Run-Down Forums

[Guest]

my 14 yr old freshman son plays football and track and baseball. he is 6'0" and 160 pounds. last year he ran the forty in 5.2

does anyone know where i can find info regarding an appropriate training regimen or related info to help him achieve his goal of running a 4.6/4.7 by the time he is a senior?

or just some advice would be helpful too. another question he has is what would be a good training program consistent with developing speed but also the stamina needed for football and basketball (he is concerned with long distance running's perceived impact on fast twitch muscles necessary for burst and speed).

[Anonymously Posted by: 'DanS']

[Dan]

DanS,

If you haven't already, check out the newly expanded training resources section of my running links. There are several links in there that might help to answer your questions.

I was hoping someone else with a little more pure-sprint experience than myself might chime in on this question... I have the names of a few books that might also help. I'll get back to you with them shortly.

It's true that long distance running can hurt your son's speed, but I doubt we're talking about enough mileage to be of any concern. If he were to run 8-10 miles a day, that would be another matter. Short sprints and accelerations, combined with form drills (i.e. bounding, high knees, butt kicks, etc.) will provide a good groundwork, as will weight training that's not geared toward bulking up. Before offering too much advice, however, it would help to know what he's done to date. I'm often guilty of the too much, too soon method.

Dan

[Dan]

At (very) long last, here are a few books that were recommended to me for sprint training:

"New Studies in Athletics"

"Innovation in Speed Development" - Remi Korchemny

"The Charlie Francis Training System" - Charlie Francis

"Sprinting & Hurdling" - Kebba Tolbert

"Speed Dynamics" videos by Loren Seagrave, Kevin O'Donnell, and Brent McFarlane

Hope this helps,
Dan

[Adam]

The most success I've had with improving pure sprint speed both in my own training and training sprinters/power athletes is to focus on improving raw power output specific to running. This means doing short, steep, uphill sprints to complete fatigue and explosive plyometric exercises specific to running as well, such as sets of 22 one-leg hops up and down off a 20cm step. If you are interested only in 40yd acceleration, then any running at a speed much slower than that (other than a warmup before working out) would likely hinder development. Weight training has also been shown to improve sprint speed, but only for the first burst of ~10 yds. Without knowing your son's training background and motivation, I couldn't be any more specific in recommending a long term program, although it would probably involve everything I mentioned above plus sprint drills, downhill running, etc.

A reference I can recommend is the "Acceleration" franchises 701-241-9018 in N. Dakota and 888-820-2110 at the Washington Sports Med. Inst. in Seattle. Andy Becker and Dr. Dave Parker, respectively. If you have an Acceleration franchise training site in your area, they may be able to tell you where it is, or they could at least send you some literature. Otherwise, you'll want to seek the advice of a well-qualified track and field sprint coach, meaning a collegiate level coach most likely.

Adam Gaines

[Dan]

Gotta love the one-legged hops! I prefer 100m on each leg, myself. Probably overkill, but I like that deep muscle burn.

I didn't know the Accleration group was a national chain. Do you know how many franchises they have?

My experience with high-intensity weight work is that it increases sprint explosiveness up to around 200m (not raw power, obviously, but strength that more than counters any extra weight or oxygen comsumption), but tapers off very rapidly after that. For someone looking to work on their 40y time, I can't imagine weight work being a detriment.

What have studies shown to happen after ~10 yards? Is this along the lines of the creatine 3 second explosive energy cycle?

Dan