Introduction to Feed the Cats | Sprint Training

[@brendanmcgoldrick7027]

Coach- thank you so much for this! As a distance guy forced into coaching sprints for the first time in 10 years I'm really loving this content and looking forward to putting this system into place for my school.

[@KatrinaDancer]

Dang! I wish you'd been my coach! I was blessed with quick twitch muscles and was faster than the boys in my class. Coaches always wanted to make us sprinters run miles. I grew to hate track. They trained the speed right out of me.

[@coachtonyholler]

I'd like to frame this for daily inspiration. I'm truly sorry you didn't ran in a Feed the Cats program.

[@impersonator35]

Same here! I was a sprinter and fast-twitch by nature. My HS track coach had me run with the endurance runners--I hated it but loved sprinting and jumping. It's so much more fun and energizing! I can only imagine how much more fun and productive track practice would have been with Coach Holler.

[@tcsaheadcoach212]

Coach this is exactly what I have been saying about coaching. Thank you for adding to my coaching tool box..

[@coachtonyholler]

Thank you!

[@bigd5705]

I am a new coach and former sprinter that was grinded into dust at practice and I fully embrace FTC. The kids love it but many of the parents doubt it. COVID hasn't allowed for competition proof but the electronic times we record and publish support your training philosophy. Can't wait to show off FTC in a meet. Thank you!

[@joehaynes7092]

Lol how do parents know what training your doing are they watching practice 😂

[@bigd5705]

@@joehaynes7092 Yes, some of our practices are open. Many of the parents are former superheroes to hear them tell it.

[@john_coleman]

Thank you! I respect you so much man. For a long time I have been preaching that less is more and people look at me like Im crazy. Last week I took your course on CoachTube and I was so happy to find a guy with tremendous results having the same train of thought. Thanks again man! You’re a legend!

[@coachtonyholler]

Thank you! I appreciate the encouragement!

[@anthonyherbert8337]

Appreciate the share coach! As a new assistant trying to help get my alma mater off the ground, this is real insightful/inspiring.

[@davidarthur3221]

Excellent advice coach. You have firmed up my belief in your training strategy and also gave me some new insights into coaching.

[@MojoMoneyMajor]

Golden information here 💯💯💯

[@coachtonyholler]

Thank you.

[@chrishayes5219]

This looks amazing. I wish we had this when I was a sprinter!!!🥰

[@vtafuto77]

Hey coach, I liked the video and also read your post online about the 400/800 continuum. I’m a former college sprint swimmer (I did a little bit of middle distance swimming in high school as well). I now run track as a hobby and am always looking for ways to improve, I may eventually specialize if I find that I’m having a lot of success in one race and have a shot at doing something big. Anyway, my focus is 100-800 (big range, I know - I’m not at a spot of specialization yet, so I’m doing a wide variety of training and racing to break up the monotony as I know first hand what it’s like to overtrain and over-focus on one race). So, I’ve taken the approach of: Monday - lift weights & 4 mile run (maintain strength and keep a decent aerobic base) Tuesday - SE2 lactate (reps of 300-600, keeping volume always at 1200 meters of intensity) Wednesday light bike or jog just to flush out the lactate and get a decent aerobic pump Thursday - max speed (40s from block, 30s pulling sandbag, 50s from fly all with spikes and lots of rest between reps, 600 meters total intensity volume) + lift weights Friday - 5 mile easy run including tempos Saturday - SE1 shorter lactate (reps of 100 to 300, keeping total intensity volume 1200 meters or less) Sunday - off I’ve taken some concepts from you and am working to stretch speed to the 400 & 800 rather than treat these races as middle distance and will be dropping Aerobic and lifting volume in the coming months as my main competition approaches to sharpen things up. I think I have a good balance of high quality intensity work and easier low aerobic maintenance/recovery work which allows me to feel fresh for my important workouts, but am always looking to get better. Thoughts here? Appreciate any insight you can provide and best of luck with your season.

