I'm sure many of you have heard the term it's 80% nutrition and 20% exercise. So why is nutrition so important and can you really get yourself into shape from having a great diet.
Based on a regular active person their diet is likely to be evident in ther performance and body composition. Ensuring you have a correct diet will positively reflect on performance as you will have sufficient energy levels and the right amounts of protein, carbohydrates and fats in your food to complement your overall physical goal.
Give it a go and try drop a 'bad' food out of your diet a week and see how you get on. This can be as simple as daily biscuits or chocolate, even crackers and cheese.
Here is a picture of me 'exploding' out the blocks apply pressure to the front pad with full extension.
As you can see from the annotated arrow on the picture the force applied to the pad and arrow that the angle of release is pretty good, yes if you are being picky you could take this to pieces and slightly adjust the angle of the back.
Now to look at the first step and the distance gained.
This picture shows the push out the blocks and the first step.
The key to a powerful block start is getting a solid base on the blocks to push off, you want to apply the maximum force through the front block and drag the rear block foot through too. When I set myself in the blocks I focus on getting the plate of spike pushing, almost curling over the back of the blocks pad. Doing this enables me to apply to have a stable base to exert as much force as I can.
Thinking of it in logical terms when you squat, can you squat more on your toes or applying force through the midfoot... the midfoot obviously and it's the same concept out of the blocks. You want to make use of the work you've been putting in at the weights room, then its essential you apply the forces at the correct angles.
The rear foot drag is significantly important too, you want to keep it low and close to the ground so you can stay low in your drive phase. If you bring it up to your glutes in a cycle you are not only wasting time and distance but you are also bringing yourself into an upright position, loosing your drive phase and the opportunity to maximise acceleration.
Here is a video of the block start with x8 slow motion.
