www.sprinteam.it, you can find them in “multimedia => videoclip”
tx!
i found it this morning in “corriere dello sport”
There are some grest clips on the site. Cavallaro ran some awesome 200’s in 2000/2001.
The clip from the european cup 2001 shows Kenteris 20,30 sec race, the only race he did that year before winning in Edmonton!
cavallaro ran fast in 2003, not in 2001
2000 was his first fully season (after 3 months of 1999)
Actually Cavallaro ran 20,56 sec. in 2001 , thats not so bad considering his Pb of 20,48 sec.
it’s bad!
if you ran 20"47 (a 20"60 without wind) with only 3 months of training, 20"48 with a year of training, i think it is a disaster that time
Have you guys come across The Hamlyn Encyclopedia of Athletics. Contributors and Technical consultants are all Italian and include names like Donati, Locatelli, Preatoni and Bellotti.
It was my first ever book on Track and Field, bought by my brother back in '85 and it never left my side!
A chapter is asigned to each event and is broken down into the following:
- Technique/How to
- Training for the young
- Training
- The stars
- World Record Progression
The 100m section
Background
The chapter begins with differences in training between different parts of the World, British, Americans and Germans classified as more advanced in the early 20th Century. It touches on how Americans in the 30’s and 40’s underwent training not different to that used now. Finally, come the 60’s and 70’s the Europeans are regarded influential in building up and preparing sprinters by applying scientific principles.
The Quick Youngster
In sprinting, an individual must make the most of the entire body. The feet are regarded as the most important part but the structure of the sprinter is the figure of a complete athlete.
A beginner must therefore not limit activities to those involving only lower body. Muscle harmony is important for a balanced action.
100m
To run fast does not mean to move feverishly or to strain every part of the body. Speed is self-control.
The chapter continues with details on the
Start
Pick-up, the force exerted by the athlete decreasing progressively and giving way to more agile movements, a result of a more lively reaction from the feet.
Acceleration
Max Speed, the 100m should not be thought of as a crack-of-the-whip, an extremely intense and brief effort, but as an easy and fluent action.
Stars
From Bernard Wefers in the 19th Century to Gohr/Ashford in the 80’s.
Mennea and Lewis are in the 200 section which is also where the Sprint Training is listed:
Introductory cycle: Oct-Nov
Basic cycle: Nov-Dec
Special completion cycle: Jan-Feb
Basic cycle: Mar
Intensive basic cycle: Mar-Apr
Special cycle: Apr-May
Standard week of Special cycle prepared by FIDAL:
Session 1: 6x30, 4x150 with 15min rest
Session 2: 200m - 12mins- 250m - 12mins - 300m
Session 3: 5x30m adjustment sprints
Session 4: 60, 80, 100, 150
Session 5: 100m reps of controlled intensity
Session 6: 3x30 from blocks, 2x100 (6min) - 20min - 300
These sessions seem to correspond to a day of the week. However, with 5 sessions in the 95-100% intensity zone and only 1 tempo, I’m hoping that they’re just examples of workouts in the Apr-May period!
This book can still be found on amazon.
Yes, I have it, found it by chance in a general bookstore many many moons ago, its quite good. Much of the sprint stuff is taken from what Mennea was doing back then.
Unfortunately they are not just examples…real workouts could be also worst…add miles of bounds and weights…
Your right, a lot of volume stated.
I personally don’t think that there was anything fundamentally wrong with the training of Mennea. To be honest I have seen so many programs from Vittori and his cohort that allow you to build in much needed recovery. You must also realise that the volume must be adjusted to suit the needs of your athlete. To take Mennea’s training as it is without prior knowledge of his progress to that volume and apply it to a less developed athlete is a recipe for disaster. The ideas espoused by Vittori et al are relevant and effective means of training. What you must do is not use it like a cookie cutter, but adapt to fit/suit your needs.
Obviously it worked for Mennea and the fact that he set a record that stood for a long time AND won an olympic gold shows that the methods worked. To take the training program and not adjust volume to fit the background of an athlete is silly… One important point that must be made is the fact that the the program changed over time. Developing athletes used a microcycle of 2 days on 1 day off and 1 day on 1 day off, then it would change as they matured in training years.
What you must do is not use it like a cookie cutter, but adapt to fit/suit your needs.
Someone had to explain it to the Italian federation of T&F. I have the manual; I see too much volume, little recovery and poorly designed strength work.
Around the 50th place in world’s athletics stats in 2003, probably worse in 2005 and may be slightly better in 2007. The best Italian athlete is a “power” athlete who doesn’t even follow the national program.
