Folks, the Q&A queue is overflowing, so let’s move right to it.Question: Mr. Bryant, during your Olympic write-ups, you talked about the Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt.In the write-up you talked about his stride frequency and his stride length. I have a son who wants to get faster.How do I help him get a stride frequency and length like Bolt’s?JimAnswer: Haven’t been reading long, have you, Jim? When I’m 103 you can call me Mr. Bryant. Until then, it’s Milo. Plain, simple, Milo.It’s going to be difficult for anybody on the planet not named Usain Bolt to match Bolt’s gait and form.He is a genetic wonder who is finding ways to use all of his ability.I can’t tell you or your son how to get as fast as Bolt. But I can tell you how your son can start maximizing his physical abilities.Gaining more speed is all about increasing stride frequency and stride length. However, neither of those is easy.We don’t want to take shorter steps to increase our frequency.And taking longer, boundingtype steps to increase the stride length is equally defeating. The best way to increase stride frequency and length is to generate an optimal amount of ground force. That means getting stronger. So strength training is going to be important.However, there is the start we have to worry about. If your son is the second, third or fourth leg in a relay, the start isn’t as big of a concern because he will get a running start.That running start goes a long way toward overcoming his body weight and being able to move forward – inertia. But to overcome inertia coming out of the blocks, he needs explosive power. That’s makes learning and using the components of Olympic lifts – power pulls, power clean, jerks and snatches – very important.Once he’s on his way to becoming explosive and strong, get him to a track coach who knows how to guide that explosiveness and strength.

Q: Milo, in the gym I go to, I’ve heard people talk about working to “muscle failure.” What is muscle failure? Why does it happen?I love your column, and read it every week!SueA: Thanks for reading, Sue. I appreciate it.Muscle failure happens because of special sensory receptors we have, called Golgi Tendon Organs, or GTOs.They function to help prevent us from injury. For instance, if a person has already done a lot of pectoral work and is getting in one last set, there may come a point during that last set where she can’t feel her pectoral muscles pushing any weight.Odds are good that she isn’t, and her spotter is lifting the bulk of, if not all of, the weight.Her GTOs acted on the muscles – made them relax – so she wouldn’t get to a point where she’d possibly strain them.

Milo Bryant has two National Strength and Conditioning Association certifications. You can contact him by e-mail at milo.bryant@gazettedev.gazette.com or read his blog at milobryant.blogspot.com.

Senator John McCain (right) and Alaskan governor Sarah Palin (left) wave to supporters. Photo by Kirk Speer, The Gazette

KIRK SPEER