He makes some points about more good coaches and genetics. But too much bro science glossing over the shoes. Most people say “oh it’s about a second or a second and half” based on the data. That’s bro science and wrong. The only way to know is to place someone on a treadmill and measure their oxygen consumption without the shoes and then measure oxygen consumption with the carbon plate shoes. When scientists do that we see a 3-4% increase in running economy. To put that in perspective for a 4:00 mile each 1% is +2.4 seconds. That means at 4% this is almost a 10 second advantage per mile at 4:00 mile paces. This is basic science. Just most people are in denial and want to “believe”.
It's directed energy positive frequency. My name says it all. It's always never any chance a 16 year old child runs 3:48 for the mile. Was that the previous men's WR too?
He makes some points about more good coaches and genetics. But too much bro science glossing over the shoes. Most people say “oh it’s about a second or a second and half” based on the data. That’s bro science and wrong. The only way to know is to place someone on a treadmill and measure their oxygen consumption without the shoes and then measure oxygen consumption with the carbon plate shoes. When scientists do that we see a 3-4% increase in running economy. To put that in perspective for a 4:00 mile each 1% is +2.4 seconds. That means at 4% this is almost a 10 second advantage per mile at 4:00 mile paces. This is basic science. Just most people are in denial and want to “believe”.
1% efficiency gains does not lead to 1% performance gains. Jacob did not go from like 3:32 in the old shoes to 3:22.nobody did. 2-3s is a reasonable guess of the shift
Now some people might have gained more. 4% is the average but you have some people at 2% and some at 6%. And 3s is enough to turn you from a 4:02 miler to a 3:59
Except everyone else has had 'super spikes' for 5 years now, a couple seasons of bicarb, and nearly no one at any age is running faster, let alone teenagers. Coaching, everyone pretty much does the same types of things, and I'm sure that coach coaches other people who aren't doing what he's doing. Seems genetics is the biggest thing here.
Most kids do just enough to win races and scholarships. There's no point trying to run a 3:50 mile if 4:00 makes you the best teenager in the country. Getting good grades and having a social life are more important... track can come later.
So generally the only reason for a 16 year old to run ludicrous times is because some other kids are running fast. That's why they come in groups. Probably loads of athletes who run super fast in their early 20s could have done it as teenagers, there just wasn't any reason to prioritize it over other teenager stuff.