Great work Coop!

Great news, well done

Cheers guys got trials next week for possible selection in the world cup squads which could go to the olympics but im made up with what iv got already.

Anyway tapering in for next week with a few olympic lifting sessions keeping the volume very low.

Tuesday

Hang Snatch

2x40kg
2x40kg
2x40kg

Hang Clean + Jerk

2x50kg
2x50kg
2x50kg

Back Squat

2x100kg
2x100kg
2x100kg

Bench Press

10x75
10x75
10x75
10x75

Thursday

Hang Snatch

2x50kg
2x50kg
2x50kg

Hang Clean

2x60kg
2x60kg
2x60kg

Bounding Step Ups

3x40kg
3x40kg
3x40kg

Jump Squat

2x40kg
2x40kg
2x40kg
2x40kg

RDL

2x90kg
2x90kg
2x90kg
2x90kg

Ab circuit


Quite pleased with this little taper as I am working very expolosively and hopefully getting some power development but as the reps are low I am not getting into as much fatigue. As I aim to be fatigue free by next Friday this seems to be a good plan

Coop_de_Ville wrote:First weights session in about 2 or more weeks due to camps and trials. Trials have gone well and I am now definitely going on season, I will be on the Europa cup 2 man circuit and hopefully get selected for the olympic squad.

That is great news, well done Coop. Good luck with the trials next week.

Has been a while since I posted on here as my training has kind have been all over the place weight wise. I have been listening to a lot of people regarding weight training and I decided to follow their advice instead of listening to and trusting myself. As a result all my weights have gone down and so has my sprint and push times. Unfortunately this happened before trials so I didn't push as well as I am capable of pushing. Anyway not to worry I am still going on season on Europa cup but not World Cup.

After a lot of thinking and dissecting my recent performances I have worked out that a few things needed to change in order for me to push and sprint my best:

1. Weight- I was 102kg at trials and this wasn't all muscle so my power to weight ratio was poor. I am now 93kg. This in itself has helped as my sprint times are now back to my best.

2. Weight Programme- I was following a programme that was there to develop speed strength ( in an attempt to increase power). This saw my leg speed increase a lot however as I wasn't lifting large weights my strength was decreasing so the force I was applying to the ground was alot lower. This may work for some people whos strength is their leg speed but not for me as my strength is the power I apply to the ground.
3. Bobsleigh is all about 30m acceleration- I have been training like a 100m sprinter and working on my top end speed, although this is useful, in bobsleigh you will never reach max speed due to the nature of the push. I have been working on my weakness which is 30m onwards. However this is irrelevant due to my position in the bob which never requires me to run more than 35m.

My plan now is to go back the way I was training when I was pushing my best:
1. Working on max strength with big exercises such as squats and deadlifts with plyo jumps included
2. Working on 30m acceleration and ground force application (making my strength stronger)
3. Keeping my weight between 92-95kg of quality weight, this should keep my power to weight ratio at the optimum level.


My training split now will be the same as it was when I was meeting my new PBs in everything with some minor alterations for when I go on season.

I have learnt a massive lesson from the last 2 months. That I know my own body best and I also now know what works for me. I have made a few mistakes recently and I will never make them again. I also know that the majority of coaches know very little about weights etc. I am a bit annoyed with myself for listening to the rubbish I was told but hey I have learnt a huge amount and I am still going on season, so its not all bad!

My new training split will look like this:

All exericses will be in the rep ranges of 3x1, 3x2, 3x3, 3x4, 3x5. Depending on feel, so I will always be working on strength but if fatigue is high I can alter for a better result and hopefully faster recovery.

Session 1
A.1 Squats with plyo
B.1 High Step Ups
C.1 RDL
D.1 Bench Press
D.2 Hammer Grip Chins

Session 2
A.1 Deadlift with plyo
B.1 Lunge
C.1 Calf Raise
D.1 Hip Flexor Work

Session 3.

A.1 Overhead Squat
B.1 Hang Clean
C.1 Step Up onto Low Box
D.1 CGBP Bench Press
D.2 Bent over Row

Havn't heard from you in a while, been busy with trials etc? Hope all is all well.

How did your training change for the worse over the past few months?

Ordinary bench press twice a week? Why not 2 different horizontal push variations? No vertical pulling exercises?

