EMS works wonders, and I’m hoping it will ‘save’ me this winter. The explosive strength program is really intense for the hamstrings (and I hold the duration of the intensity for more than 4", by cranking it up, or going two pushes up, one push down, if I’m reaching my tolerance limit, for up to 12-14 seconds), and I feel my legs “go” as a result of this especially in the longer sprints.
Charlie’s drill… He main attend that day was to make me to dorsiflex better, so he did a bounding motion (not covering too much ground at all), while toes pointing up as much as possible, but as he bounded, he also cycled each leg through quickly, like a fast A skip (strongly dorsiflexing as the leg went up)… ugghhh it’s reallly hard to explain, I wish I had my camera with me.
Oh; I’ll try and draw it today, showing the consecutive movements.
EMS works wonders, and I’m hoping it will ‘save’ me this winter. The explosive strength program is really intense for the hamstrings (and I hold the duration of the intensity for more than 4", by cranking it up, or going two pushes up, one push down, if I’m reaching my tolerance limit, for up to 12-14 seconds), and I feel my legs “go” as a result of this especially in the longer sprints.
It’s true that I wasn’t using it as much previous seasons, except for two summers ago when I was extremely busy with workshops, and I just trained a little and EMS’ed each and every night for one month prior to national, and then on the day of the competition I split the 400 in a 200pr (of 25.7"), way ahead of the national champion, and then hit the wall at 250m… :o
I’m thinking (hoping) that if I use the EMS as much as I can (and I can do better than what I’m doing… I just get humanly lazy sometimes), with the existing weather of 1 degree outside and not much chance to do speed work, while working on longer reps with short recoveries for that hard part of the 400, I could see some results for indoors at least.
We’ll see…
Charlie’s drill… His main intention that day was to make me to dorsiflex better, so he did a bounding motion (not covering too much ground at all), while toes pointing up as much as possible, but as he bounded, he also cycled each leg through quickly, like a fast A skip (strongly dorsiflexing as the leg went up)… ugghhh it’s reallly hard to explain, I wish I had my camera with me.
Oh; I’ll try and draw it today, showing the consecutive movements.
If you get a chance can you post your EMS routine? I have a compex sport and it has the preset program. I use the explosive program and its something like 4-6 seconds on 25-30 seconds off (I loose count) how do you get the EMS to stay on for 12-14 sec?
Hi Jay,
what I do is, when the intensity goes up (in the explosive strength program), after it goes on its own for 2", I start pressing the + button. You will notice (if our machines are the same ) that when you press + or - during the intensity part, it will not go back to the resting intensity until you are finished cranking (or lowering).
About EMS routine, I try to do it two-three times per week (in theory…) strengthening in glutes, hamstrnigs and quads (all on the same day), and the days in between I do active recovery. I read someplace that the active recovery program also has capilarization properties, so you’re training while using that program also; I like to put it up to my limit (I have the MI sensor, so it tests my muscles how much they can handle), and it really tones them up nicely (I think )
Sorry about the drill that I said I will illustrate today (I shouldn’t promise such things to happen right away), I will do it as soon as I find time !!! No worries, it will happen…
6 x 10 depth jump plyos up a hill (with small pauses) > these kinda burnt my quads, which I felt for the rest of the session, I nearly pulled the right one :o
lots of stretching
1 x 80m alternate leg bound plyos
stretching
8 x 100m fast and relaxed (theoretically speaking :o), slow walk back recoveries. These actually felt nice and fast. For grass standards, at least.
stretching
5 x 60m right-right-left-left plyos (this is my favorite exercise)
stretching
2 x 35m hills (walk back) > right quad not doing too well, so I switched it to:
4 x 35m running A’s uphill (surprisingly this didn’t hurt)
home:
4 sets of low sideways rubber-band walking (about 10 steps each direction per set) > ouch
6 x 300m tempo
Sooooooo colddd to be doing this… (3 degrees), I’m having trouble breathing, and I know it’s more trouble than the average (non-athlete) person, and I know this for a fact because when I go running with my researcher friend in this kind of weather, I always have trouble breathing, while he is fine (who only runs very occasionally). Today with the 300s I thought I had asthma…
Dejan explained this (as usual … this guy is a tuttologist!! > funny way of characterizing someone as omniscient)… it’s like the asthma phenomenon of cross country skiers… When the athlete has low body fat in the abdomen area, and fairly strong abdomens, while the muscles are cold, they contract more, and push against the diaphragm, hence the feeling of shortage of oxygen. According to my man-friend (i’m sure he read about this somewhere), men experience this phenomenon less than women, because the abdomen is the area of concentration of fat in their body, so their temperature there is greater .
As the body slowly warms up and the muscles expand,(but problem is I cannot possibly warm up in this weather, unless I’m doing one big long run), the depth of the breathing is increased, and things feel better overall.
Now I want to start a thread of whether or not this ‘breathing suffering’ (during tempo), helps at all for the aerobic component and fitness of the 400 - meaning; is more work being done, as opposed to doing the same session in warm temperature?
