How much is biology, how much is physics? How much is inherent ability, how much is technique? Does every individual runner have a maximum possible speed over a certain distance? Basically, what exactly does Usain Bolt do better than anyone else?
In: Biology
There are a lot of exercises that athletes can use to get faster. Mainly they fall into 3 categories, building stronger stronger muscles, getting used to moving your body faster than you are comfortable, and increasing endurance so you don’t immediately tire out. Building muscle and endurance are fairly straightforward, but learning to move fast can be pretty interesting. One drill that coaches had me do when I was in track and field was to strap on a big elastic belt around your waist, which would be tied to like a 50 ft long elastic strap. The other end of the strap would be tied to another runner. That runner would take off running away from you while you stood there waiting for the tension to build on the elastic strap. Once there was enough tension on the strap pulling you towards the other runner, you would take off running towards the other runner. The strap would pull you forward much faster than you’re used to running on your own. The point of the drill was to learn how to pump your arms and legs faster than you’re used to so that you can break through mostly mental barriers and just get used to the feeling of going that fast. The hardest part of course is to keep your legs underneath you and not completely bust your ass at high speed. You could also do a very similar drill by just finding a long downhill slope to sprint down.
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