completely agree. I’m in a western model now and I can tell you from being in both models, that eastern is the way to go. Whatever you’re not training at the moment in the western model, you lose (at least to a certain extent).
Why do so many coaches do the western model? I have talked to so many schools in D2 and good D1 schools currenlty with national ranking and they always give me the western periodization, (they don’t know that it’s called western usually), and it just seems like there is no hope. They’re argument is to get endurance to handle more quality speed work later so your not as tired and can run all the reps the same if not faster speed! What a joke… in my opinion. If you take the proper amount of rest in between doing speed work (like 3-4 minutes) their arguement is pretty much garbage. And if you run indoors, having not run fast much before… injury is increased (it appears that way for me anyway)! I’ve been on an eastern model now for 5 months, and I am running faster than ever before (having been at a JC on the western model)and this is the first year I am injury free since my senior of high school! Speed progress was MUCH slower on the western model and I think it was very counterproductive to my jumping ability(while at JC my vert jump went from 34 to 30 in two years, despite being able to power clean more weight) and for those who run the 100 meters.... with that said, why is it so many coaches do the western model and expect big improvement?
The obvious reason for coaches: “This is how I was trained”.
The less obvious reason: I think the linear structure of the Western model appeals to certain kinds of minds, or conversely, the concurrent model is difficult for some minds to grasp - too many parts, too many elements to hold in proper proportion and tension.
That said, Cylde Hart and John Smith both follow, broadly, the Western model, and Smith has pretty well with short sprinters.
I was in a recent seminar with Smith and he said there are two ways to build speed: strength (and by that I think he meant running and not weightroom strength) and neural stimulation. He prefers to go in that order.
Charlie Francis says that max speed can only be effectively trained for eight consecutive weeks, and I’ve heard others suggest four weeks as the maximum. How would that fit into Mike’s portrayal of the Eastern model of year-round max-speed work?
The obvious reason for coaches: “This is how I was trained”.
The less obvious reason: I think the linear structure of the Western model appeals to certain kinds of minds, or conversely, the concurrent model is difficult for some minds to grasp - too many parts, too many elements to hold in proper proportion and tension.
That said, Cylde Hart and John Smith both follow, broadly, the Western model, and Smith has pretty well with short sprinters.
I was in a recent seminar with Smith and he said there are two ways to build speed: strength (and by that I think he meant running and not weightroom strength) and neural stimulation. He prefers to go in that order.
Charlie Francis says that max speed can only be effectively trained for eight consecutive weeks, and I’ve heard others suggest four weeks as the maximum. How would that fit into Mike’s portrayal of the Eastern model of year-round max-speed work?
Wow...the very first article discussion! I was hoping this new feature would get rolling.
A couple thoughts:
-I wrote the article about 7 years ago....I’ve since come to learn that there are many hybrid models out there and what I presented was more of a polar opposites interpretation.
-I think the effective depth / length of exposure to speed training will vary greatly depending on the intensities, modes, and volumes used. Many (including myself) use some form of speed training all year round (other than during transition phase).
-Using the word strength in the way that Smith uses it is one of my pet peeves. I can’t stand it when speed endurance is called strength. Having said that, I have the utmost respect for John. I heard him speak and watched him coach recently in Vegas and was impressed with his presentation and coaching skills.
I would like to write further on my even more opposed view of Western models. Today in practice we did 4x60m of overspeed with a bungee and I pulled my hammy. Prior to today we had done neither accels nor top speed. How do we jump right into 60m overspeed? Thats part of the problem with any model for that matter, but especially western models. When you split up elements of your training plan (i.e. endurance, speed endurance, speed, top speed, etc.) and do not have all of those in there simultaneously, you have to be even more careful with how you progress from one to the other. And going from 0m top speed to 60m top is definitely not the way to go.
I feel like quitting. Would I be better of quitting and just starting my GPP over now or at least training myself for outdoor?
I would like to write further on my even more opposed view of Western models. Today in practice we did 4x60m of overspeed with a bungee and I pulled my hammy. Prior to today we had done neither accels nor top speed. How do we jump right into 60m overspeed? Thats part of the problem with any model for that matter, but especially western models. When you split up elements of your training plan (i.e. endurance, speed endurance, speed, top speed, etc.) and do not have all of those in there simultaneously, you have to be even more careful with how you progress from one to the other. And going from 0m top speed to 60m top is definitely not the way to go.
I feel like quitting. Would I be better of quitting and just starting my GPP over now or at least training myself for outdoor?
Sorry to hear of the injury. Bungees are bad news as far as I’m concern.
I’ve always had reasonable success with approachs similar to Francis as opposed to the older but more favored systems from Jordan,Winter et al. Including relatively short speed as part of an early GPP and/or SPP training block tends to keep acceleration stimuli active throughout the training phases without completely depleting the CNS pool.
The obvious reason for coaches: “This is how I was trained”.
The less obvious reason: I think the linear structure of the Western model appeals to certain kinds of minds, or conversely, the concurrent model is difficult for some minds to grasp - too many parts, too many elements to hold in proper proportion and tension.
That said, Cylde Hart and John Smith both follow, broadly, the Western model, and Smith has pretty well with short sprinters.
I was in a recent seminar with Smith and he said there are two ways to build speed: strength (and by that I think he meant running and not weightroom strength) and neural stimulation. He prefers to go in that order.
Charlie Francis says that max speed can only be effectively trained for eight consecutive weeks, and I’ve heard others suggest four weeks as the maximum. How would that fit into Mike’s portrayal of the Eastern model of year-round max-speed work?
what to hear what mike think bout this:
Charlie Francis says that max speed can only be effectively trained for eight consecutive weeks, and I’ve heard others suggest four weeks as the maximum. How would that fit into Mike’s portrayal of the Eastern model of year-round max-speed work
Charlie Francis says that max speed can only be effectively trained for eight consecutive weeks, and I’ve heard others suggest four weeks as the maximum. How would that fit into Mike’s portrayal of the Eastern model of year-round max-speed work
I should have been more clear but I was attempting to answer this when I said:
I think the effective depth / length of exposure to speed training will vary greatly depending on the intensities, modes, and volumes used. Many (including myself) use some form of speed training all year round (other than during transition phase).
If that wasn’t what you’re looking for or I’m unclear let me know.
Charlie Francis says that max speed can only be effectively trained for eight consecutive weeks, and I’ve heard others suggest four weeks as the maximum. How would that fit into Mike’s portrayal of the Eastern model of year-round max-speed work
I should have been more clear but I was attempting to answer this when I said:
I think the effective depth / length of exposure to speed training will vary greatly depending on the intensities, modes, and volumes used. Many (including myself) use some form of speed training all year round (other than during transition phase).
If that wasn’t what you’re looking for or I’m unclear let me know.
I understand what your saying, but i think S.Bones have questions about how long max speed can be effectively trained, according to him CF says 8 weeks while others say 4. I was curious what you thought about max speed only been effectively trained for 4-8 weeks before progress stall.
Oh I see....yeah we pretty much never have a max speed emphasis of longer than 8 weeks. In fact I like to keep it right at 8 weeks if possible. I find 4 to be too short. We might do it after those 8 weeks (as part of short speed endurance or as a refresher) but it isn’t the focus.
