Why Do Olympic Sprinters Have Insane Shoulders? 

I did compete in the Olympics in the 200 m dash, and I can honestly say competing in the sprints from high school through college all the way to the Olympic games absolutely develops your shoulders LIKE NOTHING I'VE EVER SEEN.... WYNDELL DICKINSON OLYMPIAN.

In high school and the beginning of college I had ridiculously striated shoulders, thanks to sprinting.

Shoulders are important for sprinting as they help drive your legs, especially in the 400 when your legs give out

I think shoulder strength in sprinters is due to counter forces required to stabilize the torso during sprinting. Raising the left leg produces a rotational force in the core, which is stabilized by an equal and opposite counter-force produced by the right shoulder/arm swing. Strong shoulders keep the torso stable, which is necessary for top speed. I enjoyed this content.

All the satellite receptors getting activated from the Capri-suns and Trenbolnee sandwiches.

I started fighting about 3 years ago as a hobby - fight coach always tells me that "cardio is king" so i started sprinting to get my stamina up - doesnt take long to get ripped when you sprint.

They probably also do at least at little weight training involving shoulders, cleans, snatches, and jerks for explosiveness all involve the shoulders partially.

I would really appreciate more videos like this!!!! I recently went to a physio and they pointed out that my shoulders were extremely weak and tire quicker than they should. Crazy to see how much they impact your race

This makes so much sense. I used to do water sprints to recover after I hurt my patellar tendon and my shoulders would always be crazy sore and I'd have a huge pump after doing them. It was all the swinging back and forth through the water.

Yep, arm drive is critical in sprinting. The better mobility and strength you have through the whole range of motion = more forward power.

criminally underrated

Sprinting is for life. Whoever you are, if you can run, make sure to train with sprinting.

This is amazing content, fresh and trying to find something new, while still being professional. Love the scientific approach.

Live the analysis, your kings👊

I'mma be honest; I've _almost _*_always_* felt tired in my arms while sprinting before I did my legs, *especially* during a long sprint like the 400, so watching this video things started retroactively made sense. Sounds like _another_ reason to keep sprint training even when I don't have a season to be working towards! P.S: Once again, I'm mostly a layman, but your theories _actually _*_did_* make sense to me. Great vid!

Finally someone answered the question that has been bothering me for years. Thanks a lot

Thanks for putting so much work into creating this hypothesis which to me is worth considering.

Thank you man for throwing light on this topic.

i’ve had the video in my ‘watch later’ for a while, if only i knew it was going to be this good 🔥 new sub

Excellent quality and great info.

Very professional looking video and intresting subject. In my book shoulder mobility not only gives you big size but is very important when it comes to sprinting performance. And more important than being able to run with "thumbs to the eye and elbows to the sky" is to be able to move the whole shoulder itself when running. And also doing this not only by rotating your spine. Thanks for a great video!

Sprinters need strong and fast armswing. You need insane core strength to connect the forces generated by shoulders and legs. You need insane hips and insane shoulders to be fast. That's the reason why 100m runners do many shoulders lifting exercises (lifting is actualy the biggest reason for the strong shoulder, no mysterious about that so hahaha). Actually this is a big lesson from sprinting to other sports: any sportsman should be training hips - core - shoulder more than any other muscle groups.

Thank you! I was a sprinter for years and this explains a lot. My physio said he’s never seen a sprinter without developed traps! I looked it up and found your video.

very rarelu subsribe to new channels, as a runner myself, love this content!!! keep it up (also these edits are amazing)

Fantastic video. Keep up the great work

Very nice video on an interesting topic! Keep it up!

Love this bro. Keep going for us.

This video was super professional and informative good shit

Interesting and well thought out. Makes me want to go hit the track for some sprints!

Great Video, awesome edition!

Wow. This video is amazing. I'm glad it's very specific and based on actual research. I'm also glad that sources are shown. A lot of bro science videos are out there misinforming a bunch of jocks. Thank you for your intellectual honesty.

Very interesting. Thank you. I'll use this information.

simple answer: We work strengh and power in weight room so we focus more on lower body,but when it comes to upper we do compounds that are bench press and shoulder militery press ,no time for other upper body exersizes .

Sprinters are the ultimate fast-twitchers. FT muscle gets big very quickly. All that sprinting and muscle burns off fat and leaves them looking shredded

I like this video! Solid research and some really profound points. As you asked for what could improve too, IMO, there wasn't any mention of winter training where there is a lot of *resistance training* and strength work for sprinters to gain strength, size and mobility in their shoulders. Elite sprinters' weight programmes will be tailored to their performance more than the average sprinter. I'd also add that most elite sprinters have quite low bodyfat which will create the illusion of bigger shoulders, esp as many androgen receptors are found in the shoulders/ traps, and those body parts tend not to hold as much fat as say the abdominals or lower back. I really like this video though, we need more deep dives into the science behind sprinting!

