Ryan Banta Episode 24 "part I Embracing the Chaos and the ins and outs of the Critical Mass System"

On Episode 22 I sit down with Coach Ryan Banta, Head Track and field coach, author, and podcaster. Coach Banta starts out by sharing his experiences in coaching , especially early ones and how they helped to set him up for growth down the road and ultimately becoming a better coach. Part I of my conversation really focuses on the Critical Mass system that coach Banta uses to prepare his athletes. Coach Banta provides the rationale behind the system and discusses how he divides workouts in what I would equate to a 2 week undulating microcycle. Coach Banta discusses the five different types of workouts or zones that would be present during that two week cycle and how he alternates between the two weeks to build a really balanced approach. Coach Banta takes us through a sample two week cycle and discusses how max velocity, acceleration, speed endurance, special endurance, and tempo workouts would be implemented. The Weight room, plyometrics, and prehab activities are all taken into account and how they fit within the context of the given stimulus desired. One thing that I was struck with as coach Banta and I recorded is how important variance is to him and how he really believes that proper variance of stimulus is a major driver of adaptations. A cornerstone of his system is that intensities of the activities remain close to the event that the person will be participating in always being slightly below or above the race distance they will face in competition. As Coach Banta discusses the different points it makes sense the variance of stimulus on distances, exertion, and other variables help to build the proper gears, speed, and staying power for a given race. One of the things that really stood out to me as Coach Banta closed out how he preps the sprint athletes are that he said he wants a global athlete, that is well rounded, and he justifies that by sharing that they are less likely to become injured and also to be more prepared for the rigors of multiple events in track and field. We end part I of our conversation by talking about the 800 and how it truly is a unique event 50/50 anaerobic to aerobic. Make sure to come back next week for part II of our conversation based around Tempos, how he varies them and utilizes them to build resiliency in athletes, The importance of the weight room for track and field athletes, and some other great topics. Check out the links below for links to coach Banta's social media, His book the Sprinters compendium, and his podcast Companions of the Compendium. 

Coach Banta Twitter @Sprinterscompen

Sprinters Compendium Link https://www.amazon.com/Sprinters-Compendium-Ryan-J-Banta/dp/1946208566

Companions of the Compendium Podcast https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/companions-of-the-compendium/id1551585024