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ELITE SPRINTING

This article is a summary of the ndings I have learned from my exchanges with Pierre-Jean Vazel. To the best of my abilities the information of what I have written is as accurate as I can recall.

The Pierre-Jean Vazel Notes

a lesson in the context of sprinting
By Carl Valle

Over the past seven years Pierre-Jean Vazel seems to be one of the major hidden gems in the world of athletics. His insight and statistical knowledge is unmatched in regards to the context of sprinting. During the summer of 2008, I had the honor of presenting some of my best regeneration ndings in a small seminar in Sweden. I was able to learn and share some great information with the brilliant Hakan Anderson and various coaches in the Scandinavian countries. Honestly it was a true wake up call to mix with European coaches, as their balanced view on training in the

realm of strength and power. While the presentation was detailed, Pierre-Jeans hour and a half presentation had some information needing some expansions as many coaches forget that those that are there to learn dont have the inside information necessary to fully grasp the new material. In this article, I will share some of the most practical information I have seen in a long time. The purpose of this note collection is to preserve invaluable information that needs to be shared with coaches of all levels. Unfortunately much of the best

information is not available to the masses as some coaches dont have the time, speaking, or writing ability to convey their knowledge. Lately, information is being presented and released to rapidly, a risk of spreading information that is not time tested or reliable with speed development. Athletics is a wonderful example of art and science being performed on the worlds biggest stage. While perhaps cliche, the true reality is that coaching athletics is pure with the honesty of the clock or measuring tape. I hope you will nd this information enjoyable and practical with your athletes.

 Development of the stride cycle requires a complete grasp of understanding the development of an entire career, not a knee jerk reaction to exercises or drills. Often a new modality will create false hope of what will lead to rapid evolution of abilities

Olusoji Fasuba runs 9.85 in Doha Stride Development in Elite Sprinting

Throughout history, numerous attempts of breaking the stride into simple groupings of stride length and frequency have created a lot of misinformation such as the myth that frequency is genetic and length is weight room specic. While some truth of absolute limits may have talent and strength interactions the reality is that both qualities are likely to be developed by good coaching. While its articial to break a sprint cycle into frequency and length, the value in doing so is to see what type of sprinter the athlete is and where they need to be in order to fully maximize their potential. Development of the stride cycle requires a complete grasp of understanding the development of an entire career, not a knee jerk reaction to exercises or drills. Often a new modality will create false hope of what will lead to rapid evolution of abilities. In the presentation, PJ shared a lot of charts and graphs of changes to athletes over years in way they improve, not just time slopes. What I found to be useful is how elites improved with regards to their body type as well as their stride style in combination. After PJ shared his annual plan as well as his career work with Fasuba, he started to get into some general discussions with sprinters overall. This is where things got interesting, the breakdown of how sprinters get to their genetic potential, and what trends and patterns occur because of their body types and stride characteristics. What PJ proposed was that the athletes had a relationship between stride length and body height. In fact, it almost seemed like a golden ratio of sprinting that one would eventually break 1.2 or more of their SL/BH. After knowing the ratio with elites, coaches must be aware of what is needed in order to achieve such standards.

From the graphs, it looks like both stride length and stride frequency will improve concurrently, yet the real improvement will go to the less developed quality. What is the real question is not why this happens, but if specic efforts in training to balance the stride parameters for better performance. Another question is whether improvement comes from just getting years of racing and general training versus efforts to directly improve on the weaker quality.

most successful coaches and scientists made a massive impact into the training world from a global perspective. Jacques Piasenta is not the voice for France, but his international stable of athletes must be recognized. In addition to Piasenta, Gilles Cometti is strangely removed from the lead names in athletics. I am not sure why their popularity is not as high with all of the published work behind what they do and the results they got with their athletes. One example of poor reasoning was Dan Johns support for Mike Stulces training, where he argued that When discussing stride mechanics PJ didnt get much into his gold medal in 1992 in the shotput was evidence of just lift drills as he was very open on not knowing if they worked or and throw being an example of some wise KISS philosphy. My not . During a break between the seminar and the athletics video of Werner Gunthor, the Swiss three time WC in the shot, meeting I popped the question if he thought drills worked and did activities that Dan John thought was superuous, since a he said nobody knows. What I interpreted is that no clear simple program won in 1992. He was wrong twice, as Mike evidence pointed to what was going on and my conclusions never broke 22m and likely won because of a down olympics, were that drills were specic actions that could bias the stiffness, and some of his training was combination methods. Ironically, muscle recruitment, or mobility of the stride. When he Dans information never seems to be consistent as his complex discussed the stiff legged prancing drill as being one that could training article includes such wonderful combinations of have an inuence, my nal thoughts were drills were just good mornings and behind the neck presses? categories of locomotor phases that exposed sprinters to motions that were outside the comfort zone of running. Stiffness was another theme that was discussed in brief and the polish bench, a russian box with sagittal emphasis, was one One response that PJ was vehement about was the fact that of the many devices Piasenta used to help with the lower limbs there was no such thing as French Training Methods as no so that they could transmit the forces properly. A lot of other organized structure of training or unied training philosophy exercises with weighted vests and they were multidirectional as existed. Yet he was still forgetting that individuals such as their well, conrming my suspicion he was building massive stiffness.

