Monday- 3/23/04
Dflex20m
Form Drills2x30m each (done quickly with 1 min recovery between)
4x30m relaxed starts
4x60m starts (Did not have someone to time me) 5 min recovery
4xflying 30m (5 min recovery)
4x30m bounds (3 min recovery)
Lift-Stiff Leg dead lifts 45lbsx10, 135x10, 225x1x10 (1 min recovery)
High Pulls to chest 225x5, 275x3, 315x3, 350x2 (2-5 min recovery) These are a clean without the Rack. The jump is the key
Glute Ham Raise 1x10 with 45lb plate (1 min recovery)
Squats 135x10, 225x5, 315x3, 385x3, 405x2 (2-5 min recovery)
Medball Throws and Twists 3x40 with a 12lb medball (no recovery)
Lying Twists for lower back 3x20 (superset with medball twists)
Cool down-bike for 10 minutes
Stretch for 10 minutes (static)
I have been on a max strength phase for the past 8 weeks and have consistently seen my lifts go up and my 30m starts from blocks go down. I am in my last week of max strength and plan on unloading this week. Each strength phase lasts for 4 weeks. Each week gets progressively higher in volume on auxillary lifts and more intense on core lifts until the final unloading week where volume drops dramatically and intensity goes up. For example, during the 3rd week of my second max strength cycle, I would be doing 4x10 reps on auxillary lifts and the week before would be 3x10 reps, and the beginning week would be 2x10 reps. During the unloading week, the body over compensates extremely well do to the reduction in volume. This allows my body to freshen up and overcompensate. During my sprint workout I focused on relaxing my shoulders and stepping over. I was able to relax and that felt great.
By the way, I am 5’11" and weigth 82kg.
Personal Bests 55m-6.43
200m-21.90 (indoors)
100m-10.51
200m-21.50
Today I had to help a friend of mine who is in the same major as myself (Exercise Science) perform a study for his thesis. He is trying to determine if Dynamic flexibilty vs. Squatting close to max would be a more conducive means of warming up for 3 specific tests. Vertical jump, standing long jump, and 20m sprint. I had to perform the squat today (I forgot otherwise I would not have done 405x2 yesterday). I told him what I did the day before and he adjusted the squatting percentages for me.
Squat-135x8
220x6
260x4
300x3
330x3
340x2
All of the squats are done to parallel and we use a device placed on the thigh which beeps when you are parallel. After I was done with the squat I got my vertical jump measured immediately after and it was 38 inches. I then had to go back through the squat workout and get my standing long jump done. It was 10’2". I had to go back through the squat routine again and then test my 20m sprint which came out to be 3.23 FAT. I was very very sore.
I normally would do tempo today which is 100+100+200
100+100+200
100+100+200
100+100+200
100+100
Before and after each run I do 5 different abdominal exercises for 20 reps.
I decided to ride the bike for 20 minutes very easily instead because my legs were so sore. I’m glad that was the last time I have to go through my friends study again!!. I have participated in the study for the past 4 weeks.
My vertical jump was tested with the same device used by the NFL. I’m not sure what it is called but the individuals standing reach is measured using one arm and then the individual jumps up and hits these plastic horizontal rulers. Its very effecient and accurate if thats what your wondering. The tester must make sure that the individual does not cheat by not reaching as high as possible when doing the standing reach, as that will add more to your vertical. I did have to complete all of the sets of squats then test, then do the whole squat workout again and perform the second test, and so on. My vertical normally is 42 inches (seriously) and my normal standing long jump is 10’6".
Even with low rep numbers, heavy weights can increase hypertrophy…our boy above is 180 pounds and is getting heavy. He has the natural strength and the skill to do the olympic lifts…this will keep the contraction time smaller and help him loose some weight…this cat is big!
and yes Vincente, swing by and work on starts with me three weeks from today. Don’t worry about money…just bring me a white chocolate mocha with coconut (venti). The secret facility is in a warehouse with a mondo surface. Be there or be [ ].
