Does anybody know what sprinting routines, Allan Wells utlilised in his prime?
i know that he did a lot of plyometrics, no weight training and used the speed ball 2 train rythm.
He used to do a lot of bodyweight circuits - he performed a mini-circuit of press-ups, sit-ups, squat jumps and alternate squat thrusts (this may not be the exact circuit, someone with the Alan Wells book of sprinting may be able to confirm the actual exercises)
Wells was reported to train at 10 x 100 reps! for the circuit.
As mentioned he also did lots of bounding and speed ball work.
His wife, Margot, was his coach she believed that fitness was better developed in the Gym, rather than on the track with traditional 300m, 200m, 150 reps, and that track running should be reserved for 100m and 200m “time trials”, which Wells would do with the local professional sprinters.
Perhaps if anybody has a copy of the Alan Wells book of Sprinting, they could provide more details.
ontheball posted on Allan Wells training a few years back have a look at his old posts.
I believe he used to train with Allan
speed ball training for rythm. plyometrics e.g. lots of bounds. a lot of speed work. a lot of bodyweight circuits (free standing squats). No real weight training. Was a long jumper before he was a sprinter. Different strokes for different folks i guess.
Do you know if he highlighted any speed endurance components as apart of his training, or did he just rely on speed training, gym work etc.
Do a search on this site for him. I think there were at least a couple of threads here.
I do know that he and his wife/coach considered 233m to be a good distance for both training and to serve as a barometer or indicator for his speed/special endurance.
Don’t ask me why 233m, I don’t know why that specific, seemingly random distance.
Thanks for the heads up guys.
Allan was an awesome specimen of a sprinter. Tall and raw-boned with vascular definition across his legs like road maps. He would turn heads wherever he went. Beast. I spoke with Mel Lattany and another top US 100m guy of that year (1980) when Wells won his Olympic gold and they as much as admitted to me they feared him. He was just brutally powerful by the standards of that day. He was also at the peak of his physical powers, while Lattany was still virtually a pup by comparison. Margot said Allan did a strength test, once or twice in the GPP, of 1,000 pushups continuous. I believe her. He seemed bulletproof.
He was pretty much done though by 1984, although he regrouped a bit in 86. I think he only switched away from long jump to specialise in sprints at the age of 26. He didn’t use starting blocks until forced to do so under the rules (auto-timing mechanism linked to blocks).
Couldn’t find a great shot of him. This will hve to do.