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Before the 2018 season, our coaching staff for the Downers Grove South girls high school cross country team went through our yearly evaluation of the previous season’s training plan. Immediately, we focused on needing to improve speed development.

Our team could run solid races, but we wanted to improve getting out in better position and finishing stronger. Our girls’ team had back-to-back top 5 finishes at the state cross country meet, placing 4th in 2016 and 5th in 2017 (only 10 points from 3^rd). For the upcoming 2018 season, we decided to be purposeful and consistent about addressing speed throughout the entire season. With six of our top seven runners returning, we were looking for ways to get faster and have stronger finishes.

4 Key Elements of the Training Plan

Historically, Downers Grove South has had its fair share of success. We’ve won the conference championship 20 years in a row, and we hold the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) record for consecutive dual meet victories at 102. Over the past seven years, our program has been top 25 in the state.

Our program’s success was built on consistency in our training through mileage, some speed work (especially toward the end of the season), and traditional strength training exercises. To help facilitate our 2018 speed development goals, we switched our in-season training cycle to a nine-day microcycle, which allowed us to incorporate more elements of training regularly. From there, we focused on speed, strength, injury prevention, and building an effective team culture.

Speed

During our summer training period, we dedicated one day per week to speed and running mechanics. Our format consisted of speed drills, mini-hurdle variations, and timing 10- to 30-meter flys.

We began with a 30-meter fly and eventually adjusted to a 10-meter fly to better assess our progress. At the shorter distance, girls were able to hold their form together and monitored times started dropping in just three sessions. Because acceleration is neglected when working with distance runners, I recommend using a shorter build-up at the beginning of training and slowly extend the build-up as the athletes become stronger and faster.

To address running gait mechanics, we use mini-hurdles, which have proved beneficial. Common errors among runners are crossing over and having appropriate stride length. We watched and recorded each girl on an iPad to help us analyze their gait patterns. After recording each athlete, our staff identified common issues that could be addressed with strength training or through several different mini-hurdle variations. Variations included the athletes holding their arms straight up to focus on posture and using aqua bags or slosh pipes to work core strength and keeping their hips forward. We also challenged their nervous systems and coordination by using:

• Raised and lowered surfaces
• Hard and soft surfaces
• Hurdles set closer and further apart

Mini-hurdle exercises are more effective than verbal cues because of the external stimuli—they really do the coaching for you.

Over the course of the fall season, we continued to address speed during the nine-day microcycle with longer interval or shorter interval workouts that almost looked like sprinter workouts. The improvement of our entire team—not just the top seven—has been phenomenal. The speed work paid off by helping our girls have better starts, surges, and finishing kicks, resulting in faster overall times. On a team of only 56 girls, we had 10 girls break 19 minutes and 15 who have run under 20 minutes. Coach Doug Plunkett, who has been the head coach at Downers Grove South for the past 14 years, said this is the fastest team he’s ever coached.

The #speedwork paid off by helping our girls have better starts, surges, and finishing kicks, resulting in faster overall times, says @Coach_Farthing. Share on X

While prioritizing speed, we also placed a tremendous emphasis on the third mile of the race. Our team implemented a “check out” system in races by counting how many runners our girls passed during the last mile. The idea of the check out system was suggested by one of our assistant coaches, Mike Arenberg, who described how legendary York High School coach Joe Newton used to count the number of runners his athletes passed during the most critical point of the race.

At our team meetings, our coaches gave out skull beads to the girls for each runner passed in the final mile as a token of their efforts. We emphasized the check out system throughout the season because the last mile is often when a race is decided, especially in races with other high-caliber teams. In 2017, when our team finished 5th at state, we were only 1 point behind 4th and 10 points behind 3rd. Our team bought into the check out mentality so much that they spent entire bus rides home looking through video and calculating the exact number of runners each of their teammates passed. One of our runners said, “Checking out the last mile of the race was challenging physically and mentally; however, our close-knit team atmosphere motivated me to finish strong for a purpose outside of myself.”

Our revised training plan with a greater emphasis on speed and checking out made a big difference in our success last season.

Strength

If you research strength training for distance runners, you’ll come across countless articles advocating relatively heavy, high-intensity exercises, such as deadlifts, to challenge the nervous system since distance running is purely aerobic. In my experience putting together an appropriate strength training program, I’ve found that you need to consider the athlete’s training age. Most girls who have come into our program have had very little strength training experience, so I’m not quick to rush into heavy, high-intensity exercises.

In doing some research, we decided to break away from the traditional strength training model of several sets and reps and modeled our program on Dr. Michael Yessis’s 1 x 20 program principles. The program incorporates 15-20 exercises, completing only one set of 20 repetitions. The purpose is to work at several multi-joint movements to strengthen not only muscles but also tendons and to increase capillary density. By allowing for many exercises, our coaches can individualize athletes’ programs and provide specificity in their training. Many of the exercises do not resemble traditional lifts, such as back squats and bench presses.

Our program is categorized into exercises targeting:

• Foot and ankle
• Lower body
• Upper body
• Stability and coordination

While there are some recognizable exercises, such as single-leg squats and kettlebell swings, we carefully considered exercises specific to running, focusing on increasing strength in the feet, ankles, and hips. We even included specific running exercises like weighted boom-booms, where athletes hold weight over their heads to learn how to push harder off the ground. The purpose of including these exercises is to emphasize proper running mechanics with resistance continuously.

Injury Prevention

After concluding summer training, our team had several athletes with injuries. We actually had one athlete develop a stress fracture and a couple of other athletes with stress fracture-like symptoms.

Two weeks into our season, our team implemented Reflexive Performance Reset (RPR), which is a method to convert the body from a sympathetic state to a parasympathetic state. When your body is in a parasympathetic state, it’s more relaxed, which allows you to breathe easier and increase flexibility, reducing the likelihood of injury. We saw immediate results in the reduction of injuries and the number of athletes missing practices and meets. Before implementing RPR, our peak number of girls completing cross training during practice was 15 of 56 girls. Within three weeks, only three girls cross-trained due to more severe injuries.

Reflexive Performance Reset immediately reduced injuries and the number of athletes missing practices and meets, says @Coach_Farthing. Share on X

Each day before starting practice, our girls divided into four groups led by a captain who guided them through the RPR “wake-up” drills. On meet days, each group racing completed the drills before starting their warm-up. After the season, I asked for feedback from our runners about the physical and mental effects of using RPR. Approximately 40% of our team completed the survey. Of those 24 athletes, 6 stated RPR had a positive effect physically and mentally. Here were some of the responses:

“I think it definitely helped me mentally and was a way for me to prepare before running. I felt more flexible, and my breathing felt more under control.”

“RPR has been helpful mentally because it gives me time to relax and kind of meditate before practice and races. I was about to see the physical benefit over the summer after being tested at various times throughout our training.”

“I felt like it woke me up before races.”

“It was easier to breathe and move.”

Overall, the implementation of RPR was beneficial to our athletes based on their feedback. All high-mileage distance teams toe the line with injuries, and ours was no different. There is nothing more discouraging to coaches when the injuries start to pile up, which is why we implemented RPR for injury prevention and recovery. At our conference meet, we were proud to line up 55 of 56 girls, and RPR had much to do with it.

Family Culture

Although our training model led to an improved level of success for our program, I would be remiss if I did not mention our program’s culture. Our athletes consist of a tremendously close-knit group of girls who are compassionate, kind, and hardworking. They spend many hours over the summer on team-building activities. They host pool parties, BBQs, movie night at the track, and other team get-togethers. Our team takes three-day camping trip at the end of summer training to bond and set goals.

The level of consistency in our training and focus on turning our team into a family culture has also had a tremendous effect on our program in recent years and hopefully, many years to come.

Results

After our season ended, I compared our state meet runners’ season-best times to their times from the 2017 season. The first six runners ran in the state meet the year before and our 7th runner—who was a freshman—didn’t break 19 minutes at the Detweiller at Dark race back in July. Here are their improvements:

At the end of the season, I went back to our 10-meter fly data from summer training. Of the 17 girls who regularly attended our strength and conditioning camp, those who had the fastest 10-meter fly times typically ran the fastest three-mile times on the team.

Below is the data of those 17 girls after the conference and state meet:

Based on our end-year results, it’s apparent our coaching staff’s decision to place a greater emphasis on consistent speed work in our training plan paid large dividends. Mileage is still certainly most important in developing an aerobic base necessary for cross country, but speed must be a part of the equation and needs to be present throughout summer training and the season.

With a greater emphasis on speed, strength, and injury prevention our program earned its first state trophy, earning 3^rdplace behind national powerhouses Naperville North and Yorkville. In fact, our program earned a top 15 ranking throughout much of the 2018 season.

Since you’re here…
…we have a small favor to ask. More people are reading SimpliFaster than ever, and each week we bring you compelling content from coaches, sport scientists, and physiotherapists who are devoted to building better athletes. Please take a moment to share the articles on social media, engage the authors with questions and comments below, and link to articles when appropriate if you have a blog or participate on forums of related topics. — SF

Recently, something came out of my mouth that would probably surprise most people that know me. I told a colleague of mine, “If I ever had the chance at some point in my career, I’d take a job coaching just female athletes.” This comes from a person who got his start coaching football and only running a strength program because I was the staff “meathead,” so you can imagine the looks of surprise I received.

After spending a good portion of the last 10 years working with female student-athletes, I’m willing to say with conviction that I never would have thought of making that statement before I began working with female-athletes. I bet if you are a coach reading this and had a similar career path, you probably agree with me completely. Those of you who may not have had the chance to work in-depth with females were quite possibly taken slightly aback. I know I would certainly have at one point in my career. What changed my mind? Why would I suddenly be willing to give up the “crown jewel” of many programs—varsity football—to work with just female athletes?

It’s simple: Because I experienced “training like a girl” firsthand.

Is There More to Strength and Conditioning Than Just Football?

My path to strength and conditioning is one paved by the sport of football. Football is why I first lifted weights. Football is why I went to the college I did. Coaching football is originally why I got into the field of education. Why would I even consider working with only females as a career option?

