leroy burrel’s weight training scheme involved very heavy weight training all the time. in his book sports speed (along with other authors like tellez) it said:
specific programs such as strength training invloving heavy weights, near maximal muscle contractions, low repititions, and full recovery between sets, have been shown to produce greater increases in the cross sectional areas of fast twitch fibres than slow twitch fibres.
and in his strength program apparently on his light weight training session he lifted 60%.
where on the other side athletes like mo greene said they dont lift a lot of weights. lighter weights with a lot of reps is a better workout, along with shorter recoveries. and he also says i see no point in lifting heavy weights, and if you cant use it on the track then whats the point in doing it.
what exactly is this all about??
what exactly stimulates the fast twitch fibres?
and how can be athletes of the same event have very different theories like that?
You never know what Mo and Lerroy did when they were your age!!! May be its something they are not doing right now ( which I’m sure of ) but then it was surly something that built them to what they became.
So I say that its very complicated. I mean it depends on the age and level of the athlete, and on the athlete him self and what his body responds to.
As for me. I believe in periodization at my current level. I don’t know if next year will be the same. Sometimes your body screams out some stuff and you have to listen at one point. I’ve always been doing heavy sets of 6 max. And that method has worked very well with me and has never let me down. But then I feel that I need a little break and thats why I started periodizing.
I read this book too, it´s kind interesting;
Actually Leroy was a long jumper too ( 8.37m )
About the different weight programs,
my opinion maybe is a little radical ( or amateur ) but i think the only difference in results is the size section of muscles, i mean;
Leroy was not so big like MO is otherwise Burrel´s body was more stiff and “dry” than MO´s body.
High reps with medium to low weights = Big Muscles
Low reps with high weights = Power + Stronger + Stiff
What is better to sprint ? I don´t know but i thing that a mix between those 2 ways is the better choyce.
Just what i know is that Leroy PB is 9.85s in 2 occasions
Lausanne 1994 WR 9.85s ( +1.2m/s ) at age 27y/o
Rome 1999 9.85s ( + 0.8m/s ) at age 32y/o
thinking like this, MO have some years forward…
I wouldnt say high reps = big muscles. medium reps = big muscle.
8-12 reps is the hypertropy phase in lifting. when you go past that you are in the endurance phase of lifting 13-… I dont know if mo is bigger than leroy. leroy was pretty damn big.
Yeah, i´ve just watched some video races of Leroy and he is really pretty big,
just like Mo is, but i´m not sure about Leroy´s height, i guess he is 1 or 2 inches tall than Mo.
Well it is just a question o genetics,
some guys can get big with high ( but under 12 ) reps and others can get big with a few reps program.
You know what ?!
I say that we, coaches, athletes, sprinters, need a couple thousands of twins,
just to test and experience this issue.
Any voluntary ?
if u take a look at 91 world champs in tokyo when burrel finished 2nd 9.88 behind lewis 9.86 you can see that he is some how big, big legs and arms. kinda like mo greene. so its pretty weird they have almost same structure with different weight training schemes.
what about ben johnson, what was his weight training scheme? i mean he is all ONE big muscle so it would be interesting to compare.
did ben johnson do a lot of plyos anyone know? or was he more weight training based?
I wouldn’t be so interested in leroy or mo’s feeling on their training. I’d be interested in tellez, dintiman, and ward and I would definetly be more interested in charlie’s feelings. I don’t ask my athletes what type of strength training they feel will help. The coach is the expert, athletes perform.
In 1991 Leroy was around 175lb at 5’10". In 1994 when he broke the wr again he was in btw 165-168lb. Maurice is around 180lb and is 5’8"1/2. Maurice is clearly a bigger guy.
Depends on the level of the athlete, the amt of speed work, the timing of the weights, etc. As a rule, the higher the level of the athlete, the less statistical norms there are to refer to, so the more important it is to consider the training preferences of the athlete, where possible.
I know what you are saying. However, the film can also fool you. For example, ask any trainer or coach to guess Ben’s weight in 1988 and I am sure most would say he was over 180lbs. Some athletes are so lean it makes them look extra huge(think Linford").
Remember though, that’s a British paper, and every outsider is considered of half the stature! Linford was 6 ft 3 1/2 in and on the far side of 200lbs also.
My apologies, Charlie, for oversimplifying. I hate feeling like an a$$ after posting something so short-sighted. Agreed on the athletes training level and their involvement in the training planning, organization, and preferences (not that you need to hear me say it to know you’re right). I do remember hearing jon drummond say something in an hsi video along the lines of, i think bodyweight exercise (pull-ups) improves sprinting more because you’re handling your own weight like in sprinting. I would quote him but I can’t remember exactly what he said.
I saw Leroy at NCAA’s in Durham, NC back in 2000(head coach at univ of Houston) and though I realize that he was very much removed time wise from his competitive days he looked to be about 5’11 to 6’0" and about 225 to 235-big guy. I would guess that even in competition condition he was heavier than Greene at his biggest-not to mention about 2-3 inches taller.
I would quote him but I can’t remember exactly what he said.