At the same time as you do this you need to work on getting your engine to deliver what you want through the tyres. This requires you to give your nervous system the opportunity to practise using the improving engine as often as possible in the most effective way. Put simply, you need to sprint over short distances faster than you ever have before, you need to practise starting quicker than ever before and to jump or bound or do whatever power activity you do better than ever before. Your brain needs practise at accessing and using your newly available power & strength. This is what sprint training is. You are training to give your brain the chance to convert the new engines abilities into improvement in running speed.

Body builders & weight lifters can lift much more than most sprinters, But without sprint training it most likely has no positive effect on their sprinting speed if they dont do sprint training.

Regular small doses of the best quality sprint training is the key to seeing steady improvement in performance.

So the plan is to
1/ Upgrade your engine -- by doing smartly planned weight training
2/ Convert the gains by doing Sprint Training -- small amounts at 100% effort.

Do your homework by performing a variety of core (back & abdominal) exercises this helps the link between the key power muscles and the running action.

Also help your brain convert the new found strength/power by doing smart bounding exercises like explained at http://www.oztrack.com/blog/2011/04/bounding-training-for-runners-the-oztrack-method/

Balance all the different elements of training each week, so the different activities do not spoil the quality of the others. If done properly over the course of your development everything should steadily improve. If it isn’t do something slightly different.

Variety of quality is the KEY.

The biggest mistake for sprinters is to do too much. It is amazing how little you need to do when its done perfectly and doing slightly more than that is BAD. This is why you need a coach and to do what they tell you. Coaches be confident and its better to do less even if the athlete is frustrated at how little they are doing, be firm.

If the athlete is steadily improving you are doing the right thing. So keep it like that.

regards
Steve Bennett
www.oztrack.com

There are many great strength exercises

www.youtube.com/watch?v=API9PfT94fw

Standing Start Bounding

www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKiFmYTe9_c

These involve starting from being in a standing race start position & doing four bounds then a jump into a sandpit. We measure the distance from the front of the “front foot” to the back of the sand print from the landing. The athletes should aim for maximum distance & try to steadily improve their total distance.  Part of the improvement is in technique, but much of the long term improvement is built from the benefits of doing good weight training & improving core strength.

Bounding of this kind involves slower longer muscle contractions that running start bounding. In terms of specificity standing start bounding is most similar to the sprinters start & early acceleration phase. So improvements in standing start bounding distance will usually show in a faster start for the athlete.

Weight training exercises that will help improve this area the most are single leg step ups onto a box.  I have seen elite female sprinters do as much as 90kg in this exercise. Its a great exercise in terms of being specific for both this bounding and the sprinters start.
Squats are also useful as well, but being a two legged exercise they dont load the legs as much as single leg exercises, however they do steadily strengthen the back muscles more so.

Think of standing start bounding as being an activity that allows the nervous system to practise using the strength gained from weight training. It is a way of converting muscle gains into really power gains. Then running itself being the next step in that process. Bounding can link the two.

Many squads do too much volume, where we pioneered a low volume approach.  Athletes should do no more than about 30 contacts per leg of bounding in a session. Focus on quality. If the athletes are used to this small volume on a regular basis it is a very safe activity. Doing 2-3 times that volume is the mistake that many coaches have made in the past.  If kids grow up doing this type of bounding they will have incredible power potential and it will likely give them greater resilience against being injured. We do always do them in cushioned shoes or jumpers spikes. Certainly not in hard shoes with no cushioning, or on a synthetic surface barefoot, although doing them barefoot on grass with athletes used to running barefoot will probably be OK.

Each foot contact should be as flat a foot as possible (not a toe first impact) and the athlete should be aiming for an active (backward moving) foot strike. Also use a big & powerful arm action.

Running Start Bounding

Running start bounds are a progression from standing start bounding & can be done more during the power phases of the year.  Its best to start from a 5m running start & measure them similarly, then progress once a plateau is reached to 10m running start. 10m is usually the best distance.  True sprinters/jumpers usually go far further from a running start & get bigger distance from the 10m run than the 5m run by far. However the athlete has to be ready for it & must develop solid ability at standing bounds before starting running bounds.

Running bounding has much shorter contact times with the ground & therefore requires much quicker muscular contractions. The athlete also needs to stability strength & eccentric strength to be able to  make quick contacts with the ground. Usually long distance endurance athletes have poor ability in this area due to low % of fast twitch fibres & often can barely go any further from running start bounding. However the opposite is true for specialist sprinters.  This distinction is ability even when untrained is a way of doing talent identification.

Because of the specificity focused on fast twitch fibres & quicker contacts running start bounding is more specific to the middle to late acceleration phases of a sprint race. So this type of bounding should be used in the more specific, power focused stages of the athletes training.

Once again athletes should not do more than 30 contacts per leg of this type of training. They should also measure each attempt & aim for maximum distance each attempt. Often the best distance in a session will occur within the first three attempts so its counterproductive doing more than 6 attempts in a session. Doing more risks injury & will also flatten the nervous system & spoil good quality being performed in power/fast twitch activities for too long a period after this session is finished. It can spoil quality sometimes for more than 5 days.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtP9peecOFw

Speed Bounding

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8rrD5rOB38

We regularly did 10m running start & 20m running start speed bounds. Youcount the number of steps and also time the 20m interval. The athletes aim to improve by decreasing their score. The score is the number of steps x the time in seconds eg 7.5 steps and 2.6s is 19.5.

The advantage of speed bounds over normal bounding is that ground contacts are quicker and even more so with a running start. This makes them a more specific activity. Athletes usually only have 3-5 attempts at the start of a session. This is usually done in the pre-competition phase of the year.

High Hurdle Bounces

I developed the idea of high hurdle hopping because i wanted an activity that would help an athlete stay “stiffer” & become bouncier when their legs are closer to being straight than in any part of the acceleration phase.  That is because at maximum speed is when the athletes are running with legs that are the closest to being straight during the support phase. It also is true that any athlete the time of years where they will be performing with the highest maximum speed is also when bio-mechanical analysis will show their support phase is the closest to being straight.