Working with football and other male student-athletes is great. I don’t want to present this as if I do not enjoy that part of my job. In fact, the majority of my time is dedicated to working with our football program. In my current position, football is the only sport I see every day of the school year and four days a week all summer. I basically spend about 48 weeks a year with that group. Football players will spend more time with me than anybody else at the school. Because of that, and the level of things I can progress football to, it’s really the “crown jewel” sport of our program, as it is at many places.

I enjoy the clanging of the weights, the vocal nature of the weight room, and the overall “meathead” environment of the room that we get with males, particularly with football players. From a motivational standpoint (as a former male athlete), the loud, high-energy, “hoot and holler” culture that many football sessions include is definitely invigorating.

My first experience with female athletes in a team setting was quite an eye-opener. I went in with the mindset of “athletes are athletes.” Of course, this is partly true, but not without caveat. What I quickly discovered was that female athletes aren’t as dependent on “emotional” motivation. They needed (in my experience) much less of the “Ric Flair” version of me than football players did.

I quickly discovered that female athletes didn’t need as much emotional motivation from me, but more reassurance and analytical reasoning, says @YorkStrength17. Share on X

I also realized that there was a laundry list of nuances and both verbal and nonverbal communication that brought out the best in our female student-athletes. What I came to understand was that our female athletes still needed my high-energy style and would welcome me as a coach. They just needed a more reassuring, analytical, and sometimes (but not nearly as often) excitable version of me.

My Early Education and Learning Experience

My very first group of female athletes was the volleyball team at Piedmont High School. When they first came to me, I asked them to take a knee and please put eyes on me and listen. An amazing thing happened—each of the 20 or so young ladies immediately took a knee, put their eyes on me, and listened to every word with their full attention. At that moment, I knew that although there would be challenges, coaching female athletes would also be an extremely rewarding experience.

Although there were many physical and programming challenges that I would need to wade through (each will be discussed later), my first real obstacle was getting around coach and parent misconceptions about strength and conditioning. Several of the most prominent things I heard (and often still do) were the following:

• “I don’t want my athlete/daughter lifting too heavy.”
• “We want to tone their muscles, not get them big.”
• “We don’t want our athlete/daughter to be doing what the football guys do.”
• “I’d like to just do our running at practice. We really need to be in shape.”
• “I don’t need bulky athletes, we want long, lean, and athletic.”

That is not a comprehensive list (I’ve got limited space!), but it covers most of the major issues I run into with female athletes. I won’t go into detail with my answers to these questions in this post. I assume the readership has faced many of the same questions. Obviously, there are many female sport coaches who absolutely understand the science of sports performance. There are many parents who also get it. However, if you coach female athletes for any length of time, you will run into similar situations, I assure you.

The most effective way to deal with these questions is through education. The easiest thing to do is ridicule. That isn’t the right approach, however. This specific situation is very unique. Most, if not all, football coaches played the sport in a culture of strength and conditioning. It goes back decades.

The fact is that we have not had a long-enough run of widespread female athlete participation in organized sports performance training to have immersed all coaches or parents into that lifestyle. Neither group questions us out of spite. The questions come from legitimate concern for the well-being of their child. The most effective path for us as professionals is to educate and reassure.

As I’ve said multiple times in the past, a well-educated coach and/or parent is a very powerful ally. As sports performance professionals, we all know that the vast majority of females have little to worry from the fear of “getting too big” because of the hormonal differences in the sexes. It’s our job to explain and provide evidence to show coaches and parents whose background is not in sports science or performance why we do what we do to help the female athlete improve their performance. Take the time to cover the basics of human adaptation to stress and how we train energy systems specific to their activity.

I learned the most powerful tool in my toolbox is the question: “What exactly are you hoping to accomplish when your team walks into the weight room?” Most sport coaches can clearly answer that: “get faster,” “get stronger,” “be more explosive,” etc. As the sports performance professional, we can then provide the path to those goals while educating at the same time.

Working with the Athlete, Not a Stereotype

Female athletes come at you with a much wider range of experience than most male athletes (specifically football). I noticed that almost immediately after my meeting with that first volleyball team. The percentage of males exposed to some sort of training at a young age is quite larger than females. Male athletes often grow up talking about how much they can bench or squat. Many of the female athletes I see come to me with almost zero exposure to strength training. I count that as a blessing.

Many of the female athletes I see come to me with almost no exposure to strength training. I count that as a blessing, says @YorkStrength17. Share on X

Anybody who has worked with football players knows the challenge we face when trying to “slow cook” our athletes. The battle to not allow the male athlete to “load dysfunction” is a big one. In fact, it has been my suggestion for quite some time that schools change the course name of a “PE/Weightlifting” class to “PE/Sports Performance.” That would at least set the tone and eliminate the “This is weightlifting—when will we be lifting weights?” question we inevitably get at the start of a new school year.

The issue with our female athletes is often the exact opposite. If I would allow it, 90% of our females would load about 30% of a 1RM on a bar and do 3×12 reps for four consecutive years. This may be a slight exaggeration, but that battle is just as real as the one with the males. The inexperience of many females is an advantage in that battle. We can spend the time early in the process to “slow cook” using little to no load.

The majority of female athletes practice an acute attention to detail we often don’t find in male athletes. This allows us to “move well” before adding load, says @YorkStrength17. Share on X

“Mastering the Ordinary” is a motto for our program. One of the great things about the majority of female athletes is they actually practice an acute attention to detail we often don’t find in male athletes. This allows us to “move well” before adding load.

As that initial volleyball team proved to me, females are often a joy to coach because of the attention they pay to you. This is also a powerful advantage for coaches. Move slowly and explain why and how each movement will benefit them. Explain the “why” behind what you ask of them.

I’ve found giving females explanations is a very effective tool. Once the athletes are ready for some weight, most will trust you because you have explained the process. “Buy-in” is a bad cliché, I know this. However, another blessing of coaching females is how easily you can develop that “buy-in” through this process.

I mentioned in an earlier post how we use velocity-based training at a much earlier time with females. Males are easy to motivate to put increasingly heavy weights on. Females are much more easily intimidated by a number. Any of us who tells a 105-pound athlete to put more than her body weight on a hex bar and stand up with it can attest to that! VBT gives us evidence of exactly how heavy that weight actually is for that athlete. I can show her a chart that proves what she thought was her max that she moved at .81 m/s is actually far from it.

Another area that separates coaching females from coaching males is group interaction. In my experience, many times “ego” and the drive to be the “alpha” can lead to some very selfish behavior from male athletes. It can be very frustrating to have a plan for “X” volume for the week and constantly have to remind male athletes, “YES, I realize you can do that amount for more than three reps and it feels a little light. Just trust me!” and then when you look again, they are on rep six! It drives me nuts, to say the least.

The female athletes that I see generally are more of a “pack” and less of an individual. Often, they’d rather all do the same reps and sets within a group that changes each time through. While this “pack” thinking can also be frustrating, once we get them to understand the reasoning, we see almost no individual insubordination.

Programming Differences and Similarities

While many common weaknesses and dysfunctions are found within both males and females, there are very specific areas that I have observed in our female athletes that demand attention. Two major issues we look to address are knee function and strength and neck/upper back strength. As we all know, knee injuries and concussions are both epidemics. As a result, we pay special attention to those areas within our program. Obviously, there is no such thing as “injury prevention,” but if we can make our athletes even a bit more “bulletproof,” we are doing them a service.

Many of our female athletes come to us in a quad-dominant state. That imbalance in the ratio of quad to hamstring can really be a problem, specifically for the ACL. We also often immediately notice medial knee displacement in young females. As strength coaches, we owe it to our athletes to be able to recognize and program to help reduce these issues.

Once we have educated our athletes on these topics, we get to work. We spend a great deal of time on correct jumping and landing techniques: basic jumps, balance and power movements (such as the hop and stop), and correct general movement skills. Tools we use include the mini band (squats and walks to help strengthen abduction and reeducate the body on correct movement), single leg movements (RFE, high box, split variations), and lower posterior chain strength movements such as the Romanian deadlift and variations, Nordic curl progression, and glute ham developer. Our program uses a modified “tier” system with a main movement, an antagonist auxiliary movement, and a mobility movement performed within each set. This gives us ample opportunity to build in these movements without any cost to our strength training sets.

Our second priority area is the neck and upper back. We feel that by strengthening that area, we give our athletes an opportunity to avoid or at least lessen the chance of concussion. While I’ve heard both sides of the debate, we strongly believe that by building the “base” of the neck into a stronger and more stable area, it can withstand more force from a blow and potentially keep the neck from whiplashing the head and causing brain trauma. At the very least, our hope is that a strengthened base will reduce the force of the collision the brain endures.

The second big reason we make this a priority is to allow our female athletes to get into better and stronger positions with higher loads as they progress. From a completely anecdotal observation over the years, I see our females lose position on things such as front squats and trap bar deadlifts long before they are close to a maximum lift. By adding strength to the upper back, we allow those athletes to add weight to the set that is closer in intensity to the 1RM than before.

This is one reason we use what we call a “plate-elevated” trap bar deadlift with our younger athletes. The elevated bar gives them a chance to pull from a position of strength and move to the floor as they progress. We use a wide variety of movements including “scap rows,” upright rows, ring high to low rows, and neck nods, just to name a few.

While it may seem hard to believe for some, an argument can be made to the fact that coaching the female athlete is more challenging than football for a coach with a male athlete background. However, at the same time it can also be argued it’s even more rewarding. While we do make a slight adjustment to our exercise selection, our females basically follow the same blocking and progression/regression protocols as our males. Our females will all squat, bench, trap bar deadlift, and do some level of clean and snatch variations.

I would argue that, in many instances, female athletes accept coaching better than their male counterparts, says @York Strength17. Share on X

While the style of how you coach females will vary somewhat from males, I can assure you that female athletes accept the same level of coaching as their male counterparts. And, I would argue that females, in many instances, accept coaching better than many males.

Training Female Athletes Is an Opportunity

I would encourage every coach that has not done it yet to pursue any possible opportunity to work with female athletes. Not only will it make you a more well-rounded coach, it is enjoyable and extremely refreshing to work with a population that often has a great attention to detail and very little “ego.” Obviously, there are exceptions and I’m talking in generalizations, but coaching the female athlete is truly a unique blessing to experience.

Since you’re here…
…we have a small favor to ask. More people are reading SimpliFaster than ever, and each week we bring you compelling content from coaches, sport scientists, and physiotherapists who are devoted to building better athletes. Please take a moment to share the articles on social media, engage the authors with questions and comments below, and link to articles when appropriate if you have a blog or participate on forums of related topics. — SF

The end of the school year is always a hard time for me. After a long winter, the entire campus is excited about getting outside and enjoying the spring weather. Teachers are wrapping up their classes and everyone is ready to be finished. Athletes are done—or almost done—with their competitive seasons and ready for a break. All of these things make it difficult for everyone to keep their minds right and stay focused on their classes, jobs, and workouts.

There are similarities between an athlete’s summer season and the actual, natural summer season. In nature, summer is the season when all things grow. Farmers plant in the spring and nurture the seedlings until the summer takes over and provides the sun, rain, and warm weather. It’s the summertime that creates the right environment that allows for growth. It works for farmers and it should work for athletes, too.

For most college and high school athletes, summer is the longest stretch of time without having to worry about practice or competitions. Like farmers, athletes can use this time to grow and develop for the fall and the harvest of the competitive season. Before you know it, summer will be here. So here are four pieces of advice to help set you up for massive success.

Set and Keep Your Schedule

This first piece of advice might be the hardest one for young people: You need to keep a consistent schedule. While growing up, I thought that summer was for sleeping in. After a long school year of getting up early to learn, I took advantage of the summer months to stay up late and get up late. All those endless summer days, and many were spent in bed, sleeping.

Do you need to sleep? Of course you do. Sleep is the magic pill that lets your body repair and fix itself. Like all things in nature, there is a rhythm to our bodies and when you constantly change your sleep cycles, your body cannot get into a rhythm. Without that rhythm, it’s difficult for hormones like testosterone and cortisol to stay in their natural relationship. It also means that, with that disrupted rhythm, there is an increased risk for multiple chronic health issues, like diabetes, obesity, and depression.

Athletes need to keep a consistent schedule, even in the summer. This means going to bed and waking up at the same times as the rest of the year, says @CarmenPata. Share on X

If those are the consequences of having an inconsistent schedule, what are the benefits? The biggest benefit I know of is increased time. Getting up just a little earlier gives you time to do your food prep. Or get in a workout. Or read some life-changing advice (like this article). Is getting up early going to be easy? Of course not. All of our beds are comfortable, warm, and inviting.

Once you get in the habit of getting up and out of bed earlier, however, you will be in the company of many successful people. Kobe Bryant was famous for getting up early, going to the gym, and forcing himself to make 400 shots before leaving. The Rock, Dwayne Johnson, brags that he gets two workouts done before other people get out of bed. Tom Brady is up every day between 5:00 and 5:30 a.m.

The take-home message? Keep getting to bed and waking up at the same time every single day. The sooner you start getting up earlier, the sooner you will start separating yourself from your competition.

Plan for Heat Management

What’s the best part of summer? For many people, it’s the weather. The sun is shining, it’s hot outside, and you’re sweating. The heat can help or hinder your training in the summer.

Sure, when it’s hot outside, warm-ups are faster and easier. If you’re just walking to the gym and you’re already sweating, your general warm-up is already done. You have initiated the sweat response, your body temperature has increased, and you might be breathing heavier. In general, your body is ready for activity. Now, you still need a specific warm-up to get yourself ready for the training session goal so you can tap into the potentiation components of a warm-up, but, in a general sense, you are ready to go.

When planning outdoor workouts in the summer, be sure to plan for the heat—especially if you’ve been outside all day for your job, says @CarmenPata. Share on X

Here is the trap that people fall into. Because everyone wants to take advantage of every single moment of the perfect summer day, they forget about what the heat can do. Being outside in the heat wears you down. It’s like the slow progress of erosion. Being exposed to higher temperatures over time increases the amount of water lost through sweat. If you need a refresher on the effects of dehydration, here is a nice study to remind you of all the negative effects.

NASA found that when temperatures are over 95 degrees Fahrenheit, people made about 60 mistakes an hour without realizing what they were doing. Why? When the body is hot, more blood is pushed to the surface of the skin to help cool the body. When the heart rate is elevated due to the heat, less blood and all its nutrients go to the brain, organs, and muscles. If NASA astronauts and astronaut hopefuls experience up to 60 mistakes in an hour, how do you think you will hold up doing something very technical like a power clean?

If you are like the athletes I work with, your summer job is likely performed outside. That means you will have to be creative in the way you manage the heat. That might mean working out early in the morning before you’ve been out in the sun all day. That might mean you have to find ways to cool down after work and workouts. If you don’t have air conditioning, go to the library. There, you can hang out in the free air conditioning while learning something new.

If you do have air conditioning, by all means turn it on. A few summers back, we had a house full of athletes who bragged that they hadn’t turned on the air conditioning in their house all summer. When they were talking to me, it was in the middle of a heat wave with high humidity. Those fools were tired because they had not had a restful night’s sleep in more than a week, all because they were too cheap or too proud to turn on the central air. If I’ve learned one thing in my career, it’s that tired athletes only get more tired—they don’t ever get better.

Feed the Machine

Have you ever really thought about why you eat? No, this is not a rhetorical question. Why do you need to eat? It comes down to a few things. You eat because your body needs energy to do work. You eat because your body needs to repair itself. You eat because it’s a social way to connect to someone else. When summer hits, it’s not time to back off of training, and therefore it’s not time to back off of eating quality food.

Here’s the problem. You will have a summer job and there is a good chance that wherever you work, you will be one of the few people working out regularly. Of all the people who actually work out, there are probably very few like you who are training for a specific goal other than exercising for general health. Food for these people has a different meaning.

When summer hits, it’s not time for athletes to back off of training, and therefore it’s not time to back off of eating quality food, says @CarmenPata. Share on X

Sure, it still gives them energy, but they more often eat for social reasons or out of boredom. This is the problem. We all begin to act like the people we surround ourselves with. If everyone around you goes to eat out at a buffet every day, sooner or later you will be joining them. You might say it will just be one time, but eventually you’ll be doing it every day. Deep fried food might taste great, but is it really going to help you achieve your athletic goals?

Of course not.

Training during the summer needs to be supported with enough quality food. Depending on your summer job, you will have to figure out how best to make sure you are eating the right food. If you are lucky enough to have an office job, then bringing food to work should be easier for you. You’ll probably have a break room with a full-sized refrigerator and microwave that you can use to store and reheat your meals. On the other hand, if you work at a job that requires you to be outside or work in a factory setting, meal prep is going to be more difficult.

Back when I was doing shift work, we had a 15-minute morning break, a 30-minute lunch break, and another 15-minute afternoon break. That’s not a lot of time to get the nourishment your body needs in order for you to perform. In that case, you better have a food option that is quick, fast, and doesn’t need a refrigerator. For me, there is nothing better for those 15-minute breaks than a protein shake. It just so happens that one of my favorite authors has a book, The Hungry Athlete, which can give you some directions on how to do this.

Plan to Work Hard and Play Hard

School’s out for summer. No more pencils… no more books… no more teachers’ dirty looks. School’s out for summer. If there has ever been a theme song for the end of school, it has to be Alice Cooper’s School’s Out. The excitement and tempo of the song perfectly match my emotions at the end of the year, and I’m sure we all can agree that the start of summer is the ultimate form of optimism that we can experience.

We have those summer days that feel like they last forever. We have the weather that makes us want to get outside and play as much as we can. We have the freedom of taking vacations to our favorite places. If you really want to take your training to the next level, it is that last idea that you need to spend some time thinking about.

All good coaches have a year plan that is laid out, where we have scheduled all the important training, including the times we want the athletes to rest. Here is where I see people make a big mistake. The athletes never talk to their coaches about when they are planning to take a vacation. I cannot speak for every strength coach out there, but I WANT my athletes to take breaks. I WANT them to get away for a week with their family or friends. I WANT them to talk to me, so we can plan TOGETHER when they should take time away.

While athletes should take a vacation, they should also talk to their coach to figure out the best time to take it, says @CarmenPata. Share on X

When I have athletes who decide to take a vacation without talking to me first, they seem to have an unbelievable ability to pick the absolutely wrong time to miss training sessions. Either they are missing the start of a new program and will be lost when they return, or they pick a time where we are getting close to peaking. Then, when they get back, they make the mistake of thinking they can jump back in with everyone else. Unfortunately, their body tells them that they CANNOT jump back in with everyone else, with reminders in the form of pulled muscles, extreme soreness, or depressingly light estimated maxes.

The question is not should you take a vacation, but when should you go on vacation? Of course, there are natural breaks in the summer training block. If you’re in the U.S., the Fourth of July is a natural time where you can plan on a break. There will be other times that you can plan to be away, but you need to be able to talk to your coach. In my view, we all want and need to have vacations, but time away from the weight room is very different than time away from a business setting.

In a professional or business setting, when you are away you will be missed, but there are processes set up to keep things going when you are not physically there. In the weight room, when you are away, of course you will be missed, and people still put in their work when you are not there. But the major difference is that your body is no longer getting the stress of training. That stress from training is the thing that allows you to get better, set new personal records, and become a better version of yourself. So, before you book a trip, have a conversation with your coach about what particular dates you can get away without jeopardizing your training goals.

Final Thoughts

For me, summer is still the highlight of the training year, and those three summer months are the reason I grind through the other nine. In all the years I’ve been working with high school and college athletes, far too many of them have not listened to the advice that you’ve just read. Those students didn’t understand the simple fact that the summer months are the perfect time to grow their potential for success.

The summer months are the perfect time for athletes to grow their potential for success, says @carmenpata. Share on X

I describe faith as the ability to see things as they could be, where facts are seeing things the way they are. Looking back, maybe these athletes who didn’t have success just didn’t have faith. Maybe they didn’t have the ability to see the finish line when they were still at the start line. Maybe they didn’t use one of the most powerful and magic words in the human language: “Until.” Until means defining a goal and having the courage to see it though, no matter what. It’s a promise to yourself to do it until you get to where you want to be. Until means they won’t miss the chance to grow, to pay the price, until they’ve found success.

When these athletes have made a decision that they won’t give up until they get there, they move differently. They move with a sense of urgency. They are diligent in everything they do. As it’s been said, diligence is the backbone of good luck. Isn’t it funny how all people who are diligent and hardworking seem to also have all the good luck? Now that you know how to set up yourself for success this summer, go make the most of these perfect months of training.

Since you’re here…
…we have a small favor to ask. More people are reading SimpliFaster than ever, and each week we bring you compelling content from coaches, sport scientists, and physiotherapists who are devoted to building better athletes. Please take a moment to share the articles on social media, engage the authors with questions and comments below, and link to articles when appropriate if you have a blog or participate on forums of related topics. — SF

May 2004. I woke up in total darkness.

I soon found out that two months earlier, I’d been involved in a horrible auto accident. After losing control of my car, a tree had broken through the windshield and impaled me in the face. My jaw was wired shut, an infection on my brain was killing me, another infection was attacking my sinus cavity, and my brain had been swollen for so long that my optic nerve atrophied.

The doctors told me I’d never see again.

I wish I could say I popped up in that bed and said, “No problem! We’ll make it through this.” But that didn’t happen. I had a long, long recovery process. Worst of all, four brain surgeries later—with cyclical and ridiculous amounts of at-home IVs, plus prescription bottles that needed to be kept in a large shoebox—the surgeons still hadn’t saved my life. The brain infection was still killing me. When I woke up in the ICU after that fourth brain surgery, the incredibly emotionally intelligent brain surgeon asked me if I wanted to die.

That didn’t rattle me as much as it might most people. I didn’t know how I was going to survive in that moment, and I don’t think the surgeon truly did either. It was a pathetic attempt at patient compliance. But, moments earlier, I’d made a choice. And sometimes I need to remind myself about that choice and the unifying strength in all of us. If I’m going to die, it’s not going to be in pain. I’m going to live my life.

A Life in Sport

Sport doesn’t care who you are or where you come from. It is our world’s common denominator, with a breadth that surpasses language, skin color, and imaginary lines we’ve drawn on maps. Sport unifies us, and sport divides us. It brings us together for a single purpose unlike anything else. In many ways, sport creates an international society of one.

Sport doesn’t care who you are or where you come from. It’s our world’s common denominator, says @TannerGers. Share on X

Before I started high school, I’d lived in more cities than the number of grades I’d completed. It was hard being the new kid every four or six months. But, through sport—the great equalizer, the great unifier—my brother and I made our way. It was through sport that we made friends; through sport we created meaning for ourselves, developed our identities, and found sanity.

Dad was gone, mostly. Mom was working, mostly. And then we’d move again. No matter how many times we were forced to say goodbye, start over, and adapt to whatever new school we’d be enrolled in, we knew there would be at least one constant between this city and the next one: Kids play sports. And we did too.

As “Irish twins,” we were fortunate enough to play together on multiple teams for many years. It also made it easy on our mom, as there was only one practice she had to get us to. And, she raised us well—well enough that coaches loved us right from the first practice. Yes, sir. No, sir. Thank you. No thank you. And then hustle our asses off. What’s not to like?

In high school, I was fortunate to play on a nationally recognized team in Arizona. My junior year (in 2000), we made USA Today’s Top 25 Teams in the Nation and beat the No. 4 team in the nation. After my senior year, I was fortunate enough to play a little collegiate lacrosse, while my dream of being Barry Sanders, the next 5’ 8” running back, didn’t quite pan out. (He’s the GOAT—I was a goat.)

A New Beginning

When I lost my vision, everything changed. Everything had to be done differently. From peeing standing up, to getting toothpaste in my mouth and not all over my fingers and the counter, to just walking down the street, being successful with blindness is about doing things a little differently. The same is absolutely true for developing athletic and sports performance for blind athletes—just because we have to do it a little differently, doesn’t mean it can’t be done.

Developing athletic and sports performance for blind athletes may require doing things a little differently, but it can be done, says @TannerGers. Share on X

Sure, I was motivated to make something of myself despite being permanently disabled, but realizing sports were still a possibility dumped gasoline on that motivational pilot light.

It was learning how to develop to the peak of my given genetic ability with cutting-edge opportunities, an unshakable will to push myself hard through every barrier in front of me, and the courage to break the rules that enabled me to experience the opportunities I have had the honor and privilege of experiencing. Such opportunities include becoming: a U.S. National Team athlete for multiple years; 2011 Para Pan American gold medalist; 2012 Paralympian; 2013 World Championship team member (in track and field across the long jump, 100, 200, and 4×100 relay); 2015 and 2016 national champion in track cycling (1 km); and, in the sport that stole my heart, 3x MVP and 6x All-Star in beep baseball.

Performance Training for Blind Athletes

Developing athletic performance as a blind athlete is challenging. I have an advantage though: I’ve seen before. But even then, even when you’re working with an athlete who has seen before or has not always lived life with a disability, there are challenges that need to be overcome. These challenges become exponentially difficult when you’re working with an individual who has a congenital disability. Or, as often occurs, multiple disabilities: physical and/or cognitive.

I want you to be aware of this as you consider working with such athletes. I will provide some insight into how I approach this situation, and then let you decide whether creating more meaning for a person with a disability through sport and physical preparation is right for you.

I’ve been blessed to have the opportunity to directly work with and coach Paralympic athletes—including athletes who are above- and below-the-knee amputees, those living with cerebral palsy, and athletes who require the use of a wheelchair—as well as Special Olympic athletes with cognitive impairments. However, for the purpose of this article, I’m going to focus on athletes who are blind, like me, or athletes who are low-vision or visually impaired.

Categorizing Blindness for Sport

There are three levels of blindness recognized by international sports federations like the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and the International Blind Sports Federation (IBSA), and each category has its own set of unique challenges. The categories include B1, B2, and B3.

• B1 athletes are the athletes with the most severe vision impairment, such as total blindness or no light perception.
• B2 athletes can see colors and shapes, and some can even mobilize their bodies without the use of a mobility device (such as a white cane or guide dog).
• B3 athletes can mobilize their bodies safely through space without the need of any assistance and may even be able to drive. (Think about that the next time you hit the road.)

Since these classifications are only relevant for athletes competing at the highest levels of Paralympic sport, for the sake of this post, I will group these athletes under one umbrella, “blind.” Unless there needs to be a distinction for specific reasons, I will refer to all blind, visually impaired, and low-vision athletes as blind athletes.

Overcoming Fear

When working with any blind athlete, just like you would with any other athlete, it is important for you to ask questions and learn about the level of their blindness. Similar to femur length, muscle fiber type, individualized training adaptation responses, or neuro types, understanding one’s level of blindness (or visual acuity) may have a significant influence on how you approach training with that athlete.

Understanding a blind athlete’s level of blindness or visual acuity may influence how you approach training with that athlete, says @TannerGers. Share on X

Next, how do you help them overcome the fear of doing something new?

Let me share a quick story to illustrate exactly what I mean. When I showed up to the first beep baseball practice that I ever attended, no one knew I was coming—I just showed up. After introducing myself, I stood on the sideline and listened to what was going on.

During batting practice, Daniel Green, the team’s pitcher, asked me if I wanted to give it a shot. Excitedly, I jumped at the opportunity!

They gave me just a little instruction before Daniel threw the first pitch. I hit it into right field. I hit the second pitch up the middle. Daniel was loving it. Soon, he told me, “OK, Tanner. Now you’ve got to run.”

“What?” I asked, shocked.

“Yeah, hitting’s great, but you’ve got to touch the base in order to score. So, you’ve got to run when you hit the next one.”

I noticed something hit the back bottom of my underwear.

Scared, timid, I ran through all the questions a blind individual will ask themselves the first time they are faced with being a blind athlete. What if I fall? What if I hurt myself? What if they make fun of me? I don’t want to. I’m scared.

It was pretty weird for this fear to come over me like that. Here I was, a lifetime athlete scared to run down the baseline, something I did as a sighted athlete for as long as I could remember.

When I hit the next ball, I slowly jogged down the baseline. And the entire time I ran toward the buzzing base, I was terrified. I was most worried I would run into something. Maybe a rope that would hit me right in the throat, or maybe an ice chest, a chair, or another person. Eventually, though, I touched the base, unscathed.

The next time, I ran a little faster. The third time, I ran even faster. And by the fourth time, I was running as fast as I could. The wind in my face, the freedom I felt to demonstrate something so simple, something so natural, something I was born to do, was liberating.

I love working with blind athletes because I know what going from fear to fearless feels like. I know how liberating athletic expression is, says @TannerGers. Share on X

I don’t love working with blind athletes because it’s easy or because I happen to be a B1 athlete. I love working with blind athletes because I know what going from fear to fearless feels like. I know how liberating athletic expression is. And I love working with blind athletes because sport creates a society of one. Not just for the fans, the competition of international teams, billions of viewers from across the world, and the blood, sweat, and tears of everyone involved. But that moment. That gift. That joy athletes feel for the first time when everything clicks.

3 Great Exercises to Use with Blind Athletes

I had been incredibly blessed to have sight for over two decades, which provides me with a significant advantage and memory catalog to draw from. Not only have I seen athletic movement, but I’ve expressed athletic movement with sight across baseball, football, lacrosse, soccer, swimming, golf, basketball, track and field, BMX, and all the other sports you play as kids, from four square to dodgeball to kickball to tag.

But athletes who haven’t been able to see what athletic expression looks like; who haven’t been able to sprint freely for 40, 60, or 100 meters; who can’t cut on a dime and change directions; who can’t separate their shoulders from their hips while running… they often suffer from some of the most horrific basic movement patterns. And what I’ve found really helps is getting back to basics in the safest ways possible.

