Today’s episode features coach, biomechanist and inventor, Adarian Barr.  Adarian Barr is a unique mind in the world of sport movement who has not only given me dozens of paradigm shifting, “aha” moments, but has also retooled the way that I personally think about human movement and the related coaching process.  Adarian has coached at numerous Universities, and continues to train and consult athletes, as well as educate coaches through his work at barrunning.com.   He has been on four previous episodes of this podcast, each one with unique and paradigm-shifting ideas on how we approach athletic movement, these being:

Episode #64 on Biomechanical Myths and Truths in Sprinting
Episode #105 on Power in Athletic Asymmetry
Episode #132 on Ground Impulse as a Biomechanical Lynchpin in Sprinting and Athletic Movement
Episode #147 on Foot Pressure and “Arch-Centered” Athletic Performance

Many times in athletic movement, we see the fastest athletes doing things that are just a little different than the slower athletes, and I think that we subconsciously recognize these elements.  Often, athletes who can sprint fast and jump high move effortlessly and gracefully, but also with a little bit of “swagger” and bounce to their movement.  Today we are taking a deep dive into the bobbing that elites exhibit, and how this is a function of their relationship to the fall of gravity to better load, and unload joints.

On today’s show, Adarian goes in depth on how athletes can learn to work “with gravity” and falling better, and also avoid interrupting the proper work of gravity through knowing how many coaching cues and drills can create problems.  We also go into how the fastest sprinters are using gravity to accelerate faster than their competitors.  In the back half of the show, we get into the idea of muscle isometrics as the ultimate fast-twitch “brake” of the body, how this works in sprinting, and how we can harness it in the weight room.

Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more.

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Key Points

A description of the essential “two falls” that are happening during running and sprinting
How common sprint cues or instructions can actually interfere with the way that we should be working with gravity in running
How using gravity to “fall farther” in athletic movement can create faster sprinting and higher jumping
Methods to move with gravity better for better sprinting and jumping
How and why muscles will selectively fire isometrically to stop a joint in human movement
Using isometrics and oscillatory isometrics in the weightroom as a compliment to athletic movement in sport
How the body can use isometric muscle actions in top-end speed to increase the stride length

 
“The things people are missing out on is: falling is it”

“If you only fall an inch (while accelerating) there’s not much to it”

“Instead of things working in pairs or tandems, we seem to make things conflict”

“You have to understand you are falling first, and not interrupt it, second thing is you have to figure out how to fall faster”

“When you try to punch the ground yourself (while running), the brain is not expecting that”

“Those that fall the farthest (working with gravity in athletic movement) will run the fastest and jump the highest, it’s that simple”

“There is a big difference between running 1 inch and 5 inches”

“If you really want to work stairs or hills, you have to squat down low to get the (gravity) effect”

“The pull gets you into the fall… if you go to push, it makes you stand up.  You are trying to pull yourself into the fall”

“The first step is to be aware of gravity, so we don’t interrupt it”

“A skips and B skips are great interrupters (of gravity) because I am being trying to get my leg back ...