Most sprinting programs are based on sprinting percentages, and I’m curious what is the best way to determine these percentages on the track. Every time I sprinted i used to go at full speed, and it is probably not the smartest choice, especially when i want to use sprinting as some kind of conditioning and supplemental work for my strength/mass program.
You make an estimate of the effort and remain consistent.
For 90%, I knock a bit off the top speed.
For 75%, I go at what feels like 3/4 speed…
Goal time / percentage (in decimals)
If you can run a 50 in 6 seconds and want to run it at 75% intensity:
6/.75 = 8 seconds
We build up with some reps at .50/.60/.70 as warmup sets to get a feel for what each intensity feels like. Eventually you’ll be able to guess within a second how close you were to your goal time.
If we are running a different distance, we just figure out the time needed for the longer distance and divide accordingly.
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Thank you for the answers.