Let the rhythm hit them: Adjusting the tempo to skillfully surf the intensity curve.

Brad H. DeWeese, John P. Wagle, Eric Magrum, and Garett E. Bingham

Introduction
While most track and field coaches agree that speed is enhanced through a consistent
exposure to sprinting, the density at which these practices can occur is limited by the athlete’s
preparedness (33). Practically speaking, in order to run fast, sprinters need time to recover from
and respond to previous exposure to high-intensity training. To date, the accepted time needed to
optimally recover from ballistic activity ranges from 24-72 hours depending on numerous factors
not limited to training age, type of stimulus, and athlete’s relative strength (23). With that being
said, sprint coaches are faced with the challenge of finding unique ways to (a) appropriately dose
training volume, (b) reduce the effects of summated fatigue through a microcycle, (c) maintain a
work capacity that allows for optimal participation in multi-day or -event competitions, and (d)
provide training time for the rehearsal of motor skills that are approximate to top-speed running
mechanics.
One such method of addressing the aforementioned concerns is through the inclusion of
tempo, a term popularized by the late Charlie Francis, which describes a training tool that
traditionally places emphasis on aerobic enhancement and active recovery (7). This form of
running is analogous to the Goldilocks principle in that the running intensity prescribed is neither
so fast that one cannot neurologically recover from the previous day’s training; nor too slow that
it dampens the desired physiological responses to training; yet swift enough to maintain a rhythm
which affords sprinters time to rehearse upright sprint mechanics at reduced intensities.
As a result, this regimen may be of benefit to those coaches who employ a high-low
approach to programming. This type of polarized planning system (Figure 1) attempts to disperse
acute fatigue through the coupling of high-intensity sprint sessions with subsequent low-intensity
practices. Coaches who use this programming tactic hope to stave off an unnecessary residual
fatigue that accumulates through a microcycle, and perhaps training block, if sprinting intensities
stay unchecked. In other words, tempo-based training may allow for a seamless and skillful
transition in-between practice sessions that prioritize higher-intensity, near-maximal speeds that
are synonymous with sprinting.

Figure 1. Example
Overview polarized approach across phases of training.
on Sprinting
 Recall that sprinting is defined as a volitional activity that represents how fast an athlete
can move down the track through a rapid, un-paced, maximal run lasting less than 15 seconds
while under the restriction of gravity, wind, and ground reaction forces (22). However, in the
athletic setting, a sprint event lasts well-beyond this time constraint as competitors cover
distances up to 400-meters with completion times encroaching the 1-minute mark, especially
within the long-hurdle event. Interestingly, Weyand and associates proposed evidence suggesting
that an acute-bout of maximal sprinting up to a minute is still overwhelmingly anaerobic (28,
29). While still a postulation, the ability to reduce the reliance on aerobic metabolism during the
completion of a long sprint is perhaps reliant on the integrity of movement patterns. These
preferable upright-running mechanics have been shown to rely on the delivery of properly-
directed and high forces through an abbreviated stance phase that results from a ground contact
that is more underneath the hips, effectively staging the stretch-shortening cycle (3, 16, 30, 31).
In short, the ability to transmit, tolerate, and take-off through enhanced tissue stiffness underpins
sprint economy.

