How to Increase Speed, Mobility & Longevity with Plyometrics & Sprinting
Summary
Stuart McMillan, a coach with over 70 Olympians across nine Olympic Games, explains how skipping and striding are zero-cost, universally accessible activities that can dramatically improve movement quality, posture, power, and longevity. The conversation covers the full spectrum of human gait patterns — from walking to sprinting — and makes a compelling case that plyometric training through skipping is one of the most underutilized tools for people of all ages. The episode also explores sprint mechanics, cross-body coordination, and why eccentric force capacity is a critical and often neglected component of health.
Key Takeaways
- Skipping is a form of plyometric training — McMillan reframes skipping as “plyrics” to remove the childlike stigma and encourage adults to adopt it as a serious training tool.
- Speed dictates foot strike — Don’t consciously aim for heel or toe striking; think “flat foot” and let velocity naturally determine where your foot contacts the ground.
- Eccentric force capacity is the key differentiator — Testing across hundreds of athletes showed that eccentric (not concentric) force capacity separates elite from sub-elite performers, and it’s what most adults progressively lose.
- Most adults cannot safely sprint — Tissue and joint capacity erodes with age, making skipping the safest and most effective bridge toward high-intensity movement.
- The ability to express maximal speed is a longevity metric — McMillan argues that the capacity to safely run at your personal maximum speed is one of the best single indicators of vitality.
- Skipping integrates naturally into jogging — Alternating 30 seconds of skipping with 30 seconds of jogging is the recommended on-ramp for beginners.
- Eyes follow the torso, not the other way around — Letting the chin and gaze lead during sprinting causes hyperextension; the torso should rise first, with the head following.
- We are rotational beings — Cross-body coordination (hips and shoulders counter-rotating) is fundamental to efficient, powerful movement and should be embraced, not constrained.
- Striding precedes sprinting — Striding (75–95% of max sprint speed) is a distinct gait pattern most people have lost access to; it should be trained before attempting true sprinting.
Detailed Notes
The Five Gait Patterns
McMillan identifies five distinct gait patterns, each with a different mechanical profile:
- Walking — Heel strike, roll, toe-off; occurs up to ~2.2 meters/second
- Jogging — Begins around 20% of maximum sprint speed; more concentric dominant; force centered through foot and calf
- Running — Faster than jogging; transitions toward more hip-driven movement
- Striding — 75–95% of maximum sprint speed; foot contacts in front of center of mass; becomes a true spring-mass system; primarily eccentric
- Sprinting — Above 95% of max speed; operates as a two-mass system (body + shank/foot as a secondary mass); nearly purely eccentric; accessible to very few adults
Key insight: At walking and jogging speeds, propulsion happens behind the center of mass. At striding and sprinting speeds, force is applied in front — making eccentric control the essential capacity.
Foot Strike and Running Mechanics
- Do not consciously cue heel or toe striking — self-organization handles foot placement based on velocity
- Think “flat foot” as a universal cue; actual contact point adjusts automatically with speed
- Eyes and gaze: let the torso determine head position, not the other way around — lifting the chin first causes hyperextension and reduces power output
- The “unpeeling” cue from yoga (spine rises first, head last) applies directly to lifting mechanics and running posture
The Case for Skipping (Plyometrics)
McMillan’s central recommendation for general population fitness:
Why skipping works:
- Trains the knee-behind-hip (hip extension) pattern lost through prolonged sitting and jogging
- Develops eccentric force capacity — the quality most adults are deficient in
- Provides plyometric training stimulus comparable to high-intensity sprinting, with far lower injury risk
- Reinforces cross-body coordination (opposite arm/leg pairing)
- Stimulates the fascial system due to the spring-like loading pattern
- Has neurological/coordination benefits due to its crossbody, rhythmic structure
Why adults stop and why that’s a problem:
- Skipping is culturally associated with childlike behavior and abandoned in adolescence
- Most adults have lost the tissue and joint capacity to sprint safely
- Skipping is the safest, most accessible bridge back toward sprint-level movement quality
Skipping Protocols
Beginner / On-Ramp:
- Alternate 30 seconds skipping / 30 seconds jogging or walking during a regular jog
- Focus on being tall, expressive, open — not on speed or distance
- Low-amplitude skips to start: rhythmic, light, bouncy
Intermediate Workout:
- Warm up 10–15 minutes (light jogs, stretches, low-amplitude skips)
- 10–15 × 50-meter maximal amplitude skips, walking back between each
- Recovery: ~90 seconds (or longer if needed to maintain quality)
- Quality is the governor — stop or reduce intensity if form degrades
For Older Adults (60s–80s):
- McMillan’s 78-year-old father does this: walk 30 sec → skip 30 sec → stride 30 sec, repeated
- Skipping trains eccentric control, directly reducing fall risk
- Can be done barefoot on grass, on any flat surface, with no equipment
Eccentric Force Capacity and Longevity
- Across hundreds of athletes tested at the Canadian Sport Center in Calgary, eccentric force capacity — not concentric — consistently differentiated elite from sub-elite performers across nearly every sport
- In the general population, eccentric capacity declines sharply with age and inactivity
- Falls in older adults are often a failure of eccentric (braking) control — the inability to decelerate and absorb force during a misstep
- Skipping, bounding, and striding all develop this capacity; box jumps (concentric only) do not
- McMillan considers the ability to safely express maximal personal running speed a better single metric of vitality than VO2 max or most other standard health measures
Cross-Body Coordination and Rotation
- All gait patterns involve pelvic and shoulder counter-rotation — hips and shoulders move in opposite directions as part of a natural torsional system
- The spine acts as a flexible connector that rotates, side-bends, and flexes between pelvis and shoulder
- Elite movers “coil” into each stride using this system; inefficient movers constrain it
- Anti-rotation training in the gym is counterproductive — humans are inherently rotational; training should reinforce, not suppress, this
- Cross-body coordination during skipping has neurological and fascial benefits beyond just mechanics
Striding as a Bridge to Sprinting
- Striding = 75–95% of maximum sprint speed
- Most adults cannot stride safely due to lost tissue/joint capacity — they’re “stuck” at running speed
- Skipping builds the prerequisites (hip extension, eccentric capacity, coordination) needed to stride safely
- True sprinting is accessible to very few non-athletes — attempting it without preparation leads to hamstring pulls, calf strains, or worse
- Sprint work always requires quality as the governor, never volume or fatigue
Talent Identification and Event Specialization
- Elite sprinters can be identified young by ground contact quality — a sharp, stiff “pop” sound and feel, not by visible form
- Young athletes (12–14) should sample many events before specializing; specialization in college or early pro years is appropriate
- Event fit is often discovered through experience, not testing (example: Jodie Williams finding her best event — the 400m — only after a decade of competing at shorter distances)