The Lift technique is still practically unheard of, but is valuable and potentially more valuable than any other.

This technique takes into account that ground force on the body upon impact during sprinting can be more than 3-5X our body weight according to some of the reports I’ve seen. Think about how much force that is for a moment, and it’s no wonder the body won’t let athletes accelerate faster.

Stay Tall and Stay Fast

This means that the ability to withstand such an impact and maintain a higher center of mass is critical. Moreover, holding this established body position when landing (isometric strength) is key to re-accelerating higher, farther, and quicker into our next stride.

The great athletes and sprinters do this the best because they are so strong, either naturally or via the weight room. Often you’ll see many temporarily weak clients collapse as they hit the surface, especially at the knee, and you’ll see the delay in their next transition. This collapse and extra bend or increased joint angle increases GCT and energy loss as well.

Aside from the high levels of strength required in being able to counter the high landing force that occurs naturally during sprinting, clients need to consciously focus on keeping the hips high and knees tight and stiff. Any drop will result in a longer time on the ground and greater energy loss since we have to move more to get back up off the ground and into flight again.

Fast Sprinters have the best leg stiffness

Another term used to define the aforementioned information is “leg stiffness.” There are 3 different types of stiffness in the research: joint, vertical, and leg stiffness. They are all essentially the same or present with one another so I’m just going to reference leg stiffness and keep it simple. Leg stiffness is very important for sprinting speed and the maintenance of momentum, among other things.

Research Supporting Lift and Leg Stiffness

A study I’d like to share is called: The Effect of Speed on Leg Stiffness and Joint Kinetics in Human Running, by Arampatzis, Brueggemann, and Metzler, in The Journal of Biomechanics back in 1999.

In this study, researchers found that a majority of leg stiffness occurs in the knee, and there is a correlation between increased running speed and increased leg stiffness.

85 Please keep in mind that this research refers to stiffness during late acceleration and the max speed phase. Only when speed is high and GCT is short does leg stiffness become a factor to at least maintain and hopefully increase speed if your power levels are high?

SCIENTIFIC REFERENCES:

#1–Bret C, Rahmani A, Dufour AB, Messonnier L, Lacour JR. Leg strength and stiffness as ability factors in 100 m sprint running. Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness 42: 274-281, 2002.

#2-Chelly SM, Denis C. Leg Power, and hopping stiffness: relationship with sprint running performance. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise 33: 326-333, 2001.

#3-Arampatzis A, Bruggemann GP, and Metzler V. The effect of speed on leg stiffness and joint kinetics in human running. Journal of Biomechanics 32: 1349-1353, 1999.