If an athlete normally does 2000m tempo what would be an equivalent overall distance be for running A’s as a replacement (performed at walking pace for reps of 100m)?
Maybe 1000m?
Not the same thing at all. Running A’s over 100m is strength endurance- far more demanding than tempo
Charlie
Excuse the dumb American Strength Coach, but when you mean A’s, do you mean “A-skips” as it is sometimes called?
You said running A’s over 100M is too demanding for tempo…but what about over distances of 15-30 M?
Just trying to learn!
running A’s are what dumb american strength coaches call high-knees 
. 15-30m can be very demanding depending on how quickly you move through that distance.
Mortac8
Thanks for the clarification. I teach the athletes (not sprinters;we don’t have a track team) first a “walking” A, where they maintain proper arm swing, and drive off of their plant foot, lifting their knee up. They then are to strike the front half of their foot down, almost under their hips. There’s no “clawing” or “pawing” action…
When many athletes hear “high knees”, I find that they tend to lean back and resemble a marching band leader…
Does it still sound like I’ve got a concept of what’s going on?
Thanks again…I’m still shaky on my track terminology :o
What about when performed with moderate intensity ie. tempo as compared to a sprint, so at the end there is little fatigue.
running A’s over 100m would be a work-out more similar and work the hip flexors in a similar fashion to say maybe, a more intense sprint over 200m(85%-100%) rather than an extensive tempo run over 200m.
have done 3X100m and 2X150m running A’s as strength endurance on high intensity days after the main work-out(speed) and have done 6X100m and 4X150m running A’s as strength endurance on high intensity days as the main work-out after some drills and strides.
1000m of running A’s, 10X100m, would qualify as high intensity and wouldn’t be done on tempo days but it would probably have to be the main-workout on a high intensity day maybe preceded by some drills and low volume acceleration. maybe you might wanna break it up into 2X5X100m w/4min.rest btw. reps and 8min.rest btw. sets.
When talking about running A’s for tempo I really am not meaning full intensity as for strength endurance just like I wouldnt sprint 100% for tempo. Running A’s @ 75% for tempo, thats it.
The reason I am asking is, running A’s may be more favourable for tempo when muscle (especially hamstring) soreness is present at a higher degree than usual and were sprinting at 75% may not help. Running A’s @75% involve the swing phase little which normally could increase soreness of the hams.
I don’t see the value of doing running A’s at less intensity. that would cause the hips to drop and encourage poor form.
Maybe you’re thinkig of keeping the knees much lower???
You might consider replacing some tempo sessions with power speed sessions (drills over a short dist/duration)
Yes I was actually thinking about keeping the knees lower. Drills of other soughts could be good also though.
Sorry if this is slightly off topic, but I often see military personnel training by running long distances.
If they did tempo work instead of continuous long distance work would the training meet the same goals and cause less injuries ?
Funny you mention that…I’ve been recomending tempo work for several new military recruits…They say the tempo work has made their PT times fall, they’re in better shape, and they don’t run endless miles…
I’ve also been recommending weighted vest running - to simulate the packs, but that’s another topic…
Thanks. Unfortunately most people everywhere think they need to run endless miles to be ‘fit’ or lose weight. Tempo work is unheard of even in the sporting circles here. Most believe that long distance running is a must for building an endurance base!
Perhaps there are plenty of inefficient training methods adopted by the armed forces everywhere. Here I see them running on the road for miles. I wonder how many of them suffer long term injuries because of poor training.
The weighted vest to simulate the back packs sounds good. But will institutions like the armed forces listen?
Although tempo increases our aerobic capacity for both shorter and longer distance anyone serious about long distance running would have to increase their slow twitch muscle greatly which is best done by running long distance. Also, the connective tissues generally would need to be conditioned for long continuous running. The army would probably be best training everything.