Training

Lockdown to Release

What a great indoor season, everyone really happy with themselves; PBs broken and new ground for most, everything and everyone on a high. That’s where we were as a squad in February.

Like everyone else, the sport as we knew it was halted and life as we knew it suddenly changed. Covid was the new word of the day and suddenly Coach Paul had to take stock and work out how to keep the athletes spirits up and how to keep them fit.

Lockdown – Routine and Sanity

Phase 1 of the plan was to give the athletes some routine. Focus was taken away from specifics to instead looking at the training each individual could do within their home boundaries without breaking the rules set out for all. It had to be something everyone could manage on their own, or if they were lucky, with a collaborative sibling. Sprinting was not on the agenda, but instead more general fitness work. We added what was to be known as the “sanity sessions” – Cycle, jog, walk; anything that meant regularly moving and keeping the spirits up. Lampposts were the new markers; running from one to the next with recovery to the next (Fartlek). Hills of any description that could be run up and down.

Add to this the normal club evenings times which were replaced with a live club workout led by Coach Paul and daughter Faye.

These became so popular, not just amongst the club, but throughout the Athletics Community, with other clubs promoting it and joining in too and we reached and as far as the US.

With regular WhatsApp messages encouraging each other in the group, each athlete knew the others were doing the sessions and this gave us momentum. May and Phase 2 for training came along and the chance to be a bit more specific with sessions, but keeping it still focussed on work that could be done solo. Changing from having runs for distance, for example 150m reps, this was changed to running for time, for example 20 second reps. Any suitable venue was used from grass tracks at local schools, blaze tracks, football pitches anything which was good underfoot.

Adding in more speed focussed hills…

…and some plyometric work

All still within reach of the athletes’ houses.

Club Workouts continued as we were into Week 7

June and we could finally have some small training together. With a restriction of only three households, meaning only the coach and two others could meet up in a day.

Two sessions of the week were now sprint focussed, one longer sprint session and one short one to work the acceleration and get sharper. Still not distance focussed but time focussed. This was found to be easier when running on non-marked tracks

The Plyometric session was still in there as well as the Club Live Workouts which had reached week 12…

July and the next step forward; back having some group sessions at the track. Adhering to the social distancing rules meant picking times where there would be limited numbers at the venue.

Despite being on the track, success was being had with continuing to run for time. This concept is great, athletes get so worked up about the markings and where they should be as they run per rep as well as slowing down with 5m to go to the end of reps, running for time takes all that away.

Starting at any point on the track (randomly selected) and having to run till coach shouts stop meant no slacking off at the end. Much better return was being had per rep. With being able to be on the same track even with two lanes apart it was working to push each other on.

With the hope of some competition being back in sight in early August, there was a switch half-way through this block to run for distance. We practised the 60m and 150m race distances that were on offer by Scottish Athletics. With also being back at the venue we could bring in some focus for our jumpers and multi-eventers on some more plyometrics and jumps (not into the pit or mats as these were not open).

The Club Live Workouts had come to an end after 16 weeks. It was fun, but nobody expected they would be on for that long. However, it didn’t end for the group as we continued them ourselves to keep the movements, core and strength up

Sadly, the early August competition didn’t get granted the go-ahead and was moved to 22^nd and 23^rd of August (where we are now).

So, where are we now? Well the Pitreavie track is officially opened for use again. This was a big step forward but brought plenty of other challenges. We now have a 1 hour time slot on Tuesdays and Thursdays to get the session done; warm ups are completed early to be ready for the slot. Everything has to be focussed and no time lost. Weekend session can be more relaxed as we pick a quiet time away from others and yes, we have competitions.

The sessions are based for racing as we have the potential of four weekends in a row to race.

We still have workouts, and we still have plyometric sessions if not racing at the weekends.

These open races are all about enjoyment coming up, be back in a competition arena and enjoy the buzz of being there. Yes, it will be much different, only 3 per race on the track with lane gaps, face masks everywhere when not warming up or racing, hand sanitising the new norm. But it is competition and it may be competition as we will now know it for a while. We can take part knowing we have done an amazing job to be ready to race again.

