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Introduction Area => Introduce Yourself => Topic started by: RJ Nelsen on July 18, 2011, 08:01:51 pm
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My name is RJ Nelsen and a few people on here may know me. For those who don't, I'm a former (failed) sprinter turned gym rat with a big interest in sports science. I'm short-legged, big-boned, and was not cut out for running, but still, I tried. Having spent years only working my lower body in hopes of getting faster, I've since abandoned the track and train upper body almost exclusively. I'm a bit out of shape (athletically), but I intend to fix that soon. I've had enough of being a gym-bro and want to get back into sports. I'm not exactly a slouch now, but I could use some work. Here are some stats...
6'1.5"
224 lbs
No clue on my bodyfat, but I have defined abs, so it's low enough
My best lifts/jumps/sprints are...
Power Snatch 220 lbs x 3 reps
Full OLY Squat 405 lbs x 1 rep
Deadlift 475 lbs x 1 rep
Clean and Military Press, 250 lbs x 1 rep
Chin Up 409 lbs x 1 rep (182 lbs + 227 lbs of BW)
100M in 11.66 FAT
400M in 54.5x FAT
LJ 20'1"
Broad Jump 10'2"
CMJ 32"
Right now I'm strong, but out of shape. I'm going to fix that in the coming months while continuing to focus on my main goal which is cleaning and military pressing 300 lbs. I may start up a log soon.
For those of you who are interested in my earlier work, here's a copy of my most recent book. It was, and still might be, for sale on Kelly Baggett's site, but I've been giving it away free for a while. Grab yourself a free copy and enjoy. It's worth it.
http://pdfcast.org/pdf/engineering-an-athlete
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(http://static.foxsports.com/content/fscom//img/2010/05/28/sunsbrooklopezgif_20100528102802_0_0.GIF)
Finally gave up on dbhammer?
Also, do you have short arms? Deadlift seems kind of low compared to your oly squat.
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Haha, yeah, I gave up on that place a long time ago. It was fun while it lasted.
As for my squat to DL ratio, it's not that I have short arms (6'3" arm span), I just have a really long torso. Also, I never train the deadlift, so it naturally lags behind a little.
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RJ welcome back man.
I just want to say I really appreciate your work since the days you posted on Charlie Francis's forum.
You looking to get back into sprinting?.
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Thanks. I wasn't too happy to see that place die down either, but whatever. As for sprinting, I might get back into it, but it'll be short sprints only, and by that, I mean 30-60M. I don't know how my 225 lb body would handle 100-400s. Then again, who knows, maybe I'll get the itch.
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As for my squat to DL ratio, it's not that I have short arms (6'3" arm span), I just have a really long torso. Also, I never train the deadlift, so it naturally lags behind a little.
You know Barry Ross (Allyson Felix's coach) recommends the deadlift for his sprinters.
Don't you ever feel you might have short changed yourself not concentrating on the deadlift for sprinting?.
Or did you see something in the deadlift which might potentially impede your sprinting potential?.
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Barry Ross is a clown. Some of the things he recommends are solid, but focusing on the conventional DL, especially with the form he allows some of his athletes to use, is wasting time and energy. Also, he was only Felix's coach for a brief time, and only in the weight room during that time period. She is a phenomenally talented young woman and for him to claim any credit for her abilities is just wrong.
As for myself, yes, I should have spent far less time squatting and far more time doing RDLs, SLDLs, and ab wheel rollouts. Strength-wise, sprinting is all about the glutes, abs, hip flexors, and hamstrings. The quads aren't really all that important, and as such, neither are squats. Unfortunately, hindsight is 20-20. At least I'll be able to use my newer understanding when I do hit the track again though.
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Definitely. My lower body strength training is now going to be centered around building the abs, hip flexors, and p-chain. Training frequency will be upped to 6-7 times per week. I'm going to put a premium on developing flexibility. Sprinting will be done as often as possible, though not always at 100%. There might be other things, but that looks like most of it.
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I like your emphasis.
Do you find RDLs & SLDLs to be the best exercises to work the hip extension function of the hamstrings?.
And the ab wheel rollouts, what do you find particularly special about those?.
With regards to flexibility, there is so much confusion around. Would you be looking at maybe getting into yoga, or not that hardcore?.
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welcome back man, ltns
i disagree here though:
As for myself, yes, I should have spent far less time squatting and far more time doing RDLs, SLDLs, and ab wheel rollouts. Strength-wise, sprinting is all about the glutes, abs, hip flexors, and hamstrings. The quads aren't really all that important, and as such, neither are squats. Unfortunately, hindsight is 20-20. At least I'll be able to use my newer understanding when I do hit the track again though.
i see that you might get back into the short sprints, 30-60m.. nice.
