I know many people that respond well to weights and it acts as a enhancer of sprinting performance.
However I know other sprinters do weights as a part of their sprint program and slow down.
When they drop weights entirely they gain back speed and continue to progress.
Are certain people just not physically able to handle the extra demands of weights when combined with speed training? (Even very low volume weights)
Your thoughts on this?
Chris
Chris,
As usual, things are athlete specific. If the program is a good program, and the athlete is not responding well, then things need to be changed. I have an athlete who did not respond well to weights until this year. It takes time to get the whole organism to handle a full training regime. Focus first where it is needed…ie, shorter speed work, and then supplement from there.
chris alot of people get confused with weight training and this leads to slower times because instead of running relaxed they try to strain themselves down the track.the added strenght will be used against the person by trying to force the running.once this theory is explained and understood to the athlete then its alot easier.more strenght=more force being applied to the ground=faster sprinting
with this said planning is essential.first of all a sprinter sprints,so you should sprint first.then add in your weights after the primary session is done.another thing which can happen is over-training.you say you know athletes who when drop the weights gett faster,dropping the workload will enhance you.
Planning and understanding the reason for sprinting + weight training
They may slow down and then speed up when dropping the weight for a number of reasons…
1-they do not know what they are doing and they are not giving there CNS a chance to recovery from the High Intensity track work and weight lifting
2-they are lifting before there track work and not getting in quality speed sessions because of fatigue from the weights
3-they are lifting using high reps for hypertrophy and adding non functional mass and when they stop the lose the weight enabling them to run faster
ONCE AGAIN…it all comes down to planning as X said.
The guy I am thinking about did the following program:
speed/weights
tempo
Speed endurance
tempo
speed2weights
tempo
rest
Good exercises: powerclean, squats, bench, deadlift and limited sets
performed weights after speed training never before.
I found it strange, just wondering what the masses thought 
He was a decent sprinter: 10.9 100m, 22.0 200 meter and a low 48 400m
thanks,
Chris
Again it all comes down to what he was doing for recovery, sleep, his diet, what supplements he was taking and The exact speed and tempo work he was doing. It is alot of factors we cant judge based on so little information. But what it comes down to if you are planning right which also consists of periodizing your weight training properly it should not hamper performance in the sprints.
He was in medical school so that took a lot out of him. Recovery didnt include massage, just tempo, hot/cold water therapies, occassional pool work etc.
Cheers,
Chris