Weights can improve sprinting and vice-versa the two are not mutually exclusive and do overlap! If you look at CF Videos from Vancouver you’ll see that an elite OL train to this 22m mark and thus will always beat an OS in the first 22m of the race and would invariably win a 25m race. This is because OL can put out more power than the OS and this 22m mark highly represents the point where OL training is carried out to. 
What? I said lifters or shot putters are equally fast for the first few meters and the world record for the standing long jump is held by a shot putter. I didn’t say anything about 22m.
No but your graph implies this to be around 22m for the training of OL. Yes?
I also drew my conclusions from other sources as well. I get the 22m mark by going up vertically from one graph to the one above it.
Don’t confuse areas of principle contribution for a delineation! The effects of every componant have a main emphasis area but are not limited to it AND all componants of a sprint program are interrelated. bottom line- no weightlifter, who does no sprinting will hang with a top sprinter for 22m!
Not even a guy who can lift 3 times his own BW in the clean and and has worked on the start from the blocks who could also probably squat 700 lbs?
The motor patterns of sprinting must be trained for you to be able to use the majority of your strength.
If he worked on the start from the blocks he doesn’t do no sprinting.
If he doesn’t do no sprinting, he doesn’t do no winning.
(Was that Shakespeare? I can’t recall)
Damn it, hahah.
To rephrase for anyone that was unclear to: If he does block starts then he’s doing sprint training (Charlie wrote that someone who does not practice sprinting could not compete with a top sprinter).
in order to achieve the best stimulation and recovery rates of CNS via max weight training and top speed drills, should the two have the same cycling within a given phase? for example, should both weights and speed follow an intensification pattern for 3 weeks with the 4th being a recovery week for both of them? or it doesn’t matter anyway and an overlap wouldn’t hurt, at least early in the season? because i assume that develpment of good levels of max strength should be in place before max speed attainment over a certain distance (e.g., 60m)
Thanks!
There must be a relationship between all the high intensity elements, although, as you suggest, it is less important at the beginning of the training cycle and more important later.
While it is important to build in an overall 3/1 pattern, not all of the elements can rise and fall at the same time, or to the same degree. In fact, the volume of some of the less emphasized high intensity elements can even be rising slightly while other, more key elements are falling, yielding a NET reduction in CNS stress.
The individual degree of rise and fall also depends on its relative sequential order in the training cycle. For example, the max strength weight phase must be replaced by the maintenance phase to reduce competing CNS stress enough to allow the highest speeds to be achieved.
as always, very informative!
thankfully, according to your comments, my plan should be ok; let me know if you see any major mistakes, or something that i should definitely change:
Basic Strength (~85%, 80-90%) for 2 weeks -as intro to Max Strength; then one week easier followed by another 3 week cycle of Max Strength; i.e., a 2+1+3 pattern
the track work looks like this: a 3 week intensification focusing on accel+max speed + speed end hills, followed by an easier week and another 2 weeks of max speed and intro of speed end to the track; i.e., a 3+1+2 pattern
in this way, the heaviest track week is the easiest for the weights and they are both reaching a peak at the end -although it should be easier overall for CNS, since it finishes with a shorter, 2-week track work
does this sound ok? please, let me know!
the odd numbers of 2 weeks came as a result of Xmas, i.e., sporte centre closed for some time and i’m trying to have a good cycle before then; then hoping for another 3-week Max Strength cycle (not sure if it’ll be as heavy as the first one), which will bring me at the end of January and the first, low-key races, for maintenance during Feb and -hopefully- good races…
sorry for the length!
appreciate any comments!
thanks!
Pardon me for being a little confused but maybe you could re-state/clarify a couple of things for me:
1: The track Speed Endurance is not an introduction, it is the transferance of a training element to another angle and surface, albeit with an increase in CNS stress, but not nearly as much as if it was an initial introduction.
2: Why the 3rd 3 week max strength cycle? When is your key competition indoors? Maybe we can work backwards to establish how long you can extend the maintenance phase.
i thought it might be a bit confusing; let’s try again, if you want
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The track speed endurance is the transferance from the hills to the track, so i meant intro for the track; and therefore, i think we re ok with the first point (i.e., increased CNS stress, but not as high as the initial introduction)
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good to ask this about weights, as i might be wrong:
intro of Max Strength via Basic Strength (80-90%) and for 2 weeks; followed by 3 weeks of Max Strength, which will bring me just before Xmas and i regard the latter as the first cycle of good Max Strength; after Xmas i was thinking of another 3 week Max Strength phase (i.e., a 2nd phase) -perhaps not as heavy, as races approach- which will bring me a week before the end of January with the first low-key race at the end of Jan; and lastly, 3-4 weeks of maintenance phase during February with more important races mid (not confirmed) and definitely end of Feb as a peak (perhaps races are not many, but…); so there are two 3-week cycles of pure Max Strength
Qs: 1. perhaps you are concerned with the Jan MaxS phase; shall i make it shorter and extend the maintenance phase from mid Jan onwards? and -
as this might affect your first answer, main focus is 200m and not 60m; does this make stronger the point for cutting short the 2nd MaxS cycle? as i understand, MaxS and 60m are more closely related vs. 200m
hope we get there this time
many thanks!
edit: reading again our previous Q&As, the distance of 60m used above was just an example; as i said before, 200m is my main event, and
from one of your answers, thinking about my level as a sprinter and in order to allow more intensive work to be done on the track during Jan, i’m having second thoughts about the 2nd MaxS cycle, or at least about it’s length…
anyway, waiting for your comments to play it safe… just thought it’d be good to give some more info…
OK Now that you’ve clarified the weight question, I think your plan is fine. Rather than drop the second Max Str block, you might simply moderate the amount of progression in the second block rather than drop it. This compromise lowers the CNS conflict while allowing you to maintain the strength you’ve achieved pretty much throughout the competitive period.
ok, thanks again!
i thinki i’ll stick with the original plan then, but with the 2nd Max Str phase a bit less “heavy” as you’ve suggested…
and see how it goes!
thanks!
an updating question on my Max Strength phase, if i may…
i use the same exes Mon/Fri with the former “heavy” and the latter “easier” and it seems to work fine
would the above relationship be affected, however, by keeping Wed’s session high as well in terms of intensity, but low(er) in reps? are Mon’s and Wed’s heavy sessions too much (although Wed’s tends to be lighter vs. Mon), or is it now the time to gain as much as i can from a Max Strength phase?
note: Wed’s exes are different to those of Mon/Fri
thanks!
Can you expand on that?
if you mean the weights’ schedule, my question is:
Mon/Fri i’m using the same exes, with Mon “heavy” and Fri “light/moderate”
on Wed i’ve got different exes vs. the other two days
would a “heavy” Wed as well affect the progression of the exes of the other two days, which are more important? for example, squat/bench press are on Mon and i want them to go well; would a heavy deadlift, for example, on Wed affect, say, the squat?
should i keep Wed light, or heavy?
thanks!