Book Review I: Speed Trap by Charlie Francis

Dismissing Francis' training methodology simply because his athletes used

PEDs would be a mistake.



Book Review I: "Speed Trap" by Charlie Francis

No need to put lipstick on a pig here, Francis' book Speed Trap is exceptional, a "must read" for serious coaches and athletes, alike.  While the use of performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) features prominently throughout the book, Francis leaves no stone unturned when it comes to explaining the evolution of his coaching philosophy.  The following topics are covered in great detail: the respective differences between muscular fatigue and central nervous system fatigue, periodization, speed development, and taper schedules.  Many of Francis' ideas dovetail my own, specifically his rationale for limiting a sprinter's "traditional" endurance work.

Aside from the more technical points laid later in this blog post, a few subtleties within Francis' coaching philosophy jumped out at me:

(1) He would do anything if he thought it would allow his athletes to perform better -- and I don't mean simply providing them with PEDs.  He listened to their personal problems, bought them groceries, gave them money to pay rent or travel expenses, and he learned how to expertly massage his own athletes. This last skill was of particular importance, because it allowed Francis to learn how his athletes were responding to training, most importantly the high-intensity speed work.

(2) He never closed the door to any athlete who was willing to put in the work.  Ben Johnson wasn't the most talented teenager on his team, but Francis stuck with him and Johnson ultimately went on to set multiple world records.

(3) He brought on the best assistants, and he did not micro-manage them.  In doing so, he showed them a level of trust not commonly seen amongst coaches at the highest level, and he was subsequently rewarded with their loyalty and best efforts.

(4) He sought advice from the best in his business.  At one point, a conversation with the East German track coach led Francis to abandon his five-day taper schedule and instead adopt his peer's ten-day variation.  This is but one example of how Francis incorporated newer ideas into his training program. Others can be found in all segments of the book.

Now for the more technical discussion:

(1) Differentiating between muscular fatigue and central nervous system fatigue:

"In [the view of Gerard Mach], the muscles were affected by both high- and low-intensity training, but they also bounced back quickly, within 24 hours. The central nervous system, by contrast, was affected primarily by high-intensity work (maximum or near-maximum-speed sprinting or heavy weightlifting), but it also required more time to recover, a full 48 hours." (Pg. 49).

(2) Programming a "double periodization," meaning two different segments of competition: a winter indoor season and a summer outdoor season:

"Within each segment there were three phases: a preparatory phase, a main work phase, and a competition phase, each of which emphasized different training components and varied the proportion of work to rest. Without periodization, an athlete works at the same level year-round and inevitably grows stale, since he will stop improving after six to eight weeks at a given task." (Pg. 51). 

(3) Balancing speed work with volume:

"When I realized my runners were fatigued by our volume of speed work, I cut back from the year before -- from three times to twice a week, with a weekly total of 1,500 meters, a little less than a mile." (Pg. 61).

(4) Implementing weekly "special endurance" runs:

"To further reduce the stress on my sprinters' central nervous systems, I shifted some of their speed volume from short sprints to weekly 'special endurance' runs, from 150 to 300 meters. I conducted all speed work at 100 percent of my runners' capacity -- and since my runners always had adequate recovery periods between workouts [Francis prescribed speed work only every other workout], their capacity was consistently high. My theory was simple: Sprinters needed to train at race pace, both to imprint the higher speeds on their muscle memory and to acclimatize their muscles and tendons to the demand of racing. My athletes would run only two special endurance segments once a week and would rest up to a half-hour between the two, but I asked them to go absolutely all out every step of the way . . . I cared only about the quality of the runs. The quantity was almost irrelevant." (Pg. 62).

 (5) Adopting the East German 10-day Taper:

" . . . sprinters ran their last full-speed workout-outs 10 days before their meets -- an unheard-of gap in the West. There were more surprises. During the last maximum work-out, Hille's women sprinters performed about as much speed work as mine did, but at an even higher intensity -- in some cases at world-record paces. Hille's athletes would run four 30-metre starts, with seven-minute rests between them. They then took a 15-minute break, followed by an 80-metre sprint; then a 20-minute break and a 100-metre sprint; then a 25-minute break and a 120-metre sprint; finally, a 35-minute breaK and a 150-metre sprint. These were extraordinary rest periods -- my own sprinters had never paused longer than 15 minutes between speed runs at those distances, and most coaches allowed for rests of five minutes or less." (Pg. 107).