How I Strength Train For Speed

[@josemarioblanco1439]

Wow, I have done a big research on how to train weights for sprinting and this is one of the best videos I found, thanks!!!

[@SimonShawk5]

I'm very glad it was helpful!

[@calouy8764]

Letssss gooooo we got another shawking video!!!!!!! You should definitely upload more frequently! (If you have the time of course 😊). Sprinters would benefit a ton from watching your vids!!! Keep up the good work.

[@SimonShawk5]

Thanks a lot! I intend to be posting weekly (if not more than weekly) from now on. Life's been crazy but I wanna get out as much content for you guys as possible

[@Whisp-m9x]

This video is extremely informative and concise. Im a 400 sprinter in high school that came off a post acl tear season. Despite only being 5 months out surgery I dropped my time down for 52.6-50.3. The issue is due to overtraining i was left injured and couldn’t pr the second half of the season. The weightroom for my lower body has always been my issue, as I have no coaching for it. I really appreciate your information, and I can’t wait to see your 400 journey keep progressing

[@SimonShawk5]

I'm so glad you found it helpful! Sorry to hear about your injury, that is very unfortunate, but coming back to run a 50.3 after is very impressive. Hopefully you can implement some of these tactics. I truly believe you'll be sub 50 if not in the sub 49-48 range this coming year, you've got this!

[@jay_m4160]

I subscribed to your channel. I love your content I was a junior athlete for GB (cyclist) so it’s very interesting to see how sprinters train!

[@SimonShawk5]

Incredible to hear you were a junior cyclist for GB, I would love to hear a bit of what your training was like and if you still train or not. Thanks for your kind words!

[@doudleyJ]

Relative strength and reactive strength are key fr

[@SimonShawk5]

Yes sir! Thanks for watching man

[@johnkirby9755]

Great job on the video. Really well put together. Will you do any longer runs over the winter?

[@SimonShawk5]

I appreciate that very much! That depends on what you mean by longer runs. Currently, the furthest I plan on running at any point is 360m up a hill. I do, however, really enjoy doing bike rides for longer cardio and I may end up doing 1-2 hour rides relatively frequently

[@jacilugo9434]

Great information!! You can really tell you know what you are talking about. Awesome job with improving your speed in a short timeframe! Keep up the good work! 🔥

[@SimonShawk5]

Thank you so much! I really appreciate it!

[@amandipdutta761]

What are your best tips for dealing with lower body imbalances?

[@SimonShawk5]

I think unilateral exercises (ones using only 1 leg at a time) are the best way to check for imbalances and fix them. They show you very quickly if one side is weaker, and you could do extra sets on the weak side until your legs match up

[@erinsethos2613]

Great info!

[@SimonShawk5]

Thanks a lot!

[@elijahebbert6884]

If your able to get your hands on the old Innosport/DB Hammer stuff there is tons of info on Oscillatory Isometrics. Also the phenomenon you are talking about at 10:03 is called reciprocal inhibition.

[@SimonShawk5]

Thank you for this comment. I'm very curious, where would you look to find the DB hammer stuff? I've heard it mentioned before but I don't think I've ever found it before (perhaps I didn't look hard enough)

[@jonahgasho]

How long are the Long Hold Isometrics and how much volume is needed per session?

[@SimonShawk5]

This is highly individual. I range between 30 and 90 seconds and do 2-3 sets per exercise. I usually only do 4-5 exercises max, and really like an active lunge isometric and the spring ankle series by cal Dietz

[@jonahgasho]

@@SimonShawk5 thank you for your reply and great video

[@SimonShawk5]

Thanks a lot!

[@thabiggisbird]

Great video. Any thoughts on Tony Holler and the Feed the Cats methodology?

[@royekkel2556]

Tony did make mikro dosing a hit with calling it feed the cat it is just mikro dosing sprinting (no hate from me her )

[@SimonShawk5]

I was a big fan of FTC for a while, especially when I was first starting out, and I got good results from it. I think it is a much better strategy than doing a huge training volume and slamming tons of endurance work. With that being said, I think the fear and avoidance of endurance work isn't great either. I hit my max speed PR while doing multiple days per week of endurance work (albeit, pretty 400m specific stuff) and I think there are many benefits from being well conditioned. It's a useful thought experiment at the very least, allowing people to consider what the bare minimum effective training would be

[@blakem2949]

I am curious about training your achillies tendon for example. This in itself will make you more bouncy rather than making you powerful in striking the ground, however I am curious how you do this type of training because when I do specific plyometrics and sprinting weekly, I often get shin splint pain. I do achillies specific plyos about twice a week and on the same days do a max effort sprint workout. Am I getting shin splints from over working them, or would you say it is something else I need to look at like running form for example.

[@SimonShawk5]

There are a couple of things that come to mind. Your form certainly could play a role, lots of people after they fix their form completely recover from shin splints. I'd suggest watching some footage of you sprinting and checking exactly where your feet are striking (anything out in front of you will have very significant impact forces, not great for the shins). It could also be tightness of the lower leg muscles. Very aggressive rolling or massaging (as in, seriously painful) could help, and has helped me in the past. Finally, it could relate to spikes in your volume. If you suddenly increase the volume of sprinting or plyometrics, or especially if you do both simultaneously, your body won't be prepared to handle the higher volume and the likelihood of injury goes way up. This can be remedied by starting basically at zero and slowly increasing volume over a long time period

[@tf-ok]

Thanks for the video. It is very helpful. But do slow down slightly if possible (both slideshow and talking speed), much appreciated.

[@SimonShawk5]

I'm glad you found it helpful! I worry that people will get bored if I slow down too much. Maybe setting the play back speed to .75 could help you out? Thanks a lot for the feedback

[@copper5r660]

is it worth doing hamstring curls and leg extensions on classic technogym machines - or would i train them enough during compound movements? I find that doing curls and extensions add alot of time to my gym sessions which i want to avoid.

[@SimonShawk5]

I think it isn't necessary. It can be useful, especially if you have issues in those areas or imbalances, but certainly is not necessary. I almost never program standard hamstring curls or leg extensions. I do like nordic hamstring curls though, there are multiple ways to do those assisted and I'm a big fan of that

[@Sohel----]

Great content , what would be your suggestion to someone who Is 11 months into sprinting and 4 months into gym ? Considering he has no strength at all ....should he do pure traditional lifting for some period of time first to build strength ? If so , then for how many months ?

[@SimonShawk5]

Thank you! That's a great question. I think that early along in your journey it would likely be beneficial to just focus on the basic compound lifts with a huge emphasis on technique. It'll prepare you for the more complex things later on and since you don't have years of sprinting experience, getting stronger is more than enough to make you faster. I would also throw in some long isometrics, maybe at the end of your lifts. The tendon and mind muscle connection development make them very worth doing. I'd at least do an active lunge (pretty deep lunge where you actively pull the front heel backwards to engage the hamstrings) and the spring ankle exercises which you can find on youtube

[@backroomsdurkio]

is a triphasic training phase, followed by a french contrast phase using afsm work an optimal program to build athleticism?

[@SimonShawk5]

in my opinion, if you train like that, your strength training would be better and more effective than 90% of athletes. So yes, I'd recommend it

[@KairoAntsaar]

This is all great information and such, but I feel like it would take a lot more courage to perform my sets like that than I have, because I'd probably get laughed out of the gym by gymbros or end up on someone's tiktok lol

[@SimonShawk5]

Thanks! I can understand how you feel. I've gotten the weird looks a few times myself 😂. I like to have an optimistic view and think people will wonder what I'm doing and be curious about it as opposed to judgemental. All I can say is, evaluate your priorities. Do you care more about being the best athlete you can be, or people's opinions of you? If people's opinions matter more that's totally fine, just stick to the basic compound lifts, get strong, and then do some basic power work like Olympic lifts or just squats

[@spartangaming5078]

How's your hip been feeling? I remember a long time ago it was giving you issues.

[@SimonShawk5]

Good to see you here again! It has been doing a lot better after months of eccentric work. It also seems as though the long isometrics I talked about (and specifically an active lunge isometric) have helped to keep it healthy

[@sujanokhrabulimbu3731]

What exercise should we do one day before 800m race or we should rest? Sir

[@SimonShawk5]

I would rest the day before a race! When I used to run the 800, I'd do a short, very easy run and follow it up with some strides, and it worked great for me

[@sujanokhrabulimbu3731]

@@SimonShawk5 thanks man appreciate it 👏

[@omega9478]

what are some isometrics to do during the long hold phase?

