Posted by admin on January 20, 2009 under News, Product Reviews | 
CharlieFrancis.com is happy to release a new film titled “Peaking when it counts, Perfecting the 10 Day Taper”.
Overview
A new download presented by CharlieFrancis.com. Charlie Francis implements a real-time 10-day taper program with an athlete preparing for the 100m in a championship meet.
The 10-day taper schedule begins with a local meet as a last maximal stimulus, then progresses through meticulously to the championship heats and finals. This product is unlike any other video provided on the market today. While many other videos are scripted and planned for publication, this video was spontaneously created during an actual taper schedule for an athlete preparing for a championship competition.
In the process of creating the video, the authors had no idea how the athlete would perform on the day of championship competition. Not only does this scenario make it more exciting for the viewer, but also puts the Charlie Francis approach to a test.
Peaking When It Counts is a must have video for anyone working with high performance athletes and speed athletes. The DVD provides insight into programming for peaking, but also identifies key sprint mechanics issues throughout the process. Available for immediate download.
More here
Posted by admin on November 6, 2008 under Product Reviews |
Structure of Training for Speed Review by XLR8 (Site Moderator)
I got a chance to do a detailed assessment of the first part of the latest e-book series called “Structure of Training for Speed.” First off, there is a lot of information packed into 70 pages. I have read it through one time and feel like I need to go back and read it again and spend some time thinking about it to make sure that I understand all of the implications of the ideas and concepts presented. There are two major sections. The first part is a clear description of the overall structure of a modern speed training system. The second part includes a “best of” the forum discussion on the structure of sprint training. This appears to be an edited and enhanced version of information exchange from the forums.
The book starts with a description of the training “problem.” That is, how and when we should train and why we should do it one way as opposed to another. There is a detailed examination of “classical periodization” covering the volume-intensity equation, strength training, and classical vertical integration. This is followed by a description of the shortcomings of this method of periodization, including problems with intensification, retention of training components, and injury risks.
Having a good understanding of the problems with classical periodization leads directly into designing a system that addresses these shortcomings and what follows is perhaps the most concise description of the Charlie Francis training protocols yet created. The book goes into the characteristics of different speed intensities (fast or slow = good, medium = bad) and what Charlie describes as the key to the program which is vertical integration of six different categories of training, all of which are “being performed simultaneously, at all times, and only the volumes vary, from week to week, from meoscycle to mesocycle.” The volume-intensity benefits and injury risk reductions for the CF model are described.
The next section goes into how one can formulate a weekly workout schedule. A couple of sample microcycles are shown and there is a discussion on how to choose the right schedule for the individual, including how to deal with the fact that ideal planning often runs into trouble when it hits the real world.
Following this, there is an introduction to short-to-long, long-to-short, and triple periodization. Again, flexibility of the training program and the idea of fitting the program to the athlete is emphasized. Short-to-long is not ideal for all athletes and neither is long-to-short. The idea is to provide the athlete with the program that will meet their needs the best. Triple periodization is explained in detail and there is a section on how a short-to-long program fits with triple periodization. Strength work in the context of GPP, SPP and short-to-long/long-to-short is also addressed. (more)