Spanish Gold Fasuba wins the 60m in Valencia

Pierre-Jean Vaszel spoke in fantastic detail in his work with developing the Nigerian sprinter and his training cant be considered ordinary, as his attention to the daily tasks of training was very precise. At rst, the training seemed way to simple to work, yet the application of training was often simple because the circumstances were always in turmoil. Poisonous spider bites in Africa, parking lot workouts next to soccer stadiums, witch doctor tea drinks, and cold indoor training centers were all reality. While his stories of daily circumstances were at rst met with perhaps apathetic response, to me they were vital documentation of painstaking recording of the context of training. One of the important lessons I learned was to ensure that detailed logs of the athletes are recorded to share the meta data of training and competing. Everything should be placed into accounting, or the numbers are meaningless. This is vital period. Many times athletes will have false peaks and poor performances that are actually indicators of early tapers or good training hit with poor circumstances. Often training is changed for the worse because the results are not indicative of good training. So many times I have changed my training protocols because I thought I was not doing the right things but in reality sometimes life will be a stronger element inuencing performances than a magical workout the week before. What I thought was excuses was in reality just honesty that sometimes life gets in the way of good training. While indoors may appear more consistent because weather does not play a major role, the reality is that many coaches will need the story behind the story to see what the fruits of their labor. I was pleasantly surprised at the elegance of a near purist program where no equipment was used. No omegawave,

The context of athletic performance is one of the most vital aspects of coaching. Often the story behind the story is the true indicator of what is going on. Often data or recorded numbers are dead and have no merit if details are not investigated and recorded. I believe that athlete feedback to the day gives recorded training information better than any machine, since we are not looking into the interaction of the bodys systems that have yet to be measured properly.

no blood lactate, just a stopwatch and paper and pencil. I am not stating that this is specically the style of training PJ has with his athletes, I am just sure that this reality has helped me see the underlying variables and interactions of those elements much more clearly as less moving parts can allow coaches to extrapolate the primary mechanisms of improvement. My guess is that PJ uses his statistical background to safely load the athlete at the right times in the year to see annual progress for improving talent. How he does it is very thought provoking. or going to fast in early rounds is just another case of conjecture. When your training is going well and your training times are good, you are bound to have a performance that demonstrates that ability in time. The lesson learned is that meets are all relative based on the context of the situations given. The beauty of coaching is not the art and science, but the human side of working with people that makes all difference. While PJ may be known for a statistician with times and splits, his relationship between his athletes is more than just numbers.

Nigerian Nightmare Staying cool under fire.

Midpoint during the 60m race Fasubas calves were cramping and he didnt panic. What was interesting is that he ran the exact same time in the previous heat (semi time of 6.51) but did it with slight cramping. The lesson learned was that he was capable of a 6.4 but mustered another 6.51 with bad circumstances. When you are aware of your abilities because of context, condence is galvanized because current numbers are nearly arbitrary. What could have been interpretation of fatigue

World Champion Olusoji Fasuba The rst world champion in the 60m from Africa, a harder achievement than just training alone.

Elegance in Design
When you cant deliver ornament, you have to deliver substance. -Paul Graham

what could be considered very primitive in architecture, as no intricate periodization was demonstrated. What I believe what was a weakness became actually a strength, to say the least, as his numbers were not unimpressive or lacking.

My biggest concern about elegance in design is that the training will be misinterpreted as easy solutions to the challenges of developing speed and timely performance. In reality, a simple solution is often a concise decision from a complex scenario. I am fearful that one would interpret the below summary as a simple formula to success, when the truth of the matter is that the information is just a representation of the primary decision making. During the presentation PJ shared his training outlines as well as other graphs that illustrated a nice summary of what he was trying accomplish with his athletes, specically Fasuba. I liked his reductionist approach to things but many times he would explain his rationale to what may be considered strange decision making. A primary example of this was his weight training work with Fasuba,

and create the abilities to express various forms of slower strength and power if properly trained. With research on depression and cytokines, I am under the belief that sprinting may be a form of supra-maximal training that can elicit massive hormone and neurological improvements if properly timed. Without What I like about the summary of sufcient rest and low intensity options, I information was the absolute records and feel that this type of training will likely the clear characteristics of what his cause soft and connective tissue injuries athletes could do. In the later part of his that will prevent ultimate performance. presentation PJ compiled his collection of data about the abilities of ultimate performance in the 100m dash and what was needed for a sub ten performance on average. While I cant verify those numbers are 100% accurate, I am on the record on believing those power and speed values are created by the work on the track. The hardest lesson I have learned was that speed training is activation training at its fullest. With research on NRF-1 being scant, I must apologize to Charlie during our discussions after dinner in Toronto. My honest belief is that sufcient loading and mechanics can create a massive recruitment of HTMUs

The Hard work of the Daily Grind Fasuba, Pognon, and PJ Vazel training during one of their many training sessions all over the globe.

