Peaking

I know of some coaches who don’t want their athletes to lift 10-14 days prior to their main competition, some coaches want their athletes to lift the day before competition so they don’t become flat, and some coaches have their athletes the day of competition. I was wondering what the forum coaches and athletes do and/or recommend as far as weight training goes prior to main competition.

I feel very flat when I don’t lift 10 days out.
I just don’t have that “POP” at the start.

I feel sluggish through the whole race.

I have to lift 3-5 days out.

I think systems are different for different athletes.

Kenny Mac~

Men 8 to 10 days Last lift to final comp

Woman 4 to 6 days " " " " "

Why the difference from males vs females?

Hormonal, Psychological

Ten days is too long to stay away from lifts for a sprinter who incorporates them into his training. Max strength is the fastest quality to gain and also the fastest to lose. We use 6 days away for lower and 4 days away for uper lifts for a final taper.

Charlie, what percentage of one’s 1RM do you suggest lifting at on those final sessions before an important meet?
Thanks.

Hi,

What percentages relative to 1RM are you suggesting we lift before a big race?

Sample Session

2 x 2-3 reps @ 5-6RM Bench (4 days before Meet)

Ever try day of meet lifts?

Day of meet lifting may be good for dual meets and comparable, but i don’t see the benefit in day of meet lifts for peak meets. Peaking has to do with rest, recovery, and having all nagging injuries taken care of, therefore you should really study up on lifting for sprinters and peaking.

I wouldn’t differentiate between men and women in terms of taper times from weights, though you might vary the percentage loads. Thoughts?

I had a meet on sunday which i ran 11.35 FAT. I was expecting to run faster but I didnt. A couple of meets I had expected to run were canceled and I had about a 6 week interval between my last 100m. I tapered for the meet no weights ect. Starts light tempo ect. The next week I am doing a semi taper. Does this look ok. I remember what charlie said about 6 days out for lower body 4-5 for upper body. I could not find the thread that really went into detail about it.

My next meet is on tuesday. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks.

Sub Taper schedule:

Sunday Meet
Rest 1 hr followed by 3x150 sub max 6mins rest…plyos light. Whirlpool

Monday Off (not sore) Whirlpool

Tues Off (still sore) Whirlpool Steam

Wed feel fine (starts, cones, 60mx95%) lower body weights Whirlpool

Thurs Tempo 3x200 3x100 65% Whirlpool

Friday Starts upper body weights (maybe depeding on how I feel) Whirlpool steam

Sat Strdsx60m (half speed to loosen up) whirlpool

Sun stretch whirlpool

Monday Off Whirlpool (quick session) or hot bath

Tuesday competition at 430

Followed by another competition on july 14 at MIT for the finals. Hopefully I hit 11.00. Ill show the plan leading up to that meet also. Any thoughts.

You really want to look at the 10day taper DVD everything is there for you and it’s a great watch.

http://www.charliefrancis.com/community/showthread.php?t=15472

I tried to watch the preview of the video and it didn’t work. Thanks for the tip and link.

Felt great during falling starts and cones. Fastest all year.

Felt sore after second 60m. I was going to run easy. Breased through the 60m at 7.4-7.5. Im pretty sure I could have hit much faster.
I was really holding back. I was running around 85-90.

Decided to cancel starts on friday. I Might change it too some very light 95% speedwork up to 30m. Not sure. Im off to do weights now. Mostly lowerbody. Then the whirlpool and maybe sauna. It better be hot tonight I need it.

Comtemplating an epsom salt bath, but don’t want to over do it.Weird feeling in left quad should be ok in a day or two.

Cant wait for the meet. Im psyched to be running again.

Gather this is a BSG qualifier/trials. Good luck and stay healthy.

Yup exactly. Thanks I’ll try too.

Off to the store to get some epsom salt. The whirlpool was under 99 degrees today. Not hot enough. Did some steam but it wasn’t enough.

yeah i want to give that epsom salt a try. I wonder if doing a day of bath of epsom and another day of contrast showers would further help recovery?