Quads play a very active role in early accell, especially < 20m, do you not agree? Also, as for squat, it definitely can target the glutes very well, but in my opinion, that's not as important as just overall nervous system arousal and recruitment of large amounts of muscle mass. The three exercises you mentioned, which are very important for the muscles involved in sprinting, do not address the CNS to the extent heavy squatting would. Beyond squat being so important for quad development, it is also incredibly important for CNS development. RDL/SLDL/ab wheel rollouts cannot address neural drive like some heavy squat singles for example.
IMO, deadlift or squat has to be in any sprint/jump programming, how you incorporate it can vary, but in order to break those CNS-barriers and tap into protected motor potential, people are going to need to phase in some intense squatting or deadlifting.
as for your own training, if you do decide to get into the short sprints again, i'd really up the frequency of your sprint work. Every day some kind of sprint work, nearly always incorporating some kind of max effort work (or close to it), even if it's just max effort 10's etc.. Has to be fun though :F I love jumping, taking a rest day is so damn hard for me now, I want to dunk every day... i'm forcing myself to take rest days, but for example, I dunked every single day of May, max effort jumps, from full runup or short runups if i felt stale.. hah.. i'd approach sprinting the same way honestly.. hamstrings/hip flexors/cns can get really beat down with sprints greater than 40m, but I could do max effort 10's/20's every single day, makes me feel great too and still provides that needed stimulus.
aight pC man
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Hey RJ, welcome back (although I don't know why you leaved in the first place).
And Andrew - you realize I haven't ever seen a video of you deadlifting yet don't you? ;D
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SV, SLDLs and RDLs are an economical way to tax the p-chain. There's nothing special about them besides the fact that they're convenient and they work. It's the same for ab wheel rollouts, they train both midsection stabilization and hip flexion simultaneously. Again, economical and effective. As for flexibility, there's no confusion in the literature. Frequent ballistic stretching through as full of an ROM as possible yields flexibility results, as do ISO holds at the end of the ROM. Simple.
Andrew, yes the quads are important to deceleration and early acceleration purposes, but centering a program around the squat is still misguided for a sprinter. As for training neural drive, top speed sprints and altitude landings should more than suffice. Also, I totally agree with your views on frequency. If you want to get good at something, do it as often as possible.
Raptor, thanks. I'm not 100% sure why I left either.
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SV, SLDLs and RDLs are an economical way to tax the p-chain. There's nothing special about them besides the fact that they're convenient and they work. It's the same for ab wheel rollouts, they train both midsection stabilization and hip flexion simultaneously. Again, economical and effective. As for flexibility, there's no confusion in the literature. Frequent ballistic stretching through as full of an ROM as possible yields flexibility results, as do ISO holds at the end of the ROM. Simple.
With regards to flexibility, this is the confusion I speak of.
Original Link: http://www.elitetrack.com/forums/viewthread/8954/P0/
Thoughts?.
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Haha, that was a dumb thread. All that needs to be said about flexibility and sprinting is that flexibility determines whether or not one is able to hit the correct positions throughout the sprint cycle. Stride length is dependent upon ground reaction forces during the ammortization phase, which, in order to be optimized, require optimal body positioning, and therefore a rudimentary degree of flexibility.
Basically, more flexibility doesn't allow one to "take longer steps," it allows one to hit the proper positions necessary to optimize stride efficiency, and even then, one doesn't have to be very flexible.
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Stride length is dependent upon ground reaction forces during the ammortization phase
Isn't that determined by the maximal strength? Or that was your idea as well? I mean, the stronger you are relatively, the longer stride length you're usually going to have.
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Isn't that determined by the maximal strength? Or that was your idea as well? I mean, the stronger you are relatively, the longer stride length you're usually going to have.
It's determined by how much force one can generate in a window of roughly .08 seconds, while true maximal strength takes at least 1-3 seconds to fully express. Strength in the weight room and strength on the track are different entities, but one can influence the other.
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Isn't that determined by the maximal strength? Or that was your idea as well? I mean, the stronger you are relatively, the longer stride length you're usually going to have.
It's determined by how much force one can generate in a window of roughly .08 seconds, while true maximal strength takes at least 1-3 seconds to fully express. Strength in the weight room and strength on the track are different entities, but one can influence the other.
Source?
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Isn't that determined by the maximal strength? Or that was your idea as well? I mean, the stronger you are relatively, the longer stride length you're usually going to have.
It's determined by how much force one can generate in a window of roughly .08 seconds, while true maximal strength takes at least 1-3 seconds to fully express. Strength in the weight room and strength on the track are different entities, but one can influence the other.
Source?
i've read studies that backup 0.08 GCT during max V sprinting.
no sources tho im lazy.
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Like Andrew, I'm lazy. Look up some of Weyand's papers though. It's in there somewhere.
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Excuse me, but 0.08?