[@coachtonyholler]

Hi Vinny. I believe you have too much concern about the aerobic engine. The KPI of the 800 is the 400. The KPI of the 400 is the 200. The KPI of the 200 is pure speed (mph, measured fly times). With you swimming background, you have a strong heart. I would be more cat-like in your training. Monday - Speed Tuesday - X-Factor Wed - intervals Thurs - off Friday - Speed Saturday - lactate workout of 450 to 800 meters total (see my 4x4 predictor or critical zone workout) Sun - off Speed will win for you, not endurance.

[@vtafuto77]

@@coachtonyholler thanks Tony!

[@A.I.-]

(Regarding basketball reference): I remember training for basketball and it hit me one day, when I was very tired and cramping at 2am in the morning, in bed. "Why am I running for 2hours to do cardio, when my basketball competition last only 40min and I only get around 30mins court time???" "Why am I running for an hour, when I can do layups and basketball court drills for an hour, which contains running???"

[@coachtonyholler]

AMEN‼️

[@curtispoole5769]

"Well, maybe you should practice lay ups" lol, I'm weak.

[@coachtonyholler]

Some people struggle to EMBRACE THE OBVIOUS.

[@doitwisely5555]

What about weight maintenance? With the young guys their metabolism probably takes care it but could you see Masters age sprinters engaging in some aerobic exercise for weight management and recovery? The grinding thing has always been dumb and it’s great your spreading the word.

[@coachtonyholler]

Aerobic totally overrated for staying thin. Sprint, lift, eat less, low alcohol, and sleep.

[@phantomgaming9334]

We need to do squats and weight squats for increasing speed or not

[@colbyross4269]

Thank you for all the info. In terms of volume , it’s very hard to get information regarding volume of pure speed work a session/week. would greatly appreciate any information regarding this.

[@jabari8950]

Click the link in the description and read his article

[@joaniguzman8332]

Hi Coach! Thanks for sharing all your insights! I see the course is for off-season training. Is there a course for in-season that includes the lactate training?

[@Stefone795]

Hey there Coach Holler, distance geek here. I finished coaching my first ever season this last spring and I recently was directed towards your philosophy, and shortly after discovered John O'Malley. I was wondering what kind of alterations you would make to accommodate for runners in the 800 and the 1600. I imagine my 3200m runners would get quite a bit less attention in this area, but for the others, where do things like your atomic workouts fit in, or frequency in a week/training cycle? I know my kids need speed and back end mechanics fixes, and I did watch the segment of the webinar that you posted that had John O'Malley in it. What are some of your general thoughts?

[@coachtonyholler]

I think the Atomic Speed Workout or an X-Factor Workout could be done at the start of every practice. It’s a workout but it’s also a warmup. Have you seen me and John’s 3-hour webinar? Also this… trackfootballconsortium.com/how-to-train-the-400-800-group/

[@Chad_Hart]

What is "feed the cats?" It's the daily routine of most unmarried women over 30 years of age 😂

[@sinnahj]

😂😂😂

[@markusschuster5616]

Greetings from Munich, Germany! Sitting at home (in isolation with corona) I watched a load of your videos yesterday. Two thoughts crossed my mind: 1) Can you incorporate that programm into / before football-practice? 2) Do you have any experience with FTC for masters sprinters?

[@coachtonyholler]

Yes, my "Atomic Workout" would be a perfect "wakeup" before practice (don't like the word "warmup". And, yes, masters sprinters thrive with joyful training. trackfootballconsortium.com/never-slow-down-never-grow-old/

[@markusschuster5616]

@@coachtonyholler thanks for the reply! Will try FTC when I get rid of the Virus...

[@tommybarksdale5783]

Being a science guy what are your thoughts on what has been proven that if you run for at least 20 mins continuously you create a bigger heart (because you are forcing blood through your left ventricle), which is creating a bigger engine? Then when you do what you do then you are or can send more oxygen to the muscles. Would this help you get faster? Maybe for 2 or 3 weeks build up to 20 mins so you build a bigger heart/ bigger engine and then going to your program? I’m just thinking.

[@coachtonyholler]

This is traditional thought of the past 50 years. In ways, 1972-2022 could be seen as the “Aerobic Era” which coincides with Nike, jogging, and Marathons dominating adult fitness. Runners were rare prior to 1972. Seems 99% of exercise physiology came from people who went for daily runs. My answer to your question is short and direct.. 20 minute runs will make you slower, not faster. There’s magic in running FAST in small doses, consistently. Speed grows like a tree, so better grow it year-round.

[@akthebeast6497]

My standing long jump is 2.90 I m 19 years old ,I don't have any experience of jumping and sprinting,just weight training experience,will sprinting events be the best for me ??

[@coachtonyholler]

No way of knowing. Start sprint training and let your talent reveal itself.

[@malakizzles]

How do you view periodization/peaking in light of the cats always wanting to run fast and see times improve? Like how do your athletes deal with plateauing or decreasing speed on som days?

[@coachtonyholler]

We never drift too far from a performance-state. We change speed metrics in the off-season to give multiple chances to break records. Great teaching tool... we are not the same speed every day. Sleep is probably number one reason for plateaus.

[@pbrown4]

What would you recommend if there's no access to a track?..still train in flats knowing it's sub optimal?

[@coachtonyholler]

Roads are good.

[@ethanryan4534]

What are your thoughts on flying 20 meters?

[@coachtonyholler]

Great. We do flys of 40y and 35m on a curve. But, speeds are higher on shorter flys.

[@ethanryan4534]

@@coachtonyholler how many flying 10s and flying 20s should I do?

[@coachtonyholler]

@@ethanryan4534 3-4

[@ethanryan4534]

@@coachtonyholler How many 35m on a curve?

[@coachtonyholler]

@@ethanryan4534 2-3

[@timlofton6595]

I'm not a coach, nor do I play one on TV, but am a new-to-track masters runner. I'd like to train for the 400/800 events which, I know, are typically a tough duo to prep for, especially at age 54. Do you have any input as to applying your principles to masters runners, outside of the obvious of paying more attention to rest/recovery? Would I likely be better served just focusing on basic speed and the 400 for a year then look to stretch out the speed later? Thanks for any comments you may have coach, I appreciate your time.

[@coachtonyholler]

trackfootballconsortium.com/never-slow-down-never-grow-old/

[@timlofton6595]

@@coachtonyholler Thanks coach! This provided some nice insight and additional help for my own training. Like Karen, though not nearly the runner she is, I train solo. The waters got very muddy very quickly after going through a certain "compendium" and realizing that, while some useful nuggets were there, it was all just way too much. I've pinged Karen to see if I could learn a bit more about her training practices, especially for those non-sprint days. It may be time to do some video purchases as well. At any rate, thanks again and I appreciate your time to respond. Good luck with the remainder of the season.

[@gregorysweeting2512]

I understand your system,but coach Hart has produce many 400m world champions and record holders. There two types of 400m runners,your way work with the explosive type but not for the endurance types.

[@coachtonyholler]

Can’t argue with that. But, even Coach Hart agreed, it’s easier to gain endurance than to gain speed. Sprinters make the best 400 runners.

[@gregorysweeting2512]

@@coachtonyholler Whoa,im not arguing who is wrong or who is right. I love your way,its easier for me. Instead of killing them out overdistance,simply break it down into 200s,with full recovery. Objective for my boys to run 45.4,just divide by 2,so,they just hit that in the 200s,

[@rogerstezeno333]

The only way to run faster is to increase your speed to increase your speed change your mechanics

[@gabriels6444]

also being able to put more force into the ground

[@colbyross4269]

What are the volumes of speed work your sprinters run a week? I know you said they sprint 3x a week, but how many meters/yards per session? Thanks coach.

[@coachtonyholler]

On speed days, we typically time three short sprints. On Wednesday, our focus was on blocks, so we ran a 15y block start into a 10y fly, then we ran one 40y dash with blocks, then we ran a 100m block start on the curve. The 100m is atypical but with missing last track season, we must do more track-specific training.

[@colbyross4269]

@@coachtonyholler oh wow your volumes are definitely on the conservative side. When I see typical “speed sessions “ they look like 4-6x40m. It’s interesting to see another side . Do you have any min /max volume guidelines per session? It’s hard to find information on this .

[@coachtonyholler]

@@colbyross4269 the course pinned to the top of my Twitter account lays it all out. Nobody does less.