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05.28.04

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.

  1. 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.

  2. 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!

  3. 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.)

  4. 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.

  5. 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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