Forgive me if this was covered already, I didn’t get a chance to read through this entire thread.
What seems interesting to me is the speed ball training used in his program. Would the speed ball be used much like the bench press is used to prolong a strength peak? only that the speed ball is used to prolong a speed peak since this activity lies around the same area as sprinting on the force velocity curve but does not interfere with the legs as much.
Would this method be a better way of preserving speed during an injury? Replacing sprint sessions with speed ball type exercises in order to offer a speed component while injured.
Yes, Syrus, when injured, particularly leg injuries, the speedball can be a very useful part of the rehab as it offers an anaerobic and/or an aerobic component that can assist an athlete to maintain a strong conditioning base. It is the only upper body exercise that is non-resistant and offers a turn-over rate comparable to that when running. Keeping the heart rate at around the 130 to 160bpm for 20 minutes during 6 x 3min routine enables the athlete to return to the track with a solid base to recommence the build up to race pace.
I had an athlete that severely damaged a hamstring in late November 2007. He had to spend some time away from the track and in the interim went on a 6 x 3min round speedball training regime. He was back running flat out by the end of December and ended up running a 200m PB in mid January 2008.
Tom Tellez was the stand out. Very good presenter of basic common sense sprinting. Incredibly fit for his age, demonstrating the technique and the nice fluid action one hopes to achieve.
The speedball presentation was in two halves. Stuart Dempster spoke of the background of it and gave a brief talk about the concept and the effects it has on the body. He said the obvious - the only reason there’s no genuine scientific evidence is because no-one has gone to the trouble of actually testing it. BUT he spoke of the anecdotal evidence including testaments from Allan Wells and Frank Dick.
The second half was basically me giving an instruction on it and discussing my own experiences both as an athlete and a coach in a question & answer format.
I think (at least hope) Stuart was happy for me to answer the questions!
Would the Wells chinnies, squats and push up circuit (minus the speed ball) be a good substitute for tempo when the latter is not an option for that day (e.g. time constraints, etc) or was it a little too intense to use for this purpose?
If you are well conditioned and use to exercises then a maintenance type program could substitute for tempo. It gets the heart rate up and if the circuit lasts 30 to 40 mins then it should have a similar cardio response to doing a normal tempo.
Better than doing nothing at all.
Several members of my squad still do a body circuit regularly - normally the day after a solid track session, as part of their recovery.
We’re not talking big numbers that will have them going home tired & sore.
The numbers are kept at a reasonable level so they recover well enough overnight to be ready for a high intensity speed session.
Eg:
11/11/09 Wednesday some flying 50 tempo running, followed by circuits of bodyweight exercises.
12/11/09 Thursday: 3 x 60m spint trials about 6 to 8 mins apart. It was 39 degrees celsius in Adelaide yesterday.
Incidentally, it is 40 degrees on Saturday where quite a few of our squad are heading up to a pro meet in Whyalla, the gateway to the Australian outback. (about 360kms north of Adelaide). Meet starts at 6.00pm.
just to comment on circuits a la wells…I have in my squad 3 18-22 yo guys…late comers as they say…but I implemented a program centered on a circuit of high rep squat, push ups, sprinters sit ups and burpees. ( only recently added chin ups)…I’m amazed at the physical changes they underwent.
An update on the Whyalla Gift meet - pretty good for us with three of our squad members winning races.
Dylan Hicks won the 120m Gift - first prize of $3575.
Bridgid Connolly won the women’s 120m off the backmark - first prize of $1200 (and she backed it up with a 2nd in the 300m).
Clay Watkins won the 300m off the back mark of 6m conceding up to 24m start to the frontmarkers. First prize of $635.
And CF forum member from Vancouver ‘Canspeed’ who is in SA for the duration of the Australian summer (training with my squad) was a very close 2nd off the tight mark of 4.25m in the 70m novice. The winner was a veteran off 12.0m. Canspeed won $125 for 2nd place.
Great meet up there which coincided with a food & wine festival so it was a decent crowd, creating a pretty good atmosphere.
It was Hicks’ biggest win in 10 years of pro-running.