Workout: 12/26

12/26  At Kern Center. Joe warmed up and lifted 2x4x220, 2x5 long low hops, 2x10 elevated push ups. Did 6x3H 5-step 36/39, working on line running to improve lead leg tracking. Next, 5x2 block starts, still working on lead leg track as well as lead leg speed. Stayed up well on ball of foot into hurdles. Arm still a little wide on lead leg side and there's too much bend off hurdle but nice adjustments were made to improve lead leg mechanics. Finished with 5x3H up/back (-3 36), working on same things... while tired (1 min recoveries). Did 5 box exercises, shin exercises, stretching and rolling.

Workouts: 12/17, 12/18, 12/19, 12/20

These were the scheduled workouts for the three days I was at convention:

Monday
Warm up: Circles, swings, skips, strides
Lifting: 2x hurdle walkovers and over/unders; 2x 3x same weight as last time, 10x tuck jumps, 10x elevated push ups.
Drills: 4x3H 5-step (30s on blue marks). One rep on opposite leg.
Hurdles: 1x1H (30) falling start; 1x2H (30 -3) 3 point; 3x1H (30) blocks; 3x2H (30 -2) blocks. Briel 4-step, Kasey 3-step these.
Box exercises: 10x bridge, 10x each leg thrust, 10x squat, 10x each leg step up, 20x switch jumps.
Recovery: rolling, stretching, ice, etc.

Tuesday
Warm up: Circles, swings, takeoff skips, jump turns, strides, 3-point line runs, archbacks, backovers.
Short approach jumps: Pay attention to plant angle. 5x with bungee bar.
Runthroughs: 5x -- work on hitting mid-mark, maintaining lean through curve.
Full jumps: 3x at -6 best height; if you made 2 or more bars at -6, go up 2, if not, go down 2 and do 3x; optional 3 jumps at height of choice.
Recovery: rolling, stretching, ice, etc.

Wednesday
Warm up: Circles, swings, skips, strides
Lifting: 2x hurdle walkovers and over/unders; 2x 4x same weight as last time, 10x tuck jumps, 10x elevated push ups.
Drills: 5x4H 1-step (30s 8' apart); 3x3H 5-step (39s blue marks+base--1 base on H2 and 2 on H3).
Hurdles: 1x1H (39) fall start; 1x2H (39 -1) 3-pt; 3xH1 (42) blks; 3x3H (42) -1 for H2, -2 for H3) blks.
Box exercises: 10x bridge, 10x ea. leg thrust, 10x squat, 10x ea. leg step up, 20x switch jumps.
Recovery: rolling, stretching, ice, etc.

12/20  At Kern Center. Joe, Jon and Logan trained for 400H. Kept it fairly light and in trainers because of high intensity the previous day. Warmed up, did some hurdle drills with both left and right lead legs and then optimal hurdles -- quick run with hurdles at 27" and 35m (-2) between, working on a fast 3 steps into hurdle and fast 3 off the hurdle in an effort to minimize speed losses. Did 5 reps. Finished with 5x4H oppo on 7.5y spacing with 3-step at 30. Stretching and rolling.

Workouts: 12/10, 12/11, 12/12, 12/15

12/10  At Kern Center. Kasey and Briel warmed and then lifted (K 3x220, 1x220, 4x190; B 5x190, 1x220, 4x170), 3x5 tuck jumps, 3x10 push ups. Drills: slowlows, 1-step, 5-step. Block starts: side by side then 1H timed alternating with 2H 3- or 4-step (-1). Best times: Kasey 2.36, Briel 2.40. Briel had a hand-time in mid-1.60s for split. Kasey struggled on 3-step. Eight-step work to H1 consistency was better this week. Ended with 3x3H (30) up/back 5-step, box bridges and thrusts. Foam rolling.

12/11  At Kern Center. Did full run throughs and then regular jumps in 5-10 to 6-0 range. Finished with full approach box jumps with bungee in 6-4 to 6-10 range. 5 plyometric exercises followed: single-leg hops, low fast skips, stairs, single leg box jumps, pogos. Kasey and Alex did a similar workout (not plyos). Kasey jumped in 4-6 to 4-8 range. Alex around 4-0. Ramp jumps were in 5-0 to 5-6 range for Kasey and 4-6 to 5-0 range for Alex. Some very good jumping by all and nice adjustments. Kasey marks moved back to 48/24-6.