So please if you would like to give some constructive feedback on the above, go here: http://www.charliefrancis.com/community/showthread.php?p=243382#post243382
Yesterday was a snow day, and then I was at the university all day,and then I lost the training day. It happens…
Thursday, Dec. 2nd, 2010
(2 degrees)
15min bike to the park
20min warm up
5min dynamic stretching
5 x 20m A skips uphill
5 x 20m running A’s uphill
5 x 30m scissor kicks uphill
10 x 120m hills, slow walk back recoveries
these went well ! (I was well warmed up, I also had some children-audience in the beginning, that must have helped :o I was like a superhero).
And this is the last time I’m saying that a stranger cut my training session short because of ‘disturbance’, because soon people will think I’m making things up…
Point is, the goal was to do 15 hills today, but I cut it short…
I dont know how the hell you do this but I put it at 50mA and i try to go up and down but damn… Im too busy trying to fight the pain… I have to post this on youtube its funny as hell…
Anyway how high do you crank up the stim before you start going up and down.
I dont know how the hell you do this but I put it at 50mA and i try to go up and down but damn… Im too busy trying to fight the pain… I have to post this on youtube its funny as hell…
Anyway how high do you crank up the stim before you start going up and down.
It’s only pain You’ll get used to it !
Which muscle category are you working on when going up to 50mA? I have different 'pb’s for different muscles. With glutes, I’ve gone up to 300, with hamstrings I’m usually in the 120mA range (sometimes higher, sometimes lower), and my ‘shameful’ category are my quads, which are in the 50-60mA zone, on a good day. I’m progressive with the cranking in the first 2 reps, but for example with hamstrings, I’ll start at 70-80.
Make sure you’re not lying flat on your stomach with the hamstrings, because you can cramp seriously… I’m on my feet, bent forward at 90 degrees when I do them, but the Compex booklet doesn’t describe such a position - I find it the most effective.
For explosive strength and strength, I believe that the rests are 40".
Damn 300mA??? how long did it take to get to that? I would prob tear something… GEEZ
It funny that you mention the quads I cant get past 60 either… maybe more type 2 fibers there? Im going to try going on a glute ham machine for my hamstrings.
As far as youtube goes… I have to post when Im talking and in mid sentence the stim cranks up… LOL
100+100+100+
100+100+200+100+
100+200++200++100+
100+100+200++100
100+100+ 'interview interruption here by kind old men of the park ’
100+100+100+
100+200++100+
100+ (I stopped here because I started turning ankles in holes very frequently during this set and I didn’t like it any more)
(+ = less than 50m walk, ++ = 100m walk)
The more bodyfat you have over the muscles you are trying to stimulate the higher the electrical resistance. Leaner people will thus have to use lower mA, and areas with a thicker layer of fat (e.g. glutes) can tolerate higher currents.
40min easy run. I had an irritation very very low and to the inside of of my right shin, which probably derives from the right ankle twisting from Friday’s fields, so I went home to give it a rest.
EMS:
40min strength on glutes (up to 140mA)
30min explosive strength on hamstrings (up to 120mA)
30min active recovery on hamstrings
30min active recovery on calves
40min strength on quads (up to 60mA)
Went to Blue Note and ate foie gras for the first time, sooo delicious and such good music… And too much red wine… Need to hydrate !!!
Yes, it also has much to do with muscle density (the more dense, the easier to tolerate), and pain tolerance factor, of course… :rolleyes:
But i’m just laying/standing there and it’s doing all the work
All I must do is tolerate…
3 hrs add up like this:
40min strength on glutes (it’s how long the program takes, including warm up and cool down)
40min expl. strength on hamstrings (80total)
30min active recovery on hamstrings (1:20total)
30min active recovery on calves (1:50)
40min strength on quads (2:30)
30min active recovery on quads (3:00hrs)
50mA is pathetic on the quads, no? I’ll work on it…
Jami, remember that back problem? Well, if I sit and do work for many hours, it sneaks back, and then I have to drop and do push ups or whatever :o, or go train, and it disappears. I suppose I have to be careful never to go with many hours sitting.
90 degree chairs were a wrong invention, in my opinion.
Once in Greece, I’m doing doubles… They worked all Sept-Oct. long and I also sat for 8hrs a day ,and never had any problems with my back.
Wed, Dec 8th, 2010
(5 degrees and raining)
15min bike to park
35min warm up (jog, skips, dynamic stretching)
tempo: (on dirt park)
200+200+200++
200+200+200++
200+200+200++++++++ :rolleyes:
(+ = walk 100m )
3 x 60m Charlie dorsiflexing skips (I’ll get my 4th floor friend to tape this using his phone, when I get the chance; i don’t feel like drawing).
That EMS bypasses the CNS (partially true as it does create cortically processed increased feedback from the area,if anything by means of increased awareness - what you call tolerance -) does not imply that it does not elicit hormonal and enzymatic responses,not to mention key autonomic responses,which may be desirable to an end,or counter productive to the very same end, even when/if you are “just laying/standing there”…
So i’m assuming counterproductive when used prior to sprinting, and on CNS-recovery days?
I agree there’s partial CNS stress during usage (I can tell because I can’t read with concentration during it), but I still see it as an ‘easier’ means to training, because I’m not being ‘forced’ to create the muscle stimulations, as opposed to going out there and making myself sprint, if you know what I mean.
That being said… 200s are much easier with EMS training support (mentally-wise)
)