Does the upper half of the posterior chain actually improve sprint performance enough to beef it up or do sprinters work on their upper bodies mostly for the cosmetics? Wouldn’t the idle body type be heavily muscled legs but carry less weight, proportionally speaking, in the top half?
blugh wrote:
Does the upper half of the posterior chain actually improve sprint performance enough to beef it up or do sprinters work on their upper bodies mostly for the cosmetics?
Wouldn’t the idle body type be heavily muscled legs but carry less weight, proportionally speaking, in the top half?
Yes
Most of them weigh less than 190 pounds. Some are even pretty small, like Christian Coleman. They appear big on tv because they have very little body fat, and the muscle shows up more clearly.
upper body strength does play a role in sprinting, but i would think very little in comparison to hips/legs. Not sure how much time they spend on upper body.
Been a lot of stud sprinters not heavy muscled.
Sprinting absolutely demands a perfect core. One good way to build a strong core is to pick up heavy things and <possibly> move around with them. Doing that builds up arms and shoulders… …and chest and back…. And…
do you think you could put 400 lbs on your shoulders without a strong upper body?
blugh wrote:
Does the upper half of the posterior chain actually improve sprint performance enough to beef it up or do sprinters work on their upper bodies mostly for the cosmetics? Wouldn’t the idle body type be heavily muscled legs but carry less weight, proportionally speaking, in the top half?
Sprinters generate huge force when they strike their feet down and propel their bodies forward with a stride
The upper body needs to counterbalance the force to keep the torso upright and moving forward.
In order to produce enough force to keep the torso pointing forward, the upper body needs to be sufficiently strong.
That's about it.
Deno wrote:
Been a lot of stud sprinters not heavy muscled.
By any definition, all sprinters today are ripped.
Depends on the sprinter.
Example A: Harry AA, Emanuel Matadi, Fred Kerley, Mo Greene, Ben Johnson, Leonard Scott, Shawn Crawford, Donovan Bailey, etc.
Example B: Calvin Smith, Andre De Grasse, Sani Brown, Lemaitre, etc.
Imagining the internal forces necessary to produce propulsion at a peak of 12 m/s is staggering. When you stop and think about what we actually do to run, it is staggering to me that every person in the 100 doesn’t pull a hammy and tear an intercostal every time out.
blugh wrote:
Does the upper half of the posterior chain actually improve sprint performance enough to beef it up or do sprinters work on their upper bodies mostly for the cosmetics? Wouldn’t the idle body type be heavily muscled legs but carry less weight, proportionally speaking, in the top half?
steroids
pachip wrote:
Depends on the sprinter.
Example A: Harry AA, Emanuel Matadi, Fred Kerley, Mo Greene, Ben Johnson, Leonard Scott, Shawn Crawford, Donovan Bailey, etc.
Example B: Calvin Smith, Andre De Grasse, Sani Brown, Lemaitre, etc.
All of the sprinters above have upper bodies strong enough to counteract the force put down by their legs and keep the torso moving forward.
Some sprinters have more developed musculature in their upper bodies due to genetics / more time spent in the gym.
Lol. Some silly side show. These clowns are all 10x more doped than the most doped tour de France rider. The myriad of chemical concoctions running thru their veins creates all sorts of abnormalities. As fake as fake gets.
Anyone is "ripped" compared to skinny distance types.
dmb wrote:
Sprinting absolutely demands a perfect core. One good way to build a strong core is to pick up heavy things and move around with them. Doing that builds up arms and shoulders… …and chest and back…. And…
do you think you could put 400 lbs on your shoulders without a strong upper body?
Sure, I didn’t mean to discount the core, but it’s not clear to me why, say, lats (like Kerley’s huge ones) and biceps/triceps particularly help in counterbalancing forces. Lats are used of course but I’d think less than in swimming.
I just think that the bi/tri development can be viewed as incidental to doing what’s necessary to ensure a great core - not as a prerequisite to running fast, but as a byproduct of developing the ability
guy who ended up being a national coach, once saw me and said i would be a good sprinter because i had strogn shoulders. ......... idiot
There's a really basic misunderstanding, especially among joggers, that the only acceleration going on is the leg pushing the ground. A quick thought experiment can cure this.
Imagine a compressed spring on the ground. Then it is released and sproing it leaps into the air.
Now imagine the same spring, but only the bottom few coils are compressed. When they are released, it sproings into the air too but not as high. Why not?
IMO, upper body helps a bit, but it is all about explosive leg power. Being ripped more about about having low bodyfat and looking good with a bit of muscle.
Deno wrote:
Wrong!
Dude, what????
Dude, will you just stop? If you show people on the street of any top sprinter and ask if they are ripped, they will say yes. Even Bing Su 100% and the Jamaican kid who looks like he’s 14.
Muscle definition? ✔️ No body fat? ✔️ Are you trying to pick a pointless argument to give you an opportunity to name drop an ancient sprinter ✔️