Verkhoshansky 6 Week Sprint Acceleration Program (Aug 2024)

[Fraser_9to5]

WEEK 3

16 September

MB Chest Pass – 3 x 8 x 5kg
MB Slams – 3 x 8 x 5kg
Clap Push ups – 3 x 6
Bench Press – 4 x 5 x 87.5kg
Pendlay Row – 3 x 7 x 80kg
A1 Pull ups – 4 x 6 x 10kg
A2 DB OHP – 3 x 7 x 20kg
B1 Hanging Leg Raise – 3 x 6
B2 Russian Twist – 3 x 30 x 5kg
B3 Ab Wheel – 3 x 50 secs
Mobility (5 exercises)

A nice increase in workload, I get quite complacent so it helps to keep progressing the exercises.

17 September

Drills – A walk (MB), A March, A Skip (MB), A Switch 2 x 15m
Dribble Ankle, Calf, Knee, SL scissor w runout 2 x 20m
2 x 40m Technical Runs
Tempo – 3 x 4 x 100m in 15.7, 15.4, 15.9 secs
Mobility (4 exercises)

I felt good today and was happy to push it, dipped under 15 seconds for one of the runs.

18 September

Mobility (4 exercises)

I was at a conference so no office yoga today. Poor sleep so I wasn’t in the mood to do anything anyway.

19 September

Depth Jumps – 2 x 2 x 10 x 63cm
Bounds – 2 x 3 x 10 contacts (25.4m, 25.5m, 25.6m, 25.2m, 25.5m, 25.5m)
A1 Single Leg Standing Calf Raise ISO – 3 x 35 secs
A2 Single Leg Bent Knee Calf Raise ISO – 3 x 35 secs
Mobility (5 exercises)

I have a history of my legs failing to let me do depth jumps, they freeze up as I hit the ground. Thankfully it was not the case today, and while I didn’t feel that sharp I completed all 40 jumps. The bounds felt great, having 10 contacts allows me to build momentum and really draw them out. Isometrics were a real burn to finish.

20 September

Mobility (5 exercises)

Another very chilled day, quite like having a complete day of rest.

21 September

Drills – A walk (MB), A March, A Skip (MB), A Switch 2 x 15m
Dribble Ankle, Calf, Knee, SL scissor w runout 2 x 20m
2 x 40m Technical Runs
Tempo – 4 x 400m in 78.6 secs
A1 Dips – 3 x 15
A2 Res. Band Face Pulls – 3 x 12
B1 DB Curls – 3 x 8 x 17.5kg
B2 Res. Band Rotator Cuff – 2 x 2 x 15
Scap Push ups – 3 x 10
Mobility (6 exercises)

A more relaxed pace in the 400’s, felt a bit heavy-legged. Upper body was good, curls were difficult.

22 September

Pogo Jumps – 3 x 20 secs
KB Squat Jumps – 3 x 3 x 8 x 15kg
Bounds – 2 x 4 x 10 contacts (25.15m, 25.15m, 25.30m, 25.60m, 25.50m, 25.50m, 25.45m, 25.30m)
Mobility (5 exercises)

Given how intense the exercises are, this was quite high volume for me. I really liked the squat jumps, having only 15kg means I was getting decent height and feeling explosive. Despite wet conditions at the track, my bounds were a similar distance, though I could tell I was fading in the final reps.

If the sessions are this intense I’m really glad it’s only two a week, I’m experiencing a weird undulating level of recovery where I feel awful the day after, fine two days after, and then worse again on day 3. This is a very physical program so I am pleased to make it halfway!

The next three weeks all have some uphill sprints so it’ll be nice to get back into acceleration runs.

