Old Working Athletes

I wanted to make sure we were really talking about HI, and not work volumes. John Smith has a basic rule about going to Max not more than once a week, and that’s for 20-year-olds as well as for Willie at almost 50. A lot of stuff like 3X300 that JS does during SPP is there to provide enough work/stimulus to avoid peaking early while saving the CNS. To me, this is a good rule, so I only go between 30 and 120 once a week. I find that I need SP/SE/SE1 3X a week (when I have the time to get it in) to reach potential, but most of that is submax.

Last year, middle of SPP:

Mon 3-4X6X60
Wed 5X120
Fri 6X60

(I had the best results late when the 4X6X60 went to 2X200 with 30 min, just like Charlie said. I also learned that, while I was able to get to 4X6X60 eventually, they were too much for me and led to less performance compared to 3X6X60)

This year’s plan:

Mon 3X300
Wed 5X120
Fri 6X60

I’ve also found that the Steve Francis MVP GPP with the combination of high volume long stuff combined with power stuff from the seminar notes found elsewhere on the site works EXTREMELY well, which is why I asked what I asked on the Bolt thread. In normal JS fashion, the long stuff starts at ET pace, then gets faster each week, and after 4-5 weeks of this, you’re flying in workouts. The difference between the MVP and HSI GPP seems to be that the Jamaicans have more endurance volume combined with much more pure power (though JS does some hills and starts like 15X30m, it’s not the steep hills and sleds with up to 50 pounds the Jamaicans seem to be doing).

Fighting Fire With Fire…

Early in GPP this year:

Mon 3X450
Wed 10X40m steep hill
Fri 5X300

Now, at the end of 8 week SPP, building up the s-l:

Mon 3X2X150 (~400m race pace rest 60 sec/10 min)
Wed 3X6X40 (on grass, from blocks, barefoot, rest walkback/6-8 min)
Fri 3X2X150 (~400m race pace rest 60 sec/10 min)