It’s easy to get caught up in binaries like lifting vs. sprinting,...
Fred Duncan@Fred__Duncan
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Jun 05, 2025
~1 min read
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It’s easy to get caught up in binaries like lifting vs. sprinting, but that’s a limited view of human performance.
The reality is, athletic development isn’t a game of either/or. It’s a process of layering & integrating various biomotor abilities over time.
The reality is, athletic development isn’t a game of either/or. It’s a process of layering & integrating various biomotor abilities over time.
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You should be lifting. You should be sprinting. You should be jumping, throwing. But each of those skills draws on different physical qualities.
Take someone like marksmellybell, a guy who’s been one of the strongest powerlifters in the world, now leaning into sprinting
Take someone like marksmellybell, a guy who’s been one of the strongest powerlifters in the world, now leaning into sprinting
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and exploring how his body adapts & executes an entirely different demand.
Earlier in the session, he mentioned that his body just wants to move as one, making it hard to isolate specific movements. This is likely an adaptation to his career in PL.
Earlier in the session, he mentioned that his body just wants to move as one, making it hard to isolate specific movements. This is likely an adaptation to his career in PL.
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As stated in SuperTraining, “the ability to generate maximum strength and the ability to produce high speeds are different motor abilities.”
That sentence should make you think, especially if you assume that max strength directly transfers to explosive speed. It doesn’t.
That sentence should make you think, especially if you assume that max strength directly transfers to explosive speed. It doesn’t.
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And that’s not an insult to strength training, it’s a reminder that specificity and context reign supreme.
Maximal lifting thrives on high levels of muscular tension, you brace, grind, & maintain it throughout the effort.
Maximal lifting thrives on high levels of muscular tension, you brace, grind, & maintain it throughout the effort.
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Sprinting, on the other hand, is built on rapid contract and relax cycles. You need stiffness, yes, but excessive tension kills rhythm and disrupts the fluidity required for high speed output.
A well rounded program respects this nuance & includes
A well rounded program respects this nuance & includes
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Strength work to build force potential & tissue capacity
Jumps & plyos to convert that strength into power
drills that reinforce posture, timing, rhythm, & coordination.
Conditioning that supports repeat effort ability & complements speed.
Jumps & plyos to convert that strength into power
drills that reinforce posture, timing, rhythm, & coordination.
Conditioning that supports repeat effort ability & complements speed.