Additional Considerations within the Sport of Sprinting

While strong evidence suggests that a stand-alone sprint event is particularly anaerobic,
this may be a myopic view on the sport of sprinting. Within the competitive arena, single-sprint
success is required for entry into the event; however, the final 8 lanes are reserved for those
athletes who can survive same-day rounds or multiple-day competitions. Therefore, admission
into the final heat requires not only judicious race planning, but predicates the need for robust
physical development.
Considering the wealth of information that exists regarding the contrasting relationship
between aerobic enhancement and strength-power training, one can easily dismiss the inclusion
of tempo training within a sprinter’s program (15). However, this assumption ignores a deeper
understanding of how tempo or other sub-maximal running activity can be employed within the
practical setting. Emerging evidence suggests that success in the sprint events, where
homogeneity exists between competitors, is dependent upon the demonstration of optimized
biomechanics (2). As such, tempo is a coaching strategy that attempts to further retain and refine
the sprint-skill, notably those that associate with top-speed running.
For instance, the sprinter should emphasize a tall posture that has been described as
“stacked joints” where the shoulders sit atop the hips. In addition, the sprinter should maintain
relaxed shoulders and a “smooth, unhurried” arm cadence. Furthermore, the leg action should be
economical with the foot “cutting through the shin”, which works to limit an over-rotation during
the swing phase portion of the sprint cycle. Lastly, the height of each step should reflect the
prescribed running speed, as a more flexed hip promotes a higher range of motion setting the
stage for a forceful and aggressive foot-strike within the subsequent stance phase. Failure to
maintain these positions within a session, or at a prescribed intensity, serves as anecdotal
evidence for the modification of either volume or pace in order to ensure optimized training
effect.
The purpose of this paper is to provide rationale for the inclusion of tempo running
within a sprinter’s training plan. Emphasis is placed on describing the physiological adaptations,
psychological aspects, and motor skill retention that may result from partaking in this
conditioning modality.
Neurophysiological Underpinnings of Tempo
The sympathetic demands of sprint training, particularly early in a speed curriculum
when motor learning is concentrated, requires an alternative impetus that serves to
simultaneously direct physical regeneration and motor program storage (5). Therefore, the
parasympathetic responses that results from submaximal running logically play a pivotal role in
the full development of a sprinter. Such a stimulus may provide the necessary neurophysiological
underpinnings to dually express a necessary work capacity and more favorable responses to the
high intensity stimuli through approximate motor-skill recital. Through the development of
aerobic fitness, lower resting sympathetic nerve activity has been observed, while simultaneously
possessing the ability to invoke a larger sympathetic response to higher intensity stimulus (20).
As such, it serves to reason that tempo variations may stage greater responses to high intensity
stimulus.
As illustrated in Figure 2, tempo running can be separated into 4 zones that attempt to
address specific physical qualities during various phases of training. Particularly, the suggested
zones of training are: Intensive (80-85%), Intensive-Extensive (70-80%), Extensive (65-70%),
and Extensive-Restorative (60-65%). These general intensities are based on the athlete’s current
or estimated personal best of a respective distance, while also considering speed loss due to
surface or footwear (8). Regardless of the chosen intensity zone, skill acquisition and
reinforcement are significant drivers of how this modality is incorporated into a speed
development program.

Figure 2. Proposed Intensity Zones for Tempo Training. Intensities are taken from athlete’s current personal
best (PB) of a respective distance.

Intensive Tempo. Intensive tempo largely serves as a bridge to long-speed reserve, (also
referred to as special endurance work), which is a category of running distances that can broken
down into 2 classifications. Traditionally, “Special Endurance 1” describes sprints that span 150-
300m, while “Special Endurance 2” sprint efforts can range between 300-600m. Ultimately, this
type of training provides a sprinter the opportunity to express their speed-reserve through the
rehearsal of racing tactics that minimize speed-decay (6).
Early on in the General Preparatory Phase (GPP), running sessions that are more
intensive (approximately 80-85% of best time for a given distance) permit the athlete to maintain
an upright running technique while partaking in training that promotes anaerobic power
adaptations. Specifically, the aim of intensive tempo is to stimulate an acute increase of lactate
production that is coupled with intermittent rest intervals that afford the body enough time to
“buffer” this dosed accumulation. In response, the body adapts to imposed stressors by
increasing enzyme activity to first better tolerate lactate production, followed by the improved
facilitation of lactate usage in metabolism (21). This lactate usage is in part due to changes in
enzyme activity, particularly phosphorylase, phosphofructokinase (PFK), glyceraldehyde
phosphate dehydrogenase, and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH). Anaerobic enzyme activity has
been shown to increase with intermittent submaximal sprinting similar to typical intensive tempo
prescription, which affords the sprinter the metabolic capacity to successfully transition to long
speed reserve training (6, 21).
While metabolic efficiency seems to result from this training modality, this subdivision
of tempo prescription should be prescribed with cautionary precision. Due to the aggressive
paces used within this particular regimen, true polarity in comparison to other neurologically
demanding training components, such as speed and strength development will be compromised
(22). With this in mind, the coach must be mindful of the impact that intra-session fatigue may
have on the central nervous system and stiffness qualities. This sudden fatigue may alter pre-
landing motor control, leading to unfavorable changes in connective tissue compliance qualities
and negative hip displacement (11). This objective evidence has important practical
ramifications, as an attempt to chase prescribed finish times while ignoring movement quality
could lead to a less-specific transfer of training.

