Improve Sprinting Performance with Science-based Testing

A version of the military adage says that:

"Prior Proper Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance".

As a sprinter, runner, or hurdler, the million dollar question is why testing, and for that matter, why test before starting any running training? After all, as a competitive athlete or runner, I just need the right training formula/program, train hard and wait for the next competition.

​

Read this excellent post, Making Sense of Testing Athletes, by Wayne Goldsmith, a sports performance consultant, to challenge the reader to examine their perspective on athletic preparation. A must-read post for all athletes, runners, and coaches.

​

The blog post "Sprint Testing in Non-elite and Recreational Athletes" describes some of the tests included in the Sprinting-Running Assessments protocol.

​

The Importance of Athletic Testing in Sprinting Athletes

Before starting any periodized training program, testing is crucial for running-based individual and team sports athletes. Testing provides both coach and athlete with a current and future snapshot of the training landscape that lies ahead. Data collection from testing enables coaches and athletes to organize and create usable information for the coaching and training process. With quantitative and qualitative information at hand, the coach and athlete enhance their knowledge via an iterative process of

1. Why are we testing?

2. What metrics are we testing (speed, strength, power, anaerobic endurance, gait, movement capacities)?

3. When are we testing (pre-training, every six weeks, etc.)?

4. Where are we testing (gym, track)?

5. How are we testing (video analysis system, in-person?

 

Collection Data on Current Physical Capabilities

Athletic testing as a pre-training tool is necessary to evaluate an athlete's current physical capabilities. The assessment of speed athletes collects subjective and objective data points. Including an analysis of the previous training cycle from the athlete's perspective is very helpful. If there is a current coaching relationship, a similar analysis from the coach is required. This pre-training assessment allows the coach and athlete to identify strengths, weaknesses, and plateaus impacting the athlete's performance and assists with designing effective training programs.

​

​Training Program Monitoring

Strategic athletic testing allows coaches and athletes to track the athlete's progress over time. Testing provides quantifiable data that helps assess the effectiveness of training interventions and facilitates making necessary adjustments to the training prescription.

​

Injury Prehabilitation

Running at maximum speed, whether linearly or multi-directionally, requires risk management by the coach and athlete. Identifying neuromusculoskeletal limitations and imbalances through testing and the appropriate follow-up interventions reduces the likelihood of injuries. Employing prehabilitation strategies within dynamic warm-up routines allows coaches and athletes to adopt proactive injury prevention strategies based on the athletes' test results.

 

​Individualized Training Programs

Athletic testing is essential to designing an athlete's training program. Means and methods for each trainable factor (e.g., speed) are individualized to the athlete and their testing results. Consider how the principles of specific adaptation to imposed demands, specificity, overload, and reversibility influence training program design.

 

Goal Setting and Motivation

Testing results allow the defining of SMART goals. The cooperative inputs of coach and athlete in identifying goals motivate athletes to strive for improvement. Quantifiable testing provides concrete targets for coaches and athletes to work towards.

​

Performance Prediction

Examining results from multiple tests provides valuable insights into the likely performance outcomes of an athlete's speed effort. For example, combining results from flying 30m, standing long jump, and multiple hops can be used to predict an athlete's 100m time.

​

Periodization and Training Progression

Design periodized training programs, extracting all relevant information from the testing data. Testing helps determine training phases (daily sessions, microcycles, mesocycles, macrocycles) and the manipulation of intensity, volume, and density within each phase of the training program. Periodized training programs should be fluid, agile, and iterative.

 

Practical Considerations in Athletic Testing and Training Program Periodization

​

​Testing Quality

Use reliable and valid testing protocols to ensure consistency and accuracy in the data collection process.

 

Data Management

All test data and test scores are managed via an online athlete management system. This digital communication method allows athletes and coaches to interact with generated test data in real-time.

 

Communication

An online athlete management system is the vehicle to effectively communicate between coach and athlete concerning access to and the interpretation of test results and the subsequent implementation process of appropriate interventions.

 

Agile Planning

Periodized training programs should be fluid and agile to accommodate changes in competition schedules, weather, well-being, and injuries. Consider whether an athlete will achieve a peak or season's best performance behind, right on time, or ahead of schedule. In the latter case, the coach makes adjustments/tweaks to the training program to optimize the season's best performance.

​

A Typical Speed and Running Testing (S.R.T) Protocol

The S.R.T protocol covers five days of testing and is strategically administered over fourteen days to maximize tester performance. The S.R.T battery of tests is necessary for the coach to effectively design your Explosive Speed Training System (E.S.T.S) plan. Without any initial benchmarks, planning and implementing any training plan would surmount nothing more than spitting in the wind.

 

Testing Components and Sequence:

Day One: Athlete Profile

1. S.W.O.T. (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis

2. Daily Analysis of Life Demands for Athletes (D.A.L.A.) Questionnaire

3. Review of medical history and any injury history

 

Day Two: Neuromusculoskeletal Integrity

1. Gait analysis

2. Rouge Core Wheel Challenge

3. Hamstring Break Test

4. Overhead Squat screen

5. 3-D Lunge Matrix screen

 

Day Three: Load Capacity Tolerance

1. Interlimb Asymmetry Test

2. Abalakov Test

3. Depth Drop with BLE Rebound

4. Reactivity Index Test

 

Day Four: REST

 

Day Five: Horizontal Power

1. Standing Horizontal Jump

2. BLE Bounds: 3, 5, 10 bounds

 

Day Six: REST

 

Day Seven: REST

 

Day Eight: Acceleration and Maximum Speed

1. 30 m from three-point start

2. Flying 30m

3. SLED Load Profile * 30m

 

Day Nine: Maximum Strength and Power

1. Cleans

2. Squat

3. Deadlifts

 

Day Ten: Rest

 

Day Eleven: Anaerobic Endurance Testing

1. Anaerobic: R.A.S.T Test (Running Anaerobic Speed Test)

 

After completing your assessment package, results are analyzed and discussed with you, the client. The next and final step is to buy the Explosive Speed Training System (E.S.T.S).