Achilles Heel? Investigating Dorsiflexion Again

On conjecture I looked at was when PJ explained to the seminar the ankle restriction of Fasuba and how this could be indirectly related to some factors in exercise selection with his squatting. With ankle mobility being all the rage now I believe that a cause of loss of speed is not lack of anterior tibialis strength but a uid ankle joint. The false experts will push for needed dorsiexion in squat patterns but they forget that in sprinting dorsiexion must be very passive, otherwise a major

lack of stiffness will be present during foot strike. The current screen by Cook is overly simplied and after talking to some fantastic coaches and therapists my opinion is that the foot requires specic mobility ranges and joint positions to sustain health to the lower extremities. Simply measuring ROM with goniometer is not going to solve the specic metatarsal patterns as well as unbinding of fascia from motor programs from soft tissue problems of the lower limb musculature. Foam rolling, ART, MFR and Graston are only poor solutions as the therapy I have seen is a combination of precise classic methods as well as a complete protocol of muscular balance in the lower limb training.

To the Future? How we can improve?

During the second day of my questions with PJ, it seemed to me that the elite sprinter can make big improvements in the later zone of sprinting. While top speed has improved slightly since Carl and Ben of the 1980s, my interpretation of the gains in current performance is the string of consecutive splits of near top speed being done. With the impressive performances of Powell, Gay, and of course our poorest example Bolt, I feel that the advances are better whole races being done instead of having the classic good accelerator or top speed sprinter. My guess is that while many programs will differ, the similarities will be closer than we want to believe. In the original forum review, I coined short to long and long to short when classifying the approach between Francis and Tellez with grave consequences. No program is pure, as a long to short program will have episodes of start work that will have accompanying acceleration regardless of the intent of the phases. Even if tempo prescriptions are intensive, plyometrics and weights may be more intensive, creating a running program with some interesting composites. Even if extensive tempo is being utilized in a program, a running speed at 75% is getting ground contact times with stiffness qualities that will have indirect maximal elements even if the loading is considered aerobic.

more of a reexion of what could of been based on what we know with those with similar performances. My interest in this line of questioning is not because of a belief what races can or can not do as I dont want to get into debate of biological differences between races as this is very touchy subject and I wish to be free of controversy, but the real social injustice is not investigating questions that may seem at rst sensitive to race. Every athlete deserves to reach their potential, regardless of race, may it be a less expected in a certain gene pool. My hope is that sports can be a more integrated gathering of nationalities as this world is full enough of conict and relation issues.

not be a name that people think of when one brings up the elite coaches in the world, I felt that those weeks in Europe two summers ago were a major impact of what beliefs I had with training. I dont know what to use as an example of what humbles me more, but one good story that I liked was the description of Fasubas 4th place performance in the 100m. While his time was not earth shattering, the true wisdom of what PJ observed was clever in that like all coaches he used his observation skills. After each round Fasuba got up from a seated position from the ground easier and quicker, barely perceivable to the naked eye, making me wonder if those that are slaves to fancy gadgets are hopelessly lost in understanding sport performance. One of Piasentas book on training is titled Aprender a ObservarAtletismo, a hint to all of us that sometimes its better to look a little more han to talk. I know many will start wondering where to go to get more information on training as the rst question is likely to options for further investigation. I would start with classic PE books on teaching, hands on education with videography, and of course some sport science literature from Cometti. Those looking for quick and easy drills and workouts will again fail, and the struggle of improving the best is will only be alleviated by working every day and observing the patterns before us.

Closing Thoughts A Savant and Artist.

I throughly enjoyed my visit to Sweden and learned a lot from PierreJean Vazel. He is not only a great resource, but a very caring person and his character is something the sport needs. He shares so much in depth information to the internet communities without tire and all of my questions were answered fully. While I dont agree with everything PJ says theoretically, nothing he has said has ever been proven to be false that I know of with my own personal exchanges. I think many American coaches, especially strength and conditioning professionals would nd it hard to gather stuff you can use monday with PJ because he is not a classic guru with regards to weight training, but what cant be denied is the fact PJ has done some impressive accomplishments with the circumstances he has been given to him. I have never seen him coach in person, but development is a long term process and his historical perspective must be respected. Much of the information I have learned was so in depth and unique I felt it was a true gift to be able to hear some of the inside information that may be never available anywhere else. In addition to the discussions with PJ, it was great to hear him converse with Hakan Anderson, another big inuence in my coaching career. While Hakan may

Race and Sprinting White Sprinters and future sub 10 performances?

With the performances of Usain Bolt it looks like conjectures of race and sprinting will be again raised as sub 9.8 may be the new sub 10. One question is why are caucasian sprinters no longer running near sub ten times like before? Where is the Pietro and Marian performances from decades before? Based on many 60m and 200m times it seems that many possible sub 10 opportunities could have been blown from athletes tightening up at the fabled top end mark near the transition of top speed when others are in visible. Its not an argument of race and potential, is