The progress that Chris's athletes make under his watchful eye are truly impressive. Having earned his USATF Level III certification in the sprints, hurdles and relays, Chris has produced six conference champions, 18 all-conference athletes and five all-east selections in just the past two years.

Let's hear what Chris has to say. If you have any questions about this article, send them to: latif@athletesacceleration.com

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Latif: You used to be a high school teacher and coach. What made you decide to move to the college ranks?

Chris: I have always wanted to coach at the highest level for several reasons. I like the attention to detail with the ability to break down an event over a longer training season than at the high school level. I enjoy working with Division I athletes and being able to be very in-depth with training and technique.

Latif: What are some of the primary differences between coaching high school athletes and coaching collegiate athletes, from the standpoint of physical preparation (periodization, volume, intensity, etc.) and mental preparation (differences in mind set, preparation, ego, etc.)

Chris: There are several differences between the high school and collegiate levels, primarily based on two factors: length of season and training age of the athlete. The annual plan can be very similar in terms of percentage of the season for each phase. It would just be on a smaller scale. Training volumes should be between 10-20% lighter for a high school athlete, depending on the training age of the individual. Intensities and mental preparation shouldn’t vary too much from level to level, except for the duration of maintaining intensities and mental focus over a longer collegiate season.

Latif: How do you plan training for an athlete, such as Lashonda Davis, who competes as both a sprinter and a jumper? Does the training for one event supercede the training for the other? Are there commonalties that you identify in the events and design the training around those commonalties or do you identify the particular strengths and weaknesses of the athlete and go from there? What changes have you made to your system between last year and this year?

Chris: Training sprinters and jumpers can be very similar. I design the training program based on the commonalities of the events. For example, approach work and acceleration development can be done during the same session. Take-off work and block work can be done during a session. I do, however keep any type of work capacity or speed endurance session completely separate from jumping and power oriented sessions.

My program may change slightly from year to year following a yearly evaluation. I have been able to work with some of the same athletes here for three and four years now, so this year’s program is a little more detail oriented, while emphasizing more quality than quantity (volume) work.

Latif: When training sprinters and jumpers, what is the role of aerobic conditioning? Do you do a great deal of extensive tempo and aerobic capacity work or do you believe that for sprinters (55m-200m) that aerobic work is more a means of active recovery than specific conditioning? Why do you believe this?

Chris: Our sprinters (55m-200m) and jumpers train mainly to enhance the glycolytic energy system and increase ATP-PC stores, with an emphasis on the latter. Aerobic conditioning/Extensive Tempo does play a role in that program, but primarily during general preparation.

Throughout the remainder of the season I only do enough aerobic work to maintain a solid base, which allows the body to work more speed development/power with a lower risk of injury. The training program for our 400 group is designed to improve the same energy systems, but with an emphasis on the glycolytic energy system. Therefore, there is much more aerobic capacity and tempo training. I follow a progression from Extensive to Intensive tempo throughout the training year, while decreasing volume and increasing intensity of training when I am looking for the highest level performances.

I believe in this system because at least 30% of the 100 meters (and more for the 200 and 400 meters) relates to speed endurance and deceleration. Therefore, some level of aerobic conditioning and speed endurance must play a role in the body’s ability to withstand certain training demands.

Latif: Having experienced success at both the high school and collegiate levels, what are the main areas that coaches must address in developing speed in their sprinters that they are currently not addressing, i.e. mechanics, physical strength, technique, force application, etc?

Chris: Although technique/mechanics is important for sprinters, I believe the annual training program is of utmost importance. It allows the body to adapt cellularly and muscularly. I think there is more room for improvement based on physical training, than worrying too much about technique early on. I do, however, break down the mechanics of acceleration because it sets up the rest of the race. Take the 60 meters, for example… Nearly the entire race is acceleration. Therefore, the better the mechanics of acceleration, the smoother the transition to maximum velocity.

Latif: Do you believe in breaking a race down into phases (the start, drive phase, transition, etc.)? If so, what are some ways to develop these phases as far as workouts, cues, etc? If not, how do you develop consistency in your athletes?

Chris: Yes, I break sprinting into phases. I try to keep it relatively simple for the athletes. Acceleration (in our program) begins with the touch down of the first foot to the point where maximum velocity is reached, since the body is accelerating the entire time. I will break it down into sub-phases for those that are more advanced. The next phase is maximum velocity, followed by speed maintenance (deceleration).

The following are examples of some things we do to work on speed development at different points of the training year:

Early: hill work, resisted runs, acceleration patterns, video for analysis

Mid: Explosive hill work, acceleration to maximum velocity, video for analysis

Late: Maximum speed work, assisted runs, speed endurance, video for analysis

Latif: For your sprinters in the competitive phase of their season, how many days per week do you do speed work (accel development, max velocity, speed endurance)?

Chris: With a competition phase that spans half of a year, we must work through a good part of the season. During the parts of the season where I look for high level performances, I try to touch on each area at least once, while focusing on whatever I feel is needed at the time. For example, acceleration development and max velocity can be done during the same session, which will free up more time to emphasize speed endurance training. I have the team work at a very high level of intensity at that point in the season, so there isn’t room for a lot of volume.

Latif: For your jumpers in the competitive phase of their season, how many days per week do you spend doing approach work, jumping, doing plyos?

Chris: During the major part of the competitive season, the following is a break down of how many days we work on each area:

Approach work: 1
Jumping: 2 (one day is takeoff mechanics only)
Plyos: 1-2 (one day is in conjunction with the strength training program)
**Keep in mind that some of these things can overlap and be done on the same day.

Latif: If a jumper has a lot of speed, but can’t control it in their takeoff, do you advice having the athlete practice running a slower approach so that they can transition into a jump easier? How about shortening the approach?

Chris: This is a very good question. Lashonda Davis is the perfect model to answer this question. Her 100 meter time improved by more than ½ second from her senior year in high school to her freshman year in college. As a result, she was having trouble handling all of that speed.

Here are my thoughts on this:
I do not like to shorten the approach because it may affect the timing of the overall jump. During practice: short approach jumps are an excellent way to work on proper take off mechanics (because it eliminates the speed factor). You can start as short as 2 steps, and move back as they become proficient. I typically will not go beyond 10-12 steps for full jumps during practice.

During competition: I treat it like a sprint event, while only accelerating up to a certain percentage. I would start by building up to 80-85% of max velocity and making sure they hit the proper positions, before adding speed.

Latif: How important is strength training for track and field athletes? How often do your sprinters/jumpers lift weights? What exercises do you feel are most effective? Should weight training be a primary focus of athletes at the high school level?

Chris: Strength training is very important for track and field athletes because it relates directly to force application and efficiency. Our sprinters and jumpers do some form of strength training three times a week during the fall and two times a week during the competitive season. Our programs vary depending on the event group. We focus on event specific strength training, so the body learns to produce force in a manner similar to the way they compete.

Weight training should definitely be a part of the training program for high school athletes. The program should vary depending on the physical development and training age of the athlete. Athletes with a younger training age can benefit from workouts as simple as circuit training and body weight exercises. More in depth strength training can be done with those who are more physically developed. The truth is, however, if an athlete has little experience with strength training, any basic program should result in strength gains.

Best of luck!

- Chris Bostwick

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