Athletes who haven’t been able to see what athletic expression looks like often suffer from some of the most horrific basic movement patterns, says @TannerGers. Share on X

One of the most common patterns I observe in blind athletes is the inability to push and accelerate. For example, after hitting the beep baseball and coming out of the box, some blind athletes immediately stand upright, and their foot strike is so violently in a heel to toe pattern that their feet sound like they’re clapping the ground as they run to the base. A clearly audible clapping noise! On grass! For 100 feet…

This is one of the many reasons why injuries are so prevalent in beep baseball. While typically not experienced in the naturally gifted and fast blind athletes, “lower level” athletes experiencing ankle sprains, hamstring pulls, and patellar tendon, MCL, and ACL tears are not unusual. Not too long ago, playing against a team in the World Series, an athlete literally snapped his femur in half sprinting to the base, believe it or not. It was unforgettable: a loud, cracking sound followed by the most painful screams. It was a terrible sound.

1. Resisted Running with a Prowler or Sled

To remediate the aforementioned mechanical issues and teach athletes how to push, accelerate, apply force into the ground in the right direction, and quickly improve acceleration mechanics, I put them under load using a prowler or weighted sled, or have them perform the run unloaded on a steep hill. I do this for a multitude of reasons:

1. They cannot push a heavy sled or prowler or sprint up a steep hill while clapping their feet with an aggressive heel strike.
2. It teaches the athlete how to lean forward and push through the forefoot, and develops the strength needed to successfully achieve a forward lean for unloaded accelerations.
3. It is a safe exercise that enables a relatively large amount of repetitions in patterns we want to develop, while also eliminating significant external loading, such as with a squat or deadlift.

Once you feel confident in your blind athlete’s ability to push with mechanics that don’t sound like a standing ovation, a fantastic exercise progression is the push-up sprint start. This will help them transition more smoothly into a natural forward lean while accelerating and develop the confidence in themselves to sprint on their own accord. And, when contrasted with the loaded sled, they will be able to experience that intimate and real feeling of sprinting faster.

You might be wondering how to keep athletes who cannot see running straight when sprinting uphill, pushing a prowler, pulling a sled, or executing a push-up sprint start. There are a multitude of creative, orientational means I’ve incorporated to facilitate my ability to do all of the above. Everything from using a beep baseball, a Bluetooth speaker, a combination of clapping and calling, or some other audible device like a megaphone. And, yes, I’ve used all of these for directional awareness for my sprinting. Using a megaphone enables me to sprint 100 meters without a guide runner!

If you use a device to create an audible signal, you would put that device, like the Bluetooth speaker or beep baseball, at the location you want the athlete to sprint or push the prowler to. Ensure the athlete is orientated appropriately toward the desired direction, ask them to make sure they’re comfortable and aware of which direction they need to go, and then give the command to start.

2. Extreme Isometric Rear Foot Elevated Split Squat with Front Forefoot on a Plate

Some coaches who’ve inspired me and taken the time to work with me to develop my capabilities as an athlete include Cal Dietz, Chris Korfist, Dan Fichter, Joel Smith, Alex Natera, Mike Robertson, Willie Williams, Joel Jameson, Lee Taft, Jake Epstein, Carlo Buzzichelli, Bob Seebohar, and many, many more.

I am probably most influenced by Chris, Alex, and Cal, as seen in the video below from the middle of my isometric triphasic block, but I love all these coaches. And I love how each one hungrily pursues continued excellence. They’re never satisfied. There’s always room to grow better, stronger, longer, harder, and faster.

Video 1. Extreme isometrics are a great exercise for blind athletes. For more remedial blind athletes, I recommend a more conservative lunge exercise first, beginning with a reverse lunge into an extreme iso hold, before progressing to more explosive iterations.

Extreme isos are great exercises for blind athletes. I was first exposed to extreme isos by Will Roberts of Iron Will Fitness in 2011, in my first season as a Paralympic National Team athlete hopeful. Will had me perform extreme iso lunges, push-ups, rear foot elevated split squats, dips, crate crunches, and glute ham raises.

The lunge style he taught was very explosive. It taught my body how to absorb force and served as the lead-off exercise for every workout session. Basically, I would powerfully drive my working leg knee up into the air, fall down, catch myself, and hold there for a given time period.

For more remedial blind athletes, I recommend a more conservative lunge exercise, beginning with a reverse lunge into an extreme iso hold, before progressing to more explosive iterations as previously described.

Extreme isometrics are great exercises for blind athletes, and for me, mental toughness was another beneficial outcome, says @TannerGers. Share on X

Will would have me do a set for five seconds, stand back up, and immediately repeat the exercise, but holding for 10 seconds. This would continue increasing in five-second increments until I completed the final set at 45 seconds. I would be given about three minutes of rest before switching legs and performing the same set scheme for the opposite leg. Mental toughness was another beneficial outcome.

The same 5-, 10-, 15-, 20-, 25-, 30-, 35-, 40-, and 45-second sets were applied to the exercise list above, with the split squats as the only other unilateral exercise that required me to do sets on each leg.

Extreme isos worked very well for me. I know they were the strength and conditioning component that helped drive me to earn a spot on the U.S. Paralympic National Team due to my performance at the 2011 U.S. Paralympic National Championships for track and field, as well as my first international gold medal in the long jump later that year at the Para Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico.

3. Spin Bike

When I heard Dan Pfaff on Speed Endurance describe how he used spin bike workouts for three weeks while nursing Obadele Thompson’s foot injury prior to his setting a personal best in the 200m, I thought how I might be able to use spin bikes to improve my own speed.

I’m not sprinting sub-20 in the 200, but as an athlete who is prone to injury from an abundance of violently explosive track work, I began hypothesizing how I can use spin bikes, with varying levels of resistance, to improve my nervous system’s ability to coordinate movement in my legs at rates I’m unable to achieve while sprinting. The results were very positive.

As it relates to blind athletes in general, spin bikes provide this and other important adaptations we can leverage in a safe way. If you haven’t started to pick up on the trend here, it’s about how we can put blind athletes in a safe position, where they feel confident and comfortable, while eliciting positive adaptations that enable them to have a leg up on the competition. Or to just feel good about themselves, their improved health, and physique.

Training blind athletes is about putting them in a safe position, where they feel confident and comfortable, while eliciting positive adaptations, says @TannerGers. Share on X

I’ve been very successful in using spin bikes for conditioning, strength development, speed training, and mental toughness. For conditioning, I vary the tension on the pedals and manipulate set and rep schemes. For example, with a moderate amount of tension, I have athletes pedal as fast as they can for five, seven, or 10 seconds, and then take a 30- or 60-second rest, for sets of 3-5, with a longer rest in between cycles before performing another one or two cycles. Or, with moderate tension, I have athletes spin for one, three, or five minutes at a moderate pace and then rest 60 seconds between sets for 3-5 sets.

For strength development, I turn up the tension and have athletes go as hard and fast as they can for 5-10 seconds, and then rest for three minutes across a total of five sets.

For speed work, I just want the athletes to stimulate their nervous system by moving and coordinating their legs at speeds they have never achieved before. Typically, I do this for sets of 7-10 seconds, with a total of five sets.

These are just examples of set and rep schemes and you should program what you believe will work for the individual athletes you’re working with. You can get creative with how you monitor performance improvements and thereby keep motivation/ competition high through various means. Some ideas include using clips that measure wattage output, rate of turnover, or cadence, as well as the good ol’ fashioned perceived level of effort.

How Do You Coach an Athlete into a Position They Cannot Visually Observe (and Have Never Done Before)?

If you just perform the exercise and ask the athlete to do it, they will struggle or fail because they cannot see you demonstrate the movement. Remember, blind athletes are differently abled. They see with their ears and their hands. That is why an audible sound for orientation works for doing prowler/sled/sprint work.

For something such as the isometric exercises, you will need to demonstrate the exercise, and then tell the blind athlete to touch you. Literally tell them to come feel your head position, shoulders, back, hands, arms, legs, and feet. This is how a blind athlete will conceptualize and visualize what it is you are coaching them to do, so they can then recreate the same exercise/positioning for themselves.

By literally feeling your head position, shoulders, back, hands, arms, legs, and feet, a blind athlete can visualize what you are coaching them to do, says @TannerGers. Share on X

Go deep. Guide their hands with your hands. Show them the isometric hold position first, and when they understand that position, show them how you got into that position. Show them how the hamstring muscle contracts when you aggressively drive your heel back. This might sound weird, but it will minimize frustrations as a coach when verbal cues are not working to get the athlete in the right position.

Let me use a reverse isometric lunge as an example.

First, ask the athlete if they know what a lunge is. If they are in a safe space to move, ask them to demonstrate it for you. If they can do it correctly, great. If they need just a little coaching, that’s fine too. Ask the athlete if it is okay if you touch them and move their body a bit to make a couple minor tweaks, and then gently move them into the right position.

If the athlete does not know how to perform a lunge, you will get into the lunge position, and instruct them to come to you so they can feel how your body is positioned. Every athlete is different, but I typically use a top-down approach—for whatever reason, starting where your shoulders and head are positioned facilitates their conceptual understanding quicker than if you were to go right to that 90-90 front leg.

While it does help to have a second coach who can verbally and physically guide their hands, you can do this successfully on your own. So, let them feel how your shoulders are positioned while you’re in the deep lunge position. Have them follow your back down to where your hips are located. Instruct and guide them to feel your front side working leg, down the thigh, down to your ankle, and all the way to the foot. Have them then work back up the leg and guide them to feel your rear leg all the way down to your foot.

Obviously, progressions can include time under tension, set and rep schemes, and load (best with dumbbells or kettlebells for safety), as well as oscillatory isometrics.

Are You Inspired Yet?

Here’s a video of me sharing this story at the National Speaker’s Association Headquarters in Tempe, Arizona. And this is a video that features me and two other athletes, Danny Fopiano and Blake Boudreaux, discussing the game that changed my life forever.

