Week 4 workouts*

11/25 At KC. Most were home for holidays, but Joe came to the Kern for some hurdle work. Loosened up, did deadlifts, box hops, push ups and lead leg box drives. A and B skips, back skips and cariocas. High-knee jog>stride, stride>sprint. Skipovers, jogovers. 3x 1/2-space 3-step. 5x H1 starts. 3x 4H starts. 4x6 reactive hurdles (22-14-24-14-36-24). Lead leg and trail leg bands. Foam rolling. Video of a 42 H start.



Posture and alignment is good. Joe worked on keeping hips and shoulders square, arms bent and finishing trail leg. Still some rotation in hip coming off hurdle and trail leg could pull through a little higher, but his technique continues to improve.

Training during break

At the most basic level, get some exercise at least every other day and eat smart every day.

What you do for training during break is about where you can train and what you have available. So, the guidance here is general.

In a given week, it would be good to get a session of each of the following:

• Speed (acceleration and/or max velocity)
• Stamina (sprints of 20 to 40 seconds)
• Strength (weights, bodyweight exercises)

Other days can be off days or extensive tempo / cardio machine tempo -- 20 seconds fast, 40 seconds slow in sets of 5 with a minute or two between sets; or tabata sets, which are a 3-min warm up then 1 or 2 sets of 8x20 seconds fast, then 10 seconds rest) and 2-min cool down (can be on machines such as bike, elliptical, treadmill or rowing -- or just running (in place even) or just punching, jumping rope or doing jumping jax -- or some combination of those things.

You may not have access to a track, or a gym or even good enough weather to go outside, so you need to get a little creative. Here are some things to consider:

• Medicine ball 
• 7-minute workout (programmed bodyweight exercises that run on your phone or laptop)
• Jump rope
• Bodyweight circuits (squats, lunges, pushups, hip thrusts, burpees, jump squats, planks, etc.)
• Plyometrics (skips, hops, bounds, jumps)
• Hills (short or long, both are good)
• Stairs (inside or outside)
• Other (treadmill, weights, exercise bike or whatever you have)

If you have injuries or soreness, choose activities wisely. For example, if your shins hurt, avoid high-impact activities on hard surfaces. 

Enjoy your time at home and get your rest -- but also some exercise.

Week 3 workouts

11/17 KC. Joe and Chris trained at regular time. Spencer had foot issues, so he went to the trainer after warm up and lifting. Jessica came in later. After Cheetah series (deadlifts, box hops and push ups), we did skips and then the sprint progression. A couple practice starts were followed with timed 30s. Bests: Joe equaled his best ever with 3.89. No time on Chris. Jerome stopped by and posted a 4.28. Jessica ran 4.64. Joe and Chris did a set of 2H reps at 39 and 3H reps at 42, 5-stepping, before starts over H1 at increasing height. At regular height, Joe posted a start time of 2.15, Chris 2.19 and Jessica 2.21. Did another set of 2H at increasing spacing, timing splits. Joe had a PR 1.26, Chris 1.44 and Jessica 1.38. Very good marks for this early in the season. Ended with a Road Runner strength series (glute ham raise, Russian box and pull ups) and stretching, rolling.

Frame grabs to show entry step at the moment the foot touches the track. Here's Chris. Upper body nearly vertical (good) but shin is not vertical (should be). Foot is a shoe length beyond takeoff point. Getting that entry foot down more quickly would shorten that step and improve the shin angle.

Jessica is good here with position. Shin is vertical and upper body pushing forward into hurdle.  What's not good is taking off too close to hurdle -- about 3 shoe lengths. Worked on adjusting this later and made some improvements.

Matt is sitting back just slightly. In a good spot but similar to Chris, could get the entry foot down quicker, shortening the step and putting him a bit further away, which also would get the shin vertical.

Spencer is reaching a bit -- back on heel. Needs to stay on ball of foot and like Matt and Chris needs to get the entry foot down to be in better position to drive into the hurdle and get off that step faster.

This is optimum.










