Ok I sent this in a PM to xlr8, but decided I would like to get the forums thoughts on my understanding of it all as well. Here it is.
Ok so say I were to start an accumulation phase of sorts, until I am happy with my body comp. Am I correct in these ideas as to what to do in an accumulation phase.
Sprint volumes are low, only acc. runs are being performed, I would guess nothing past about 40m
Weight room work tends to be of a higher volume, this is because sprint volumes are low and to develop the proper body type, however general exercise movements tend to stay the same
Between days some sort of GPP/Recovery is done again in a higher volume, as sprint volumes are currently low and extensive workouts of this nature wont effect weight room performance as much
Once general fitness and desired bodycomp/type is reached, one may begin an accel. based phase. The focus of this phase will be acc. up to a distance of 50m, possibly later in the phase up to 60m. As well flying runs may be implemented in order to start developing top speed qualities(form, relaxation, reactivity). As well max strength phases continue for desired length of acc. phase, volume going down on all movements and intensity rising. GPP/Recovery training is kept to try and maintain leaness and fitness.
A top speed phase could be alternated, as they are complimentary to eachother. This may be detrimental to a football player where limit strength is of importance and needs to be consistantly developed(because in max v phases strength training shifts to a maintainace approach to allow the elasticity and flexability needed for max speed runs to be available).
To try and counter this, could longer accelerations be implemented where one would hit top speed(60m standing start)?
As well I thought plyometrics could focus on the opposite of the current focus of the phase(ie acc. and max strength phase, plyo’s would be reactive and vertical based, max v phase plyos would be horizontal).
As well I thought guidelines such as these for a ceiling on volume of sprint work(outside of relaxed starts in the warm up) could be-Accumulation-160m, Acc.-260m, MaxV-360, this is per session.
I am still unsure as to how plyo volume should be regulated. Is it contacts or distance? I think Ive read 40 total contacts a session is the ceiling, but I am not sure. I suppose after an intense sprint session that is all one could handle anyways!
Again for plyos, in the accumulation phase i suppose they would be the less intense ones(lower box/hurdle height, higher jumps would be up to a box), with a move to more intense plyos in the acc. and max v phases.
this is fine, although you could do with even shorter distances (20-30m) -depending on your level, of course and where your “transition zone” between accel and top speed is… And again for No 4, not sure if you want to do these together or not (accel+top speed), but with 50-60s, i suppose you would work more your top speed; for the latter, flyings of 20-30m seem ok!
i am the last guy in the forum to suggest something about football, but are 60s, or top speed necessary for you? does your position require these? in any case, you can work on top speed, but it might not be developed as much as you might expect, if further strength development -as i understand it- is of great importance to you!
i think Charlie has answered this, but plyos for both accel and top speed can be of vertical nature, but with different directions as you progress and get stronger (in plyos)
& 9. i suppose you can try different volumes and see what works for you, but when times drop and/or form/technique isn’t there any more, i would stop the session independently of volumes/fcs achieved by this point
if i may, i would insist on extending accel rather than working the other way round; higher top speed will come from an extended accel, although perhaps later in terms of distance, but the job will be done; i feel that if you work more on top speed with not “good” or fully developed accel, your top speed would be limited; plus, top speed is the most difficult element to develop; stick with accel for a while and see how it goes; i’ve dropped my 40m-times via pure accel work of shorter distances…
I thought thats what I said. Flying runs and long accels to develop top speed in the max V phase. Haha don’t worry I plan on working heavily on acc. before I start to do real hard flying runs. As well reactive plyos wold be the main developer of top speed until a very good development of acc. capabilities has been put in place.
Question, for the speed end. day, since I do not need speed end. for football, and even for sprinters before they start special end. runs, what is this day used for? Strength endurance with running a’s? Rep out on body weight exercises? Thanks.
i can’t comment on football, but for track you can have an additional session on one of the other two elements depending on the phase you are in; although additional accel work might serve better your game
perhaps before this, heavy weight days might also be an option, as the gym part is needed by you, right?
