Would it be better for someone who wanted to increase their acceleration to concentrate on short sprints or heavy lifting? I can squat about 160x1 and I weigh 152lbs. I can deadlift 300x1. I want to improve my acceleration from a stand still and from a slow job and then build up into a sprint. Thanks, I guess I am wondering what would be more effective. I know I should combine both and that is my plan after I am done cutting off more body fat. I plan on lifting heavy twice a week and sprinting hills once.
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06-19-2010, 07:07 AM #1
Acceleration...better to lift heavy or sprint short sprints
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06-19-2010, 08:38 AM #2
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06-19-2010, 09:03 AM #3
OK I understand that but I was reading over at Westside barbell the guy Joe defranco he was saying he gets guys faster in a room lifting weights without even sprinting. I am assuming he means the 40 yard dash and increasing your relative strength. So I was curious as to what would be better for me, to first increase my strength especially in the squat and sprint once a week or more sprinting less lifting. You are saying for me to lift after sprinting but wouldn't that make me not gain as much strength as I could if I just lifted heavy twice a week with rest. Seems like a lot of conflicting advice I keep getting from build a strength base then sprint to sprint more and lift less.
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06-19-2010, 09:13 AM #4
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06-19-2010, 09:22 AM #5
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Form and technique are an integral part to acceleration. Are you training for track and field or a sport like football, rugby, soccer where you are trying to increase your acceleration?
Just remember stay low, with quick steps to begin and drive from the balls of the feet, and then as your body rises increase the length of your stride.
I'm not sure if your following Westside or not, but you can definitely lift 2x week and sprint 3x a week. I'm following Westside and I'm doing an ME Lower, ME Upper, DE Upper, and general conditioning to get back into rugby shape 3x a week before I start sprinting.
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06-19-2010, 09:53 AM #6
The best accelerators in the world spend more time on the track than in the weight room.
Here's the truth, lifting without any running can improve your first 10m. If you broke up the 100m into 10 sections, lifting is most important in the first section (first 10m), and less and less important as the 10m sections go on, being of very little to no importance after 50-60m or so.
Here's something you may not be realizing as well... lifting after sprinting will not hinder your lifting gains... actually in my own experience, I was gaining more in the weight room when doing acceleration sprints before coming into the weight room. The reason is that my CNS was more fired up to lift heavy, than if I hadnt done the sprints, it woudnt be as fired up.
If you were a higher level athlete and sprinting full out 3x per week really taxed you, and you needed strength big time, I'd change things around. However, at your level you dont need to worry about that at all.
Sprint workout first, lift right after, you'll see very very good gains. And forget the max effort, dynamic effort sh*t... lift heavy in the weight room, and leave the speed strength work to the sprints/plyos...
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06-19-2010, 10:00 AM #7
Haha I would love to be able to work out twice a day but unfortunately I live in a world where I need to work. I just want to make sure that I get as strong as possible, I always hear about squatting twice your BW and until you reach that goal you will never be as fast as you can be. So I assumed that with lifting heavy twice a week for strength and coupling that with one good sprint session to make sure I don't lose my sprinting ability that I would be able to accomplish that. Thanks for your replies already I appreciate it. I am going to start clean bulking with 2-300 calories over maintenance in september because by then I should be around 8-9% body fat. My goal is to increase my relative strength as much as possible so I can create the most force on the ground. Which from what I have read is the key to acceleration. While I am clean bulking once I get up to 12% body fat at the most I am going to cut back a little so I never get to out of hand with fat gain. Does that make sense to you guys??
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06-19-2010, 10:06 AM #8
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06-19-2010, 10:46 AM #9
So how come so many guys show up to the nfl combine who can squat 2xbw or sometimes more then that always run the fastest 40s. I know it is genetics but the strength base has to stand for something right? I am not trying to prove you wrong or ague I am very curious how this all works. I always see Corners and wide receivers that are 225 lbs and they squat well over 2x their weight or at the least close to it and they run fast 40s which is the kind of speed I am after. Those guys have tremendous relative strength which allows them to accelerate quickly right or no? I want to improve my acceleration not over 50 yards but the first 10 to 30-40 yards.
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06-19-2010, 11:30 AM #10
You said that "you cant ever be as fast as you can be until you squat 2x BW"
Speed is not defined by how well you can accelerate, but by the velocity you reach (top speed). But you've made it clear your goal is acceleration, and essentially... "football speed."
I am not saying "dont get strong" im just saying that if you want to get faster at running, you're gonna have to run fast (as your first priority) and getting stronger is your second priority if you're aiming at speed. That being said, why cant you do both on the same day? like majority of sprinters do? You will see much better gains anyway...
A speed workout, with the warm up and everything, shouldnt take more than 90 mins, and probably 75 mins or so for an acceleration workout. Lifting should take you no more than 90 mins as well, and can be done in 75-80. What's the major problem with doing both on the same day?
