When it comes to designing training programs for
their athletes, people tend to be all over the map.

But if you follow these three fundamentals you’ll
make your life a whole lot easier and your athletes
a whole lot better.

1. Simplicity

Some people take this to the extreme, i.e., they
don’t actually create a program.

(If you don’t at least outline your objectives for
the entire season well before the season starts,
you’re not really creating a training program,
you’re winging it.

If you focus on sport specific drills and movements,
that’s not a training program, it’s just random
workouts. Don’t expect consistent performances.)

I think people avoid sitting down and mapping out
the specifics because they make it an enormous
process in their minds.

It can be if you try to make it more complicated
than it is.

The younger the athletes you work with, the easier
the program design. And it’s never all that
complicated if you work with sub-collegiate athletes.

Because these athletes almost always have basic
problems that require basic solutions. Solutions
rooted in multilateral (all around) athletic
development.

Your 13 year old soccer player doesn’t need ’soccer’
training and your 15 year old football player
doesn’t need ‘football’ training, etc.

They need to develop foundational movement skills,
strength, coordination, speed, flexibility and
endurance.

Coaches and parents tend to become overzealous about
their particular sport and forget that their athletes
can’t perform the basics. Without the basics,
technical application of sport specific skills is
not going to happen.

Keep it simple and cover all the bases.

Here’s how to get a better handle on the basics.

2. Flexibility

When designing training you don’t plan the workout
itself, but you plan for the physiological response
to that workout.

This means that the structure of the workout is
aimed at the energy system you’re working that day.

Repeat 200’s (interval work) can mean a lot of
different things.

At 70% intensity it’s working the aerobic system.
High school athletes might be able to do 10 or more
intervals.

At 80-85% intensity it’s mixed aerobic/anaerobic.
High school athletes might be able to do 6-8 intervals.

at 95% intensity it’s an anaerobic glycolytic workout.
High school athletes might be able to do 3 reps at
full recovery.

You have to first decide what the goal of the
workout is and then plug in the particular specifics.

This is critical for a number of reasons.

For today’s purposes it’s because this understanding
of energy systems allows you to be flexible.

I live in a cold weather environment. If I have
repeat 200s at 82% planned and it snows or is 10
degrees out, I can’t really go outside and do that.

But because I’m flexible and understand the
physiological response/requirements of that day’s
workout, I can do something different and elicit
the same result.

But if I’m rigidly attached to a particular workout
at a particular distance for a particular number
of intervals on a particular day, then I’m screwed
if (and when) weather doesn’t allow it, kids are
sick, excessively sore, etc.

Be flexible and always have a Plan B. And Plan C.

Get over 3 hours of flexible training options.

3. Variability

The natural tendency of our body is to reach
homeostasis. Our bodies quickly adapt to whatever
stimulus it repeatedly encounters.

If we give our athletes the same warm up every day,
it no longer has the same effect.

We can’t always go for a 2 mile run on Monday, do
10×30m from a crouch on Tuesday, 2×10x100 @ 75%
on Wednesday, 5 x fly 30 on Thursday and Split
600s on Friday…week after week after week.

(My first question is to ask you if you understand
why I chose that particular order of workouts.
For example, Why not switch Thursday and Friday’s
workouts?

Answer: Don’t do quality (speed) work the day after
lactic work.)

Now, you can keep the order of energy system
development the same (if you knew the answer to
the above question you are in good shape) but
you have to progressively overload the training so
the workouts continue to stimulate an adaptation,
i.e. your athletes keep getting faster, stronger
and in better ’shape’.

This requires changing the volume, intensity,
density, distance per rep/interval, etc.

Not only does it keep athletes from getting extremely
bored with their training (which reduces performance
in and of itself), but it maintains continuous
improvement, assuming, of course, you properly
manipulate all the training variables.

If you plan in advance, keep records of workout
results and continuously improve your system, then
program design gets easier and easier as time
goes on.

(Relatively speaking.)

If you’re a little confused, realize you need more
help or just need a bigger library of drills,
exercises and workouts, I highly recommend you
take a serious look at the Complete Speed Training
program. It walks you through this entire process.

To your success,

Latif Thomas
 

If you watched the Olympic Games you surely noticed
that the rest of the world is catching up to the
United States in terms of athletic performance.

Why?

Because in the United States we are a bunch of
fatsos.

One out of every 3 adults in this country is
obese. Not just overweight, but OBESE.

So let’s start there.

I watch a lot of youth sports. And I can’t help
but laugh (or cry) when I see an overweight coach or
parent trying to tell athletes what to do.

First, if you’re overweight, you can’t properly
demonstrate HOW to do the drills and movements.

