Got a DXA scan today since we are working with a doctor who has a machine he did it for free… 8.4%
IT’s good 8% for a sprinter, is true? and your Z.score?
I know this is an older thread, but I have a practical question related to training and bodyfat. And I am genuinely looking for a response, I’m not simply asking this rhetorically to be snide.
Charlie has generally recommended about 6000m of tempo (or rough equivalent) and about 4000+ reps of core work per week for 100-200m sprinters.
Has anyone on this forum managed to build up to that volume of low intensity work and maintained it consistently for several months, let alone the majority of the year? I freely admit I have not (I know, excuses, excuses). But I would really like to hear from anyone who has.
I have a strong feeling that if someone did consistently perform that volume of low intensity work for at least three months most of the concern over bodyfat and nutritional micromanagement would fall by the wayside as non-issues. Charlie told me several years ago this is the component of the training that he has the hardest time getting people to take seriously and be consistent in performing.
i usually do 6000 m of tempo run/week but i can’t do such a lot of Core work. usually i do
300 x 6/week of abdominal wo
and 300 x 1-2 week of med ball low intensity.
i want to start to increase it…expecially med ball. but i find it very hard, because it require a lot of time.
but it really helps for the metabolism and body fat reduction. I spent a lot of time of my life dieting to stay lean…but since I start to do it, I started to have to eat a lot of food to LIVE 
(for example if i don’t eat a lot, sometimes even biscuits and pizza) i can’t mantain my weight, but loss a lot of kg’s
I have found this to be the case with low intensity work in general, not specifically with ab work (I haven’t tried). Better recovery and athletes lean out with less effort and ‘micromanaging’. Perhaps the effect is similar to that when people add a 30 minute walk at night to their training and find themselves much leaner in the time frame you mentioned.
Do you believe the effect comes from the specific exercises (i.e. targetting the midsection) or simply through a large volume of work that does not directly compete for CNS reserves or utilize the prime movers?
Thanks.
specific exercises ( abs) or large volume of work ( tempo) are both work and will make a difference in keeping you lean or getting lean but I dont think anything works quite as well as tempo especially for woman. IMO diet plays a much larger role in your ability to train consistently, your ability to recover and both of these factors will effect overall how lean you will become. Sleep as mentioned is critical ( and all things regenerative) and most people don’t get enough sleep or the quality of the sleep is not consistent.
I totally agree, tempo work is key. I found I’m leaner when I am doing longer tempo runs 200-300m range vs 100m…
With similar total tempo volume?
No! A lot less, I never go over 1800m and no more then 2x per week. For example 6x200 rest 2-3mins or 4x300 rest 5-6mins.
Does anyone know what the average body fat percentage of an elite level male sprinter would be when measured by Dexa scan?
I think for non elite sprinters and or MASTERS sprinters, this volume makes a lot of sense. Everyone has their own cup of energy so to speak and once that cup of energy is empty you need to wait and rebuild the energy fullness in your cup. Under certain age’s and levels of fitness and or experience, some people are NOT able to handle volumes of tempo. ( I would first try tempo in pool and on bike to experiement and see how that could work for a Masters athlete)
How you prioritize your training according to your strengths…that is likely the way to get you further towards your goals than if you try to be like anyone else because you feel you should be doing as someone suggests is best.
Recently I have moved all tempo to the rower. I was doing bike tempo but I believe the seat was too low and started to cause hip/psoas discomfort.
Funny you say that about your hip and psoas discomfort.
Fair comment for me to say that I am not nearly as muscled up as I have been in the past but I am quite strong and agile and the loose. I was told by one of the therapist who used to tell me and Charlie to be careful of the bike for that reason. WE USE ZERO tension when we do bike. I have tried an actual bike on days like today where it’s hot and humid and also used the bike in the fall instead of running. I am curious if you are or have used tension or resistance? One major complaint with men especially doing tempo on the bike is they can’t stand NOT having the tension and resistance and tend to sneak it into their workouts when we or I am not around,
My go to off my feet tempo is pool or stationary bike and I love how versatile the stationary bike is for so many reasons least of which I can sit on it for 15 to 20 minutes and look at emails, get a few calls in and or listen to music instead of jogging. Once I start sweating, I can begin my speed or easy low day.
My guess is you are very strong and very muscled and likely a bit tight and never had enough massage or therapy as I would dictate if I was coaching or training you.
The other place I was going with my response to your feedback was DIET.
I recently discovered I am an APO4 gene carrier which I find super cool and interesting to have discovered by complete coincidence. Long story short it’s lead me to completely overhaul my diet and perhaps I will start a thread on my adventures as it’s literally changed my life and how i see performance and how I understand things about James’s dad that make me realize how much we could have gained had we the research now and sharing now on social that we never had 20 years ago.
We started this site in 2000. THat’s crazy! So much has changed but look at how amazing it is that so many people can come here and see what we have been discussing on an ongoing basis for so long… Charlie would love this.
I am still hoping to go to Worlds. I want to drive but it’s 4200 km ( Toronto to Eugene) and I am planning to buy a new car to do so but Ben called me today to discourage me from buying a new car. ( he buys a new car every month practically and can’t appreciate that I have never went out and bought a car like he did or like Charlie did. No wait, I am going to NOT buy anything new any longer and wait until I am 95 years old and start enjoying something cool then LOL.
Nice to hear from you RB. I was concerned about you. LOL. ( like in a big sister way 
Body fat in male sprinters
Men have so much more testosterone than woman and this is a HUGE advantage plus they do not have swirling hormones the same way as woman.
We were told to take the birth control pill to keep the hormones in check. Why that is not considered against the rules is beyond me but that is funny now that I think of it.
