I was asked by a friend how he could beat his friends to the 100 metre sprints, now this friend I can help because he’s an experienced lifter, and here are some ways to up your game, conditioning and shape and get your fast twitch fibres supercharged so that your at your best sprint conditioning for the win. And it really doesn’t matter if you are experienced or not, because at the end of the day competition is fun, and having friends to sprint with is the fun part, winning is more fun, and the path to winning the journey is the important stuff whether you win or not.

So here are the tools to giving you the greatest chance to tamper with your energy systems, fast twitch fibres and performance in  a way to get the best out of yourself. my friend has 6 weeks until this competition so if you don’t have a competition you just may love this style of training and the athleticism, presence and power that comes from it, which by the way will give you that walk into the room wow factor.

With no further delay here it is, bravery and guts required…

Week 1

squats x 2 reps x 4 sets

snatch x 1 rep x 5 sets

long jumps x 10 reps x 3 sets

single leg box jumps x 7 reps x 2 sets

clean and jerks x 3 reps x 4 sets

Use this at 70% of your perceived rate of effort or a calculated one if you are being coached, the squats will break you into to feeling strong, the snatch and clean and jerk will give you explosive power and the jumps will give you that extra balance, conditioning and agility required for the sprint.

Week 2

squats 3 reps x 5 sets

snatch 2 reps x 7 sets

long jumps 5 reps x 4 sets

single leg box jumps 2 sets x 7 reps

clean and jerks x 4 reps x 6 sets

This week the squat is increasing your strength and muscle distribution in the legs to make you pound for pound stronger, the snatch is going increase your power and recovery in recharging your power, long jumps and box jumps are for agility, balance and speed, and the clean and jerks are going to help you with the arm and leg power to really drive with your arms and legs synchronistically as needed for sprint performance.

Week 3

stair sprints x 3 reps x 4 sets

sprints 50 metres x 5 sets

sprint 75 metres x 6 sets

snatch 4 reps x 4 sets

long jumps 6 reps x 2 sets

knee tucks 3 sets x 10 reps

clean and jerks x 4 reps

Week 3 is more about conditioning you by upping your game in the sprint, so now you need to start getting used to driving your elbows back and forth alternating with the legs almost as if the elbows are striking up and down, the conditioning is now pronounced on the skill sets of sprinting so the stair sprints are encouraging you to raise your hip flexors up by driving your knees upwards and catching your bound which is what a sprint is on a heel toe action. the sprints at 50 and 75 metres are to improve your start and your middle phase of the 100 metre event. The long jumps and knee tucks are to switch fast twitch fibres and encourage your bounding skills, think of your body being the eiffel tower leaning into the leaning tower of pisa and back into the eiffel tower doing this repeatedly until the end line, its like you are catching one leap from another as you drive forward you catch and leap with the other leg. The snatch and clean and jerk will help with the explosively of the legs generally and the power of the hamstring to catch you and drive forward.

Week 4

sprint 100 metres x 7 reps

squats 3 reps x 6 sets

snatch 2 reps x 5 sets

hill sprints  50 metres x 5 reps

clean and jerk 5 sets x 3 reps

150 metres x 2 reps

Now we are cranking performance up and going for the full shebang, the 100 metre sprints and volume of sets is to get your eyes on the prize, your now in great condition and your focusing on the event in mind, the squats are for strength and muscle, the hill sprints will supercharge your speed at the beginning portion and the 150 metres are to get you conditioned and have the drive to end the 100 metres with power.

Week 5

200 metre sprints x 2 sets

single leg bounding x 5 reps x 5 sets

75 metres x 3 sets

100 metres x 5 sets

back squats x 5 sets x 2 reps

single leg squats x 5 reps each leg

clean and jerk 5 sets x 5 reps

deadlifts 6 sets x 5 reps

this week is giving you more drive than the actual event, its to get you going further than the event so that you have more explosive drive and capacity for the event, which is why I snuck in the 200 metre distances, the bounding is to get you used to leaping and catching yourself and really focusing on the function of each leg, the 75 metre and 100 metres is to tune you back into the winning line focus, the single leg squats is more explosive power and helpful for the knee and ankle stability and strength. the deadlift is to get you used to the eiffel tower stand up section i was explaining earlier.

Week 6 – The Final Countdown

100 metres x 8 sets

single leg squats x 10 reps

single leg bounds x 8 reps x 5 sets

snatch 1 rep max x 7 sets

clean and jerk 1 rep max x 5 sets

clean x 2 rep max x 5 sets

Rhis is it, pure conditioning on the event, your well practised in excellent condition and now drilling the event set by set, the single leg squats and bounds will give you that single leg power you need to be an exploding cannonball, the snatch, clean and jerk and clean are going to give you that drive for arms and legs to work together. good luck guys and girls, the events going to be fun and your in great condition, if you need help with technique or intensity come and visit me at the studio, anyway enjoy the power and let me know how it went, feedback always welcome.

All the best,

Adam