The most impressive factor through all of this has been the willingness of the athletes to keep the routine to keep their self-motivation and to not give up on themselves. To reach this stage in shape to race is testament to their drive and passion as athletes, hats off to them and their families for encouraging them to keep going even when it was tough during the many long weeks of lockdown.

Indoor Season Rolls Round – The balance with Exams and Prep

It’s that time of year again when the indoor season approaches. This year most of the squad has the added strain of exams to balance into their competition schedule. Both can be stressful in their own rights; but used together one can help alleviate the stress of the other. If an athlete has a study plan in place well ahead of their exams, then their competition and training plan can work around it. Training or competing can help clear the mind and provide focus to the athlete for their study and their actual exams. With good planning, training can help provide good study breaks.

This year our preparation for the indoors has been our best so far. We are in a fortunate position as our local facility at Pitreavie also has an indoor 60m running track, and this is used when focussing on our speed phase. The final part of the preparation jigsaw however is the 200m indoor track with the banking which can’t be practiced without being on such a track. This year we ventured to the actual venue, the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, to get the best preparation possible allowing us to practice the bends as well as the cut in for the 400m/300m.

The 400m runners, Ben and coach Paul, performed three runs; 350m, 250m and 150m.

The purpose of each:

350m – Practice the first lap in lanes then the cut in and allowing the majority of the second lap to be performed at race pace. The final 50m is not the priority in this case, it is to ensure each marker is hit on time for the race, those being 200m and 300m.

250m – Practice the first lap in lanes then the cut in again to have it nailed on the perfect race pace finishing after the third bend. Again, ensuring the 200m marker is hit on time.

150m – Pure speed practice in lanes, run at top speed for the majority of the 200m, providing race practice for the 200m.

Ben running 150m

Similarly the 300m runner, Beth, performed an equivalent session, 250m, 200m, 150m.

Paul and Beth running 150m

The shorter distance sprinters, Cameron, Sinead and Sarah were practicing for both the 200m and 60m. Their session was 2x150m and 3x40m at top speed with the purpose being:

150m – Pure speed practice in lanes, run at top speed. Key is the drive phase from blocks to get into the pace and drive off that first bend, taking it into the second bend and completing that bend at speed.

40m – Block drive phase specific to drive-out hard and get up to top speed by the 40m mark to ensure sharpness for the shortest event on the track.

Cameron over 40m

Sarah and Sinead over 40m

A fantastic session and all target times hit bang on…next stop the National Open on the 12th January.

Can success at Junior Level come at a Cost?

There have been many athletes who have been very successful at junior level; representing their country in big matches, winning many titles and medals and striving to be the best. But how many then translate that to success at senior level? There are some that have, for example Usain Bolt, but for the majority they don’t. I guess the question is why? Is it due to being burnt out, badly injured and can’t ever get fully fit or just being sick of the sport?

This topic has come to the fore again with Athletics Weekly reporting on one of the UK’s top juniors having pushed so hard she has ended up with Osteoporosis. If she wants to try and get back to the sport then a long rehab is likely. http://www.athleticsweekly.com/performance/bobby-clay-my-osteoporosis-nightmare-70422

My question – Can success at Junior Level come at a Cost?

Let’s take a moment to reflect. What is every athlete’s dream? To make the Olympics is always the large dream, but for the masses that is often unlikely, so it can often be National Champion, or win a medal at National Championships or even for some be top in their club. The higher the ambition of course the longer it is likely to take to get there. The role of the coach is to have that long term plan mapped out. Of course this map isn’t the one and only path, as with all journeys that map has to be tailored and reassessed along the route it takes, but what it shouldn’t do is find a short cut and assume it will be the solution. As with all short cuts they end up becoming unpredictable and many fall by the wayside plagued by failure of overwork and impatience.
Reading the article about Bobby Clay there were many alarm bells, Bobby herself mentions she was reaching every target set and refused to believe it was enough. She wanted more and despite her coach trying to explain she was pushing too hard, she changed coach to get more stimulus and pushed even harder. This went onto relative energy deficiency (the result of insufficient caloric intake and/or excessive energy expenditure) as well as total obsession with the sport and always wanting more.

