XC ruin pole vault?

[powerplant42]

Running is a natural movement. Sprinting is not.

[Robvaulter]

i would disagree. The human body is designed for short quick sprints, hence our elongated toes, metatarsal (ball of the foot joints), and calf muscles. If you would look at your heel, you would see that it's solid bone and doesn't provide much cushion for running long distance. but as Homo sapiens we are better distance runners than most species of animals : ).

[powerplant42]

Which is easier to learn: sprint mechanics, or long distance running mechanics? Just about anybody can run a mile at almost their best (with their level of conditioning), but not everybody can run a 100 near their best possible (with the strength/power that they have at that point in time).

Just as a sidenote, the human foot/ankle system is actually extremely inefficient. That's why the Olympic Committee was so uneasy about letting that one guy with no legs be allowed to qualify.

[Split]

Well the thing is, I'm not really running like the other cross country guys. My arm movements and knee drive are like that of a sprinter's, but I don't go on my toes the whole time. It seems to be effective, as I can still do my sprint workout after just fine, I can still run a sub 12 hundred meter, and I'm a top 4 guy on the JV team.

[Robvaulter]

i don't like the cue "up on the toes" it's better to dorsi-flex properly....like the B-skip aims to perfect.
also the olympic commitee is uneasy about people with no legs qualifying, because they believe the materials used in the prosthetic limbs to A. not get tired and B. weigh less than the actual human body.

[VaultPurple]

Which is easier to learn: sprint mechanics, or long distance running mechanics? Just about anybody can run a mile at almost their best (with their level of conditioning), but not everybody can run a 100 near their best possible (with the strength/power that they have at that point in time).

I would have to disagree that you can run a mile closer to your best, than your 100....

Sprints, get from point A to point B as fast as possiable. Yes their are a few technical changes you can make but some people just have diffrent styles, look at Michael Johnson, he ran compleatly diffent from anyone and was fast.

The Mile on the other had you have to know how to pace your self, and know your bodies limits. I droped almost a minute off of my mile by just learning how to pace myself or lack of pacing because i was doint it too much.

Which is easier to learn: sprint mechanics, or long distance running mechanics?

[/quote]

But the better question here would be, what is easier to lear, pole vault running mechanics, or long distance running. The answer would be long distance running because it could take years to just learn how to utilize the speed you already have for the vault.

You can run with knees down and diffrent patterns when doing a 100, but when you are vaulting you need your knees up, long strides to start with, then turn over hard at the end so that you can exicute the vault properly.

[powerplant42]

So let's all stop getting off base and focus on how cross country could potentially set you back in this learning...

[VaultPurple]

So let's all stop getting off base and focus on how cross country could potentially set you back in this learning...

1) Promotes slow twitch muscle fibers which will cause you to run slower durring pole vaulting than you could if you had not ran xc.

2) Increases chance of injury like shin splints and stress fractures due to long runs and uneven surfaces.

3) May alter running style to not be as efficient for pole vaulting.

but the main one i would have to say is the slow twitch muscles. Its not going to kill you, its just going to make you not as fast as you could have been.

But im pretty sure those are the only three things.

[powerplant42]

I'm going to have to go ahead and agree 100%. Obviously if your school has gymnastics in the fall, there should be no question that you should do that, next on the list would be swimming (fall sport?), then volleyball, football and soccer, and finally field hockey over cross county.

[VaultPurple]

well i know that swimming is a winter sport, but some schools might have conditioning or practice in fall for that because I have seen some that do. I accualy did swimming in the winter this year along with Indoor track because swimming practices are usualy early in the moring or late at night. It helped me alot as far as building over all fitness and strenght, and because I did mostly sprints it kept my feet moving fast the whole time. Swimming also helps ur trail leg because a swimming kick is almost* just like a trail leg kick (quick and whip like with a little bend of the knee).

[KYLE ELLIS]

Don't forget that your nervous sytem will fire at a slower rate, probably a more important aspect than you're theory on slow twitch fibers. Another thing is that with extensive distance training your fast twitch muscle fibers can possibly be trained to immitate slow twitch fibers, which will also make you slower. Think about it this way. In the pole vault your speed on the runway determines the majority of you're height POTENTIAL. So the goal of most polevaulters is to be able to run as fast as possible for the last 5m (under control) So doing extensive distance, like cross country would put you way behind... I might let an 800 runner do cross but 400 and down and any jumps absolutely not... That is if they are trying to be the best. If its just for experience and fun, go for it!

[Split]

But the thing is, I also do plyometrics and sprint workouts (ladders and 200m repeats and such) to make sure I stay fast. I think XC may have actually helped me be a better sprinter, as it fixed a once awful sprinting formed that I used to have.
I ran a 12.3 during track season in the 100m, and now run an 11.9, with just a fixed form.
So I don't know how it can possibly hinder my abilities now.