I need help with a workout for a sprinter

[mxgausch]

Hey everyone!

I was talking to Kevin Larrabee, my RA on what im doing to get ready for track and field at the college level.
Im a sprinter and jumper.
I was wondering if you could help me out by instructing me on what i am doing wrong and helping me fix it.
At the moment this is what im doing to workout:
Run 6 days a week. >3 hard sprinting days and 3 days of running 2 miles
i lift about 4 days a week> when i lift i am currently lifting for endurance and the way i lift is: 3 sets of one exceresise with 1 minute inbetwen sets and then another 3 sets of an excersise that works that same muscle group. then i do the oppisite muscle after (like biceps first then triceps)
I spend about 2 hours/day when i work out those 6 days.
I usually run first then lift.

[Kevin Larrabee]

Please help Max out guys.

Also I should add, he is hitting 1400 Cals a day, on average. Not eating much after lunch.

I talked to him a bit and gave him some advice, let him borrow NROL to read. I thought it would be best to hear Eric, Craig, and others to chime in as he is a sprinter and wants to put on some mass before the season starts in a month while inproving his times.

Thanks

[Buk]

I would start with suggesting that your workout could likely use a major overhaul. The fact that you use biceps and triceps as examples of a muscle group is a tip. You would be much better off training movements with compound exercisus versus focusing on individual muscles. Most importantly is probably knowing what your training history is.

What distances do you run, and which jumps? Does the strength and conditioning coach not have something specific he would want you to be doing preseason?

1400 calories sounds very low, espically with sprint work and lifting. What ate those calories coming from, and how acurately are they measured? The first time I weighed a bowl of cerial it was over 3 servings. You are not eating or drinking anything after lunch, what time do you workout? What does your sprinting wok consist of? What intensity are your 2 mile runs, are they just amounting to junk miles?

Lots of questions in there, but the more we knw the more we can help.

[Frank.S]

Squat heavy! And eat more then 1400cals.. Hell, Many guys here eat more then that in their post workout meal. You arnt gaining any muscle at 1400cals.

Ive heard Ben Johnson could squat arouind 600lbs ass to the ground. Impressive to say the least. I would focus on Quad/Glute/Ham/low back strength first and foremost. Dont get stuck into high reps only, singles are a powerful too that should be thrown in. There are alot of guys out there following the "westside" template that are sprinters. They just dont to the upper body days. Look at elitefts.com and do some reading on there if you are interested in that method.

[Frank.S]

Buk may be right at the fact your probally eating more then 1400cals a day. If you are doing 2 hour workouts, doing a hell of a lot of running, and trying to gain some muscle, three times that would probally be on the right track.

[Alcoholiday]

you should probably post what your workout consists of fully.

1400 calories average for 6 days a week running, and 4 lifting days? Ouch.

i don't know much, but let me venture a guess:
-stop training for endurance. actually, is that even endurance? that sounds like just supersetting everything.
-start eating more
-start making better exercise selection
-lifting is supposed to supplement your sport.
-unilateral work, core, and PC work are your friends.

what events do you compete in? why 2 mile runs, if you're a sprinter, 3 days a week?

those are just some ideas off the top of my head. Hopefully someone more qualified than me: eric, tony, lisa, etc will chime in

[Jason B]

Best way to get faster is to get stronger (at least at your level). Which means lifting heavy and eating big. DO NOT be afraid of size and strength, that's a mistake many runners make. People think if they get too big they'll be bulky and slow, all I have to say is look at an NFL running back's legs or an olymipic sprinter's legs, they're huge and those boys ain't slow. Check out Joe Defranco's website, that dude knows how to make people strong and fast. His westside for skinny bastards I think would be a good program for you. And at least double your calorie intake rightt now, 1400 is dangerously low.

[ryan122185]

ATG Squatting, GHR, Power Cleans, Power Snatches and for godsake eat like double what your eating.

[Kevin T.]

I've used DeFranco's WS4SB with great success and am also enjoying progress with Eric Cressey's Ultimate Off Season Training Manual. You can check out my log at: The Ultimate Off-Season Training Log

bigDman (bigDman’s Ultimate Off-season Training Log) and EdChap (Piling on the pounds faster than a fat man over a cupcake!) are also following programs from EC's manual.

I like EC's program better, only because I have the ability to contact him at my fingertips (literally, he visits here and post often and has already answered a bunch of my questions). DeFranco's program gives you more options and you pick what you want out of each section. DeFranco's is where all the top football players in my area go to and I've seen first hand the results of his programs (my school has a few kids who go to him; our QB/CB is getting major D1 interest as a CB and our WR led the state in receptions and TD receptions).

IMO, with either, if you follow them diligently and put in the hard work, which it seems like you're used to doing, you'll find great results.

The plus that DeFranco's WS4SB has is that it's free. You'll have to buy EC's manual, but trust me it's worth every penny. It's a lot more comprehensive, telling you the what, the why, and the how. It teaches you tests to use and what the results mean, in regards to your training. Then, you take those results and pick your program and your training goals. It teaches you how to build a program and why. I can't recommend EC's manual enough. I love it.

Stick around here and you'll learn a lot. Use that knowledge to your advantage and reap the benefits, as many of us here have.

