Track and Field

[Anonymous]

This thread reminds me of my son who really wanted to play baseball in high school. We spent a ton on personal training in an effort to get him better and stronger, but in the end he was not a baseball player. Thankfully, he found another sport he was suited to, did well, and was happy. Not everyone is destined to be a baseball player, I guess.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ok so I asked Chat GPT (please don't come at me for that) for any workout ideas for 200, 100 and long jump and here's what it told me.

MONDAY – Acceleration + Short Approach Jumps + Bodyweight Strength
Workout:

5 × 20 m sprints (3-point start, 95% effort), 2–3 min rest

4 × 30 m sprints (drive knees, fast arms)

4–6 short approach jumps (6–8 steps, focus on takeoff and foot placement)

Bodyweight Strength Finisher:

2 × 15 squats

2 × 10 lunges per leg

2 × 15 glute bridges

2 × 20 sec plank

Nutrition:

Breakfast: Oatmeal with milk, banana, handful of nuts

Lunch: Chicken or turkey sandwich on whole grain bread, side of carrots or cucumber

Snack: Greek yogurt + berries

Dinner: Grilled fish or chicken, brown rice, steamed vegetables

Hydration: Water throughout the day

TUESDAY – Strength & Core + Mobility
Workout:

Bodyweight Strength / Light Resistance:

3 × 12 squats (add light backpack if strong)

3 × 10 lunges per leg

3 × 15 calf raises

3 × 15 glute bridges

3 × 30 sec plank

Optional: Light resistance band work for shoulders/back

Mobility: 15 min stretching or yoga-style movements

Nutrition:

Breakfast: Scrambled eggs + whole grain toast + fruit

Lunch: Brown rice, beans/lentils, mixed vegetables

Snack: Apple + handful of almonds

Dinner: Lean beef or tofu stir-fry with vegetables and quinoa

Hydration: Water + optional milk

WEDNESDAY – Max-Speed + Takeoff Drills + Explosive Power
Workout:

4 × 60 m sprints at 95% effort

3 × 80 m relaxed fast runs

Long Jump Takeoff Drills:

Bounding 3 × 20 m

Pop-up jumps 6 reps

Single-leg jumps 3 × 8 per leg

Core: 2 rounds plank + side plank (30 sec each)

Explosive: 3 × 6 jump squats

Nutrition:

Breakfast: Smoothie (milk, banana, spinach, oats, peanut butter)

Lunch: Turkey/chicken wrap with veggies, side of fruit

Snack: Carrots + hummus or trail mix

Dinner: Baked salmon, roasted sweet potatoes, broccoli

Hydration: Water

THURSDAY – Rest / Light Jog / Mobility
Optional: 10–15 min easy jog

Stretching / foam rolling / mobility exercises (hip openers, hamstring stretches)

Nutrition:

Breakfast: Yogurt + granola + berries

Lunch: Whole grain pasta, tomato sauce, lean protein (chicken/tofu), salad

Snack: Banana + peanut butter

Dinner: Lean meat or lentils, rice or potatoes, vegetables

Hydration: Water

FRIDAY – Speed Endurance + Broad Jump / Landing + Bodyweight Strength
Workout:

Sprints:

3 × 150 m at 85–90% effort, 3–4 min rest

2 × 200 m at 80% effort, 5 min rest

Long Jump / Power:

Broad jumps × 6

Short approach jumps × 4–6 (focus on clean landing)

Strength Finisher:

2 × 12 squats

2 × 10 lunges per leg

2 × 15 calf raises

2 × 20 sec plank

Nutrition:

Breakfast: Oatmeal with milk, eggs, fruit

Lunch: Chicken/turkey sandwich, veggies, fruit

Snack: Greek yogurt + berries or a smoothie

Dinner: Baked fish or chicken, quinoa or brown rice, vegetables

Hydration: Water

SATURDAY – Optional Light Conditioning / Runway Practice / Mobility
Optional: Easy jog 10–15 min

Runway practice: 4–6 step approach jumps

Mobility / stretching 10–15 min

Nutrition:

Breakfast: Whole grain toast + eggs + fruit

Lunch: Rice and beans or lentils with vegetables

Snack: Trail mix or nuts + fruit

Dinner: Lean protein, sweet potato, vegetables

Hydration: Water

SUNDAY – Rest / Recovery
Full recovery

Stretching or light walk

Sleep is priority

Nutrition:

Breakfast: Smoothie or eggs + toast + fruit

Lunch: Chicken or tofu, rice, vegetables

Snack: Yogurt + fruit

Dinner: Lean protein, pasta or rice, vegetables

Hydration: Water

Progression for Weeks 4–6
Add 1 extra sprint or jump per set

Slightly increase approach length for jumps if comfortable

Slightly increase plank time (30 → 40 sec)

Focus on explosive movements during jumps and squats

Doing anything consistently is going to be better for her than doing nothing, so bear that in mind.