Yeh have been away for some of it and just generally getting stuff sorted.

I kept on changing everything pretty much every week, neglecting any strength work.

Sorry one of those is meant to be a CGBP. What kind of vert pulling you think should go in?

Hammer grip chins are the daddy imo. Perfect balance between bicep and back.

Second week of this cycle and feeling solid!

A.1 Box Squats---SS with Countermovement jump (Box set at 1" below parrallel and holding on the box for 2 seconds)

60x1
100x1
120x1
130x3
135x3
135x3

Weight improved by 5kg from last week and form was more solid.

B.1 RDL

130x3
130x3
130x3

C.1 High Step Ups SS with Alternate Leg Jumps on box

50kgx2
50kgx2
50kgx2

Emphasis on driving up fast

D.1 Bench Press

70x5
75x5
80x5

Bench has gone down a lot since my last post probably because that was when I last did it. Anyway the 80kg felt quite easy compared to last week.

D.2 Hammer Grip Chins

BWx5
BWx5
BWx5

Good session all round. Eating a lot of protein and also carb cycling with low GL carbs. This seems to be helping my recovery a lot and my legs feel quite fresh which is good due to the amount of training I am doing at the moment.

Nice looking session that! RDLs look good. You in your iron works for those?

You like hammer grip chins? they're my fave exercise as of late.

What are your main carb sources? I've taken to buckwheat as of late, not as expensive as quinoa, and doesn't take as long to cook

Yeh feels like a good sesh, working on keeping form for all of them and doing okay. I read the t-nation article the other day about tall people and it gave me a bit of confidence to do chins as they are so much work for my long levers, so making my gains from them double. The hammer grip are a good version.

In my ironworks for the whole session. I only take them off for normal deads.

My main carbs are:
Steel cut oats
Irish Soda Bread (wholemeal bread)
Brown Rice
Wholemeal Pasta

I was really struggling with cravings over the last few weeks, mainly due to the severity of my calorie restriction but now I think I have found a healthy and constant way of keeping my food intake adequate for recovery without any cravings and binges.

I have just been reading over my training diary from when I started the bobsleigh. I have been trying to find a link between what I was doing in the gym and my track times both pushing and sprinting. What I found was:

I ran my quickest 30m sprint and jumped my furthest standing long jump when I hit new 1RM for both squat and deadlift.

I pushed my quickest sled time when I hit a new 1RM for Power Clean (This was the cycle following the one that saw my new squat pbs)

I ran my slowest times when I neglected strength work and focused on purely jumping and light weights executed with speed. I have also not been able to get over 3m meters in my standing long jump since May.

Reading around the literature what I have done weight wise both good and bad correlates with what the journals say. When you lift big your 30m sprint is the fastest and your Standing long jump is the longest.

What are your views?

Don't bother with specific speed work sessions, lift heavy. Then have plyo/ concentric speed work days. SOmetimes with concentric speed stuff adding bit of resistance with weighted vest etc. i.e step up jump with 5-10kg attatched.

Getting back on track!

A.1 Overhead Squats

Barx5
Barx5
40kgx5
50kgx5
55kgx5
60kgx5

Got nice and deep with good form (10kgs up on last week)

B.1 Hang Power Clean

60kgx3
70kgx3
80kgx3
85kgx3
85kgx3
85kgx3

These were 5kg up from last week and my form was a lot better than it was on 80kg last week.

B.2 Concentric Hurdle Jump into reactive hurdle jump x 3

C.1 Low Box Step Up (Box is low enough so my knee is just about at 105 degrees)

105kgx3
105kgx3
105kgx3

C.2 Jumping Split Squats x10

D.1 CGBP Speed Work

50kgx5
50kgx5
50kgx5

D.2 Pull Ups

BWx5
BWx5
BWx5

Pleased to see improvements on all my lifts. I am getting back to the form I was in 4 months ago, hopefully will be getting new pbs in 2 months.

Good work on the OH squats & cleans Coop. More strength work & plyos sounds good to me.

Coop_de_Ville wrote:I have just been reading over my training diary from when I started the bobsleigh. I have been trying to find a link between what I was doing in the gym and my track times both pushing and sprinting. What I found was:

I ran my quickest 30m sprint and jumped my furthest standing long jump when I hit new 1RM for both squat and deadlift.

