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Sprinting & related

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AngrySeahorse

Peter Sullivan (51)
Another thread generated some sprinting discussion so I decided to put up this sprint thread.

IS quote
"So do you build them first and then do the sprint specific training or do you do both at the same time?
Also having read the link you (seahorse) posted I am intrigued as to acceleration: you may have guessed I have a familial interest in this.
One of my offspring is fast enough over anything from 20 to 100 that no one catches him - but he seems slow off the mark: so in a 100m sprint when he comes 2nd or 3rd he does so by the margin established in the frist 20 metres. Can you train this - cos I think the first 10m is the most important in rugby.
BTW he's not the same kid mentioned in my earlier post - who is one the few who can catch him from 20-100 but who is not much interested in rugby."

From my experience IS I reckon train for the build up & do sprint work in the same week. I do speed work all year round (but have slightly more focus on endurance in the off-season), my hypertrophy weights are done in the off-season too which is the build up phase but I never stop doing speed work.

I agree re: acceleration, its a huge part of Rugby for mine I rate both acceleration & cutting (or agility or "change of direction") as two of the big elements in the game plus quickness, reaction time, as well as top-end speed. I mean look at Diggers, he's not really that fast but he does have excellent acceleration & cutting. I personally like to look at areas where I am weak & work on them a bit more but I never stop maintaining & trying to improve my strengths. Top-end speed is an awesome trait to have & if you can add cutting, acceleration, reaction time, & quickness to the mix you'd be pretty darn formidable.

Your offspring sounds like me when I started in little A's. 100m was where I felt most natural. I was ok out of the blocks but others were faster with their acceleration. I'd mow them down over the course of the 100m's but the one sprinter I kept coming 2nd to had both good top-end speed & acceleration - she was always just a meter or so faster.

You can definitely train for acceleration. One the sessions I do is simply a series of short sprints. I line up markers at 5m, 10m, 15m, 20m. I explode out to 5m, very slowly walk back, then 10m, etc. Sometimes I do them starting "on my guts" & other times from the MOYE position. Reps & sets are basically down to the individual, as soon as you feel you are starting to slow down you STOP. If you keep doing it as you keep getting slower then all you'll do is teach the body to go slow. I'd watch out for plantar fascias injury with any really short sprint training in Rugby boots as a few players (including myself in the past) can strain that area due to the strain on the arch of the foot (I'd do sprinting sometimes in joggers instead).

XLR8 does a lot on Rugby, in particular sprinting, they have a really short but good youtube video on Resisted Sprinting which is really good for developing acceleration & power. These would be good to do also. Our Rugby club does these as well but we don't have the resistor harness we just grab our partners rugger shorts & that works fine.

 

The_Brown_Hornet

John Eales (66)
You can train for explosiveness off the mark in a number of ways. When I was a sprinter, we did short bursts of hill running, strength (weights) work on the core, trunk and legs, as well as resistance training using a harness with long ropes that my coach held onto while I ran the opposite way (we also used tyres and railway sleepers strapped to a harness). There is a certain amount also that comes from plain old genetics and improvements in technique. I was more your top end speed guy than the quick bloke over 10-20m, mainly due to my height (1.94m) and longness of limbs.

I wrote an article about it last year for G&GR.
 

AngrySeahorse

Peter Sullivan (51)
You can train for explosiveness off the mark in a number of ways. When I was a sprinter, we did short bursts of hill running, strength (weights) work on the core, trunk and legs, as well as resistance training using a harness with long ropes that my coach held onto while I ran the opposite way (we also used tyres and railway sleepers strapped to a harness). There is a certain amount also that comes from plain old genetics and improvements in technique. I was more your top end speed guy than the quick bloke over 10-20m, mainly due to my height (1.94m) and longness of limbs.

I wrote an article about it last year for G&GR.

I'm a little different, I'm about 5'5, so I wouldn't say I'm tall but my top-end speed has always been really good. I'm guessing in my case I just had really good strike rate/leg turn over.

Running slightly on a downhill gradient I found was good for over speed training too. My trainer is looking to help me make my core better for my running, so far so good.
 

The_Brown_Hornet

John Eales (66)
The core is important for sprinters IMHO and it's a good thing for you to be working on. It will help you with balance and stability while running at pace.
 

Nusadan

Chilla Wilson (44)
Skipping, as stated in other thread, also is beneficial....and the core work comes in when you skip on one leg...it's hard at first to keep your body straight if you have core strength issues especially in the gluteus area but will over time, get sorted if you keep at it.
 

AngrySeahorse

Peter Sullivan (51)
Another thing that I have been debating with others has been about the use of Fartlek training to help with recovery during a game to be able to do more sprint efforts. I've been debating it with my trainer (who specialises in Rugby). He believes all Fartlek & any Long slow distance (LSD) running should be eliminated from any fitness program for Rugby at all parts of the year.

I find this really hard to get my head around. I understand the importance of speed training & I prefer it to endurance but as a backrower I believe you must have a sound aerobic base to have a better recovery rate. Does anyone else have any views on this? I only do one fartlek session per week in the in-season, more sessions in the off-season around my other training. I don't use a Rugby field, I use a running track around my suburb, run for about 30min doing changes between jog, 60%, 70%, & 80% (when I get to certain landmarks).

Believe me I'd drop fartlek & any off-season LSD training like a hot potato for more sprints but I'm too concerned about losing my stamina (which is a bit worrying given my stamina is not my strong point).
 

The_Brown_Hornet

John Eales (66)
My pet event was the 400m and I found Fartlek training to be very useful for building up endurance. It also helped with my rugby too, as I played in the back row and like most in those positions, covered a fair bit of ground.

I still do it now. The key is quality over quantity I think. My coach always had the stop watch on and said he'd rather get 45 minutes of full blast training out of me than 2 hours of mucking around.
 

Nusadan

Chilla Wilson (44)
Ever done this AS?

http://www.tabatatimer.com/

I use the app when doing these workouts, I don't do the whole shebang in one go i.e. all 8 at once, I give myself a break after the 4th one and again after the 6th one...your point of sprinting only at top speed otherwise stop, is very valid...but this workout is a killer, and saves me hellva time! (more like I do this to get it over and done with and enjoy the beers afterwards, I know all about beers and recovery, but I don't give a rats....)
 

AngrySeahorse

Peter Sullivan (51)
My pet event was the 400m and I found Fartlek training to be very useful for building up endurance. It also helped with my rugby too, as I played in the back row and like most in those positions, covered a fair bit of ground.

I still do it now. The key is quality over quantity I think. My coach always had the stop watch on and said he'd rather get 45 minutes of full blast training out of me than 2 hours of mucking around.

True, this is my logic as well. I think 1hr of fartlek or LSD would be overkill. 30-45min sounds ideal.

Ever done this AS?

http://www.tabatatimer.com/

I use the app when doing these workouts, I don't do the whole shebang in one go i.e. all 8 at once, I give myself a break after the 4th one and again after the 6th one...your point of sprinting only at top speed otherwise stop, is very valid...but this workout is a killer, and saves me hellva time! (more like I do this to get it over and done with and enjoy the beers afterwards, I know all about beers and recovery, but I don't give a rats....)

I've heard of but have not done these. I do know some people that have done it & they have all said its really quite challenging.

I do believe that you have to run fatigued at times to develop endurance & to aid recovery & that's why I do fartlek as I'm never as good at the end as I am at the beginning - like with my sprinting. It is very much about balance I feel & as hornet said quality.

I'd also add chute running & sprinting in sand as very beneficial for speed. Sand only works though to strengthen the legs & increase turn over, chute running actually helps you develop more speed.
 
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