The 4-Hour Body_ An Uncommon Guide to Ra - Timothy Ferriss [166]
Her coach was Barry Ross.
Ross has spent the last 20 years looking for the most elegant answer to one of the biggest questions in all of sports: how do you make humans as fast as possible?
His solution has been to reduce the irreducible, beyond even what I thought possible. As I write this over fried calamari and cioppino at Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco (it’s Saturday), I still can’t believe that I’ve gained more than 120 pounds on my maximum deadlift in less than two months, with less than 10 pounds of weight gain. It’s easily the fastest strength increase I’ve ever experienced.
In Barry’s world, it’s nothing special.
Here is a quick look at three of his athletes that you might find surprising:
His best female multi-event athlete has deadlifted 405 pounds at a bodyweight of 132 pounds. (See her photo in this chapter.)
His best female distance runner has deadlifted 380 pounds at a bodyweight of 138 pounds.
His youngest male lifter, 11 years old, has lifted 225 pounds at a bodyweight of 108 pounds.
Nearly all of his athletes, including women, can lift more than twice their bodyweight without wrist straps, and all have gained less than 10% of additional bodyweight to get there.
The kicker: these results were achieved with less than 15 minutes of actual lifting time (time under tension) per week.
From Pac 10 titles in shot put, to gold medals in the 4×100-meter relay, Barry’s unusual methods are redefining what is possible. In this chapter, I’ll explain how he does it in sprinting, and how you can do the same in the gym or in your sport.
The Effortless Superhuman Protocol
The training protocol for Allyson Felix in 2003 consisted of the following, three times per week:
Dynamic stretching before each session (“over-unders,” detailed later).
One of the following, five minutes rest between sets: Bench press:1 2–3 sets of 2–3 reps or
Push-ups: 10–12 reps2
Conventional deadlift to knees, 2–3 sets of 2–3 reps at 85–95% of 1-repetition max (1RM). Bar does NOT go higher than the knee and is dropped from that height rather than returned to the ground by the athlete. Dropping, and therefore avoiding the eccentric lowering portion, is critical for reducing hamstring injuries when also doing sprint training. Time under tension should be less than 10 seconds per set. For deadlift sets: • Plyometrics are performed immediately after the end of each set (box jumps3 of various heights × 4–6 reps)
• Take five minutes rest in between sets, with the five-minute countdown starting after plyometrics
Core exercise, 3–5 sets of 3–5 reps (isometric holds)
Static stretching
The workout Allyson used was predicated on research that suggested greater ground force support (applying force to the ground at landing), rather than shorter leg swing times,4 enabled runners to reach faster top speeds. The amount of support force needed to increase speed by one meter per second is equal to one-tenth the bodyweight. Skeletal muscle is a very effective generator of force. One kilogram can produce enough force to support 44 kilograms of mass.
Previously, coaches believed that a reduction in fuel supply to the muscle was the cause of speed drops. Research has since shown that the real cause of speed loss is the inability of the fibers to supply sufficient tension.
If you need more tension, you need more strength.
An elite athlete will impact the ground with approximately two times their mass while receiving an equal amount of push back from the ground. Mass-specific support force—the force muscles generate in response to impact—can exceed five times the bodyweight of the elite athlete and is delivered to the ground in approximately 0.05 seconds. Keep in mind that this is on one leg at a time. All other things equal, the stronger runner will win.
The following sequence of photographs, courtesy of Mike Lambert, editor of Powerlifting USA magazine, shows the incredible Lamar Gant.