12/12  At Kern Center. Probably should have done something 12x on 12/12/12 -- but we didn't. We stuck with regular warm up and upped the weights to 2x4x310 for Andrew, Jonathon and Mike. Joe went up to 220. Included 8x tuck jumps and 10x push ups after each lift set. A couple of warm up accels and then a couple fly sprints. Everyone equaled or exceeded their previous bests. JA PR 9.23 mps, JB = 9.42, AB = 9.62, MC PR 9.14. Next, some 5x4 1-step hurdles and 3x3 5-step 39s. Then 1H falling, 2H 3pt and 4x3H block -- all at 42 -1. Ended with 3x3H up/back at -4 in trainers at 39. Mike had to stop after a couple 3H full speed reps with pain behind his knee. Jon had to stop a rep later because of pain in his foot -- the one that had an operation last year. Foam rolling.


Lots to like here, especially the consistent ball of foot positioning, including takeoff. Right arm swings back too straight and the alignment along the right side could be a bit better, but this is a good rep, and Jon has been consistent and clean on most of his reps.


Andrew does many things well. Lead arm swings across a bit too much, but it doesn't negatively impact his alignment. Knee drive is good into and over the hurdle. The big issue is the steps just before the hurdle where he's over striding -- as evidenced by the heel striking. We picked up on this during practice, and he had some better reps where he stayed on the ball of foot better. Will need to get stronger pushes in the middle steps to eliminate the need to stretch to get to the takeoff point for H1 and then go for a little more drive -- and maybe a little less quickness -- in the 3-step between hurdles. Everything else looks good.


Couple of things with Joe here. Didn't have a takeoff mark on floor, but Joe is reaching a bit and back on his heel at takeoff. Might be too close to hurdle. Had he been further back, the trajectory might have been better. Needs to keep the trail leg toe pointed upward. Slight drop caught the hurdle.


Almost didn't post this because it wasn't a good rep, and Andrew had better ones, but it again highlights the need to get more power and drive to get to the 7th and 8th steps without reaching and getting back on the heel. Problems on H1 carried over into H2. Also can see that lead arm hand in close toward chest and way over near the opposite shoulder.


There's a lot going on here. The lead leg isn't tracking very well, which is causing other problems. By tracking, we want the lead leg to come from straight back with lower leg aligned with upper leg and targeting the hurdle mark. Joe's leg is swinging a bit from the outside to the inside, which probably is causing the arms to go out to counterbalance, which, in turn, causes him to twist and make it impossible to stay square to the hurdle. Good news is that it isn't off too much. Once the lead leg starts tracking better, he can have an easier time in getting the arms in and staying squared up.

12/13 At Kern Center. Kasey helped teach Nate how to hurdle -- and did a good job. Nate picked it up fairly quickly -- at least the basics. Did slowlows on both legs and then some close-space 3-steps, again working both legs. Next, reps at relative spacing for 19-step pattern. Kasey literally got off on the wrong foot -- so the first hurdle was messed up for a while. After I figured out that was happening, things went smoothly for her. Nate was rough, of course, but was able to attack well and maintain rhythm. All the work was at 27. Shins were sore, so we stayed in trainers and kept the rep number down.

12/15  At Kern Center. Jonathon came in, warmed up, did some 1-step reps over 4 and then tacked on 3H 5-steppers in combination. Did a warm up 1H from falling start (39) and 2H from 3pt. Finished with 1-2-3-4 (-1 42). Very crisp and quick throughout. Foam rolling.

Workouts: 12/3, 12/4, 12/5, 12/6

12/3  At KC. Kasey and Briel warmed up and lifted (Kasey 3x220, 1x220; Briel 5x170, 4x170), did Russian box jumps and 3-count push ups. Did a couple of flys (K 1.15, B 1.21). Next, 3 contrast starts over H1 and 21m flat. Went on to block starts -- 5xH1 and then down to H2 in a couple of feet, with Briel working on 4-step and Kasey 3. Finished with 4 box exercises and stretching/rolling.

12/4  At KC. After Mike and Carson warmed up, Carson took about 10 jumps in the 5-6 to 5-9 range. Moved the start point back to get peak of jump over the bar. Early attempts were getting dragged off behind knees. Later attempts showed good adjustment. Mike split time with vault. Early attempts were into bar, but he made an immediate correction, improved the vertical and had some easy clearances in the 5-7 to 5-10 range. Alex and Kasey were next. Alex was working on getting more consistency in the run up, staying on ball of foot, leaning into curve and finding some arch. Rotation in getting back to bar was good, along with a perpendicular clearance. Most jumps were taken in 3-6 to 4-0 area. Kasey gained some better consistency in hitting the mid mark and that helped with the jumps. Plant is still too parallel, but she held the lean into the curve better later in the session and had some nice clearances. Need to work on the plant and getting a tighter curl, but the run up is looking good. Took most jumps in 4-4 to 4-8 range. Videos below weren't the best efforts of the night -- everyone had some better jumps than shown here. Still a chance to see some things.


Biggest issues here are a takeoff step that's too long and leaning into the bar before leaving the ground. Mike made some good adjustments on subsequent jumps.


Carson does a lot well here. Nice plant angle, arm position, keeping head back on arch. Maybe leaning toward bar a bit early, but there's not much not to like there.


Kasey runs a good turn but then takes that last step so she ends up nearly perpendicular to bar and that contributes to the lean toward bar right off ground. Probably would help to keep the arms running a little longer and then pull them back on the penultimate step. Arch back looks good. Biggest thing to do first is to keep the hips at 45 degrees rather than 90 degrees -- which can be set up by getting the plant angle improved.


Good job here by Alex in getting that plant foot at the correct angle. Leaning in before leaving ground, though. Left leg drives up well but never gets rotated to front, so that leg goes over nearly sideways. The arms are going straight up -- no block -- and the upper body never arches back so the hips cannot rise.

12/5  At KC. Mike, Andrew, Joe and Jonathon had a very good practice. Strength: 2x4-5x280 (Joe 190), Russian box jumps, 5-count push ups. Drills: 5x 2H slowlows (27), 4H 1-step (30), 3H 5-step (42). High-speed hurdles: 1-2-3-4-3-2-1 (-1 42). Hand-time splits were quite consistent and fast for this early in the season. Mostly in mid-1.2s to 1.3. Foam rolling.

12/6  At KC. Logan, Joe and Andrew did 400H training. Warm up, some slowlows, including oppos, and then some reps on both legs over 3H 5-stepping on 33s. Main event was 10x 3H at 7-step relative spacing on 30s -1 covering the west straight. Logan worked on 17 equivalent while Joe and Andrew trained at 15. Walked remainder of lap for recovery. Did all on preferred lead leg. Everyone did well. Foam rolling.

Workouts: 11/26, 11/27, 11/28

11/26  At KC. Kasey and Briel warmed up, lifted 2x 5 deadlifts (Kasey 220, Briel 170), 4x box jumps, 10x mini push ups, 5x L+R step ups. Worked block starts next and then 2x 30m accels. Bests: Kasey 4.86, Briel 5.14. 5x1H starts (27, 30). 5x4H 5-step (30). 4 box exercises. Stretching and recovery on their own.

11/27  At KC. Practiced in two shifts. Both men and women did the same workout. Circles, swings, skips, strides, 1-step rotations, archback, backover, 3pt line runs, run throughs, short approach jumps, full jumps with bungee bar. Carson did some box drills, gym ball arches and stretches. Adjusted marks: Carson 14-6/26-6/53, Mike 14-6/23-6/52, Kasey 10/23-6/46, Alex 10/24-6/48.

11/28  At KC. Logan, Mike, Jonathon, Joe and Andrew trained together. Started with warm up and deadlifts -- most at 240; Joe at 170. Also did 5x depth jumps and 5x 5-count push ups. Did a couple practice starts and then 2x30m accels. Bests: Joe 3.89, Andrew 3.92, Logan 3.98, Mike 4.11, Jonathon 4.35. Next, 2x9.14m flys. Bests: Andrew .95 (9.62), Joe .97 (9.42), Jonathon 1.00 (9.14), Logan 1.03 (8.87), Mike 1.05 (8.70). Next, 5x1H and 5x2H. Took a few ht splits. Everyone had some in the 1.2s (most reps were at 39 -- 36 for Logan). Finished with 4 box exercises and stretches.

