Draft 100m sprint needs analysis from my Strength and Conditioning placement at the Sports Institute of Northern Ireland (SINI). Includes IAAF rules, basic sprint mechanics and physiology, the most commonly associated sprint injuries (e.g. HSI, navicular stress fracture and Achilles tendinopathy) and general applications of the needs analysis to training and testing of athletes.

1. The 100 Metre Sprint:
A Needs Analysis
BY JILL COSTLEY

2. Outcomes
 Gain a basic understanding of the main International Association of
Athletics Federations (IAAF) rules.
 Age classifications, the start, the race & the finish
 Appreciate the movement patterns of running (including the mechanics of
acceleration and maximal velocity running)
 Understand the energy systems and muscle fibres utilised within the 100m
sprint
 Describe the mechanism of hamstring strain injuries
 Describe navicular stress fractures and Achilles tendinopathies
 Apply the Needs Analysis to training: training and testing

3. The 100 Metre(m) Sprint
Performance Criterion - time taken to run 100 metres

4. Basic Overview
•Classification - age
•Lanes & Lane Infringement
•The Start & Starting Blocks
•The Race & Finishing

5. Age Classifications
 U13 Boys and Girls
 U15 Boys and Girls
 U17 Men and Women
 U20 Men and Women
 Seniors – at least 20 years old
 Masters – at least 35 years old

6. The Lane
Lane Infringement  Disqualification
•White lines/ kerbs
•No infringement if forced out

7. Starting Blocks – Compulsory
 Rigid & fixed
 International Comp - Linked to Start Information System
The Start
 ‘’On your marks’’, ‘’set’’  report of gun
 Starter may withdraw competitors from the marks
 Warning  disqualification
 False start (≤ 0.100s) = disqualification

8.  Performance Criterion - time taken to run 100 metres
 Times from fully automatic timing system
• Photo Finish System
• Any body part (head, neck, arms, torso, legs, hands or feet)
≥20 minutes between last heat and fist heat of successive rounds
(Maughan & Gleeson, 2010; Dick, 2012; IAAF, 2016)

9. Movement Patterns
• Gait Analysis
• Breakdown of a Stride
• Mechanics
• Brief Comparisons

10.  Elite male – 9.58s to 11s
• Male world record – 9.58s (Berlin, 2009)
- Usain Bolt (Jamaica)
 Elite female – 2012 Olympic final – average of 10.87s
• Female world record – 10.49s (Seoul, 1988)
- Florence Griffith-Joyner (America)
Ross et al. (2001); McGinnis, 2005

11. Running Velocity = Stride Length x Stride Frequency
 Stride:
 Stride length: the distance from the
placement of one foot to the next
placement of the same foot
 Stride frequency: the number of strides
within a given time (usually per minute)
 Walking base (aka stride width or base
of support)
Levine et al., 2012
Running – Gait

12. Support (Stance) Phase:
1. Touchdown (D)
2. Mid-stance
3. Take-off (E)
Flight (Swing/ Aerial) Phase:
1. Early-swing(B)
2. Mid-swing
3. Late-swing (C)
One Movement Cycle
(Right Leg on Model)

13. Deterministic Model
Average Velocity
Moir, 2015

14. Reaction – Acceleration (69%) – Maximum Velocity – Speed Maintenance
Ross et al. (2001);

15. Reaction time
Time interval between the stimulus provided by the shot of the
Starter’s gun and the initiation of a response form the sprinter
through movement
 Contributes 1-2% to 100m performance
 Relationship of sprint performance & Male vs female
 False start - < 0.100s
 Human ability could exceed this
 Men & Women…
Pain & Hibbs, 2007; Babic & Delalija, 2009; Pavlovic et al., 2014; IAAF, 2016

16. Newton’s Laws of Motion
 Law of Inertia - ‘’a body will continue in its state of res or uniform motion in a
straight line unless acted upon by an external force’’ (Griffin & Watkins, , pg. 235).
 Law of Acceleration - ‘’the change of motion of an object is proportional to the
force impressed; and is made in the direction of the straight line in which the
force is impressed’’ (McGinnis, 2013, pg. 98)
 Law of Action-Reaction – ‘To every action there is always opposed an equal
reaction’’ (McGinnis, 2013, pg. 95)

