The Value of Tempo Sprint Training in Speed Development and Team Sport Preparation

Today’s show brings on Ryan Banta and Derek Hansen. Ryan Banta is a coach with more than 19 years of experience and the author of the Sprinter’s Compendium. At the high school level, Ryan has numerous state champions and finalists, and he is a frequent contributor to many top platforms in athletic performance. Derek Hansen is an International Sport Performance Consultant that has been working with athletes all ages and abilities in speed, strength and power sports since 1988.  After a long career as a university strength coach, as well as track and field coach, Derek now serves as a performance consultant to numerous professional teams in the NFL, NBA, MLS and NHL, as well as major NCAA Division 1 programs throughout North America. Both Ryan and Derek were very early guests on this podcast, and I’m happy to have them back to discuss a subject that I think has a lot of far reaching implications into one’s total performance program, which is “tempo training”.  Tempo is an age old method of sprint training, and generally refers to repeated, submaximal sprint efforts, such as 8x200m, or 5x300m, on relatively short rests, with limited recovery.  For team sports, it could mean running a series of shorter, but more numerous sprints, on incomplete rest intervals. Pendulums swing in all fields, and the sports performance field is no exception.  As with many tools, tempo has been abused by track and team sport coaches alike to the point where athletes do not make beneficial adaptations in power or maximal speed, so a reversal (such as what we see in systems such as Tony Holler’s) was well warranted.  It’s always important view training constructs from all sides, and talking with these two wise coaches is important to gain a greater understanding of this element of training, and its proper use.  Derek and Ryan get into the usefulness of tempo running for both physiological and technical adaptations, and then get into appropriate training prescriptions for track and team sport alike. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster and Lost Empire Herbs.  For 15% off your Lost Empire Herbs order, head to www.lostempireherbs.com/justfly View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 7:42 – A Question: “If you were running a sprint program for building absolute speed, would you pick strength training or tempo running outside of your short sprint practice?” 10:25 – The benefits and misconceptions of submaximal (60-70%) effort running 18:03 – Experimenting with volume and intensity in tempo running 24:12 – Building structure and capacity through circuits vs. submaximal running & Safe training for injured athletes 31:30 – Flooring/surface dependence for tempo running and circuits 33:47 – The significance of the type of athlete in volume in tempo running 40:51 – Implementing tempo running into team sport training 46:28 – Why coaches and trainers have moved away from tempo training in their sport preparation 50:23 – The role of specificity in tempo training 52:49 – Speed development in tennis preparation and the role of tempo sprint training 54:46 – How Derek prescribes tempo volumes in track and team sports 1:00:55 – Incorporating muscle dominance and intervals in tempo running & Making it relatable to the athlete 1:08:10 – Final advice on tempo running “Basically [tempo running] is just running with incomplete recoveries at a submaximal pace and, as we all know, this method is very frequently abused by a lot of coaches.” “Working at different velocities obviously gives you some flexibility around the effect you’re going to have in terms of energy systems and building foundations around the athlete.” “A tempo run with short recovery allows for the body to use that hydrogen ions or lactate as a fuel. It allows the body to increase its ability to buffer the waste so that you’re not necessarily using that workout to get better at your a...