But on a practical level, as an athlete it’s a bit
tough to listen to a coach preach about hard work
and commitment when they can’t even look straight
down and see their feet.

Regular young athletes just can’t be properly
motivated to work hard all the time when the message
is hypocritical.

As coaches and parents, the first thing we have to
do is objectively look at ourselves. If we don’t
take care of ourselves, that sends a terrible
message to our athletes. So if you happen to fall
into that category, please make the changes that
will set a good example and keep you alive.

Now, how about the kids?

16.3% of kids age 2-19 are OBESE. And 15.6% are
overweight! (Journal of the American Medical Assn.)

Are you kidding me?

When I talk about nutrition to my athletes, they
don’t have a clue. Good carbs, bad carbs, they
have no idea.

Drink your bodyweight x .66 in water everyday? The
concept of drinking that much water each day blows
their minds.

Some fats are good for you? How can that be?

Eat breakfast everyday? You mean it’s true that
breakfast is the most important meal of the day?

Apparently noone is teaching kids about good
nutrition. Food fuels performance. Crappy food,
crappy performance.

Of course in this country, many people like to
shift the responsibility to someone else.

I might be fat, but it’s not my fault.

My kids don’t know about nutrition? Not my fault.

My kids are fat and don’t eat breakfast? Not my
fault.

So we find a scapegoat to blame. And who are the
two best scapegoats in today’s society?

A Clown and a Chief.

We blame McDonald’s and other fast food joints for
making us and our kids fat.

Ridiculous.

We blame video games for making our kids lazy.

Ridiculous.

McDonald’s and Xbox are not the reasons kids are
fat and lazy. The responsibility rests squarely
on the shoulders of the people not making healthy
dinners and allowing the Xbox to be played.

Until we each take responsibility for our
contributions to this problem, it will just keep
getting worse.

There’s a reason I give you a Sports Nutrition
manual as one of the eight bonuses that come with
the Complete Speed Training program. Because it’s
critically important.

When we set a good example for our athletes, we
get more out of them. Because believe me, they
notice.

To your success,

Latif Thomas

The other day I sent out a survey about USA Track
and Field’s disappointing Olympic showing and I
want to share the results.

I asked two questions, but gave you the option to
‘write in’ a vote for something I missed. In looking
at those numbers, most of the people who ‘wrote in’
their vote chose a combination of the choices.

I’m posting some of the more interesting written
responses as well.

As always, I’d like to hear your response to the
responses.

Question 1: What is the biggest reason for Team USA’s
failure at the Olympic Games?
All of the above (below)                                   27%

Talented athletes choose other sports
before being introduced to track and
field                                                                       27%

Uneducated youth coaches don’t give a
foundation that leads to future success           16%

The athletes just choked, plain and
simple                                                                   15%

Not enough support from the ‘Governing
Body’ at USATF                                                    8%

Poor planning by Collegiate and
Professional coaches                                             6%

Not enough talent in the US                                1%
 

Here are some of your ‘write in’ responses:

“It is both the inadequate coaching AND TRAINING
of athletes at that level, some bit of simple
“choking”, but also, the “attitude” that doesn’t
match performance…”

“I don’t know a enough about US track and field
activities to juge any of the above reasons are
correct. But is seems that the Jamacians are abel
to use the curren knowlege on biomechanics,
especially for the sprint event. The rest of the
world are way behind. Maybe they train on running
over burning coal ;-)”

“I believe our standards have fallen off, as it
is not enough to simply be our nation’s best.
Winning the USATF Nationals or Olympic Trials
with a weak performance should not be viewed as
some amazing achievement. For years I’ve seen the
sport lower expectation and quality in exchange
for participation increase. (thank you Title IX).
Today, a girl jumping 5′6 can earn a full
scholarship to some small to medium college. I
can recall the days when I’d see several girls
jumping 5′10″ in a state meet, with potential for
6′0+ jumps coming regularly. Today, in my state
of CA, you could win it all if you are clean
through 5′8″! This type of expectation will
develop great participants, as we have seen in
several event areas in our Olympic teams. I
believe we can’t afford to not raise our
standards, as we are achieving an objective we
can’t afford.”

“I think you are coming on a little strong with
the term “failure.” Sweep the men’s 400; sweep
the men’s 400H, silver and bronze in men’s 200
(3 runners in final), silver and bronze in 110H.
This is hardly “failure.” And this without a
healthy Tyson Gay (who would have made Bolt run
the whole 100 — but still place 2nd). Don’t let
Bolt’s incredible performance overshadow one of
the bigger disappointments of the Olympics: Asafa
Powell. Walter Dix has no business beating him,
but he did — hardly a US “failure.” I think you
are creating a straw man and then beating him up.
So Jeremy Wariner was a disapointment, but not
LaShawn Merritt. Don’t be so negative.”

