What types of things can be done on tempo days if the weather is very bad (deep snow) and there is no indoor track available?
Would light work in the pool be good? How about treadmill work?
Any ideas are appreciated. Thanks!
Get to the pool for sure will dig you out some great infor for tempo sessions in the pool and post them here.
Skipping, circuit training, running on the spot, running A’s on the spot
High volume medball throws, hurdle mobility, tempo circuits, general strength circuits, skipping (as previously stated), rudiment (if you can fit it in) dan pfaff style.
you can do tempos outside…
hills or stadium steps…
I am doing weight on these days and change the program a little.
OR: (no kidding), i go on the track with a besom and sweep the snow away… After 15 mins you are done and you can short the warm up… 
You can do tempo inside of your house…
Use one chair and do stepping, and in between do squats, lunges, push-ups, abs, stretching, hip work etc!
This is the kind of stuff Allan Wells did in his “ice box” garage at his home in Scotland. So simple, so effective. Can-do attitude is a wondrous thing.
When you say stepping, do you mean step-ups onto a chair ?
Yes, I ment step-up! It is like harvard step test (assesment of aerobic capacity)!
This step-up on a chair, or lunges, can replace running part of tempo work (4x100m@75%), and in between, as said, you can do squats, ab work, medball, hip work, stretching, circuits etc…
BTW, chair should not be too high… you can do 30sec reps, or on number… find yourself! Play!
When thinking about circles, I remembered Mel Siff’s opinion about them… He was “against” circles (there is chapter in his supertraining book), but he proposed something like “interval circles”… so when doing circles, dont just jump to another exercise, take a break!
Pool running is good. I’ve used treadmill tempo runs as well (20 seconds on and then 40 seconds off 10 times, 1 or 2 sets). I’ve also used jump rope at times (20 sets of 100). More often than not, though, I just go outside and shovel off 100 meters of track or just run through the snow. Running through deep snow is easy on the joints and quite a workout. There are a lot of other good suggestions that have been posted, which I may try myself or with athletes I coach. Whatever you do, try to look at these days as recovery – not intense at all – while providing an overall conditioning effect and calorie burn.
Cool, thanks alot. I may have to use these alternatives for now since it rains almost every day right now in Northern CA. :mad: But somethin to do is better than nothing. Since I am a 400m runner primarily, how would you adjust the volume? Since my tempo is usually a little more… Thanks!
Run in the rain!
I have been but it gets old when you have to do it by yourself in a monsoon. Im not one to not run because of the rain but I’ve been sick latley so an alternative is a back up plan.
That depends on the chair height… really dont know… try 30s on 30s off! It can last about 2x longer than your tempo distance with the same or little longer rest in between!
Suppose you do 4x100m for 17secs! You can do 30s step-ups with 30-60sec rest!
My today tempo session
I have just returned from training, where I gave some general/tempo work to my kids (basketball players 91’), after the main part of training.
It consisted of some aerobic work interspread with all-body exercise circles:
Aerobic work (which substitutes for tempo running) consisted of:
30s split jumps with hands
30s off
30s jumping jacks
30s off
30s legs wide/narrow and clap with hands (wide, close)
30s off
30s skip in place
#1 circle
Narrow push ups x10
Exercises on the stomach for the back (rising arms, rising legs, rising contra leg-contra arm) 4 + 4 + 4
While sitting straight, legs in air, and making 8s aroung each legs x30
„Woman exercises“ – lying on side lifting legs (adductors, abductors) x20 each
Aerobic work
#2 circle
Wide push ups x10
Bridge (isom. 6secs) x10
Lifting knees while hanging on sweedish ladders 2x10
Lunges (normal, crossing, wide, side) 6+6+6+6
Aerobic work
#3 circle
Push ups with touching contra-shoulder in up-position x6
Side-flexion with legs (isom 6s) while hanging from sweedish ladders x3 each side (anti-scoliosis)
While sitting, throwing ball with partner, legs in air x30
Sumo lifts with ball between legs (in hands) x15
Aerobic work
Cool- thanks for the good words duxx. I used some of your ideas today; effective and simple!
We have had excellent results with treadmill tempo in winter. 15/30 would work for an experienced athlete. We have worked up to 20 reps but, use 15/45 for our non-track athletes. This also allows 3 athletes per treadmill. Another good idea are mat runs in place. Use a gymnastics crash pad. Intensity can be determined by number of reps. This is an excellent work but, almost too hard.
www.michaelboyle.biz
The sam Michel Boyle who wrote Functional training for sports, HK?
I must say I am honored to have you here, welcome Michael!
Did you have time to search opinions on your book at the site?
Check the archives for tempo alternatives. there are a number of threads on this including pool workouts. the tempo sessions on the treadmill combined with push-up, sit-ups etc are there as well.