training techniques

Speed ​​and endurance training for fast athletics races

Running tests for speed conditioning in? Athletics are of three types:

  • Short sprints on the 30m: starting in feet and from the blocks; stimulates the ability to accelerate;
  • Progressive over distances of 60-80m: progressive acceleration up to 40m and speed maintenance; stimulates the perception of changes in the structure of the step. The survey of the weather takes place in the last 20m;
  • Sprint over distances of 60-80-100m: starting in feet or from blocks (depending on the age of the athlete); evaluation of the starting and acceleration technique, as well as the rhythm of the race and the phase launched. The timing is recorded in the first half and in the second half of the test.

A good distribution of capacities between the first and the second phase includes a difference of the 2 parts of about 7 tenths of a second; in the event that the gap is greater, it would become essential to fill the gaps in the strengths that sustain the start or the others that guarantee the speed launched:

  • First 30m of run: explosive and elastic capacity intervene more
  • Last 30-70m: the? Expression of strength is supported by the? Recessive and elastic effect of the antigravitational muscles (calf - rebound of the foot).

Resistance training for? Athletics' fast races

Muscular endurance is an extremely wide, heterogeneous capacity with many facets; in order not to be too distracting and avoid dwelling on exposing concepts of physiology of “training” (useless at this level, since they should already be well fixed in the mind of the trainer), we will summarize the resistance in the following way:

  • Resistance to speed or anaerobic A-lactate (substrate: ATP already fixed and creatin-phosphate)
  • Anaerobic resistance or LACTACID capacity (uses the? Energy produced by the breakdown of glucose split from muscle glycogen, first in pyruvate and then in lactate)
  • General or aerobic resistance (uses energy generated exclusively in the presence of oxygen).

For all three types of resistance, the supply POWER, or the ability to supply energy in the unit of time, is considered as a reference parameter; the proposed workouts, in general, aim to develop more of one of the other components, however, there is never a splitting of metabolisms or of stimulated abilities during practical exercises.

1) Speed ​​resistance training for? Athletics' fast races

Resistance to speed is the ability to keep the speed of the run as high and CONSTANT as possible for as long as possible; it mainly exploits the anaerobic lactic acid mechanism.

The limit of this system is not induced by the insufficiency of the energetic mechanisms, but by the nervous system which is not able to sustain the repetition of the highly intense and frequent effort; in practice, the improvement in speed resistance is based on the efficiency of the nerve supply of the stimuli necessary for equally effective muscular contractions.

The most effective method for stimulating speed resistance is the repetition of 60-80-100m shots at an intensity of 93-95% of the annual record, with short pauses between repeated and long intervals between the series. An incremental protocol could include:

  • Initially (category students), 5-6 pairs of repeated for the sprinters and 8-10 for the 400tisti, 60m long, with pauses of 3 '? ™ between them and of 7'? ™ between the series
  • Afterwards, the increase in the number of repetitions and the reduction of the series, with a consequent reduction in the long pauses and an increase in the short ones (greater specificity of the work)
  • Subsequently, around 19 years of age, it is possible to reach a workload of 4-5 series of 5x60m for the 400isti
  • Finally, the last evolution of the table foresees the increase in distance to 80m or 100m for resistant sprinters.

This kind of training boasts a good adaptability and allows to increase the running speed in parallel; it is a type of training ideally inserted in the cycles preceding the special one and before the competitions while, on the contrary, it is not used during the indoor preparation. In subsequent cycles, fast resistance is supported by speed tests.

2) Training of the lactic acid anaerobic resistance for the fast races of the? Athletics

In young athletes, this training is not very effective due to the scarcity of glycolytic enzymes and specific cellular transporters, while (from the physiological point of view) the maximum values ​​of the various cellular parameters are reached at about 18-19 years; it is therefore appropriate to differentiate the table above all according to the age bracket.

  • Up to 14-15 years, these tests represent more a verification of the condition of growth than a real training; they must therefore be few in number (2-3 tests) with distances between 150 and 500m
  • From 16 to 19 years of age, training becomes systematic and progressive; 150-500m tests are used, divided into medium (150-200-250m) and long (300-400-500m) distances.
  • Up to the age of 17 there are no methodological differences between sprinters and 400ists and the travel time must be around 85-90% of the ceiling over the chosen distance. The maximum volume foresees total distances of 900-1200m and only later will reach the total 1500m for the sprinters or the 2000m for the 400isti.
  • The pauses are between 8 '? ™ and 12'? ™ in relation to the chosen intensity.

3) Aerobic endurance training for? Athletics' fast races

It is a metabolism whose limit is imposed almost exclusively by the availability of the substrates; obviously, the balance of aerobic metabolism is compromised when the intensity of effort exceeds the disposal threshold of lactic acid, generating its accumulation in tissues and blood.

Running can be used in different ways to stimulate the two main components underlying aerobic endurance:

  • Aerobic capacity
  • Anaerobic power

The workouts for aerobic endurance useful for sprinters of athletics are:

  • Continuous run at a slow pace: low speeds, at least 35-45 '? ™ (aerobic fitness only)
  • Continuous, fast and uniform stroke: it represents the evolution of the previous one but, to increase its speed, it is also necessary to reduce the kilometers traveled; once the ability to run at least 4-6km in a discreet manner is reached, the only parameter to be modified will be the speed itself and not the distance (towards aerobic power)
  • Continuous and progressive race: it consists in running a predetermined distance, progressively increasing speed (aerobic power)
  • Continuous run with rhythm / speed variations: you travel a given distance equal to a fast short, alternating fast stretches with slow stretches, without excessively straining the muscles with the production of lactic acid (aerobic power)
  • Fractional tests: medium-long runs alternate with recovery pauses; distances are between 300m and 1000m (depending on the nature of the specific discipline) for a total of 3-4km or 4-6km (aerobic power)
  • Mixed fractional tests: it is a variant of the previous one that is implemented above all for the 400ists in the cycles preceding the competitions; the goal is to continue working in both lactic acidosis and aerobic acidosis; in practice, the last repetitions of the fractional tests are replaced with the same number much faster but with greater recoveries (aerobic power).

Until the age of 15 it is necessary to give a lot of space to the continuous and bland race that, as time goes on, evolves in continuous and fast; from 16-17 years there are still no differences between sprinters and 400ists since even the sprinters run the 400m races. In the following years instead, the sprinters will perform MA aerobic power training only in the transition phases of the competitive periods.

Up to the age of 17, therefore, in the preparatory period for indoor competitions, all the training sessions listed above and in all cycles are used, except for the pre-competitive and the “competitive”, in which only the fractions are left and the mixed as mixed labor -lattacido.

From the age of 18 onwards the 400ists differ significantly from the sprinters due to the high volume of work focused on aerobic power; in summary, they will do:

  • 3000m in medium and medium-long fractions (300-600m)
  • 4000m of short fast
  • 4000m of progressive
  • 400-5000m with rhythm variations
  • 1600m of fractional mixed trials with the addition of two quick tests and related long breaks.

Bibliography:

  • The track and field coach's manual - Part one: general information, races and march - Studies and Research Center - pag. 21:38.