My post 'To continue training or not?' considers training less from an injury prevention stand point, the idea being that doing less training allows you to be uninjured for a greater proportion of the training cycle, therefore allowing you to train more consistently. I also believe that this theory holds true in the context of performance, as when practising maximal velocity sprints, there is a finite amount you can do in a session before the sprints are no longer maximal. In one of my most successful seasons I had the privilege of working with Dave Lease who has a very 'cutting edge' approach towards sprint training. One of the sessions we would do would consist of three 'flying 30s'. A flying 30 consists of a slightly sub-maximal acceleration, where you gradually build up to maximum speed by the time you reach the first marker or timing gate. This maximum speed is then maintained until you reach the second marker or timing gate, 30 metres further down the track. These would be done with six minutes recovery. This example applies the concept of M.E.D. in terms of volume, whilst the intensity is maintained at a very high level. At the time, the volume of these sessions seemed surprisingly low and I would leave them not feeling like I had done a lot. However, in my first 60 metre competition that winter, I took 0.23 seconds off my personal best. Throughout the season, I then improved this by a further 0.06 seconds. When the outdoor season arrived, I took 0.4 seconds off my 100 and 200 metre personal bests. Of course there were many factors that contributed to those improvements, but seeing as my flying 30 time improved by 0.21 seconds throughout the winter, it would be foolish to neglect the possibility that those sessions were an important factor.
Recently I have been considering the concept of 'less is more', but in terms of intensity. In my last post 'The skill of sprinting', I touched on this idea in terms of myelination, and gave an example of a track session Pietro Mennea is reported to have done. I don't think that all training can be done at sub maximal intensities, as in order to sprint as fast as you can, it simply makes sense to practise sprinting as fast as you can. However, I think there may be something in holding back on the intensity at times. In the weights room, it is very easy to chase personal bests for a given repetition range, because unless you have access to some relatively expensive timing equipment, it is one of the few facets of training that is easily quantifiable. Therefore, it becomes easy to assume you are in 'better shape', because you have improved your one rep max in your power clean by five kilograms. A close friend of mine has a 100 metre personal best of 10.22 seconds. At the time he could clean around 125-130 kilograms. A couple of years later, he increased his clean to 155 kilograms! However, his personal best remains at 10.22 seconds. The reasons for this are beyond the scope of this article, but the point is that increasing intensity in the weights room does not always lead to superior performances on the track. Therefore holding the intensity back when lifting, which is also safer in terms of allowing for correct technique, and leaving the weights room less 'beaten up' may allow for superior training in the following track session and contribute to better performances in the competitive season.
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| PBs in the weights room don't guarantee PBs on the track. |
This winter, I have taken a step back from the gym, and avoided chasing new rep maxes. I have also scaled back to only two track sessions per week, one of which has quite regularly been three or four flying 30s. The results of this remain to be seen, however, I have trained far more consistently and feel more confident than I have done for many seasons.
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