So the challenge was to find a plyo-metric activity that made it possible to have a solid stimulus but not one that causes a collapse in support of much more than what happens with maximum speed running. This can only happen in earth’s gravity when an athlete bounces with both legs at the same time.  So the idea of doing just 2-3 high plastic hurdles was thought of and tested. It worked well & seemed in specialist sprinters helps develop in them the ability to stay higher during the support phase & as a result develop their best maximum speeds for the macro-cycle.

The only other more specific activity is sprinting itself! or maybe over-speed running. But often with it the athlete will drop & sit. Spoiling the effect.

High hurdle bouncing is small volumes is brilliant. The recommendation is to do no more than 12 solid contacts per leg eg 6 x 3 hurdles.

The better progression is maybe to just start with 2 plastic ply hurdles & do this 6 times. This will result in just 6 solid impacts % 12 smaller ones.  There is the initial bounce before the hurdle, the solid quick impact between hurdles & then the landing. Just keep in mind that the centre bounce is incredibly intense.

We usually always use special plastic plyo hurdles & do these on a synthetic race or long jump run-up surface. We also do them in spikes and aim to land front foot first with maybe only a very light kiss of the heal on the ground.  Start at a low enough hurdle that the athlete can do them quick & high, then steadily progress.

Once again this activity needs to be done at the right time of each macro-cycle. Just at the right time in the training season  before the occurrence of major races. Its not an activity to do all year. The athlete to get the most out of it needs a background of good strength training & standing start plus running start bounding. Progress in this activity with quality don’t try to force improvement.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oV1meh9fh4

Keeping Records

This is a fun activity & it gives the athletes something to enjoy that will show that their strength training is working including the core stability training. It will also be something that helps their performance. Once the athletes have implemented these activities for one year, if you were to discontinue them for a year you would see a definite drop in acceleration & maximum speed.

Caution: Don’t let athletes do above the recommended amounts of this activity, which is easy to do, because they think its great fun & will readily do too much of it for their own good.  So be prepared coaches to “pull in the reins”.  With these activities more is bad.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8LGIJa2X30

Reaching your potential means producing over a long period of time
maximal adaptation. To do so means performing consistent high quality
training. We all can relate to days where we have trained badly in the
afternoon because of draining activity earlier in the day.

So OK what can we do about it. What follows are just a few ideas.

Sleep

-Have a consistent wake-up time. If you have a late night which should
not be very often. The best way to aid recovery is to have a 30min
snooze early afternoon and get a slightly earlier night. Researchers
have found that sleeping in more than an hour is bad for sleep rhythms
and is counterproductive.
- You should be aiming for at least 8hrs sleep each night but more
ideal would be 9hrs. Joaquim Cruz and Jose Luiz Barbosa whose training
plans I have seen had their bed times specified as 10pm bed and 7am
rise.

Massage

All athletes should aim for 2-3 massages a week on at least the key
areas. Learn how to massage effectively by paying for some professional
massages for as long as budget lasts. Then train your own support
people to help inh this area.

Diet

All athletes should have their diet studied and optimized. Consuming
too small an amount of Carbohydrates is common and can leave an athlete
fatigued through muscle fuel depletion.

Recovery Activity

-Go easy on easy runs they are performed to speed up recovery not to
add more fatigue.
- Swim for recovery – you do not need to swim for fitness just have
afloat around.

Physiotherapy

Visit physiotherapists and learn techniques for maintaining muscle
looseness from them. A popular area now spreading is the use of
acupressure triggers. I find that this is a great way to loosen tight
and sore areas.

Scheduling

Make sure you have easy weeks regularly and allow more recovery than
the usual.

Live-Work-Training

It makes the most sense to live-work-train as close as possible.Talent
can be found in difficult circumstances but I am sure the World Elite
have it pretty simple in this way.

Conclusion

Training harder when already tired is of no value. To gain maximum
adaptation an athlete needs to train very hard when fresh enough to
perform at high quality and then rest really well so that this process
can be done again and again. Resting is always a race the quicker you
can recover the harder you can train and the closer to your absolute
potential you will reach.

Speed Bounds

We regularly did 10m running start and 20m speed bounds. I count the number of steps and also time the 20m interval. The athletes aims to improve by decreasing their score. The score is the number of steps x the time in seconds eg 7.5 steps and 2.6s is 19.5.
The advantage of speed bounds over normal bounding is that ground contacts are quicker and even more so with a running start. This makes them a more specific activity. Athletes usually only have 3-5 attempts at the start of a session. This is usually done in the pre-competition phase of the year.

Relaxed Bounding

Usually performed on grass in flats. Athletes can do 60m of relaxed bounding and maybe build up from 5 x 60m to 2-3 sets of 5 x 60m. The maximum volume may take up most of the athletes capacity within a training session. It would be a session in itself.

30m sprints from a 3 pt start

Athletes can sprint maximally for 30m and reach speeds well in excess of what they will reach at any stage of a race of 400m or more. Sprinting reaching high speeds for a very short duration is much safer than trying to hold good sprinting form at maximum effort over longer distances eg 60m or more. Athletes may only do 3 x 30m sprints at the start of a session. This is always a safe distance to sprint where going further can cause hamstring tears in people who are prone to them. I never ever saw an athlete hurt a hamstring in a 30m sprint.

Speed Drills

Once learned and shaped to the right model of movement can be then performed very fast for much greater gains in speed. It gives the nervous system a chance to practise quicker movements.

Endurance of Speed Training

A good way to prepare to be able to do very fast training 400s i.e. at speeds that are as fast as the first lap of an 800m. The athletes can start at shorter distances at their target speed and move up in distance as their sustainable speed develops within the season. The ability to sustain higher speeds at distances further than 200m is very training specific and is something that can be acquired quite quickly. The faster the speed the shorter the distanceneeded to develop it. Even 100m sprinters need to work at developing their endurance of near absolute maximum speed. No amount of training at lower speeds over longer distances can have a big enough effect. The activities need to be at the target speeds of the event.

Weights

Improving maximum strength can steadily make a big difference to athletes maximum speed , ease of race spe

ed and the ability finish strongly.
This needs to be varied throughout the year and culminate in light power development work. I believe in improving strength and power in the gym and leaving the endurance training for the track and circuit work done in sessions at the track. The only endurance work done at the gym is usually mid torso training.

