Program For Sprinter

[Andy Baker (KSC)]

Yes, I have quite a bit of direct experience with Track & Field athletes at the high school and collegiate level. I wouldn't say it's my specialty, but I have trained enough of them at various levels of the sport to have picked up a few things.

In no particular order......

1) Track athletes / sprinters are like every other athlete on the planet in that they don't need any specialized or sport specific strength training program if they are a true novice. The SS program or some modified version of the linear progression is all that is needed for a kid that hasn't spent much time in the weight room (or has been on a horrible program / using horrible technique). Getting his squat and deadlift up as quickly as possible over the course of say 12-16 weeks (squatting/pulling 2-3x/week) will pay tremendous dividends. The basic 3x5 protocol is fine for this. As strength is a general adaptation it will carry over to sprinting as long as there is a minimum base line of sprinting performed throughout the program. I do not recommend that you stop sprinting and working technique while on the LP. Take the LP as far as you can while training your sport. Cutting back some on sprint volume can be helpful in order to gain more strength over a longer period of time, but I wouldn't stop completely.

2) Kids at the higher levels of the sport....so Division I level athletes or HS kids competing at the state level, are going to be very good natural athletes, are going to be very "fast twitch" and naturally very explosive. They will respond very well to a program driven by intensity rather than volume. So a program like the one we discussed where the athlete is focused on single set rep maxes (1-5 reps) will work well in conjunction with sprint training. And I usually get the volume work done with DE training rather than other more standard volume protocols. Bradley Daboub who throws shot and discus at OU trained with me from age 14-18. His senior year he squatted 500x5 on a program that only had him in the gym 2x/week. Monday we squatted up to a single max set in the 1-5 rep range (a 6-week rotation of 5-3-2-5-3-1) and Thursday we squatted 10 x 2 around 60-70% of 1RM off of a 12" box. He's a super explosive kid and he did not respond well to higher volume training, especially in conjunction with daily throwing practice.

3) I'm not convinced that plyos and jump training do much for you rather than make you better at plyos and jump training. There may be some short term benefits if you've never done them before, but I'm not sure they are something you can do that will continuously make you better. Again though, this isn't my field of expertise.

4) I like Kelly Baggett's explanation of assessing sprinters as being in either a "speed deficit" or a "strength deficit." If a kid is not improving his times and squats 275x5 then he is in a strength deficit and whatever improvements are possible will come from getting his squat to 405x5, so accommodations should be made to get the kid under the bar more often and fatigue should be managed so that he can train properly. If a kid is already squatting 400-500 then he is less likely to get much faster by focusing even more on strength. In this case, whatever improvements are possible are likely to come via more or better coaching on the track whether it be programming or technique oriented.

[Velocity7]

Andy,

Thank you for your time and in-depth reply. Really appreciate sll the knowledge.

Regarding point 2. I also find that my body does not like much volume. I start to get shin splints and my left hammy sprains (third time in a year) and everything in my lower body pains etc. This is with the track training. That's why I want to do the least amount of running possible and find Louie Simmon's approach towards training sprinters very attractive. But it also happens in the weightroom. If I do too much (volume wise) I start to feel sluggish and slow and "flat" and struggle to get out of bed and my knees hurt etc (I sound like an old man , but I'm only 22). Anyway, but if I just did 3 heavy sets of 3 rep squat (and similar for the other exercises, in other words - intensity) or something I'm fine and actually feel explosive on the track. And with volume training this happens (sluggishness etc) within week of training. So, 5x5 squats or 5x5 anything for that matter is out of the question. I follow a more Charlie Francis based sprint program, and it's very high volume. Week 1 of SPP can have about upwaards of 2300m speed volume. Then I also have tempo running 2-3 times a week between speed days. But he barely did plyos and sometimes skipped weight training (yes, he did). His weight training was also very low volume. No deadlifts. And his squats were like 2 sets of 2. So, that's why I asked wether I can trade some speed volume for more weight training/plyo's.

