Routine For Sprinter

Hi all, I'm new to the forum here and want to say thanks for all the great information!

My goals:

I'm a sprinter and I do not perform leg exercises as I do enough at my athletics club. The training I do at home is what I like to call: "supplementary work". It is a mere bonus to the bulk of my training performed at my club. I specifically do the long sprints (200m - 400m) and require greater core stability and upper body endurance. I need core stability to maintain my sprinting form as the lactic acid builds up and upper body endurance to maintain an aggresive arm drive right through the line so that my stride doesn't shorten significantly.

Anyway, I really like the idea of Steady State Training because I have yet to find an athlete more injury prone than myself. So, I have previously been doing basic core work such as planks, hollow holds & rocks etc etc along with high repetitions and sets of pullups and pushups.

What I want to know is what is the best way to build upper body endurance as I know you guys on these forums come from a strength dominant background. Also what's your thoughts on core stability? I read that sprinters shouldn't do high intensity core training (ie strength training) and that they should do higher reps, lower intensity so as not to fatigue the central nervous system. What are your thoughts here?

And here's the program I'm planning to do: (Starting Monday)

Mon

FSP (Following rules of steady state training)

L Sit

Back Lever

Front Lever

Planche

FBE (Not sure on sets and reps yet)

Pushups

Rows

Hanging Leg Lifts

Bridges

Tue

FSP (Following rules of steady state training)

L Sit

Back Lever

Front Lever

Planche

FBE (Not sure on sets and reps)

Handstand Pushups

Pullups

Hanging Leg Lifts

Bridges

Wed (Same as Mon)

Thu (Same as Tue)

Fri, Sat & Sun

Rest

What do your think?

I don't know much about your background, age, experience on the track, etc... but, assuming you are training T&F 3 times a week + 2 short sessions of leg strength, this 4 days a week upper body routine you are proposing seems too much to me!

1- have you asked your T&F coach for advice?

2- you have 3 more months before the meets start, it is the right time to (1) accumulate miles to build up the capillaries you need to evacuate lactic acid faster (you should have done that for 2 months already, but sprinters usually hate that); (2) lift heavy (squats & DL), (3) do plenty of heavy core work, & (4) make some gains in stretching (sprinters hate that too!), (5) address the remnants of your injuries (scar tissue, etc...) and their cause (imbalances, improper technique, lack of power, etc...)

You don't need your CNS as fresh now than you will in two months time.

3- some push ups and pull ups are ample additional endurance to acquire what you need to finish your 400's

Just my 0.2c as an ex-T&F guy.

Cool, thanks for the advice

My coach organises the track sessions and has been doing just what you said! Good to hear that. One of the exercises my coach recomended was getting a weight in both hands (pretty light) and driving the arms aggresively for time. So I can afford to do plenty of heavy core & leg work & should cut the upper body stuff?

So how does this sound:

Core work - same

Upper body - pushups & pullups for now

Don't do FSP

CCB said:

(...) getting a weight in both hands (pretty light) and driving the arms aggresively for time

Yes, this is good, but don't overdo it - go very light (max 2-300g which I guess is plenty at the end of long levers like the arms, & on a ballistic course) and for 20 or 40 s x sets.

If you do it right, you'll end up bouncing up & down just with the arms momentum.

Thanks for the advice, I'll modify my program accordingly!