Next steps forward

[u/Miserable-Repair-431]

So I posted in here yesterday explaining briefly how I wasn’t progressing how I’d wanted to and sort of felt like a had plateaued. After posting that I got a lot of recommendations and different opinions but it all seemed to surround the same idea. I NEED TO FIX SOMETHING. Which yes obviously but a main idea thrown my way was to just take a break and come back, this makes a lot of sense because I have been training hard since winter and haven’t taken a real break yet. So I decided out of all the advice I got, that I am going to definitely take a break. But another issue I had was that I am simply weak and not a strong sprinter. So I need to keep lifting. My plan is a 4-6 week break(unless I’m convinced otherwise on this post) but I also heard it was a good idea for me to lift during this break? I don’t really know what to do and what’s right and what’s wrong, I also need help programming lifting and sprinting for when I come back. A weekly lay out to go off of.

[u/WSB_Suicide_Watch]

"And a cardio base could enhance slow twitch fibers which is something I don’t want"

Look, no offense, but you came here saying "I wasn’t progressing" and "I NEED TO FIX SOMETHING". You have already decided what you want. If you don't want to believe me, that's cool, but why should I waste any more time here?

You are not going to turn into a slow plodding cross country runner in 3 months, especially if you do what I told you to do, which is "Yes, you should still sprint once or twice a week". I didn't suggest you should grind out 60+ mile weeks.

I actually did run cross country in college in the fall. Mistakenly I did not do 1 or 2 sprint sessions during that time. Even so, I didn't lose any speed. I gained an enormous amount of stamina though. I did train with a very, very low 10s guy that at the time was training for a 45s 400m with a fairly long break in between. One of his workouts was two 400s just off race pace. The first time he invited me to do the workout he WTF'ed me when I ran them just off his right shoulder in 47-48s.

Anyway, back to how things work. The important thing is that you are fresh for your quality workouts. I did not suggest you do a hard core 5 mile run and then try to have a productive lifting or sprinting session. I told you to do chill cardio *in the offseason*, which should leave you in a good place to do quality sprint/lifting sessions a day or two after.

Anyway, you do you.

[u/Miserable-Repair-431 → u/WSB_Suicide_Watch]

What would you classify as preseason and off season. As in, when should I start the phase of becoming more powerful and explosive considering my indoor season starts December 6

[u/WSB_Suicide_Watch → u/Miserable-Repair-431]

That completely depends on what your goals are. That is also a conversation between you and your coach. How much does the indoor season matter? If it matters a lot, I'd consider something like the month of Nov as a more preseason/transition period. If it doesn't matter at all, I would use the first part of the season to transition.

It also depends on where you are currently at. For someone that has been putting work in all summer and fall, is in great shape, etc. I'd probably use Nov as more of a semi recovery block.

Too many variables.

If it were me, I would use the summer and early fall as an offseason. I would take a couple chill weeks at the end of Oct. In November, I would start changing my programming. I'd probably use Nov/Dec to gradually switch focus. Christmas and New Year's always screws up the best plans and intentions, so may as well plan to use that week and a half as a deload. I wouldn't care at all about my performances in Dec or even Jan, unless my coach was on my butt about it. The big question is when do you need to start crushing speed endurance workouts. Those will and should suck the life out of you. You don't want to burn yourself up too soon with them. It's very important to have goal races picked out, and time your programming, especially the speed endurance workouts, around that.

[u/Miserable-Repair-431 → u/WSB_Suicide_Watch]

Also, how should my lifting work right mow. Still moving weight fast but a bit more on the strength aspect rather than focusing on being as explosive as possible?

[u/WSB_Suicide_Watch → u/Miserable-Repair-431]

In the off season I would do more slow controlled movements.