Sprinting and Stage Training

I've been struggling with this one for a long time. As an athlete in college I was more than perplexed by the different movements that we did each day during fall track. Why were we wasting our time learning these stupid A and B skips? What was the purpose of learning Anklings? What struck me the most was that we weren't getting into shape. Practices were low in intensity and high in volume (as far as pillar, sprint drills stretching and abs were concerned). It wasn't 'till this past year as I was reading through Tudor Bompa's book that I realized that we were engaging in what was called stage training. Bompa writesin chapter three of his book that "the longer the duration of the first phase the better the performance is in the next one. IN the first phase a high volume of training with moderate intensity should prevail...the broader and stronger the G.P.P. (General Physical Preparation) the  higher the level of biomotor abilites that may be reaced."

We were taking our precious time learning how to run. The component approach to running falls into the Principle of Multilateral Development which Bompa covers in the 2nd chapter of his book. He writes, "Specialization is not a unilateral process but rather a complex one which is based on a solid groundwork of multilateral development." There are two principles involved in the development of sprinters here:

1.exercises from the specialized sport (sprinting) that  parallel or mimic the movement requirements of sprinting.

2. exercises utilized to develop biomotor abilities, i.e. med ball throws, plyometrics, warm up drills, etc.

Mach drills, as sprinting drills are called began in the late 70s with the Russian and Eastern Bloc countries. Of course the idea is to mimic the movements that occur during proper running in a very controlled and focused manner. This allows that athlete to recruit and develop the CNS to develop the neural pathways in such a manner so that the motion becomes the primary message sent to the muscles when running.

We focused on things like negative foot speed which means that at some point during the sprint cycle the heel and the foot move rapidly backwards in relation to the track.  I think the most important thing that I was able to derive from this stage training was the ability to efficiently push my hips down the track. This has served me and many of my athletes in every event. You can of course now understand the benefits of developing the skills necessary to sprint. Before running your kids into the ground with difficult interval workouts do them a service and teach them to sprint....