If you’re motivated to work with blind athletes, where can you find athletes with blindness or visual impairments? Great question. There are numerous places.

1. State schools for the blind
2. Adult vocational rehabilitation programs
3. Camp Abilities
4. The National Beep Baseball Association

Every state in the U.S. has a school for the blind or a school for the deaf and blind, and you should connect with the sports coach or athletic director for that school. For blind athletics, they will have teams that play goal ball (a Paralympic sport that is only played by the blind and visually impaired), track and field, and other sports. Each will be different, depending on the unique circumstances of the state, funding, coaching, and student involvement.

Do a Google search, reach out, let them know you want to start working with blind athletes, and make a positive difference in their lives. Offer to volunteer, ask questions, and figure out the best way for you to provide help and go from there.

Depending on the city and region you live in, there may be an active vocational rehabilitation program or facility nearby. Here in the Phoenix area, the two big ones are Southern Arizona Association for the Visually Impaired (SAAVI) and The Foundation for Blind Children (FBC). Both of these organizations have adult independent living programs, physical education programs, job readiness programs, and educational services to support people with blindness go to college and find gainful employment.

There are no national programs like this that I am aware of outside of the federally and state funded vocational rehabilitation (VR) programs. Every state approaches VR programs differently, but a quick Google search for “[your state/city] vocational rehabilitation blind” will get you going in the right direction.

Other Resources

Camp Abilities is run by my friend Dr. Lauren Lieberman and provides numerous week-long educational sports camps for children who are blind across the United States and internationally. Dr. Lieberman is very passionate about Camp Abilities and would love it if you reached out to her and volunteered support for her camps. Camp Abilities only comes to town once a year, so there is tremendous opportunity to volunteer, make a difference, and continue making a difference in the life of young blind athletes for years to come.

(585) 395-5361

[email protected]

Just tell Lauren that Tanner from beep ball sent you.

The National Beep Baseball Association has more than two dozen teams here in the United States, as well as a team in Canada, the Dominican Republic, and Taiwan, and there are other international teams developing. If you go here, you will find the list of teams and the contact information for the teams in your area. Who knows? Maybe you’ll show up to one of their practices, fall in love with it like I did, and I’ll see you at the World Series… Just know this: You’d better bring your A game.

Since you’re here…
…we have a small favor to ask. More people are reading SimpliFaster than ever, and each week we bring you compelling content from coaches, sport scientists, and physiotherapists who are devoted to building better athletes. Please take a moment to share the articles on social media, engage the authors with questions and comments below, and link to articles when appropriate if you have a blog or participate on forums of related topics. — SF

“VO2 max can be improved, on average, by only 5-15%, even with intensive training. It is clear, then, that the average person can train as much as he or she likes yet never achieve a VO2 max anywhere near that of elite athletes.” – Tim Noakes (Lore of Running)

Since my first exercise physiology undergrad classes, some 25 years ago, I have been taught the above “truth.” That is, that one of the most important physiological attributes for endurance athletes—VO2 max—is largely fixed, largely genetic, and if you don’t like your own number, “blame your parents.”

But just how true is this widely held belief?

Putting aside the sedentary twin studies and the short-term papers, if we turn to the real world and look at the observations of an exercise physiologist whose primary job was testing athletes—often the same athletes over multi-year time frames—how does the belief that VO2 max is largely untrainable stack up? If we watch real athletes over extended periods of time, what kind of gains are we likely to see? That is the perspective and those are the answers I hope to provide in this post. 

Understanding VO2 Max in Team Sports

First, a quick recap on what VO2 max is and why it’s important. VO2 max, or the maximal oxygen uptake, is the total amount of oxygen that your muscles can extract from your blood per minute. It represents the overall strength of the aerobic system and is the product of oxygen delivery (from the heart and lungs) and oxygen uptake (from the muscles).

VO2 max is an important metric for endurance athletes because when energy is generated aerobically (in the presence of oxygen), the by-product of glycolysis (sugar burning) can actually be used to create even more energy (via the Krebs cycle) rather than “hanging around” in the muscle and contributing to acidosis and subsequent fatigue. While energy generation might be a little slower than anaerobic processes, it can take an athlete a whole lot further for a given amount of fuel. Hence, its importance to endurance events.

While VO2 max is an important metric for endurance athletes, it also plays an important role in the between-effort recovery in most team sports, says @alan_couzens. Share on X

However, even in “intermittent events” like most team sports, it plays an important role in the between-effort recovery. Even if the critical moments in a given event are anaerobically dominant, a strong aerobic system and all that comes with it (development of the “lactate gobbling” type 1 fibers, increased capillarization within the muscle to allow faster transport of the “good stuff” in and the “bad stuff” out) gives the athlete the ability to recover quickly between these crucial efforts, facilitating more of them within the game. The same principle is even more true in training, where the ability to recover quickly between specific training bouts ultimately allows more quality training within the program.

With the above in mind, it should come as no surprise then that the best endurance athletes in the world have very high VO2 max values. Even athletes from sports not typically considered “endurance” sports still exhibit relatively high numbers, as shown in the table below.

Now, back to our depressing revelation: There’s only 5-15% potential improvement. Not a whole lot of wiggle room there. If you come into the lab and I test you as having a VO2 max of 50 ml/kg/min, the best you can hope for with “all the training in the world” is an improvement to ~57 ml/kg/min. With world-class males typically scoring 75-85 ml/kg/min and world-class females scoring 65-75 ml/kg/min, an improvement from 50 to 57 isn’t going to put you in sight of winning most local races, let alone validate your dream of winning a big one!

And, indeed, there was some science to back up this “rule of thumb.” A study that looked at VO2 max values in twins¹concluded that genetic factors explained 72-74% of the difference in VO2 max and, even when “sports participation” was factored in, genetic factors continued to explain between 57% and 63% of the variance in VO2 max. Presumably, studies like this formed the basis of the belief that VO2 max was largely genetic and could only be increased by a small amount through training.

My first VO2 max test during my exercise physiology undergrad yielded a VO2 max of 62 ml/kg/min. Not bad, but not great either, especially for someone who had spent the better part of the previous decade following the black line up and down the pool. It seemed to line up well with my experience of never quite having that quality to make it to that next level. That 62 ml/kg/min “well trained” would put my life range from untrained to trained in the 53-62 ml/kg/min ballpark, dooming me to a life of middle-of-the-pack athletics. And the story gets even more depressing…

Many years after my first VO2 max test, we set up an exercise physiology lab here in Boulder, Colorado, and I got my hands on a fresh, new metabolic cart. So, of course, I had to put it through its paces. This time around I tested at 49 ml/kg/min! I was hardly what I would call untrained at the time—still competing recreationally in triathlon. Nor was I old enough that age should have a large impact, and yet my VO2 max had already shifted downwards by ~20%! Rather than drowning my sorrows, such a shift had me asking: If my VO2 max can change so significantly, beyond what I had learned was the “norm” in my studies, could it change the other way?

Fortunately, I wasn’t just an exercise physiologist. A big part of my “second job” as an endurance coach was to try and have a positive impact on the VO2 max of the athletes I worked with. This meant that, over long periods of time—years, in many cases—I was performing repeated testing on the same athlete, while carefully monitoring and quantifying the training load, and seeing how this VO2 max value shifted in response to the training. And (spoiler alert) the shifts that I witnessed were far greater than the 5-15% that I had been taught to expect!

One particular case study of an athlete that went WAY beyond that 5-15% improvement in VO2 max comes to mind…

The Case Study: Why Real-World Testing Matters

I started working with a youngish, middle-of-the-pack athlete with some big goals. He had come from a history of rotating through a number of intensity-based programs and was frustrated at the plateau despite “working as hard as I could.” In more detail, the programs typically involved focused periods of 3-4 months before the key event, which would begin with high-intensity (threshold and “VO2”) trainer intervals and progressively extend to a few specific long rides/runs before the event. After the event, he would take a couple of months off/unstructured to mentally recover from the high-intensity training and then begin the cycle again. As a part of the initial assessment, we got the athlete into the lab for a full workup including a VO2 max test. The result? A fairly modest 53 ml/kg/min.

Again, knowing what we “know,” we might say to him (or at least be thinking), here is a guy who, as someone preparing for repeated Ironman triathlon events, is clearly not untrained. So, with a trained VO2 max of 53 ml/kg/min, his long-term goal of qualifying for the Ironman World Championship might be overly ambitious, at best. For comparative purposes, most male athletes in that age group who I have coached and who have achieved that level are closer to 65-70 ml/kg/min. Even at the low end, this would represent an improvement of 22% in VO2 max (from an already trained state)! Perhaps it was my duty to send this guy on his way? Or at the very least, let him know “not gonna happen, champ.” Well, fortunately, we didn’t take that route…

Over the course of the next three years, this athlete shifted his VO2 max from 53 to 74 ml/kg/min: An increase of 40% from a very middle-of-the-pack number to an elite level! And, in the process, he achieved his goal of qualifying for the Ironman World Championship.

Figure 2 shows the progression in VO2 max values for this athlete over each year of training…

So, how did we accomplish such a large change (above and beyond that suggested by the literature)?

While the majority of the short-term literature that has looked at interventions to increase VO2 max has focused on the impact of high-intensity training (so-called “VO2 max intervals”), we took a different approach. In this case, the bulk of the athlete’s training was in and around the aerobic threshold (the first lactate turnpoint—i.e., at lactate levels of 1-2 mmol/L). A LONG way from VO2 max.

My basis for using low-intensity, high-volume training as a potent stimulus for large changes in VO2 max is the observed relationship between training volume and cardiac stroke volume. Share on X

My rationale for using low-intensity, high-volume training as a potent stimulus for large changes in VO2 max comes from the observed relationship between training volume and cardiac stroke volume, one of the most important and modifiable factors in VO2 max. In a large EKG study of athletes’ heart morphology, Berbalk discovered a strong, almost linear, relationship between training volume and total heart volume,²as shown in figure 3.

