On the front page the other day, a poster said that Bekele is so much better than Americans because his form is "flawless." I disagree. His high back kick is good in the sense that he wastes less energy by almost "falling" forward, letting gravity bring him along. Nicholas Romanov, inventor of Pose, observed that the fastest sprinters can move at 12 meters per second but gravity lets a person fall much faster, and terminal velocity is around 125 miles per hour I believe. So this is good. But if you watch the video on Michael Bautista's site of Bekele in the 2003 World Championship 5,000 meters or the NBC coverage of the 10,000 meters in Athens 2004, you will see that his arm swing is inefficient; he swings them from side to side almost as if muscling himself forward and the side to side motion is inefficient. the runner's movement should be solely concentrated forward, and while his form is very good, it is not flawless.
My question regarding all this for some coach that can answer; is the development of form and efficiency a measurable physiological characteristic? In other words, if I spend 2 months doing plyometrics and drilling my form through exercises, will my subsequent race improvements mean an increased VO2 max or lactate threshold, or will these variables remain the same and the results be empirical? To use Mr. Canova's term, is form an "enzymatic" problem or a "strength" problem?