Progressions into High Intensity Sprint Training

[RB34]

I always do my longer tempo on the track.

@kwave

So I guess it would be preferentially done on regular track vs. back and forth on the grass when one is accessible, since you don’t have to stop and accelerate again and again?

Thank you.

[RB34]

@James_Smith

Ok, since you’ve already been doing the tempo 100’s and 200’s and if you’d prefer to keep the distances shorter then consider:
Month1 Extensive Tempo Big Circuit (100’s and 200’s) with some easy accels mixed in to start off some of the runs
Month 2 Extensive Tempo 80’s (10m easy accel + 70m tempo) on HI days and Big circuit (100’s and 200’s) on low days
Month 3 Extensive Tempo 60’s (20m easy accel + 40m tempo) on HI days and Big circuit (100’s and 200’s) on low days
Month 4 Extensive Sled Tempo 60m on HI days (10-20m easy accel + 50-40m tempo), and big circuits (100’s and 200’s) on low days)
Month 5 Intensive Sled Tempo 60m on HI days, and reduced volume tempo 100’s and 200’s on low days

Effectively 3 loading weeks of the tempo per month followed by a deload, so the five month period would consist of 5 x (3 + 1)

As the tempo intensifies via shorter distances, and then with the sled, keep the volumes per session conservative.

In any event, keep the tempo 100’s/200’s in there throughout (no matter how small the session volume) to ease the transition into special endurance I

Thanks for your help. Gonna wait to see how my body responds to the next 6 weeks of training before I decide which way to go. Strength training will be primary, I want to do just enough sprinting to get use to the movement again etc…

[James_Smith]

@RB34

Thanks for your help. Gonna wait to see how my body responds to the next 6 weeks of training before I decide which way to go. Strength training will be primary, I want to do just enough sprinting to get use to the movement again etc…

Sure thing. Will do. Just remember the importance of maintaining the harmony between the training components such that anything you do outside of sprinting is most effectively transmuted into the sprinting.

[AngelaCoon]

@RB34

I always do my longer tempo on the track.

Surface matters regarding tempo.

Pool= to regenerate and get volumes done to prevent or manage or mitigate issues. No downside providing it’s not your primary method of tempo.

Bike = Again to regenerate but some might have issues with hip flexors but that can be managed. Bike provides option for portability and ease of use. Again both pool and bike are substitutes for sprinters. Tempo on grass is best.

Tempo on grass Always if possible

The minute you do tempo on track everything changes as it’s faster, harder and defeats some of what you are needing which is recovery and regeneration.

RB, why are you doing most of your longer tempo on the Track? To keep your sneakers clean? LOL.

[Actuary400m]

@James_Smith

This works extremely well for tracking and establishing distances http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/

Select manual and metric and zoom in to wherever you are training.

I love using this page to turn an open field into an extensive tempo dreamland.

Doing laps around a football field from the the back of one end zone to the front of the other, and then from sideline to sideline is 326 yards (2x110 + 2x53). This is 298 meters assuming you run on the lines and take right angles. For tempo 300s, I’ve found slightly cutting the corners, but then bouncing out wide a couple meeters on each end is a pretty good approach. I’ll take the benefits of grass and simply accept that each rep might be off a couple meters here or there. I’m not as concerned with exact metrics for tempo as it’s used predominately for recovery.

[James_Smith]

@Actuary400m

I love using this page to turn an open field into an extensive tempo dreamland.

Doing laps around a football field from the the back of one end zone to the front of the other, and then from sideline to sideline is 326 yards (2x110 + 2x53). This is 298 meters assuming you run on the lines and take right angles. For tempo 300s, I’ve found slightly cutting the corners, but then bouncing out wide a couple meeters on each end is a pretty good approach. I’ll take the benefits of the grass and accept that each rep might be off a couple meters here or there. I’m not as concerned with exact metrics for tempo as it’s used predominately for recovery.

Indeed and well said regarding the lack of consequence of the approximate distance of the tempo when the actuality is + or - a few meters per repetition.