This is such a difficult time for the coach when this happens and all good coaches hear those alarm bells and try to stop the athlete pushing too hard. Easy said but how? It’s a big question. It may be you have to drop reps as the athlete is unlikely to accept slower pace. Or if the athlete is doing more on the side which can happen, the coach has to stick to their guns and take a planned session out to counterbalance the extra being done. When they turn up for a session have the athlete help coach instead and explain they’ve already done a session of their own. The athlete then hopefully starts to realise the amount of training is being managed for their own good. The approach is athlete specific and it is about knowing your athlete. It’s never easy but the athlete and their welfare has to come first.

Over my 25 years coaching I have witnessed many a talented athlete grow and due to early success can quickly end up on the path to over-training. This usually leads to being out the sport by age 20 or even earlier. This is both male and female.

The added part to the conundrum is the relative energy deficiency. Sadly this can lead to eating disorders, and again in my time in the sport I have witnessed both young male and female athletes ending up in this situation. This can be very dangerous and for a lot it ends up a lifelong battle after they leave the sport.

The coach has to be aware of all the warning signs, don’t be afraid to stop the athlete, get help from others as not every coach has the skills or confidence to deal with it.

My advice and what I’ve learned over the 35 years as both an athlete and coach is be confident in your plan, don’t compromise and try to find that shortcut to glory. Keep an open forum with your athletes and let them be confident to speak when there are issues. Reach for help from others who have more experience or qualified in things that you aren’t, and always remember talented athletes will reach their goals if they are given the proper, sensible and gradual building blocks to climb at the right time in their development.

Warm Weather Training 2018

In 2016 we decided to look into taking the squad warm weather training. Usually this type of training is aimed at seniors and performance athletes, with a view to training hard in decent weather with a reduced risk of injury. With a training squad of 14 teenagers most folks thought we were mad to even suggest the idea, but we bashed on and in April 2016 we headed off to sunny Tenerife with myself, Nicola, 6 year Faye and the mixed squad of boys and girls ranging from ages 14-17.

Don’t get me wrong, in the lead up to it there were times when both Nicola and I started to panic. Would they behave? Would they get on? Would they think they could party?

Well yes they all behaved. Yes they all did get on. In fact the week really bonded the whole group where before it was often split into smaller fractions at training. This was probably one of the biggest benefits. As a development group we have younger athletes join each September as older athletes leave the group to head onto university. The training camp allows the group to really get to know each other and concrete friendships as well as training partners.

We set an 11pm curfew for being in the rooms which everyone respected. No one abused the week, they trained hard, were focused, motivated and an absolute pleasure to spend the week with.

So here we are, ready to head back next April, this time with 14 teenagers, myself, Nicola, Faye and a “PAACE” family wishing to train.

The training plan will be similar to last time with a mix of track, beach, gym and aquajogging sessions. Plus a day off midweek to hit the water park!
With two training sessions a day the squad are happy to relax in between, but this year we will be having a few activities planned during the relaxation time. We will also be putting some study time into the weekly plan for those who have exams.

This is a fantastic opportunity for young athletes to experience what it’s like to train as a performance athlete for a week, and be responsible for being ready and getting to training on time without parents on-hand to get them organised. Last time we were training on the track alongside some world class athletes including the Belgian Men’s 4×100 relay team. It was really satisfying to see them do a similar warm up to our own, and they gave our young squad the same respect on the track as we gave them.

This year I have no apprehension, only appreciation of the benefits of this training week is for our squad. Roll on spring 2018…

Train Movement Not Muscle

Do you find yourself in the mindset that big lifts and Olympic Lifts are key to becoming stronger, faster and therefore a better athlete? Have you thought of another option which may make more sense?

