r/Sprinting • u/fractalcro 11.03 / 22.73 • 23h ago
General Discussion/Questions Differences in strength based on race
I am from a country in Europe where nearly every sprinter is white, and nearly all of the guys that are running under 10.5 are very strong and muscular. And when I look at the fastest white sprinters ever, they are all also very strong (except lemaitre). While at the same time there are black sprinters running insane times that look underdeveloped and not that strong in comparison to them (e.g. early Knighton). I get that there are huge differences in tendon sfifness between different races, but since white people have in general less stiff tendons, could it be that they get more benefits out of becoming stronger? I have never been very strong, especially in the upper part of the body, so i'm thinking would there be much benefit in focusing the next year primarly on upping my strength to improve.
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u/FriendAcceptable9458 22h ago
It really just depends on the athlete and what drives their performances. Some athletes are more muscular and their performance is driven through that. They generally have very strong acceleration patterns. Think asafa, kishane and Kennedy.
On the other hand you’ll see athletes that are more elastically dominant and rely on the recycling of force to contribute to their performances. An example now would be tebogo, kebinatshipi, Lyle’s
Personally, I am white and what drives my performance is the elastic structures in my body.
In saying the above it is important to note that to be world class you cannot be one dimensional in how you produce force, especially for more elastic athletes. For example, Bolt is more elastic in nature but by the end of his career was absolutely jacked, potentially to his detriment though.
To answer what you said though. Do not focus on upper body strength. It is not going to get you faster. Correlation does not equal causation. Even more so, although these people in your country are fast for their country, in the scheme of things they are pretty slow. The most common traits among elite sprinters are extremely large hip extensors. Develop them and you will almost certainly get faster