I am doing a series of Q and A’s over the next few months and thought this might make a good opener.

I know Tim from university on my masters course and brought him up to Durham University when I was involved there.

'Hi Tim, thanks for doing the Q&A. I know you you have a new website up, www.sprintstrong.com with some interesting videos and blogs on it. Lets cut to the chase and get going with the questions:

> Q: Firstly tell us a bit about your website, whats it all about?

> A: It's an information site, and is all about providing coaches and athletes with knowledge on speed training. The focus is on the strength training aspect of speed development. In particular you will notice an emphasis on olympic weightlifting methods. 

> Q: Can you briefly outline to the readers your st rength and conditioning background?

> A: Academically I hold a Bachelors degree in Sport & Exercise Science as well as an MSc in Strength & Conditioning. During my time studying for my Masters degree a number of sprinters approached me for individual coaching. I found I really enjoyed this, and was having some great results as well.

For a significant period of time my coaching was restricted to working with athletes on an individual basis. Once I obtained my certifications from the National Strength & Conditioning Association and the Uk Strength & Conditioning Association more coaching opportunities began to arise and I began working with athletes at a number of universities and colleges.

Through www.sprintstrong.com I am looking to positively impact the sporting careers of far more athletes than would ever be possible through 'in person coaching' alone.

> Q: You are a track athlete first and foremost, can you outline some of the key physical qualities to develop for speed development?

> A: One of the key considerations is that when accelerating over short distances the ground contact time will be around 0.2 seconds. If an athlete reaches top speed then the ground contact time is likely to be 0.1 seconds or less. This does not allow much time for applying force to the ground. This means that, when working in the weights room, the key quality to develop must be rate of force development.

This is not to say maximum strength work should be ignored, but the goal must be to increase force production ability within the short time frames mentioned above.

> Q: In terms of training for both speed and endurance, what are the key considerations in terms of periodising training, emphasising particular qualities etc?

> A: Firstly I would like to emphasise that speed development is a key route to improved endurance. By improving an endurance athlete's maximum speed they will have a greater 'speed reserve'. By this it is meant that the difference between the speed they must maintain during competition and their top speed is greater. This will help to improve their economy of movement, allowing greater performance levels to be attained.

For the sprint athlete maximum speed and acceleration work should be emphasised earlier in the programme than speed endurance work. This flies in the face of traditional thinking, but to help convince you I will leave you with this thought: 'how can it be possible to develop speed endurance if you have no speed to endure?'.

For the team sport athlete things become a little more complicated. Rather than just requiring a single sustained effort these athletes require repeated sprint ability in multiple directions. One of the key considerations here is whether or not linear speed should be emphasised before multi-directional movement skills. 

> Q: What are the key areas of injury for sprinters and how do you train for these?

> A: The classic sprinter's injury is the pulled hamstring. In my experience, this particular injury is usually related in some way to weak or inactive gluteal muscles. The gluteal muscles play a key role in hip extension during the ground contact phase of sprinting. If the glutes are not performing the work that they should be doing, either through weakness or inhibition, then the hamstrings must take up the slack.

As a short term measure, performing static stretching of the hamstrings before sprinting will help. This will inhibit the hamstrings so that they are no longer performing more work than they should be. Obviously this is not a satisfactory solution, since by inhibiting a major muscle group the potential for force production is decreased.

The long term programme must focus on addressing the root cause of the problem. Key to this is establishing whether the glutes are fundamentally weak or just inhibited. Gluteal inhibition is usually caused by tight hip flexors creating an anterior pelvic tilt. A good Strength & Conditioning Coach should be able to test for this and implement a suitable strategy based upon the result.