What would you do if you were diagnosed with cancer at the peak of your athletic career? While most young athletes will never have to deal with anything as weighty as cancer, this was the reality facing University of Minnesota senior cross country…
Fundamentals of Scholastic Coaching
SCHOLASTIC COACH IS A TEACHER FIRST. I have been “in the game” for many years. When I began my coaching career, you had to be a certified teacher in the school district in which you were hired as a prerequisite to coaching in that district…
Staying on Track – Recognition of Overtraining Syndrome in Endurance Athletics
For the endurance athlete,the management of training load and recovery is a concept that is not always optimized. In fact it is a paradox that for many athletes to be successful they need to “push the envelope.” When this idea is taken too far…
Greg Nixon’s Heart-Pounding Conditioning Workout
When Greg Nixon was a junior in college, he discovered that track, not football, was his true calling. Everything had to change— especially his workouts.
On the track, Nixon follows crisp white lines around a 400-meter oval. His path to…
Plyometric Exercises for Runners
Picture yourself on the starting line of a race. You’re in the blocks. You pull back to create eccentric motion in the lower leg before firing forward to victory. Now imagine yourself being able to shoot off even further. Want to know how? With …
Understanding and Managing Lactate
Despite prevailing misconceptions about what lactate is and how it’s made and used, lactate threshold continues to remain the gold standard for quantifying performance in endurance athletes and defining appropriate training intensities. In this…
Resisted & Assisted – A Strength Training Tool for Sprinters
In 1978 an article by Ozolin was printed in that year’s version of Sprints and Relays. In it, Ozolin identified the existence of a “speed barrier” for sprinters, which limited the potential performance of a sprinter, and recommended tools such as…
Best Track & Field Exercises You’re Not Doing
When you’re training for track & field events, it’s difficult to know which muscles to target. Sure, you should train your legs, but what if you want to get more specific?
Here are some exercises that develop the triple extension—movement at…
Track & Field Tips to Prevent Shin Splints
Ever wonder why that pain in your shin increases every time you finish a track & field workout? Aside from soreness, which you would feel in the belly of the shin muscle and still be able to move around, shin splints occur alongside or behind the…
Female Track Athletes: Prevent Hamstring Injuries With These Exercises
Nearly every athlete has been sidelined with an injury she didn’t anticipate. For female track stars and long-distance runners, the unexpected injury is often a pulled or torn hamstring, a muscle used extensively when running and one that is…
Exercises for Female Track Athletes
If you want to perform like a Ferrari, don’t train like a mini-van. Yet that’s what coaches who implement broad, sweeping training plans for their track teams are doing to their athletes, especially the females. The key to proper training?…
Complete Full-Year Workout Program for High School and Collegiate Sprinters
If you want to be the fastest sprinter on the track, you need to be explosive, propel yourself off the blocks and move your limbs quickly and forcefully. To improve these aspects of your sprinting, you need to commit yourself to a year-round workout
Get Faster and Prevent Injury With 3 Hamstring Exercises
As a runner, your two training goals should be to get faster and reduce the risk of injury. To accomplish both, you have to strengthen your hamstrings.
The hamstrings are a group of three muscles on the back of the thigh. They are a critical…
Hurdles – Start Acceleration – Rolando Greene
Coach Rolando Greene explains this Start Acceleration with a Demonstration
Hurdle Mobility Drills – Cliff Rovelto – Kansas State Univ.
Coach Cliff Rovelto explains Hurdle Mobility Drills with this demonstration
The Science of the 100-Meter Dash (and How To Get Faster)
It’s important to go beyond simple cues like “eyes down the track” and “knees up.” You need to understand the science and focus on the little things to truly run fast—something I didn’t do.
Read on to learn about the science of the 100-meter…
Tempo Runs
Tempo runs have long been a staple of distance training, particularly for those training for race distances of 3,000 meters up to the marathon. The physiological benefits of tempo running and other forms of threshold training are well documented…
Maximum Speed Track Workouts for Sprinters
To improve your speed during the season you have to do all-out sprints. Maximum speed workouts should be the backbone of your training. However, as your season progresses, you can challenge your body in ways that take into account the demands of…
How to Use Starting Blocks in Track and Field
Starting blocks are used in the sprinting events up to 400 meters and both hurdle races in track and field. The block start is broken down into three phases for the track and field runner: alignment, set position and start.
Sprint Training Program for Relays, Part 1
Obviously four fast sprinters are required for a 4x100m sprint. However the athletes can vary from 100, 200 or even 400m sprinters, when used correctly. (See The Rules For Sprinters.) The first and third legs of a relay are run on the bends, so…
Teaching Speed – Applying Force Quickly
A study performed by Weyand, Sternlight, Bellizzi and Wright at Harvard University in 2000 looked at what the determining factors were for a greater top speed in active men and women between the ages of 18 and 36. Participants were asked to…
Pacing Strategies for Distance Events
Every four years before the summer Olympics, the U.S. holds an Olympic Trials track and field meet to determine the U.S. Olympic team. Athletes who have met the U.S. Olympic Trials “automatic” standard within the prescribed time period are…
Technical Build-Ups: The Best Training for 400m and 800m Sprinters
What makes a workout program “the best,” “the greatest” or even “the ultimate” – besides a coach’s or trainer’s opinion?
To substantiate such claims, we need to know why. By labeling Technical Build-Ups as “the best” drill for sprinters, I’m…
Six Phases of A Perfect 400m Race
The 400m is a tough race, so training for it is pretty rigorous. However, many athletes make it harder on themselves, because their training lacks an indispensable element.
A race strategy is critical to effective training, and it should shape…
Glide Shot Put Technique – Errors and Corrections
The start of the glide if not executed properly can lead to several problems-
Error- Excessive movement with the legs prior to unseating the hips at the back of the circle
Correction
It is recommended to start with a simple start for…
Psychological Factors Contributing to Injury
Physical factors are the primary cause of athletic injuries, but psychological factors also contribute. Sport psychologists have helped clarify the role that psychological factors play in athletic injuries. Figure 1 shows a simplified version of…
A COACH’S Leadership
Affective leadership is a result of a systematic and sensible approach to a unique management style designed to reach the vision and mission of a successful program. To develop leadership qualities as an athletics coach, one can learn from the…
Trusting The Process
Coaches who deal with novice and struggling athletes can find themselves in a difficult position when wanting to help athletes set goals. How do you set goals for someone who has never competed? What type of goals do you set for someone who has…
Mental Toughness – The Psychological Skills
Psychological characteristics such as mental toughness, goal setting, imagery, realistic performance evaluation and commitment have been shown to be the difference between a medal winner in the Olympics and non-medal…
How to Approach the Start of a Race
The call-up—the time before the race when you report and get your lane assignment—varies among events. To make sure you are fully prepared, you need to take two things into account. First, always time your warm-up to allow time for the call-up.