Taking any pharmaceuticals can really interfere with your gut health and if your gut health is not helping you, eventually you will have issues with the absorption of nutrients.
If you are a lucky person and your genetics are excellent and your life style includes excellent sleep, natural foods with optimal freshness without added chemicals and hormones to make the veggies and fruits look good without improving taste than getting lean and staying lean as you age may be easy.
But what if you are not lucky and what if you get injured or have an accident or had to take medicine to heal for something and then you have a small or medium or large change in your life that knocks you off your game?
Our bodies are magic but we have to understand how to keep that magic alive and on our side.
Anyway, where I was going with this idea was we need to start or if you are reading this you need to start learning to understand how to tap into your own performance key chain. What habits will you create to enhance your performance? Drugs kinda ruined a large aspect of my life and my families life, yet Charlie and I chose to make lemonade out of the lemons. Hence this site.
I have been doing a lot of thinking since selling my family home and asking myself what made James’s dad sick.
I don’t want any of you to get knocked off your game.
I want to share with each of you what I think and what we did and how we did what we did and I don’t want any of you to make the mistakes I feel we never needed to make.
We let countless coaches and athletes into the back end of our business 24/7.
I actually allowed Charlie to donate his last summer in 2009 to help 4 tennis youth into our home to help them for peanuts.
I crashed the 500SL he bought me ( I didn’t want that car, he wanted me to have it so he could buy this super sexy S55 AMG which I fell in love with but sold after he died because I was scared to keep it LOL) I hid the crash from him because I did not want him to worry. I was texting in the car a tennis pro on my way to see a client and rear ended a man who was so kind he let me walk away. My friend helped me take the car to a place to fix it without Charlie knowing. When Charlie asked about the car I told him there was a small recall on the car and it would take a bit. After a few weeks he finally asked and I finally told him. I kept it off insurance as well. It was 12k to fix that car that I never wanted in the first place. WTF.
It took ONE day to see the tennis players show improved leanness. ONE day. Proper diet, massage, EMS, bike tempo to keep them off their feet and very easy drills inside to begin as they had SOOOO much f-ing tennis is was crazy.
The cost should have been 25 k for the entire month. We charged 2500 x 2 ,2 week sessions and 4 athletes. You are gunna love this.I finally spoke to that coach who worshipped Charlie so much he never returned my call in the past 12 years until the other night. Gee whiz I am glad I did that. LOL.
I did not think that was a good idea. I asked Charlie what he wanted to do and he wanted to do the work so we did it but we make bad decisions when we are under pressure and under stress and always playing catch up.
Coaching is hard work.
Athletics is hard work.
Please learn to look after you, your loved one’s and learn to understand what is work and what is rest and what helps you and learn to understand why you are doing what you do.
Charlie and I met and connected as we had a meeting of the minds. We both loved perfection and doing things the right way and we both were obsessive and compulsive and we both felt good helping others often at our own expense. We also loved performance and were thrill seekers doing things the correct way.
I have had to learn to let go of how tight my grip has been on my ‘everything’ and RELAX.
I have spent the past 12 years obsessing about what a total shitty job I have done on this site.
I had someone who I thought was my friend tell me to stop talking about Charlie and that I was a ‘want to be’ and that no one wants to be reminded of what happened as a result of what " Charlie did in 1988 at the OLY games.
I AM ONE OF THE MOST FORTUNATE people on the planet for having a man in my corner that loved me, adored me and stood behind me no matter what in the face of so much bullshit.
okay, lets move on and ahead and we do need others to speak and share and contribute but I also understand it’s not the same but I am not going away and not giving up and not leaving and I keep trying to do my very best for me and my family and each of you.
Wow, that post was all over the map but i am not erasing it or re reading it LOL.
The rower uses a lot of leg and upper body strength and would not be good for woman ( unless you are a Canadian woman on the OLY rowing team ) as it’s MEDIUM work.
For most men and woman this would be medium work by virtue of so much muscular involvement unless you are ULTRA cautious to have low, low, low tension, no speed or effort. Not easy to do on row machine inmho. But I am a skinny ish white girl who’s over 35 LOL.
I need to isolate low and high work effectively if I want to sprint and do plyo’s and drills and speed work and hills and lift.
My rowing sessions are easy. My grandmother could probably smash them.
Sample session: HR is usually in the 130-150 range
1x600; 1x1000 SPM: 28/32, Level: 3/5, Effort: Easy
General strength core circuit: 30/30
Cooldown: Biking, stretching, foam roll
You are funny RB34. That’s one reason I can’t wait to meet you at some point. ( Florida right? )
Just because you “feel” it’s easy, does not make it as effective regarding true rest. LOL.
Leave your grandmother out of it. Does she even know that you are suggesting she could do one exercise in your training protocol let alone your "easy or regenerative or recovery day workout? My guess is no. ( I hope she is still with us by the way. I never got to take advantage of any of my grandparents and what a huge asset is is for families to benefit from our aging elders even if they aren’t in excellent health there are so many lessons to learn)
I have an idea.
Why don’t you start back your training log and I will stay out of it. ( promise… I am too bossy and opinionated ( maybe maybe not ) and the world is always going to enjoy what people actually do, opposed to what someone ( like me) says. Lots of giggles and farts as my frenchie might say…
We, you, or I will let others weigh in. I respect your dedication and if and when we do meet I would love to see your running ( then I will have to make comments and suggestions ( please and thanks) and understand what’s up or what up as my former athletes from CT school might have said. ( long in the tooth white chicks like myself can’t always get away with that lingo the same way others might be able to…)
Once again look at the Hr I listed… It’s easy… Basic cardiac/recovery session.