Hey guys
I have read through the threads regarding KK’s program for the 400m. There were some posts of people modifying the program to focus on 100m vs. 400m. If you were going to modify that program to focus on 100m, what modifications would you make? It seems like that program would work well for general fitness/conditioning especially during GPP as well as helping speed endurance. What are other recommendations for increasing general fitness/conditioning and speed endurance.
ESTI would be a good person to talk to about this.
I know he used a combination of KitKat’s GPP along with Charlie’s short to long program with some of his high school kids to good effect. I can tell you from experience that when you test the 60, 150, and 300 at the end of the first six week block, don’t expect much change in the 60 time, the 150 will improve a bit, but the 300 will drop considerably. I find it also teaches people how to run relaxed, so the first six week block could be done more or less as is as a general conditioning block, with some modifications in the second GPP block adding in an acceleration day out to 60m and taking out some of the lactic work depending on athlete age and experience levels.
Alternatively, you may wish to put in an acceleration / max velocity in day once per week right from the first block- I think that’s what ESTI did. As long as you understand that KitKat’s GPP is very 400m oriented and doesn’t contain any true speed work, you will know that you have to add some alactic speed in to benefit the 100m athlete.
P.S. The Lactate Threshold ebook is an amazing read, and even if you don’t plan to run the 400 it’s highly recommended. It’s much easier to read than the thread. I downloaded it to my tablet and read it a dozen times. It is packed with info!
Speaking of modifying and I hope this isn’t considered hijacking the thread but I am in my GPP phase and due to an healing achilles tendon, haven’t been running or doing any hill sprints. I have been utilizing bike sprints instead. Any others who have used these will success? I did read that Dan Pfaff used them when one of his sprinters was injured and couldn’t run. I have the lactate threshold ebook so will read through that.
For shorter speed why work with kk’s 400 plan? It’s perfect for what that plan tries to acclomplish… a good 400.
I did however incorporate more of charlies speed work in the plan because of some physical problems. I got me in the low 11 @ 35.
But if you want the 100, trie working from de charlie francis GPP plan. It perfect to work with. Just modify the volume to what you can handle. (strart with about 50%-60% to keep you out of the injury zone)
The reason for looking to modify the program some is because it addresses weaknesses directly and in the previous thread, short sprinters mentioned improvements in 100m time by following the program. I think the program will help with my speed endurance and improve my times.
The reason I like it is I am tall and lean and can’t handle the CF short to long GPP and SPP. I found it made a big difference in my 300m time, and also helped my 200. My 60 did not improve and it took me more 60m races to get near PB shape, but this is normal for any Long to Short or 400m based program.
I think for the first six weeks, the KitKat GPP can work very well for short sprinters if they have a low nervous system tolerance for speed work, or those looking to gain some fitness after a long layoff (e.g. a masters guy). Of course, you MUST transition into some serious alactic speed work after the GPP, and if I were focusing on the 100m I would look to integrate work from Charlie’s Short to Long program ASAP- it is brilliant.
Hi Trevor,
I used a bike replacement for the 6x200m workout myself during the winter occasionally, as running the workout indoors on a 200m banked oval gets hard on the left hamstring and right hip. I can find out the exact workout and post it. Do you have Charlie’s bike tempo workout? I use it once a week to replace on track tempo work. It is nothing short of a lifesaver- a fantastic resource.
Thanks T-Slow, yes I do have the basement tempo and have utilized it somewhat. Seeing that workout would be great. I have mostly been using the airdyne bike which does utilize arm movement as well and between 12-15 second all out sprints.
I don’t think you have to modify the plan too much. following the kk gpp followed by the 5 week transition should be enough for a great 100. my experience after following the hop is very good I have setd my personal best in the 100/200/400. I came from 11.10 to 10.80 @32. so personally I think you shouldn’t worry to much and just start with gpp. you could adjust the volume to suit you r needs.
What is the 5 week transition?Have I overlooked that in the other thread? I don’t understand what you mean by “after following the hop”. What is hop?
Thanks for your input. I am hoping this will help me break the 11sec barrier.