I pushed my quickest sled time when I hit a new 1RM for Power Clean (This was the cycle following the one that saw my new squat pbs)

I ran my slowest times when I neglected strength work and focused on purely jumping and light weights executed with speed. I have also not been able to get over 3m meters in my standing long jump since May.

Reading around the literature what I have done weight wise both good and bad correlates with what the journals say. When you lift big your 30m sprint is the fastest and your Standing long jump is the longest.

What are your views?

Strong guys are always quick over a short distance, even fat strong guys are quick over 10 meters

Cheers Rich

Craig, yes that true. I am looking at the position that I will be the best at over the next few years and it will be the number 2 position in the sled so my starting 0-20m speed will need to be my asset not my 35m onwards.

My sprint coach has been getting my 35m--- better but at the expense of everything else and due to my weight, height size I will never be running past 35m and also that when I was on form it was my 0-20m which was my best.

My aim now is to model myself on the current number 2 guys. The best being an ex rugby player who is by far the strongest in the squat and is the 2nd quickest pusher even though he jumps in after 30m. This guy only runs 400th quicker than me on a 30m sprint yet pushes over 2 tenths quicker than me in the push.


Strength work like I am doing now will be the main aim for major gains whilst speed work will still be a priority but only to facilitate the running action on the sled and to ensure I make the sprint standards at the trials.


Do you guys agree with what I think? Let me know if I am on the right track?

For sure. I've always thought since you're pushing a sled, strong and powerful is a priority. This might sound obvious, but training purely for speed will make you fast but adding resistance (the sled) wouldn't make this the limiting factor. You want to be able to push that thing along like a shopping trolley. This brings me to also question whether 92kg is ideal considering your height? Packing another 8kg of beef on might slow your sprint time down, but surely it's gotta be beneficial for your push time?

You have said exactly what I have come to realise over the last few days. I am training to push not sprint!
Looking at all the best brakemen in the world i.e the germans and russians they are ridiculously strong. All the world class guys can clean 190kg, squat over 300kg and bench 150 minimum. Yet they keep their weight to around 95-110kg.

What weight would you think is ideal for me 102 maybe? But obviously of solid useful mass?

Yeah, i think 100kg+ would be ideal. Keep bashing away at you strength work and just increase your weight slowly, i can't see you getting fat.

Indeed, I wonder how long it will take me to get back to where I was.

If we take it to extremes, who do you think could push a car faster a very strong 120kg bloke with an average 100m sprint time or a super fast but not so strong 70kg bloke...........

If we take it to extremes, who do you think could push a car faster a very strong 120kg bloke with an average 100m sprint time or a super fast but not so strong 70kg bloke...........

Interesting point. It is hard to say. No doubt the strong bloke would get it moving quicker but would he be able to sustain the speed whilst the super fast bloke once he gains speed will continue to accelerate.

This is relevant in bobsleigh as there are 1 or 2 light but very quick guys who push as fast as the strong heavy guys.
Its all about training to your strengths and the type of pusher you are e.g you wouldnt train a 400m runner in the style of a 60m runner and vice versa (even though there would be some improvements in certain areas the strengths of that athlete would be lost)

In releation to me I am one of the "heavy strong guys" or at least am training to be as good as the best ones. However my running coach has been training me like a 100m sprinter. My 60m times have shot up which shows his stuff is working. However my push times have gone down as I have not worked on the stuff that makes me quick at pushing which is weight and strength.

It's good you're realising that the key is to make your training as specific to your sport as possible.

wrt your sport there's no substitute to explosive strength. And therein lies where you need to be best at.

Before I carry on, can you tell me how long the sprint lasts? And the distance of the sprint? (for pushing the sled)

Once in the sled what strength do you need? I assume good core strength right?

Yes I think the transition to bobsleigh has been tough purely in the terms of guidance. I am only finding out now through my own mistakes what is important and what I should prioritise and at what times. Not to worry its my first season and I suppose thats what its all about.


The longest a pusher will run is 55m maximum. However that would be the 4th man on a 4 man crew a position I will never be in due to my height, weight and top end speed.

The distance I will run will be 35-45m maximum (45m on a rare occasion) although it all depends on the gradient of the track but up to 35m is where I will make the most ground.

edit- In the sled yes core strength will be very useful