• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Click here to download the  free ebook of Alberto Juantorena’s  detailed training workouts leading up to the 1976 Montreal Olympics

SpeedEndurance.com

Success in Track & Field ... and Life

  • Home
    • About
    • Contact
  • Track & Field
    • 400 meters
    • 800m & Mile
    • 1/2 & Full Marathons
    • Long & Triple Jump
    • Hurdles
  • Training
    • Weight Training
    • Abs & Core
    • Injury Prevention
    • Shoes & Spikes
    • Masters
  • Coaching
    • Freelap Friday Five
    • Interviews
    • Sports Nutrition
    • Sport Psychology
  • Archives
  • Shop
    • My account
    • Checkout
    • Basket

You Have To Be an Athlete First, Before You Can Be a Sprinter

You are here: Home / Track & Field / You Have To Be an Athlete First, Before You Can Be a Sprinter
676
SHARES
FacebookTwitter

April 26, 2021 by Jimson Lee Leave a Comment

Charlie Francis once said about Vertical Integration:

Do ALL the components, ALL of the time.

You shouldn’t do weights all Fall & Spring, only to stop in the Summer pre-competition, or even Competition phase. Today, it’s not unusual to see Sprinters do a weight session 4 days away from an Olympic First Round race (though it’s more of a neural stimulus effect, rather than for max strength)

So in a given seven day week, he would do all seven components. I feel, for the years I’ve been injured, its partially because I jump right back into track workouts, without being a “complete athlete”.

I truly believe now You Have To Be an Athlete First, Before You Can Be a Sprinter!

Not just fast, but strong, elastic, supple, resilient… and so on. A weak Achilles will result in a weak calf, and cause issues & imbalances in the knee and then quads. Does Pes Anserine Bursitis or tendonitis sound familiar? The end RESULT is soft tissue damage and a very tender tendon, but the CAUSE is something else (unless you had a car door slam on your Achilles, then yeah, we know the cause!)

I also believe you have to run, in order to run fast. But that is only part of the picture.

My 7 Components that I try to do in a 10 day “weekly” cycle

So for my current MASTERS PLAN, I now TRY TO DO ALL 7 of the following components in a given 10 day cycle (the big mistake was trying to box all 7 of the components in 7 days… That’s reasonable for Open or Elite athletes, but not enough recovery for Masters athletes. So in no particular order:

1) Max Velocity and Acceleration

Speed. It’s all about speed, baby!

I do ensure I am fully warmed up for this specific track workout, and it does consist of the Gerard Mach Drills of A B C PowerSpeed drills.

See also  How to Run a Fast 40 Yard Dash by J.R. Redmond

My current “pandemic” workout is building up to 1 or 2 sets of 5 x 60m, walk bak with a minimum of 5 minutes recovery. I do use a 20m fly in (so it’s really 80m), with the timing cones at 30m-30m splits using my Freelap Timing Systems, all wearing flats on grass surfaces. Next, I will try “long” spikes on grass, then finally racing spikes on a synthetic track (when they are open).

If you want to race fast, you have to train fast, but it doesn’t have to be 100% max in practice all the time. We’ll save that discussion for another time, as that has been a hot topic on Twitter.

2) Tempo and “Cardio”

Yes, I do Cardio session (i.e. 5K in 30 min) but I hate it. This workout will be replaced by 10-20x100m turnarounds once the legs can take the pounding. Maybe a world class athlete doesn’t need Cardio or aerobic work, but I think for a Masters or Youth athlete, having some form of fitness is important for recovery, running the rounds and other training elements.

Speaking of fitness, remember, Strength & Conditioning includes conditioning, but don’t over do it.

When I heard David Rudisha only did a 40 min jog (no drills, no strides) before his 1:40.91 2012 WR in London, it made me re-think about the importance of the warm up, which is increasing body temperature, and having your capillary system as efficient as possible. See my article and video on Tempo Running for Recovery & Regeneration.

3) Special Endurance / Speed Endurance / Lactate Session

See article on Why you Need 7-10 Weeks of Lactic Acid Tolerance Workouts (Plus Special & Speed Endurance) or the video here:

See also  Ato Bolden’s Top 10 Advice from a Retired Track Athlete

I was using indoor rowing for now i.e. 8x500m or 8x300m with 1 min recovery.

Now the Woodway Curve treadmill is my best friend, as I can run at top speeds of 20-21mph. Typical workouts are 10×15 sec (to copy 100m), or 8x30sec (to copy 200m), or even 6×45 sec (to copy 300m) I will transition to track eventually with workouts like 3x300m or 5-4-3-2-1 breakdowns (KEEP 2000m total volume for lower intensity work, and 1000m for higher intensity). Or 5x200m with short recovery, working down towards 3x200m. All this, and more, is covered in that Monster 2000 word article on The Woodway Curve Treadmill Training Guide for 400m Sprinters.

4) Circuit Training – Lactate Session

I can’t always do a 3 x 500m track work with the crappy weather of England, and the bloody pandemic!