There is a 4 week transition after the initial six week GPP. I would strongly suggest buying the Lactate Threshold Ebook, as it is 1000% easier to read than the thread, and has been edited well. I bought the ebook and have read it over and over. It’s a brilliant exchange between some great 400m minds (KitKat, Pierrejean, CF, etc).
This year I switched from a Short to Long approach to two 6 week blocks of KitKat GPP, a 4 week transition, then blended into a Charlie Francis Short to Long based program. I took .50 off my indoor 200m time and was in great shape physically. If I can get my diet under control this year, it could go even better.
Remember that CF Short to Long programs benefit those who already have a high training age and already possess supreme levels of fitness. For us mortals or masters guys, you will likely need more lactic type work than is present in a CF Short to Long program. I think a blend of the two works nicely but you MUST get to the true speed work if you are a 100m man!
KitKat’s program is very sound, and the loading schemes are less complex to follow. To be honest, myself and my athlete barely lifted at all this season and still progressed nicely.
is this book available in the CF shop?
also, would this approach be more suited to taller athletes, with shorter guys doing better with S-L??
It came out a couple of months ago, and is available here.
I can only tell you what my experience was with the KitKat program as a tall, lean masters guy with a 25.67 indoor PB. I had trouble handling the work when I did short to long preparation in the past, and I’d find that I was chronically tight and sore in the calves and achilles, and would carry a bit of extra weight around my midsection that I couldn’t seem to get rid of (see Kelly Baggett’s "Skinny-Fat Ectomorph articles).
I found the KitKat GPP mentally tougher than a Short to Long (especially on 5x200 days!) but I was able to handle it much better physically, which was very motivating. I also lost fat easily without much change in diet. ESTI has used number of variations of KitKat’s GPP with excellent results, he is the one to ask really. Hopefully he will chime in soon.
Hey Guys
I have been re-reading the Lactate Threshold Thread and found the transition block information. I was wondering if anyone had the thread that CF started titled High Intensity Training Volume that was referenced in the Lactate Threshold Thread. I searched but could not find it.
Thanks
My experiences with the GPP is after completing 6 weeks, you are capable of handing an increased amount of training loads. I found with a 6 week gpp, 4 week transition worked great for 300 and 60m times for my high school kids (for them, the average speeds of 60 and 300m are similar, which is what I guess showed the improvements). I found 150 times were rather stagnant.
I gave them a few weeks off (don’t recall exactly how many), and then went to s-l gpp in fall followed by s-l spp in early winter. This was a huge success. The repeat 60s were very easy to handle and I saw steady improvements in 60s during training. I then thought it would be a good idea to go back to KK gPP which then turned into disaster.
Using the GPP followed by a long to short for 100m should work nicely. I know there has been some question about L-S gpp, and although I have not seen Charlie’s GPP for L-S, I think concepts can be adapted to fit the needs of 100m specialists.
As T-Slow has mentioned, we used the GPP for 12 weeks, then transition followed by some progressions Charlie used for 400m Long to short. I felt it could be adapted rather smoothly and it did work out for T Slow last season. I know it seems like a a la carte program, but I feel there are general concepts that can be adapted depending on what preceeds it.
Trying to understand - after the season you gave them a few weeks off follow by KK gpp follow by s-l gpp etc? How/why did things go bad the second time through?
Great question. I’m not 100% sure why, but I suspect it in this way:
Going gpp—>s-L went from work capacity to increased velocity.
Going s-l –> went from fast velocity to slower velocity which resulted in stagnant training and potential overtraining at one point with one athlete.
The reason I felt the need to change was to use new speed from s-l with longer distances. This didn’t work at all. I guess it’s like a puzzle piece that doesn’t fit, but belongs to the same puzzle.
As Charlie had posted me once, never jump from one to the other within a season.
Well, if you think about it, going from L-S GPP to S-L later means;
Long -> kind of short -> back to long again
So what you might be losing is acceleration development. If so, your performance above 60 in the 80-150 range later might be off because MaxV is off, because you aren’t doing enough accel development early to reach a high enough MaxV. The Jamaican programs are using plenty of work in the 300-450 range for GPP, but also plenty of power development in that same GPP using sleds and hills. If I was starting L and planning to go S-L later, I would be incorporating some S work in GPP in the 30-50m accel range.