ELITETRACK Forum

HS Jumper playing basketball

2008-11-19T18:41:10Z

I have a male HS senior who is playing basketball but is also a standout long/high jumper and a decent triple jumper. He’s not much of a ball player, just one of those guys on the team due to athletic ability. His heart is in track and he wants to get some training in during basketball season. My question is what to do? Varsity basketball practices around 5:00pm so he would have a couple hours in between school and practice to do some track stuff. I was thinking twice a week getting in some technical work, light plyos, bounding, drills, etc… Maybe even some quick lifting like some olympic lifts or squats. I just don’t want to overdue things as basketball practice is a lot of running and jumping. Any input is appreciated. Thanks!

Soccer speed!

2008-11-19T23:34:54Z

Ok, all coaches on the forum, imput required!

Heres the scenario…

18 year old male, very good soccer player. Has trials with pro team in 14 weeks. Focus is speed/ agility and soccer conditioning in 3 sessions per week.

How would you set up the training…be as brief or as detailed as you like…I’m interested in your different opinions…

Sprint Training Books

2008-10-04T21:31:37Z

Hey everyone,

I was wondering if you guys could recommend any sprint training books. I’m a high school track coach and had good luck last year, but want to make my kids even better. There seems to be a huge amount of quality distance running books, but fewer sprinting books. Any I should look at?

winter training phase for middle distance runner

2008-10-29T20:47:31Z

how does this 6 day split sound (two three day cycles) for an 800m runner looking to develop general fitness over the winter before specific training:

Mon-speed: 6x100/200m with slow walk back

Tue-weights:
*high pull 4x6
*squat press 4x4
*squat 2x20
*step up 2x10 each leg
*pullup 3x12
*pushup 4x15

Wed-tempo: 3/5 mile continuous tempo run (~5:20-40 pace)

Thu-speed: 6x100/200m with slow walk back

Fri-weights:
*DB snatch 2x6 each arm
*squat press 4x4
*squat 2x20
*lunges 2x10 each leg
*incline pullup 3x15
*dips 3x10

Sat-tempo: 3/5 mile continuous tempo run (~5:20-40 pace)

Sun- rest

**precede each session with a extensive warmup (general warmup, dynamic flex, mobility drills, sprint drills) of 25min or so

Definition of % Effort

2008-10-17T15:12:48Z

Is % effort always defined in the strict/objective sense (i.e. calculated based on your best performance), or can is it sometimes based on perceived exertion?

For example, one day a 75-% tempo run in 13.5s seems like a breeze but later on in the week it may feel like 85%.

How are percentages assigned to short speed/accel work?

Track and Field Software

2008-08-30T15:29:38Z

I’m looking for some software that will help me track my athletes performance and help with team organization. I know there are several programs on the market but I want to choose the best one.
I have seen “Digital Scout”,“Easyware”,“tfpredictions”,TrackCentral.net,“Track Stats 4U”, and “TrackMate”. Do any you know about or use any of these?

Play football or train for track?

2008-08-04T09:25:32Z

I find myself faced with a dilema. Last year I played football for the first time (junior year) and started on varsity. It was pretty fun. I also lost about 5-6 inches on my running vertical leap throughout the season. I trained all winter, and gained back a good 7 inches on my running leap, making an overall improvement of 2 inches compared to before football.

In track I broke a few school records, and placed 3rd at the state meet in high jump, and have a very ligitimate shot at winning next year. Now you can start to see my problem. If I play football, I will no doubt lose jumping ability. I can jump higher now than I could this time last year. I would then again train all winter (3 months) and probably end up with a 2 inch improvement over what it is now.

My other option is not playing football. If I chose that route, I would be set up with 6 months of solid training before the season starts. I have a very good trainer who was a multi-eventer and a college coach of a national champ team. Now he just trains athletes and coaches a track club. He is very knowledgable when it comes to training and setting up a periodized program designed to peak at a certain time. He would put me on a training program that would go through various cycles (strength, power, etc.), eventually peaking at state.

