Okay, well, to introduce myself, i’m a soccer player. 15 years old (birthday was a couple days ago), 5’5, chinese. I’m having a few “problems” trying to get on the sprint scene…but you should know a couple things first.
I tried cross country in 7th grade, was okay at it, and i ran a 5:45 mile in 8th grade for gym. I decided to try some “shorter” distances, so i did the 400, and my time is around a 57. The thing is, i’m okay at both long distance and short distance (i don’t know my time on the 100), so i’m not sure whether i’m slow twitch or fast twitch. I’d like to be fast twitch/explosive, both for soccer and because i’m working on my vertical leap as well.
So my main questions:
How do I determine my muscle “twitch”-ness? I saw the thread in the strength training forum, but that totally confuses me…
How do/should I begin to build explosiveness and sprinting speed?
Should I quit 400 meter training in exchange for the 100 or 200 to concentrate on sprinting?
Sorry if this is a bit unorganized, i’ve just got a ton of questions, and I want to know what to focus on with summer around the corner.
i think youre asking the wrong questions, everyone can get faster and stronger, so u should be looking into that, how can u become more explosive than ur current state, etc…
i’m sorry, i guess my question did sound a bit general:
how can i become explosive when i’m most likely a 50-50 or slow twitch dominant? Is there anyway to “overcome” my endurance or retain my endurance yet still build speed and explosiveness? I’m looking to become fast-twitch dominant/exhibit my speed rather than endurance.
I’m also interested in the conversion of those “intermediate” fibers through weights and stuff, but i’m trying to get a basic “routine” down. Our track coach is amazingly fast (he ran a 10.4 and 45 something 400 meter, our school records), but as far as our workouts have gone, i haven’t seen any improvements. of course, my “training” has been hampered by my knee injuries, but now that they’re healed I want to start blasting my legs and working it hard.
Another “interesting” thing I read about that I haven’t seen much about in this forum (or perhaps you guys use different terminology). I read a book about Track by the guy who coached the olympic men’s track team (i think he headed the auburn track program), and he said that he under-trains his athletes to have them reach their max. potential. I’m trying to gain a good knowledge base of building speed before I make my own routine, so I was wondering how i could implement this.
Do a search in the sprint and strength forums on athlete development. This should net some positive input for you.
The important thing is to soak all of the information in, but don’t take one particular philosophy as gospel. Set yourself upon learning from others and you’ll do fine.
Find out what you like to do. Do those things well. If you want to be fast, find out a good basis in strength training in these forums. Look around on the net, you’ll find great sources and great sources of debate.
At your age, the only clear answer to getting faster and stronger is to stick with training. You’ll find that sometimes you get PR’s left and right, then level off for a month or two. Just stick with it.
Ok, here’s what you need to do
first - read everything on this forum and the archives.
second - go ahead and get CFTS, read and re-read
This should help you immensely. I can’t think of anything that CFTS or this forum hasn’t covered in terms of the needs of a developing athlete.
Undertraining athletes seems to be a way of not pushing athletes to their fullest potential, although recovery wouldn’t be much of a problem. I’ve seen plenty of overtraining, high injury rates, etc.; undertraining leads to full recovery, given the athletes and coaches are instructed on proper nutrition and treatment of injuries. Perhaps the undertraining was done after an intensive multi-week program.
57 for 400m isnt too bad for 15 years of age. couple of years training could see big improvements I would look at a 200/400 program. That would tie in well to soccer and give you great endurance on the field.
I would look at a 200/400 program. That would tie in well to soccer and give you great endurance on the field.