I actually have wondered about this before. Thanks for doing some research. You would make a good sports physiologist.

Fantastic video and effort on the quality brother

How about this: Professional athletes aren't only hard workers but are also gifted when it comes to genetics. Shoulders are very important for running. Many coaches preach "your arms are your engine". So obviously the best sprinters are the ones with the strongest shoulders for sprinting. They make it to the top and that's why sprinters have such massive shoulders

your video quality is insane man!

As someone how runs track we definitely work out a decent amount and when running you moving your arms from your shoulders so your constantly moving them back and forth so you’re constantly “hitting “ shoulder during a run

Hey man, great video! You're essentially halfway-through writing an honest to god research paper on this. :D There's lots to be said about second-order effects of different sports and activities, esp. in relation with the movements they require the participants to do. From more than a decade of practicing parkour and gymnastics, it's empirically clear to me that when you do body-weight exercising with fast switching between aerobic and anaerobic movement you get tons of second order effects. The same theory you presented for sprinting applies for e.g. a standing jump - especially when you're doing tons of repetitions - you lift your arms up to prepare for the jump (slow, deliberate movement), then let them fall (neutral/non-movement) and then twitch swing them forwards and upwards to assist with the takeoff. It extends further into climb-ups, vaults, etc. This is I think the fundamental difference between practicing in a gym with resistance, and practicing full ROM and proprioceptive exercises. With the former, you have laser precision over what you're trying to achieve provided you know what you're supposed to do; with the latter, there's often slower progress with specific things you're trying to achieve, but progress comes in broad strokes, often apparently unrelated to the exercise you're doing. (i.e. who would've guessed that a great exercise for building core and back strength would be doing tons and tons of standing jumps?) I was also wondering if there is a playlist of the music you're using for these videos somewhere? Really interested in the first track in the video. Thanks!

High androgen receptors on the delts. Coupled with AAS use, it makes it easy to see why

Beast edits! Great Vid!!

I can feel that this channel is going to grow very fast

Dude, you need to be pushed up in that algorithm. Your production quality is very very impressive! Please keep doing what you're doing. Maybe spread out your focus a bit though? Sprint seems like a very niche focus :)

dig the video I think you are on the right track :)

Keep it up brother! 🏃

I just subscribe to your channel, it's a pretty good one that deserves more subs

Regardless of if their shoulders are built by sprinting or the weight lifting they do, the range of motion increase and shoulder stability is reason enough to sprint.

Awesome vid bro inspire me to see if training this movement will increase my shoulder size

this editing is ridiculously good

Very cool video bruh. I'm saving it.

“If he doesn’t have at least 17 PhDs, I can’t buy into what’s he’s saying”😂 loved the video, keep up the great work!

They do work them out a little as well. They do bench press, pushups and sometimes even some isolation exercises. That could contribute a lot to it.

I dig this type of content.

Great video. To add, there is a massive shoulder extension requirement to both balance out large pelvic movement in hip flexion and extension and to accelerate the body. Most sprint coaches recognize this. Exercises such as behind the neck press, bent/seated rowing train the strength of the shoulder's to pull back (should extension). I believe the aggressive arm swing to the rear contributes 7-10% of the vertical ground reaction force. In every track and field sprinting program, there is also an insane number of calisthenics/high volume power training done to balance out the high intensity power training -- example includes push ups, medicine ball circuits. IMO, it is the high volume training that conditions the muscular size of the sprinter's shoulders and not the direct sprinting. Can anybody estimate what the upper body strength of sprinters is? I have Demek Kemp (PB 10,03s) at 157# doing 3 pull ups with 100# additional load (+65%BM or total 257#).

Good stuff bro.

Usain Bolt’s Jamaican Physique with his very lean upper body is what breaks world records.

This video is absolutely amazing

This makes perfect sense. It's something I've thought about as well for some time.

Top notch quality!

great job bro

Shoulders is not Just about the running. We train strongly with dumpbells, natural exercises, overweight exercises. In theses training we focus a lot on chest, shoulders, back, abdomen, and, of course, legs. Muscles that participates most on the mechanics of running. But, basically, we have big shoulders because we consciously work out then.

It’s just physical balance and angular momentum. Their legs creates so much power that they would twist if they doesn’t have strong arms moving on the opposite way. In example everyone that has run 400 m knows that in the last meters your arms movement is key to maintain the pace and aid your legs.

This is interesting. My anecdotal experience is my overhead press is my best lift, but I haven't been an elite sprinter since HS.

