Allyson Felix is an America sprinter. She competes in the 100m, 200m and 400m. Her personal best in the 100m is 10.89 seconds, achieved in London n 2012. She also achieved her personal best in the 200m in 2012. She was looking a strong competitor before the London 2012 Games and won the 200m Gold for America in London on 8th August 2012.
She started her car sprinter career at just 18, when she won silver in the 200 meters at the 2004 Summer Olympics, just behind Veronica Campbell of Jamaica, with an impressive time of 22.18 seconds. She has been on a winning streak since then, with gold medals in the 2005 World Championships in Athletics in Helsinki, the 2006 World Athletics Final in Stuttgart, the 2007 World Championships in Osaka (where she also helped America win Gold in the 4x100m relay, and now in Berlin this weekend.
In August 2009 she ran 200 m in 22.02 seconds, which is still some way behind Florence Griffith-Joyner’s World record time of 21.34 sec in 1998, but she was looking very strong and determined. After her win today she said “I knew I was very strong and was able to power away. I wanted to represent my country well and make Jesse Owens proud.”
“Chicken Legs Felix”
Felix had the unfortunate nickname “Chicken Legs” at high school because of her long, skinny legs. However, she prooved that skinny could be strong by leg-pressing 700 pounds on a weight machine. Felix’s dedication to training meant that she missed her senior prom for a competition.
She is now trained by Bob Kersee, who has trained some of America’s top athletes, such as Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Dawn Harper and Valerie Ann Brisco-Hooks.
Allyson Felix bio
- Born: Los Angeles, California
- 26 years old (2012)
- 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) tall
- 125 pounds (57 kg)
Personal Bests
- 100 m: 10.92 s (Doha 2012)
- 200 m: 21.69 s (Eugene 2012)
- 400 m: 49.59 s (Daegu 2011)
Achievements
- 4X400m Gold – Beijing 2008
- 200m Silver – Beijing 2008
- 200m Gold – Berlin 2009
- 200m Gold – Osaka 2007
Allyson Felix’s Diet
Like all sprinters Allyson concentrates on intense workouts on the track and in the weight training room, with a focus on explosive power using plyometric training. Therefore her diet needs to be high-calorie and high-protein to ensure that she maintains muscle weight and also has enough energy for intense training workouts. She consumes around 3000 Calories a day and has said that she loves to eat chicken, fish and lots of fruits.
Breakfast is usually oatmeal with coffee before she starts her first training session. Lunch is usually a hearty salad to boost her glycogen levels before her weight training session. Her main meals will include chicken and fish mostly.
Allyson has stated that she is not a fan of supplements so gets all of her energy and nutrition from eating healthy meals.
Allyson’s Training
Allyson trains for around 4.5 hours a day, 6 days a week. She is trained by Andre Woodert, a personal trainer with a Bachelors degree of Science in Kinesiology who is also director of Velocity Sports Performance. Each day she spends some time on the track and some in the weight training room. Usually the morning session will be track time, working on fitness, speed and core skills. Then after lunch she hits the gym and the weights room.
In the gym she performs a huge variety of training under the guidance of Andre Woodert. Sometimes she wears a weight vest to increase resistance. Elastic bands are also used a lot. Plyometric training, such as vertical leaps, squat jumps and box jumps are used to help monitor her progress as well as increase power. Standing long jumps are done with a weighted rope attached to her waist.
One of her tips for building speed is to work the track. Sprint along the straights and then walk on the curves. This means that you sprint approximately 100m then walk 100m, then repeat. This is a simple form of interval training which does not require any equipment or even a clock. You do not need a track either – you could head to your park and pick the points to sprint between, such as 2 trees, or use the lengths of a football pitch to sprint then walk the widths.
This Short video shows her in action at the Velocity Sports Performance gym;
Favorite Core Strength Exercise – Russian Twists
Allyson is a big fan of the Russian Twist. This is one of the best core exercises. You perform by getting into a crunch position with your feet just off the floor and your knees bent. Then hold a very light weight or medicine ball in front of your chest and twist your upper body and lower the weight to the floor. Then return to top and repeat on the other side. Try to keep the movement fluid and the body straight.
A Short Video on What Makes Allyson Felix Tick
Photo credit: Eckhard Pecher (Arcimboldo)