lol Symmonds channeling matt_london_413. Runs 57s 400m, calls it his "best ever" considering body weight.

jamin wrote:

10s slower than his PR but he says it's faster from a power-to-weight perspective

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ceVfeTaIbSc&ab_channel=NickSymmonds

This is really, really sad to me. I don't care that he's not as fast as he used to be (though 36 ain't geriatric lol) now that he's older, that's to be expected. But I'm a significantly bigger guy than him, and 57 was what I ran in middle school...

I didn't run in college so my 1:56 800m in senior year was my peak, and here's a 1:42 olympian who I had and have a higher BMI than trying to claim that 57 is a good 400m time...

I'm not knocking a 57 since natural talent is a big part of running, some people have to work very hard to get there, but for a man who ran two 51s back to back.... um what?

Well remember that Nicky may have used PEDs to become a sub 1:43 runner after being a great Division III talent. It is doubtful Nicky would still be on PEDs now.

Didn't he run a faster 400 than this in Crocs like a year ago?

Gunters wrote:

Well remember that Nicky may have used PEDs to become a sub 1:43 runner after being a great Division III talent. It is doubtful Nicky would still be on PEDs now.

You don't keed PEDs to run low 50s for 400m even if aged 36.

kirkandorules wrote:

Didn't he run a faster 400 than this in Crocs like a year ago?

Yup, he ran a 55.65 in Crocs 9 months ago. He also ran a 51.94 two weeks after that while wearing spikes. My question is how did he get more than 5 seconds slower in just 9 months? Has he just not been really running much for those past 9 months? But then again, I know some of my teammates in track that only run during the season and take the other 8 months off and are able to run sub 55 after 3 weeks of practice, so I think he's just trying to excuse a bad performance by saying it's just his weight.

I like Nick, but I'm perplexed by his take on this...Adding 10 pounds of muscle (assuming he was around 173 when he ran his 51.9 last year) and getting more than 10% slower in a sprint event that rewards strength/explosiveness isn't anything that awesome. That feels like a much greater drop-off than I'd expect in fact.

While I understand that people do like Nick and these videos he lost me when retired and said that whole.

"I never cared about running it was only a way for me to market myself"

So now he's just a full blown sell out who's making cringy clickbait youtube videos.

Cool.

Zapotes wrote:

I think he's just trying to excuse a bad performance by saying it's just his weight.

No, he also used the excuse of not going out fast enough, when in fact he hit a pretty ideal 400m split ratio.

Men's Health got excited about it:

https://www.menshealth.com/fitness/a34371003/olympian-nick-symmonds-muscle-transformation-running/

Love him or hate him, the guys is good at getting attention.

Last year, at an outdoor master meet held in February in Cali, I ran a 57.00 400m dash as a 36 year old and felt SO embarrassed by it. I thought I was in better shape than that, but the effort said otherwise.

I was able to run an 11.2 100m without tearing a hammy at the same meet after I ran that 400, and the 400 was really just supposed to be a training run for me, so that made me feel SLIGHTLY better about that 400, but not that much, since even 11.2 sucks. I would NOT have walked around admitting too often that I ran that 57.

And yet....here Symmonds is. Getting attention for a 57....jesus.

Love him or hate him? I never understood the hate for him before, but now? Pure hate. He's an idiot.

It doesn't take into effect the power generated for moving up and down at each stride. So at a higher weight he must generate more power to bounce up and down, not just move forward.

Not nearly as impressive a transformation as Ryan Hall. Doubt Nick could keep up with Ryan in the weight room, not sure if he could beat him on the track now either.

Lol. You KNOW Symmonds would pop that shirt off if he weren't rocking a squishy belly. He's obviously not a better athlete than he's ever been. Why say something so ridiculous? (A rhetorical question, really.) He looks and performs like a normal dude who exercises most days.

Kudos to jamin on making a good thread. Proud of you.

I like Symmonds well enough, but that pissed me off too. Seriously dude, don't bite the hand that fed, and continues to feed, you. The only reason he built the wealth he has, founded this company, and has the social media presence he does is because of running. Sure, he could have (theoretically) become a doctor and maybe made more money, but he'd be an unknown and Run Gum would have failed.

big money wrote:

He’s making money off those “dumb” videos...probably quite a bit of money. In fact, he’s making money from the engagement and traffic generated by LetsRun threads like this one.

The more we focus on/talk about what he’s doing, the more money he makes. And he’s very good at making that happen.

BINGO.

It's pretty funny, he's actually probably a lot slower than most of the hacks posing as legit coaches/athlete on youtube. I didn't think that was possible

I don't see how he can say a 57 was his best ever in any aspect when he ran a 54 in Crocs early this year. Doesn't add up at all

JamesTheAmateur wrote:

I like Symmonds well enough, but that pissed me off too. Seriously dude, don't bite the hand that fed, and continues to feed, you. The only reason he built the wealth he has, founded this company, and has the social media presence he does is because of running. Sure, he could have (theoretically) become a doctor and maybe made more money, but he'd be an unknown and Run Gum would have failed.

How do you know? He is an elite athlete period. He ended up running 1:42 and lost a WC gold to an obvious doper, having never come close to an ideal running phenotype. Maybe he would have become a UFC champion or soccer star? The fact that to fulfil your potential in running you have to become virtually anorexic with pipe cleaner arms is the worst aspect of the sport.

Sub 60 second 400m for a stocky near middle-aged guy who spends more time powerlifting and making crazy YouTube videos than running, is impressive.

O 54 wrote:

big money wrote:

He’s making money off those “dumb” videos...probably quite a bit of money. In fact, he’s making money from the engagement and traffic generated by LetsRun threads like this one.

The more we focus on/talk about what he’s doing, the more money he makes. And he’s very good at making that happen.

BINGO.

NOT. He doesn't get paid for posts here. Our net effect is surely to stop people from liking his DUMB videos or buying his ridiculously overpriced caffeine gum.

Now that he only runs a 57, it is time for our hero jamin the OP to send him home DEVASTATED. It will be LRC vs Nick for all time bragging rights.

It will all be on the video. Winner gets a custom-made "MF" shirt and is shown on video buying and chewing a pack of Run Gum™. Loser is shown on video walking into their house, lying down on the couch and crying.