The body weight items might be a good starting place for her, especially if she struggles to do that load. But she needs to get to the 5x5 level and not 2x15. She's better off doing a reverse lunge than 15 body weight squats, and you can safely load the reverse lunge with light dumbbells if she is struggling to start out. Getting to a skater squat, or rear foot elevated split squatt (RFESS) is where she wants to go.

I'm the person who suggested the critical nature of timing things, and I say that again. If she does any of the sprinting listed it'll be great, but without timing it you'll have no idea how she's doing.

Here are two videos on the same workout, the Atomic Sprint Workout by Tony Holler. The name is to convey the efficiency with which a speed workout can be done. I think what the LLM gave you is fine, but consider this at least once a week. He also has an "X Factor" workout that your daughter to do on the lower output (aka "off") days.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6Rdd2oaGiU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLsmj_DUKpY

Thanks!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm more of a long distance runner but when I started really focusing on speed work, I was able to post some pretty good times. I typically ran a few days a week, with one day every week being designated for track work. I'd do a mile of warmup and striders and a mile of cool down. In the middle, 3 miles of varying intervals. Sometimes 10-12 400's with recovery in between. Sometimes 1600/2x800/4x400 with recovery. Etc. or a bunch of 400s, some 200s, some hundreds. Outside of the track, proper nutrition, hydration and good sleep are crucial. And if there's excess weight, that does make you slower. My daughter also does some weight lifting to build lower body muscle and core strength.

10-12 400's sounds like a lot but if that's what it takes she will do it! She's very committed and really wants to get fast. It kind of breaks my heart how bad she wants to be fast and good at this. She is 5'4 and 95-100 pounds.

5'4 and 95/100 lbs is generally not the body type that's going to succeed in sprinting at the high school level in this area, which is very competitive. Sprinting requires explosive strength and long strides will always be better.

The 400 is the in between race. It gets both sprinters and middle distance. But the 800 is the ultimate will to power race. It requires speed, endurance, and tactics. A very tough race, but you can train for it and overcome some liabilities. But I think for 5'4 and 100 lbs, the 1500 might be the best bet for success. It gets very fast during the last 400 m so it still requires the quickness. But it's an endurance race and you can train up to that.

[Anonymous]

you should watch the top 800 (or top 3) runners in Virginia. They are all small.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm more of a long distance runner but when I started really focusing on speed work, I was able to post some pretty good times. I typically ran a few days a week, with one day every week being designated for track work. I'd do a mile of warmup and striders and a mile of cool down. In the middle, 3 miles of varying intervals. Sometimes 10-12 400's with recovery in between. Sometimes 1600/2x800/4x400 with recovery. Etc. or a bunch of 400s, some 200s, some hundreds. Outside of the track, proper nutrition, hydration and good sleep are crucial. And if there's excess weight, that does make you slower. My daughter also does some weight lifting to build lower body muscle and core strength.

10-12 400's sounds like a lot but if that's what it takes she will do it! She's very committed and really wants to get fast. It kind of breaks my heart how bad she wants to be fast and good at this. She is 5'4 and 95-100 pounds.

5'4 and 95/100 lbs is generally not the body type that's going to succeed in sprinting at the high school level in this area, which is very competitive. Sprinting requires explosive strength and long strides will always be better.

The 400 is the in between race. It gets both sprinters and middle distance. But the 800 is the ultimate will to power race. It requires speed, endurance, and tactics. A very tough race, but you can train for it and overcome some liabilities. But I think for 5'4 and 100 lbs, the 1500 might be the best bet for success. It gets very fast during the last 400 m so it still requires the quickness. But it's an endurance race and you can train up to that.