17. Block Position – ‘’Set’’
Centre of Mass Height –
- ↑ (0.61-0.66m)
- ← (0.16-0.19m)
Factors:
1) Anthropometric Profile
2) Arm Strength
Block Position
- Bunched (<30cm)
- Medium start (30-50cm)
- Elongated start (>50cm)
Mero et al., 1992 Harland & Steele, 1997
Ground-Block Angle
Joint Angles

18. Block Clearance
Primary Muscles Utilised for Force Production: gluteus maximus, biceps femoris, vastus lateralis, rectus femoris &
gastrocnemius
Sufficient Vertical Impulse; Maximal Horizontal Impulse
Initiation of movement : Extension of hip & knee
: Decrease of ankle joint angle
- Pre-stretch for SSC
Elite vs Non-Elite
Greater block velocity and acceleration
Medium Start
Explosive movement against blocks
Low clearance angle
Harland & Steele,1997
Mero et al., 1992

19. Acceleration
Initial Strides
- COG ahead of touchdown
- Lengthen first stride
Flight and ground contact time of elite male sprinters during
the first two steps following block clearance (Harland &
Steele, 1997)

20. Acceleration

21. Maximal Velocity Sprinting
Spring-Mass Model
 Energy cannot be destroyed or created; it converts from
one form into another
 Gravitational potential energy (GPE) and kinetic energy
(KE)
 Spring - leg; Circle – hip
 Touchdown to mid-stance  compression
 KE to PE
 Mid-stance to take-off  Extension and recoil
 PE to KE
Daly, 1991; Ferris et al, 1998; Chelly & Denis, 2000)

23. Touchdown Mid-stance Take-off
Support Phase (Stance Phase)

24. Early-swing Mid-swing Late-swing
Flight Phase (Swing Phase)

27. The Elite -
Greater sprint velocity is achieved
through the production of a
greater horizontal ground
reaction force and not through
stride frequency
Weyand et al., 2000

29. Physiological Demands
• Energy system
• Blood Lactate
• Causes of acute fatigue
• Muscle fibre types

30. Adenosine Triphosphate
 Adenosine (adenine and ribose) and 3 phosphate groups
 High energy bond between the successive phosphate groups
 Hydrolysis via adenosine triphosphate (ATPase) – 7.3 cals/mole
 Approximately 2s of maximal intensity
 Reversible – phosphorylation via energy systems
(Cramer, 2008; Wilmore et al., 2008; Maughan & Gleeson, 2010).

31. Maughan & Gleeson (2010)
Maximal Isokinetic cycling

32. Phosphagen System (Alactic) –
 Anaerobic: 0-20 seconds
 Phosphocreatine (PCr) – utilised within 1.3s
 Peak ATP production: 2-3s mark  glycolysis increasingly assists thereafter
 High rate of ATP resynthesis
 30s recovery after 100m max. sprint – 50% PCr stores replenished
(McArdle et al., 2006; Spencer et al., 2005; Maughan & Gleeson, 2010)

33. Glycolytic
 Primary system : 20s – 2 minutes
 Increase in contribution after 2s (PCr
depletion
 ‘’Anaerobic/ Fast’’ Glycolysis
- Glucose or Glycogen  Pyruvate 
Lactate
 Slower ATP turnover than Phosphagen
System so decline in performance (force
output)
- Fastest turnover at 5s mark
(Baechle & Earle, 2008; Maughan & Gleeson, 2010).

34. Oxidative System
 Contribution is small
 Aerobic – oxidises carbohydates
 Inc. in duration and distance
100m Sprint Ergogenics
 90-95% anaerobic and 5-10% aerobic (Maughan & Gleeson,
2010)
 53% from the phosphagen system, 44% glycolytic and 3%
oxidative (Bompa & Buzzichelli, 2015)
(Bompa & Buzzichelli, 2015; Maughan & Gleeson, 2010)

35. Blood Lactate
 Assists in estabilishing and regulating training intensities
 Helps to evaluation the effects of training upon the body
 Can be used for recovery
Kawczyński et al. (2015):
- Elite Polish 100m runners
- Blood lactate continues to rise 5
minutes post sprint
Tanner & Gore, 2013; Kawczyński et al. (2015)