So Indoor training, it is!

Circuit training included all body weight stuff, especially core abs and lower back. I think Tabata 8 sets of 20 sec on/10 sec off is good for now, doing 3 sets of ‘the 4 minute workout’ (most of my core training is done through Circuit training). If you have no time for anything, at least do the 2 min plank every night!

See my article on My Top 7 Circuit Training Workouts.

5) Strength Training (Max Strength)

See article My Top 5 Weight Exercises for Sprinters, and Why I’m Obsessed with Getting Stronger.

My Top 5 Weight Exercises for Sprinters, and Why I’m Obsessed with Getting Stronger
Strength level & the optimization of plyometric exercise performance

Start with basics: squats, split squats, deadlift, then bench (currently focusing on Deadlift, then full Squats). Currently aiming for 3:4:5 weight ratios for bench:squats:deadlift so 100-133-166Kg. My yypical workout is 8-6-4-2-2 or sometimes 7-5-3-2-2.

See also  Understanding Power to Improve Vertical Jump

5B) Explosive training: see power cleans above. Or even med ball throws.
5C) Ancillary training: Don’t forget hamstring curls, lower back extensions, reverse hypers etc. (really depends on what you have at gym)

In short, if you have to choose 1 exercise, do squats. If you have to choose 2, add power cleans.

6) Elastic Training (Explosive Power)

Plyometrics are usually added at the end of track workouts, maybe they can be done on days with no running other than the usual warmup and drills – so you need to watch the total volume! These are low hurdle hops, single leg hops, bounding, frog jumps, standing long jump, etc…

I have a future article on that coming up, so stay tuned. Below is a quick summary:

SpeedEndurance Plyometric Table

7) Flexibility & Mobility, for full Range of Motion

Before March 2020, when I used to belong to a gym, my Sunday late afternoons involved Hatha Yoga.

I am really really stiff and not flexible anymore, especially the hips. Have started using the foam roller more, especially the piriformus and hip flexor stretches. Also purchased spiky balls for a poor man’s trigger point massages. Trying to see a deep tissue massage guy 1X per week, but hard to find a decent guy who can go deep.

If there is a demand, I can post my simple routine, but my form could definitely use some improvement. Plenty of YouTube videos out there to choose from.

Gerard Mach’s Program

I really think it’s essential to keep doing these 7 components all year ’round. Be sure to have all these components in your repertoire. Below is a copy of Gerard Mach’s program which summarises the above 7 quite nicely.

Gerard Mach’s Speed & Sprint Components

Category icon400 meters,  Abs & Core,  Coaching,  Recovery,  Track & Field,  Training,  Weight Training

About Jimson Lee

I am a Masters Athlete and Coach currently based in London UK. My other projects include the Bud Winter Foundation, writer for the IAAF New Studies in Athletics Journal (NSA) and a member of the Track & Field Writers of America.

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Primary Sidebar

Recommended

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xbs-aWxyLk

Shop Our Store

  • Bud Winter (9)
  • Championship Productions (6)
  • Clyde Hart (2)
  • Derek Hansen (1)
  • Electrical Muscle Stimulation (2)
  • Jim Hiserman (6)
  • Jimson Lee (4)
  • Uncategorised (0)

Articles by Category

Products

  • Jim Hiserman - Developing 800m Runners: Identifying, Categorizing and Developing 400m-800m Type Athletes $42.99 $39.99
  • Private Coaching - Monthly Plan $600.00 $525.00
  • Jim Hiserman-Developing-Distance-Runnersv2 Jim Hiserman - Developing Distance Runners Volume 2: A Systematic Approach to Developing Individual Success within a Dynamic Team Culture $34.95 $29.95
  • Feed-the-Cats-Clinic-3-Pack-701 'Feed the Cats' Clinic 3-Pack $64.99
  • Tony Holler's Feed the Cats": A Complete Sprint Training Program Tony Holler's "Feed the Cats" Complete Sprint Training Program $49.99
  • Bud Winter and Speed City presents Arthur Lydiard 509x716 Bud Winter & Arthur Lydiard MP3 [Download only] $9.99

RECENT POSTS

  • IFAC 2022: The Return of In-Person Conferences (with Virtual option)
  • Here is our 400m Discussion Recording… over 2 Hours Long
  • The Best Free Coaching Book – post Beijing 2022 Olympics
  • The Ultimate 400m Track Webinar for Coaches & Athletes
  • NACAC Athletics Coaching Science Series 2022
  • Top Six 400m Predictor Workouts (Number 4 is my Favourite)
  • Best 6 Podcasts for 2021 (and Beyond)
  • Why Karsten Warholm’s 45.94 400mH WR is my Highlight of 2021
  • Sprinting: 10 Research Articles for Effective Sprint Training [Part 23]
  • Pressure in Sports – Reflections from Tokyo 2020 Olympics

Copyright © 2023. SpeedEndurance.com is owned and operated by Aryta Ltd. Privacy Policy
Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy