Coaches, Parents, Athletes, and Clients I have encountered over the years have mistakingly mixed up the application of Conditioning & Speed Training. I have even found myself inappropriately blending sprint training and conditioning when these two techniques are actually in two different stratospheres and have two very distinct outcomes when applied appropriately. Let’s take a look at how sprinting and conditioning are different and how to maximize your potential for the desired goal!
| SPORT | TOTAL DIST. (MILES) | TOTAL GAME TIME (MIN) | ACTUAL SPORT ACTION (MIN) | ACTUAL / TOTAL MIN (%) | YDS / TOTAL MIN | AVG. MPH |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BASEBALL | 0.0375 | 215 | 17.97 | 8.36% | 0.31 | 0.01 |
| FOOTBALL | 1.25 | 184 | 11 | 5.98% | 11.96 | 0.41 |
| BASKETBALL | 2.55 | 138 | 20.2 | 14.64% | 32.52 | 1.11 |
| TENNIS | 3.0 | 161 | 26 | 16.15% | 32.8 | 1.12 |
| FIELD HOCKEY | 5.6 | 80 | 15 | 18.75% | 123.2 | 4.2 |
| SOCCER | 7.0 | 115 | 63.5 | 55.22% | 107.13 | 3.65 |
| RUGBY | 4.32 | 95 | 35.42 | 37.28% | 80.03 | 2.73 |
| AUSSIE RULES | 7.8 | 150 | 87.75 | 58.33% | 91.52 | 3.12 |
| ICE HOCKEY | 5.44 | 139 | 25 | 17.99% | 68.88 | 2.35 |
If preparing for a sport was easy, we could just take the data from the above chart and have our athletes go out and run the given distances in the allotted time. However, anyone that has played or watched any of these sports know it’s not that simple! (Soccer Example: 7 miles in 115 min = 3.65 mph)
Sport is a game of repeated exertions (1,3,4). The team / player that has ability to continue performing these exertions at a high end for the duration of the game has a higher probability of winning!
Also, durability to non contact injuries are decreased significantly due to the ability to move and perform at a high level for the entire game!
So why is conditioning not the same as speed training? These 2 training methods have similar training modes (in this case, running) but the outcomes are completely different.
Conditioning is done with fatigue being one of the variables that will effect our training outcome. We know that increased fatigue drives our output down meaning we cannot physically give what we did the previous reps. If you ran 10 100 yard sprints with 30 seconds of rest between reps, you may PERCEIVE every rep to be max effort, but the numbers will show your output is declining.
| DISTANCE (YDS) | TIME (SEC) | REST (SEC) | % OF MAX |
|---|---|---|---|
| 100 | 11.6 | 30 | 100% |
| 100 | 11.9 | 30 | 97.5% |
| 100 | 12.6 | 30 | 92.1% |
| 100 | 13.5 | 30 | 85.9% |
| 100 | 14.8 | 30 | 78.4% |
| 100 | 16.1 | 30 | 72.1% |
| 100 | 16.8 | 30 | 69.1% |
| 100 | 17.9 | 30 | 64.8% |
| 100 | 17.8 | 30 | 65.2% |
| 100 | 18.2 | 30 | 63.7% |
Conditioning has its place in a a program. It is a great way to build up aerobic capacity, increases our ability to buffer hydrogen ions (the metabolic byproduct that leads to fatigue), and gets athletes comfortable being uncomfortable!
Max Effort Sprinting can use the same model, but we need to control for fatigue. Speed training is highly neurological and we know that when the nervous system gets fatigued, all other systems start to down regulate. High speed training also helps our connective tissues to maintain stiffness during these exercises. A sample speed workout would look something like this…
| DISTANCE (YDS) | TIME (SEC) | REST (MIN) | % OF MAX |
|---|---|---|---|
| 100 | 11.6 | 4 | 100 |
| 100 | 11.7 | 4 | 99.2 |
| 100 | 11.3 | 4 | 102.7 |
| 100 | 11.6 | 4 | 100 |
We know that most sports rarely see maximum speed (1,2). There are exceptions (like when I am going against Tyrek Hill in fantasy football and Pat Mahomes throws 2 – 60 yard touchdowns to him) like when a breakdown in strategy occurs.
In simple terms, let’s look at the athlete as a car. We want our athletes to perform like a high performance machine. If you spend our time and effort just building the gas tank, your athlete will be like a high performance Prius. If we spend the time and energy in building the engine, we end up like a Mclaren Senna. Whats your choice if you are an athlete? (Note to the readers, the Mclaren also has a 28 mpg range so it too can last into the last quarter of competition!)
To further dive into this concept, I love the visual of this graph for how top end speed can enhance our athletic potential. The Transfer Effect can have a huge crossover to sport. If you train our athletes for max speed, we can have a direct effect on sub-max / game speed. By making our athletes faster, we can make them faster at game speeds (and in turn, can have a direct effect on strength in the weight room too!)
Another key factor to keep in mind is the amount of stress we put on these athletes. From Chart 1, we see that the total working distance is 1000 yards and the time was a little under 7 minutes. Chart 2, we see that the athlete performed 400 yards with a time under 17 minutes.
In this case, quality far outweighs quantity. The ability to increase top end speed allows the athlete to get faster at the sub-max speeds. On top of that, the athletes will be MORE fresh for sport practices / games. The end product is to produce a more robust, anti fragile, FAST athlete for sport!
In conclusion, plan with the finish in mind. We want our training programs to end with the athletes peaking. Movement Prep, strength training in the weight room, tracking and recording sprint times, and COMMUNICATING with athletes on how they are feeling during and after training (RPE charts are great for this) will help you become a more successful coach!
To ensure that you are getting the most out of your athletes, RECORD their times (timing system is preferable but a stopwatch is ok) and PUBLISH their results. I enjoy turning their times into both MPH & meters / second to see how they stack up with professional athletes and for added motivation to break the 20 mph mark!
To check out what we use for helping athletes achieve higher top end speeds, please follow this link for access to this FREE 4 week speed training program. All you will need is availability to an outdoor space for running, stopwatch, and either a box, park bench, bleachers for some of the plyometric exercises.
REFERENCES
1.Carling, C., Le Gall, F., & Dupont, G. (2012). Analysis of repeated high-intensity running performance in professional soccer. Journal Of Sports Sciences, 30(4), 325-336.
2. Schimpchen, J., Skorski, S., Nopp, S., & Meyer, T. (2015). Are “classical” tests of repeated-sprint ability in football externally valid? A new approach to determine in-game sprinting behavior in elite football players. Journal Of Sports Sciences, 34(6), 519-526.
3. Gabbett, T., Wiig, H., & Spencer, M. (2013). Repeated High-Intensity Running and Sprinting in Elite Women’s Soccer Competition. International Journal Of Sports Physiology And Performance, 8(2), 130-138.
4. Johnston, R., & Gabbett, T. (2011). Repeated-Sprint and Effort Ability in Rugby League Players. Journal Of Strength And Conditioning Research, 25(10), 2789-2795.