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I like Bret Contreras....
He's a likeable guy: knowledgeable, sense of humor, and he's got a focus. He's known as the Glute Guy. And, while he can talk about all things Strength & Conditioning, he's made quite a study of how the glute and hip muscles contribute to superior athletic performance. So, when he writes about something that has application to our Shuttle machines, I take notice.
In a recent blog post, Bret talked about how many S&C coaches are trapped in the mental mantra of "sprint speed is determined by the amount of force you put into the ground." However, Bret references a study, Technical Ability of Force Application as a Determinant Factor in Sprint Performance, that makes the following distinction:
"The orientation of the total force applied onto the supporting ground during sprint acceleration is more important to performance than its amount."
Now to me, a non-expert, that one seems understandable. To increase your speed, you not only want a lot of force, but you want it heading in a certain direction... forward.
Bret's point - and this is where his focus kicks in - is that you still want to do the squats, Olympic lifts, ballistics and plyos to increase the amount of force you put into the ground. However, as this study points out, you also want to include the training that will increase the "end range hip extension strength and power" to propel your athlete ever faster in the right direction.
This reminded me of a video Warren Anderson of MakePlays.com had done for us awhile back on how to increase speed using the Shuttle MVP. The hip extension Warren was teaching seems to give you the end range strength and power that Bret is recommending. Please tell us what you think in the comments below. (Oh, and please excuse the lighting in the video, I think Warren was going for that "film noir" look.)