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-----> main sprinting muscle

kent_brockman Posts: 13 Joined: 2003/07/01	2004/03/02, 10:09 PM What is the main muscle used for sprinting? I would take a guess at your calves, but that is only a guess. I need this so i can train it slightly more than the other leg muscles so i can run faster.
mmaibohm Posts: 1,621 Joined: 2003/09/30	2004/03/03, 07:26 AM The sprinters when I was doing track in school. Did allot of squats and calf raises. You need a strong lower body to become explosive out of the blocks. -------------- I am that which must be feared, worshipped and adored. The world is mine now and forever.No one holds command over me. No man. No god.
	2004/03/03, 09:43 AM I was always taught that strong, powerful hamstrings were the most important, but I suppose all speed coaches have their own personal theories. -------------- OSU Law Rugby....specializing in personal injury and pain & suffering.
ReneeReed Posts: 13 Joined: 2004/02/24	2004/03/03, 09:47 AM Calves and hamstrings sound good to me. They both seem really important.
kent_brockman Posts: 13 Joined: 2003/07/01	2004/03/04, 01:51 AM i say calves cause your always on, well not your toes, but on the top half of your feet, and what hamstring excersises can i do besides squats as i dont have a rack but i have free weights :cool:
Hellscream Posts: 272 Joined: 2004/02/25	2004/03/04, 08:39 AM hmmm, I didnt know bigger calves would help in a sprint. I knew it would make you stronger, not faster :)
	2004/03/04, 09:23 AM If you only have free weights, straight-legged deadlifts are a good hammy exercise. -------------- OSU Law Rugby....specializing in personal injury and pain & suffering.
nerraw Posts: 236 Joined: 2003/03/09	2004/03/04, 01:59 PM and a piece of advise from me...work your abs like there is no other muscle in your body, the stronger and fitter your abs the faster you'll go!
big_j_scf Posts: 308 Joined: 2003/11/08	2004/03/07, 05:48 PM flexibility is very important too, have a strict stretching regimine. this helps you with your optimum stride length.
gsdkain Posts: 53 Joined: 2004/02/23	2004/03/08, 05:13 AM I dont know, but I have read that calves are only about 20% of speed, its all in the quads apparently.
agamble Posts: 1,029 Joined: 2003/09/22	2004/03/08, 06:23 AM Judging from the posts above, I would say work the entire leg. That way you can't go wrong. Abs?
asimmer Posts: 8,201 Joined: 2003/01/07	2004/03/08, 08:09 AM Yes, agamble - but looked at the monstrous hamstring muscles on the olympic sprinters and you have you answer. Train for power with plyoimetrics and dynamic ab strengthening movements, pushing off with your hamstrings and calves is what makes for good sprinting, and having a strong core, able to control swing and transfer power is important also. But you have to have strong quads too, to avoid imbalance, so train yiour whole leg as a unit with compound movements, hit your legs with specific sprint training, add plyometrics and agaility work...and don't leave out those abs and low back!!!!( he entire core is important, not just the abdominals). -------------- "To be able to go to the gym and train hard is a joy and a privelege, even though the hard work necessitates driving yourself through considerable discomfort. Savor this privelege and blessing, and revel in it." Stuart McRobert, Beyond Brawn