Excessive acidity in tissues has several undesirable effects. We have already mentioned its inhibitory effects on optimal enzyme functioning for efficient metabolism. Another is its destabilization of cell membranes, allowing some of their vital enzymes to leak out into either the bloodstream or the interstitial fluid. A third place is its tendency to cause H2O to enter cells in an attempt to maintain osmotic equilibrium between the cells and their surrounding fluid environment. as a result, there are relatively fewer H2o molecules per unit volume than in surrounding solutions such as blood or extracellular fluid. an osmotic inflow of H2o attempts to restore fluid-electrolyte balance. When this occurs in highly active muscle cells, whick normally are elongated and thin, the increase in fluid content makes them shorter and thicker. Functionally, athletes sense this after a hard training session as a decreased joint range of motion. the next morning, this can be particularly noticeable as stiffness.
Maintenance of increased circulation following such trainnig typically in the form of easy running will enhance recovery. (cool down) , this helps lower body temp., restore fluid and electrolyte balance in the wroking muscles and facilitates complete breakdown of Lac- ions from anaerobic metabolism.
Are you just suggesting the use of bicarbonate? Been there, done that. Not happy, not productive, in fact quite counter-productive. One athlete couldn’t compete due to upset stomach, another was distracted by wind. Don’t go there. 
I’m much more interested in your previous post and if you have any info related to the adaptation process with regards 400m. Bands of speed, progressions through intensity levels. That sort of thing. 
specific cardiovascular adaptations to training have been identified. there is an increased blood volume, larger fluid reservoir for sweat production and dilution of metabolic acids. the ventricular chambers of teh heart expand to permit greater stroke volume per beat, in turn permits an adequate cardiac output with minimal increase in heart rate, allowing optimal time between beats for perfusion of the heart tissue with blood. greater perfusion permits increased o2 extraction from blood.
Vo2 Max is determined by heart rate, stroke volume, and rate of extraction of O2 from blood.
As a runner becomes better trained, not only does the vO2 Max rise, but so does the lactate/ventilatory threshold, both in absolute terms and as a % of Vo2 Max
Regular testing using a treadmill test in a labortary regulary over the training yr, can help determine if the traininig you are doing is on target. this provides fine tuning for assignment of subsequent training or a best estimate of strengths for best race strategies.
much smaller amounts needed and tons of water too. upset stomach is common, lesson the dose, drink tons.
As in, the energy levels of the 400m and how to improve it and what improves inside of the athlete? what causes doing a segment of training to cause an improvment?
A characteristic feature of a properly controlled aerobic and anaerobic capacity traininig session is that the final repetition is manageable at a considerably faster pace than the previous repetitions. If he was not able to do so, then he was doing the first part of the session too intensely. This fast-paced repetition is the test of excessive anaerobic buildup during such an interval session.
Blood lactate levels continue to rise during the recovery period, and they remain high as the next interval begins, despite the relatively long recovery period. this prolonged high blood lactate level is helpfull for improving the bodys buffering capacity. A strong developmnetal stimulus is provided to FT Typed 11A fibers, and these fibers seem to have the greatest capability to increase their total tension-generating protein as a training adaptation. This provides a strength building stimulus, and runners often perceive after several such sessions that submaximal paces now seem considerably easier to maintain.
Glycogen and phosphate energy supplies will be utilized extensively in the stimulated skelatal muscle fibers during such high speed traininig. ATP reserves will be regenerated within minutes, whereas carb reserves will require 24 - 72 hr to be replaced, pending on intensity and volume of the session. Also, restitutiion of muscle cell electrolyte and osmotic balance and excretion of connective tissue breakdown products must occure.
Therapeutic modalities all have their proper place in the hrs and days following such sessions. Deep massage, ice water baths, anti inflammatory medecations and stretching sessions all help a timely recovery.
advice KK gave SprintCoach
[i]Your tactics should suit his abilities, not someone else’s.
But this race will be won by the athlete who makes the Least mistakes.
So he has to go to the line with a Clear Mind - regardless of the tactic he uses. If he has a Simple Plan and he follows it, then he will win even if it may not be the most correct plan.
Keep it Simple.
Technique-Aggression-Rythm-Relaxation. (TARR)
He still must take the initiative and set up his run from the opening step and accelerate to 60m like he is setting up a 200m, from there he needs to go into auto-pilot (splitting about 11.1 and around 21.2/21.4) until around the waterjump and he can make a move for home. In good weather he may need to go mid to low 32sec at 300m but he must be building out of the final bend to set up the home straight. He needs to be hurtling into the final straight, he wants to reduce the deceleration zone to as little as possible.
He needs to steal a metre here or there (in each 100m segment ) from the guys outside of him.
If he runs a reasonably solid race through to 250m he will pull everyone else “Out of Their Comfort Zone”. He can dictate the race tactics from lane 5, which was my guy’s favourite lane.
