"My workout buddy is looking for a program to work more on top speed and less on endurance. Any ideas?"First, here is an article with some basics from bodybuilding.com.
Second, our track workouts are really geared more towards develloping speed and quickness than they are towards endurance. The intervals we'll end up doing, the 20/10s are much better than most endurance running for speed because the intervals are recruiting your fast twitch fibers as well as your slow twitch fibers, while most long distance endurance running just uses your slow twitch fibers. Because the intervals don't take very long, and work equally well (perhaps better) if you are a little fatigued, I'm scheduling speed and quickness drills in addition to the intervals.
As pointed out in the article above, speed is about form and strength. Form can be tough to work on by yourself (or without someone who knows how you should be running to begin with), but there are some things you can do. The falling starts we're doing work on form. For more info on falling starts and some discussion on form, check this post out. The swinging arm drills can be helpful, though they'll make you feel goofy. Also, running hills can help with form and strength, not big hills, just 15 degrees or so. And don't run down hill. The bodybuilding.com article talks about jogging down the hill to increase stride length, but I read recently (somewhere on this site) that downhill running can cause hamstring injuries.
The plyos we're doing will increase strength, you can do them 2-3 times a week. Running stadiums is a great way to increase strength and may help increase your stride length as well. If you're interested in lifting weights at all, that can obviously help with strength as well. The consensus seems to be that more weight, lower reps, lots of rest is better for develloping power. I go back and forth on what I think is good for ultimate. Currently I'm leaning towards 3 sets of 8 reps with 30 seconds rest between sets. I keep planning on posting my workout but I keep tweaking it. I also do a longer plyo routine, which I also keep tweaking.
If you'd like me to expand on a particular point, let me know.
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