And you must remember that gains in the weight room do not automatically become gains in speed... You develop general/maximum strength, however until your body learns how to efficiently transfer those forces onto the ground, you're not going any faster. Doing sled/hill sprints can actually help just as much or more as weights for acceleration work, as they are a resistance type of exercise, and are specific to actual sprinting, where as squatting down... well how specific is squatting to sprinting? not that much...
At the end of the day, you can make the most gains (in both speed & strength) by doing both on the same days.
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06-19-2010, 05:09 PM #11
This is a question in the ask Joe section from Joe defrancos training website. read through the whole thing. Box Squats over free squats. Read through the whole thing. Go to his website and check out westside for skinny bastards part 2 or 3. I would not do a bunch of sprints on a heavy lower day. I have not seen any program that does this. Now ending a heavy leg workout with prowler or sled work would be good. Just look through his site and you will find the answers to acceleration needs. Hope this little excerpt will help.
Q: Hey coach, some of us who read T-Nation a lot were pretty upset that
the reporter who covered the SWIS Convention did not post the highlights of your talk. We know how busy you are, but would you be willing to post your highlights on your website or on t-nation?
Rich
A: Rich, Thanks for the support. In defense of the reporter who covered the SWIS Symposium, there were 3 quality presentations going on every hour. Needless to say, I’m sure he had a lot of tough decisions to make that weekend. Below I will give you some insight on my presentation. Obviously, I can’t review everything from my 90 minute presentation, but this outline should give you some idea of my philosophy about the REAL way to improve speed…
The title of my presentation was The Best Speed Development Program – Sprinting Problems; Strength & Flexibility Solutions
A. There are only 2 ways to make someone faster
Increase amplitude (length) of their stride
Increase frequency of their stride
B. Who’s the fastest at the grade school level?
The kid with the fastest stride frequency usually wins
C. How trainable is stride frequency?
The best time to train for stride frequency is before an athlete reaches puberty. At this time their nervous system is still developing and it can be “molded” like clay. Once an athlete matures and his nervous system has developed, it’s much more difficult to improve stride frequency - compared to stride length.
D. Who’s the fastest at the high school, college & professional level?
The athlete that takes the fewest steps during a race (most powerful stride length) usually wins.
E. How trainable is stride length & how do we improve it?
Stride length is highly improvable at any age. The key to improving stride length is to increase RELATIVE body strength & increase flexibility/mobility.
F. Biomechanical differences during different sprint phases
First Step Power – Push off both feet & cover as much ground as possible
Acceleration Phase – Big forward body lean, positive shin angle, take the LEAST amount of steps possible, ground contact time is longer than at top speed
Top Speed Phase – Upright posture, ground contact time decreases
G. Economical Strength Exercises
First Step Power – Choose exercises that require static overcome by dynamic strength (overcome inertia): Deadlift variations, box squat variations
Acceleration Phase – Quads & glutes are highly active due to the athlete’s forward body lean: Bulgarian split squats, step-ups, reverse lunges, forward sled drags (These are great exercises because they also improve hip flexor flexibility.)
Top Speed Phase – Posterior chain is the “sprinting engine” due to the athlete’s upright posture: Reverse hypers, glute-ham raises, 45-degree back raises, pull-throughs, upright sled drags
Hopefully this outline helps,
Joe D.
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06-19-2010, 05:27 PM #12
Very strong false comment. Almost every elite sprinter and semi elite sprinter does their sprints and lower body lifting on the same days, and you have not seem a program that does this? I suggest you look up the CFTS, Dan Pfaff's program, the jamaican training methology, LSU's sprint program and other programs. Quit reading "40 yard programs" that are made up of a whole bunch of lifts and agility drills.
Defranco says the key to improving stride length is improving relative strength/flexibility, sure this is right in a way. But Asafa Powell has made major stride length gains this season, and he doesnt even squat! ever. I have also seen other guys in the long stride club who have pretty little strength relative to some other guys I've seen as well.
Defranco also forgot the importance of leg stiffness, which is trained very well in the jamaican training system. What bounces higher, a basketball with more air? or with less air?
And why is it he breaks up stride frequency/stride length, but doesn't mention anything about training stimulus? A lot of his success with guys, training them with lifting and getting results through that, has been that it's provided a good stimulus.
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06-19-2010, 05:34 PM #13
Yeah combine both preferably - weight training 3-4x per week and sprinting 2-3x per week (make sure you do your sprint sessions in the morning or before your weight training sessions).
