Eccentric Strength in Sprinting

By Dr C Ajithkumar

Over the last 29 years of my coaching career I have witnessed firsthand how crucial eccentric strength is in sprinting performance Under my training I have produced some of the nations best sprinters including leading international runners such as Sneha 1141s Ranga K 1142s Priyanka Kalagi 1150s Jijin Vijayan 1050s Abhinav 1059s and Vineeth Saseendran 1050s

Their success is a living testament to the role eccentric strength plays in reaching world class levels of sprinting

1 What is Eccentric Strength

  • Definition Eccentric strength is the ability of a muscle to resist lengthening while supporting a load
  • Example When you land from a jump your quads hamstrings and calves work eccentrically to absorb the impact prevent collapse and prepare you to spring back up

2 How Usain Bolt Runs

  • When Usain Bolts foot makes contact with the ground his hips barely drop
  • His legs and hips are extremely stiff and strong resisting the tendency to collapse into a squat under high forces
  • This stiffness allows him to rebound instantly off the ground creating the short ground contact times that make him the fastest man in history

3 The Problem in Younger Athletes

  • Many young sprinters lack sufficient eccentric strength
  • When their foot hits the ground their hips sink into a 14 squat position
  • This wastes energy increases ground contact time and reduces sprint efficiency
  • Instead of bouncing back they sit on each stride losing momentum

4 Why Eccentric Strength Matters in Sprinting

  • Keeps hips tall and body upright better sprint mechanics
  • Reduces ground contact time faster stride frequency
  • Prevents injuries lowers risk of hamstring tears and knee problems
  • Creates stiffness like Bolt smooth efficient and powerful sprinting

Takeaway

If your hips remain stable on ground contact it shows you have strong eccentric control If they drop noticeably eccentric strength must be improved through targeted training

Eccentric Strength Plan for Sprinters

2 to 3 sessions per week 45 to 60 minutes

1 Warm Up 10 minutes

  • A skips 2 20m
  • B skips 2 20m
  • High knees 2 20m
  • Bounding 2 20m
  • Sprint mechanics drills 2 30m accelerations at 70 percent

2 Main Eccentric Strength Work

A Nordic Hamstring Curls

  • 3 to 4 sets 4 to 6 reps
  • Focus on slow lowering 3 to 5 seconds

B Single Leg Romanian Deadlifts eccentric focus

  • 3 6 to 8 reps per leg
  • Lower slowly 3 to 4 sec rise normally

C Drop Jumps for stiffness and ground reaction

  • 3 to 4 sets 6 to 8 reps
  • Step off a 20 to 40 cm box land stiff rebound instantly
  • Key hips must not sink

D Bulgarian Split Squats eccentric

  • 3 6 reps per leg
  • 4 sec lowering 1 sec pause at bottom then explode up

E Calf Eccentrics Achilles and ankle stiffness

  • Standing calf raises 4 sec lower fast up
  • 3 12 to 15 reps

3 Core and Hip Control

  • Hanging Leg Raises 3 12
  • Side Plank with Hip Lift 3 30s per side
  • Copenhagen Plank 3 20s per side

4 Finisher Explosiveness

  • Sprint Bounds 3 30m
  • Hill Sprints 4 to 6 40m focus on tall hips and stiffness

5 Cool Down 5 minutes

  • Hamstring stretch
  • Hip flexor stretch
  • Calf stretch

Training Progression

  • Weeks 1 to 4 Focus on slow eccentric movements Nordics RDLs split squats
  • Weeks 5 to 8 Increase load and stiffness training drop squats bounding
  • Weeks 9 to 12 Add plyometric reactive drills drop jumps sprint bounds
  • Weeks 13 to 16 Peak with high reactive drills depth jumps explosive sprints

Final Word

Eccentric strength is the hidden key behind sprint efficiency speed and injury prevention My decades of coaching experience and the performances of my athletes have proven that hip control and stiffness separate elite sprinters from the rest

Train eccentrically sprint efficiently and run like Bolt
Dr C Ajithkumar