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During my short sprint training during my plyo sessions, I get discomfort/pain in my groins. 

Is there an explanation for this and anything I can do to prevent this?

My explanation would probably be that you're not getting adequate glute activation, and/or your hip mobility is too poor in someway.


The first thing I would do is get some massage/SMR done on your adductors, given that you haven't torn anything, it'll help with alleviating pain, as well as improving likely poor tissue quality.  You can do this with your hands/foam roller/barbell.  The hands and foam roller will be less painful, and the barbell will definitely hurt the most(so work up to it slowly if you're going to do it).

Following up your soft tissue work, I would look at the positioning of your pelvis.  If you have excessive anterior pelvic tilt or hyperlordosis, I would consider some rectus femoris stretches/hip flexor stretches.  Too much tilting will put undue stress on your hamstring muscles(in your case, medial hamstring, I would assume).

Once you've done that, improving your general ability to flex the hip would be nice.  That is, work on hip flexion with the knee extended, hip flexion with hip external rotation, and hip flexion with adduction.  That should cover all your bases.


In terms of your training, you should look at your style of squat.  Styles that point the toes out, like low bar Rippetoe squats, will tend to recruit the medial chain more(and thus adductors).  HOWEVER, even high bar squats can make you sore in the adductors, so you don't necessarily want to just change your style of squatting.  This is just an indicator that you need to improve your mobility/motor control.


Also, try posting a video of you doing some sprints, you might be overstriding as well.  Multiple camera angles would be nice(front view and side view).

so i will incorporate the tempo runs and maybe add the float sprint float; which is i accelerate relaxed, sprint relaxed then decelerate a little relaxed.

for the tempo runs at 75-80% im not good at knowing how intense with percentages those are so im guessing reaching almost full intensity.

btw regarding the sprint float sprint from elite track it says

Quote

Sprint-float-sprints or ins-and-outs are runs of longer duration (60-90m) that can also be used to develop maximal velocity. Typically they start with a 20-35m hard acceleration (sprint). The acceleration is followed by a second segment (20-30m; the float) where the athlete focuses on running relaxed and using the momentum developed from the first acceleration. The third segment (20-30m), is basically a flying sprint (see flying sprints above).

so i accelerate full intensity, then continuing sprinting from the acceleration but relaxed, then do flying sprints which is run, then maintain that speed.


is this what you meant for speed change drills, also the third part you do flying sprints,

Quote

Flying sprints are sprints of short duration (10-30m) performed with a short preceding run-in (20-30m)

so its has 4 stages to it.

overall my drills to add

tempo runs 75-80% intensity
float sprint float
sprint float sprint (flying sprint)

thanks
 

Lol, don't think about it too much.  The definition is exactly what it is on there.  You're plugging in the fly as if it were a variable in an algebra problem.  Sprint-float-sprint is just, a hard acceleration, a relaxed sprint phase at near max velocity, and then a full-on sprint at full intensity.  Todday is right in that you might not be fully "relaxed."  It's just that top athletes tend to be relaxed during their top performances.  It's more important that you don't strain too much during training.



As for your training, tempo work is generally used on days following high intensity days for sprinters to spare the CNS, but get in active recovery, as well as more chances for motor learning, etc.  So on your Saturday, Monday, Wednesday set up, most coaches would have you do ext. tempo on Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday as active recovery, and have Friday off.  Some coaches might give you Thursday off as well, to give more complete regeneration, but that's up to you.

If you want to run at 75% intensity, then use 125% of your best 100m time(same applies for 200m if you include that in your runs) and use that as your cap for speed.  For simplicity's sake, I'll use a 10 second 100m(I know not many people run this lmao).  125% of 10 is 12.5 seconds, considering you probably won't factor in reaction times during tempo, or fatigue you would use 13 seconds, meaning you can't run any faster than that(or else it's too intense for recovery).  You also have to consider other factors for your capping, like running surfaces during the 100m, and your tempo training.  Obviously grass surfaces will make you slower, so you have to adjust the cap accordingly, and make it easier on yourself.


For speed volume, generally you shouldn't exceed 500m of total sprinting(this is hard accelerations and the top speed portion of flies. EFE, FEF, etc.), and 300m is a good distance to shoot for.  However, if you get fatigued, and your times get slower, then you should stop, even if it's at a low number.


Take it all in slow, and don't make too many changes if you don't have too.  Just make sure you keep progressing, and don't aggravate that ankle of yours.

Yeah interesting video.  Does seem to have an exaggerated lean in his drive phase.  The short arm carry reminds me a bit of jessie owens:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1XclGwJY8s

(believe thats a 10.1 in the 1930s.  Goddamn.  A half second faster than me in powerweb shorts and 120$ spikes in the 21st century and he is running on dirt and without blocks.  Ridiculous)

As for Holliday, I'd say he had some strange combine specific coaching... (again doesn't make a huge difference).  I will say he runs a lot cleaner on that in his open 100m:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yjwnZx-_BY

Haha, it's amazing how someone can run so fast without all the equipment, advances in nutrition/pharmaceuticals, and training methods.  The technique back then was different tool, head up at set/out of blocks, low arm swing, etc.

That 100m of Holliday certainly looks better, armswing is a bit better, and he has better lean, instead of hunching over.  The coaching didn't make a huge difference I guess, considering most of the guys who have run faster than him in the nfl combine were good track athletes.

I never understood why focusing on the arm swing was that important. In fact I don't think focusing on it will make you faster. You should ask T0dday though he prob knows. I have not seen an intelligent argument for focusing on the arm swing yet.

