Answer your own question, go out and perform 2000m of tempo 3x per week and report back.
i have been… and i’d rather have someone warn me of what bad things could happen as opposed to experiencing them first hand…
You get tired and can’t recover then proceed to suck. Start with ~1000m then move up.
Ben Johnson and the rest of Charlie’s top sprinters routinely performed 2000m+ tempo 3x/week and it certainly didn’t hurt their speed. But they built up to that. You don’t begin there. The key is management of CNS workload. If you keep the tempo work below 75% of best time there should be no significant CNS fatigue. The danger is running it too fast rather than too slow.
I think one of the major problems most people have with tempo work is that it’s not incorporated properly. If you don’t have a tempo foundation, that’s where you need to begin (to the right of the F/T curve), not with speed work. That’s probably one of the biggest mistakes I made, and I know I’m not alone on that point. Lay the tempo/general fitness foundation first. If you are not properly conditioned for tempo, it will wipe you out, especially if you try to ramp up the volume too quickly. Tempo is quite challenging when you first begin it. It only becomes low intensity recovery work after your general fitness levels are in place. If you begin with high intensity work first and then try to incorporate tempo after the fact, the fatigue from tempo will hamper your HI elements until general fitness is established.
That’s the key we are not Ben Johnson or Gatlin, normal people like us don’t need 2000m 3x per week. You can get all the benefits of tempo by keeping the volume =<1500m.
"Increase tempo volume, longer hills etc…
Mon: short hills
Tue: 4000+ tempo
Wed: long hills
Thur: 4000+tempo
Fri: short hills or int tempo
Sat: 4000+ tempo"
this a post i got from you, rb34, a couple months ago after i asked what type of gpp i should do for a l-s. 4000m of tempo seems insane after hearing what your saying now…
That’s a 400m type program -it look like.
Yes, exactly.
Tempo also ties in with core work. When people read statements by Charlie that his top people did up to 4500 reps/week of core work, they have trouble understanding how this could possibly aid recovery instead of sapping your energy. Just like tempo, it facilitates recovery once you’re in shape for it. You have to build up gradually. If you attempt to do 1,000 reps of core work in your first workout, you won’t be able to stand upright the next day let alone run.
Yep, when I first got my med ball (11lbs) I could only do 25 sit up throws against the wall and I had to rest for 1 min and do another set. NOW, I can bang out 100 rep sit up throws (if I want to go that high in reps) then take a rest. It’s just amazing, over time your body will just get use to it and it will build itself up. BTW, my diet still sucks (compared to pro athletes) and the ONLY thing I’m taking now is zinc, mag and calcium. D%M, if I could eat and get massages like the pros my body comp and progress would be so much better.
Also, IMHO, the med ball work is more important then the tempo… Don’t know why guys shy way from it; is hella fun! I’m getting strong too because of it, put on 295 at the gym but I got stuck and could not get it up… lol, dudes in the gym think i’m all strong because I don’t look like all the 250lbs+ juice heads (who I never seen put up more then 315), i’m lean and long so I shock them all. I shake my head when gym dudes think 295 is a lot because I think of Ben with 450 and Tiny Tim M with 345 and I know I’m so weak compared to them.
LOL, you put on 295 and got stuck- guess those 2000 throws are helping…??
Dude, a year and change ago my bench was stuck a 245 for the longest time! The med balls help me work on my rate of force development.
I fully understand tho I’m not the big dog like you puttin up 350 plus.:rolleyes: lol…
Please clarify, are you referring to explosive medicine ball throws or low intensity circuits? They have very different training effects.
I have been using a Mini-tramp as the re-bounding platform for my circuit med-ball training. Gyprock walls = no throws against the wall in the Training Studio. Finally found a use for the mini-tramp!! Throw med balls against it 
2000m of Tempo is pretty easy to get used to. Esp if your doing it 1st in your program in the off season, ie general fitness phase. Should take not much longer than 1 full month to get used to it, unless your holding way too much excess Weight - ie muscle bound or FAT.
Esp if you do them in Joggers on grass. You can easilly do them in 33-36sec each over 200m and easily do 2 sets of 5 without much effort. 1 set of 10 of 200m at them speeds with 2min recoverys with a few sit ups, or push ups etc between each rep is quickly handled well. Doing so in quality joggers takes the stress off your legs.
If your general fitness is that low and or your a Newbe to training - i would work on that for 4-6wks before GPP. Sort of like
mon - Tempo
Tue - explosive med ball and med ball circuit
Wed - off
Thurs - Tempo
Fri - Explosive med ball and med ball circuit
Sat - off
Sun - off
4-6wks of that, then Gpp program
Just because you can do 2000m of tempo doesn’t mean you need to do that much. I would struggle with your tempo workouts.
I beg to differ
If that would be a struggle, then your general fitness is too low.
Once your season is done - i would be looking to increase your general fitness. General fitness improves very quickly.
Charlie has mentioned many times the reason to have a good General Fitness platform. So i need not delve into that.
There are reasons why it may take longer than 4-6week in the off season to get your general fitness up, Such as being muscle bound from too much Weights or just being FAT. Good time to diet is during this period to drop the kg’s.
You need some volume in your legs - 2k of tempo is in all reality pretty easy. 1km barely moves the blood.
LOL, I don’t need anymore volume on my legs, I’m a prison guard 12hrs a day. You can build general fitness with 1500m, what’s so special about 2000m?
So, if someone was doing tempo 2x a week and had a 6 week gpp how would you progress the tempo work without overreaching?
Well - you need to also take in consideration your work.
If your on your feet like 12hr days, then you do what you can. But also realize at the same time, don’t expect miracles when your working 12hr days and training part time.
Anywhere between 10.50 - and 11 flat would be great times on that schedule.
i have worked 12hr days before also - and once was 7days wk for 10wks! Only did 20min workouts every 2nd day. No good for speed, but gym strength still went up.
If your doing 1000m now
Recovery could be say on a 2min 30cycle - ie every 2min 30sec the next rep starts.
wk 1 - Mon - 10x 100m
Thur - 10 x 110m
wk 2 - Mon - 10 x 120m
Thur - 10 x 130m
wk 3 Mon - 10 x 140m
Thur - 10 x 150m
wk 4 Deload
Mon - 10 x 130m
Thur - 10 x 140m
Wk 5 Mon - 10 x 150m
Thur - 10 x 160m
wk 6 Mon - 10 x 170m
Thur - 10 x 180m
Wk 7 Mon - 10 x 190m
Thur - 10 x 200m (2000m)
wk 8 Deload
Mon - 8 x 200m
Thur - 9 x 200m
I would hold that for about 4wks and then slowly start adding in push ups, sit ups, squats, burpee’s etc between the reps.
Depending on your work roster, ie, 4 days on 4 days off 12 hr days?? You could do 1000m on work days, and work up to 2000m on non days.
So instead of 8wks to get there, it might take 12wks?
The Q. you have to believe in is - Is it worth it? How much time do you have available and how much Better / Faster do you want to get? The answer to these Q’s will decide your volume