11/18 KC. Jerome, Spencer, Kasey and Alex warmed up and then did 6-step scissors jumps and ramp jumps. Full run throughs and full jumps at low heights. Jerome jumped in 6-3 to 6-5 range, Spencer in 5-3 to 5-5 range, and Alex and Kasey in 4-1 to 4-3 range. Did 2x5 step ups, split squats and jump squats with kettlebells and then flexibility series with bends, bridges, arches and scorpions. Jump focus was on plant angle, speed in turn and consistent approaches.

11/20 KC. Jessica went home. Spencer rested his foot. Matt out with mono. So, Kasey, Joe and Chris warmed up, did a couple sets of strength work, some hurdle walkovers, skipovers and jogovers -- half oppo. A pickup and then 3x1H starts at regular 400H distance. Then, 7x3H at relative spacing, Kasey on 19, Chris on 17, Joe on 15 rhythm equivalent. 2x impala strength series in weight room: back extensions to work the glute/hamstring, one-arm rows and split jerks. Foam rolling. Rhythm work went well -- even did some reps oppo.

Block starts -- where acceleration begins

To accelerate well, you must put yourself into proper position to apply force to build momentum toward max velocity.

Set your blocks with the front pedal two shoe lengths from start line and the back pedal three shoe lengths. Back into the blocks, pressing the feet firmly against the pedals and kneeling only on the back knee. Hands should be under the shoulders and bridged, if possible. Center over the front leg with arms perpendicular to the track and straight (no bent elbows). Head and neck are neutral to spine.Visual focus is on the starting line.

In set position, shoulders remain over hands. Hips should rise to the point where the front leg is at 90 degrees or slightly more. Front and rear leg shins should be nearly parallel and approximately 45 degrees to the track surface. Push feet all the way back on the pedals. Focus on an action, not the starter or gun. Visual focus remains on starting line (don't look down the track).

At the gun, push hard into the pedals through the shins, including the back block -- don't pull the back leg out, push it out. Push the hips forward. Don't bend at the waist forcing the hips backward. Arm action is big, with wide split. Heel recovery is low, meaning the feet stay fairly close to the track in the first few steps. The first step out is only about two feet beyond the starting line for men and about a foot-and-a-half for women. Very important to keep the feet under the hips to be able to apply force in the right direction. Should you step out, you lose the shin angle -- and force needed to accelerate as well as possible. If your back foot comes out and falls off to the side, you likely aren't pushing hard enough off the back block and/or you're not centered on the front leg. As your front foot leaves the block, there should be no bend at the waist, and you should full extension through the ankle, knee, hip and back -- in other words, a straight line from the front foot up through the top of the head. That angle is about 45 degrees. Visual focus is a few yards ahead (don't look down the track yet).

Starts are forceful, and you should not rush to get upright quickly and start turning over rapidly. Instead, build momentum through strong application of force.

Week 2 workouts

11/10 At VF/KC. Caught a break on weather with a nice, calm 50-degree evening, so we trained for 400H with Spencer, Joe, Chris, Matt, Kasey and Jessica. Women worked over 27s. Men over 27s for drills and 33 for high speed efforts. Started inside with some warm up and then deadlifts, depth jumps and push ups. Moved outside, did a couple strides and then some 4H jogovers, including some oppos. Did 4H power hurdle followed by 1-steppers. Changed to 3-steppers at 7 and 8 yard spacing (w/m). Then 2-steppers at 5- and 6-yard spacing. Worked mostly on stepping up, holding fold, running a straight line, accelerating into hurdles. Still some issues to resolve but everyone did well in trying to make adjustments -- some with more success than others -- but everyone got at least a little better and some quite a bit. For conditioning with a bit more speed, we did 4 laps of running 2 hurdles on long sides of soccer field with a jog recovery short side before running the second long side and then a walk recovery on the next short side before starting the next set. Went inside for a 2-set Greyhound strength series (lunge walk, hip thrust, single-leg deadlift) and then foam rolling.

