How does Body Size affect Sprinting Speed?

In this video we show an anatomy comparison of elite sprinters of varying builds and ask how these bodytypes effect how athletes express their speed

Music: HORUSIII x HICAP - We Do It No

[Hellserch]

Love the brother from Ireland and who is balanced and logical in his explanations for what makes a sprinter great.

[JasperStringerRunning]

I just want to say I had a meet yesterday, and I ran a 200m PR of 27.92. I know it's not fast but I am going to work hard to get in down to a 21-22 by my senior year. (I am a freshman;15yo)

[Leonidas-eubb]

The title picture shows how muscular Bolt really was especially for his long limbed structure.
Bolt has the perfect body shape. Narrow hips, wide shoulders, long limbs, a proximal not distal weight distribution (very important).
So Bolt was the perfect sprinting mashine. Guys like Asafa or Gatlin are also pure power in person.
But at 6ft 5 and 200lbs Bolt must be an alien period.

[motshwari]

I love your work man. The amount of research that goes into these videos 👏🏾

[KoolKaiser]

Good vid. I dont see many Youtubers with this level of analysis. This was top notch bro, keep it up.

[ghostpsgaming]

At some point we have to understand that its not about a particular physical structure or muscle composition etc. This is a thing based on a case-by-case instance. every person has a unique physical structure which reacts a certain way to certain types of training. you can have a shorter physical structure yet uniquely have superior athletic abilities than certain taller structures that could be classified as having superior athletic abilities. there's no formula really. EG At some point not a lot of people thought a man of Usain Bolt's physical structure could run that quick.

[spenzspence]

excellent video. now i dont feel bad for having small wrists and ankles lool. great work man. well put together

[madams]

Ive trained with Harry AA at Loughborough and honestly he’s got the most incredible genetics of ALL TIME body building wise. If he did body building he’d be up there with Ronnie Coleman. He had a HUGE chest at 18. It’s mental.

[chriscodling]

Yeah I went from 170lbs to 155lbs and took a full second of my 150m times. There's also the strength in flexibility component. Longer range exercises give you stronger tendons and ligaments which leads to less injuries. So if your someone that prioritizes short range movements and bulky muscle. You might gain explosiveness but your tendons might suffer because the haven't be trained to handle those forces. Therefore more injuries will occur.

[helios]

In H.S when I was around 160 lbs. I was naturally faster and could run longer vs now at 200 lbs even tho I train more and eat better. The extra 40 lbs makes a difference

[jaytahoe]

Great video breakdown, I think it's spot on. Now that said would also like to see how among average joes/janes rather professional athletes as opposed to height and weight, muscle fiber composition is the most deciding factor

[ognyanstefanov]

Great video! I really enjoyed it. Only critique I have is that the explanation to why sprinters have skinny ankles was wrong. The analogy was also wrong. If the surface area of the pogo stick was larger, the same amount of force would be transmitted because the spring inside the pogo remains unchanged. The reason why the best runners have skinny ankles is because the rotational inertia about the knee joint is less when more mass is closer to the knee.

[Averagebum]

+Sprint Speed Media Thank you! Very impressive.

[markthames]

good mobility is important for running and it is not always about strength..Take a look at tegogo mobility at 2:04 and you see why he runs that fast while mainting good sprint mechanics/posture

[MR.CLEAN]

another great vid just confused what a think ankle looks like

[aguiasnow]

Great analysis! Great video man, thanks 👍

[christiantagliaferro]

Asafa powell had a so smooth running. Jacobs is his successor.

[victordeltoids]

I was waiting to see "brave" Lamaitre in the 2012 Olympics😁

[laughingbird]

My only concern are the new carbon shoes some sprinters use that gives out more force than what's put in.
That's illegal, and is equivalent to using a trampoline to dunk
then claim you can jump higher than vince carter or MJ

[gothops]

Maurice Greene had wider hips, but a very fast start!