If so what type of routine do you follow? (Say for SPP)
Do you think this would work…
1 Max Veloctiy
2 Weights (total body)
3 Tempo/recovery
4 Short speed
5 Weights (total body but slight less volume than day 2)
6 Strength Endurance/Core
7 Rest
the above is just a hypothetical program but who here finds it tough doing speed and weights on the same day? (Both in terms of time constraints and CNS capacity?
Weights would consist of the following:
backsquats
rev leg press
bench
chins
standing shoulder press
ham/quad/calf iso work
Core:
hypers, rev hypers, floppy fish
weighted situps (incline)
hanging leg raise
weighted side bends
med ball
I did find it hard last year but I was doin too much - now I’m usually doing something like this after track -
Week 3 of SPP
Mon -
Bench
High pulls - or squats
weds -
Lat pull downs
Shoulder press
Fri -
High pulls
Bench
Rev leg press or squats
all at 2 -3 x 3 80%
Most of the time I’m making one day weights only - time constraints are an issue tho -
I always have a few sips of whey / spoon of honey pre weights post track - this helps energy and recovery for me
Chris30 for a sprinter of your level I would say your weights program and track program are out of balance (no disrespect indended, that’s just my opinion).
Going by what you’ve posted in your training diary, I think you are currently displaying weightroom numbers that are disproportionately much better than what you are putting out on the track. If I recall correctly you’re capable of deep-squatting 300 lb but ran a 7.8 FAT recently. These numbers are out of whack.
Personally I think your track volume is too low at the moment (referring to both longer speed and max speed), and you need to crank it up slowly but steadily. This is no doubt going to come at the expense of recovery, so I would personally cut the weights volume drastically to 2-3 exercises a session, and possibly drop a weights day entirely. At this relatively early point in your comeback I think you want to focus primarily on getting in track work under your belt: general stuff, nothing fancy, no specialized periodisation, just basic solid track training. Some speed work, lots of basic conditioning, cycle the volume and intensity but don’t get too complex.
Going off your old PR (10.9, if I recall correctly) I wouldn’t sweat the details too much until you reach 7.2 - 7.3 FAT tempo - which you should be able to reach fairly easily in about a years’ time at most based on track work alone. At that point you can start evaluating your strengths and weaknesses, and make a meaningful planning. Right now what you need most is time and track work. Just my 2 cents.
Thanks for your response man I really appreciate it (sincerely)
I think I have a mid 7.50 in me at the moment (Maybe a little quicker) but had a bad race on Saturday. I agree with what you are saying though about the track work. What would you recommend in terms of workouts etc?
Also I always find my first couple of races are pretty shitty starting off. I would typically drop about 7-8 tenths from the first outdoor 100meter to my peak race of the year. I dont know why this happens but it has always consistently occurred. I think “part” of the reason for my relatively slower times is my heavier bodyweight. (I am about 20+ pounds heavier than when I previously competed in the mid 90’s and also am still tentative about my hamstring/heel injury as well.
I think the above combined with lack of quality on track speedwork hasn’t helped. I also find it sucks not having a training partner as well. Running/lifting alone sucks.
I welcome any suggestions you may have on a workout schedule for me. I know I have the strength/power numbers for better times just need to get everything sorted out
I find it hard to cut back on the weights as I love lifting so much Do you think 2 track sessions and two weight sessions a week is enough? What would you recommend for the track sessions?
I have a pretty busy work schedule so I have to factor that in.
If I drop a weight session can I throw in a circuit/strength endurance session instead?
4 workouts a week (including tempo) is all I really have time for at the moment but if you could give me suggestions for the track workouts that would be great
I’m not deeply familiar with your training history/times/problems, so obviously everything I say is through the narrow lens of our exchanges on this forum. So it could be that I am making unwarranted assumptions, or am not aware of significant factors. Caveat emptor.
Your strength levels are more than adequate. 7.8 FAT is here in the Netherlands a respectable but by no means impressive time for a female high school sprinter, none of whom come anywhere close to your strength levels. (This is not a dig at you, just stating a fact, I know it may sound quite unflattering). This suggests to me that adequate strength is the very least of your problems, and that the gains from working that end of the spectrum are minimal.
20lbs of excess weight is not great - if it’s fat, try and get rid of it - but it’s likely not the reason you’re running 7.8.
The reason why I mention 10.9 is that you’ve been there before: your body knows what it feels like to run at that speed, even if it can’t physically do that right now. What you need is to get your body to walk down that path to around 7.2 - 7.3 FAT - a path it’s been down before. You have to relearn sprinting.
I would say that track work is the primary way to accomplish that, and that the only use for weight training until you reach 7.3 is the absolute minimum you need to maintain current strength levels, and not a rep or set more.
Three track days and one maintenance weight day is more than adequate for good progress.
The distances I would ideally like to see you running range from 30m to 600m, and biased towards the longer reps - I’d put in a lot more 80m - 120m - 150m work, with significantly less rest, and a sizeable amount of work in the dreaded 70% - 85% zone. It’s not quite in line with the speedwork/tempo philosophy you will find on this site, but I suspect your specific track-related fitness, work capacity, and lactic acid tolerance is quite low. And, to borrow a term from the distance runners, you need to get some mileage under your belt first.
In short, I would treat your first comeback year as a giant, extended GPP/SPP period, with the nuance shifting from general conditioning (400m-type conditioning) at the beginning, to 100/200 sprinting after a year. There’s no point, in my opinion, of giving the competition period special treatment or peaking: use races as benchmarks and progress indicators, not as end goals.
When you get to 10.9 - 11.1 territory you will at last be back to the edge of uncharted waters. Automatic progress is not guaranteed any longer, and you can start looking at the finer details.
In order not to stray too far off your original topic here, I suggest we take a discussion of further specifics to your training diary if you wish.
I tried weights after sprints yesterday and stopped after the first set, i was just too tired all over to complete anything that resembled a weights workout.
I either split the day up AM and PM or if stuck for time i will alternate days
