Sprint workout

Does anyone out there have a workout for sprinters. Guys like Maurice Greene and Lindford Christie are built like brick walls. How do they reach this type of development. Obviously most of their leg work is done through sprinting, but what else do they do besides sprint and power clean. What about their upper bodies. Thanks for the help.

Ahh NO I don’t think most of their leg muscles are made through sprinting. You don’t get quads like THAT just by running, sprint or otherwise.


I think you should really try some olympic lifing stuff. Clean&Jerk, Push-Press, Power Cleans, etc. That and skipping rope. I know it has improved my vertical jump by at least 6 inches since I started doing them a month ago. And if you can jump higher you can probably sprint faster, right? Power to the legs and all…

All I know is that I saw a picture of some olympic lifter doing a vertical jump, and his HEAD was at the height of a basketball hoop! Since the guy is 5’6" or so that means he jumped about 4’6", vert. Just some thoughts.

Well, when you’re talking about Olympic level athletes, that begs the whole chicken and egg type question. Do they have that kind of physique because of the training they do to be at that level, or are they at that level because of the physique they naturally posess? These guys would have a physique to envy on virtually ANY training regimen. I’m sure they don’t do anything in the weight room that’s magically different than what you can find on this site. And they probably don’t do a lot that’s different than standard sprinter workouts on the track, they just happen to be blazing fast while doing it.

Harkonnnen you’re an idiot. Sprinters develop their musclarity mainly through sprinitng. I did track and feild my senior year in highschool and my quads became huge. Go to the forum on www.charliefrancis.com and ask this question.

I stand corrected.

someone had a bad day or a thorn in their side. But if sprinting got your quads big then you must have already had small quads to begin with. :slight_smile: and i thought sprinting was more of a hamstring type movement. anyways, look at the body weight of these athletes, they are very light and lean. Not all poses the same body structures, some being taller then others. Remeber also that they supplement with hardcore anabolics. they all use certain weight training routines as do most atheletes. laters pk

That’s a good question really. The top sprinters surely are capable of developing muscular legs through sprinting but not everyone has the muscular recruitment capabilities to do so. These guys all lift weights anyway and that has a lot to do with it but if you want to get big legs from sprinting you have to be quite strong to begin with, at least relative to your bodyweight.

Well, since someone mentioned Charlie Francis, I’ll give his opinion here. CF has stated in T-Mag (among other places) that any world-class athlete has an unbelievable genetic advantage. Training affects them more than “normal” people, supplements work better, steroids produce a more pronounced effect. So asking about Linford Christie’s exercise program might be interesting from a purely academic standpoint, but actually using his program is unlikely to produce similar effects on anyone else’s body.

Harkonnnen sorry for being so harsh. pkradgreek" But if sprinting got your quads big then you must have already had small quads to begin with"this is false i had big quads and sprinting made them even bigger and more ripped. they were freaky while i did track.not anymore though:(

Copying the workouts of the elite generally leads to failure. These sprinters have amazing leg development due to several reasons, but the principal of self selection is the biggest reason.

People gravitate towards things that they are good at. Having a bulk of type II fibers is going to make you faster and more powerful.

I don't want to take away from what they gain from their training, but these guys start miles ahead of where most others start.

Finally, if you don't believe the self-selection issue, then ask yourself: "Will playing basketball make me tall?" - Of course not. Sure, sprinting may improve your leg development, but is not going to give you legs like Maurice Greene.

Sprinters training programs vary just like any other althetes from other sports. Keep in mind, range of motion is also of monumental importance for sprinting. Try Coach Davies hip mobility drills. You will be amazed with the results. Most sprinters also include some plyos , weight training and acceleration mechanic drills.

Thank you
Coach Hale

Dee, check out charliefrancis.com. You’ll learn more about sprinting from that site than from any other source.

I know they squat heavy for relatively low reps.

I sprinted a little in college. the soreness I got was definitely different from weight training. I loved it. You can definitely gain muscle from sprinting. I was just joking about the little quads. Remeber that sprinting is a great type of High intensity interval training, which will help you lose excess body fat. I remeber we used to run 10 100 meters in the 12 second range, resting by walking back to the start line. That was brutal. But it sure got me in shape. laters pk

I was watching this afican american lady doing cleans one day at this gym I work at and I was suprised at the weight she using. She was Cleaning and jerking 145lbs for reps. She then proceded to the Smith machine and did front press at 140lbs I asked her if she need a spot since I was working that day and she said she did when she trains her legs next She was squatting 225lbs fotr reps. Letor ask if plays any sport she says that she was a track and field sprinter in college and just following one here old strength coach programs to get back into shape. So eventhough she was an elite runner I got some good info that that sprinters train with weight not only do they train with weight they train T-man style with a lot of O-lifts.

Dee, I was a track sprinter in college for four years qualifying nationally for the 100 and 200 my senior year. The truth in all of sport is not what others do but what works for you. As for me, lifting immediately after track practice worked well with about three-four lifts a day mostly Cleans, snatches, reverse hypers, pull-ups, bench, glute-ham raises, and squat. In the offseason the only type of workout protocols that worked for me where coach davies’s workouts. I tried about three different types and gained nothing. Find one that is specific to sprinting not someone else’s.

check out Tudor Bumpo “periodization training for sport” he has a workout in there for a track sprinter which is almost identical to one of the days I used while on Coach Davies’s plans. Further more, incorporate a lot of hip mobilization drills as flexibility, hip strength, and reaction is a huge part of track.

i totally disagree with what you are saying. your correlation between basketball and height is ridiculous. sprinting will definately help get your legs bigger and more defined. i think the real point is that if you want “maurice greene” legs you can only attain them through weights, and the addition of sprinting exercises into your work out.

ironchaser - I totally hear what you are saying. The basketball/height example is on the extreme end of the spectrum, whereas the sprinting/leg development is much more in the middle.

I completely realize that weightlifting and sprinting can bring on amazing leg development. I also don't like the "my genetics suck" or "their genetics are fantastic" argument in most cases. But you can't deny, that genetics have a huge role in this particular question.

If I grew up with Maurice Greene and ate and trained exactly like him, he would still be faster and would still have better leg development. Obviously, he works very hard, any olympic champion must, but he also has a huge head start.

The guys to listen to are the ones who started out inferior and learned how to train to make themselves superior.

If you want to get big and you are naturally a lean, skinny guy, who will understand your situation better: Person A, who was 250 and 8% at the end of high school without touching a weight or Person B, who through manipulation of diet and exercise went from 150 at the end of high school to 250 at the end of college.

Person B is going to have better advice. Person A may know all the right stuff, but I'd still rather listen to the guy that struggled through it all.

That's the point. Maurice Greene is genetically gifted and the type of training he does is geared toward his genetically gifted body. It would be stupid for him to train like any old regular sprinter. That is why copying Maurice Greene's workouts may not lead toward the best leg or sprint development.