[Fraser_9to5]

WEEK 4

23 September

MB Chest Pass – 3 x 8 x 5kg
MB Slams – 3 x 8 x 5kg
A1 Bench Press – 4 x 5 x 87.5kg
A2 Clap Push ups – 3 x 6
Pendlay Row – 3 x 7 x 80kg
B1 Pull ups – 4 x 6 x 10kg
B2 DB OHP – 3 x 8 x 20kg
C1 Hanging Leg Raise – 3 x 6
C2 Russian Twist – 3 x 30 x 5kg
C3 Ab Wheel – 3 x 50 secs
Mobility (5 exercises)

I did a bit of complex training by shifting the clap push ups to be immediately after bench press. Despite smashing this out at 8.30am I felt strong and in hindsight I could have added a rep here or there. Will attempt 6 reps on bench next week, as well as tougher OHP.

24 September

Drills – A walk (MB), A March, A Skip (MB), A Switch 2 x 15m
Dribble Ankle, Calf, Knee, SL scissor w runout 2 x 20m
2 x 40m Technical Runs
Tempo – 3 x 4 x 100m in 16.4, 15.7, 15.4 secs
Mobility (4 exercises)

Really opened up in the final set, it wasn’t that hard on the breathing either.

25 September

Yoga – 45 mins
Mobility (4 exercises)

26 September

Barbell Squat Jumps – 2 x 2 x 8 x 70kg
Standing 6 bound – 2 x 4 in 14.60m, 14.60m, 14.75m, 14.60m, 14.60m, 14.80m, 14.45m, 14.55m
Uphill Runs – 5 x 25m in ~4.1 secs
A1 Single Leg Standing Calf Raise ISO – 3 x 35 secs
A2 Single Leg Bent Knee Calf Raise ISO – 3 x 35 secs
Mobility (5 exercises)

This was a long session, squat jumps in the garage, bounds at the track and then uphill runs at the park. I was well down on my 6 bound but the squat jumps were knackering. I loved the uphill runs, felt quite powerful and it made me excited about reassessing myself at the end of this program.

27 September

Mobility (5 exercises)

My foot is still bothering me slightly, I had a second office day which only happens on the last Friday of the month. Feeling quite tired and amazed that last year I was doing 3 intense sessions a week.

28 September

Drills – A walk (MB), A March, A Skip (MB), A Switch 2 x 15m
Dribble Ankle, Calf, Knee, SL scissor w runout 2 x 20m
2 x 40m Technical Runs
Tempo – 4 x 400m in 79.1 secs
A1 Dips – 3 x 16
A2 Res. Band Face Pulls – 3 x 14
B1 DB Curls – 3 x 8 x 17.5kg
B2 Res. Band Rotator Cuff – 2 x 2 x 15
Scap Push ups – 3 x 10
Mobility (6 exercises)

I felt fine but lacked any kind of pace today, really working just to hit 79 seconds. The gym work was better, I had a 6.5km walk in the afternoon and I’m quite tired now.

29 September

Pogo Jumps – 3 x 20 secs
Depth Jumps – 4 x 10 x 68cm
Uphill Broad Jumps – 2 x 4 x 10, 22.9m, 24.2m, 24.2m, 23.7m, 24.0m, 24.0m, 23.6m, 24.0m
Mobility (5 exercises)

I felt quite flat today and it was relatively cold in the gym (10 degrees) so I struggled to get my legs operational for the depth jumps. Once I got the first few under my belt it was much better, though I doubt I can go much higher than that. I liked the uphill broad jumps, last year I felt it had direct carryover to improving my single broad jump and likely my acceleration ability. It said “arbitrary” rest between sets and I opted for 4 minutes, having completed it I think closer to 5 minutes would have been better.

Only four main sessions to go! I didn’t realise the bounds had finished, remaining workouts include 2x back squats, 4x depth jumps, 2x uphill runs and 2x uphill broad jumps. It says the depth jumps should be 110cm which is not happening. I’d like to try 80cm if I can get something that height to jump off in the gym.

[Fraser_9to5]

WEEK 5

30 September

MB Chest Pass – 3 x 8 x 5kg
MB Slams – 3 x 8 x 5kg
A1 Bench Press – 4 x 6 x 87.5kg
A2 Clap Push ups – 3 x 6
Pendlay Row – 3 x 7 x 80kg
— 3 hour gap —
B1 Pull ups – 4 x 6 x 10kg
B2 DB OHP – 3 x 9 x 20kg
C1 Hanging Leg Raise – 3 x 6
C2 Russian Twist – 3 x 30 x 5kg
C3 Ab Wheel – 3 x 50 secs
Mobility (5 exercises)

This is an ~80 minute workout and I had quite a lot on today so I had to break it up halfway through. Pleasantly surprised by my bench press, again 8.30am and the reps went up nicely. My Mondays are not set up for a session this long so I’m relieved that next week is the last one.

