[Andy Mack]

Andy Mack on June 24, 2013 at 4:55 pm #18326

Hi,

I am born in 1970 (now 42 y old) and my current time is 12.48s for 100m and 7.97s for 60m indoor.
I improved vs. last year from 12.58 for 100m and 8.12 for 60m.

I need your help to define if I should build more strength and muscular power or rather work on something else to get to under 12 s for 100m and under 7.8s for 60m.
I know this takes time and it is fine if it will be in 2.5 years when I enter the M45 category.

I weigh 71.5 kg at 173 height. Body fat 10%.

My typical program is 3x per week training.
1x work out (squats up to 160kg, and other quads and hamstring exercises, bench press, core body work, etc.)
1x technical training / short sprints / starts
1x series (60-200 m depending on the season)

thanks in advance

Andy

[Zack Trapp]

Zack Trapp on June 27, 2013 at 7:57 am #120056

The FAQ’s have alot of good information on sprint training. I would start there. Given that you are a masters athlete, I would say that you should spend 2 days a week on speed development, lifting, and plyos. Then I would do 2-3 days of either extensive tempo, body-weight circuits, and med-ball type circuits. Its important to remember that at your age your going to need more time to recover than someone in their 20’s.

[Andy Mack]

Andy Mack on June 29, 2013 at 5:32 pm #120073

The FAQ’s have alot of good information on sprint training. I would start there. Given that you are a masters athlete, I would say that you should spend 2 days a week on speed development, lifting, and plyos. Then I would do 2-3 days of either extensive tempo, body-weight circuits, and med-ball type circuits. Its important to remember that at your age your going to need more time to recover than someone in their 20’s.

Thank you very much for the great advice.

One thing I did not find in the FAQ is whether I should build more power and strength via work out (=bigger thighs)..?

[Zack Trapp]

Zack Trapp on June 29, 2013 at 6:10 pm #120074

[quote author="Zack Trapp" date="1372300077"]The FAQ’s have alot of good information on sprint training. I would start there. Given that you are a masters athlete, I would say that you should spend 2 days a week on speed development, lifting, and plyos. Then I would do 2-3 days of either extensive tempo, body-weight circuits, and med-ball type circuits. Its important to remember that at your age your going to need more time to recover than someone in their 20’s.

Thank you very much for the great advice.

One thing I did not find in the FAQ is whether I should build more power and strength via work out (=bigger thighs)..?[/quote]

Getting stronger is a big plus, but you shouldn’t really focus on getting bigger unless your underweight. Do alot of squats, presses, and cleans in the 3 to 6 rep range for maybe 20 to 30 total reps and you’ll be fine.

[Derrick Brito]

Derrick Brito on June 30, 2013 at 12:51 am #120075

If your squats are to good depth, then I don’t think strength is your issue. I would definitely add in some tempo and lower intensity general strength, but more details of your program would be helpful. For example, what does your 1xseries mean?

[Andy Mack]

Andy Mack on July 7, 2013 at 5:50 pm #120084

If your squats are to good depth, then I don’t think strength is your issue. I would definitely add in some tempo and lower intensity general strength, but more details of your program would be helpful. For example, what does your 1xseries mean?

Thank you.

We did mostly 90 degree squats only, not deeper

Here is the typical program per week (it took me quite some time to respond as I am on vacation and also had to find the english terms for the exercises)

session 1: WORK OUT (usually Mondays). in the PRE COMPETITION phase we reduce weight training 3-5 weeks before and replace this session with short sprint series
15min jog to warm up
20min core exercises (abs 1x 30 reps, abs diagonal 30 reps, push ups 40-50 reps, bridging/hip raises)
3sets x 6-10reps for all following exercises (this means 6-10 reps, then 90-120sec break, then again a set of 6-10 reps, then 90-120sec break, then again a set of 6-10 reps,)
squats (90 degree knee) 110 – 160 kg
Single Leg Split Squat 50kg
box lunges 35kg
bench press 50-70 kg
last exercise description. stat in kneeling position and move into split lunge with 30-35 kg weights

when we get closer to the competition, we start adding plyometrics in between the squats and box lunges (e.g. 3x10xfrog jumps after squats, 3x10x one leg bounds after box lunges)

session 2 (usually Tuesdays): TECHNIQUE
warm up
sprint technique, starts, etc. (1.5 h)

session 3 (usually Thursdays): SERIES
depending on season:
phase 1 = winter: longer runs 200-500 at 70-80%, or stair runs and stair jumps, or uphill runs
phase 2: 80-150m at 90-95%
phase 3: pre-comp: short 30-60 at 100%

hope this helps and thanks in advance for your advice again
For instance, should I add a 4th session during the week for weights training? I feel that I dont improve strength currently much with only one session per week.

[Lee Ness]

Lee Ness on August 12, 2013 at 10:50 pm #120255

Andy
I’m a sprint coach and my comments on your workout are as follows:
15 min jog warm up – I would replace this with sprint drills. My team does a 30 minute minimum warm up for every session which always includes drills, even if they are doing weights.
6-10 reps of eights is too high, this will build muscle but will not increase functional strength. Zack had it about right, although usually I keep maximum to 5.
Your winter series I assume your 200-500 is distance. I would keep the distance lower if you are trying to improve your 100m time. A 500m will make you fitter not faster. I wouldn’t go higher than 200m for a 100m specialist and never lower than 80%.
I would add in one more weight session as a minimum. However with my group I keep the core sessions and the weights sessions separate (they do core in the morning and weights or track in the evening). The weights should be very intense, less exercise, less reps, more explosive power.