Re. developing athletes:
15-16 y.o. -> 3 on/ 1 off/ 2 on/ 1 off
17 y.o. -> 6 on / 1 off
To note: every training day there is some load on the ATP-CP and thus on the CNS.
Advanced athletes:
GPP 10 training units/wk
SPP 9 training units/wk
PC 6 training units/wk
Again, every training day there is some load on the ATP-CP/CNS.
What I have was photocopied in the late '90s, I doubt they have changed anything since then.
What’s wrong with that?
From a survival perspective our energy systems were not programmed to have “days off”…
How’s that working out for their sprinters right about now?
Indeed, I hope my ATP-CP doesn’t stop functioning anytime soon 
I was referring to the kind of work, meaning medium-high to high intensity, short duration.
That is very different from the original info that I have seen. It is 2 on 1 off then 1 on 1 off for a typical week for a developing athlete. Or 1 day on 1 day off in a weekly cycle. I have never seen 3 on 1 off. Also it is important to state that the 2 on 1 off entails the second as a less voluminous day.
This comes from the very manual:
15 y.o. - Microcycle:
Day 1 - Hvy
Day 2 - Med-Hvy
Day 3 - Rest
Day 4 - Hvy
Day 5 - Med-Light
Day 6 - Med-hvy
Day 7 - Rest
16 y.o. - Microcycle:
Day 1 - Hvy
Day 2 - Med-Light
Day 3 - Med-Hvy
Day 4 - Rest
Day 5 - Hvy
Day 6 - Med-hvy
Day 7 - Rest
17 y.o. - Microcycle:
Day 1 - Hvy
Day 2 - Med-Hvy
Day 3 - Light
Day 4 - Hvy
Day 5 - Med-Light
Day 6 - Med-hvy
Day 7 - Rest
Example of SPP microcycle for 17 y.o.:
Day 1 - Strength with or w/out weights; analitic rapidity; short speed endurance
Day 2 - Hops; resisted accelerations; long speed endurance
Day 3 - Analitical strength, accelerations, block starts, progressive short intensive tempo
Day 4 - Rythm rapidity, short speed endurance
Day 5 - Strength with or w/out weights; accelerations, progressive tempo
Day 6 - Hops, resisted accelerations, progressive accelerations
Day 7 - Rest
Please note, what I posted before under the label “advanced athletes” is actually the suggested program for junior (18-19) athletes.
What manual are you refering to the latest manual from the Italian athletics federation or a manual written by Vittori, Donati or Locatelli? Vitorri et al used 10 day cycles as well for advanced athletes. They did not subscribe to a tidy 7 day week. They seemed to be very pragmatic about training, well atleast from what I have read.
This come from a collection of articles that is handed out at the speed specialization course, or used to.
It is not authored by Vittori but by a pletora of national sprint coaches.
Vittori and Bellotti/Donati have taken care of the national sprint program at different times and with different methods, as far as I know. I might be wrong, though.
I presented the only book I had by Bellotti and Donati to Charles Poliquin 7 years ago.
In a article by Vittori, Bellotti and Donati I found the following training microcycle proposals:
Intermediate Sprinter:
Day 1 - Hvy
Day 2 - Light
Day 3 - Medium-Heavy
Day 4 - Light
Day 5 - Medium
Day 6 - Light
Day 7 - Rest
High Level Sprinter:
Day 1 - Hvy
Day 2 - Medium
Day 3 - Light
Day 4 - Medium-Heavy
Day 5 - Light
Day 6 - Rest
Day 7 - Hvy
Day 8 - Light
Day 9 - Medium-Hvy
Day 10 - Medium
Day 11 - Light
Day 12 - Medium-Hvy
Day 13 - Light
Day 14 - Medium
Day 15 - Rest
Top Level Sprinter:
Day 1 - Hvy
Day 2 - Medium
Day 3 - Light
Day 4 - Heavy
Day 5 - Light
Day 6 - Medium-Hvy
Day 7 - Light
Day 8 - Rest
Day 9 - Hvy
Day 10 - Medium
Day 11 - Light
Day 12 - Medium-Hvy
Day 13 - Light
Day 14 - Hvy
Day 15 - Rest
This is interesting. I suspect that those who use the cycles may not build in enough differentiation between heavy medium and light. This will lead to a monotous scheme leading invariably to overtraining. I also suspect that coaches using this training program are more likely to insist on the completion of every single day in a cycle without modulation or modification. This is a mistake. If the athlete is very tired, then rest or a change in the direction of training for that day must be undertaken to promote recovery.
The articles personally authored by Vittori seem to have some significant differences from the other collaborators except Locatelli.