1 October

Drills – A walk (MB), A March, A Skip (MB), A Switch 2 x 15m
Dribble Ankle, Calf, Knee, SL scissor w runout 2 x 20m
2 x 40m Technical Runs
Tempo – 3 x 4 x 100m in 16.0, 15.8, 15.9 secs
Mobility (4 exercises)

Quite laboured, my abs are really sore, possibly from uphill broad jumps. I’ve been awake since 3.30am and did this at 7.30am.

2 October

Yoga – 45 mins
Mobility (4 exercises)

3 October

Back Squat – 2 x 2 x 3 x 120kg
Depth Jumps – 2 x 2 x 10 x 76cm
Uphill Runs – 5 x 25m
A1 Single Leg Standing Calf Raise ISO – 3 x 35 secs
A2 Single Leg Bent Knee Calf Raise ISO – 3 x 35 secs
Mobility (5 exercises)

I can’t remember a gym session with that level of intensity in a long while. Pleased that my legs cooperated and I could complete the depth jumps – I don’t really have room to go much higher. Uphill runs were nice again, my legs are so tired I’m questioning whether they’ll be ready to go again on Sunday.

Only 3 sessions to go, next Thursday is a repeat of this and the one I’m worrying about is Sunday, which is an intimidating 8 sets of depth jumps.

4 October

Mobility (5 exercises)

5 October

Drills – A walk (MB), A March, A Skip (MB), A Switch 2 x 15m
Dribble Ankle, Calf, Knee, SL scissor w runout 2 x 20m
2 x 40m Technical Runs
Tempo – 4 x 400m in 79.9 secs
A1 Dips – 3 x 16
A2 Res. Band Face Pulls – 3 x 14
B1 DB Curls – 3 x 8 x 17.5kg
B2 Res. Band Rotator Cuff – 2 x 2 x 15
Scap Push ups – 3 x 10
Mobility (6 exercises)

I struggled with the pace of the 400’s, maybe I’m slowly losing fitness instead of maintaining it at this volume of tempo.

6 October

Pogo Jumps – 3 x 20 secs
Depth Jumps – 4, 2 x 10 x 81cm
Uphill Broad Jumps – 2 x 4 x 10, 24.2m, 24.4m, 24.7m, 24.5m, 24.2m, 24.4m, 24.6m, 24.4m

It was all going so well, though I could tell my ground contact times were a little longer as the sets progressed. In sessions prior to this I was doing 2 sets of 10 depth jumps then having a longer break, and I think rolling straight into sets 3 and 4 caused me problems. On the 6th or 7th jump in set 4 I strained the front of my right knee, it didn’t hamper performance but it was a sore one. I did two further sets then managed all 8 sets of broad jumps without issue.

Now that I’ve finished and sat on the sofa for a few hours it seems to be a classic case of Jumper’s Knee. I’ve iced it for 20 minutes and luckily tomorrow is only my upper body so I can rest it until Tuesday. It helps a lot that the next intense session isn’t for 96 hours, so I’m hopeful I can complete it as normal. I should really have laid down gym mats as jumping from 81cm onto concrete is asking for trouble.

If any session was going to cause me problems it was this one, the volume comes down in week 6 so I’m not calling it quits yet. Another option is to take an extra day or two if it feels close to being better, or leave out depth jumps and just do the squats and uphill runs. Fingers crossed.