36. Muscle fibres
 Type I and II
 Predominately Type II in sprinters
 Type II higher in PCr, glycogen and
phosphorylase
 100m Sprinter:
Type I fibres: 20-30%
Type II fibres: 70-80%
Bosch & Klomp, 2005; Baechle & Earle, 2008 Maughan & Gleeson, 2010

37. Overview of Acute Fatigue Causes -
 Fatigue – ‘’inability to maintain a given or expected
force or power output’’ (Maughan & Gleeson, 2010,
pg. 90)
 Sprinting performance is highly correlated with ability to
maintain reach and uphold maximal velocity
 After peak velocity has been achieved (50-60m)
 Limited PCr for ATP resynthesis
- Rise in Pi, H+ and lactate ion
Maughan & Gleeson, 2010

38. Injury Analysis
• Hamstring Strain Injuries (acute)
• Navicular Stress Fractures (chronic)
• Achilles Tendinopathy (chronic)

39. Injury Analysis of Sprinting
Hamstring Strain Injuries
Track & field injury rate – 3.1-169.8 per 100 athletes
• Hamstrings muscles
- Semimembranosus
- Semitendinosus
- Biceps Femoris Long Head (BFLH)
- Biceps Femoris Short Head (BFSH)
• Characteristics of BFLH and BFSH
BFLH - Shorter fascicles
BFSH - Longer fascicles
• Late Swing Phase
• Grade I to Grade III strains
• Predisposing factors: 1) Age
2) Previous HSI
3) Previous HSI tissue volume
4) Strength Imbalances
5) Flexibility
6) Fatigue
• Prevention – Muscle Strengthening & Flexibility Training
RAZORS NOT NORDICSEdouard & Alsonso, 2013;

40. Other Injuries
Achilles Tendinopathy –
- Most common overuse injury in sprinters and hurdlers
- Age, gender, weight, diabetes, tight and/or weak calf muscles, poor calf endurance, poor hip/ knee stability
and/or stiff joint of foot
- High repetitive forces of sprinting, stiffness of footwear, hill sprinting
- Eccentric calf-muscle training
 Straight knee and bent knee
- Surgery
Navicular Stress Fracture –
- (*tarsal navicular stress fractures (Brukner et al. (1998)
- Medial and longitudinal arch pain, or along dorsum of foot
- 6-8 weeks immobilization
- Gradual return, 6 weeks rehabilition (mobilization & strengthening)
 average return time: 5.6 months
Alfredson et al., 1998; Brukner et al., 1998; Eduouard & Alonso, 2013; Ferry et al., 2015

41. Training & Testing
• Main targets of training
• Testing for 100m sprinters

42. Main targets of training
 Strength and Power
- Eccentric and concentric force capacity to decrease ground contact time &
increase GRF
 Maximal - force (acceleration)
 RFD (maximal velocity)
 SSC --> Plyometrics
- Enhance elastic energy of muscles
 Triple extension exercises – hip to knee to ankle
- Deadlifts, squats, snatches, cleans and jerks.
Jeffreys, 2013; Moir, 2015

43. Testing
 Isometric and dynamic of maximal strength
 Rate of Force Development (RFD) – Explosive Muscular Strength
- Within a 100ms time period
 Low-load speed-strength
- BW vertical jump
 Reactive Strength
- Drop jump
- Leg stiffness ) - (*maximal speed)
- Spring-Mass Model!!
- Hopping
 Voluntary Maximal Isometric Strength – level of performance
 Absolute Maximal Strength
Chelly& Denis, 2000; Moir, 2015

44. NI Athletics Qualifying Standards
http://www.nirunning.co.uk/documents/Commonwealth%20Games%20Standards.pdf

45. Summary
 Improve strength to allow greater ground reaction forces during the toe-
off phase
 Limit the touchdown-distance; and therefore frictional forces of braking
 DEPENDS ON REQUIREMENTS OF ATHLETE
Anthropometric…..Age……Gender.....Technique……
Weaknesses…..Flexibility…..Current Training Status

46. Thanks for Listening!!