Completely New to Sprinting

[rangerid]

@T-Slow

Hey there,

I haven’t looked in detail through the link, but I did look at the first workout in week 1 of the first mesocycle, and they have you running out to 20, 30, and 40 metres five times each at a pretty high intensity. That doesn’t sound like such a good idea for someone without a sprint background. However, there are others here that will have a much better ability to comment on the specifics of the program.

I think it’s important to mention that since you have no background in sprinting, you could do all the GPP stuff, but if you don’t have good technique, you may be creating a lot of technical problems for yourself in the longer term even if you are getting faster.

Charlie’s GPP download is outstanding. It is logical, and many of the exercises require minimal correction. I think you’d be wise to invest in it regardless. Don’t expect a cookie cutter solution though, everyone is different and the volumes need to be adjusted for each individual. Once you get the basic principles, people here can help you tweak the volume.

Where are you located? Maybe someone here knows a good coach in your area. Do you have a track club nearby?

What I’m getting at is that it’s really hard as a brand new track athlete to execute a GPP all by yourself. There is a ton of volume, and many new movements to learn and for this reason you really do need someone to supervise your workouts. If you’re able to, spend the money and do it right the first time. If you learn the correct technique from the start, nobody has to undo your bad habits- that can be a nightmare!

Thanks! I live in Vancouver but I am moving to Waterloo for University in a month. I am working with my high school coach/trainer and I showed him the workout and he said it was fine. I am assuming that because I have worked up to other weight programs/plyo workouts which are also of high intensity, he assumed I would be okay with that workout and said I should be able to handle it. Maybe I can lower the volume/intensity of the program and follow the general structure?

Oh, by the way, my coach has showed me the CF GPP workout. The 7 week one that starts with like 10x10m, 10x20m or something like that. Would it be a better idea to do that workout instead?

@python023

I would say that program is not what a beginner like you would want to do. I would recommend 1 week of tempo and medballs only, then introduce speed over a couple weeks, then introduce weights over a couple more weeks, then introduce plyos. Over a long period of time. There is no rush and you already seem to have a solid strength background. You will need to acclimate your body to the demands of maximal speed work slowly so you can stay healthy and reap the benefits of long-term, consistent practice. Consider starting your sprints, when you introduce them, on hills to reduce the eccentric shock to the body and help naturally create solid form. 10m is enough at the start, and increase the distance over time. Once you become comfortable with 40-50m hills, you can start to integrate flat land sprints, starting again at 10m. As you approach SPP, after a 10+ week GPP, I would say that 500m of speed is definitely the max you would want to perform, most likely less.

Thansk! I haven’t started that yet and I am doing tempo and medball work at the moment but I am doing weights as well but at a lower intensity at the moment. As for hills, what is the optimal steepness? I have access to one which is 10-12m-ish long and about 30-40 degree incline. The longer ones I have access to is about 10-20 degree ish.