That is, the total volume of the athletes’ hearts, scaled not with the intensity of training, but with the average weekly volume! This makes good physiological sense, since we know that for the majority of people, stroke volume reaches its maximum limit at relatively low intensities of training (~40-60% VO2 max).³However, as the Berbalk data suggests, it takes a whole lot of beats to make these significant changes!

Additionally, there are positive peripheral adaptations that are favored by LSD (“long, slow, distance”) work. Harms and Hickson concluded that changes in mitochondrial content within the aerobic fibers largely scaled with the number of contractions rather than the intensity of effort.⁴Since mitochondria represent the oxygen processing “factories” within the muscle, more available mitochondria means more potential oxygen extraction from each beat.

This emphasis on low-intensity aerobic training represented a marked departure from what the athlete had done prior to working with me. One of the most interesting aspects of the current wave of technology and data collection for me, as a coach, is that I learn a lot about what other coaches are doing purely from the logs that the athlete brings with them. In this case, he had been doing a lot of threshold and VO2 max training. You can see the clear difference in relative proportions of the annual training intensity distribution in figure 4 from his year prior to working with me (year 0) to his highest fitness in year 3.

Prior to working with me, the athlete did very little work below 80% max heart rate. Most of the work he did in this range was restricted to just warming up for the “main event.” We made a large shift in this training emphasis by adding a lot more easy aerobic work (~65-80% max heart rate) and a lot less high-intensity work (~85-100% max heart rate). Paradoxically, less “VO2 work” resulted in a significant boost to the athlete’s VO2 max!

While the athlete didn’t have VO2 data from before beginning his high-intensity program, his recollection was that his power numbers on the bike improved quickly but then plateaued and then stayed “stuck” at that point following each build. This pattern of stagnation with athletes who focus on high-intensity (traditional “VO2 max”) training is a common one.

This is not to say that traditional VO2 max intervals (3-5 mins @ 95-100% max heart rate ~1:1 recovery) are useless; merely that they are the proverbial icing on the top rather than the cake itself. Athletes can certainly reach a point with pure aerobic training where they are so efficient that they are no longer able to max out their aerobic power. This is indicated by an inability to reach a VO2 “plateau” during a test where, despite increased work, VO2 stabilizes. When an athlete fails to get to this plateau, a small dose of VO2 max intervals can be very effective in eking out those last few ml/kg/min. However, in this case, this form of training represents the move from 70 to 74 ml/kg/min, *not* the move from 53 to 70. That shift was made with “bread and butter” aerobic work!

Athletes who focus on high-intensity (traditional “VO2 max”) training often see a pattern of stagnation, says @alan_couzens. Share on X

The above distribution has some important implications in the training of athletes for anaerobic sports. Traditional VO2 max intervals tend to run counter to a speed/power athlete’s objectives of maximal rates of power production: i.e., they favor lactate tolerance over lactate production in the type II fibers—endurance over speed. By focusing the aerobic development on the other end of the intensity spectrum, it allows the speed/power athlete to keep the adaptations of those type II fibers very specific to the task at hand, while further developing the aerobic abilities of those type I “recovery fibers,” which, frankly, aren’t of much help to you in the rapid power generation game anyhow.

I’ve been fortunate to train with some very high-level sprint cyclists and this is their approach—the endurance work is very easy, and the fast work is very fast. This “polarization” of the training is likely of the most value to those athletes who wish to develop their ability to quickly generate energy anaerobically but also quickly recover from these efforts aerobically.

Is This Level of VO2 Max Improvement Typical?

I would have to say that this 40% improvement represents one of the largest jumps I have seen, and it’s not typical. However, in my experience, jumps far greater than the 5-15% cited in the literature, with sustained aerobic training, are routine.

In fact, when I model the average response to training across the entire group that I have VO2 and long-term training data for, I see an average shift from 54 to 67 ml/kg/min (a change of 24%) when a long-term, high-volume training plan is undertaken.

Conversely, when a short-term, high-intensity training plan is undertaken, the model shows a maximal increase (in 4-6 weeks) to only 63 ml/kg/min (16%).

So, while a 40% increase in VO2 max may not be considered “typical,” after my experience testing and observing athletes over the past 10+ years, I would have to consider a ~25% increase in VO2 max to be very typical given the right training over a sufficient period of time (the two items missing from those initial studies that suggested high genetic limitations).

Maximize Your Athlete’s Talents

In summary, given the crucial role that the aerobic system plays not only in providing energy for the vast majority of sports, but also in accelerating the recovery from anaerobic bouts, all athletes should pay proper attention to its development. Obviously, at a very high level of priority for endurance sports, but also to a larger extent than is commonly acknowledged for “anaerobic sports,” where a base level of aerobic development plays a large role in the overall work capacity of the athlete.

Whatever the sport, given the appropriate training over a sufficiently long period, VO2 mx is a very trainable quality, says @alan_couzens. Share on X

I hope that my experience in facilitating change will bolster the confidence of all coaches to make effective change in this domain. My years of testing and tweaking to develop this quality have led me to conclude that, whatever the sport, given the appropriate training over a sufficiently long period of time, VO2 max is a very trainable quality.

References

1. Fagard, R., Bielen, E. and Amery, A. “Heritability of aerobic power and anaerobic energy generation during exercise.” Journal of Applied Physiology. 1991; 70(1): 357-362.

2. Berbalk, A. “Echokardiographische Studie zum Sportherz bei Ausdauerathleten” in: Zeitschrift fur Angewandte Trainingswissenschaft. 1997; 4: 34-64. Aachen: Meyer & Meyer

3. Åstrand, Per-Olof, Cuddy, T. Edward, Saltin, Bengt and Stenberg, Jesper. “Cardiac output during submaximal and maximal work.” Journal of Applied Physiology. 1964; 19(2): 268-274.

4. Harms, S.J. and Hickson, R.C. “Skeletal muscle mitochondria and myoglobin, endurance, and intensity of training.” Journal of Applied Physiology. 1983; 54(3): 798-802.

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Drills often get a bad reputation as being filler, but they are necessary to teach and progress developmental athletes. The beginning of each track season marks a period of conflicting emotions for me. While I am excited to get the team’s training going again, I also feel overwhelmed at having to hit reset and work through the basics with another new group. I may have 40 athletes, each with individual strengths and areas that need to be developed.

I used to coach 100-400m, relays, both hurdles, and the long and triple jumps. I had to get creative without overtraining. Neither underprepared or overtrained athletes are a good thing. Thankfully, now our new jumps coach, Tyler Colbert, assists me with that workload.

It is important to be able to communicate and plan microcycles with field event coaches to help prepare athletes and preserve their health. I feel like we are getting better at matching up jump events to the theme of the day while still staying within the confines of a low volume/dose range. We typically follow something that looks like this:

• Acceleration Days – Long and triple jump supplementary short approach work, hurdlers cut from speed work early, getting started on drills + starts to H1 and H2.
• Max Velocity – Long and triple jump building to full approaches (cut from speed workout early + less plyos), hurdlers work up to acceleration drills between hurdles.
• X-Factor Days – vertical jumps, hurdle drills (skips, cut step drills, and one-steps).
• Lactate Days – vertical jump work first (long hurdle work for 400m hurdles).

We are still working through this format to find the right amount of work. Some of our athletes do high jump, long jump, and hurdles. It can be tough to fit it all in and sometimes, unfortunately, we arrive at meet day feeling as if something is still lacking. Having a huge range of abilities compounds this. Usually by mid-season we have a good flow down and can get more specific heading into the postseason.

As a result, I often have to program general drills into warm-ups to teach the basics of the jumps and hurdles and to reach all athletes. These drills lay foundations and are prerequisites to delving into more complex items in your coaching repertoire. They are also easy enough to learn so that athletes can teach other athletes when a coach is busy elsewhere.

The Hurdler Rain Dance Drill

On our team, hurdlers are sprinters first. Since I am the hurdles coach, hurdling is essentially treated like a field event. It is a simple fact that if you are slow, you can’t be a great hurdler. As a result, hurdlers usually do half or most of the sprinting workout, then get cut a few reps early to start drills independently. They then supplement hurdle starts or discounted reps (decreased spacing or heights).

Speed is the greatest indicator of future success in any track and field event, says @grahamsprints. Share on X

Talent identification in the hurdles is important. At the moment, I have many young hurdlers who are simply not fast enough or tall enough to three-step. I am letting them develop, but the fact remains that my fastest male hurdlers have all been under 12.0 in the 100m dash. Speed is the greatest indicator of future success in any track and field event.

Video 1. The hurdler rain dance won’t make someone into an all-star hurdler right away, but it is an easy entry point for teaching correct lead leg technique. It also is a great warm-up for general coordination and can help identify athletes who may be naturally suited for hurdling.

The hurdler rain dance drill is a great point of entry to teach hurdlers correct lead leg technique and arm positioning. I have largely done away with lead leg “fence drills.”

I think there is still value to fence drills that have a trail leg technique focus, as they help athletes work on keeping the toe dorsiflexed and feeling the trail leg behind them before it comes through the armpit. Much of the trail leg issues seem to be related to either weak isometric hip strength or poor hip mobility.

Stationary lead leg drills, when done by beginners, often appear too slack. This doesn’t transfer well to actual hurdling. If this is their first encounter with hurdling, I often spend considerable time undoing bad patterns. I used to show them the correct way to do these drills, only to turn away for a moment to help a 100m runner with a block start and then turn back to find the hurdlers lazily kicking their legs against the fence with their arms flailing.

