Hi Ct
I’m really interested in the training of your bobsled athlete. You mentioned his program consists of an concentric, eccentric and isometric day.
Could you expand a bit on this ? I’d assume it’s 3 full body workouts, 3 or 4 lifts ?
This is his answer from before…
It depends… when working with athletes, unless they are young or underdevelopped I don’t really have pure hypertrophy work.
But I do have a progression but based on the methods…
For example:
ACCUMULATION
A) Eccentric
Slow eccentrics (5-6 sec) for 6-8 reps
Superslow eccentrics (7-10 sec) for 4-5 reps
Extreme eccentric (20-30 sec) for 1-2 reps
Tempo contrast (6010/2010) for 6-8 reps (S/S/F/F/S/S/F/F/S/S)
B) Isometric
Isodynamic 1 (15-20sec pre-fatigue)
3 pauses eccentric (2-3 sec) 3-4 reps
2 pauses eccentric (3-4 sec) 4-5 reps
1 pause eccentric (5-8 sec) 5-6 reps
3 pauses concentric (2-3 sec) 3-4 reps
2 pauses concentric (3-4 sec) 4-5 reps
1 pause concentric (5-8 sec) 5-6 reps
1 pause ecc. + 1 pause conc. (2-4 sec) 4-5 reps
Yielding iso 3 x 30-60 sec
Loaded stretching 3 x 60 sec
Loaded stretching 2 x 90 sec
Loaded stretching 1 x 120 sec
Isodynamic 2 (max duration post-fatigue)
Isodynamic 3 (15 sec/3 reps/10 sec/3 reps/5 sec/3 reps)
C) ConcentricRegular lifting
3-4 x 6 à 8
3-4 x 6
3-4 x 7
3-4 x 8
8-8-6-6
6-6-8-8
8-8-6-6-4-4
4-4-6-6-8-8
8-6-4-2
2-4-6-8
6-5-4-3-2
2-3-4-5-6
8-6-4-4-6-8
7-5-3-3-5-7
6-4-2-2-4-6
8-6-4-8-6-4
7-5-3-7-5-3
6-4-2-6-4-2
Rest/Pause (starting at 4-6 or 6-8)
90-70 drop set
80-60 drop set
Mechanical drop set
1 & ¼ reps
Pure concentric (lifting from pins, full range) with same loading schemes as regular lifting
Partial pure concentric (same loading schemes)
INTENSIFICATION
A) Eccentric
Slow eccentrics (5-6 sec) for 2-3 reps
Superslow eccentrics (7-10 sec) for 1-2 reps
Extreme eccentric (12-15 sec) for 1 rep
100/80 with releasers clusters 5 reps
110/70 with weight releasers 1+3
120/80 with weight releasers 1+1
Pure eccentric using power rack 5-8.x 1
Eccentric contrast using power rack 3-4 x cluster with 100-110 and 65-70
Lifting with added bands (sets of 1-3 or 4-5 reps), slow eccentric
B) Isometric
3 pauses eccentric (2-3 sec) 1-2 reps
2 pauses eccentric (3-4 sec) 2-3 reps
1 pause eccentric (5-8 sec) 3-4 reps
3 pauses concentric (2-3 sec) 1-2 reps
2 pauses concentric (3-4 sec) 2-3 reps
1 pause concentric (5-8 sec) 3-4 reps
1 pause ecc. + 1 pause conc. (2-4 sec) 2-3 reps
Overcoming iso. 2 positions (3 x 4-6 sec/position)
Overcoming iso. Weak point (3-5 x 4-6 sec)
Functional isometrics 1 (pushing 2” and holding 4-6 sec)
Functional isometrics 2 (pushing against 2nd set of pins 4-6 sec)
C) Concentric
Regular lifting
4-5 x 1 to 3
3-4 x 3 to 5
5 x 1
4 x 2
3 x 3
5-5-4-4-3-3
3-3-4-4-5-5
5-4-3-2-1
1-2-3-4-5
5-4-3-3-4-5
5-3-1-1-3-5
3-2-1-1-2-3
2-2-1-1-2-2
5-4-3-5-4-3
5-3-1-5-3-1
3-2-1-3-2-1
2-2-1-2-2-1
Clusters 88-90%
Rest/Pause (start at 2-3 or 4-5)
Pure concentric (full range, same loading schemes)
Partials pure concentric (same loading schemes)
Lifting with added chains (same loading schemes)
REALISATION
A) Eccentric
Depth jumps
Depth push ups
Lifting with added bands with fast eccentric (4-6 x 2-3 with 60-70% bar weight)
100-110 / 50-60 (for speed) with weight releasers (fast eccentric, explosive concentric)
B) Isometric
Depth landings (jump & push-ups)
Drop and catch
Quick bursts isometrics (3-4 reps of 1-2 sec per set)
C) Concentric
Jumps (esp. box jumps)
Throws
Regular lifting with max acceleration 5-8 x 2-3 (65-75%)
Loaded jump (20-30% for sets of 5)
NOTE: The methods are not necessarily in order of demand/stress. It’s my own working list when designing programs
2 Likes
The system is something I’ve been usig with athletes for 20 years. It’s pretty much how I’ve always trained athletes. I just don’t write about that much on the internet.
As you can see from Nick’s post, it’s a lot more complex than just saying you focus on eccentric one day, isometric another and concentric on the third. The methods are periodized and also depend on the level of the athlete.
I simply cannot explain the whole system on an internet forum. I’m writing a book on that system and the concentric chapter alone is 30 pages long! I’m also preparing a seminar on hte topic and I have 150 slides so far and I’m not halfway done.
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That is correct. Sometimes we add a 4th session which is a low demand workout to work on weaknesses.
In-season it’s normally two sessons and the eccentric is dropped.
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Thank you!
Great food for thought