Question about the relative value of FEF vs. EFE. On the Vanc. 04 short to long there is a higher volume of EFE than FEF. Why is that so? Is the body only ready for a smaller dosage of higher int. work at that early stage-assuming that FEF has to be of a higher int. than EFE?
During the early stages of spp the intensity limits are lower which results in lower overall intensity, the efe and fef are there because they are more intense and as the intensity limit increase the efe, fef, and flying sprints are no longer in the program.
Yeah I’m talking about the relative value between the EFE and FEF. Why much more EFE than FEF? My guess is that you only need a small amount of those since they would be of a, possibly, higher intensity. Maybe an athlete would not need as much(nor benefit from) a higher volume of FEF that early in the training year. Charlie?
This is a question I have been confused about as well. I would assume fef would be closer to race conditions. But efe are a lead in to the fly runs which helps develop top speed, hence why they are more numerous as you progress into the spp. Although i could be way off into left field with this.
1: FEF is much more intense (two bursts vs one in EFE) so the volume must be lower.
2; EFE’s allow an easy introduction to technical speed work at the beginning of the season as you can see in the GPP DVD.
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The rest seems very long for the EFE runs early on in SPP. Are these rest intervals set up for elite athletes or should athletes in the 7.10-7.50 60 meter range be using the same rest?
The rests are set for more advanced and can be adjusted downwards if necessary
My athletes will be most pleased. Thanks Charlie.
Why is this?
Consensus was that the rest was very long (and I had already adjusted it somewhat). They all felt that they were ready to run full speed again after about 3 or 4 minutes and since the weather is starting to get cold they don’t like to be standing around.
More often than not, the athletes say they are ready to go well before a full recovery has taken place. They think if they are not breathing hard and heavy then it’s time to go again.
Part of it is, I think, programmed into many athletes by other coaches who use suicides, etc. with little to no rest.
The cold can alter recovery times since you’re unlikely to get up to the same speed level, lessening the need for recovery and you’ll cool off sooner.
I’ve found the same thing as Pioneer with my HS athletes. It took awhile for them to understand full rest.
Another thing I’ve found is that classic sport conditioning, i.e. low rest intervals, programs athletes to never run full speed. So for sprinters I’ve had to gain their trust with longer rests and prove to them they can actually run full effort because they’ll have adequate recovery.
I say that if the athlete feels ready to run, they are ready to run. No need to draw out the rest. Sprinters are lazy by nature. No need to make them lazier especially in the cold.
Repeat after me: “my novice/intermediate athletes are not Ben or Tim”
Yes I agree. But sometimes athletes have the mentality that they are always ready to go. And, Benny, you don’t have to have them completely stationary during rest - some stretching, jogging, light calisthenics can still be used during rest periods to keep the body warmth, flexibility, and blood flow.
I agree with all about athletes thinking they are ready to go before they actually should be. I’ve actually speed trapped some flying 20s at different rest lengths to make sure that wasn’t the case. I think 8-9 minutes is a lot of rest for a flying 20 if you aren’t running sub 7.2 60s(men) or sub 8.3 60s(women), and unfortunately my athletes aren’t yet.
What are the distances? 20-20-20 region? I find in this region that EFE you only reach a submax topspeed i.e. maybe 95% as you only accelerate easy for 20 then hard 20.
During FEF over this distance most athletes can hit 100% top speed (maybe even 100%+ 100m speed!).
So if following CF short-to-long wouldn’t a higher EFE ratio early on tie in with using shorter accelerations to top-speed, and pushing the acc. farther out later - so more FEF…
Am I on the right lines here??
With FEF, the speed you reach in the second burst depends how you enter the zone. If you slow down enough, you won’t reach near max, if you you coast through the E part without slowing down much, you might reach top speed.
The risk of entering the second zone too fast is that you might struggle to pick up speed. the key is relaxation. Check the GPP vid for examples of excellent form in all levels of speed from early GPP to late.
Here is a vid of one of my athletes doing both. I think he slowed down too much.
This is the reason why I dont like doing efe/fef/flying sprints with non-track guys or younger athletes.