[RB34]

Every athlete is different I have been using the track for my longer tempo for about 8-9 years now and haven’t had any issues. I could make a case that the longer tempo on the track has improved my track performances… The pool, bike and treadmill are good options but I don’t like to use them as my primary options. Also I’m not a fan of performing 2000m+ of tempo at a snail pace, I would prefer to keep the total volume around 1500 and increase pace slightly… Tuesday tempo session is a easier session on grass, Thursday Pool or rest, Saturday longer tempo 200-400s on the track (lower volume) ex: 3x400 or 4x300 follow by 4x100 flush. Tempo and recovery I think varies from athlete to athlete, I don’t use tempo as a pure recovery exercise…

@Angela_Coon

Surface matters regarding tempo.

Pool= to regenerate and get volumes done to prevent or manage or mitigate issues. No downside providing it’s not your primary method of tempo.

Bike = Again to regenerate but some might have issues with hip flexors but that can be managed. Bike provides option for portability and ease of use. Again both pool and bike are substitutes for sprinters. Tempo on grass is best.

Tempo on grass Always if possible

The minute you do tempo on track everything changes as it’s faster, harder and defeats some of what you are needing which is recovery and regeneration.

RB, why are you doing most of your longer tempo on the Track? To keep your sneakers clean? LOL.

[RB34]

@James_Smith

Ok, since you’ve already been doing the tempo 100’s and 200’s and if you’d prefer to keep the distances shorter then consider:
Month1 Extensive Tempo Big Circuit (100’s and 200’s) with some easy accels mixed in to start off some of the runs
Month 2 Extensive Tempo 80’s (10m easy accel + 70m tempo) on HI days and Big circuit (100’s and 200’s) on low days
Month 3 Extensive Tempo 60’s (20m easy accel + 40m tempo) on HI days and Big circuit (100’s and 200’s) on low days
Month 4 Extensive Sled Tempo 60m on HI days (10-20m easy accel + 50-40m tempo), and big circuits (100’s and 200’s) on low days)
Month 5 Intensive Sled Tempo 60m on HI days, and reduced volume tempo 100’s and 200’s on low days

Effectively 3 loading weeks of the tempo per month followed by a deload, so the five month period would consist of 5 x (3 + 1)

As the tempo intensifies via shorter distances, and then with the sled, keep the volumes per session conservative.

In any event, keep the tempo 100’s/200’s in there throughout (no matter how small the session volume) to ease the transition into special endurance I

My body is starting to feel good this week, mobility/range of motion is coming back…

[James_Smith]

@RB34

My body is starting to feel good this week, mobility/range of motion is coming back…

Excellent, stay the course.

[kwave]

@James_Smith

Indeed and well said regarding the lack of consequence of the approximate distance of the tempo when the actuality is + or - a few meters per repetition.

Wow…I played around with the website you put up the link to, and now that I’m getting the hang of it, it’s an amazing tool for figuring out approximate distance for tempo. I think I might run in the grassy area of baseball field in my area that is about 250m or so. Since you said that there isn’t really any consequence of being few meters off, which I hope doesn’t cause me any problems.

Thank you so much for that resource.

[James_Smith]

@kwave

Wow…I played around with the website you put up the link to, and now that I’m getting the hang of it, it’s an amazing tool for figuring out approximate distance for tempo. I think I might run in the grassy area of baseball field in my area that is about 250m or so. Since you said that there isn’t really any consequence of being few meters off, which I hope doesn’t cause me any problems.

Thank you so much for that resource.

Sure thing.

[ollie]

I’ll second that…it’s a great tool to have.

My comment about the length of tempo was from a risk reduction standpoint. I figure to have a limit on length of run might keep someone returning from a long layoff a bit safer?

[RB34]

Have you used HRV with any of your athletes if so can you share some of the results? I’m always curious to see results from different athletes from different sports etc.

@James_Smith

Excellent, stay the course.

[James_Smith]

@RB34

Have you used HRV with any of your athletes if so can you share some of the results? I’m always curious to see results from different athletes from different sports etc.

No I have not, however, an NFL team I consult for does and through my connection there I am aware of the dramatically improved results based off my consultation. Note, however, that I do not place any particular weight on HRV alone as it is only one physiological indicator and the volatility of it (it is easily up or down regulated within minutes based upon a variety of external stimuli) does not, in my view, make for a reliable metric on its own.

For this reason, I do not use it for myself or with any coaches or athletes I consult for.