Train Movements and not Muscles is a terminology that is catching on. As more and more analysis and reporting take place, this allows the Strength & Conditioning Coach in sports such as Athletics to realise there is a better way to get more useful overall strength, therefore winning the key Power to Weight Ratio game.

In every gym there are usually the guys whose weight training programs involve those big lifts, Squat, Bench, Cleans, Snatch, Dead Lift etc. While there is a place for each of these, the evaluation of their usefulness should be the question each athlete asks. If a coach or athlete asks any Strength & Conditioning coach to make their athlete or themselves stronger, I’m sure most can achieve that goal. Will it make them faster? In too many cases the answer may be actually be no and in some cases they actually get slower. Strength and transferable strength to your event are two different things.

When assessing an exercise ask yourself what is the outcome of doing this and how does it translate to the event of the athlete?

Let’s take the 100m sprinter as an example and the key parts of the event:

Phase 1 – The explosive phase from blocks

The aim is to move the weight of your body from a crouched position into a standing position, all be it at an angle and not straight up and down.

Now this is where the squat (see figure 1) may be of use, it has similar outcomes in there is a triple extension at the joints and there is a power movement to get from the squat position to standing. However too many athletes don’t take even this basic exercise to the right levels. Half Squats is what most do and the reason is they can lift bigger and heavier weights. If you want to go from a crouch to a standing position then suing even the basic back squat you need your “ass to grass” as they say. Squat right down.

For a good understanding of the Basic Squat and why to go deep, then read this blog: http://www.physiofitadelaide.com.au/blog/why-does-your-squat-suck-common-myths

While the basic squat (be it back squat or front squat) has its place I’d look at how we “dial it up”. As the sprint start involves not only the power movement from crouch to standing, it also involves going from two feet to one foot.

To dial up to replicate this from the basic squat can be squat with leg drive.

Perform the same squat but with standing drive one leg up into the air. To allow heavier and controlling the weight, add in a box for the leg being driven up to plant onto.

While this is the next step to dial up to, the other area key action (the sprint start) has arms involved. The squat even with leg drive above uses a barbell. The arms are clamped to the bar so therefore not fully replicating the full movement.

To dial up the squat again then remove the barbell and use dumbbells in each arm. Now squat from floor and perform the leg drive and then add in an arm drive. This take a lot of strength and core control to ensure the dumbbells don’t control the athlete. Now you have a closer replication to the sprint start.

Phase 2 – The pickup to top speed

A big shift to pushing the power started from Phase 1 into getting to top speed.

Various exercises can be utilised for this area.

Cleans and Snatch are two which add multiple movements to lift the bar.

Cleans

See http://crossfit13stars.com

Snatch

See http://www.ikonet.com

You can see from the pictures that both involve multiple movements. Again the body when going through the drive phase has single arm movements. To dial up a clean, again go with some dumbbells, perform the clean from the floor then add in a press at the end to above the head. Now you have a much tougher exercise which involves the arms having to work independently, but still in sync to have the coordination elements.

Snatch with dumbbells is another excellent exercise which is hard. To add the single arm movement like in sprinting, snatch can also be moved into single arm snatch from floor.

Other exercises:

Step Ups with barbell or dialed up to with dumbbells
Lunges with barbell or dialed up with dumbbells

Phase 3 – The maintain top speed to end

What is happening here is trying to maintain speed while gradually fatiguing. All the power lifts work Phase 1 and 2 but Phase 3 requires a different element.

Here is where adding in weighted skips work.

Basic skip – Barbell Weighted Skips

Barbell held on back and standing tall perform skips on the spot, count of 10 (5 each leg).

To dial this up perform with dumbbells to add the stability from the core to control the single arm shift. This requires a lot more overall body movement. This will become fatiguing therefore replicating the phase 3 of the sprint.

Summary

Always look to make the exercises appropriate to the event where possible.
Add in multiple movements to challenge the body
The big main lifts are good and have their place, but be sure what it is you are using them for and do them right