Low Hurdle Plyos

The aim is to develop

quick contacts with the track. So the hurdles are kept low to allow this to happen.
Also this should be done in low volumes only eg 10 sets of 3 contacts with double legged bouncing.

Background Training

Base training usually involves plenty of hills and bounding up hill. This slowly builds up strength endurance.

Changing Pace Practise

Flyers Group at AIS

Changing pace needs to be practised to be developed. Simulating race pace conditions is great fun for the athletes. Get the athletes to “bounce each other around”  and take turns being the first person allowed to  change the pace. This is great fun and great preparation for racing.

If you do too much high quality training e.g. heavy lifting, max power lifting, max speed running or max acceleration & your nervous system will be overloaded and your sprinting improvement will go stale. You will learn to run slower.Some squads do this all year, every year! There are probably superstars in those squads that are having their potential destroyed. Just like a talent singer who pushes their vocal chords too hard too often. They will end up with no special talent showing itself.

Some theories say to lift weights & run in the same session. There are a few ways to do this:

• Lift specific heavy weight first in small volumes first and then sprint flat out shortly afterward.  The best specific weight exercises is single legged step ups on a low box.
• Lift weights straight after the sprint session. This creates more recovery for the nervous system for the next quality session.
• Mixing some bounding alternate legs is a good way to link strength training to sprinting. (i will write another separate article about this soon)

The main thing not do is volumes of half effort sprinting and think that is sprint training. It is only conditioning & filling in time. Done too fast these will spoil speed development as well, and doing them in volumes will only convert fast twitch fibres too slower.

Yearly Plan – 44 weeks

Conditioning Phase A
8 weeks
Every 4th week is a recovery week

Weight training initially targets hypertrophy & general conditioning. It is usually performed 3 times per week. Interestingly when athletes lift in sets of 8-10 they stay much fresher in terms of their nervous system than later in the year when they are lifting more intensely with sets of 3-4. This means that during the conditioning phase it is much easier to perform quality running without it being effected by flatness from the weight training sessions. Late in the phase sets should decrease from maybe 3 sets of 10 to 3 sets of 8. Athletes should lift upward fast & down slow, they should not lift to the same tempo as a body builder even though the aim of this phase is to attain some muscular hypertrophy.

Plyometrics in this phase should aim to develop power with the longer contact varieties. Standing start bounding e.g. 4 alternate leg bounds & a jump into a sandpit can be performed. Standing long jumps & standing triple jumps can also be performed.

Hill training can be performed over distances of 60-100m and some can involve alternate leg bounding. e.g. run 60m bound 20m.

Athletes should perform two relaxed tempo sessions on grass per week & total between 1200m-2200m in each session. It is essential to keep tempo sessions slow so that they do not effect the quality of training the next day. This means running 100m reps not within 4s of maximum effort. A good tempo session may be something like 4 sets of 6 x 60m with a set of pushups & crunches before each rep. Athletes can rest after each run for 30-60s then start the exercises & have 5min between sets. These sessions build good general conditioning & are a much better alternative for sprinters than jogging for 20min.

Speed development sessions initially focus on improving performance over 30m from a 3 point start. Often what happens is the athletes will find that improvements in strength, bounding & 30m times will happen concurrently throughout the phase.

Strength Phase A
6 weeks

During this phase weight training changes to smaller sets e.g. 3-5 sets of 3-6 reps to target the development of maximum strength. This move can easily negatively effect the quality of running that can be performed the next day. It is ideal to be able to do fast track sessions in the morning & then weight training straight afterward or later on in the same day. In this way it is easier to balance the recovery in the week to maintain quality in faster track sessions. Weights should be continued 3 times a week.

Maximum speed work should expanded to include as well as the 30m runs longer distances of 40m, 50m & 60m. It is best to shift emphasis to 40m then to 50m then to 60m. In the second period the emphasis can start longer & be built up to include some 80m sprints. It is also a good idea to do some flying start runs of 15m to 30m or in & outs over longer distances. Speed sessions can be performed twice a week. It is important to aim to do only as many sprints as you can perform with quality at maximum effort. Make sure the athlete can back up from the session to the next one & still perform good quality. If the athlete is finding that they can’t back up for the next session do less reps , do the runs sub-maximally or do less weights. Balancing this area is a key problem when coaching sprinters.

Plyometrics should progress toward varieties that have shorter duration ground contacts. A good way to do this is by performing running start bounding. e.g. 10m running start then 4 alternate leg bounds & a jump into a pit. They should continue to do longer contact bounding as well. Plyometrics should be done once a week.

Hill training can be continued by decreased to once every 2 weeks. The hill session should be of less volume of shorter hills with some bounding e.g. 2 x 3 x 40m hills with run 20m then bound 20m these can be done like a tempo session with exercises in between sets. It is also a good idea at this stage to start getting used to some speed endurance on the track by doing just 2 fast relaxed 150m reps on the track after the hill session. This will make it easier to transition to more work on the flat in the next phase.

Athletes should continue performing two simple tempo sessions on grass per week & total between 1200m-2200m in each session.

Power Phase A
4 weeks

Weight Training 2-3 times a week moves toward a power focus. A small volume of strength lifts are maintained. One gym session a week is aimed at developing power with exercises such as:
- stiff legged bounces with a light weight e.g. 20kg
- jump up onto a box with less than 30% of 1RM half squat.
- stomping step ups with less than 30% of 1RM half squat.
- power cleans
These are often done in a circuit type situation with some heavy ¼ squats includes for a contrast effect.
Plyometrics should progress toward even quicker ground contacts. This is done with the performance of alternate leg speed bounding. These are done with a 10m running start and the aim is to get as much power into the track as quickly as possible e.g. taking the minimum number of strides to go 30m but also in a minimum time. The athlete needs to aim to strike the ground well underneath the body.
Hill training is replaced with small volume speed endurance sessions e.g. 150m rest 8min 150min rest 8min 150m rest 2min 150m.
Maximum speed sessions should be expanded to include sprints of up to 60m. They can also start to include some over-speed either using a strong tailwind or an assistance system. These should be performed in small volumes that the athlete is used to using.
Athletes should continue performing two simple tempo sessions on grass per week & total between 1200m-2200m in each session.

Competition Phase A
3 weeks

Weight training sessions can be performed once a week with a very small amount of a complex lifts just to maintain strength e.g. power cleans as well as ¼ squats are performed to maintain strength.
Plyometrics are stopped to enhance the athlete’s nervous system freshness.
Maximum speed sessions are performed of the same variety as the power phase but the emphasis needs to be on racing. The 72hrs leading into the race need to be free of anything that could effect the nervous system on the day of the race. This means almost no intense high cadence training, plyometrics or heavy lifting.
Tempo sessions once to twice a week with 800m-1600m in each.
Competition.

Conditioning Phase B
6 weeks

Similar to Conditioning A but the athlete should be entering this phase with higher levels of speed. They should do the smaller volume hill session from the strength phase e.g. e.g. 2 x 3 x 40m hills with run 20m then bound 20m with full recoveries and exercises between sets.
Maximum Speed Development can be of a greater variety between distances of 20m & 60m. But most work should stay at 40m.
Plyometrics should be of the long contact variety and can be combined in a session with block starts.
Some alactic capacity speed sessions should be performed involving the use of larger numbers of short repetitions e.g. 3 x 4 x 60m at less than 95% effort with 2min between reps and 10min between sets.

Strength Phase B
6 weeks

Similar to Strength A. The athlete should aim to become even stronger in this phase.
Hills should be replaced in this phase with speed endurance sessions that are initially longer repetitions e.g. 2 x 300m but progress toward shorter repetitions of 100-150m.
Maximum speed development should stay the same as in Conditioning B.
Plyometrics should progress toward quicker contacts.
Some alactic capacity speed sessions should be performed involving the use of larger numbers of short repetitions e.g. 3 x 4 x 60m at less than 95% effort with 2min between reps and 10min between sets.

Power Phase B
8 weeks

Similar to Power A
Plyometrics is speed bounds & some higher intensity plyometrics in low volumes e.g. over hurdle bounces e.g. in my squad an athlete did 6 x 2 plyo-hurdles at heights up to 107cm.
Maximum speed work should increase in distance & could re-introduce over-speed.
It is important to do block starts & reaction time practice during this period.
Speed Endurance should focus on progressively shorter repetitions down to sessions like 2 sets of 2-3 sets of flying start 60m-80m runs with rests between of 3min and 20min between sets.
Some competition but not so frequent that the training plan is disrupted.

Competition Phase B
8 weeks

Mental & physical freshness for races is the highest priority.
Gym once a week should focus on maintenance of strength with a small range of complex lifts.
Speed sessions should focus on technical aspects or extra speed may be chased using over-speed methods but this is not a good time of year to sustain an injury.
Speed Endurance should be enhanced from appropriate amounts of racing.
Tempo sessions of 800m-1600m should be continued once to twice a week.

Recovery Phase up to 8 weeks

Summary

The aim is to perform the following simultaneously as the competition phase approaches during each half of the year:
- decreasing contact times of plyometric activities.
- decreasing total volume of weights & aim finally for improvement in power.
- extending the distance of sprints from blocks.
- decreasing the distance of speed endurance.
- decreasing the volume of relaxed tempo sessions.
- decreasing total volume of all training for major races
- introducing some over-speed when appropriate late in the preparation.
- build confidence & mentally preparedness for racing with block starts, reaction drills etc.

Both extremes of training can work for an athlete. What the high volume athlete lacks in intensity can be ‘made up’ from the benefits of the slow stimulus of volumes of aerobic running. What the lower volume athlete lacks in volume can be ‘made up’ for with extra intensity. There are trade-offs and risks of both extremes however and this is essential when working out what is best for a given athlete.

The high volume athlete runs the risk of overuse injuries and this is especially so if the training includes a high percentage on the roads. They also run the risk of lowering running efficiency at race pace if good form work is not done to compensate for the potentially damaging effects of running slower most of the time. The athlete can lose speed & ease of speed. Some would argue though that increased mitochondrial density and capillarisation brought about in a more extreme fashion by high volume training will in fact improve efficiency – as will the extra muscular conditioning of the lower legs from running slowly with minimal knee lift.

The low volume athlete because of the higher intensity will face a much higher risk of overtraining & burnout both mentally and physically. I know of athletes whose immune system has let them down and they became repeatedly sick because of a the steady regime of highly anaerobic work they were doing for most of each year. I believe athletes don’t last long like this, they have short careers.

Many of the best athletes in the World that lasted for the longest were in fact higher volume athletes like John Walker.

I believe the answer to the debate is to do both , periodize the year smartly, build to high volumes in the offseason on softer varied surfaces, be cautious with highly lactic speedwork save it for the pre-comp period. Let athletes aim for goals that are within the next 3 months XC races etc. But in base building periods train at intensities that are certainly well within the coping capacities of the athlete. Do good running form – “ease of speed” development sessions most of the year but keep the volumes and intensities at a level that fits with the volume the athletes are doing. By intensity I mean lactic intensity eg 4 x 150m at high speed is ot near as intense as 4 x 200m at the same speed. The extra 50m puts the athlete into the lactic zone uch more just like 4 x 300m at same speed would be much more intense again. Speed can be developed and maintained safely in term of musculoskelatal injuries from sessions of faster shorter reps with a total session volume of reps of less than 1000m eg 4-6 x 150m at a good speed with plenty of rest is an effective speed development and form workout that is not that intense (especially if rests are longer like in excess of 5min)

With sessions like 4 x 2000m rest 3min there are many ways to run it.
They can be run at 5000m pace or faster i.e as hard as the athlete possibly can.
They could also be done at 10000m pace which is a bit above Anaerobic threshold pace. The 10km pace version is much more sustainable over many months of base training and can easily be preceded by a long warmup and a long warmdown. The faster eyeballs approach to the session is certainly not something that an athlete can sustain for many months ven though gains in Vo2max may be high. Training is all about having optimal adaptation not just quick adaptation. Sometimes slow adapatations from many areas can add up to elite performances because the athlete can be sitting at a level where just 2 months of comp prep intense training combined with racing can lift them to a super high level FROM what was a pretty low intensity regime of significant volume.

I believe now that especially with female athletes transitioning from juniors to seniors that we need to increase the volume & be cautious with the intensity but continue the speed development. Most will last better as long as their bodies suit it on 100km a week of steady running than 60km of hard fast running.

It is essential that athletes all do both a volume that their biomechanical structures can handle and the intensity that their physiology can cope with. Eventually their ability to maximally adapt to both at the right time is the key to optimal performances in MD events.

Loving their training & variety of stimulus is the key. Putting enough solid work in that the effects over a longer period of terms unveil unexpected improvements in performance when the time is right.

I have implemented with my squad a mixture of all the previously discussed methods that vary throughout the year.It is very important to have a clearly defined off-season where basic training, implementation of new ideas and technical improvement are the priority.

Our off-season training has followed variations of the structure below. (We follow 2 weeks hard 1 week easy and also use a Multi-pace training method similar to what Frank Horwill has advocated for decades.)

A typical week mid-year for an Open National Level Athlete.

Monday
Morning – easy continuous run 20-40min
Afternoon – Track Session – Speed Drills – Track Session eg 5 -7 x 800m rest 3min – Hurdle hip mobility drills – sandpit mini-bounces – heels/toes
Evening – Lower Abs focus

Tuesday
Morning- easy continuous run 20-40min
Mid – Theraband and Recovery activities
Afternoon- Continuous Run 30-40min / Speed Ball
Evening – Swiss Ball session

Wednesday
Morning –easy continuous run 20-40min
Afternoon – Track Session – Medicine Ball – Drills – Plyometrics- Race Tempo work and AT run 10-20min – heels/toes – hurdle hip mobility drills
Evening – Pilates

Thursday
Mid – harder continuous run 20-30min
Afternoon – Main Gym + obliques/upper abs
Evening – Pilates

Friday (Recovery Day)
Afternoon – Pilates/ Recovery activities e.g. Massage/ Plunge pool etc.

Sat
Morning – easy continuous run 20-30min
Mid- Track Session/Hill Session eg Drills – Plyo testing – 10min run solid then 20 x 60m hills (bound 20m – run 20m – bound 20m) rest 60-90s then 10min run and 3 x flying start relaxed 200m rest 3-4min – Hurdle Drills , Heels Toes
Afternoon- Pilates

Sun
Mid/Morning- harder continuous run 30-40min
Mid – Minor Gym/Circuit Training + Theraband + Back

Aerobic development in a comprehensive program

I believe that athletes need to work on improving all the qualities that impact on running throughout most of the year. Strength and speed gains tend to be fairly slow and steady so work is needed on them throughout as much of the year as possible. It will even then take a number of years for most areas to plateau. Doing strength training or hill training for a short period of the year will likely mean that these areas will never be developed to the full potential of the athlete.

Aerobic base work also must be done for most of the year and should never be compromised because of the desire to do the other areas of training. There is no choice that must be made between the two extremes. They BOTH must be done for the athlete to reach their potential. The key to making them co-exist safely and effectively in an athletes program is to plan the year to vary in emphasis. The periodisation should start generally less specific and shift in all areas toward being more specific. There is also a great need for athletes to focus seriously on recovery activities e.g. massage, plunge pool, nutrition, sleep etc. so that they can absorb the total training load.

In the early part of the year my Middle Distance squad weekly perform sessions like:

* 5-7 x 800m rest 3min (alternating off or on the track each rep)
* 3-4 x 1500m rest 5min (2 off track – 1 on track)
* 3-4 x 1000m rest 3min
* 8-12 x 400m rest 1min

We aim to do many of the sessions with slight variations of pace within each repetition so that the athlete can be thinking of moving smoothly and holding good form. It is very easy for athletes to lock into a single pace while working hard often forgetting to hold their body properly and move with good form.

They also do 1-2 fast continuous runs a week of 30-55min. The longer runs tend to build slowly to a solid pace. Both runs are always done off road. The rest of the continuous runs (also done off-road) are done at an easy to moderate pace and over distances of 20-45min. We very occasionally in the first half of the year do a longer slower run up to 75min or a long all day bushwalk in the Mountains.

We are also developing the use of electro muscle stimulation as a means of increasing muscle capillarization and mitochondria density. This may lower the need to do long runs as the benefits that are gained from them may be able to be developed with it. The unit we are are using is made by compex and we have found it very useful as a recovery aid as well.

As the second half of the training year approaches we introduce other faster sessions at higher paces and also some 30s+30s reps e.g.

* 5 x 600m rest at 1000m race pace with 5min rest
* 20 x (30s at 2km race pace then 30s at half of that pace) This session has been reported in studies by French Scientist Veronique Billat to create the opportunity for the athlete to spend more time at V02max than any other session. (Billat et.al)(Mackenzie)

Race preparation phase (3months before start of peak season)
The move toward being more specific involves changing the mix of training methods:
- Gym shifts toward lower volume power development of legs/trunk and specific arm conditioning.
- Lower volumes of plyometrics in a given session with more of a focus on quicker contacts. Eg speed bounding over 20m. Plyometrics cease before the start of the peak season.
- Hills are phased out and replaced with use of race speed resisted sessions with the sled on the track.
- Faster continuous runs of smaller duration, sometimes two runs like this a day.
- Swiss ball and pilates have less of an importance but are performed regularly.
- Athletes regularly do track sessions that are mostly around race pace over longer distances with longer rests. These sessions need higher levels of freshness before they are performed and even more recovery than usual afterward. They are usually done at least 4-5 days before major any peak season race. Some incredibly intense sessions are performed e.g. 600m at faster than 800m race pace recovery for 15min active a 300m at 800m race pace and then 4 x 150m at 800m race pace with a 1min rest.
- Some track sessions of lactic tolerance eg. Fast shorter reps with short rests. These maximally challenge running form and ideally the athletes need to be ready for this type of training in a comprehensive way e.g. 3 x 3 x 200m rest 45s at 800m race pace or faster with 4min between sets.

Long Term Planning

The best way to optimize any athletes performance is to design and implement a long term plan that takes into account all aspects of their development. In the case of a talented middle distance runner this is what I recommend.

What follows is a detailed plan that may assist coaches in designing training to suit athletes at different stages of development. I have classified athletes based on their ability to run with and maintain good form. It is suggested that by coaching following a long term plan that takes into account the following principles, will have a greater chance of being effective at producing athletes that can perform at their full potential.

Foundation Stage

It is exceptionally important to start at a young age with training that aims for multi-lateral development (Faccioni & Barnes; Gambetta). Having athletes simply compete in events without preparation is an opportunity to develop and practise bad habits. The other extreme is where a talented young distance runner does nothing but run volume. The goal needs to be exposing the athletes to as many different experiences in training as possible and on shaping their technique steadily as their bodies develop the qualities that are needed. This would be a great way for an athlete to prepare before they started training as a Stage 1 athlete.

Stage 1

- Improve the athletes postural stability, mobility and all round strength. Do this in partnership with a good physiotherapist.

- Teach all aspects of good running form and create many varied opportunities to practice it.
- Avoid doing practice in training with loss of form as much as possible. Improve the athletes resistance to losing good form when fatigued.
- Do a great variety of training activities that may improve the athletes resilience to the hard training that will come later in their career.
- Develop in the athletes a good work ethic in terms of following their program in the whole variety of activities from swiss ball, track session to recovery. Rather than saving some modes of training for later in their development let them experience the full range of activities in a variable way throughout each year from a young age.
- Start accumulating aerobic running volume, preferably with most of the training occurring on uneven surfaces such as grass & dirt trails. Do mostly runs of 20-45min.
- Race with high quality in certain periods of the year. Break up the year into periods where there are some races and where there are extended periods of no racing at all.
- Provide peer groups of similar minded athletes.

Suggested Sessions for Stage 1 athletes
To develop VO2max for stage 1 athletes should involve the use of shorter repetitions so that the athlete can focus on running with good form:

* 10-20 x 150 rest 30s jog targeting V02max pace which is up to a maximum of 1500m race pace. Decrease the pace if the athlete loses form or break the session into manageable sets e.g. 4 x 4 x 150m
* 2 x 3-4 x 400m rest 1min/10min jog – targeting 1500m pace.
* 3-5 x 800m varying the pace – slow first 100m – moderate next 300m – solid next 300m – cruising the last 100m recoveries 3-5min. Doing repetitions in this way is a very effective way of presenting a situation where the athlete can hold good form and also do a longer repetition.

Other sessions to develop anaerobic threshold, speed, strength endurance or anaerobic energy systems are:

* 10-20 x 60m hills (20m bound + 20m run + 20m bound) rests 1-2min – This is great for developing strength endurance and is a definite form improver.
* 6 x 200m @ 800m pace with more than enough rest. A tempo session – focusing on moving relaxed. This can be combined with a 10min solid run and drills
* 6-10 x flying start 100m runs @ 400m pace. This is great for improving relaxation at high speeds.
* 10min gradually faster run off the track – after a slower run warm-up. Good for improving anaerobic threshold pace.

It is best to do lots of race tempo sessions with more than enough rest so that fatigue is kept low and stay away from highly lactic work that would impact greatly on running form. It is best in Stage 1 to leave that work to races. It is also a good idea to stay away from doing many longer harder races. This includes racing regularly at cross country as a Stage 1 athlete. There is often far too much time spent with the athlete running in a state of collapse in the support phase. It is best to leave this until Stage 2.

Stage 1 athletes should not increase total running volume at the expense of form. To do so I believe is trading off short term gains against longer term success. They will develop bad movement habits that they will be stuck with. Coaches need to be very critical in this area or the athlete will shift off the desired development pathway.

Stage 2

When the athlete has an increased resistance to having their form effected by fatigue then they are ready for some harder sessions that will create some bigger gains. Sessions like 3-5 x 1000m rest 3min (or longer repetitions) tend to expose any tendency an athlete has to lose form. They should be saved for this stage or they will prevent improvement in running form through the large amounts of bad practice that the athlete will perform during these sessions.
- Increase the intensity of sessions that may have previously impacted upon running form negatively and see them as opportunities to stress the athlete and have them resist losing form. This goes hand in hand with the physiological effects being trained.
- Increase the total volume of continuous runs within the same constraints.
- Athletes at this stage may be at an advanced level in performing core strengthening exercising. Which should be developed further with more intense exercises eg hanging leg lifts, resisted crunches, etc.
- Athletes should continue to further develop their skills in plyometric activities and strength in the gym.
- They should also advance to the higher levels of intensity in areas designed to impact upon their resistance to injury. This should ideally be worked out in co-operation with a physiotherapist experienced with high level athletes.

Suggested Sessions for Stage 2 athletes

VO2max development sessions for stage 2 athletes can start to consist of some longer repetitions while still remembering that the goal is to be improving the ability to hold good form for further and minimizing practice of loss of form. Some possible sessions are :
* 5-7 x 800m rest 3min. These distances were being done in stage 1 with pace changes designed to maximize good form, it is still good to maintain those sessions but now the athlete should be able to run them solid right through each rep and hold much better form
* 3-5 x 1000m rest 3-5min. The distance can be lengthened and approached with variations of speed or at a single pace.
* 3-5 x long hills rests 3-8min hills can now be introduced preferably run up varying gradients within each rep and a winding trail. Hills like this are great because they help the athlete focus on form each time they need to adjust their running pace.

Other sessions to develop anaerobic threshold,develop speed, strength endurance or anaerobic energy systems are:
* Hills expanded to slightly longer faster hills eg 10-30 x 80-100m hills rest 1-2min – The focus needs to be maintained on running each one with strength holding good form rather than rushing up the hill fast.
* The frequent use of tempo sessions should be continued and ease of race pace further improved at paces including paces up to 400m race pace. This needs to be done in small amounts all year. Improvement in this area may be very slow but worth acquiring.
* The sessions performed that aim to improve anaerobic threshold pace should be increased in distance and frequency. This should be a priority for all middle distance athletes but not at the expense of track session quality. Kenyan 1500m record holder Lagat is reported to do 8 mile runs @ 3:20/km pace and also 5 mile runs with the last 2 miles @ 2:48/km pace
* Pace changing should be practiced initially of the slow acceleration variety. This could then progress to eventually more of the instantaneous acceleration over a few steps. A good ability to develop at this stage is to be able to make a rapid pace change and then relax for 50m at the higher pace before making another rapid pace change. Athletes lacking in strength in the right areas will have great difficulty holding form under these circumstances.

