Abstract
Background: Effective sprinting requires large acceleration capabilities. To accelerate, large amount of force must be produced and applied effectively. The use of different implements such as sleds and vests can increase the amount of force produced and alter sprinting effectiveness. We propose the use of increasing overload via the Bulgarian Bag (BB) as a means to modify athletes’ sprint and acutely increase force and power production. Methods: 24 young athletes performed three sprints over 20 m in three different conditions: unloaded (BW) and loaded with BB weighing 2.5% (BB2.5) and 5% (BB5) of the athlete’s body mass. Sprint times at 2.5, 5, 10, 15, and 20 m were acquired and used to compute the force–velocity relationship for the sprints. Maximal velocity (V0), peak force (F0), peak power (PP), and decrease in ratio of force (DRF) were computed. Results: the additional load caused a decrease in sprint times (p < 0.05) and V0 (p = 0.028), conversely no differences were found for F0 (p = 0.21), PP (p = 0.50), and DRF (p = 0.83). Conclusions: Based on those findings, BB can be an alternative method to effectively overload sprint training toward improving sprinting performance.
Highlights
The acceleration phase is a key component of sprinting
Test–retest reliability measured by intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was excellent for sprint times under all conditions (BW = 0.820, BB2.5 = 0.854, BB5 = 0.849)
The main finding of this study was that, albeit a significant reduction in sprint times, the use of overload via Bulgarian Bag (BB) did not deteriorate force production and mechanical effectiveness when compared to the unloaded condition
Summary
In several sport activities (e.g., track and field and team sports), sprinting is substantial to reach maximal speed and, and more importantly, to cover a given distance in the lowest time [1,2]. To effectively display this skill, large forward acceleration is needed. Acceleration is related to the capability to produce and to apply in the horizontal direction large amount of force into the ground at increasing speed throughout the acceleration phase [1,3]. Conclusions: Based on those findings, BB can be an alternative method to effectively overload sprint training toward improving sprinting performance
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