Training for Speed (Track)

CT you’re impressive knowledge of training reaches beyond that of bodybuilding and I know you’ve dropped bits of knowledge on other sports. I’m especially excited by the recent bobsled thread which inspired this one… I would really love for you to share with me and comment on my writing below if you have the time.

I am going to beginning training for track season as primarily a 100m sprinter in about two to three weeks and I am putting together my plans. I do not run for an organized program so I’m pretty much responsible for my own progress and results-- which I’m excited about! (I felt some of my coaches in the past werent the brightest…)

Additionally I will be coaching High School kids beginning around March, so I want to learn as much as I can so I can train them efficiently as well!

Anyway if you have the time I would appreciate any information you or others might share for developing sprinters.

So far I’m looking at doing Olympic lifts (you mentioned getting a lot faster in the 40 after doing them), box squats, lots of glute/hip work, abs, and of course actual running.

Nothing yet is real detailed, I’m in the beginning stages of this and just trying to gather knowledge :slight_smile:

Merci Beaucoup!
-Dan

good for you for venturing out and trying to achieve something on your own…i’m kind of in the same situation because i have only found trainers in my area that have less knowledge than i actually do. Now i’m no olympic coach but i feel i make intellegent decisions toward my training and nutrition. One thing that people often overlook is just the determination and desire to be thier absolute best and making the sacrifices needed to reach thier goals…plain old hard work and effort. Good luck hope you do great.

If i find something that i see improve my times i will let you know. And yes olympic style lifts did help me get faster, especially the first few strides, i am much more explosive as a result.

p.s. where in new york do you live, am moving to the lake placid area this year…awesome place

Thats good to hear, my starts are the weakest part… thanks for sharing

Proud “Buffalonian”

I’m doing the same thing! I really like to make 40m and 200m runs. I’m going to settle for 60m indoors and 100m outdoors because there’s no competition of 40m and I’m not good enough on the 200m…

As for the training, don’t over-value gym work. The best athletes don’t spend their time lifiting iron, they spend their time on the track. I’d say that having a coach is really important though. You really need someone that can analyze and make you improve your technique. This is really important imo…

Yea, I’m looking into Don Beebe House of Speed for technique refinement, theres one about an hour from me…

However my budget is very limited

nice thread i will be watching this one.

Cool, glad to see some other interest! I know this is primarily a bodybuilding site, but there are def other types of athletes/trainers here… and besides I’ve come to learn that bodybuilders are usually on the cutting edge of fitness, nutrition, and supplementation :smiley:

Question for CT and the Peri-workout thread was locked. It does pertain to speed training slightly.

What would you recommend as far as peri-workout protocols for a 30-45 minute speed training session, and a weights session later in the day?

Looking forward to a great discussion on this particular subject!

To the OP have you looked into any of the Kelly Baggett’s eBooks?

OP, if working on starts is a weak point, you need to find someone with an eye for it. The biggest technique flaw I see in many sprinters is not staying low enough out of the blocks. You lose so much power when you pop up too early, even if its just a hair too early.

I’ve seen coaches hold up broomsticks, etc as a guideline, but it helps if they know what the heck they’re doing. I’d say if you could get to that speed school even if just for a few visits, go for it.

In terms of training methodology, IMO I think the main thing to focus on is not allowing fatigue from strength training sessions to detract from the quality and importance of the speed training. I think it is a common mistake that is made; a lot like football players training to improve their bench, when really their main goal should be to train to be better at football!

For my own training and my athletes’ training, I like both CTs and Waterbury’s methods of lifting; perfect rep method, explosive lifting, not lifting to failure thus avoiding high levels of CNS fatigue.

heres another one:

Great articles there Methias, would love to hear what CT has to say on the subject

[quote]ha2fb wrote:
Looking forward to a great discussion on this particular subject!

To the OP have you looked into any of the Kelly Baggett’s eBooks?

[/quote]
No but I’ve browsed the articles online… I read a book by Olympic sprint coach Charlie Francis and famous HS coach Latif Thomas as well as other articles on this site and across the web from current college coaches and designated “experts.”

[quote]wiggles wrote:
OP, if working on starts is a weak point, you need to find someone with an eye for it. The biggest technique flaw I see in many sprinters is not staying low enough out of the blocks. You lose so much power when you pop up too early, even if its just a hair too early.

I’ve seen coaches hold up broomsticks, etc as a guideline, but it helps if they know what the heck they’re doing. I’d say if you could get to that speed school even if just for a few visits, go for it.[/quote]

This is good advice, thanks. I definitely have slower starts than I’d like.

[quote]jablan wrote:
In terms of training methodology, IMO I think the main thing to focus on is not allowing fatigue from strength training sessions to detract from the quality and importance of the speed training. I think it is a common mistake that is made; a lot like football players training to improve their bench, when really their main goal should be to train to be better at football!

For my own training and my athletes’ training, I like both CTs and Waterbury’s methods of lifting; perfect rep method, explosive lifting, not lifting to failure thus avoiding high levels of CNS fatigue. [/quote]

Yea, CT’s articles on perfect rep have had a major influence on me since this thread was started. I’ve made some progress but have also been stalled due to various illness and injury unfortunately (two minor surgeries included but they take away from training time regardless)

What I’ve determined is that it’s best to rotate between “speed” days and active recovery/tempo days.

Speed day: short bursts of high intensity with full recovery between runs
Tempo: longer runs but at a controlled pace (maybe 70% of max) with minimal rest and more distance

speed days will also include low rep strength work

tempo days will include less intensive stuff like flexibility, stability, core, etc

posterior chain emphasis is important

Thanks for the links. I’ve always wanted to to the Olympic lifts but not unless I know the proper technique. I’ll do a little here and there based on what I see but thats not a great gameplan haha

One more important thing I’m trying to piece together now (recent articles by Cressey, Robertson etc have helped) is doing stuff to keep my body healthy and free of injuries like correcting posture flaws and an overdeveloped front of my body vs the back (HS days) etc