i find that as i get in better shape my tempo sessions become easier and i tend to increase the intesity either by decrease rests or increasing pace … for example when i first started i was doing 3 sets of 10x100m at 75% with 30 secs btw reps and 1min btw sets… now i do 2 sets of 15x100 at about 78% with 30s btw reps and 1min between sets… is this nessesarily a bad thing… what would be the best way to increase the difficulty on the tempo sessions as i get fitter without compromising speed development??
why dont you try doing situps and pushups on either end?
Bud Mike had a good suggestion.
Also why not add 200 meter reps?
2x15x100 is a shitload of reps and must feel like forever and be incredibly boring.
i thought of adding 200m reps but someone (pakewi??) said in another thread that 200m tempos develope slow athletes or something…
have you got CFTS if not i suggest getting it, or if you have got it, read over it again and check the example training weeks and read about tempo’s, distance and volumes.
for eg they were doing 8X200
Remember, the object is to flush out your muscles from the prior day’s intense workout, something that can be accomplished with 1000-2000m of work. Getting “progressive” with tempo to the point you are is overkill.
Tempos too easy? Good! I wouldn’t go above 3000m total (especially if you’re not a 400 person). To increase the difficultly, just start doing 200s. No one cares if you’re a tempo workout hero so keep it manageable and really hammer your high intensity days.
I know what you mean. I started out doing 20x100@70% off 30s rest for tempo sessions. As my fitness improved, I too found those sessions easy and keeped upping the intensity to a point where they were no longer about recovery. I switched up my tempo sessions to 10-15x200 or 8-10x300 (still at 70%), and that has worked for me.
As was previously mentioned, the point is not over do it when doing tempo. Relax and take it easy.
Also try varying the distance like in CFTS. Charlie uses different distances upto 300m. Don’t make it too hard.
TC
well i’m using tempos as my only form of cardio conditioning for soccer since the experts here siad not to do speed endurance, interval sessions etc… so i try to make it as hard as possible without going overboard.
What about core work / callisthenics inbetween reps then straight to the next rep with a bit more time between sets? Maybe 20 crunches and 5 push-ups between each rep? That would be tough.
If you are doing it for soccer conditioning, you might want to increase the volume to 3-4k.
Wow, then you must be a hell of a 1500m runner…