Extensive Tempo. As the sprinter moves through the GPP and into specific preparation,
sprint velocities experienced during high-intensity practices typically trend upward. These more
taxing-sessions on the nervous system place a greater necessity on the inclusion of a more-
extreme polarizing stimulus as compared to that provided by intensive tempo (7). For that
reason, extensive tempo, which is a relaxed, rhythmic upright run executed between 65-70% of
the sprinter’s best time for the given distance may be prescribed. Extensive tempo, then, provides
a means by which the athlete can accumulate repetitions of proper arm action, foot fall, and
propulsion, ensuring a skill development congruent with prior and current training. The high
sympathetic stimulation of the sprint sessions serve as the ‘drive’ of sprint skill maturation, while
submaximal practices ‘reinforce’ that skill (5). This ‘reinforcement’ is predicated on extensive
tempo’s lower intensity and may be due to the inherent interplay between sympathetic and
parasympathetic nervous systems observed within polarized training models (5, 18).
While maintaining a keen coaching eye on the sprinter’s quality of movement during
these submaximal sessions, extensive tempo can also promote the retention of physiological
qualities that underpin a work-capacity necessary for multi-event or day competition. Extensive
pacing zones are thought to aid in the development of this critical physical robustness, initially
through increases in mitochondrial density (9, 10). Mitochondria are ATP synthesizing factories,
providing energy for contraction and integrity of the sarcolemma, which impacts the effectual
energy turnover mechanisms and structural durability (1, 10, 13). Additionally, to mitochondrial
density, improvements in enzymatic density and action also results. Specifically, the activity of
pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH) has been shown to markedly increase following moderate-to-
low-intensity aerobic training (14). Greater activity of PDH may be advantageous for the sprinter
during intra-session recovery between high-intensity outputs, as the lactate accumulated from
longer speed reserve training would be better utilized within the muscle, reducing the need for
extracellular transport to re-establish optimal pH. Without these mitochondrial adaptations, the
sprinter may have a lower capacity for repeatability during high-intensity sessions, adversely
altering the motor ‘drive’ that supports sprint skill acquisition.
 Further, denser capillary networks, another adaptation associated with low-intensity
training, provide an increased capacity for blood delivery to the tissue (9). Blood flow is
determined by a variety of central and peripheral influences, but an upgrade to the ‘plumbing’ of
the body may enhance gas diffusion and substrate exchange (19). Extensive tempo may create an
optimized gas and nutrient exchange mechanism, allowing the sprinter to perform and recover
through: a greater surface area for diffusion, shorter diffusion distance, and increased contact
time between blood and specific tissue (19). Theoretically, the latter point serves the athlete most
in terms of recovery, potentially affording the blood enough ‘contact time’ with the muscle to
deliver nutrients and remove metabolic byproducts. Also, through the acute increase in blood
flow, greater shear stresses are applied to the capillaries and arteries, providing a stimulus for
chronic alterations to vessel wall dimensions and diameter, leading to systemic alterations in
circulatory capacity and efficiency (25).