I don't think it will make you faster, but it imo it will help you stay efficient/keep the pace.   I would rather focus on arm swing if I was running at top speed, because I know the legs will do the work for me, it should come naturally.  The problem is just that a lot of people cut off their arm swing, which leads to cut off stride.  It's just a coaching cue to keep people from just spinning their wheels lol.

I believe Tellez's program does less weightlifting for their sprinters than other programs.  It would make sense that Tellez tells his athletes to be more "powerful" with armswing, as they might not be as strong as sprinters from other programs(stride length)  That's just an assumption for me

Here's some Charlie Francis stuff:

In answer to the next part of your question, since the enhancement of all training elements improves both stride frequency and stride length, there's no need to worry about training one part at the expense of the other. But, before getting into specifics, the number one secret to greater speed is relaxation! It allows a faster and more complete shutdown of antagonists, quickening alternation cycles and permitting more force to be delivered in the desired direction with less energy consumption.

Relaxation must become second nature in every drill you do and every run you take. You may feel that you aren't generating enough force while relaxed (a perception that gets a lot of sprinters into trouble in big races), but remember, only the net force counts! The net force is the amount of force delivered in the desired direction minus the force generated by the antagonist muscle at the same moment.

For example, if, by maximum effort, you generate 100 pounds of force in the desired direction while putting out 30 pounds of force with the antagonists, you're left with 70 pounds of net force. If you completely relax and put out an easy 80 pounds of force in the desired direction and no pounds with the antagonists, you are left with 14% more net power with 62% less effort (80 verses130 pound total output)!

This simplistic example shows a colossal energy savings and it understates the case since, in reality, increases in energy expenditure are exponential, not linear. The shutting down of unwanted muscular activity also cuts down on the "background noise" that interferes with the hind brain's ability to rapidly process input. This is also why it's critical to work on skills one at a time.

To summarize all of this, max intensity(from what I believe you said, but I may have misinterpreted), is using the most forces possible, but in sprinting this is not necessary.  Sprinting is a result of net forces, as power is (Force x Distance)/Time.  Obviously distance stays relatively constant, unless you change the length of the sprint.  Doing it in less time is going to help as well I suppose.  Tensing up, and possibly recruiting antagonist muscles can possibly be detrimental if you want maximum efficiency and proficiency for greater forces.

This is the article on T-Nation:

http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/sports_body_training_performance/high_octane_training&cr=

Also, from Charlie's forum:

According to world famous sprint coach Charlie Francis, sprinting is a primitive
hindbrain reflexive activity.

Let me give you an example that coach Francis uses to describe what I see
happening with a lot of people. Have you ever ridden a scooter? Imagine taking off on a
scooter. As you accelerate you reach ahead with your foot, bend the knee of your plant
leg, dig in, and pull. However, what happens if you try to do this once you get going at a
really good clip? Once you reach a certain speed you just slow yourself down by trying to
grab and "dig in". Once you’re going at a decent clip on the scooter the only way to go
faster is by applying very short and quick strokes down and back into the pavement.
Sprinting is the same way. The faster you try to go, and the more you try to reach
and push, the worse your mechanics get.


From KB book....

http://www.charliefrancis.com/community/showthread.php?22281-Transition-Phase-%28Acc-to-MaxV%29

i am thinking that the sprinter should continue to push even at upright position with max intensity trying to accerate and run as fast as i can then i am, but i found out that this is wrong.

If you continue to push at upright position, which is typically near/at top speed, then you will slow down.  Once you're at top speed, there is nothing you can do to run faster.  As center of mass is moving so quickly above the ground, it becomes impossible to apply more force to the ground, because your leg won't stay under your hips long enough to apply necessary forces.  Keep in mind that the only time you can apply force to the ground is when your foot is on the ground.  This is why acceleration is so critical for sprinters.  Acceleration has the longest ground contact times, which allow you ample time to accelerate(apply force) and over come your own inertia.  At top speed, all you can do is relax, and float.  Struggling at top speed will lead to more struggle.

There's some relevant stuff about this in this thread:
http://www.charliefrancis.com/community/showthread.php?21912-Front-mechanics

Yeah but I don't get what's going on... the hamstrings are too weak to assist in the hip extension so he automatically bends at the knee to... what? I mean why would you (you = the body) take away some additional force that the hamstrings, even weak, would still produce to help the glutes?

Maybe shorten the lever arm?

Quote from: Raptor on April 15, 2012, 08:01:54 am

Rotate your feet externally.

i see, but then that would make my knees a bit inward, since i think i have a lil bit of pronated knees perhaps bc i used to play bball 5 days a week while being heavily overweight.

More importantly, you need to shove your knees out.  Not necessarily pointing your toes out, although many people prefer squatting that way, because it cues the knees out. 

With the knee pain you have though, I probably wouldn't go with the toes out unless you have good control of you hips.

Try doing some light goblet squats in your warm up.  I've never done squats on a machine like that, but you could probably replace that with heavy goblet squats.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKmrXTx6jZs" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKmrXTx6jZs</a>

These will definitely help your depth, as they're much easier to get depth on than even bodyweight squats.  Ben Bruno is using a pretty wide stance here, no need to use one this wide, just go with what you're comfortable with.


Then work your way up to front squats, and then overhead squats.

So basically slowly work your way from:

Goblet -> Front -> Overhead

Give that a shot, with some foam rolling/stretching.  You'll hit good depth in no time.