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Strength & Conditioning application by past and present elite athletes. Following up with the Who, What, When, Where, Why and How questions on the topic of fitness as to how elite athletes apply strength and conditioning in their training block. I put these questions to Nicholas Pryce ( Track & Field athlete). Hear is what he had to say. Nicholas Pryce "My name is Nicholas Pryce, I run for Royal Sutton Coldfield Athletic Club. My main event is 200m, but I dabble in the 60/100 and 400. Iv been in the sport of athletics for 15 years, but compete competitively for 13 years. The current highlights of my career include getting a silver medal at the England Championships which earned me a spot in the 4x100m team from which we won relay gold. Off the back of that the following indoor season I ended up smashing my indoor pb in the 200m and won a silver medal at the Indoor British Championships. Question: What type of Strength & Conditioning did you do to complement your Sport Specific? Answer : " I do a mixture of different types of strength and conditioning which helps provide the overall package needed to maintain or improve performance on the track, these consist of Weight training, core, and Track Sessions." Question: When would you do it to fit in your training block? Answer : "Block training varies depending on the time of the year and whether a competition is approaching. During the winter block sessions are usually only once a week, twice when it's indoor season." Question: Where and How would you do it? Answer : "Usually, I would look to fit this 6x a week if you include track, 4-5x if you just count gym work." Question: Why do you think it should be a must in your training block? Answer : "S & C is extremely important because its not only reduces the risk of injury but also allows you to explode out the blocks making your first few steps more powerful allowing you to move away from competitors and puts your body in a condition to which it can maintain that power during every step. You should be looking to make time for S&C as it makes up half of the programme and without it, you’ll struggle to improve and reach your full potential."

Strength & Conditioning application by past and present elite athletes. Having covered the topic of fitness in a previous blog , I thought it would be interesting to find out how elite athletes apply strength and conditioning in their training block. I put several questions to Christian Byron ( Track & Field athlete). Hear is what he had to say. Christian Byron " I'm Christian Byron, 800/400m athlete for Birchfield Harriers. I've competed for over 17 years, mainly in the 400m but most recently the 800m too. My career highlights include representing England in the 4 x 400m, 800m and 4x100m. I don't come from a particularly athletic family background but fell in love with the idea of speed after watching Formula 1 at a young age and deciding to challenge the older kids on the playground to races at break times!" Question: What type of Strength & Conditioning did you do to complement your Sport Specific? Answer : " Weight training, Pilates, circuit training." Question: When would you do it to fit in your training block? Answer : "2-3 times per week, usually on the days I'm not at the track." Question: Where would you do it? Answer : "In the gym, at the track or in the Pilates studio." Question: Why do you think it should be a must in your training block? Answer : "It helps to prepare the body for the impact of track sessions and reduce injury risk by developing strength and durability. I see a direct correlation between the S & C work I'm doing away from the track and my performance on it." Question: How would you fit it into your Programme? Answer : "I take ample recovery time between S & C and track sessions so that these two types of training complement each other effectively, i.e. not overdoing it in the gym and ending up not being able to do a track session properly - balance is the key! For myself, that's at least 5 hours between sessions on the days when I'm running and doing S & C on the same day. I take this rest time to maximise recovery and performance. I also try to sleep and eat well afterwards so that my muscles can repair and train again for the next session."

Fitness could be referred to as being able to comfortably complete a set task i.e spiritually, mentally or physically , but often we don't question the state of our wellness just compromise it. This is an area of our lives needs challenging by addressing ways to maintain or improve our fitness level.

Hi, I am Neville Facey founder of 'Nev LF Coaching'. I am a Physical Sports Performance Coach, specialising in Track & Field sprints as well as Strength and Conditioning. I have been coaching for over 10 years and within that time I have gained several coaching qualifications both in Track & field and S&C. Even with all the qualifications I might have gained, I'm still searching for answers to help enhancing the way coaching for Track & Field and S&C can be improved. Over the coming months my blogging will cover this topic in various ways. I will be looking forward to engaging with members via comments and feedback as well as encouraging members to add their own blogs too. I will reach out to elite athletes to try and capture their views on Strength & Conditioning application within their training block. Conclusion When it comes to Strength and Conditioning no one method is set in concrete, improvement will always be welcome. Keeping up discussions via blogging is one of many ways we can contribute. Feel free to leave your comments.