Physical Potential | Mark Rippetoe
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Is there a sport, or some role within some sport, in which having a low SVJ is actually advantageous? This would be a sport in which the capacity to explode is actually at odds with the capacity demanded by the sport (or role therein). So..I'm thinking endurance-based sports, like marathon running. If I really wanted to be a marathon runner, or even a Crossfitter, and I found out that I had a 40" vertical, that might actually be bad news. Yes?
My basic question is, "Is having a good SVJ an absolute good, or a relative good? Is it ALWAYS preferable to have a high SVJ?"
I can think of no physical circumstance in which a big SVJ is a liability.
Not even the physical circumstance in which explosivity is the last physical attribute one wants? Wouldn't the neuromuscular character of someone with a big SVJ be the exact character one wouldn't want in order to excel in an endurance-depenendent sport? If I have a higher proportion of Type-II's and a predisposed capacity to recruit them very quickly and efficiently, then a marathon run is going to be hell for me, yes?
You think a guy with a 38-inch SVJ has a problem with accidentally exploding?
Well, in a sense..if I understand you correctly. He's going to have problems getting burned out too quickly bc of his neurological character. Perhaps I'm conflating muscle fiber type with neuromuscular efficiency. The gal with more Type-II's is going to struggle more with endurance than the gal with more Type-I's, ceteris paribus. Do we agree there?
I would think someone with an exceptional SVJ would have an easier time with a physical activity that does not require explosiveness, than someone with a below average SVJ. Even though Marathons aren't about short bursts of speed, the athlete that can generate more force will be faster than the unexplosive athlete.
"Ceteris paribus," though right.. assuming they're both trained in the same manner, the one with more type-I's is going to do better in the endurance based event--just like the opposite is true: a gal with more type-II's is going to do better in a sprint than a gal with more type-I's (everything else the same). I don't think there's any point of contention there. I just need to be cleared up on the difference between muscle-fiber-type-distribution and neuromuscular efficiency/ineffeciency--and the advantages/disadvantages thereof.
Here's Feigenbaum from an article of his on BBM (his articulation is certainly better than mine):
"...Second, when thinking of a sport like CrossFit does it even pay to be super athletic? Sure, having great body awareness, great hand-eye coordination, and being somewhat explosive would help, but it’s definitely possible to go too far. Consider the vertical jump test, which is a commonly used metric to determine how explosive an athlete is compared to another or a previous test of the individual. It’s relatively cheap (either need a Vertec machine or a piece of chalk), it’s low skill, and it doesn’t improve that much with training (~20%) outside of drastic weight loss situation (for more on this click here -see section on SVJ). Most guys are going to test around 22″ with women being lower, about 14″. Now, say you have a guy coming to CrossFit with a 40″ vertical jump. Whoa ATHLETE alert, right? But not so fast…..being really explosive can be advantageous in sports when the effort is brief, i.e. a running back or wide receiver, but this actually can be a disadvantage when the efforts get longer, as the athlete who is genetically wired up to be very explosive will get fatigued too quickly. Basically, if you have a neuromuscular-derived advantage in creating a lot force quickly, i.e. you’re very explosive, that same neuromuscular system betrays you when you need to produce sub-maximal amounts of force over a long period of time. There’s no such thing as a biological free lunch here, folks. Just to drive this point home, consider that at the 2012 CrossFit Games Rich Froning got 16th in the standing broad jump event w/ 104 inches (8 feet 8 inches). This test is yet another measure of inherent explosive ability and while Rich’s effort was great, it puts him on par with the offensive tackle’s in the NFL (source). For reference, the explosive players in the NFL like the wide receivers, corner backs, etc. jump in the 120″ range, over a full foot more than Rich."
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Mr. Wilson,
Sure for two athletes that are equal in every respect except for strength, the one that's stronger will be faster, and will therefore win. But I don't think it's true that the more explosive athlete will be faster ON AVERAGE over the course of a marathon race because he will be burned out by the time the less explosive athlete has finished. I think strength undoubtedly carries over to every physical endeavor (until, of course, one reaches the point of diminishing returns), but that does not mean that explosivity carries over to every physical endeavor. The two are different concepts. Unless I'm entirely confused, in which case I will be happy to be corrected.