Speed Volume

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@James_Smith

As a practicing coach and strong supporter of Charlie’s work I would advise a precautionary note with respect to any urgency one has in seeing an annual plan.

As Charlie has stated, entire training programs are often more reflective of history then philosophy.

I have found this to be true across a great number of methodological approaches.

What is already available are blueprints of what a sprinter would execute according to a CFTS program short to long or long to short.

This is what I perceive to be the most beneficial resource.

A complete sprint program can only responsibly be written for a specific individual. Beyond that, for the sake of demonstrating, it would have to be generalized to the point of what is already presented in various materials of Charlie’s.

Speaking for myself, I have had requests to see how I outline an annual cycle for my American footballers. There is always great reservation on my end to do so because I’m not sure that words can strongly enough convey to the reader that training programs don’t exist in a vacuum.

Meaning, they are a snapshot, even if it’s an entire annual plan, because all the preparation that comes before it, through previous months and years, is what sets the stage for what you see on paper.

In my experience I’ve seen a tendency for readers to be too quick to copy and past the programs of others into their own training or that of their athletes. While gains over the short term are generally observed, particularly regarding a change in programming for lower qualified athletes, the uncertainty down the line is typically sure to follow.

Again as a supporter of Charlie’s it is my recommendation to closely scrutinize the materials he has already made available in order that the methodological approach becomes familiar. From here, the reader is then equipped to integrate this information in a practical sense into the training of sprinters and numerous other speed-power athletes.

I state this as someone who has faithfully been studying Charlie’s work since 02/03 and never seen an annual plan laid out in any more detail then an outline.

Good post James thanks. I guess for me the main frustration is that I’m just a self coached athlete who runs a small business and I don’t have much time to figure things out on my own.

I have about 4-5 good years left to run and to possibly make it pro then my time is over. I don’t care to become famous our rich I just want to end my running career with good PRs and at least make it to the Olympic trials in 2012 (end of world date lol). If I felt as though I did not have the talent I would not have put myself though a decade of sacrifice and discomfort.

Anyhow, I do consider myself lucky however because I came across charlie methods before I got too old or before I cashed in my chips so at least I can go to the grave in peace knowing that I gave myself the best possible chance to succeed.

Not to many people can say that, because when I look around, many people give up on there dreams very early in game.