[dos]

-2 mile runs....ditch em
-high rep lifting.....ditch it, have to use some sort of periodized program
-you are SO in a negative calorie state it is ridiculous....for god's sake EAT!
-isolation lifts...ditch em. Compounds, oly lifts, explosives etc.

[JoshDunn]

Sprinters should be able to squat 1.5x there bodyweight. Eat lots but eat clean. Kevin can run over the principals of Precision nutrition with you.

-Cut the 2 mile runs out. Don't run before your weights.
-Find a coach or someone to analyse your sprinting form.
-Do some plyometric training. (split squat jumps, tuck jumps, standing long jumps, medicine ball throws, depth jumps, clap pushups etc)
-focus on increasing stride length
-increase stride frequency
-most sprinters focus on 10,20, and 40metre sprints and won't actually run 100m until a race (i'm not sure what distance you perform but break the distance into pieces)
-have the body leaning forwards, the second your trunk becomes upright you stop accelerating and then you are slowing down

[Frank.S]

Originally Posted by JoshDunn

Sprinters should be able to squat 1.5x there bodyweight. Eat lots but eat clean. Kevin can run over the principals of Precision nutrition with you.

-Cut the 2 mile runs out. Don't run before your weights.
-Find a coach or someone to analyse your sprinting form.
-Do some plyometric training. (split squat jumps, tuck jumps, standing long jumps, medicine ball throws, depth jumps, clap pushups etc)
-focus on increasing stride length
-increase stride frequency
-most sprinters focus on 10,20, and 40metre sprints and won't actually run 100m until a race (i'm not sure what distance you perform but break the distance into pieces)
-have the body leaning forwards, the second your trunk becomes upright you stop accelerating and then you are slowing down

1.5x bodyweight? Seems far to low for me. for a 180lbs person, thats only 270lbs.. I would think any decent sprinter would be able to get to near that within a few weeks. I would shoot for higher then that.

[gobbla]

1.5 is the recommended. gotta remember that your strength is related to what you're pushing (you) so having more isn't necissarily better. that's not to say that he coudln't\shoudln't be able to squat more than 1.5, but if he should be able to do *at least* 1.5

check out coaching USA track and field for ideas.

[Lisa~]

A sprinter’s training should focus on explosive power (read Olympic lifting), especially posterior chain power. You’ve gotten some great advice already and I’ll second the recommendation to ditch the 2-mile runs and high-rep lifting programs. Your sport is not about endurance, so stop training for endurance.

You’ve gotten a response from Dos Remedios, the NSCA’s Strength Coach of the Year. Take a quick look through the programs he has his sprinting athletes do.
Cougar Strength Click on Track/Cross Country -> Sample Workouts.

I also highly recommend Eric Cressey's Ultimate Off-Season Training Manual which can be purchased here. Kevin and several other forum members are currently using this program and Kevin gave some details about it in his post above.

Another fantastic resource for all athletes is Kelly Baggett. His website is overloaded with free information organized by sport. When it comes to sprinting, Kelly's name is the first to come to my mind. Check out sample programs at www.athletes.com.

Once you make a choice about which program you want to use, then jpfitness will be a great resource for answering questions, support, and encouragement.

[dos]

Originally Posted by Lisa~

A sprinter’s training should focus on explosive power (read Olympic lifting), especially posterior chain power. You’ve gotten some great advice already and I’ll second the recommendation to ditch the 2-mile runs and high-rep lifting programs. Your sport is not about endurance, so stop training for endurance.

You’ve gotten a response from Dos Remedios, the NSCA’s Strength Coach of the Year. Take a quick look through the programs he has his sprinting athletes do.
Cougar Strength Click on Track/Cross Country -> Sample Workouts.

I also highly recommend Eric Cressey's Ultimate Off-Season Training Manual which can be purchased here. Kevin and several other forum members are currently using this program and Kevin gave some details about it in his post above.

Another fantastic resource for all athletes is Kelly Baggett. His website is overloaded with free information organized by sport. When it comes to sprinting, Kelly's name is the first to come to my mind. Check out sample programs at www.athletes.com.

Once you make a choice about which program you want to use, then jpfitness will be a great resource for answering questions, support, and encouragement.

Hi Lisa, well much of my webpage has not been updated but I have since went to a more general training template based on how many days per week I have the athletes, you can find it here...
http://www.canyons.edu/departments/p...rcise_menu.htm

[Chris C]

I would focus on squats,deadlifts and posterior chain exerices along with a few upper body exercises. Having a big squat is good, but rate of force development versus max strenght would be the deciding factor because of time available to produce max force. I also would limit the total volume as to avoid or minimize building any unnecessary mass. Reason being to increase one's power to mass ratio. Kinda on the fence regarding OL and plyo's as sprinting in itself is plyometric in nature.

If you want more specialized info, I would check out charliefrancis.com. Good into there

[BFG]

can I ask a daft question is there a specific reason for keeping the calories as low as 1400? Everyone else has mentioned this and having been down at 1400 calories regularly last year I know I would just burn out pretty quickly.

On the one hand you say you wanna build up but on the other you are not allowing your body the resources to do so.

Is there something we are missing?