“All the above probaly, but today’s Youth are
lazy and hate hard work. All Track & Field
specialties are quite demanding.”

“I think that the athletes came in thinking that
they couldn’t be beat and were overconfident. I
think that the coaches should have dealt with
that issue. The relay teams need to practice
together more than a couple of times. There is
no excuse for athletes at that level to drop the
baton in the eay that they did. If the athletes
shared the lane, then running up on an out going
runner would not be the problem. Those are just
fundamentals. Spearmon should have an awareness
of where he is in his lane, that was a poor
excuse of a performance and unacceptable at that
level.”
“All of the above except #2, PLUS, if you widen
your view to include middle distance and long
distance, the story is even uglier. Our system of
over racing youth in HS and college for distances
is atrocious. Why was 16 year old Jordan Hasay
running in the US Olympic trials 1500m, a week
before heading to Poland for the World Junior’s ?
No wonder our team truly sucks from 800m & up.”

What do you think about what you think? Post your
reply below.
 

Question 2: What is the biggest reason Track and
Field is a commercial failure as a sport?

All of the above                                                   41%

Bad marketing and promoting by the
sport’s ‘leadership’                                              25%

Most athletes don’t get introduced to
track until middle or high school, long
after they’ve fallen in love with other
sports                                                                   14%

Doesn’t keep the average fan’s interest
without teams, scoring or a points race
(ala Nascar)                                                         11%

Bad overall leadership at the top                       7%

Too many different events that people
don’t want to watch (ex: sprinters don’t
want to watch distance)                                       2%

Again, here are some of your ‘write in’ responses
to the survey:

“The USA has domestic interests in revenue
generating sports like NBA, NFL, PGA (if one can
think of golf as a sport!). In Euroupe athletics
draw more interest because they do not have major
professional sports outside of maybe soccer and
basketball(on the low end). We know that the
revenue generated from media outlets that market
pro sports in america perpetuates the notion that
lack of popularity means lack of interest! So,
how can track and field survive in such a
convoluted arena as pro sports, when Kobe is on
the front page and Tyson struggles to get press
over the Marion mess!”

“All of that along with the media’s complete
misunderstanding of the sport…they focus too
much on the human interest stories, instead of
the events themselves….true track fans want to
see the competition, not just the best
throw/jump/heat.”

“Like you said in your blog, people don’t get it.
I hear all the time, why would I want to run
around in circles, what’s the fun in that. Let
alone watch it. Track is only good during the
olympics. Everyone doesn’t love track like track
fans, therefore it’s not that big of a deal. It’s
not america’s favorite pastime. People don’t like
to jog or run to lose weight, let alone compete
in it. I honestly, as a runner, former coach, and
avid fan can say that track is something that is
marketed to the youth. In order for them to get
into college, develop dreams to be an olympian,
and then realize only a small percentage of
runners have the talent to make it
professionally…”

“The only time people get really excited is every
4 years when it become a “team sport” again. I
worry, however, that track athletes are just too
maverick to buy into the team idea on a regular
basis. The Golden League doesn’t help by making
it an “every man for himself” sport.”

“I coach track and most kids only know the top
sprinter that’s it, They also don’t want to train
and track is used to prepare them for a team sport.
The Kids also dont like the USATF youth format.
Example I have a 14 year old that turns 15
December 28, so he has to run against 15-16 year
olds, so he doesnt want to run anymore. FYI we
have a lot of kids in this situation so the rather
play basketball.”

A great number of interesting points have been
brought up. And I don’t disagree with any of them,
including the ones that disagree with me.

I think in the end, if track is going to gain a
larger share of the market, it comes down to two
things:

1. The governing body has to come up with a plan
(any plan at this point) to bring more awareness
to the sport. Even track fans have to search for
information. USATF has to find a way to make track
appeal to the average fan using a format they
understand. People don’t like change. So track will
never succeed unless it is structured in a team
format or a points race like Nascar.

2. Coaching Education. To an extent this is preaching
to the choir, but we could all be more educated.
Most coaches at the youth and HS levels really
don’t know what they are doing. Not only is it sad,
but it is embarassing. People either need to get
certified through USATF or invest in resources that
promote good training practices.

If we don’t establish a strong foundation at the
developmental levels, athletes can’t maximize their
potential at the elite levels.

Just like we can trace a bad attempt in the long
jump back to a problem in the approach, we can
usually trace poor performances at the elite levels
back to substandard training at the developmental
levels.

What do you think?
To your success,

Latif Thomas

My email and phone have been blowing up with
people who want to talk about what an embarassment
USA Track and Field is from top to bottom.

