Hurdler Karsten Warholm is training 37,5 hours a week

"Like a lot of Scandinavian coaches, he has been influenced by Verkhoshanski either directly, or indirectly from Vittori. This means that Alnes’ athletes follow a block schedule with lots of explosive weights and jumps/plyos central to their overall plan."

Put this into a 400 m training program used by Michael Johnson and you are there? Michael Johnson strangely didn't do squats or hurdle jumps as far as I have read. He did split jumps which work very well but is this the whole truth or did he do hill jumps as I believe, not only hill runs?

Verkhoshansky is interesting (>> Verkoshansky t-nation) with a 6 week program.

I hardly believe Warholm followed all of the 6 weeks pyramid program. It is based on 2 days/week for the respective muscle group. [week 1; "easy" up to ...3x(6x[65-70%]) & "harder" up to 3x([5x80%]) of max load. Progressive loading the first 4 weeks, week 5 more like week 2 and week 6 with one very easy daay aiming for top performance 100%+ training day. Which day of the week which is 'day 1' is of course indifferent.

* 6 weeks followed by 2 weeks rest from strength training with 2 transmission weeks with light to medium low rep strength training. Then new 6 weeks maybe with a pb and thereby new kilograms on each %-level. With training only the first 4 weeks the rest weeks can be cut down to 1 week and 1 transmission week.

I believe the full strength program for runners' training is counterproductive if mixed with a lot of other training 5-6 days/week with different types of plyo and running including the important rest day(s). Michael Johnson trained 5 days according to a source on Internet. Why not start in autumn with just the 'easy' days in the program for the next 6 weeks. Next time go for the 'heavy' day of the weeks only and do week 1-4 of Verkoshansky's program which nevertheless is up to 95%. I think this is smart for runners where the '1-4' weeks also can be compressed into 3 weeks, with the 4th week off with just 3 days of jogging/easy training.

Verkhoshansky start the pyramid training on 45% of max (10-12 reps) and increase from there to 55% (6-8 reps), etc. Why not skip the 45%? Instead, warm up with progressive sets from 20%-30%-40%-50% with just 4 reps/set. Then start on 55% with 6 reps. This save a set but it also save energy to add one extra of the heaviest sets with a very easy set on 40% and 8 reps in between the last and the added one. Introducing some contrast-training which can be developed more scientific for the heaviest sets.

However, running is a kind of plyo sport. Transmission of force on the tracks in an extremely short period of time. The force here is actually working from the ground and up...

https://breakingmuscle.com/fitness/verkhoshanskys-depth-jumps-create-gains-in-max-strength

I’ve watched Baylor train pre and post MJ. I don’t see similarities between Clyde Hart and Leif Alnes. Clyde doesn’t know or care about anything other than energy systems. The only coach in Europe who I know that follows a program like Hart’s is Jacques Borlee.

When I said that Alnes is influenced by Verkhoshansky I meant in a macro planning manner. He clearly uses the Block System. Verkhoshansky wrote dozens of articles and books prior to his death. You can find lots of different strength training constructs on his website. There were even a couple of very good posts on the site’s forum, but that has sadly been removed. I suggest that you look this over.

http://www.verkhoshansky.com

Geir Moen's Ghost wrote:

Clyde doesn’t know or care about anything other than energy systems.

Really? Didn't Michael Johnson do a lot of hill runs and indoor training with split jumps? Maybe even introducing weight-vest in this training and thereby get the kind of extra plyo-effect he needed to run very fast? Johnson was quite muscular - 185 cm and 79 kg.

100m: 10,09 [1994],

200m: 19,32 [1996]

400m: 43,18 [1999].

I think these personal records indicate he did a lot of sport specific strength and plyo training other than intervals with increasing speed and less rest as the number of runs were decreasing.

I believe top elite runners don't tell the full story about their training, especially as WR holders.

He's literally training like it's his job.

Bjorn-Olav Kvidal wrote:

Geir Moen's Ghost wrote:

Clyde doesn’t know or care about anything other than energy systems.

Really? Didn't Michael Johnson do a lot of hill runs and indoor training with split jumps? Maybe even introducing weight-vest in this training and thereby get the kind of extra plyo-effect he needed to run very fast? Johnson was quite muscular - 185 cm and 79 kg.

100m: 10,09 [1994],

200m: 19,32 [1996]

400m: 43,18 [1999].

I think these personal records indicate he did a lot of sport specific strength and plyo training other than intervals with increasing speed and less rest as the number of runs were decreasing.

I believe top elite runners don't tell the full story about their training, especially as WR holders.

MJ and all of the Baylor athletes run 200m hills (3x5) early in the fall before switching to 100m hills (2x5). Its a mild rise and they only do it once per week. So more energy system then power oriented.

Clyde left the weight program to whoever the strength coach was at Baylor at the time. No squats ever.

MJ is a lightly built guy who layered on substantial muscle during his career. All the same, I find they 79kg number to be dubious.

This is a little different than what I observed in the 1990's, but not much.

I'm not sure why the link didn't work, but it can be found on the USTFCCCA website under seminar materials.