[Andy Mack]

Andy Mack on August 13, 2013 at 4:18 pm #120260

Andy
I’m a sprint coach and my comments on your workout are as follows:
15 min jog warm up – I would replace this with sprint drills. My team does a 30 minute minimum warm up for every session which always includes drills, even if they are doing weights.
6-10 reps of eights is too high, this will build muscle but will not increase functional strength. Zack had it about right, although usually I keep maximum to 5.
Your winter series I assume your 200-500 is distance. I would keep the distance lower if you are trying to improve your 100m time. A 500m will make you fitter not faster. I wouldn’t go higher than 200m for a 100m specialist and never lower than 80%.
I would add in one more weight session as a minimum. However with my group I keep the core sessions and the weights sessions separate (they do core in the morning and weights or track in the evening). The weights should be very intense, less exercise, less reps, more explosive power.

Thanks so much. That is great advice. I will follow that.

Quick update:
I improved my 100m time slightly from 2012 to 12.47s with less wind than last time when I hit 12.48s.
And the 200m improved from 26.65 to 25.71.

One general question is how can I find out if I have more potential for the 60m, 100m or 200m?

My current PBs are all set in 2013 and are

60m 7.97 (with bad start)
100m 12.47
200m 25.71

Of note: when I was young, I never measured any sprint times because I played soccer only. I think I ran something in the very low 11’s on 100m at the age of 18-20 when I compared to some buddies. I was the fastest in my first league youth team in Germany. Could have also been just under 11 but who knows. Only the future counts now 🙂

[Lee Ness]

Lee Ness on August 13, 2013 at 10:16 pm #120262

According to the Brian Mac sprint time predictor, based on your numbers, the 100m is the better of the three, although obviously, your 60m time isn’t valid according to your note.
I think generally, you should focus on 100m training and the other two will come if you aren’t sure.
The differences between a good 100m runner and a good 60m runner or 100/200 are so marginal outside of elite level that they don’t really count for anything unless you are particularly powerful (60m bias) or slight (200m bias), but that is just a generalisation on my part without seeing you race.
As a coach I always believe that getting early phases right is important to set up the next phase, so I would focus a lot of your technical effort on your drive phase. If you get your drive phase wrong it will significantly affect your max speed phase and also the drive phase is by far where the highest proportion of the race is spent (in time) so it is where the gains can be made.

[Andy Mack]

Andy Mack on August 15, 2013 at 5:12 am #120265

Lee

Thanks again so much.
I will then focus on the 100m training.
When comparing my weight / height ratio (71 kg / 1.735 m) with other M40 sprinters, it seems I am lacking 1-2 kg of muscle mass. My body fat is 10%. That means getting more muscular strength is one more objective going forward?

Also, I agree that my technical drive phase needs work. Do you have some drills to suggest?

thanks again! you do not know how much you are helping me with this

[Zack Trapp]

Zack Trapp on August 15, 2013 at 5:46 am #120266

Lee

Thanks again so much.
I will then focus on the 100m training.
When comparing my weight / height ratio (71 kg / 1.735 m) with other M40 sprinters, it seems I am lacking 1-2 kg of muscle mass. My body fat is 10%. That means getting more muscular strength is one more objective going forward?

Also, I agree that my technical drive phase needs work. Do you have some drills to suggest?

thanks again! you do not know how much you are helping me with this

1. I wouldn’t focus on gaining wait unless you are ridiculously skinny. Sprinters come in all sizes from Harry A.A to Kim Collins-both super fast, completely different builds. Just eat a healthy diet and go through your training, your weight will manage itself.

2. Drills don’t do much for teaching technique. If your lacking a powerful acceleration phase, my top recommendations would be things that force you into the “drive” position. For that, I like heavy sleds(20-30%) and relatively steep hill work. Posting video would also.

[Andy Mack]

Andy Mack on August 16, 2013 at 4:13 am #120271

Thanks again, and here are the videos:

1. June 2012. My first 100m ever after 9 months of athletics training (started in September 2011)
12.48 (-0.7 wind)
This is even the personal best time as it was against headwind of -0.7. At that time, my technique was not very good I guess, but I am sure you have a p.o.v. there. That said, it was probably my best start and reaction time ever (the winner was not much faster in the first 5-10m and he runs 10.79).
At that time, I weighted 72.8 kg and had stronger legs than now.

2. October 2012. My 4th 100m race. This time it was after a 4×100 relay 1.5 hours before and I had a hamstring injury.
12.63 (+0.1)

3. June 2013. My 5th 100m race. This was the final after running 100m at 12.54 1.5h before which was not a great run. This one was a bit better.
12.50 (+0.9)
As that time, I weighted 70.6 kg (vs 72.8 kg) and felt some lacking power, especially at the start and drive phase.

Unfortunately video quality is not that great.

And finally, some actually measured and assumed split times per 10m.
As you indicated, my potential current best 60m time is probably closer to 7.8

10m split cumulative
1.870 1.87
1.270 3.14
1.140 4.28
1.120 5.40
1.130 6.53
1.140 7.67 + reaction time would result into: 7.835 s
1.145 8.82
1.156 9.97
1.162 11.13
1.172 12.31
reaction assumed 0.165
official 12.47