Aspiring Sprinter

Expert Discussion Advanced Sprint Training
1

Well, Ive been reading this site for a while now, left for a couple weeks, and came back. Now my account has been activated!! What better way to start out my account than to ask for help!

(I know there is a flood of people coming and asking for help, not making themselves clear, and whining about not understanding. Let me assure you I am not one of those people.)

For some info about me:

I have been in vertical leap training for about a year now (6 months of which were with weights, and 5 of those 6 were serious). Now I have realized that what I was meant to do was run. I have good genetics, previous lifting experience, etc. and have just realized by finally noticing my speed that I was born to be in Track and Field. Unfortunately my school has no team for T&F, but I will be going to track camp at UNC hopefully and would like to catch the coaches eyes.

Now, at first I thought that sprint/jump training were very similiar…boy was I wrong. If I am not mistaken there are 4 phases in sprint training - GPP, SPP, Pre Comp, Comp. Fortunately I have no competition or season so that should eliminate me having to slow my training down.

I am in my first week of sprint training and I want to start off right. Through talking with Nba3km I have learned some of the basics but need more help. How does my first 3 weeks of GPP look to you all?

[i]Day 1 (High Intensity): Acceleration Dev/Weight Training, abs
Day 2 (Low Intensity): Circuits, Ext. Tempo, abs
Day 3 (High Intensity): Plyos, Depletion Work, Weight Training, light abs
Day 4 (Low Intensity): Rope Work, Ext. Tempo, abs
Day 5 (High Intensity): Plyos (climbing/running related), Weight Training, abs
Day 6 (Low Intensity): Circuits, Ext. Tempo, light abs
Day 7: Off

Day 1:
Acceleration Dev
3x30 yard sprint from knees
3x30 yard sprint from lying on stomach
3x30 yard sprint from lying on back
Lower-body Weights
3x8 Deadlifts
1x10 Explosive Deadlifts
3x8 Bulgarian Split Squats
2x10 Hamstring Curls
Abs
300 reps

Day 2:
Circuits

  1. 40 seconds of burpees, 15 jumping jacks, 10 vertical jumps, box in place for 30 seconds, 10 bodyweight squats, repeat 3x

  2. 25 seconds of line hops, 30 seconds of sprinting in place, 10 max height jumps, 10 burpees, 5 lunges per leg, repeat 2-3x
    Extensive Tempo
    6 x 100m sprints @70% Rest: 25 seconds
    5 x 200m sprints @ 70% Rest: 30 seconds
    Upper-Body Lifting
    3x8 Bench Press
    1x10 Explosive Bench Press
    3x10 Bent Over Row
    3x10 Military Presses
    Abs
    300 reps

Day 3:
Plyos
2x4 Depth landings
3x6 Jumpsquats
3x10 Approach Jumps
2x10 ¼ Reactive Vertical Jumps
Depletion Work
3x Pushups to failure
3x Dips to failure
Lower-body Weights
2x8 Sumo Dead lift
3x9 GHR’s
3x10 Reverse Hyperextensions (reactive – weightless)
Abs
150 reps

Day 4:
Rope Work
3x 1:30 Jumping rope
2x 0:45 Jumping rope in Jumpsoles
1x 0:20 Jumping rope high as possible
Extensive Tempo
6 x 100m sprints @70% Rest: 25 seconds
6 x 200m sprints @ 70% Rest: 30 seconds
^Alternate^
Upper-body Lifting
3x10 Skull-crushers
3x10 Alternating Dumbell Curls
3x8 Wrist Curls
3 x max Barbell Hold
Abs
300 reps

Day 5:
Plyos
3x10 Flying Step-ups
3x40 yards sprinting (max stride)
3x Running Stairs with 20 lbs.
Lower-Body Lifting
3x7 Box Squats
3x8 Step-ups
3x10 Reverse Hyperextensions @10 lbs.
2x4 Jump off box
Abs
300 reps

Day 6:
Circuits

  1. 45 seconds of burpees, 20 jumping jacks, 12 vertical jumps, box in place for 30 seconds, 10 bodyweight squats, repeat 3x

  2. 25 seconds of line hops, 30 seconds of sprinting in place, 10 max height jumps, 10 burpees, 5 lunges per leg, repeat 2-3x

Extensive Tempo
8 x 100m sprints @70% Rest: 25 seconds
3 x 200m sprints @ 70% Rest: 30 seconds
Abs
175 reps

Day 7: Rest[/i]

Other than that I have another question:

What exactly do you do in SPP, Pre Comp and the Comp phase?

I greatly appreciate the help and Im sorry for the long post with all the questions, im just really eager to learn. Hopefully this will set me straight :slight_smile:

Thanks again

Also, here are my stats:

Age: 14
Height: 6’1-2
Weight: ~170
Deadlift: 245
Squat: No rack
Bench: ~135 (havent tested recently)

2

to be honest, for your very weak(then again you are 14). you forgot to include the most important stats, what are your times, what are your weaknesses(and dont give some bullshit answer like i dont have any, everyone has one part that is weaker than others).

3

Yeah, Im not exactly strong… :frowning: Thanks for pointing that out. :stuck_out_tongue:

Im ok for my age, but when you have long legs and aren’t very flexible, it can hold your deadlift back a little bit. Basically, I could deadlift more, but my flexibility isnt that good and when I try more I basically go :eek:

I definitely have weaknesses, Im not full of shit.

  1. Flexibility

  2. Stamina (im more short and explosive…I did think I had good endurance until I did todays [day 2] circuit. That wore me out like hell.

  3. Strength…obviously. Im strong for my age, but thats not good enough for me.

Thats all I can think of, though Im sure more will come to my mind.

