05.28.04
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Q: Mr. DeFranco,
How would you go about training a 100-meter sprinter?
Can you list track work, event-specific endurance
and strength training? I’m really interested
in what you would do in the weight room as I’m
assuming that muscle mass can hinder sprinting speed.
Because of this, I’m sure that you would have
to change your methods.
Thanks coach!
A: I answered a
similar question to this one on the T-Mag guest forum
last week, but I’ll review some key points again.
Before I get started, I want to preface my statements
by saying that my recommendations are for an advanced
sprinter – not a high school kid or beginner.
There’s a big difference.
First of all, strength training is
ESSENTIAL to all sprinters - especially 100m runners
and below! The shorter the distance of the race, the
more important strength and explosive power becomes.
Last I checked, Ben Johnson and Maurice Greene were
both carrying around some serious muscle on their
frames.
This is a very in-depth question
with regards to all of the specific aspects of training
a sprinter. I don't have the time to map out an entire
program for you; but I'll give you some key points
on how I train my sprinters. Hopefully this helps
you to design a productive program for yourself.
-
The faster you are, the LESS often you sprint.
Sprinting at 100% places great stress on the
CNS. The faster you are, the longer it takes
to recover from workouts. Sprinting all-out
in your event should only be done once every
7-10 days for advanced athletes.
-
Build speed BEFORE speed endurance. In other
words, if you have no speed, how are you going
to build speed endurance? Yet, I still see coaches
having their 100m runners running 400's and
800’s to "build endurance" for
their 100. This is BULLSHIT! The 100 and 800,
for example, have completely different energy
system requirements. I start my 100m athletes
with 10m sprints and work their way up. Remember
that the shorter the race, the more important
the start and first 10 meters becomes!
-
Knowing that the start and first 10m is essential
to these short sprints, we must know how to
train for them. Your 1st step and 1st 10m power
is predominantly a function of your TECHNIQUE
and RELATIVE STRENGTH. Build the proper strength
in the weight room and then get coached properly
in the start and first 10m. (You can practice
this aspect of the race much more often than
other aspects. Because it's such a short distance,
you recover faster and you're much less likely
to pull a muscle.)
-
Once you've built an explosive start, work
your way up by running 30m, 60m, 100m. Remember
to build your speed first, then work on the
"endurance" aspect of the race.
-
Work on exercises that have the best carryover
to sprinting in the weight room. Squats, deadlifts,
barbell reverse lunges, single leg squats, reverse
hypers, glute-ham raises, chin-ups, step-ups,
etc. Incorporate the dynamic-effort method as
well as the max-effort method into your programming.
I do feel that high-rep training does have it's
place in a sprinter's training arsenal as well,
but the timing is crucial. Also work on timed
sets. For example, if you're training a 100m
runner whose goal is to run a 10.5, have him
perform 10.5-second sets. For example, performing
as many single leg squats as possible in 10.5
seconds. Do 2-3 week mini cycles with this type
of exercise where the goal isn't to lift heavier;
it's to lift FASTER. The goal of this type of
training is to increase the athlete’s
rate of force development. (It is NOT intended
to match the limb speeds of sprinting.)
These are just some tips off of the
top of my head. Hopefully they helped. Oh, one more
thing, don't overlook the nutrition aspect of your
training. The people that think weightlifting makes
them "bulky and slow" usually think this
because they eat like shit! Remember that weightlifting
in conjunction with a poor diet CAN make you slower!
This is because although your absolute strength may
increase, your relative strength may decrease if you're
making poor food choices.
Get stronger, eat clean, work on
your flexibility and practice your technique!
 |
 |
Did too much muscle hinder Ben
Johnson’s speed?
|
I don’t think so!
Joe D.
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Q: Coach DeFranco,
How do you handle your college and professional football
players who return to their school/pro team and train
under different methods then the one’s that
you preach? Do you change your methods so that they’re
prepared for their specific programs when they return
to school or report to their pro team? Do you interact
with college and professional strength & conditioning
coaches to coordinate your programs?
I’m an avid reader
of Elitefts.com
and guys like Dave Tate, coach X and 62 are always
exposing other college and pro coaches as “dumbasses”
for their lack of training knowledge. Do you agree
with them? If so, how do you handle it?
I look forward to your response.
Jason from Kentucky
A: Jason,
This is a great question; it is also one of the most
difficult parts of my job.
To answer your first question; No,
I DON’T change my program to prepare my college
and pro guys for their return to their respective
teams. In other words, if they are going back to a
HIT program, I don’t have them do 1 set to failure
of a Hammer Strength circuit when they train with
me! This goes against everything that I believe in,
as well as it would bore me to death! I also have
a conscience and I wouldn’t be able to charge
an athlete for this type of worthless workout and
actually sleep at night.