But while he will need to keep a weather eye on any of the moves around him, he must make sure he doesn’t get sucked into doing anything silly like running the first 200 in 20.9. He can split 21.4 handtime and run a low 44 off that if he stays within his own technique and his own game plan.
Only your athlete can make the call on the exact place to attack due to the wind conditions he will experience during the race.
But before the final he (or You, or Both) should walk the track, maybe before he does his formal warmup. And he/you should observe what the wind is doing at various points.
Sometimes you can let it out a bit quicker down the backstraight if you have a big tailwind and it takes nothing out of you, but he will need to Float Like A Butterfly before he Stings Like A Bee. I think Ali must have stolen that from a 400m sprinter! (lol).
The thing is that when he comes down the home straight it will be his arms (hands up to shoulder level) that will win it for him in a tough battle. He must use fast hands all the way to the line.
Good luck.[/i]
The seven domains of multi tier training,
- Aerobic conditioning :- not so great in 400m but still there, ie, long runs (long for a 400m guy)
2 Anaerobic conditioning - holding runs at lactate/ventilatory threshold pace - Aerobic Capacity training - Vo2 Max pace, eg, hill running. Recovery should be complete or nearly complete to minimize anaerobix inhibition, emphasis on good form.
- Anaerobic Capacity training - fast runs approx 200-600m at 95% effort, 100% or more of Vo2 Max, marginal to complete recovery. Of greater importance for 400m runners. Can be done on hills and flats.
- General mobility - Stretching, Flexibility, Plyometrics
- Circuits and Weights
- Health Maintenance - Massage, ultrasound, nutritional assessment, blood chemistry
KK
A few of your ever challenging sessions were inflicted to me during my '96 training block in Sydney. DC was my coach for a 4 month period (a talented man) who joined in my 3rd set of 300m+150m (he rolled off a 34.5s 300m in Joggers on Grass).
A session which I enjoyed the challenge of in later years when I was back home was:
40m 1min rec
60m 2 min rec
80m 3 min rec
100m 4 min rec
120m 5 min rec
140m 6 min rec
160m 7 min rec
180m 8 min rec
200m
Challenge for the session was to add up all run times and achieve a 2 minute total time or just under.
I have reversed this session eg 200m with 8 min then 180m then 7 min etc 
.
Enjoy
KK please PM me when your available.
Cheers
In simple terms let me try.
Lactate in ALL sprints up to 400m help to “re-charge” creatine phosphate pool. Eventually all energy requirements even in elite 100m sprinters can not be fully met by creatine phosphate pool alone so body switches to glycolysis leading to production of lactic /lactate which in itself is an energy substrate. It is broken down and re-used by the body to replenish creatine phosphate pool by giving up some ATP molucules in the process.
OK, now the burn you experience when you run a 400m sprint or in some cases at the end of a 100-200m sprint is due to hydrogen ions released in the glycolysis process. H ions are responsible fot kicking the body into producing more energy from glycolysis. It is also the H ions that cause acidity in the blood. Lactic acid or lactate as some people call it is and ENERGY substrate.
In the 100m sprint elite sprinters can produce 15 mmol of lactic/lactate measured at the end of a race.
The measure of lactate in a 100m race has not been conclusively linked to faster times, but it has been shown that the greater the share of glycolysis in producing energy the faster the athlete in the 100m.
On the other hand elite 200m sprinters produce lactate levels that are very high (20mmol+). Lactate in the blood HAS been shown to be linked to the speed achieved between the 120m to 150m of the 200m sprint. In other words in order to achieve high speed and maintain it, you need to be able to produce a large share of energy using glycolysis.
NOW the 400m, without a doubt, there has been conclusive evidence to show that the faster the athlete in the 400m the greater the share of glycolysis to energy requirements. Now the shares of glycolysis has been revised for ALL distances from 60m-400m. This is due to physiologists using different formulas for calculating contributions and taking into account elastic strength as a contribution to energy and other factors.
The revised contributions are as follows.
60m 60-65%
100m, 200m 70-75%
400m 65-75% (interestingly, at this distance more aerobic contribution decreases the total share of glycolysis but bot its importance to the final outcome).
Now adaptation.
60-100m, to benefit from adaptation, it would seem that 60 m sprints with short recovery at 90-95% would benefit performance.
[QUOTE=martn76
400m 65-75% (interestingly, at this distance more aerobic contribution decreases the total share of glycolysis but bot its importance to the final outcome).
[/QUOTE]
As an added note:-
A higher Vo2 Max will ensure that anearobic energy systems wont be taxed out too soon. The sooner you hit your Vo2 Max, the sooner you start turning glucose into purivic acid and lactic acid, thereby causing H+ ions too soon causing slowing up.
Hey Walbin,
That’s not one of my sessions, but it should’ve been. It’s nasty enuf - especially going UP the ladder :eek:
Lot of recent thought that the deeper into 400m race you can go on the phosphates, the longer you can preserve the use of glycolytic fuel and postpone the onset of heavy fatigue.