It was working with him that I put on 7 inches in 3 months last winter. Just think of what I could gain with 6 months! Plus I would be starting where I’m at now, without the big football jumping defecit to climb out of. Not to mention, I could get hurt during football, taking even longer to recover.

This is going to be a big decision and it would be greatly appreciated if people could comment on what to do in a situation like mine.

Other factors weighing in would be that I could work more without football, obviously money is hard to come by for a high-school athlete. Also I would have more time to go hunting, since it’s a big thing in my family. The only thing for football is that I know I’d be sitting in the stands wishing I were playing, and taking some heat from the other players since I was decent. But track really means a lot more to me.

extensive and intensive training for 400/800m

2008-07-22T18:29:36Z

These are the 2 example given in the FAQ section on this forum
“Extensive Tempo: Repeated running bouts performed at 60-80% of maximum heart rate or 65-85% of maximal effort. Extensive tempo runs enhance the ability to cope with lactate. Extensive tempo is often used as a form of recovery among sprinters. Because of this fact, it is often useful to perform extensive tempo on grass or other soft surfaces. An example of extensive tempo would be 10 x 200m @ 70% maximum heart rate with 45 seconds recovery.
Intensive tempo: Repeated running bouts performed at 80-90% of maximum heart rate or 85-95% maximal effort. Intensive tempo runs produce high levels of lactate and lay the foundation for development of anaerobic energy systems. Intensive tempo is often used as a gateway to speed endurance and special endurance. An example of intensive tempo would be 8 x 150m @ 85% maximum heart rate with 2 minutes recovery”

my question is, would it change from extensive tempo training if i was to do say 10 x 400m or 10x600m @ 70% MHR with 45 sec recovery instead of the 10 x 200m in the example?

is the extensive and intensive tempo refering to the MHR %? the reason i ask if because im concerned that with my end to middle 800m training setup, if im doing 10x200m one day and accel dev another, im not doing any longer rep stuff which confuses me in the sense that if its ends to middle- shouldn’t it be short stuff one end (accel dev) and long stuff the other end (say 1-2km reps) and work in from there.

haha i can tell im all over the place so basicly all i want to know is if 10x200m and 10x600m at 70% MHR 45sec rec are both considered extensive tempo work

Compatible and Complimentary Training

2008-02-26T17:10:37Z

Are the following units set up to be compatible and complimentary? Below is a plan for a sprinter in early spp. Do these units seem compatible?
Power Day
Warm Up Unit: Dynamic
Acceleration Unit: 2 x 20, 2 x 30, 2 x 40 block starts
Bounding Unit: 2 x 20m each of LRLR, LLRR
Multi throws Unit: 6 throws each of Overhead shot throw, underhand shot throw, squat throw
Strength Unit: 3 x 5 cleans or snatch
Cool Down Unit: static stretch

Speed Endurance Day
Warm up Unit: Dynamic
Speed Endurance Unit: 5 x 200m
Plyos Unit: 2 x 20m dbl leg hop, sngl leg hops
Strength Unit: 3 x 5 bench press, squat
Cool Down Unit: Static stretch

Recovery and Regeneration:
Warm Up Unit: PNF
Extensive Tempo Unit: 8 x 150’s
Flexiblity Unit: Hurdle walk overs
Strength Unit: core and physio ball exercises
Cool Down Unit: Static stretch

Limited Training Time

2008-07-08T04:32:51Z

In looking at past forum threads on sprinting generally but 400m training in particular a question I have is what do you do with that athlete who is only training 3x per week?
Many of the forum plans talk about training 5, 6, 7 days per week but I have some high school age athletes who will only commit to 3x per week of organized track training. The past couple of years I have been leaning towards, “the less often I see you the more technical the work will be when I do see you” but at the same time the longer the race the more important training the various energy systems becomes and that takes time.
Would I like to be coaching only athletes who would commit to the time needed for real improvement? Yes. Is it likely to happen in all cases? No.
Any suggestions for training those who do not want to commit to more than 3x per week but still want/hope to improve.