Workout: 11/19

11/19  At KC. Joe came in to get some hurdle work. Did regular warm up and then lifted 2x5x170 along with box jumps and elevated push ups. Did some wall drive, rope and medball starts before some 3-pt starts. Did a few slowlows and some 5-step 42s before starting block work. Started at 30 and worked up to 42. Made some good improvements on block exits and had good reps through H1 when 8-count was used. Finished with box exercises (bridges, thrusts, step ups, squats), stretching, rolling.

Starts

Starts are critical in building momentum for a great race. Study this and then come to practice and incorporate it into your workouts. 

First, keep in mind that the object is to get to the finish line as fast as you can, which doesn't always equate with being first out of the blocks. The start and acceleration phase is designed to overcome inertia and build momentum to help you reach maximum velocity efficiently and maintain it effectively to minimize deceleration in the later portion of short sprint and hurdle races.

Many times, you will watch a race where it looks like someone got out quick only to fade toward the end. When you see that, you may think they had a great start but didn't have good enough conditioning to finish. More likely, though, the athlete had a poor start. How can that be if they got out fastest? The reason is that he or she was quick but not powerful, failing to generate enough momentum to minimize the deceleration later in the race. Another way to think if this is a bit like a car spinning its wheels in the snow -- wheels are turning fast but the car isn't getting anywhere very fast.

To increase momentum, you need to generate large impulses. If you want to get technical about it, impulse = force x time. So, you need to be explosive enough to create large forces and apply them for a relatively long time. To do this, you need the right block set up and an understanding of what needs to happen. Here we go.

1. Set the front block two shoes from the start line and the other three shoes from the start line. Hurdlers may need to adjust this backward or forward, depending on leg length and takeoff point for hurdle one.

2. Set the block angle at 45 degrees for the front block and 45 degrees or slightly more for the back block.

3. Place the rear foot on the back pedal with about 1/2" of the big toe on the track.

4. Place the front foot so the big toe is on the track about an inch. This stretches the plantar fascia to create a stretch reflex for a faster, more powerful push.

5. Position the shoulders directly above the hands.

6. Use fingertip support to help position the shoulders higher, to raise center of mass to make it easier to get the hips in optimum position as acceleration begins.

7. At set, move the hips straight up -- don't lean forward or backward. The front leg should be at 90-100 degrees for strong push. If this angle is less, it adds time in reaching full extension. If it's more, you generate less impulse and may exit at a higher angle. Shin angles will be close to parallel and about perpendicular to the pedals.

8. Pre-load the glutes, hamstrings and achilles by applying pressure to the pedals, which allows you to apply more force when the gun fires and leverages stretch reflex, particularly on the achilles. You should feel the heels wrap over the top of the pedals of a typical block (some pedals are taller than others). Note: if you roll forward at set, you lose some this pre-loading and may fall out of the blocks.

9. At set, take a deep breath and hold it until crossing the first hurdle -- or about 10-11 strides into a sprint race. Don't think about the gun. Focus on movement.

10. At the gun, push hard off both blocks, though the front leg pushes for a longer time. This avoids falling out to the side, which can happen if you just pull the back foot off the block. Pushing off the back block also sets up a stretch reflex that helps that leg move faster on that first step.

11. Also at the gun, lift the chest and head so it is aligned with the spine. You are looking for extension (straight line) through the ankle, knee, hip, spine and neck, as the hips extend up and forward just as the foot leaves the front block.

12. Push back through the shin and extend the hip -- don't bend the waist -- stay in line. About 45 degrees as you exit the blocks. Might be a bit higher for less powerful athletes. Maybe a bit lower for more powerful ones.

13. In the first few steps, you are pushing back and down. Don't reach forward or rush things to be quicker. You want to maximize push and power to gain momentum and acceleration.

14. When the foot leaves the surface during acceleration, your heel recovery should be low. In other words, it should not come up very high in the back (like a butt kick). This wastes time in getting back to the ground for the next push and uses the hamstring rather than the glutes.

When you start, think about it like you are pushing a very heavy object. You want your feet way back as you use a steep angle to apply more force than you could if your feet were right under your hips.