from my recollection these are 2 separate events and just like every good story contain enough elements of truth to be believable. 
Ben squatted 600lbs and Charlie questioned why he needed to go higher due to increased risk of injury. From what I understand this was completely separate from any races and certainly not linked to a WR.
Ben benched a PR in the week leading into the 1988 100m final where he ran a WR time. This was due to Charlie getting the colours / weights of the plates mixed up.
Which product from the CF store would you recommend the most? if you had to pick one 
regarding this topic… weights for speed? GPP essentials? thanks
Hmm. i could have sworn someone said this… on two different occasions. but i guess i was mistaken. so nm
any idea how close to race day he squatted?
John is correct. Re: squatting, I can’t say for Ben specifically, I don’t remember if that was mentioned. But during the final taper the last squat session should take place 7-10 days out, depending on the athlete, of course and numerous other factors.
Although I was never disappointed by any of Charlie’s products, I guess the Weights series would be most appropriate for you, provided you are at least familiar with the CF training system. Not to reply for James, of course.
Ben’s 2x6x600 was not performed the final week prior to Seoul. As a testament to his strength, he did perform that session on a different occasion, however.
Approximately 7 days out from Seoul, Charlie Stated that Ben worked up to ~500 for two sets of 5-6 reps in the squat if I recall and then 3 days out he mistakenly worked up to ~450lbs in the bench due to a miscalculation in converting the kilo plates to pounds.
As for which products to buy, I endorse everything I own of Charlies. Regarding this particular discussion, the weights for speed are surely appropriate.
Not an easy question to answer.
When dealing with high school kids, one needn’t overthink things. I would just make sure that they don’t have to deal with a lot of adaptive stiffness and, when it’s time to compete, their legs are relatively fresh.
As Charlie has said before, high intensity core work is addressed by the sprinting itself.
Are you’re talking 8-12 reps for squats? That’s a lot of eccentric damage which I wouldn’t want in-season.
i never go above 8 reps for squats, and this was months ago, and i would only do one set at that many reps. 8-12 reps would be for other supplementary exercises like rev hypers, calf raises, rdl, etc. any big power exercises (deadlift, squat, olympic lifts, bench) i prefer to never go over 5 reps
for upper body lifts i do almost all lifts besides bench and sometimes row in the 8-12 range
James, you are too modest. I cannot recommend the above post enough (at least for sprinters)–possibly the best ever written here on the subject 
Thanks for the kind words.
I was just reviewing the 2002 forum review and this is what Charlie stated regarding Ben’s weight work the days prior to Seoul:
10 days out 4x600 quarter squat
6 days out 2x525 quarter squat
Charlie said that the quarter squat was chosen for stimulation purposes only
Thanks for the kind words.
I was just reviewing the 2002 forum review and this is what Charlie stated regarding Ben’s weight work the days prior to Seoul:
10 days out 4x600 quarter squat
6 days out 2x525 quarter squat
Charlie said that the quarter squat was chosen for stimulation purposes only
any idea what % of his one rep max these were? or even what % of his 4 & 2 rep maxes?
from the notes I took at a CF seminar
With higher level athletes be careful with testing maxes, for example a top level shot putter should never test 1RM as it is too high and potential for injury too great. Ben stopped progressing his squat poundages as the chance of injury was too great, he could squat 600lbs, did he really need to go higher? At some point the possibility of serious injury outweighs the need to keep adding weigh to the bar.
yes, ive read this before, but knowing ben did 4x600 and 2x550 has little meaning if i dont know how much effort or whatever was put into the lifts. say my max squat is 360, to do a comparable thing would i be doing 4x315, or is that like 4x285 for me, or even less? im still not sure
it would depend upon how you felt on the day, THAT is the whole point of weights being general.
The volume of each training session needs to be managed at the time. If there is an extraordinary speed session you may need to drop weights altogether as including the weight session may cause undue CNS stress thereby stalling, or even regressing progress. Progression is vital. If it is a high CNS day you adjust the volume as required to reach the appropriate CNS limit, conversely if the day is low CNS ensure it stays that way.
of course, but also as someone who’s only trained for a little over a year gaging stuff like that is very diffcult, so seeing where others’ lans have come from is always helpful (though copying bj is probably not a good idea for most people).
i assume that if bj never really trained his squat above 600, then the 4x600 would have been a fair amount of effort if he had been half squatting, but at a quarter squat who knows…
I discussed this with CF on this board. From that exchange I came away believing these lifts were probably at least 90% if 1RM. Charlie suggested that Ben’s extremely high speed endurance was matched by a high level of strength endurance, hence he could do a higher than average number of reps at higher intensities. In other words, a percentage intensity that might be a 4RM for the average lifter might be a 6RM for Ben.
thanks, i do have vague memory of reading that in some thread wondering if he could squat 700. though he half squatted 600+, so the quarter squat at that weight wouldnt be quite as difficult i believe
Ben is reported to have squatted 600 lb to near parallel for 6 reps. However, you’re probably not going to get a similar stimulus working at the same percentage of your 1rm if yours is substantially lower than his.
thats true, but none of the things i do in training are likely even close to bj’s level so i doubt i can get the same stimulus really no matter what i do.
i know because of this i can afford higher volume,
but i was just curious so i could have a better understanding of whether the quarter squats were like null-weight for him, or if it was somewhat substantial work
I have a question with regard to starting max strength bloc with teens. Do you think is good to do like bench press, leg press, lat pulls… with weights about 5-6 reps? With a good technique…of course. Guys 16-18 yr? So far we have done 10-12 range… Thanx…
If you’ve determined that they’ve exhausted the benefits of more extensive weight training and you’re confident that they can execute higher intensity weight training with sound mechanical execution then they should be fine.
Just continue to be conservative with the overall tonnage.