Track-DFlex–20meters
Form Drills 5x30m Fast (1 min recovery)
4x30m practice starts (walk back recovery)
4x30m starts–3.73, 3.69, 3.63, 3.60 (5 min recovery)
3x150m–16.56, 16.69, 16.91 (10 minute recovery)
I felt really good with todays track workout considering that I had to do two days of squats in a row. My legs were a little sore but I know that all of the research and application that i’ve done as far as recovery, works. I focused on completely extending my front leg before my back leg makes its first step out of the blocks. I also focused on relaxing and letting my natural power and biomechanics do most of the work for me. I was somewhat surprised with my 150s and did not think that I would be able to run as well as I did. It feels so good to finally be able to practice on a real track and run on a straight away!! I normally would try to run under 16 seconds for my first 150 and not deviate too much from that time for my other 2 reps but the two days worth of squats depleted my glycogen and phophagen stores. My diet should take care of this problem.
Lift-Upper body prehab 3x5 reps with 5lbs (1 min recovery)
Bench Press-135x5, (1 min)
225x5 (5min)
275x3 (5min)
305x2 (5min)
Incline Press-135x5 (1min)
185x3 (5min)
235x2 (5min)
Pullups-1x10 (body weight)
DB alternate raise/DB drops-1x40lbs/8lbs
DB Row/DB drop-10x95lbs/8 lbs
Abs/Low Back-3x40 medball throws and twist for abs 12lb medball
3x20 Lying twists for lower back
10 min. Bike/Stretch
The lifting workout went as planned. My body has really over compensated nicely and I feel so much fresher. When I started the 4 week macrocycle that I am now completing, my bench was 275x2-squat 365x2, and high pull 315x2. As you can probably see, the gains have been pretty good considering that I have only put on 4lbs of body weight since I began. One thing that most athletes are not conscious of when training is that most of the time the amount of weight they put on is greater proportionally than the increases in poundage of the exercises they engage in. I was very focused today and pushed myself to the edge. My concentration has increased and i’m hungrier than my competitors.
Carl, you are right about shifting my focus to more Olympic lifts. I plan on doing just that for the next 3 weeks. What exercises would you suggest? What about sets and reps? One of the reasons why I weigh so much is that during the indoor season, there were no indoor tracks that I could use so I had to spend most of my time in the weight room doing plyos and lifting.
*The 200s were run in low to high 27 seconds.
*20 crunches of varying types are done before and after each run.
Overall, I felt good today and relaxed well. A problem that I often have is tightening my shoulders when running instead of keeping them loose. I focused on keeping my face and jaw relaxed, while driving my arms down instead of back. It was very wet and cold outside. When I finished training I could not feel my hands for roughly 10 minutes. Tomorrow will be much warmer out and I can really focus on running smooth. I have been recovering extremely well!
Tempo-- Form Drills 5x30m (slow)
100+100+200,
100+100+200,
100+100+200,
100+100
Stretch
*20 abdominal crunches of various types before and after each run.
Today’s workout went excellent. I was very relaxed during all of my runs, while once again focusing on driving my arms down and relaxing my face and jaw. I was able to run all of the 200s in 26 seconds and felt smooth. I feel that my conditioning is coming along well and I know that I will be able to maintain the last 30m of the 100 and the last 50m of the 200 within the next 3 weeks. I honestly can’t wait until tomorrow when I will be doing more starts and 150s. I have been trying to run under 3.60 for my 30m block starts and I feel that tomorrow will be the day to do it as long as the weather holds up. Good luck to everyone competing this weekend especially drivephase who has consistenly put in the work. I will not be opening up in the 100 (possibly 200 as well) until three weeks from now. Since I have acquired so much strength, I am now shifting my focus to moving the weight quickly, incorporating more olympic lifts, and losing about 3-6lbs. My current body fat percentage through hydrostatic weighing is 4% so I’m not sure if I will be able to lose that much weight. It all boils down to expending more energy than i’m taking in.
Carl,
Thank you! I was actually thinking of decreasing the loads in the olympic lifts to 60% of my max and performing 4-5 sets of 4 reps. I was also thinking of performing speed lifts this week, back to strength the second week, and switching back to speed again. Basically, I would be alternating between power and strength. Do you think 60% of my max is too light?