11/11 At KC. High jumpers Jerome, Spencer, Kasey and Alex were on hand. After set up and warm up, we did backovers off boxes and got marks and full approaches. Did some 6-step approaches to work on acceleration into plant and plant angle, which was somewhat a struggle because of negative and neutral plant angles. Moved to a 2-step approach to focus exclusively on plant angle, and we had better success there. Kasey and Spencer did 5x4 hurdle hops and flexibility series. Measured height and weight: Alex 5-7.75/154. Kasey 5-8/149. Jerome 6-6.25/198. Spencer 6-3/196. (Rounded to nearest 1/4 inch and pound)

11/13 At KC. Spencer, Matt, Chris and Jessica trained together on hurdles. Warmed up, deadlifted with box hops and push ups. Finished with sprint progression and hurdle jogovers and skipovers. Reviewed starting block technique, shot some video and worked to make some improvements before doing starts over hurdle one. At that point, we checked entry to the hurdle and found that everyone was reaching into the last step, which increases ground contact time. Did a few more reps to try to "step down" on the entry step to get a vertical shin angle while staying on ball of foot. Worked very low to try to get that to happen. Results were mixed but improving. More work on this next week. Went to weight room for single leg reverse leg press, calf raise and push press. Wall stretches. Measured height/weight for Matt 5-10.75/175, Jessica 5-4.5/136, Chris 5-8 3/4/130.

Chris could get a more vigorous arm split here, but he has good extension from the foot through spine. On subsequent step, head comes up too soon and the right leg goes off to the right of the lane with foot angled outward. Couple of things to work on next time.

While later starts where better, there was a lot of forward bend here, which detracted from full extension. Right foot is ahead of hip -- that's a blocking action that prevents Jessica from being able to apply much force in the direction she wants to go. Both arms pretty much were just pulled up off the ground -- not much power or split there. She adjusted this on later reps.

 Matt looks the best in this group of photos -- good arms, good extension. Wouldn't change a thing.

Spencer is bending at waist somewhat, but arms are good. With a 7-step start, he needs to push with great power on first three steps.

Week 1 workouts

11/3 KC/VF. Started day one with rotations, leg swings, jumping jacks, deadlifts, depth jumps and elevated push ups on the track. Went outside for 400H training. Joe, Chris, Matt, Ian and Jessica were on hand. We were blessed with warm (50s) temperatures and no wind out on the turf. Began with high knee jog to stride. Stride to sprint and an acceleration. Drills included marchovers, skipovers, jogovers on preferred and oppo. Up and backs at 15m and 25m followed. 4x75m with 3H randomly spaced. Ian and Jessica worked over 27s. Everyone else worked 33s. Addressed some technical issues. Focused mostly on alignment issues and stepping up with the lead leg and getting back down. Wall stretches. Good session with some quality reps that helped knock off some hurdling rust.

11/4 KC.  First high jump practice had Spencer, Alex, Kasey (arrived later), Jerome (left early). Warm up included rotations, leg swings, jumping jacks, squat jacks and depth jumps. A skip, B skip, back skip, straight leg bound, side slide, carioca and takeoff skips. Used jump mat to get some vertical jump benchmarks. Bests: Spencer 34.8, Jerome 32, Kasey 21.2, Alex 19.8. Moved downstairs for tennis ball dunks or net slaps with some off a tight curve, 10-step accelerations, 10-step Js. Medball throws were 5x slam with vertical push, single leg push, scoop, hop toss and overhead. Flexibility work: 2x10 bridges, arches, bends, scorpions.

11/6  KC. High hurdle practice for Spencer, Matt, Chris, Joe and Jessica. Warm up then Cheetah strength series (deads, depth jumps and elevated push ups) along with vertical jumps. Bests: Spencer 33.2, Joe 27.6, Chris 25.7, Jessica 23.8. Continued with hurdle warm up, including high-knee jog to stride and stride to sprint. Trail leg pull throughs on rail. Marchovers, skipovers and jogovers. 4x3 5-step (27/39). 3-point starts over H1 were next, working primarily on stride pattern and accelerating into and through very low hurdles. Wall stretches. Some did Springbok strength series (step ups, split squats, jump squats).