater the chance of it "pulling".

I have an original idea that hasn't been stated on this thread. Maybe, these sprinters break themselves down too much during their practices, and they don't allow themselves to recover fully before their next race. A lot of times a sprinter will say, "well, I tweaked my hamstring in practice but I think I'll be ready to go for the race." Then, the race starts and the sprinter hurts themself. They, need to learn how long it takes to recover from their workouts; otherwise, they are just pointlessly overtraining. Sprinters (on raced day) need to be feelin' dough boy fresh like da hoodlum on pay day.

Bear of Bad News wrote:

sirsimple wrote:

Meanwhile, some hoodlum in Chicago running from the cops never pulls a muscle, and he’s never worked out a day in his life. He never warms up before the chase. He is most likely high or drunk. He is running on pavement full of pot holes and dodging cars. He is wearing his IFCs (Italian Fence Climbers, not made for running, more ideally made for stepping on roaches in corners). He has everything going against him, yet he gets away fast and clean, and without any pulled muscles.

How do you know that people don't injure themselves running from the cops?

You ever seen COPS? Those fatties always catch the crack heads. Drugs slow you down, and they probably have little nutrition in there lives so they cant sustain a run.

Zzzttt wrote:

Maybe, these sprinters break themselves down too much during their practices, and they don't allow themselves to recover fully before their next race. They, need to learn how long it takes to recover from their workouts.

I agree. If you look at some of the more successful sprinters they all of some quality base in the training. Usain and his early season 400s, The Baylor system, Richards, Merritt, Felix, Angelo, Clement. These guys and Gals are world class and the produce they same results year after year and remain injury free. Base and Recovery.

Look at training groups that are sprint and speed heavy and you see more late season fatigue, and injury.

NO they are not.

kato wrote:

Let's see..."a basketball player or football player isn't producing as much force as the sprinter is"...not sure what your ground force plates tell you, but you can rest assured that a running back accelerating past the los (line of scrimmage) and impacting a free safety at 20 yards downfield is producing as much or more muscular force at ground contact as an elite sprinter. Add to that a basketball player fastbreaking and dunking is producing much more ground force at take-off than an elite sprinter, maybe not as much as a triple jumper, but damn close.

DickGregory wrote:

NO they are not.

kato wrote:

Let's see..."a basketball player or football player isn't producing as much force as the sprinter is"...not sure what your ground force plates tell you, but you can rest assured that a running back accelerating past the los (line of scrimmage) and impacting a free safety at 20 yards downfield is producing as much or more muscular force at ground contact as an elite sprinter. Add to that a basketball player fastbreaking and dunking is producing much more ground force at take-off than an elite sprinter, maybe not as much as a triple jumper, but damn close.

Pro basketball players have got to put as much stress on their bodies as track athletes (sprinters & jumpers). They fly high through the air and land on an unforgiving hardwood floor, not a sand pit. Then they immediately have to change direction and sprint down to the other end of the floor and do it again. Granted, they don't do it on every possession, but it occurs plenty of times each game.

Back to the original question, why is it that many sprinters are so fragile?

dw wrote:

I agree. If you look at some of the more successful sprinters they all of some quality base in the training. Usain and his early season 400s, The Baylor system, Richards, Merritt, Felix, Angelo, Clement. These guys and Gals are world class and the produce they same results year after year and remain injury free. Base and Recovery.

Look at training groups that are sprint and speed heavy and you see more late season fatigue, and injury.

The people you mentioned are 400 runners, not pure sprinters, and the main part of their race is speed-endurance. Tyson Gay and Victoria Campbell Brown have used a similar system early in the season and have often been injured--but they are SPRINTERS. Tyeon's body seems not to be able to handle the amount of force he can put out.

Remember Michail Johnson's 150 against Bailey? The reason Hart's program became what it is today was that every time MJ trained like a pure sprinter, he got injured.

Many pure sprinters come to races already "on the edge" from pushing very hard in training, and then they get injured--or they have too many races/heats in competition without enough recovery time, which is what happened to Tyson in the Olympic Trials.