But you know, Warrior, I’m just a coach. I’ve read quite a bit, spoken to people much more formally educated than me, grabbed a hold of those whose knowledge is great and spent my time down on the ground watching and learning. What I post about is what I have proved to my own satisfaction to be useful in the conditioning and racing of athletes over 400m. When I was really active at the track, the exercise scientists would come along from time to time to tell me why those athletes were doing well. Unfortunately, too rarerly the other way around. So what I’ve posted in this thread is just a personal coaching history really.
The same is held true for 800m runners too, way back when Seb coe was gunnin for world records, he was under guidence to run the 1st 200m pretty fast, around 24 sec approx, which is also out of a standing start and not out of blocks, hence its quicker than it looks. The reason was the same, use them phosphates up early and get some speed up before the phosphates are burned up later. Tis always easier to slow up from a faster pace when fresh than pick up later once H+ ions are in your blood. That was back late 70s early 80s.
It would be interesting to see the values of a top level 400m runnners VO2 Max… I would be supprised if they are not pretty high. Having never seen data on that, and have never been around a Great coach before that knows his stuff, it may give a better insight or understanding of the dynamics of a 400m. Hence, if i could spend time with somebody such as yourself would be great, but if i cant, then Data is the next best thing??? If you get my drift?
Not sure of the purpose of “lactic acid training” mentioned in original post. The overall distance and reps in the workout are "nuts’ as someone mentioned. If training for speed endurance try this one.
100m x1 90 seconds rest 4x50m turn arounds (approx 30 seconds rest) 3 minutes rest.
150 x 1 90 seconds, 4x50m as above. 3 minutes rest
200M x1
All done.
Intesity over quanity, All are fast but must be relaxed.
Fine, assuming mechanics hold together
I’ve been reading this post for a few days (again, as I read the post/topic last summer as well) viewing the added posts since last the last time I read the thread, and also trying to refresh myself of this ‘great’ knowledge contributed by everyone. So now I finally hit the dead end -->i.e. the last post; however, I truly like where the topic has been going the last couple pages. I’ve actually gone and gotten out my cell & molec biology book, going through the pages and trying to refresh myself of the ‘complicated’ cell level type information. It has of course brought up many questions , a few that I would maybe even like to ask/share on this thread. What I’m getting at, and being as it’s late I won’t ask away, but I was hoping the people posting here are interested in continuing down this road, and maybe even helping my scattered mind on the topics at hand. Anywho, it’s late, so those of you around, expect to get a few questions/responses in hopes we can continue the previous discussions
Hi kk, Hi remember someone (jhon?) asked youe if it would be possible to adapt you concurrent scheme for a sprinter…for a 100-200 guy which modifications you’ll suggest?
i personally agree with a concurrent method , working the speed component short to long and the endurance component from an intesive tempo to a SE.(also from longer reps ti shorter, had some good results)
I’m sure it is possible to go concurrent theme for sprints shorter than 400m.
The way you suggest is partly the way I would try to go. That is, short to long for Speed Development, which would be primarily targetted on Day 1, then tempo or back-up work (a suitably descriptive name for which I’m still trying to find). The backup I’m referring to would be more in the design of a depletion effort(s) at moderate sub-max followed by a much more significant effort performed in a fatigued state.
The “depletion” run can be even below 75% 1rm if the run is over a longer distance (even up to 350m as long as technical model can be good quality); or if there is more than one run, as in a sort of tempoed split-run)
The depletion run-backup with effort session would come probably on Day 2, but could come on Day 3 if the athlete/coach desire to follow a Speed Development day with a more classical recoverying/regeneration day of tempo.
And then there could be a Rest Day on Day 3 (or Day 4 if Day 2 is used as a stand-alone tempo day). Confused yet?
But you would then have to carefully consider the cycles of training and whether you would want to break it down into phases of emphasing either Acceleration/Max V or Speed Endurance/Racing Rhythm over a longer distance or using shorter distances but compounding that with shorter recoveries (eg, turnaround) kk
so whit back up work you mean like a 300 (75-80%) 30"rest + 60? repeated how many times?
template could be
1)speed dev
2)tempo
3)specific endurance (from int tempo , to SE)
4)rest
5)acc dev
6)tempo
7) rest
or
1a)speed dev
2a)backup work
3a)rest
4a)specific endurance
5a)tempo
6a)acc dev
Could one use the 2 x6 gpp blocks?(half strenght and endurance , half speed and power)
I would made some modifications obviuosly to hill work, shortneing and using for acc dev.
For specific endurance I would start with something like turnarounds, progressing to split runs and then full runs over shorter distances.
For weights, a slightly more emphasis but with a low volume, and use the plyos according to the phase.
I like 3 -5 fold jumps, even uphill for acc dev.
KK I really appreciate your 400m plan, as soon as I find a 400 guy…I’ll try:) (even had the mad idea to try myself…but 400m, are 300m over my longest conceivable distance:))