You seem to have no clue what you're talking about. Most FEMALE sprinters are not very big, and even the top male ones are mostly under 6' tall.

https://worldathletics.org/records/toplists/sprints/100-metres/all/women/senior/2025

Melissa Jefferson-Wooden - 5'5"
Kayla White - 5'7"
Twanisha Terry - 5'5"

[Anonymous]

"Does your daughter have any interest in field events? Field doesn’t get much love, but those events can also rack up points for the team in track meets. Sprinting translates well into jumps and javelin."

I would also add that hurdles might be an event to try. There's usually not as many hurdlers as flat sprinters, so it's a way to add points. You have to be fast, but aren't always the fastest on the team, and you still get to sprint.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm more of a long distance runner but when I started really focusing on speed work, I was able to post some pretty good times. I typically ran a few days a week, with one day every week being designated for track work. I'd do a mile of warmup and striders and a mile of cool down. In the middle, 3 miles of varying intervals. Sometimes 10-12 400's with recovery in between. Sometimes 1600/2x800/4x400 with recovery. Etc. or a bunch of 400s, some 200s, some hundreds. Outside of the track, proper nutrition, hydration and good sleep are crucial. And if there's excess weight, that does make you slower. My daughter also does some weight lifting to build lower body muscle and core strength.

10-12 400's sounds like a lot but if that's what it takes she will do it! She's very committed and really wants to get fast. It kind of breaks my heart how bad she wants to be fast and good at this. She is 5'4 and 95-100 pounds.

5'4 and 95/100 lbs is generally not the body type that's going to succeed in sprinting at the high school level in this area, which is very competitive. Sprinting requires explosive strength and long strides will always be better.

The 400 is the in between race. It gets both sprinters and middle distance. But the 800 is the ultimate will to power race. It requires speed, endurance, and tactics. A very tough race, but you can train for it and overcome some liabilities. But I think for 5'4 and 100 lbs, the 1500 might be the best bet for success. It gets very fast during the last 400 m so it still requires the quickness. But it's an endurance race and you can train up to that.

You seem to have no clue what you're talking about. Most FEMALE sprinters are not very big, and even the top male ones are mostly under 6' tall.

https://worldathletics.org/records/toplists/sprints/100-metres/all/women/senior/2025

Melissa Jefferson-Wooden - 5'5"
Kayla White - 5'7"
Twanisha Terry - 5'5"

Usain Bolt is 6'5.

The shorter male runners that got the times were all on performance enhancing drugs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm more of a long distance runner but when I started really focusing on speed work, I was able to post some pretty good times. I typically ran a few days a week, with one day every week being designated for track work. I'd do a mile of warmup and striders and a mile of cool down. In the middle, 3 miles of varying intervals. Sometimes 10-12 400's with recovery in between. Sometimes 1600/2x800/4x400 with recovery. Etc. or a bunch of 400s, some 200s, some hundreds. Outside of the track, proper nutrition, hydration and good sleep are crucial. And if there's excess weight, that does make you slower. My daughter also does some weight lifting to build lower body muscle and core strength.

10-12 400's sounds like a lot but if that's what it takes she will do it! She's very committed and really wants to get fast. It kind of breaks my heart how bad she wants to be fast and good at this. She is 5'4 and 95-100 pounds.

5'4 and 95/100 lbs is generally not the body type that's going to succeed in sprinting at the high school level in this area, which is very competitive. Sprinting requires explosive strength and long strides will always be better.

The 400 is the in between race. It gets both sprinters and middle distance. But the 800 is the ultimate will to power race. It requires speed, endurance, and tactics. A very tough race, but you can train for it and overcome some liabilities. But I think for 5'4 and 100 lbs, the 1500 might be the best bet for success. It gets very fast during the last 400 m so it still requires the quickness. But it's an endurance race and you can train up to that.

You seem to have no clue what you're talking about. Most FEMALE sprinters are not very big, and even the top male ones are mostly under 6' tall.

https://worldathletics.org/records/toplists/sprints/100-metres/all/women/senior/2025

Melissa Jefferson-Wooden - 5'5"
Kayla White - 5'7"
Twanisha Terry - 5'5"

Usain Bolt is 6'5.

The shorter male runners that got the times were all on performance enhancing drugs.

Oh you're dumb and a troll, got it.

[Anonymous]

She needs a great coach. Running only a couple days a week isn't going to help. My kid always makes Jr. Olympics. It's phenomenal to watch the sprinters. You can already see future Olympians even at MD state regionals. The times are incredible. Our coach is a former D1 athlete and he used to coach a current gold medal OR Olympian. Find her a track club to join.