Stage 2 Athletes can do a little more highly lactic work even if it impacts on running form but make sure that improving maintenance of form is still a priority. They should still take care with the amount of racing at cross country.

Total volume needs to be increasing but not at the expense of training quality. Maintenance of running form needs to be developed at the same time as the athlete is improving their ability to run fasterc easier. It is best if as much volume of continuous running (if not all) be done in off-road situation on uneven surfaces. I think it is better that an athlete does two quality movement runs a day rather than one run that is twice as long and of lower quality. Quality in this situation is not just faster running but better running in terms of form.

Stage 3

The athletes at stage 3 have developed a high level of core stability, overall mobility and have excellent maintenance of running form which is evident when under high levels of fatigue. They have made excellent running form a habit that is now something that is automatic and much less conscious effort needs to be made to maintain it.
- They can now perform a maintenance program of most core strengthening activities and resilience building activities. This may enable them more time to devote to training or recovery modes.
- They can train at extremely high intensities and not be concerned with damaging efficiency as long as they manage to maintain excellent running form.

Suggested Sessions for Stage 3 athletes

VO2max development sessions for stage 3 athletes can be performed at the highest possible intensity and best possible distances physiologically.

* 3-5 x 1500m rest 3mi-8min @3000m pace
* 3 x 2000m rest 3-8min @3000m pace

The athlete should now be able to perform almost any session that is physiologically effective without it being an opportunity to practice negative habits.

They should also now be able to perfect pace changing abilities as they should have the strength to be most effective in this area.

Athletes at this level have arrived at a situation where they can now train at maximum intensity with the goal of acquiring absolute maximum performance. They should be able to do greater volumes and/or higher intensity training with a much lower risk of injury than if they had never undertaken what is required to develop the special abilities to be considered a Stage 3 runner.
Progression between Stages – How long will it take?

The stages do not match certain ages. The earliest an athlete could be considered to have reached Stage 3 would probably be when they have performed 3-6 years of comprehensive training and have finished growing. Some athletes may be at this level as young as 18.

The overwhelming majority of athletes that are seen competing are at stage 1 & stage 2 standard. Many national standard senior athletes could be classified as being in stage 1 but are training as if they are stage 3 athletes. The common problem that goes hand in hand with this situation is that so many athletes reach the standard where they can qualify to compete at open national championships and then breakdown repeatedly. They then often leave the sport early and fail to reach anywhere near their potential. This is because they may have followed impatient programs that were targeted only at producing short term results every season of their career. It is because of this that they weren’t ready to be able to sustain training at the required intensity or volume, to be at that performance level. They had not been “injury-proofed” effectively. This is almost certainly because of a lack of comprehensive conditioning aimed at optimizing their movement patterns.

More Middle Distance Information is HERE

This article is designed for younger athletes who have done little training. It contains the main points of a long term approach.

It is initially much more important to improve balance, posture and stability of the trunk than it is to improve leg or arm strength.

Sprinters should develop overall fitness in a way that does not involve jogging. They should however BE ABLE to jog for a long distance without a problem. Overall fitness can be acquired through dance, medicine balls, skipping etc. A variety is best. Progressive circuit training is great.

Improving the ability to have the type of speed that comes with little effort is the goal. Athletes need to always practise relaxing when running. The is a skill that must be practised from a young age. RACING can often be a time of practising the bad habit of trying too hard especially in the very young. The ability to run fast and have it look easy is of the highest importance. The quality of an athlete that can have very fast steps is the first thing that needs to be developed from a young age.

Sprinters should not be instructed to run on their toes or to pump their arms high.
-It is better to develop a foot that is moving backward before impact and a foot carriage that is as close as possible to the shin (Dorsiflexion).
-Arms should be held with relaxed fingers and the main focus of effort should be a backward stroke. They should also not move very far forward from the body.

Maximum running speed is the most important quality to develop on a regular basis. This should be done with maximum speed experiences over short distances. eg Flying start 20-30m runs or Standing start runs over 30-40-50 or 60m. The athlete should perform these runs at maximum relaxed speed in sets of 3 with rests between of 3-5min where they stay active and between sets they should do other balance or trunk activities for maybe 10-15min. eg A maximum amount may be 3 sets of 3 runs over 60m. A good amount to do regularly (ie. 2-3 times/week) would be 2 sets of 3 runs over 40-50m. The athlete should never do more once they are getting slower within the session eg. If the times over 60m are 8.30, 8.20. 8.25, 8.30,8.60,8.80,9.00. Then they should have ended the session after the first obviosly slower run in the session and in the example that was the 8.60. Initially runners may be slowing after even the first run, but with training they may be able to 9 runs at the same speed.

The ability to develop the endurance to finish off a 100m or 200m race is best developed in races. Training at slower speeds to improve performance in these events is mostly of a little positive effect. Endurance is best developed while running at race speed If the athlete is really lacking in Speed Endurance at the end of these races they could do sessions like below:
- 2x 3 x Flying start 60m runs at high speed with rests of only 90s
- 4 x Flying100m very fast rests 3min.

The 400m event needs special training at the slower 400m race speed. The ability to relax and use little energy is important at race pace.
Some sessions to improve performance in the 400m are:
- 10 x Flying 100m at 400m race pace rests 3min
- 4 x 200m at 400m pace rests 5min
- 2 x 300 at 400m race pace rest 15min
- 400m athletes should also do more endurance training and can get by with more jogging especially in the off season. Maximum speed training is also of high importance.

It is important to have good foot function and for this reason it is useful for athletes to spend as much time as possible barefoot. Walking on sand is very good. Training should be conducted in very light simple shoes. Racing flats from the Runners Shop are much better than joggers for training in.

