Posted by admin on February 9, 2009 under Misc., News | 
Basement Tempo Advanced
The video addresses many of the complaints from Athletes and Coaches alike about problems resulting from lack of facilities and poor weather conditions. While most sprinters chase the sun, many have to contend with the harsh reality of bad weather and lack of facilities. Charlie’s former squad certainly fell into this category, yet achieved international success and perhaps this is why Charlie does not accept such complaints as a justifiable excuse for poor preparation. In this video series Charlie and wife Angela Coon, former Canadian National Team 100m Hurdler, present several general conditioning workouts for athletes of different levels that can be done almost anywhere. This is the advanced segment, which runs 1hr 41minutes and includes in depth commentary from both Charlie Francis, and Angela Coon.
Tags: athletic ability, Athletics, better athletes, Charlie Francis, elite athletes, enhancing speed, human potential, learning from experience, physical ability, Preparation, range of motion, speed, Speed Development, Speed Training, Sprinting
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)