4

no times for any distances(100, 200, 400, 55, 60???)

5

Whoops, forgot.

Well, I dont have a track around here, but I got my dad to time it 3-4 times. Everytime my 40yd dash was 4.85-9. Its probably pretty accurate. Then I set my watch for 5 seconds and a little after I crossed 40 yards the timer went off.

Other than that Im clueless. I could try to measure 100m and then time it when its not wet outside though. Same for 200. It would atleast give me an estimate.

6

Help? :confused:

7

read the site more, ill tell you right now im not too fond of your program

8

I have read the site, I just dont understand that much about sprint training. What I dont understand is that someone like Kobehighfly8 comes on with a bad attitude putting you all down and has a horrible program and he gets 3 pages of help; I come here wanting to learn and I get nothing. Thats not fair in my opinion.

If you dont like it, please tell me why.

9

well he was rediculous, you said you read everything, etc… ok where did the start techniques come frm(on knees, stomach back?), dump those. why do you have a day dedicated to only plyo? dump that too, sprint on that day, sprinting is the most plyometric action. you weight program sucks too, read strength training for sprinters by David W on the sight.

10

Your program is not bad at all. But do you really need so many exercises? For upper body I do posterior deltoid raises, external rotations, chest supported row, and dumbbell bench. The first two movements are more for warmup than anything. Lower body I do a squat or deadlift variation and then 1 assistance exercise (usually glute-ham raises). Put in the effort where it matters (big compound movements) and not on wrist curls or skullcrushers. Do you really need “explosive deadlifts” or “explosive bench”? You just need to get stronger with the basics. Also, the sprint work. From knees, on stomach, on back? What the hell is that for? Does it really matter what position you start from? Start the way that gives you the fastest times and use that one only. Plyos? Why? They are too advanced for you and when you actual need them they will be useless. Same with all your “reactive” exercises. You should be sprinting every high intensity day. You need to work on the form and for now, just sprinting will make you faster. Always ask yourself why you do everything that you do. If you don’t have a good reason than take it out.

11

Varying the starting position is a GOOD idea, especially for beginners. I know Charlie reccomends starting from various positions (stomach, back etc.) as they help athletes naturally achieve a good running position as they scramble up un the first 10m or so.

12

Indeed, the idea is to get full extension from the first steps.

13

Got it. So I need to:

*Take out the reactive exercises
*Take out the plyos
*Sprint every high intensity day

The reason why I have the skullcrushers and barbell holds is sort of weakness training. My grip isnt especially good and I need that for deadlifts. And the skullcrushers were to help my bench out a little while improving the range on my jumpshot (Ive pretty much given up competitive bball as of now. I just do it for fun and as a low intensity exercise)

The explosive exercises…no idea why I had them. :slight_smile:

Also, I was told that when doing GPP you should do higher reps, so I figured I would take deadlifts (cant do squats…no rack yet) and mix them up with some other exercises I used for vert. training and just use higher reps. Should I lower the repititions despite being in GPP?

And the replacement for the plyos should be sprinting? And if so, are you talking high intensity, or tempo…what exactly?

Appreciate the help guys.

14

to me it sounds like you have the right ideas. in my opinion you should keep to a basic strength training program where you lift 2-3 times per week. you could try somethign like this:

workout
squat or deadlift
bench
bent row
glute-ham raise or stiff leg deadlift 2x10

rep scheme for bench, squat and bent row.
week 1 - 10-7-5-3-1
week 2 - 5x5
week 3 - 5-5-5-3-1
week 4 - 5-3-3-3-1
week 5 - 5-3-1-1-1

10 reps = 70% of max
7 = 75%
5 = 80%
3 = 85%
1 = 90-95%

this is a very basic strength training program that will up your strenth quickly if u stick to the precentages and do the workout 2-3 times per week. if u can complete all of the reps without assistance then up the weight ect.

and as for the track work, id say if u just stuck to the whole:

mon - sprint work & weights
tues - extensive tempo
wed - sprint work & weights
thurs - extensive tempo
fri - sprint work & weights
sat - extensive tempo

then you will get faster. just adjust the amount of work and instensity form week to week.

15

Thanks alot DB.

1.But what distance sprint should I be working on since Im just starting? Maybe 30-40m?

  1. And would that be at 100% intensity?

3.What sets x reps are you talking?

Plus, could I throw in my accelleration dev. work on one of the days?

Acceleration Dev
3x30 yard sprint from knees
3x30 yard sprint from lying on stomach
3x30 yard sprint from lying on back

Sorry about all the questions.

16

What’s wrong about starting in various positions for a beginner? I’ve found it very helpful- even for a lot of folks who are past the beginner stage.

17

nothing at all, im just an edgy sporatic personality, sometimes i overexagerate and dont think. I was pretty hyped up that day(damn weight training and linkin park song…)

18

Numba, your post gave me an idea…good one! Check out my post…

19

Yes start with short distances. At your age, I would recommend that you do more body weight exercises and less weights. Personally I think you will develop strength anyway because you are still growing. You are only 14, be careful with the weights. Especially the ones that load the spine directly. Do shorter sprints less lactate work since at your age your body is JUST beginning to develop the final set of enzymes that can utilise sugars for high intensity work. The ends of your bones are still developing so be conservative.

Utilise the fact that at 14 your power to weight ratio is excellent probably, so really develop your press-ups, squat jumps and burpees. When I was your age I could do 100 press-ups in approx 1min10 secs. No weights. I am sure you can manage that eventually after 5 weeks.

Bottom line, do short sprints more body weight some weights.

20

I think you have the GPP DVD. Check out the different starting drills there (I made it so you wouldn’t mind watching the test subject over and over!)