Track Workout-
Dflex-20m
Form Drills 5x30m fast (1min)
4x10m practice starts (walk back)
6x30m block starts (5 min) 3.85, 3.66, 3.57, 3.47, 3.50, 3.87
3x150m (10min) Not timed
Cool down
Stretch
The weather today was great! It was a little windy which caused a chill but it was nice to look up and see a blue sky. The beginning of my workout went very well and I was very surprised at how fast I was able to run my block starts. I have been trying to allow my technique and natural strength help me run under 3.60 for my first 30 meters. I was able to do it three times today and I certainly wasn’t running as relaxed as I would have liked. Several friends of mine stopped by the track and did nothing but distract my training partner and I. I don’t mind having fun at practice but when there are to many heads joking around, it shifts my focus else where. I have put in a great deal of work in helping my training partner obtain a smooth and transitional start and today it showed! I could put his start and first 10m in a text book. The 150s were not timed because we both felt very tight so I shifted the focus to running relaxed, smooth, and passively aggressive. I did not want the thought of the clock filling my head. I was able to run the first two smooth but my shoulders were very tight which shortened my stride. I also felt sluggish when hitting my top speed. I was not able to stretch after yesterdays workout due to immediately having to go to work after, and it showed today. I will make sure that I consistently stretch for an hour a day everyday and whether I do or not is ultimately up to me. I look forward to losing a little more muscle in the upper body.
I am fitness instructor at a college close to the one I attend (Springfield). For five hours a day I am constantly picking up, moving, or lifting weights when people do not put them in there proper places. My grip has gotten stronger since I started working there. When doing cleans or high pull, the more powerful one’s legs are the higher the bar goes with less pull. This year I really focused on getting better at doing high pulls because I don’t believe that the rack during a clean is specific to sprinting, whereas the explosiveness that takes place during the highpull is very similar to block starts. There are a number of reasons why I can jump that high. Maybe Clemson can comment on my calves?
I remember rubbing some of the sprinters at the reggie lewis center and vincente was some of the most dense muscle tissue I have ever felt…looks like you can stop by anytime on the weekends for start and speed work in my backyard…is a 250,000 dollar track good enough? If the weather is good stop by sunday or saturday.
Track–Dflex–20m
Form Drills 5x30m Fast (1min)
4x10m Practice starts (walkback)
4x60m block starts–30m accel+30m Maintain (5min)
4xflying 30m (5min)
2x80m standing starts (10min) 9.00, 9.13 (ended up being 85m)
Lifting–Stiff leg Deadlift explosive-135x10-2 sets of 225x5 (1min)
High Pull @ 87% of max (360)-225x5-315 for 4x3 reps (5min)
Glute Ham raise with 6lb med ball toss-2x10 reps fast (1min)
Step Ups onto bench-185lbs for 4x4 reps (3min)
Jump Squats-185lb for 4x4 reps (1min)
Medball twists 5x40 reps with 12lb medball
Lying Twists 5x20 reps
Cool down/stretch
The weather made todays workout great. It was not hard to warmup and everything went well. The 4x60m starts were done as a 30m accel hard from the blocks and then maintaining for the next 30m. The 30m starts that I was able to run last Saturday were a clear indication to me that my initial acceleration is very good and that if I can maintain my speed for the next 30m, I will be able to run very fast. It was kind of strange to blast out of the blocks and then hold back from runing faster but I really felt that by focusing on maintaining, it caused me to relax and run more effeciently. The flying 30m were done with a 50m run up and I really emphasized stepping over and driving my arms down. The two standing 80m that I did were much faster than I had anticipated. I was able to be very aggressive for the first 60m and then relaxed through the rest of the run. It turns out that I ended up running a few meters longer than 80 but I still think its a positive because of the speed endurance I am gaining.
I changed the focus of my lifting program toward power and speed instead of the raw strength that i’ve done. For the highpulls I used 87% of my max (360lbs) and was able to do 315lbs for 4x3 reps fairly easily. The stepups and jump squats were fun to do because I was really able to move my body weight and the weight I used, quickly. I plan on using more olympic lifts for Wednesdays workout along with 30min of medball work. I can easily see my overall power improving over the next three weeks and I can’t wait to run. I really pushed myself,by myself and became that much closer to VICTORY. I know that one cannot become victorious without the struggle…lord knows that I’ve struggled. Soon it will be my time to shine!!!
Track–Dflex-20m
Form Drills 5x30m slow
Tempo–9x200m @27 sec (3min)
*20 abdominal exercises of various types, before and after each run.
For the workout today, I really wanted to run relaxed in my shoulders and hips. I usually run on a line in order to keep my hips lose and today I did not even have to think about it and I was able to run smooth. I was really happy with how well I was able to drive my arms down and keep my jaw and face relaxed. It was not a hard practice and I was able to stay extremely focused today despite many distractions. It is supposed to rain tomorrow which will prevent me from doing speed work on the track but I know more than one way to make up for it in the form of plyos, form drills, and medball drills. Today was a good workout and I was able to complete the tasks that I set out for myself.