[Fraser_9to5]

WEEK 6

7 October

MB Chest Pass – 2 x 8 x 5kg
MB Slams – 2 x 8 x 5kg
A1 Bench Press – 3 x 6 x 87.5kg
A2 Clap Push ups – 2 x 6
Pendlay Row – 2 x 7 x 80kg
Mobility (5 exercises)

Thrilled to wake up without pain and be able to bend my knee. I did some extra lower body warm up just so I wouldn’t hurt myself. I cut a set from everything, which I was going to do anyway as it’s the final week. I will do the second half of the upper body work tomorrow after tempo runs, assuming I’m fit.

8 October

Drills – A walk (MB), A March, A Skip (MB), A Switch 2 x 15m
Dribble Ankle, Calf, Knee, SL scissor w runout 2 x 20m
2 x 40m Technical Runs
Tempo – 3 x 4 x 100m in 16.5, 16.2, 16.5 secs
B1 Pull ups – 3 x 6 x 10kg
B2 DB OHP – 2 x 9 x 20kg
C1 Hanging Leg Raise – 2 x 6
C2 Russian Twist – 2 x 30 x 5kg
C3 Ab Wheel – 2 x 50 secs
Mobility (4 exercises)

I had to cycle to the track which was a good gauge of how my knees are doing. There’s some residual aching and I took it easy in the tempo runs, about 0.5 secs off the pace. Confident that I can squat and sprint uphill on Thursday, I’d like to think I can do a lower intensity version of depth jumps and focus more on ground contact times.

9 October

Mobility (4 exercises)

Working from home so no yoga.

10 October

Back Squat – 2 x 2 x 3 x 120kg
Depth Jumps – 2 x 2 x 10 x 70cm
Uphill Runs – 5 x 25m
A1 Single Leg Standing Calf Raise ISO – 2 x 35 secs
A2 Single Leg Bent Knee Calf Raise ISO – 2 x 35 secs
Mobility (5 exercises)

I was initially very cautious in the squats, ramping up all the way from just the 20kg bar. I felt some tightness in my left knee (not the one I injured on Sunday) but was able to complete all the reps. I set up my gym mat so I was landing on it for depth jumps and I brought the height back down to 70cm. Thrilled to be able to complete all the reps given how I felt on Sunday. At the halfway stage I uploaded my GoPro footage to get a rough idea of ground contact times and was pleased to see they were in line with previous attempts.

The uphill runs were good, not a whole lot of zip in my acceleration but strong nonetheless.

I will ice my knees if they feel very stiff later in the day, otherwise I’m much more optimistic about seeing this whole program through to its conclusion.

11 October

Skipped mobility as I was feeling too run down.

12 October

Drills – A walk (MB), A March, A Skip (MB), A Switch 2 x 15m
Dribble Ankle, Calf, Knee, SL scissor w runout 2 x 20m
2 x 40m Technical Runs
Tempo – 4 x 400m in 79.9 secs
A1 Dips – 2 x 16
A2 Res. Band Face Pulls – 2 x 14
B1 DB Curls – 2 x 8 x 17.5kg
B2 Res. Band Rotator Cuff – 2 x 2 x 15
Scap Push ups – 2 x 10
Mobility (6 exercises)

A good series of runs today, on the first rep I eased off loads in the final 100m which meant the time ended up being too slow. I cut a set from all the upper body work to give myself a break.

Last session of the program tomorrow! It’s been intense so my body will really appreciate the break. I will probably need 2 weeks before judging my new sprint times and jumping distance.

13 October

Pogo Jumps – 3 x 20 secs
Depth Jumps – 4 x 10 x 63cm
Uphill Broad Jumps – 2 x 4 x 10, 24.2m, 24.3m, 24.4m, 24.4m, 24.5m, 24.9m, 24.5m,
24.4m
Mobility (5 exercises)

Having recorded a lot of my depth jumps with my GoPro I was able to sit down with the footage frame by frame and count out the ground contact times. I was around 0.25 to 0.27 seconds, so I decided for the final session I would bring it back down to 63cm (my initial height in week 3) and see if I can get below the desired 0.20 seconds.

I thought my broad jumps should have been better given how I felt, but I wondered how much the softness of the grass was factoring into it as there was recent heavy rain.

I’m very relieved to get to the end of this and I’m pretty optimistic. I’ve planned out the next two weeks which are a mixture of taper and re-introducing acceleration runs so that I can safely time my 30m and 40m.

