Hello I am planning out my GPP for next year and wanted to pose some questions to the forum. In the area that I live in there are literally no hills to work on, and was going to perform sled pulls as an alternative. Also I have access to a artificial turf that is very soft and even. My questions are
Should I perform most or even all of the GPP on the artificial turf?
When doing sled pulls and other runs during the GPP would it be alright to perform them barefoot on the turf?
Is there much of a difference CNS drainage wise to doing my workout on the artificial turf compared to grass or even track?
Obviously when it comes to SPP time, i will move to the track, but i thought it would be an interesting idea to try the GPP on the turf to make it easier on my body.
Thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
1- you should be able to do most of it on the turf.
2- it might change your mechanics a bit (doing sled work barefoot). you could do tempo barefoot but i don’t know about sled work.
3-i’d say turf would be less CNS intensive than the track but more than the grass.
Now outta curiousity can power speed workouts be conducted on the turf with spikes on. If yes, can this be performed at anytime of the year to help save from the pounding of the track, or is the turf to soft, to make it an effective sprint workout?
What about plyos, would i be able to perform plyos on the turf.
check it out and see if its possible to do it on turf by trying it…but my first inclination is NO…because track spikes might tear up the turf and whoever owns it might not be to happy.
as for plyos…i am sure they could be done on turf… but if its astroturf or something else thats similar to concrete i wouldn’t reccomend it.
Its an all-season, multi-purpose playing surface, where soccer and field hockey teams play. It seams to be a couple of inches thick of rubber, and on top, the fake grass and the little black rubber pellets that always stick to me.
I think it’d be best to test it out and see what you can do on it in terms of plyos but i am pretty sure that this surface is as good as any.
as per spikes i don’t know whether this turf is suitable but i doubt it. generally soccer, football and field hockey either play in trainers or removable cleats on turf… the turf your talking about seems to be faux grass but i would still be weary of spiking up for it, it’s not real and that could pose problems.
edit: back to your orginal question. if you really want to go “barefoot” for some power work…which i don’t think is a good idea then you could check out some nike frees. i’d wear trainers/flats for your power work on the turf and go barefoot otherwise.
I did a search to see what kind of weight others were using to put on there sled to pull, and couldnt find how much is recommended or used. Is there a body weight ratio that is used. Im assuming that the weight should not be to heavy. Is it in one of charlies’ books. Any thoughts or info would be really helpful
In seriousness though, I think the recommendation is to use no weight heavier than what allows you to run at 90% of your best time. So, if you run a 2.5 20yard, you dont want to run any slower than 2.75 with the sled. Any slower than 2.75, and that is too much weight.
you have to adjust accordingly. if your not draging the sled in spikes on a track then you shouldn’t take that as your best time. its like an 10.5 sprinter doing 15 second 100yard tempo runs barefoot on a football field, is it close to 75% of his best 100yard time…not really is it a sufficent run yes.
Charlie, this particular turf Surferboy speaks of is very soft, flat, and predictable; I train at the same location as well. It feels amazing to run on it in your bare feet, one’s turnover is ridiculous. Is there a reason why power work on turf of this nature is contraindicated in your opinion?
Too forgiving a surface-leading to less hip height-leading to a change in mechanics perhaps? Less elastic response in the stretch-reflex of the ankle complex due to the ‘give’ of the surface, perhaps leading to problems?