[RB34]

You don’t think there’s a correlation between aerobic fitness and hrv scores? I make all my online clients purchase a hrv system and use it throughout the program…

@James_Smith

No I have not, however, an NFL team I consult for does and through my connection there I am aware of the dramatically improved results based off my consultation. Note, however, that I do not place any particular weight on HRV alone as it is only one physiological indicator and the volatility of it (it is easily up or down regulated within minutes based upon a variety of external stimuli) does not, in my view, make for a reliable metric on its own.

For this reason, I do not use it for myself or with any coaches or athletes I consult for.

[James_Smith]

@RB34

You don’t think there’s a correlation between aerobic fitness and hrv scores? I make all my online clients purchase a hrv system and use it throughout the program…

I won’t criticize you for doing so. I simply don’t have any use for HRV as it is of far removed value relative to irrefutable key performance indicators such as velocity and biomechanical analysis, naming only two.

[kwave]

@RB34

You don’t think there’s a correlation between aerobic fitness and hrv scores? I make all my online clients purchase a hrv system and use it throughout the program…

Does heart rate measuring devise matter a lot? something like cheaper http://www.champssports.com/product/model:217858/sku:PFBLT112&SID=7391&inceptor=1&cm_mmc=SEM--PLA--Google-_-pfblt112&gclid=CKyKuKH91s8CFcmOfgodDbIHkA

vs. something like Bioforce which are different, or physically taking pulse at radial or carotid artery?

I’m thinking about just tracking my heart rate with maybe cheap heart rate monitor at rest every morning to get a possible suggestion on how well I’m recovered for the day, since Bioforce is quiet expensive for me.

Also, I was taught in college class people with lower resting heart rate have better aerobic fitness. I think three years ago when I was not running at all only lifting weights I was like 54 I think when I had pulse taken. However, I’ve never been good at anything long distance running, or anything with endurance in general (not only running, but swimming, crossfit, biking, etc, you name it), and with this I’m not talking bad compared to athletes, I mean bad compared to average people.

I was bad at anything endurance even when I was doing total of 4000+ meters of tempo running a week.

Personally, I think that heart rate doesn’t necessarily indicate good aerobic fitness.

[Oldbloke]

@kwave

Does heart rate measuring devise matter a lot? something like cheaper http://www.champssports.com/product/model:217858/sku:PFBLT112&SID=7391&inceptor=1&cm_mmc=SEM--PLA--Google-_-pfblt112&gclid=CKyKuKH91s8CFcmOfgodDbIHkA

vs. something like Bioforce which are different, or physically taking pulse at radial or carotid artery?

I’m thinking about just tracking my heart rate with maybe cheap heart rate monitor at rest every morning to get a possible suggestion on how well I’m recovered for the day, since Bioforce is quiet expensive for me.

Also, I was taught in college class people with lower resting heart rate have better aerobic fitness. I think three years ago when I was not running at all only lifting weights I was like 54 I think when I had pulse taken. However, I’ve never been good at anything long distance running, or anything with endurance in general (not only running, but swimming, crossfit, biking, etc, you name it), and with this I’m not talking bad compared to athletes, I mean bad compared to average people.

I was bad at anything endurance even when I was doing total of 4000+ meters of tempo running a week.

Personally, I think that heart rate doesn’t necessarily indicate good aerobic fitness.

Some valid points here from Kwave. My experience from running and coaching endurance events:

1. Some aspects of low HR are heriditary, not just an example of having good aerobic fitness.
2. Low heart rate helps in an endurance event since the athlete has a greater heart rate reserve to rise to their HR max as they run faster. However other aspects of body mechanics, strength etc are also major contributors to endurance performance.
3. A given athlete will tend to reduce their resting HR with regular training. So Kwave might get his resting Hr down from say 54 to 49 with aerobic training.
4. A raised resting HR indicates overtiredness and a suitable time to take a rest/easy training session.
5. Running with an HR monitor is a useful way of taking an easy training session - keep the HR relatively low during the session.
6. Running with an HR monitor is not a very good way to control a harder training session (my personal opinion). It is better to run at relevant target paces. For example a runner who races 10k would do faster sessions aiming to hit their target race pace or a bit faster (say 5K pace). Eg target race time is 40 mins so running 1,000m intervals in the range of 3.45 to 4.15. Clearly this requires self knowledge of a realistic race time target. I always found this approach better than using HR ranges.

