Sorry if this has been answered elsewhere. I did a search on sled pulls and it came up with the vast majority of articles from journals. I’m just interested to know if this board would largely classify sled pulls over say 20m or 30m as a plyometric training activity?? I have read, and I think it may have been Charlie in CFTS that sprinting itself is a plyometric exercise, and therefore following that logic, would sled pulls be a similar exercise to say depth jumps with a weighted jacket?? Just interested to know different opinions…
Lil off topic, but what do you think about sled pulls for 40-50m CF?
Sled pulls would be plyometric, like sprinting IF they are done as I suggest- a time decrement of no more than 10%. I kept them at 30m and shorter because that is the point by which the major portion of acceleration is complete.
why do you think some coaches use longer sled pulls?
Shifting it to endurance i guess. The EGs used to do it that way and I experimented with longer work in 1984 but thought this worked best. it also leads better into the possibility of contrast where more reps can be done in the same session- ie one resisted followed by several unresisted in sets.
I know univ of clemson use reps up to 100m and curtis frye go up to 6x50 sled pulls with 4x120 speed end work.
Charlie, I have always felt that if the decision was made to increase the resistance during the sprint act (without running into a head wind or up a slight incline) that a vest, or weight belt is more optimal than pulling against a sled or some other type of resistance in tow.
I state this because the biodynamics of sprinting while towing an external load are much different then the biodynamics of sprinting without towing an external load.
Alternatively, by wearing a vest or belt that does not cause a decrement in speed greater than 10% the biodynamics of the movement are nearly identical to the same movement without the external load.
Only the effect of gravity is intensified and due to the relatively small external load (adhering to the 10% rule) the intensification, with respect to increased structural stress during ground contact, is marginal.
I wouldn’t use a vest for sprints as the potential lowering of the hips creates a higher risk of injury- I’d reserve vest work for drills only. the sled works very well for short accels and can really help with starts if the resistance is just right.
hey cf if i was gonna do a sled day and a another longer sprint day like 90’s, would it be better to perform the 90’s on the first workout and sleds later in the week?
What about allowing for a lesser time drop off in order to ensure that mechanics remain as close to an unloaded state as possible?
I only ask because I once had two trainees use a vest for short sprints and their times remained within 5-7% of their best. Granted the vests were very light (10lbs if memory serves). While I didn’t use slow motion video to analyze mechanics I don’t recall their form having to adjust to any meaningful margin for the small load.
Thoughts?
That said, how do you feel about a weight belt around the thighs or ankles as I know was used at times by sprinters overseas?
Thanks for the feedback guys. I know some of the coachs over here in the UK certainly use the sled for pull longer than 30m. I would argue that passed that point then because the mechanics change from acceleration to more of a maximum velocity type mechanics, that it is harder to maintain efficient technique with resistance passed this point. However, this may be because the weight on the sled is too heavy and therefore encouraging an exaggerated forward lean.
I don’t know if that post made sense!!!
Do you have two or three speed sessions per week?
As we used 30m and shorter reps for the sled, it would be pretty hard to regulate much under the 10% figure, though it would be fairly easy for longer reps.
Again, I’d only use vest or ankle weights for drills, not for running itself.
inseason: 2speed sessions not including meet. i was thinking something like this:
mon: speed 30’s and 90-100,weights
tue: tempo 3x 50-50-200-100
wed: speed sled and normal 30’s weights
thur: rest or active rest with massage
fri: pre meet work: hs 4x3 starts 4x15, throws 10x
sat: race
Sounds reasonable as long as the Wed session leaves you with something in the tank (I’d think it would)
Well i hope i have a solid base from 19 weeks of fall training and my inseason volume is no higher then 360m. any reasons why wednesday workout wouldnt leave anything in the tank?
I only asked cause I didn’t see numbers
do you guys use spikes or regular trainers when pulling a sled?
We used spikes
i have never use spikes for pulls, is it ok to use reg trainers - its a habit i got from football workouts?