Questions about improving speed for track?

[carlay31]

I workout 2 times a week for an hour and a half. I have a personal trainer and the workouts are very hard. I came home today and puked several times. But when I workout, I can definitely feel it so I know I am getting a good workout and have seen differences in my legs. My legs are more defined and they are sort of larger, muscle wise. I want to be a very good runner, maybe possibly go to districts. I am also a freshman in highschool. I started in the late summer and were going to the gym 2 times a week doing powercleans, leg lifts, curls, and everything. About 3 weeks ago I started training for track so I stopped going to the gym too. My question is I have about 3 months of training before I compete. Do you think I will improve my speed by that time by working out 2 times a week? If so, do you think greatly or no? I am a girl by the way if that helps any. Any answers or opinions would be great.

[carlay31]

was going to the gym*

[Snny]

Your personal trainer doesn't know what the hell he's doing if his workout are so strenuous to the point they make you vomit. I would seek medical attention to find out what workouts are right for your body then determine whether to change your PT. Vomiting after working out is not normal. I have worked with very good personal trainers and none of them have ever made me puke. It also could mean you are not eating before you're working out or that you are dehydrated. Either way.... go see a doctor BEFORE you train.

 

With running, you have to be consistent with your endurance training. If you want to build muscle, running uphill helps. A lot of top-shape runners have been running for years. Like any sport, you practice until you get better. But also, don't ignore your body's needs either or you can permanently hurt yourself.

[Capricorn3]

Your personal trainer doesn't know what the hell he's doing if his workout are so strenuous to the point they make you vomit. I would seek medical attention to find out what workouts are right for your body then determine whether to change your PT. Vomiting after working out is not normal. I have worked with a few personal trainers who have helped me form 6 pack abs, legs muscles, and growing arm muscles.... and none of them have ever made me puke. It also could mean you are not eating before you're working out or that you are dehydrated. Either way.... go see a doctor BEFORE you train.

^^ I was thinking the same thing. Working out to the point of vomiting is overkill (imo). Also, you are very young and I don't believe you need such an extensive workout at this stage. I think Snny's post has excellent advice.

[Thorshammer]

Throwing up after a workout is old school for me. I used to bang out the weights to the point of exhaustion. I actually did legs the other day and I was getting dizzy. The nausea intensifies with high explosive leg workouts. Though I dont let it go to the point that I vomit anymore. Also, diet plays a key-part. If you are low on carbs, your body will scream for it by sapping your energy levels and making you feel sick.

 

You should be working on explosive movements, possibly jumping explosive squats, jumping lunges, power cleans, etc. All concentric should be explosive with high acceleration. These activate your fast twitch muscle fibers due to the quick acceleration, these same fibers are the ones your body uses for sprinting, they also have the best potential for growth (marathon running- which is slow and prolonged activate slow twitch muscle fibers, hence why they dont have quads/hams like a sprinter). So each set should be done fast, and each week you should try to beat that sets time, so if you do a set in 10 seconds, you would aim for 8 seconds next time, then 6 seconds, then raise weight and try to hit 10 seconds again, then 8 seconds, etc. This progress with time under tension (time while working out) can keep hypertrophy down (muscle size, which you dont want since thats excess weight that can slow you down), but also increase your explosiveness, since that is whats required for sprinting.

[sadchick83]

I used to run at the international level. Vomiting can be caused by your organs bouncing around causing cramps and stomach upset. The best way to get rid of this is to strengthen your abs. Or, it is caused by the discomfort of reaching your V02 max. Most runners run everyday, even twice a day, so why you are spending half the time at the gym seems odd. And you only run twice a week? Is your trainer a competitive runner?

 

You want to train mostly at the distance you intend to run competitively. So, if you are looking to run 3000m, run that most of the time, or that pace, then do a sprint work out and a distance workout relative to your competitive distance per week.

 

Forget what you look like, but rather focus on your improved lap time. And, get a trainer who is familiar with running your distance.

[The walkingman]

It really depends on the event. Shorter distances and longer distances require completely different training. For longer distances (1600 or 3200) you want to log in A LOT of distance, a lot of it can be at a a somewhat easy/moderate pace. (when I was in highschool I made the mistake of thinking I had to train like I raced......after educating myself over the years I've learned I was dead wrong). For the 400 and below lifting becomes a lot bigger of a factor (look at the muscles on Olympic sprinters).

 

My highschool track program was very good, I know the girls who got athletic scholarships for college in shorter distances all squated respectable weight to/below parallel.

[Firiel]

Are you hoping to sprint or do longer distance? Especially for sprinting/mid-distance, I would suggest fairly light weight-- light enough that you can do 10-12 reps. But really concentrate on being explosive when you lift, especially with leg lifts. Thorshammer had some good lifts to do. Also, do get out and do some running, even if it's just doing an easy jog for a warm-up and doing a few 100m build-ups to close to full speed. And like sadchick said, strengthen your core. It sounds unimportant, but your core is your stabilization which is hugely important to running.

[Generation]

Definitely explosive exercises. Power cleans are great, and what Thor recommended is great stuff as well. Plyometrics are the stuff you wanna be doing to have that fast twitch muscle fibers. Imagine a baseball pitcher throwing a ball vs. a body builder throwing a ball, the baseball pitcher has more power and will throw faster whereas the body builder may have way more strength, that's the difference between fast and slow twitch muscles. Also work on your core, it's crucial and it'll definitely help shave some time off your record. A strong core is the foundation for everything.

 

"Suicides" are a great running exercise because it's all explosive and sprinting, you run and immediately stop and touch the ground, run back the other way, and repeat.