{"id":4605,"date":"2021-05-13T12:56:57","date_gmt":"2021-05-13T18:56:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/strengthsenseiinc.com\/?p=4605"},"modified":"2021-08-31T14:45:24","modified_gmt":"2021-08-31T20:45:24","slug":"strength-sensei-bookshelf-speed-traps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/strengthsenseiinc.com\/2021\/05\/13\/strength-sensei-bookshelf-speed-traps\/","title":{"rendered":"Strength Sensei Bookshelf: Speed Trap"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
Insight into the controversial life and innovative training methods\u00a0of Charlie Francis<\/span><\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t Yes, we all know that Ben Johnson lost his gold medal in 1988 when he failed doping control. And we know that Charlie Francis, Johnson\u2019s coach, was banned from coaching. But there is much more to this story, along with insights into how elite athletes should train, in Charlie Francis\u2019 Speed Trap<\/i>.<\/p> Those who have followed Charles Poliquin know that he considered Francis an innovative coach whose training methods created a paradigm shift in how we look at speed. Consider this comment Poliquin made about Francis\u2019s contributions to his training knowledge in the Poliquin Principles:<\/p> \u201cThe basic premise of the critical drop-off point, which I learned from discussions with Canadian sprint coach Charlie Francis, is \u2018never increase the quantity of stimulus at the expense of quality.\u2019 It is pointless to perform sets in which the resistance is reduced so much that you don\u2019t train the appropriate motor units and don\u2019t create sufficient tension on the muscles to elicit gains. These additional \u2018garbage sets\u2019 would also impede recovery by putting excessive strain on the nervous system and energy stores.\u2019<\/p> Before going further on training, let\u2019s look at some background Francis provided about himself in the book.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t Francis was a talented sprinter in high school. In the summer of 1964, at age 15, he joined the Don Mills Track Club in Toronto. Francis dominated the national age-class championships and ran the 100-yards sprint in 9.6 seconds for a Canadian under 19 record. He did well in the 220-yard event but preferred the 100 as it determined \u201cwho was fastest.\u201d His success earned him a scholarship at Stanford University in 1967. In June of 1971, he ran a 10.1 in the 100 meters at the Pan Am trials and reached the quarterfinals in the 1972 Olympics. Francis died on May 12, 2010 after a five-year battle with Mantle Cell Lymphoma.<\/p> One coach who had a profound effect on his future coaching methods was Percy Duncan. Specifically, on the relationships between volume and intensity in sprinting. \u201cPercy was the first coach I’d encountered who understood that less was more: that too much work saps an athlete, and that you keep a runner sharpest (and most likely to excel in competition) with low volumes of practice. At Stanford I would run all-out for up to 320 The work of Francis parallels that of famed Bulgarian weightlifting Coach Ivan Abadjiev. In contrast to the Russians, Abadjiev focused on high-intensity (as related to a 1-repetitions maximum) lifts, seeing little value in lower intensity lift. Contrast that with this statement by Francis: \u201cPercy saw no point in running at intermediate speeds, which he thought would tighten your muscles without honing your power. He wanted his runners moving fast or slow – nothing in between.\u201d<\/p> Percy also taught Francis the importance of ensuring complete recovery between high-intensity sprinting. He said that it was common after a sprint to walk back to the start and sprint again. After 2-10 second sprints, Percy would make Fancis rest up to 10 minutes!<\/p> Poliquin also commented on recovery in sprinting in the 90s, adding how aerobic training could not increase it. \u201cPeople say that if you run, sprint, and have a fitter aerobic system, you will replenish ATP-CP in the cell faster.\u201d Said Poliquin. \u201cCapilization takes place in Type I fibers\u2014why would Type II fibers benefit from that? Another thing, it takes your nervous system five to six times longer to recover than muscle cells. You may have
metres at a stretch, but Percy’s maximum speed drills never exceeded 70 metres. More typically, I’d go 20 metres fast out of the blocks, then easy for 60 metres, then hard again for 20 metres, in sets of six. Intensity was more important than volume.\u201d<\/p>
plenty of ATP-CP back in the Type II fibers, but your brain can\u2019t activate them if the rest period is too short.\u201d<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t