Is any of the above relevant to sprint training ?
Point 4 resting HR definately, possibly point 5 when doing tempo training.

[kwave]

@pj

Some valid points here from Kwave. My experience from running and coaching endurance events:

1. Some aspects of low HR are heriditary, not just an example of having good aerobic fitness.
2. Low heart rate helps in an endurance event since the athlete has a greater heart rate reserve to rise to their HR max as they run faster. However other aspects of body mechanics, strength etc are also major contributors to endurance performance.
3. A given athlete will tend to reduce their resting HR with regular training. So Kwave might get his resting Hr down from say 54 to 49 with aerobic training.
4. A raised resting HR indicates overtiredness and a suitable time to take a rest/easy training session.
5. Running with an HR monitor is a useful way of taking an easy training session - keep the HR relatively low during the session.
6. Running with an HR monitor is not a very good way to control a harder training session (my personal opinion). It is better to run at relevant target paces. For example a runner who races 10k would do faster sessions aiming to hit their target race pace or a bit faster (say 5K pace). Eg target race time is 40 mins so running 1,000m intervals in the range of 3.45 to 4.15. Clearly this requires self knowledge of a realistic race time target. I always found this approach better than using HR ranges.

Is any of the above relevant to sprint training ?
Point 4 resting HR definately, possibly point 5 when doing tempo training.

It’s weird that my HR is on the lower side AND my endurance is horrible, given the fact that I tend to have more strength than endurance (proportionately), although my work capacity as a whole isn’t very high.

Do you think cheaper heart rate monitors are reliable enough to use?

[RB34]

@James_Smith

Ollie/RB34, and anyone else

There are a multitude of options for progressing into a sprint program from a position of no training history or a long lay-off (the latter being RB34’s case).

We understand that L-S, S-L, and Aggregate approaches are superb ways of getting there coming off of a season, however, when coming from no training history or a long lay-off we must make some obvious concessions.

Extensive tempo is a fine choice and the same thematic principles implicit in L-S, S-L, and Aggregate apply equally as well.

RB34, we’ve already established your exceptional speed/power qualities (as dormant as they might presently be), so in my judgement, you are wisest to stay “close to home” with respect to your re-introduction to sprint training.

My suggestion regarding the hill or sled (I would also add an isorobic/exergenie to the mix with a long rope) is to use either one as THE means of extensive tempo, then to use the same one for intensive tempo, then next in the order would be Charlie’s GPP on the hill or with a sled and onward from there.

For example:
Block 1 Extensive (hill or sled) tempo
Block 2 Intensive (hill or sled) tempo
Block 3 Charlie’s GPP on the hill or with a sled

By using my suggested 60-100m hill or 60-100m sled, consistent with what I wrote in Applied Sprint Training, the hill or the sled increases the duration of the working effort into the speed or special endurance zone (depending upon slope of hill, weight of sled, surface friction, and intensity of effort) and provides a unique opportunity to remain in a relevant distance commensurate with 100m preparation in particular.

The first block of extensive hill or sled tempo would be relaxed tempo efforts over the 60-100m length on the hill or with the sled. As for the grade of the hill or weight of the sled, I hasten to provide exact figures. The point is that the grade be mild enough or sled weight light enough so as to remain consistent with tempo guidelines

RB34, you mentioned you’ll be running regular 200m in competition so that certainly bodes well for the progression you suggested, however, given your stature/build and your exceptional speed/power ability (again, I still have the training video you sent me years ago) I must question whether the 200m races are as effective as you think for complimenting your 100m performance or if there was historically more that could have been done in the programming of pure speed and speed endurance. I state that in the context of the 100m being the race of primary interest. Whereas, if the 200 is equally as important to you then disregard what I’ve stated.

As for work off of the track, you mentioned some good ideas. I’d encourage you to consider your road to return as a microcosm of what the preparation looks like for a beginning junior (compressed over a period of training blocks as opposed to training years).

For example
Block 1- med ball exercises and calisthenics
Block 2- circuit training with weights
Block 3- station training with weights and onward

I suspect your road to return will be speedy with consistent and intelligent preparation.

Good stuff James. I love to revisit old threads - always able to pick up a couple more ideas or make more sense.