Intensive-Extensive Tempo. In addition to the previously described tempo prescription

zones, coaches may require additional modes of training that seamlessly link phases within a
sequenced plan. For that reason, intensive-extensive tempo may be a solution during the
transitory periods lying between the GPP and pre-competition. What can be described as
extensive tempo under a more intensive condition, this previously undefined pacing parameter
attempt to limit stark alterations in stressors across blocks of training and provide retaining loads
for previously developed qualities. Practically speaking a session dedicated toward intensive-
extensive tempo may primarily emphasize extensive zones (65-70%), while a few repetitions are
performed at slightly higher intensities (~75%) in order to retain those previously established
fitness qualities. The typical structure of such a session would include ‘ladders’, which progress
the athlete from extensive repetitions up to intensive repetitions, and then back down into
extensive. Through the ‘ladder’ structure, the athlete is challenged with progressive, but still
moderately dosed, levels of lactate accumulation and subsequent buffering, developing the
metabolite clearance and pH balance qualities associated with extensive prescriptions.

Extensive-Restorative Tempo. As running velocities mature and competition begins, the

sprinter may require a low-intensity stimulus that stages active recovery. Extensive-restorative
tempo, also a previously undefined running zone, utilizes a pace ranging 60-65% of the athlete’s
current personal best for a given distance. Under the condition of extensive-restorative tempo,
the runner would follow the tenets of the Goldilocks principle in that tempo runs should cease
once an increased body temperature or subjectively sufficient warmth is achieved. An increase in
muscle temperature initiates two distinctly important responses. Primarily, as muscles warm,
they become more compliant to stretch, reducing resting tone, and have been shown to maintain
range of motion better when a warm-up is performed prior to stretching (32). Given that stretch-
induced changes in ROM can extend out to at least 24-hours, this provides an opportunity to
ensure adequate mobility is maintained during extensive-restorative sessions, granting the athlete
access to required positions and optimizing optimal sprint-skill rehearsal on high-intensity days
(4).
Moreover, increases in muscle temperature may enhance enzyme activity whose content
has been increased via prior tempo variations, maintaining high energy efficiency. Coinciding
with the reduced overall volumes inherent with extensive-restorative prescriptions, this training
tool may dually promote a physical state that optimizes mobility while also retaining previously
developed fitness characteristics without compromising speed realization (12, 24, 27).
Specifically, mitochondrial proteins have a half-life of between four and eight days, creating a
situation that demands retention of this previously developed physical breadth, affording the
athlete the ability to maintain mitochondrial density (26).
Finally, extensive-restorative tempo allows for a truly polarized model of physical
preparation. In more micro views of the training program, such as entering the competitive
season or a taper, the dose-response relationship must be managed with great care (Figure 3).
The coach must view this portion of the training as a realization of physical evolution, raising
peak performance, while providing the athlete a framework to maintain breadth in the
foundation, allowing for repeatable performance. Extensive-restorative tempo provides such a
balance, with the athlete able to retain robustness while still allowing the removal volume load
(17).

Figure 3. Theoretical polarized training model, demonstrating the removal of intensive volume loads to increase
realization of speed qualities.

Conclusion
Success in the sprint events requires the ability to produce high rates of force
development through sound biomechanics under the resistance of fatigue. Furthermore, these
high rates of force are often expressed over multiple footraces within a competition. For this
reason, we as coaches find ourselves making programming decisions based on desired
physiological outcomes, including work capacity.
However, sound judgment should be employed during the practice session so to ensure
the maintenance of sprint-related postural integrity. While the pacing strategies and volumes
listed above are beneficial, the authors recommend that both sprint and tempo-based sessions be
adjusted or terminated if and when form is less than optimal. While traditionally viewed as a
metabolic stimulus, the spectrum of variants described throughout this article shed light on the
role that submaximal, cadenced, or tempo-training has on technical proficiency under
parasympathetic conditions.
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