[@SimonShawk5]

I like to do an active lunge isometric, where you go into a deep lunge, lift your front heel off the ground, and then pull backwards with that front leg to turn on the hamstring. I also love the spring ankle series showcased by cal Dietz. I think both of those should be included

[@2ball434]

This might help but they actually found that 6-8 reps actually has similar level hypertrophy to 10+ reps

[@165sprtrc]

What you mean by ,,weight is too easy that you gonna jump with barbell". Isnt that would be still power? Or you mean that it should be around 60% of 1RM for heavy power?

[@SimonShawk5]

It all depends on what you're going for. Jumping with a barbell is a fantastic power exercise. However, it really only stresses the body at the bottom of the rep, and most of the rest of it is relatively easy. So, my point was that by using alternative loading methods like bands, you can still have a very powerful and explosive turnaround at the bottom of the squat without having to do a jump squat AND while still being stressed through the full range of motion. It basically lets you generate more total power by changing the difficulty to match your natural strength curve

[@165sprtrc]

@@SimonShawk5 so in simple way: you want end of range of motion in going up in squat to be more challenging and get resistance there?

[@allenjenkins4807]

Why not just train all of these things concurrently? Max force, reactive, slow eccentric, fast eccentric, isometric, etc. I was thinking Rolf advocated for something like this but decreases the ROM as the training cycle goes on.

[@SimonShawk5]

There is probably a way to structure that, but I think you'd reach a point where there isn't enough time in a training week to hit everything. I bet someone smarter than I am could figure it out 🤷🏻‍♂️. And you're probably absolutely right I think Rolf tends to train a lot of things in combination, but I am not positive if that includes some of these "base-building" things like long isometrics. I appreciate your comment and I'd love to bring some of these experts into a podcast eventually and figure out some of the very specific details of their training.

[@bobdog90]

It seems like you've learned a lot since the last time I saw you in the weight room. I'm a bit uncomfortable with the tone you took in the video. It sounded like you were coaching your audience, which is unusual since you're still fairly young and you've leaned a lot of this stuff recently yourself. Maybe it's just meant to captivate listeners? Either way, keep working hard, and remember that few people will have the discipline and humility to read studies, experiment, be patient, avoid injury, prioritize recovery, and evaluate their results fairly. If you do those things in addition to everything you've learned so far, you're going under 48 for sure.

[@SimonShawk5]

I appreciate the criticism. All of these are things I've learned and have been implementing over the last year. I was able to use them in my own training, and I also wrote the strength training program for my collegiate team over the previous academic year. I also have a degree in Strength and Conditioning and Exercise Science so I don't consider myself a complete beginner at this stuff. With that being said, I understand that a year hands on is quite a bit less experience than one might want in a coach. I tried to approach the video by showing my thoughts and opinions about training, using wording like "I try to" "I personally think" etc to display that I am not a leading authority in the space. I was simply trying to convey my key takeaways from some of the real leading authorities in the space like Ohman, Huntington, Dietz, and the slightly removed but incredibly knowledgeable Fabritz. I didn't intend to mislead anybody or make myself sound smarter than I am, I have just had lots of questions about strength training and wanted to share my take based upon the culmination of what I've learned from my inspirations. Hopefully I didn't make anyone else uncomfortable or lead anyone astray with this video. I intend to be disciplined and continue learning as you suggest and I thank you for your comment and supportive words at the end of the message.

[@nd_otd]

I find nothing wrong with his tone.

[@hunterbaum2898]

Nothing is wrong with your tone, you’re doing a great job lol.

[@mdaltamashraza]

​@@SimonShawk5 bro, youre just so good, your knowledge literally made me open my second brain. Deserve respect, man!❤

[@rosexesquivel]

I don't find anything wrong with your tone. I'm literally in the market for kids' coaches right now, and the number of guys with 10+ years of experience who don't even know what role the tendons play in force production is horrifying. It's especially rough at the high school level with older coaches. Experience is great, but good experience and quality education is most important.