I don’t agree with Barry claiming that 400m sprinter doesn’t need speed endurance or any tempo workouts. He claims that you train your largest MU’s through heavy deadlifting and no doubt it’s true, but saying that it’s the most effective way to reduce speed decrement in a 400m event is a bit funny. I argued about it in his forum, he brought that Weyands studies with normoxic conditions, but I still couldn’t see a proof.
I haven’t read his book, but reading through his forum I see his main concepts and what he suggest to do. I would agree with him that actually power lifts aren’t superior exercises for faster running. I read Kelly Baggett’s speed development manual and I found the answer why these lifts are very limited to speed improvement. Oh, I like to do them too but…Let’s assume that you already spend a significant amount of time in the weight room getting stronger overall. Let’s also assume that you spend a fair amount of time performing nice assortment of sprint, movement and plyo work. So, in the weight room you’re driving your strength levels up. On the field, you’re better learning to express that strength in the most direct way possible by engaging in the very things that you’re trying to improve (sprinting) and very simmilar activities like jumping. Since you’re already addressing your ability to express strength in the sprints, what are cleans gonna give you that you’re not already getting? I think that makes sense. It’s not like clean will hurt you, it’s a fun exercise, but it’s not like you need them.