I observed Baylor practicing on numerous occasions and have spoken to both Clyde and MJ about the system. There are no secrets. What Clyde says is what they do. The same is true of Coach Tellez and the legendary Coach Jim Bush.

I do understand the European perception that it looks too simple, but its about being consistent, staying healthy and doing the little things right. Andrew Rock followed a very similar program when he was running his best times.

Jon Arne Glomsrud wrote:

But I generally start to think runners could train much more if they included cross training. A lot of less impact sports like skiing, cycling, etc are training much much more. I know the impact, but someone should do something different to beat the others just running....

I do not know this and experience have not come up with this model. That is a sign that it might not work, but on other hand, maybe no-one have ever tried long enough

The most efficient "cross training" for runners is either underwater running or anti-gravity treadmill running. Leading up to Rio, Rupp was running 120mpw on the ground plus 20-25mpw on underwater treadmill. And I thought "what if he increased that underwater treadmill mileage to 45-50 for the next training cycle?" Of course, he got injured shortly after that, and he is probably too old to experiment with that.

Another effective cross training is elliptical / elliptigo. When Meb on Boston, he was not running a huge mileage on the ground, but he was spending a lot of time on elliptigo. So this could be another model a younger athlete can follow.

Warholm isn't cross-training. He isn't running in the pool on a treadmill of otherwise nor is he using the elliptical bike.

Ghost of Geir wrote:

Just Another Hobby Jogger wrote:

The most efficient "cross training" for runners is either underwater running or anti-gravity treadmill running. Leading up to Rio, Rupp was running 120mpw on the ground plus 20-25mpw on underwater treadmill. And I thought "what if he increased that underwater treadmill mileage to 45-50 for the next training cycle?" Of course, he got injured shortly after that, and he is probably too old to experiment with that.

Another effective cross training is elliptical / elliptigo. When Meb on Boston, he was not running a huge mileage on the ground, but he was spending a lot of time on elliptigo. So this could be another model a younger athlete can follow.

Warholm isn't cross-training. He isn't running in the pool on a treadmill of otherwise nor is he using the elliptical bike.

Reading is essential. I was replying to a poster who was suggesting distance runners should do more cross training to improve their cardiovascular fitness.

I know we're behind even the backward English by refusing to adopt the metric system. But much of Europe is comically behind us with this continued use of the decimal comma. "." won, people, get with the program.

I fully understood.

You and that poster are taking the thread off topic.

Wouldn't an athlete from Uganda live and train at altitude year round?

insane training hours, insane results

37.5 hours sounds suspiciously like the standard Norwegian work week.

Found this link on the Internet with the headline 'The Training Program for a 400m-200m Sprinter". It is addressed to Michael Johnson's training in his early years on the tracks. Was it designed by Clyde Hart?

On page 3 is the text dsaying among other things:

"I scheduled weight training after every workout on Wednesday and Sunday. I felt that weights were very important for an athlete, such as MJ, determined to be successful in the 400-200m double. Not only does he need to have incredible sprint stamina to survive the many hard races but he needed to do everything possible to prevent injury? As the season progressd the premium quickly became durability rather than just pure speed. I felt this durability was enhanced through weight training (3).

The organization of the lifting sessions themselves was left up to the strength coach to decide. The intensity and quantity of the lifts was much like the running program with the intensity increasing and the quantity decreasing throughout the season. I recommended that squats andpower cleans be the focus of the lifting programs. This was because the squat and power clean are able to utilize three times the muscle mass of any other single leg weight training exercise. Also,the exercise movements are very similar to the movements used in the sprint stride (2).

Before every workout a set warm-up routine must be emphasized. It is important to warm-up the entire body musculature and cardiovascular system in preparation for the stress it will undergo during the workout. This routine should include 5 minutes of jogging, 10 minutes of stretching, and 10 minutes of drills such as hopping, bounding, and high-knee stepping (anywhere from 50 to 100 meters) (5)."

https://pinoyathletics.info/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Run-200-400-Sprint.pdf

*

Related to Karsten Warholm and his astonishing 45,98 WR on 400m hurdles I believe this is not only because of a very efficient training program with a lot of plyo - with and without weights - including speed training for 400m-flat runners. Warholm is naturally fast because of a lot of 2a and 2b muscle fibres.

On the other hand is Amalie Iuel who is part of Leif Olav Alnes training group as Warholm not yet among the best on 400m hurdles for women. The reason is probably she don't have the necessary 2a and 2b muscle fibres to run very fast. [Maybe she would be far more successful by moving up to 800m, 1500m or longer distances to the next Olympic Games in Paris 2024.]

> Five - 5 - hours training daily for 400 m hurdles? No way! Disinformation 'made in Norway' with huge inspiration

> from cross-country skiing with a method that failed to be used in middle and long distance running.

It seems that Norwegians (and Swedes as well now) are into high volume training.

Norwegian triathlon team train 30hrs/week and most cross-country skiers

train 25-30hrs/week.

Sure, it's easier to do that volume on a bike or (roller-)skiing, but those are still large volumes.