In Cold weather athletes must warm-up carefully and keep warm. Tights are great for training in as they maintain warmth during the frequent recoveries.

Training to improve muscle elasticity is very useful in all athletes eg. Games like Fly, Hop-Scotch, Skipping short distances, Leap frog and playful hopping and bouncing around are all great stimulation to the elastic qualities of muscle. Combining sensible amounts of these activities with balance challenging activites and relaxed movement practise would be ideal especially for very young athletes.

Any strength training should be restricted to the trunk until the athlete has optimal development of their posture and good levels of stability. Strength training is much more effective after this is developed anyway.

Young athletes lose flexibility as they grow and their bodies will naturally try to cheat to find ways to move to make up for the deficiency. Small amounts of perfect practise are better at decreasing the development of bad habits. Large amounts of high effort training during stages of decreased flexibillity and poor posture will result in the athlete learning a bad running style that will be more difficult to correct. Athletes need to have a smart stretching program designed persoannly for them during periods after faster growth. They need to be taught good posture and given feedback on what is good and bad posture when sitting, standing, walking and running. Most of our society have posture far below ideal.

Much more info is in my ebook Training Kids For Speed

By Steve Bennett
B.Sc. (Physiology)
www.oztrack.com

A great thing for any runner to develop would be more “bounciness” and in any endurance athlete would be “sustained bounciness”. The good news is most athletes can improve the power and also the sustainable power of their stride by a large amount.

Sprinters can improve their stride frequency by improving technically in a number of ways. They also need to have optimized their power delivery by having high levels of stabilization strength and developed powerful prime movers. For many people running fast can be developed very simply. They just need to develop strength in the gym and practise fast running that creates the opportunity for the nervous system to better learn how to utilize the gains in strength.

Middle Distance athletes have a need to develop high levels of endurance so they can sustain race pace for the distance required e.g. 55s laps for 1500m. To win these athletes will also need to be able to change pace rapidly and have a sustained higher speed finishing burst.

In Australia we had Said Aouita appointed as our National Distance Coach in 2002-2004. The key area of his philosophy is for athletes to do enough quality volume in key sessions to develop high levels of stamina. He also believes in building very good recovery into a program by having plenty of recovery days and weeks.

Aouita believed in the following ideas:
• Speed for Middle Distance athletes can be developed from the effects of weights, many repeats of short hill repetitions and plyometrics. Importantly this can be done without the athlete doing volumes of really fast sprinting, which for middle distance athletes is a common cause of injury.
• Plyometrics is even more important than weight training in developing the type of speed that Middle Distance athletes need.
• The key to developing athletes who can be safe training with plyometrics is to have young athletes doing a variety of lower intensity plyometric activities. As adults these athletes will be much more able to fully implement training in this area to great effect with safety. Older athletes need to build intensity slowly in this area.

In the past my squad has performed a wide variety of plyometrics. The activities described below have been enjoyed by the squad and have not caused any injuries, even with young athletes.

A summary of some of the activities from our plyometric program follows:

Hill Bounding

Hill bounding is very effective at improving hip extension power and can have a great impact on all runners regardless of their event. Hill bounding stimulates the athletes to be able to generate more power which is sustainable and is also good conditioning for other more intense power activities.

All bounding involves the athletes impacting with a flat foot and having an active foot strike (the foot is moving backward as it hits). Athletes need to stay tall, lift their knees high and in long bounding aim for some “hang time”. Each foot contact needs to add to momentum, it is common to see athletes reaching in front for more distance which causes them to lose more momentum. The key is to have the athlete use high levels of hip extension power generated by the glutes to project the body forward. When bounding up hill it is best to make sure the athletes foot on impact is pointing straight up the hill and the knees should be lifted up high in front while the athlete stays very tall.

The sprinters in my group in the early phases of periodization did 2 sets of 5 x 60m hills where they run 20m – bound 20m – run 20m. They have often progressed to 2 x 5 x 60m hills where they bound 20m – run 20m – bound 20m. They do these with 2min between reps and 5-10min between sets.

The Middle Distance athletes have built up to do more of them and we have found good effects from 20 x 60m hills with 20m bound – 20m run – 20m bound with a walk down rest. They do the bounding less powerfully than the sprinters and do more of them quite safely. The activity is low stress on the athletes structurally but they can certainly feel it the next day by having sore glutes, this is evidence of some good work being done.

With the MD athletes we also sometimes do hill circuits where the athletes bound up a 50m hill run across the top and then swiftly down a gentle slope across to the bottom and then back up the 50m bounding section. The circuit has been about 600m a lap and they have built up to doing 6 laps.

Bounding

We perform three types of bounding. All three kinds we have had great success with while using very low volumes.

Standing start bounding

Standing start bounding is performed about once per week for much of the year.
5 repeats of 4 bounds and a jump into a sandpit. Measure the total distance of each effort and strive for progress. Improvements in mid-torso strength and leg strengthening from weights (especially the glutes) should assist progress. Rest between at least 3 min. I have athletes do these in racing flats on a mondo surface. Most athletes can improve the total distance by over a metre in a season.

Running start bounding

Running start bounding is performed more with sprinters/jumpers. It requires the athlete to be technically good at standing start bounding. The athletes need to get off the ground much quicker after each contact during this type of bounding and because of this it is much more specific to sprinting. The athletes in my squad have often performed 5 repeats of 4 bounds and a jump into a sandpit from a 10m running start. Once again the total distance is measured and the athletes aim to progress. Athletes may need to start with a 5m running start. High level athletes can progress to doing them with a 8 stride run-up and then 9 bounds and a jump into the pit. Middle Distance athletes do running start bounding in the pre-competition phase as well.

Speed Bounding

This is the most specific form of bounding a sprinter can perform. We usually do speed bounding from a running start over 20m or 30m. We time the athlete over the distance and also count the number of steps. By multiplying the time in seconds by the number of strides the “Speed Bound Index” can be calculated. The lower the index the better the athlete. Once again we only do about 5 attempts over 20-30m and have seen great athlete progress.

There are many more intense activities that will be covered in a future article, but the ones listed above are simple and effective when used by any running athlete.

Hurdle Mobility work is also good for all athletes, not only hurdlers.