Interview with Tudor Bompa

yeah your start was good was ahead at 40, i noticed your front side was nt as good, but didnt realise it was you, looked to be your hip position though perhaps stronger core maybe? esp abs, thats where we have worked alot.

The vid on youtube?

Charlie said to just train normally and use the 10 day taper as the final hit, so I’m just training normally. The weights are maintenance at this point and I’ve removed squats with the contrast workout. I’ll kill the weights entirely the last 2 weeks or so.

Now, John Smith wouldn’t be “training” at all at this point–nothing more than 6X80 submax and starts/drills, somewhat like what Nikoluski mentioned above. But, when I started with the contrast workouts, I cut the volume way back to avoid injury and didn’t get in any training to consolidate gains and set up something to taper off of. With the high stress of the contrast workout, the training volume does have to be cut down, but now that I can do the workouts more or less normally, I’m getting in that training phase, and I’ll be cutting down the workload to more of a comp load after I’ve had around 3 weeks of “training” as Charlie said somewhere above.

Next year, of course, I’ll have this training in the last few weeks of SPP2 and my training during comp will be as John Smith has it.

One last question :slight_smile: Instead of racing distances in training why not something like 60-80-120 on wednesday and on sunday 60-80 or one hard 120 after the contrast? Just asking b/c I hate to use racing distances training. Mentally I feel if I go into a meet not knowing my time exactly for my distances I feel less stress. If I go in saying I just ran 11.xx in practice so I know it should be 11.xx in a race then if I dont get the time I wanted I get bummed out. On the other hand if I go in knowing my training times have been improving over the distances I use in training I just go in feeling confident b/c my prep has been going well… I know it sounds the same or maybe even crazy :slight_smile: but that’s just my feel on training distances…

There’s a section in one of Verkhoshansky’s papers where the prof mentions that after you’ve done your SPP-type work, you can still improve by doing the competition distance in training or doing competition-style training (in one of the papers he has short-long this way). Obviously, you can’t do the race distance in training if your competition distance is 10000 meters, but you can with 100 or 200, and Clyde Hart has this for 400 (actually 320 for Clyde). I start in the beginning of SPP2 with 2X3X80 (same parameters Charlie gave for Ben) and through the phase move this up to 100, then a single 120 effort–classical short to long, I think.

So in the 2nd half of a SPP I have competition distances in training. It might only be one rep in a speed workout (5X50+100 or 2X40+2X30OS+100) but it’s in there. Notice all the sessions of 3X60 or 4X60 that Charlie has in his short-long SPP1.

Where are the triple extensor muscles? I looked on a anatomy online website but I don’t see the muscle listed.

For sprinting and any sports that desire quickness, maximum speed and agility, the triple extensor muscles – gastrocnemius and soleus, quadriceps, and gluteus maximus – are determinant for ultimate performance.

Hmm I have not tried it in practice by my self but I think 1 session a week of a “practice meet” or a competive practice would not be a bad idea. Here in westchester county NY were I live they have mini meets every tuesday night. Maybe I will give your idea a try…

Thanks again. This has been a great thread.

Remember cheater you now qualify for the nationals in 2 weeks

Lkh was wondering whether the performance benefits of contrast last longer i believe… so you continue getting pr’s. Well a-j’s athlete, Joel Fearon, pr’d at 10.60 7days from contrast. Then this weekend he pr’d at 10.48 14 days from contrast…

Very true think we timed his peak spot on lol however of couse he now has senior nations in 2 weeks so its what to do to move forward from here

What do you need to do? Wasn’t the new PB a contrast of sorts? How many races were run around the date of the 10,48 and what were they?

What contrast training is this, do you know? Is it simply a case of drills with and without resistance, since no over-speed work is involved?

Was the PB you got after the first OS session in a one off race? And then 3 weeks of normal training have followed?

Any recent update on your racing? Thanks!

He got senior nationals in 2 weeks, he has raced last 2 weekends running 10.67 and 10.60 to win regional champs this weekend ran 10.61 in heat then 10.48 to finish 4th 4 hundredths from a medal lol

There is also a very recent interview with Tudor Bompa at http://www.thetrainingtalk.com if anyone is interested.

This is the LSU training week that Tamfb linked well up in this thread:

http://www.trackshark.com/features/images/2008/LSU%20Sprints-Hurdles%20Weekly%20Workout.pdf

This was buried in the Trackshark article, so unless you read the whole thread carefully, you would miss it. The contrast training listed (remember, it was November) was 5X50 resisted, followed by 5X20 blocks, so no overspeed here, but it looks like they use the basic concept for the entire season.

Was the PB you got after the first OS session in a one off race? And then 3 weeks of normal training have followed?

I was doing this as the cutdown to racing as Charlie shows in the SPP download. Through the SPP, I went from ~1500m/wk HI at the beginning, declining down to 500m or in the last 2 weeks. I did 2 contrast workouts, and the second was VERY fast, so thinking about Charlie’s 10-day rule, I did 6 days of NOTHING, then had the PR. The race that followed by 8 days didn’t work out for another PR due to a couple of false starts (the first of these was me).

Any recent update on your racing? Thanks!

Since the second race following the PR didn’t work out, I’m doing what Charlie said about going back to training for a few weeks, so I’m really doing Phase III per CFTS right now. I’ve had three contrast workouts (all 2X40m uphill, 2X30 flying downhill, 1X90-100m flat) and each has been faster, with a 4th to come this week.