I'd also recommend CFTS as well as Kelly Baggett's Truth About Quickness (he incorporates a lot of Charlie Francis' principles).strengthreview.net
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06-19-2010, 11:56 PM #14
haha secret lifter pay attention to the thread. He doesnt want to be a world class sprinter he wants to improve his acceleration. YOU know more than defanco because you have a keyboard and can use it on the internet. Why dont you videotape yourself doing a 60 minute sprint workout and then doing heavy box squats as in 450 plus in weight. Then do some more leg excersizes such as unilateral and posterior chain work. He wants to improve acceleration not run a 10.5 100 meter dash. show me articles or proof or vidoes of you doing your workouts don't just post as what seems to be your opinion on the subject. You want to argue against defranco and the athletes he has trained over the years be my guest but you are ignorant.
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06-20-2010, 12:04 AM #15
And guys like asafa powell don't need to squat because he's a freak of nature. Doing the same program as him is dumb because of the genetics he posseses. Chad Johnson eats mcdonald's every day. Why dont we all eat mcdonalds then? Because he is a freak and is not like us. How are you a speed expert? have you coached anyone that IMPROVED while they were with you. Do you have a PHD in excersize science or physiology. These are not personal attacks but I want some proof that your not some 16 year old kid that thinks he's a speed expert. .
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06-20-2010, 06:02 AM #16
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06-20-2010, 02:18 PM #17
Bigguy, you've already shown you lack any basic understanding of speed training by saying you dont know any programs that do lifting and speed on the same days, even though almost every sprinter program does that.
I'm aware that he wants to improve his acceleration... In my time of playing football, I was the fastest accelerator in the league (on the field), by doing track workouts. Meanwhile all the guys doing "football style speed workouts" were getting smoked by me. Later on, guys I knew on the track, were smoking guys on the field as well, and the same guys who spent loads of time doing the style of workouts you reccomend, were getting their asses kicked.
OP is 5'10 and 150 pounds, not at full physical maturity, and probably 18 or younger? Training more track style vs. football style, will give him a much better speed base for the future, and make him faster overall, and he'll soon be smoking all the other guys on the field.
He can do that... or he can train to improve his acceleration purely, and he wont get nearly as far.
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06-20-2010, 02:29 PM #18
I didnt actually say to not squat, I was pointing out that for getting faster, a strong squat is one piece of the puzzle, that isnt too important compared to sprint workouts, or even elastic strength.
Ok asafa powell is a freak, what about the large number of guys I know who dont squat and get faster and faster year to year? This includes guys running 10.3-10.8.
and no one's reccomending anyone to do the same program as powell, but if you're saying being a freak excuses you from squatting, I guess all the guys with skinnier legs who have extremely fast accelerations, top speeds and times are all freaks then, even though they never run faster than 10.5 ...
And if you have a good understanding of this, explain a couple scenarios to me.
Number 1:
I hit a number of lifting PBs in the squat, clean, deadlift, bench press. I unload my training and run some times. couple months later, I stop heavy lifting. 3.5 months later, I lose some weight, legs shrink, squats gone done a lot. My 30m times are a bit faster than they were when I was at my peak strength.
Number 2:
Couple guys on the track, their speciality is their block start and acceleration. thing is, both of them are about 145-150 pounds, and their legs are skinnier than your average teenager. They start lifting full time, and a year passes, their times dont make any unordinary improvements, what gives?
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06-20-2010, 03:18 PM #19
Once again show some proof. Saying you were the fastest accelerator in the league is ridiculous. Whats your name your accolades did you play d1 football because your so fast. I run a 4.25 40. I know kids that trained the way you said to train and got their asses kicked. The kids that trained like in the above article by defranco were the best. See I can do it too buddy. Stop posting until you can prove who you are and what makes you a speed expert. real proof not just a I was really fast and the people that trained like me were really fast.
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06-20-2010, 03:22 PM #20
And the programs I have looked at are ws4sb which is extremely popular. 5/3/1 for football. And the thread on here that lists many collegiate football progams, and not one of them had their players run sprints for an hour then go squat or deadlift. So do not accuse people of lacking knowledge that is a personal attack and that is not how adults argue so I know for a fact that you are some young kid that thinks he knows everything. I am young too only 18 but I do not claim to be a speed expert. Show some proof of articles you have written, clients of yours, maybe your degrees that is if you are even old enough to be in college, HOw about any internships or top speed coaches you have worked with? anything?
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06-20-2010, 04:42 PM #21
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What are you training for? Unless you are doing a sport based on weight class you don't really have much business cutting .... especially under 160lb.
A good mix of both is the best recipe for success. How can you DL 300lb and only Squat 160lb? That doesn't even make sense .... you need to squat more ASAP.=============================================
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new log soon!
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06-20-2010, 04:52 PM #22
3 times a week? linearly? are you high or something?
i'm pretty sure he wants speed for a sport other than track, so 3 times a week is overkill and stupid. how the hell is he supposed to run linearly 3 times a week? he probably wants to do some agility stuff, some conditioning and get stronger. honestly, at a 160x1 squat all he has to do is get stronger, and he'll get faster.
