hello
im confused about doing speed work during gpp. Should it be done or not? if so what kind?
I say no because you are trying to get back into shape during GPP. Doing high intensity speed work right off the back after a prolonged period of “rest” from the previous season will probably result in poor runs and sore ass legs. Just my advice.
Speed training should never be put aside for more than 3-4 weeks within any training year.
-CFTS pg 109
I personally do it during GPP just so I won’t be sore from it later. But mainly because it is fun :). Try both ways
I can tell you from personal experience that you shouldn’t do straight speed work during GPP. Your legs will suffer for a while from it, first off.
Secondly, doing Int. Tempo, hills, bleachers and general strength stuff will keep you in good shape without jeopardizing speed in any way. You might actually come out of GPP stronger and just as fast as you did when you ended the previous season.
Think for yourself. Try new things. Be adventurous. What works for one may not work for another and following things the “textbook” way is not always right. Don’t be afraid to think outside the bubble.
I’ve never done a GPP before so I am trying a “new” way. This is my first actual training year, I just trained sporacticly before, like a few weeks on, a few months off.
I didn’t mean speed work like you would do later in the year, I meant 2 days: 1 accel, the other SE. The other days are tempo and bodyweight circuits. I’ll tell you how it goes if you want…
peace
Jamaal -
Don’t jump right into SE. Use Int. Tempo first as it lays a good foundation for SE and speed endurance work. You jump right into acc. dev. and SE during GPP you are going to be fried.
You could probably get away with acc. dev., but SE should wait. Do Int. Tempo instead during GPP and then during the next phase you can start in with SE. You need to have some kind of conditioning in before taking on the challenge of SE runs.
While intensive tempo can be done for a short period, it’s not the only means to develop the conditionning necessary to handle Special Endurance, although, by definition SE is not done in the GPP.
400stud and Charlie:
thank you, would this sample week be good for GPP then:
mon: 3x20m med ball accel, ins ond outs, other med ball throws, weights
tues: ext. tempo, bodyweight circuits
wed: 1) 300,250,200,150 or
2) 8x 200 28-30sec, med ball throws, weights
thurs: same as tues
Fri: something similar to wed
sat:same as tues
Charlie, you said that 10-15 treatments of EMS are for speed development, so assuming I do EMS 3x a week for 5 weeks I would then have to stop doing EMS until the next phase?
thanks guys
It could work. Are you doing Int. Tempo on Wednesday? I would also drop the second session on Friday and maybe do some hills or triples, or something like that.
Other than that, it looks alright to me.
cool thanks man
what are triples?
Look them up in a search. Chris30 is the one who talks about them the most. I don’t have time right now.
If your legs suffer from dong speed work, wouldn’t you benefit from doing small amounts of it early and building on it? Otherwise, you save something that makes your legs suffer for a time of the year when you are wanting high amounts of quality. 
Think of each phase as soft-edged, blending smoothly into the next phase without abrupt changes. This way, you shouldn’t feel a lot of transitional soreness in any particular element at any time.
Re Speed work: Various elements are present for most of the year. While some acceleration work and some technical elements of speed may be present in the GPP, the full complement of speed and special endurance will not be present till the SPP. Perhaps this is only a definition issue rather than a time-of-year issue.
I stand by my statement that speed work should not be incorporated for the first 3-4 weeks, or GPP phase. I feel that hills, sand runs, grass runs can all be a temporary replacement for speed until straight speed work is begun on the track. And I am referring to Acc. Dev., not straight sprints.
I will not budge on this.
Charlie -
You are right that this is a definition issue. With that said, isn’t it safe to say that hill sprints, sand runs, and grass sprints all have speed-enough elements in them to take the place of speed until the body is fully-ready to start doing high velocity work?
And also, starting off with these types of runs, wouldn’t that make the transition from GPP work to SPP work less hard (for lack of a better word) thus making it easier to start working on speed aspects? This seems logical to me. Start off doing speed-type work and have that build you up to a level where you can gain more from the speed work. Thoughts?
400stud, how different are your grass runs to track sprinting?
If I don’t maintain fast sprinting, especially acceleration, for any period, I suffer great soreness in the hams for atleast a couple when resuming such work. Hills hardly alleviate the problem due to decreased involment of the hams.
I wouldn’t include sand runs in with sprint activities. The others are, at least, sprint related.
The only difference is the resistance factor from the grass. That makes it a necessity to maintain knee lift and to keep up on the toes. It helps with form mostly, as well as conditioning. I do grass sprints windsprint style, like football players.
I always go fast. I hate running Ext. Tempo because I hate running slow, but I know it is something with benefits so I keep doing it. I like hill sprints and grass sprints because they keep the speed training factor in the equation while at the same time providing a nice alternative to the repetitivness of straight sprinting on a track.
What type of workouts are you guys doing on the hills by the way? Distances, rest, etc. I wanna add some more variety to my gpp this season. I usually do the hills on the grass, but I just found some new Dunes, and I plan on going every other week during gpp.(it’s kinda far)
Charlie, I remember you saying a while ago that you should only do ??? in the part of the sand where the water washes up and back.
(the stiffer part) I can’t remember what is was you were talking about. Help me out if you remember.