So let’s say you know you want to get in 800m-1000m of speed work per week, as well as three lower-body lifting sessions per week (omit debate regarding weekly volume). Obviously it isn’t optimal to do everything in one day, and obviously it isn’t optimal to spread it out evenly and do 130m of speed and half of a squat session every day either. So the optimum scheme lies somewhere in between. I realize that this is not news. But how we negotiate that middle territory is unresolved.
The North American method advocates putting all of the CNS-heavy work on the same days, like:
Mon – speed + weights
Tues – tempo/recovery/rest
Wed – speed + weights
Thurs – tempo/recovery/rest
Fri – speed + weights
Sat – tempo/recovery/rest
Sun – rest
However, the European method (as I’ve heard) would instead distribute the volume like this:
Mon – speed
Tues – weights
Wed – speed
Thurs – weights
Fri – speed
Sat – weights
Sun – rest
In my own experience, I find that the CNS fatigue and DOMS that I feel the day after I have done both speed and weights is less than the sum of the two workouts. I also feel that I am able to to put in better weight sessions later in the day after a speed session as opposed to the day after because the CNS fatigue and DOMS have not set in yet.
However, my feeling are not science, and reading this study made me reconsider my training scheme:
https://ajpregu.physiology.org/content/297/5/R1441.full
Essentially, the study concluded that doing sprints and weights on the same day had a negative effect upon muscle mass and strength.
Perhaps the decrease in DOMS and CNS fatigue is because there is a decrease in gains.
I’m also curious how the two methods manage CNS fatigue, and if either one puts the athlete at higher risk of injury.
I realize most of you are adherents of the North American method (as am I), so how would you respond to these concerns? Same to the Euros out there.