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06-20-2010, 04:57 PM #23
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06-20-2010, 05:33 PM #24
I was talking about club league. But you know what buddy, an argument with you isnt getting anywhere, you can look up the methods i've suggested yourself, and realize that majority of the fastest football guys have been track sprinters. But you go get faster at running, by running fast once per week you do that man, makes no difference to me. good luck though.
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06-20-2010, 05:40 PM #25
What's your point? There's guys who are faster than the people you speak of, who do mainly track workouts and dont care much about lifting. I suggested you look up the CFTS, HPC training, Dan Pfaff's training, and LSU's training program. These are speed based programs that aim at a bigger target than collegiate football.
I have a suggestion for you, how about you stop talking the bullsh*t, and actually have a technical discussion with me on why speed work rules over the weights, and should be done first, on the same days. If you refuse, then dont post any suggestions! It's common sense, either you put up or shut up.
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06-20-2010, 05:48 PM #26
3x per week is not overkill. You can do agility work, conditioning, strength all alongside sprint work. As I've said already, most of the fastest guys on the football field have been sprinters. Is he trying to just improve a bit? or set himself up for long term success?
LOL WUT. Biggest load of trash I've heard on this forum, only because you are being serious in saying that.
There's only been one elite sprinter in history squatting 3x body weight, and currently the top 3 sprinters (ever), one of them doesnt squat, one of them does random circuit weights, and one of the uses machines! Guess who the machine guy is
My buddy who place second at world youths last year (100m), runs a 10.37 now and he hasnt actually ever stepped into a squat rack. I can go the list. And then there's guys who do squat, and put up something like 185, 225, 275 and have dropped down into sub 11s focusing mainly on speed.
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06-20-2010, 07:45 PM #27
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They are called 'genetically gifted athletes'. You will not find somebody who is not genetically gifted unable to lift and get better. Plus ... if you are genetically gifted and DO lift you won't be selling yourself short.
Workout programs that don't include lifting are 100% based on your genetics and are not the most efficient.
3x per week of sprinting is not bad for off season if there is at least 24 hours between sessions. Personally, I believe 2x per week along with 1-2x per week of agility drills (ladder/dots etc.) and plyos is going to be the best setup as long as you can recover.=============================================
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06-20-2010, 08:00 PM #28
It's obvious you're not fully informed since you're reccomending 24 hours between speed sessions, when 48 hours is the rule of thumb for CNS recovery.
That being said, your set up does look pretty ideal, 2x per week + agility drills and plyos will work quite well.
Majority, in fact nearly all good sprinters lift. Bolt lifts 3-5x per week, and even those guys who I said are skinny, dont squat, etc. (most do lift). My point was to refute the "2x bw" or whatever squat "rule."
The jamaican sprinters' lifting program is composed of a very general lifting program, and some basic progression in random lifts. This goes the same for many other guys, not many of them actually have a specific set up to add 5 pounds to their squat per week.
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06-20-2010, 08:35 PM #29
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Sorry for the confusion I was saying 24 hours as in like one day in between .... so day 1 and day 3 .. but yeah that does equal more like 48 hours as long as it's on that day it doesn't make a whole lot of difference.
Yes, some people are able to have weak squats and still be able to produce a lot of speed .... I would never say 2x bw but why not work towards it? Most lifting for any sport is general anyways ... usually 10lb per week on the squat though. :-) .. On one of the late night shows Bolt showed up on said he lifts 6x but again if you have genetics, it seems you can go against science without any problems.=============================================
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06-20-2010, 09:08 PM #30
I am not talking bull**** my man I simply posted an article to help the man with his acceleration. An article written by a very respected speed strength trainer. Still your avoiding the whole prove your a speed expert question. So I am assuming you are not, in fact you are not. No where did I say run Once a week. I agree with 3 sessions of sprint training. Some of those could consist of sled and prowler work as well. But I do not agree with doing them on the same day as Lowerbody training. I have done this and I did not perform well in the weightroom (lowerbody training). Now upperbody yeah run before lift. BUt doing a bunch of sprints wear me out too much before squatting. You are good at appearing smart but all you have basically said is sprint before doing lowerbody lifting sessions cause that fires up your cns. That does fire up your cns but it also build up lactic acid and uses your quads, hips, glutes. Now why would you what to wear down those muscles before doing things like squats and deadlifts? Running once a week is dumb but I do not see doing it before a heavy leg workout, I can see it before upper or more of a lighter lower, but not where your working up to a 1-5rm. Most people should not train like world class sprinting teams like Jamaica because I guarantee they were all born fast, and anything will work in getting them faster.
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