I will shift the other workouts around as the upper body in particular was disrupting my work day.

[Fraser_9to5]

WEEK 6 + 1

14 October

Exercise Bike – 30 mins (level 6, 105-115 Watts)
Mobility (5 exercises)

Plan A was to do tempo but the driving rain put me off so I thought I’d try my new Polar Strap with Zone 2 cardio. I found my heart rate to be surprisingly stable around 115 bpm throughout and my Wattage remained constant. I did not warm up, the saddle was uncomfortable and I was quite bored, so in future I’ll plan this better.

15 October

Digging – 4 hours
Mobility (4 exercises)

A bit of manual labour instead of my upper body session.

16 October

Yoga – 45 mins
Mobility (4 exercises)

17 October

Broad Jump, 4 – best of 257cm
Standing 5 Bound, 2 per leg – 12.25m, 12.45m, 12.55m, 12.35m
Accels – 3 x 10m in 1.92, 1.97, 1.86 secs
Accels – 5 x 20m in 3.12, 3.18, 3.15, 3.20, 3.17 (Freelap, not including reaction time)
A1 Single Leg Standing Calf Raise ISO – 3 x 35 secs
A2 Single Leg Bent Knee Calf Raise ISO – 3 x 35 secs
Mobility (5 exercises)

Wet track, 15 degrees, no wind. It was a little frustrating to deal with a wet track, I feel like the grip in trainers means my jumps and bounds could have been further, with PBs of 261cm and 12.65m I felt both were under threat on a dry day.

I have no real reference for 10m runs but I was running 3.12-3.15 in winter training last year and 3.10-3.12 in the indoor competition period, with a best of ~3.08 secs. I felt good but not great and I’m confident there is more in my legs, just how much more remains to be seen.

This session has left me relatively optimistic going into the next 10 days, I would like to see 275cm+ for broad jump and a 30m time of 4.17-4.20.

18 October

Exercise Bike – 35 mins (level 6, 105-115 Watts)
Mobility (5 exercises)

More zone 2 training. Earlier in the week I did 30 minutes of cycling but needed some time to get into zone 2. This time I gave myself 35 minutes, which ended up being almost 32 minutes within zone 2 itself. I was able to put on Netflix and not think about the exercise which made time go so much faster.

19 October

Drills – A walk (MB), A March, A Skip (MB), A Switch 2 x 15m
Dribble Ankle, Calf, Knee, SL scissor w runout 2 x 20m
2 x 40m Technical Runs
Tempo – 4 x 400m in 80.3 secs
A1 Dips – 3 x 16
A2 Res. Band Face Pulls – 3 x 14
B1 DB Curls – 3 x 8 x 17.5kg
B2 Res. Band Rotator Cuff – 2 x 2 x 15
Scap Push ups – 3 x 10
Mobility (6 exercises)

Heavy rain but warm enough that it was refreshing. I felt great in the warm up but it didn’t translate to the 400’s and I struggled.

20 October

Broad Jumps, 5 – best of 248cm
Pogo Jumps – 3 x 20 secs
Standing 5 Bound, 2 per leg – 12.25m, 11.95m, 12.10m, 12.15m (-4 m/s wind)
Accels – 2 x 10m in 1.99, 2.04 secs
Accels – 3 x 20m in 3.21, 3.26, 3.36 secs
Accels – 3 x 30m in 4.50, 4.48, 4.50 (Freelap, not including reaction time)
Mobility (5 exercises)

Wet track, 13 degrees, -4 m/s wind. I felt pretty flat in the broad jumps but springy for the bounds and accels. The problem was the conditions, light rain but strong headwinds, gusting up to -8 m/s which completely throws off the times and distances. I was soaked through and getting to the point where I might pull a muscle in my wet lycra so I stopped the session early. I was running ~4.35 secs to 30m on Thursday despite shutting down at 20m, which gives you an idea how big a role the conditions can play.

Very pleased to run some 30’s and not injure myself, let’s hope for better conditions next Thursday.

[Author]

Posts