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Excuse me, but 0.08?
what do you think the GCT is for top speed sprinting, per stride?
for example, a double/single leg jump is 0.2x-0.4x.. dno why everyone is freaking out about a GCT of 0.08 on a stride during MAX-VELOCITY.
lmfao
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Wasn't freaking out nor doubting it, just think it'd be nice to post a source when you post "facts". We all know the problems with stating "facts" with no source or experience.
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I actually timed my plant off one leg one time and it was 0.16 so... yeah, that seems about right for a sprint.
It will be hard for me to complete a squat rep in 0.16s. D'ah, life's tough.
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Wasn't freaking out nor doubting it, just think it'd be nice to post a source when you post "facts". We all know the problems with stating "facts" with no source or experience.
Honestly? With stuff this basic it shouldn't be necessary to post up sources. Do I need to post studies when I state that resistance training is a good way to increase strength too?
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Wasn't freaking out nor doubting it, just think it'd be nice to post a source when you post "facts". We all know the problems with stating "facts" with no source or experience.
Honestly? With stuff this basic it shouldn't be necessary to post up sources. Do I need to post studies when I state that resistance training is a good way to increase strength too?
Yea. I'm more concerned about the 1-3 seconds part than the .08.
Considering you are from a forum where everyone just posts their opinion as fact, but then change their mind 2 weeks later, you should know the value of a quality source.
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Cos it's JC & his GIF's are lolz.
Original Link: http://www.iaaf.org/news/kind=309/newsid=4666.html
There is only little time available for the sprinter to develop force during the stance phase. The stance phase where the foot is on the ground is only 0.08 s - 0.09 s long in the phase of maximum velocity.
It's about .087 seconds.
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Cos it's JC & his GIF's are lolz.
Original Link: http://www.iaaf.org/news/kind=309/newsid=4666.html
There is only little time available for the sprinter to develop force during the stance phase. The stance phase where the foot is on the ground is only 0.08 s - 0.09 s long in the phase of maximum velocity.
It's about .087 seconds.
Disagree. It's .083 seconds. Makes a huge difference.
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Disagree. It's .083 seconds. Makes a huge difference.
(http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac98/77forever/Gifs/cras_o_GIFSoupcom.gif)
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Cos it's JC & his GIF's are lolz.
Original Link: http://www.iaaf.org/news/kind=309/newsid=4666.html
There is only little time available for the sprinter to develop force during the stance phase. The stance phase where the foot is on the ground is only 0.08 s - 0.09 s long in the phase of maximum velocity.
It's about .087 seconds.
I was looking more for the 1-3 seconds to express maximal strength.
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I was looking more for the 1-3 seconds to express maximal strength.
Well, it depends on how you want to quantify "maximal strength." If you're talking about a max lift, then of course it'll take a few seconds to perform. If you're talking about maximal isometric tension, then there is still a ramp time in which contraction intensifies. In both cases, time to peak tension is dependent upon the individual.
And why are you harping on this? It's elementary stuff.
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Well I was defining it as when you put out the most force (if that makes sense, can't think of the right words). That'd start basically as soon as the concentric part of the lift starts. It takes time to finish the lift because it's heavy. Using an empty bar you can do it pretty quickly, but that doesn't mean you aren't displaying maximal strength.
And I'm just trolling
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Hi RJ, glad to see you are back!
And sprint strides are in the .08 to .10 range for most good sprinters. I mean, Stefan Holm takes off in .14s for a single leg jump.... which is funny that is actually faster than your recorded ground time per stride Raptor :)
Thanks for the Ebook link RJ! I'll probably have it all read by tomorrow morning, haha!
I miss the old days on TVS when we were arguing about tendon stiffness and compliance. Maybe I can start something up again, that would be fun.
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Well I had 4 frames of GCT at 25 fps so 4x0.04 = 0.16s, but it's not like I used a super slow-mo to determine my exact GCT. :D
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why did you stop sprinting? oh and a quick question for anyone. if you are an adult where do you "compete" for sprinting?
sorry im a noob in track and field
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oh and a quick question for anyone. if you are an adult where do you "compete" for sprinting?
sorry im a noob in track and field
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got to register with usa t&f or something, then find open meets.
pC
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RJ:
I know I am a little late to replay to your thread but did you run those times at 225 lb bodyweight? Did you have a coach?
6'1 225 is pretty massive for a sprinter, especially someone who runs the one and the quarter. Did you ever get your split times?
You probably don't have genetics ideally suited for sprinting and I would bet you will never run sub 10.... But if I was given an athlete who was running mid 11 at 225 lbs I would be pretty confident he could run sub 11. I don't know how serious your goals were in sprinting, but for what its worth, this is one sprinter who believes you could put up some decent times if you focused more on sprinting and shedding weight.