Great topic, always thought about that. #keepitup

come to think of it. After about 3 weeks of track practice my shoulders are very lean looking, while i'm in a long bulk phase too. I have striations in only my inner chest and my shoulders as of now. but they were always there because I played football, but they haven't been this defined

I had run 5k every other day on my treadmill during the first lockdown, and when the lockdown eased up, I was able to go to this track it was so weird running on real ground, but I was excited to do max speed sprints my shoulders were more sore than my legs, and so were my traps granted, my form isn't exactly perfect but I was still confused sprints are very explosive, and a full body motion

Great vid my g

Back in highschool we use to do a push ups couple days a week as a part of our track training program. That's y sprinters has well developed shoulders. Leg's and feet coordinate so u gotta have strong shoulders to drive out the staring blocks

Bro, this video is amazing.

Taking it from the other direction... Why might sprinters want big shoulders? It comes down to coservation of angular momentum. In order to drive their large, powerful legs as fast as possible (rotation at/below the hips) an equal impulse must be applied in the opposite direction (by the arms) above the hips in order to move forward as fast as possible. Momentum is mass times velocity. If your legs weigh too much more than your arms, your arms will have to compensate with over rotation to get enough speed to cancel out the rotational impulse from your legs, which results in a loss of speed and energy

You are brilliant

your channel is amazing

great video thanks for sharing! Most sprint coaches will say Arm movement dictates your speed, and your legs gotta keep up! ... hence the shoulders ! ha

hello Would you be so kind and make a video about starting position for both with and without blocks thank you :)

Brilliant video

There is quadrapedic motion which means the feet and hands move at the same speed The angle of arm motion is proportional to stride length .Usain bolt and do the 100 m.in 13 steps!

So as a highschool track athlete who is skinny but has ripped shoulders I got them that way by holding plank position but instead of it being an ab workout u move your body weight forward to where u feel it in your shoulders more than abs. This gets that sectioning holding a start position for a long time

IMO, Sprinters shoulders get big because they are contracted at peak extension and stay active through the whole range of motion. conctracting a lengthened muscle gives a very good stimuli for growth. That is, if you have enough flexibility and healthy joints to do it safe.

Olympic level sprinters are the most extreme version of type 2X hyper-fast twitch predominant athletes. Delts express some of the highest androgen receptor concentrations in the body, so they will naturally tend to have big shoulders, part of that genetic package is also being at extremely low body fat percentage naturally and then training so much it's impossible to carry any fat. So they also have excellent definition/separation/striations.

2:49 dude is a real life anime character lol

i thought this video had 4 million views and i then i checked to see 4000. you deserve more !

Yes finally someone that has the guts to think on their own and use the brains that God gave them ! You make complete sense. The more I learn about sprinting the more motivated I get. Thanks so much.

You are doing the lord's work bro, thank you

Me along with some of my friends are 13 and have very well developed physiques thanks to sprinting

Some believe sprinters get faster by increasing Mass Specific Force. This increases stride length, stride cadence & also reduces ground contact time. This is can be achieved by utilising deadlifts & squats. However, to optimise the increase in MSF, the body's core needs to be strengthened and the upper body stabiliser is the shoulder/arm which also needs strengthening.

I would argue that their shoulders aren’t that crazy but they look massive because sprinters ideally are very lean. On top of that they also do strength work in the gym. Elite sprinters often have decent bench press and military press numbers. So we can’t claim most of the hypertrophy is explained by sportspecific training. The active movements through full range of motion or even more because of the use of momentum like in the arm swings probably explain the increase in shoulder health.

It's from their explosive strength training that utilize the shoulders.

Plz make a video on ankle tendon stiffness for spees

When i ran my shoulders were a limiting factor for a long time. I ran 5k amd 2 mile. I got over it quickly. Swinging arms make shoulders go ouch then go big

I bet this channel is gonna blow up

Your Channel need way more followers :)

I ran division 1 on a scholarship 200/400 both relays. Even on that level while the body is still maturing the form is much better than highschool. Good form most would agree arms swinging at a relaxed 90 angle. From drive phase to maintenance all shoulders. Each level the muscle has more reps and more maturity. Imagine on the Olympic level

Compelling analysis!

@TSP .. Did you use to sprint .. I need help learning the marks on a track .. how do you find the 20m marks as well ..

Back when I was lean my shoulders looked massive and had striations and now I have slightly higher bf% and my shoulders are much much bigger but don’t look that much bigger

I always thought it was the starting blocks as well

As a future Olympic sprinter, I admit I have massive and shredded shoulders

Didn't research a lot but I thought upper body strength is useful for sprinters because it helps maintain body balance!