Effective Recruitment and Coordination of Key Muscle Groups

Learning to recruit the glutes effectively is universally understood as a key aspect to maximizing performance. This glute recruitment video is worth looking at, as it references external and internal pelvic rotation and the big toe being in contact with the ground—aspects that relate to various exercises used in training, as well as to sprinting. Hopefully you read my "Rotational and Linear Elements" blog. In addition, the book Running by Frans Bosch and Ronald Klomp also details how the glutes work with the quads, hamstrings, and calf muscles through each stage of the sprint.

This includes detailing how biarticular leg muscles (span more than one joint); the rectus femoris, hamstrings, gastrocnemius, and the upper arm muscles; biceps brachii and triceps brachii, work with monoarticular knee (quadriceps femoris) and hip (gluteus maximus) muscles to maximize effectiveness and efficiency. In addition to what I alluded to in my "First Three Steps" blog about "fast isometrics", knowledge of these types of muscular actions can be important to help the coach to understand what he/she is looking at when observing athletes and their different levels of effectiveness, and it also can help an athlete make sense of some of the sensations he/she feels while coordinating movements to position and balance the body to start explosively and to accelerate to top speed. This, in my opinion is best developed while competing with training partners, in conjunction with appropriate input from coaches. So again, beware of distracting the athlete with too much information or info inappropriately presented. I like to think in terms of helping the athlete to discover certain things and hopefully I can accurately recognize when the discoveries are made.

Also related to the toes and glute recruitment is a quote related to standing starts from the article “What is the Drive Phase in Sprinting, Part 3”: “You can’t push from your toes as toes are meant to grip. The gripping toes create stability for the push off. This is the key to force application and push mechanics when starting from a standstill (traction).” As I stated in another blog, I may add or substitute "curling/dorsi-flexion of the toes and feet" to describe the gripping aspect. From the athlete's viewpoint, he/she is positioning, balancing, coiling, etc..., to get out and into the race, and as I've said previously, I place a lot of importance in the athletes learning to be well poised to explosively start from the standing position and achieving an effective combination of stride length and stride frequency.

This is where I do need to mention that the running surface and type of shoes are important aspects. You obviously don't want a surface that athletes are prone to slip on, ie; sand on the track, wet conditions, etc..., but I like for athletes to learn position and balance for a good start without having to rely on wearing spikes or using blocks. For liability reasons I'm not going to encourage barefoot running, however, in a perfect world, being barefoot on a surface that would not harm the feet likely would be beneficial. As for the big toe being in contact with the ground, I believe that is something for the coach to look at, and the big toe being off the ground may be a sign that a more effective position is needed. In addition, this video from Adarian Barr gives valuable information regarding the foot moving around the big toe during the running strides. Again, I'd watch how I would express this to an athlete, as you don't want his/her focus to be distracted from what should be primary.

What is the Drive Phase Part 1 and Part 2 are also articles that give valuable information regarding recruiting the glutes. Part 2 also, very importantly, includes an explanation of the role the cross-extensor reflex plays in sprint success. My home page also includes some great links that detail the contribution of reflexes.

In short, doing a good job of learning to position the body and balance to execute the start and initial acceleration will go a long way toward facilitating good recruitment throughout the race.

Most of any race is spent in an upright position. Skillful coordination and timing of various movements and positions, and effective rhythmic movements, are some fundamental aspects of successful running. A major objective of this website is to help connect fundamentally sound starting and initial acceleration techniques with good upright running technique. Again, this very brief Tellez video can be helpful.