So I thought I’d highlight some of those points and
see what you think.

They are in no particular order. But after reading,
take my survey at the end and I’ll share the
results.

1. An Olympic Sized Choke Job

Men’s 100m: Jamaican World Record
Women’s 100m: Swept by Jamaica

Men’s 110HH: Silver and Bronze, but no Gold
Women’s 100H: We won…but Lolo Jones?

Men’s 200m: Bye Bye American World Record
Women’s 200m: Another Jamaican Gold

Men’s 400m: US Sweep (Hooray…)
Women’s 400m: Would have won Gold if it was a 350

Men’s 400IH: US Sweep (Thank goodness for our 400
squad)
Women’s 400H: Jamaican Gold and Olympic Record

Men’s 4×100: Choke - Dropped baton
Women’s 4×100: Choke - Dropped baton

Seriously - the US 4×100 teams need to take a page
from USA Basketball’s book. That is an embarassment.

If I can get 15 year olds to practice for 10 minutes
before a meet and get the stick around on a
consistent basis, why can’t professional athletes
do it?

Men’s LJ: No finalists
Men’s HJ: No finalists

Women’s TJ: No finalists

And that’s just the sprints and jumps results as
of this writing.

2. Bad promotion of coaches education by Track’s
governing body.

Did you know USA Track and Field has 3 levels of
coaching certification for all the event groups?

Probably not. Because they don’t promote it.

Because they are terrible at marketing and
advertising. And that’s why many youth and HS
coaches don’t know what they’re doing. I coach at
that level. And I see what people are doing. It’s
a joke.

And I get the daily emails from people asking:

A) How to bypass their (or their kid’s) terrible
youth, high school or club coach to get some good
training that actually works.

or

B) How to convince their clueless High School coach
to stop doing pointless training recycled from 40
years ago.

Don’t get me wrong, it makes our  job easier because
coaching at the developmental levels is like
amateur hour.

When I got my Level II certification I was one of
about 5 coaches who didn’t specifically coach at
the collegiate level.

So just think about the base level of knowledge of
the average track coach who is responsible for
developing the foundation for future Olympians…

For every one of us that has half a clue, there are 10
who don’t go in the weight room, send sprinters on
the roads to run mileage and/or think speed work
is repeat 200s.

You know exactly what I’m talking about.

With age group coaches all speaking a different
language, there is no unified system of training
our young athletes. So they are poorly trained and
ill prepared for long term, elite level achievment.

Or even maximizing their potential at the High School
level for that matter.

It’s not complicated.

The information is out there.

Our professional coaches and top end college coaches
are far and away the best in the world. It’s
ridiculous how good they are.

So I can’t place the blame on the coaching these
athletes are getting now.

You really can’t go wrong learning from guys like
Tony Veney, Boo Schexnayder and Cliff Rovelto, among
many others.

But with such a poor foundation, no wonder our
athletes can’t compete with tiny island nations.

But these Jamaicans who are kicking American behinds
develop a foundation of good work capacity from
childhood.

Sure they run track from an early age. They also
play soccer and cricket. What they don’t do is
sit on their behinds playing video
games and eating fast food. They walk and run to
where they want to go. They ride bikes. They swim.

They develop general athletic ability through a
variety of activities.

Our athletes don’t. And the chickens have come home
to roost.

3. Bad marketing of track and field athletes and
the sport itself.

People don’t run track because no one knows anything
about it. People don’t watch track because no one
gets the point.

What are the teams? (There are none.)

What’s the score? (There is none.)

What’s the point? (There isn’t one.)

I love track and I can see that there is no point,
no buildup when watching a meet on TV. And that’s
why track is a joke in this country.

Again, blame the people who run USA Track and
Field.

I see commercials for a local gymnastics facility
during prime time, but nothing promoting any of
our Olympic sprinters.

When’s the last time USATF ran a commercial
promoting Tyson Gay. Or Jeremy Wariner?

Exactly. (Then again maybe that’s a good thing after
their atrocious performances)

If you can find a meet on TV, it’s on at 2am on
some pointless channel that just had bass fishing
on before the meet.

And the announcers talk to you like you’re a moron.

Give a monkey an advertising budget and they
couldn’t do worse than USA Track and Field has over
the past decade.

I could go on and on, but I think you get the point.

Take one minute to vote in my survey. And share
your thoughts below.

NOTE: A lot of people have been saying this in the
survey and I have to kill this idea. Not all of
the Jamaicans ran track at US Colleges!

The 2 fastest men of all time did not attend US
colleges! Neither Asafa Powell or Usain Bolt went
to college in the US!!!
To your success,

Latif Thomas