As far as interacting with college
and professional coaches is concerned, I’m always
interested in having dialogue with my client’s
strength & conditioning coaches. I have great
relationships with a few college and professional
coaches. Unfortunately, most coaches feel threatened
by me and they would rather bad-mouth me, rather then
praise their athletes for training during their off
time. This baffles me. It’s almost as if college
coaches would rather have their athletes drinking
beer and hanging out with their burn-out high school
friends when they’re home on break; instead
of finding a competent performance specialist to work
on their strength and speed. It’s the same with
NFL strength & conditioning coaches. Most NFL
players don’t hesitate to vacation in Vegas,
Miami or any other part of the world the second they
get a break in the off-season. The truly dedicated
players use this “off” time to get bigger,
stronger, faster and better prepared for training
camp. Open-minded coaches should praise the players
who put in the extra effort. They should also help
their players choose independent performance coaches
who know what the hell they’re doing. Instead,
most coaches get jealous and ridicule the players
who put in the extra work. I know from personal experience
that if a college or pro football player reports to
camp in phenomenal shape, but he didn’t achieve
his condition by practicing his strength coaches methods,
he is ridiculed, not praised, for his efforts. Obviously,
this doesn’t pertain to ALL coaches, but it
pertains to most. It’s a damn shame.
Here’s a true story that I
wouldn’t believe if it didn’t happen to
one of my guys. Recently, when one of my college football
players went back to school for his Pro Day, his coaches,
teammates and trainers couldn’t stop praising
him for the transformation that he had made. This
athlete trained with me 5 days a week for three-and-a-half
months. He hadn’t been back to school for the
entire three-and-a-half month period. We worked on
his strength, speed, nutrition/supplementation and
flexibility. His teammates and coaches from school
raved about how his physique had transformed. He then
went on to run the fastest 40-yard-dash of his life,
fastest 20-yard shuttle of his life, fastest 3-cone
drill of his life, highest vertical jump of his life,
he dominated his position drills and he crushed his
previous best in the 225lb. bench press test. He then
signed with an NFL team. A couple of weeks ago he
had to go back to school to see some friends. He didn’t
want to miss his Friday workout so I wrote out the
workout for him to do at school. While he was strapping
the mini bands to the bench in preparation for his
dynamic-effort upper body day, his strength coach
came running over to him. “What the hell do
you think you’re doing?” asked his coach.
My athlete explained that he was getting ready to
do what he had been doing for the past three-and-a-half
months. “Not in my fuc*ing weight room!”
yelled the coach. My athlete was baffled and reminded
the coach of how he had praised him for his three-and-a-month
transformation and his incredible performance at his
Pro Day. The strength coach then admitted that he
praised him before he knew how
he achieved such great results. Since my athlete achieved
the best gains of his life on MY program, NOT his
college strength coaches’ program, his college
coach was pissed. The strength coach ended up kicking
my athlete out of his weight room and told him he
was never allowed to use those “bullshit”
methods in his weight room again. After being a three-year
starter and outstanding student, my athlete had to
go pay for a day membership to a local gym to train
that Friday.
Sad, but very…very true.
Joe D.
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Q: Joe,
I would like to know your thoughts
on calf training. I know you think that the calves
have nothing to do with vertical leap, but don't they
help your athleticism at least a little bit. I noticed
neither your vertical jump program nor your modified
Westside program include direct calf training. I also
noticed your calves look very strong and trained.
Is this just from squats, running, etc., or do you
do direct calf training.
Thank You, your website is
awesome.
Billy S.
A: : Billy S.,
Once again, my theories on calf training have to do
with my belief in the training economy. It’s
not that I think that calves are totally worthless;
it’s just that direct calf work usually gets
bumped out of my programs because I don’t feel
that they are more important than other aspects of
my programs. Direct calf work is more suited for bodybuilders
or incorporated into an extra workout.
As far as the development of my calves
are concerned; I don’t do direct calf work anymore.
I used to be self-conscience about my skinny calves
in college and I did a lot of direct calf work. I
tried hard to get my calves to be in proportion with
my thighs. Now, I could care less about symmetry.
Over the past 7 years, my calf development
has come from glute-ham raises, sled dragging and
walking up the stairs to my apartment.
Joe D.
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Q: Coach Joe,
Great web site! I just started your modified Westside
for Skinny Bastards program and I have one question.
How many warm-up sets should
I be performing before I attempt my max set on max-effort
day? Specifically, on Monday I’m going to attempt
225 lbs. for 5 reps in the barbell floor press. How
should I warm up?
Thanks man. And keep the t-mag
articles coming!
Todd
A: Todd,
In my “skinny bastard”
program I recommend that you perform at least five
total sets for your max effort exercise. Weaker guys
seem to only perform 1 or 2 warm-up sets before their
max attempt. For some reason, most of them feel as
if it’s a badge of honor to warm-up with 135
or 185 pounds. Remember that it’s not the weight
that you start with, it’s the weight that you
finish with! Skinny guys also need the extra volume
to help pack on some muscle mass – 1-3 sets
of low reps just won’t cut it.
Anyway, here’s a sample warm-up
for your floor press on Monday.
Bar X 10 reps
95 lbs. X 5 reps
135 lbs. X 5 reps
165 lbs. X 5 reps
185 lbs. X 3 reps
205 lbs. X 3 reps
REST 2 MINUTES
225 lbs. X 5 reps!
Good luck on Monday!
Joe D.
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