TIME ACTION PERIOD IN 100M SPRINT

AND METHODS OF DEVELOPMENT

OF SPRINTING SPEED
Dr. A. K. Uppal

INTRODUCTION
Speed is the ability to execute motor actions,
under given conditions, in minimum possible
time. Speed ability is highly movement specific.
Like strength and endurance, speed is also a
conditional ability but unlike these two motor
components speed depends to a considerable
extent on the nervous system. As a result of this
speed is more complex in nature and is
comparatively less trainable. The efficiency of the
nervous system, which can be influenced only to
a limited extent, becomes a limiting factor in the
development of speed.

The Time-Action Period in 100m Sprint

is divided into following five parts

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Reaction time
Block clearance time
Acceleration time
Speed maintenance time
Finish time

Time-action Period for Improvement of Speed

Performance
15 to 20m
10m/s

10m

8m/s
6m/s
4m/s
2m/s

0m

6065m

100m

10-Second Barrier
It is a term used in track and field athletics
which refers to the Physical and Psychological
barrier of completing mens 100metres sprint in
under ten seconds.
Jim Hines was the first athlete to break the
10 Second barrier in 1968 at Mexico, clocking a
time of 9.95 sec. with manual timing, at the high
altitude.
Carl Lewis was the first man to run under ten
seconds at low altitude in 1983, clocking a time of
9.97 seconds.
Christophe Lemaitre from France became the
first white sprinter to run 100m in under 10

Year-wise Breaking of 10-Second Barrier

Year

No. of Athletes

Year

No. of Athletes

1968

01

2000

03

1977

01

2002

04

1983

02

2003

06

1984

01

2004

01

1988

01

2005

05

1989

02

2006

03

1991

03

2007

04

1992

03

2008

10

1993

01

2009

04

1994

01

2010

04

1995

02

2011

06

1996

01

2012

03

1997

05

2013

07

1998

02

2014

05

1999

04

2015

04

Country-wise Breaking of 10-Second Barrier

Nation
United States

44

Jamaica

13

Nigeria

08

Trinidad & Tobago

05

United Kingdom

05

Canada

03

France

03

Ghana

02

Cuba

01

Namibia

01
01

China

Nation

No. of
Athletes

No. of
Athlete
s

Barbados

01

St. Kitts & Nevis

01

Australia

01

Bahamas

01

Qatar

02

Netherlands Antilles

01

Antigua & Barbuda

01

Zimbabwe

02

Norway

01

Cayman
Islands
South Africa

01
01

Continent-wise Breaking of 10-Second Barrier

Continent
Africa
Asia
Europe
Oceania
North & Central
America
South America

No. of Athletes
14
03
09
01
72
00

100m Performance and 10meter Splits for International

Sprinters
Asafa Powell 05

Usain Bolt 08

Tyson Gay 10

RT

0.150

0.165

n/a

0-10m

1.89

1.85

1.95 (incl. reaction time)

10-20m

1.02

1.02

1.03

20-30m

0.92

0.91

0.89

30-40m

0.86

0.87

0.87

40-50m

0.85

0.85

0.83

50-60m

0.85

0.82

0.80

60-70m

0.84

0.82

0.80

70-80m

0.84

0.82

0.82

80-90m

0.85

0.83

0.83

90-100m

0.85

0.90

0.86

Time

9.77

9.69

9.68

Tyson Gay splits from 50-70m was an astonishing 0.80s. per 10

meters. It is an awesome demonstration of top end speed by a
human being. His speed endurance is also remarkable slowing down

Comparison of 100m Performance of Asafa

Powell(05), Usain Bolt (08)& Tyson
Gay(10)

Comparison of Usain Bolt Baijing Olympics and

World Record Performance
Beijing (2008)

World Record (2009)

RT

0.165

0.146

0-10m

1.83

1.89

10-20m

1.02

0.99

20-30m

0.91

0.90

30-40m

0.87

0.86

40-50m

0.85

0.83

50-60m

0.82

0.82

60-70m

0.82

0.81

70-80m

0.82

0.82

80-90m

0.83

0.83

90-100m

0.90

0.83

Time

9.69Sec.

9.58Sec.

Comparison of Usain Bolt Baijing

Olympics and World Record Performance

Why Usain Bolt Won at London?

1. Size Matters
Height of Usain Bolt is 6ft. 5inch he took 41 steps
(2.439) to win final. Yohan Blake (2.173) took 46
steps and Justin Gatlin(2.352) took 42.5steps.
2. Strength & Elasticity
What makes Bolt special is that he also posses
great
explosive strength and flexibility.
3. He was Injury Free
4. He was more Chilled than Refrigerated Ting Soda
5. Bolts Start
Bolts reaction time of 0.165 sec. was faster than
Blake
0.179sec. And Gatlin 0.178sec.

Use of OBLA Concept for Developing Speed

Recent evidence suggests that there are specific break points in the
lactate accumulation curve as exercise intensity increases. The exercise
intensity or relative intensity at which blood lactate begins an abrupt
increase above the baseline concentration has been termed the lactate
threshold (LT). The LT represents in increasing reliance on anaerobic
mechanism. The LT typically begins at 50% to 60% of maximal oxygen uptake
in untrained subjects and at 70% to 80% in trained subjects. A second
increase in the rate of lactate accumulation has been noted at higher relative
intensities of exercise. This second point of inflection has been termed the
onset ofStudies
blood lactate
accumulation
(OBLA)
suggest
that training
at intensities near or above the LT or
OBLA pushes the LT to the right (i.e. lactate accumulation occurs later at a
higher exercise intensity). This increases mitochondrial content that allows
for greater production of ATP through aerobic mechanisms. The shift allows
the athlete to perform at higher percentages of maximal oxygen uptake
without as much lactate accumulation in the blood.
Untrained
20
Trained

15

Blood
Lactate
(mmol/L) 10

OBLA

0
Relative exercise intensity (% maximal oxygen

Methods of Improving Sprinting

Speed
1.

Ins and Outs

2.

Differential Races

3.

Repeated High Intensity Runs

Ins and Outs

30m

30m

30m

30m

Zone 1-Zone of Acceleration

Zone 2-Runninbg with maximum Intensity
Zone 3-Running without applying additional force
Zone 4-Running with maximum intensity

Differential Race

100m
100m

Example-Time for 200m = 25.0 sec.

Conditions: 1) Zone 1 to be run faster then the second
zone.
2)
Zone 2 should

The time different between Zone 1 and

not be more then one sec.

Time for Zone 1 is 12.0 sec. and time for Zone 2 is 13.0se

Repeated High Intensity Runs

This method is effective for team
games. Bouts of load over a distance of 40m
to 60m are performed at maximum
intensity. Rest between two bouts is about
20-30sec. Three to four series of 4 to 5
repetitions are performed. Rest between
two series is 3 to 5 min.

Speed Barrier
In as much as speed training involves
repeated efforts of very high intensity, after
training for some time a barrier sets in due to
establishment of neural stereotype in the
nervous system which controls spatial and
temporal aspects of movement. Because of high
intensity training, the functioning of neural
centers gets stabilized thus causing a speed
barrier leading to stagnation of performance. The
problem of speed barrier can be dealt with in the
1.
Delaying
of Speed Barrier
following
ways:
2.

Tackling of Speed Barrier

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