What I’ve noticed matches almost perfectly with the UK results mentioned above. You are NOT recovered in a true peak sense after 1 week. Also, it seems that starts are compromised–at least they feel compromised–which might be CNS/explosiveness effects of not being recovered, or it might be the effect of not doing much accel while doing the contrast workouts (and you have to cut the overall workload because the stress is so great).

Racing for Phase III doesn’t start for a couple of weeks and basically runs all summer.

This has been a very enlightening and interesting thread. From the looks of it, the primary effect of the contrast training is on MaxV and as a result I wouldn’t think it would be nearly as beneficial for a football player or other team sport athlete. While it would increase the speed reserve, most FB players have limited to no exposure to MaxV in their training and would probably benefit more from flying 20’s or something similar. However the concept itself is intriguing and I’ve even seen some people substitute the overspeed section with bounding (I think tamfb mentioned this), perhaps for safety reasons.

I suppose you could modify the workout to focus on acceleration by simply shortening the distances and substituting overspeed downhill starts for the fly work. Thoughts?

Thanks for the detailed reply!

So, were the first two contrast workouts During or After the two-week cutdown from Charlie’s SPP?

About the PB, I meant to ask if the first race was a meeting or a championship, but the mentioning of the 2nd race 8 days after is a valuable input, too!

Just to clarify, some details of your current Phase III?

Also, since Charlie had suggested you go back to some training for 3-4 weeks, have the contrast workouts mentioned above come on a weekly basis?

Overall, it may be a preparedness issue, as mentioned by James a few posts back.

Good luck! Let us know how it goes, please!

Verkhoshansky gives the time to maximum potentiation for the second activity at ~5 minutes.

Sorry to have to repeat myself, but I don’t fully understand the implementation of this training. If the potentiation lasts only a few to 5 minutes, won’t only the first overspeed rep receive this benefit unless you alternate the resisted and unresisted/assisted reps, rep for rep? In other words, if you do 5x50 resisted, rest a few minutes and then start the 5x20 blocks, won’t only the first 5x20 benefit from potentiation effects?

As far as definition of terms, doesn’t contrast apply when the two activities are alternated rep for rep, and complex training apply when the two activities are conducted in succession during the same training session?

My understanding was the other way around. And so contrast is the right term.

This is a good point. However, everytime I’ve used this method the 1st overspeed rep is way off the quality of the 2nd and 3rd. The potentiation ‘window’ may also be lengthened as the resistance exercise is repeated, then the 1st OS adds another huge CNS stimulus… probably potentiating the later reps even further.

They were the 2-week cutdown. See post #66 in this thread to avoid duplicating a long post here. At the time I thought the only way you could do this stuff within a CF SPP phase was right at the end because of the LSU training linked by Tamfb. But after doing it, I’ve learned that I can do the contrast training every week like this if I want:

Mon: contrast/overspeed
Wed weights (no squats or very light squats)
Fri 80+100+120

So, I may do it a little differently next season with more time. But that depends on whether every other week gives better results.

About the PB, I meant to ask if the first race was a meeting or a championship, but the mentioning of the 2nd race 8 days after is a valuable input, too!

Not championship races, but on fairly fast tracks.

Just to clarify, some details of your current Phase III?

This is what I have on my spreadsheet:

14-Jun 2X70(wu) + 100m race
16-Jun weights
17-Jun 3X20+80 submax
20-Jun 2X40uphill+2X30OS+100flat
22-Jun 3X20+80 submax
23-Jun weights
26-Jun 3X100 + 50
28-Jun weights
30-Jun 4X50 + 100
2-Jul weights
4-Jul 2X40uphill+2X30OS+100flat
6-Jul weights
7-Jul 3X20+50 submax
11-Jul Comp Starts

I would have had some more time off and some 2X200 early in the phase (III) as Charlie did with Ben (I also do these during GPP), but the timing didn’t work out.

I’m not planning much contrast/overspeed stuff during comp and not during the 10-day taper. From what I see above in this thread regarding more optimal peaking performance, I’m planning one contrast/overspeed 3 weeks out from the last race, leading into the next-to-last race, with the 10-day taper following.

I will adjust this based on what I learn here and what I actually see in workouts. I know that 3 contrast workouts spaced at least 1 week apart continue to improve performance, but have too much load to give a true peak performance. But I don’t know how long this works, and as soon as I don’t see a benefit, I will stop taking the risk and go to more standard training.

Also, since Charlie had suggested you go back to some training for 3-4 weeks, have the contrast workouts mentioned above come on a weekly basis?

Yes (see above), but I’m trying to find out if this is optimal. I know that the hardest workouts HSI does are 2X4X100 with 45 sec or 3X3X100 with 30 sec (and these are NOT tempo), and John Smith only does these during SPP every other week with some additional time off following. I get the impression that the same phasing with contrast/overspeed may work better than doing it every week. Just because I CAN do it every week, doesn’t mean more recovery won’t deliver more optimal results.

I tried the potentiation the way James mentioned well above in this thread, but I’ve gotten much better results with the overspeed portion using rest periods along the lines that Charlie gave (probably years ago) for flying sprints: 10-12 min.

Possibly the difference may be that Verkhoshansky in his “stimulus” approach is using sub-max weight loads. But if you run the resisted portion at ~100%, you may benefit from significantly longer rest periods. That’s the way it works for me, at least.

I think it may be a question of ability. In my dissertation I used a 4.5 minute rest from 3RM Squat to a flying-20 and found potentiation. But although I was using international jumpers and decathletes, there were no international sprinters…

I origianlly wanted to look at a possible potentiation effect of overspeed, but there seemed to be a real lack of literature.

Have you ever considered using some contrast in a competition warm-up? (Facilities allowing)