Regarding point 3. I'll experiment with plyo's and see. But I'd rather keep my overall training intensity-based, and lower volume everywhere I can. Maybe I'll just settle for the Shock Method (DEPTH JUMPS) for 3 weeks (4x10, 3xweek) every 9 weeks or so. We'll see.

Regarding point 4. I like this. So, MAYBE, no plyos and low speed training volume and focus on strength untill I reach the 400-500 mark? I'm aiming for 495 (3xBodyweight ) anyway. And only THEN will further improvements come from more speed volume or plyo volume or both? Would you reccomend something like that?

And wouldn't the DE day give all the power/explosive/starting strength I need anyway and make power training or plyo's obsolete? Or maybe that (DE work), with some low volume plyo's to just stay in touch with my "Reactive Strength"? What do you think?

[Andy Baker (KSC)]

I think you should keep things as simple as possible. I’m not a track coach and so I can’t speak with authority on how much speed work you need on the track. If it’s me and I’m weak and trying to sprint better, I’m trying to Squat 2-3 days per week and DL 2x week in whatever style of programming will get me to new PRs the fastest. Then I’m doing a maintenance level of speed and technique work while I get stronger. The program we’ve discussed may be good for you or more complex than you need. You may do really well with a simple LP of 3x5, 3x3 or whatever. I think if you’re weak you just sprint and lift and don’t worry about jumps and plyos and all that. Keep it simple until you need complex

[Velocity7]

Hello again, Andy

I've decided to deload, drop all the extra stuff and volume, aand try to take my squat to over double bodyweight (150kg is 2xbodyweight) using the novice progression. But I've built a nice "fitness base" the last couple of weeks (about 6) using extensive tempo runs of 65-75% max effort of about 1600-2000m per session for 3 sessions a weeks. On the other days (weight training days) I did hills for my acceleration development because I started with GPP (might I add again I lost a LOT of strength due to adding tempo and hills and extra ab work etc - body doesn't like volume). I am willing to drop as much of the running as possible to just maintain fitness and ss you said - technique. The tempo runs are more for recovery as Charlie Francis believed it helped speed up recovery and actually enhance speed/weight training. So, to maintain my tempo-base, I waas planning on doing it ons Tuesdays and Saturdays only. This is after my heavy weights (Mon/Fri) aand Wednesday is recovery squat day anyway. With that in mind, where should I put the hills? I'll also just do it twice a week. And it'll be done on weight training days, before weights. So, maybe Mon/Fri? I'll drop all the high rep ab stuff and plyos and jumps etc. Just strength and tempox 2and hills x2. Does this look manageable to you? Hills volume will range about at 600-800m per session. But, as I said, I'm already adapted to the tempo and hills and I'm just maintaining. No intensity increases (like increasing rest times aand lowering volume) or stuff like that. And the tempo day after heavy weights/hills days should help with recovery.

What are your thoughts? I know you already said "Just do maintenance speed" but you didn't know about the tempo base that should be built and maintsined early on, and not being a track coach, didn't know about their recovery bennefits. Will this be doaable? I'm at 135x3x5 Tomorrow. Hope I get it.

Last question about pulling. Can I switch to a somewhat "intermediate style" programming for that? Waas thinking of Deads 1x5 Monday. Chins and nordic curls on Wednesday. 5x3 Power Cleans on Friday. Just like that. Every week.

Thanks again.

[Velocity7]

When I said "135x3x5 tomorrow" I meant 135kg's. Not 135pounds. Also, I start track season on 20 January 2019. I wanted to get in two GPP's of 7/1-2 weeks respectively and then two SPP's of 8-12 and 6-8weeks respectivley (called double periodization). But would want to be on intermediate strength program when entering GPP, so I have to get over 150kgx3x5 in a hurry.

[Velocity7]

Hello, Coach.

Just bumping up to make sure you haven't forgotten about me. I know you must be quite busy. So, sorry for the bother in that case.