The hurdler rain dance drill is a great point of entry to teach hurdlers correct lead leg technique and arm positioning. Best of all, you can do it with large groups, says @grahamsprints. Share on X

The problem with some of these hurdle drills is that they don’t give athletes any feedback or opportunities to self-organize. The rain dance allows them to work on their hurdling action in a more dynamic way. The goals and benefits of this drill are:

• Teaches them to block and keep lead arm at eye level at take-off. (Check the watch.)
• Allows them to self-organize position of lead arm to provide balance, without crossing the midline.
• General rhythm and coordination, especially with regard to timing of the stance leg hop action. This benefits every athlete on your team and can be a more dynamic addition on days when you focus on hurdle mobility.
• Allows athlete to focus on stopping bent trail arm on the hip before returning upward. (Check your wallet.) The arms are mirrors of each other. Too much wasted movement back here is going to throw the lead arm off as well.
• Provides a dynamic context to attack the hurdle with the knee instead of the foot. Lead foot should stay dorsiflexed. This lays the foundation for other drills, such as lead leg skips.
• Allows them to learn to keep a slight forward lean over the hurdle top.

This is a lot of bang for your buck in one drill. While it doesn’t teach proper takeoff distance or trail leg technique, it is one of my favorites to teach an athlete how to balance and attack the hurdle correctly. The takeoff is largely the area that will contain errors that won’t reveal themselves until later in the hurdle clearance or touchdown. This drill, combined with acceleration work, has helped many of my hurdlers hit the first hurdle with more confidence.

Best of all, you can do this exercise with very large groups. This can allow me to identify prospective hurdlers early in the season because they exhibit natural rhythm and sharpness in this drill. At a small school, trying to fill out the lineup becomes an even more impossible task without some screening.

Gallop and Field Frolicker Drills

The gallop drill is essentially a penultimate step drill for long jump. I like using it because it allows the athlete to experience several correct long jump takeoffs close to one another without worrying about board accuracy. I think throwing a novice jumper onto a runway without some basic skills is setting them up for failure. The penultimate step and takeoff are the keys for a great long jumper. The gallop drill does a great job of laying the neuromuscular qualities to take off correctly.

The gallop drill does a great job of laying the neuromuscular qualities for hurdlers to take off correctly, says @grahamsprints. Share on X

Simple physics would dictate that speed is as important in the long jump as it is in hurdling, but while speed kills, plenty of fast kids never achieve the same success in the long jump. They often decelerate, reach, or stutter going into the board or contact the board toe first. Without a proper takeoff, they can’t transfer this speed. For this reason, a good foul is worth 1,000 stutters.

Video 2. The gallop drill is perfect for coaches looking to develop a track athlete, not just a track sprinter. Use galloping early with underclassmen to get them to appreciate different locomotive strategies.

I like this drill for several reasons:

1. Easier to cue flat-footed takeoff here before moving to a long jump runway.
2. Allows athletes to self-organize and feel the minimal/optimal amount of hip drop needed to maintain speed from the approach and get a good liftoff. Also allows them to work on a push that is a horizontal and vertical mix.
3. Builds confidence with speed at takeoff and can help their board accuracy.
4. Gives them repeated reps at blocking with their arm at eye level with a 90-degree angle between elbow and forearm. This can make their takeoff drive better.

This drill has a lot of flexibility with its placement in a program. I have used it on speed days as a warm-up drill before 10m flys. You can use it in an acceleration complex as well. If I still coached jumps, I would use it right before approach work and full jumps to potentiate this work, especially with athletes early in their development. I would also use it embedded in a short approach jump as a gallop-run-jump sequence.

I have used the three variations below.

• Repeated low gallops
• Repeated high gallops
• Alternating gallop and sprint over banana hurdles

The repeated low gallop is the first progression I use. The emphasis is on getting a quick push through the penultimate foot and then getting the takeoff foot down flat quickly while blocking at eye level. The intensity is low, but the coordinative demand is still high.

Once they have this down, I have them go a little higher. This makes it so they have to get their takeoff leg into proper position very quickly. The takeoff leg will extend more, and the free leg will extend away from the body more than in the low gallop variation. This is a little more similar to a full long jump takeoff.

The gallop and sprint variation is an excellent way to see which athletes are able to attack the takeoff without a major drop in velocity. The arm block should be a little more pronounced and the opposite arm should be thrown back. I have had my better jumpers practice driving the arm opposite of their takeoff leg down and back, and then bring it over and forward.

At the end of the day, if this makes the work for the jumps coach a little bit easier with his specific work later, then I have done my job. I think it is also a great general drill for all sprinters looking to work their way into more elastic plyometric training. Any rhythm, timing, and postural work will have a positive effect on their athletic development. Most of my sprinters have a lot of fun doing these, and it allows them to feel why it is crucial to get to the gallop position upon takeoff with a full approach. I use it weekly in warm-ups as a screening tool on both legs when scaling the ladder to max velocity and acceleration work.

Standing Triple Jumps as a Drill

Triple jump is an event where patience is required. Like hurdling, rushing to full approaches can ingrain bad habits that are not easy to erase. I have used this exercise in the past as an introductory teaching tool for triple jump once basic hopping exercises have been introduced. I think it is also a great drill to reinforce the distinct phases of the triple jump. Even basketball athletes returning to track in the spring should take time to revisit shallower drills and approaches to allow a safe accumulation of volume and intensity.

Video 3. Standing triple jumps are a great exercise to teach hopping in lower intensities. Learning to apply force correctly with good posture and control is important before doing full triple jumps.

I usually start athletes on the field or turf and have them begin with both feet standing together. Using their arms to get a vertical pulse, they should drive out low off both feet onto their dominant jump leg. They then should drive their opposite thigh parallel to the ground, before landing with both feet together and their weight as evenly distributed as possible. They should aim to keep their torso vertical and land as close to flat-footed as possible.

I am not worried about how far they go at first. They should just aim to keep their posture and foot contacts correct. Even small, baby hops with an evenly spaced sound between them will be of benefit in setting up good habits in the later weeks. They may need a call-out of “left-right-together” (or “right-left-together,” depending on their jump leg) until they are comfortable with the pattern.

You can progress this drill by asking them to jump further, but to retain even phases. Athletes will typically self-organize and project lower on their first double-footed takeoff to set up better second and third phases, which is important in the hop phase of a full triple jump. The projection angle off the board is lower than in a long jump. Later on, standing triple jumps with full intent and arm action can be a main session, especially if there are two meets per week on the schedule. The standing triple jump is great for both beginner and advanced athletes to help teach skills or remediate flaws.

Doing It All

I think the above three drills are important for three very technical events and I use them constantly. We are lucky at Triton to have a head coach who coaches distance and three assistant coaches who oversee sprints, jumps, or throws. This makes it easier to have our own programs and progressions in training. I know not every coach has this. The overlap between general and specific items is an absolutely necessity for a coach struggling to fit it all in. Jumpers and hurdlers are sprinters first. Improvements in acceleration development and top speed will translate to these other technical events.

Bridging the gaps between sprinting and other events doesn’t have to be a particularly elusive goal. There are plenty of easy exercises and drills that can help teach the basics of hurdles and horizontal jumping events. The first two weeks in general prep is a crucial time in the season, when laying simple and solid groundwork can set up later weeks. In hurdler development, the space from the blocks to hurdle one is a critical area that needs to be addressed. The cut step and how to attack the hurdle are things that should be taught from day one. The rain dance allows them to experience this technique repeatedly without too much pounding.

Jumpers and hurdlers are sprinters first. Improvements in acceleration development and top speed will translate to these other technical events, says @grahamsprints. Share on X

Long jump takeoff is largely a determinant of what happens in the air. Gallops put athletes in a position to get important feedback and make them more receptive to coaching cues in the future. This is a great reference point when teaching full approaches. In triple jump, learning to control the height of the first phase while “blowing through the board” is important to getting the most out of the approach. Standing triple jumps do a great job at letting athletes self-correct, again without too much pounding. It does a terrific job setting up short approach work as well.

Drills can always be authentic teaching tools and not just fluff, as long as you consider their placement. General drills can always improve the specific tasks if you have a vision for how they develop your athletes.

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…we have a small favor to ask. More people are reading SimpliFaster than ever, and each week we bring you compelling content from coaches, sport scientists, and physiotherapists who are devoted to building better athletes. Please take a moment to share the articles on social media, engage the authors with questions and comments below, and link to articles when appropriate if you have a blog or participate on forums of related topics. — SF

Do sex hormones influence endurance running performance in elite female long-distance track and field athletes? The answer to this question requires an in-depth review of the physiological requirements for elite track and field athletes who participate in long-distance racing. It also requires an analysis of how sex hormones influence these key requirements for performance.

In the sport of track and field, distance running events require the athlete to race at a submaximal velocity, with the goal of finishing the race in the least amount of time possible (Kukolj, et al., 1999; Thiel, et al., 2012). Elite long-distance track and field athletes strive to succeed to the highest level in their races, which requires them to meet the minimal established standards for the quantifiable key performance indicators (KPIs) for their sport.

Maximal oxygen uptake (VO_2max) is a commonly cited KPI for success, but there is evidence to show that VO_2maxalone does not adequately predict performance in long-distance track and field (Bassett & Howley, 2000; Joyner, 1991; Thompson, 2017). Other KPIs which may predict performance outcomes are lactate threshold, running economy, and speed ability (Auersperger, Ulaga, & Škof, 2009; Joyner, 1991; Thompson, 2017). These KPIs for long-distance running performance may be improved by high testosterone levels in elite females.

Biological sex is usually assigned as either male or female at birth by a medical doctor, based on these medical criteria: sex hormones, genitals, and chromosomes (Gender and Gender Identity, 2019). Attributable biological differences between the sexes are differentiated because of inherent sex hormones in males and females. Sex hormones are defined as steroid hormones, such as estrogen or testosterone, which regulate the growth or function of reproductive organs or the development of secondary sex characteristics (Sex Hormone, n.d.).

In long-distance running, where men are on average 12% faster than females, it is important to consider whether the sex difference in performance can be attributed to higher levels of testosterone inherent to males (Coast, Blevins, & Wilson, 2004; Joyner, 2017). Although testosterone is produced in both males and females, higher quantities are produced in males (Federman, 2006). As testosterone supplementation has been used for the purpose of performance enhancement in sport, it is crucial to consider the implications of the relationship between male hormones and performance in long-distance running, particularly in females (Bahrke, et al., 1996).

Hyperandrogenic females, defined as those who produce atypically high levels of testosterone, may be subject to improvements in KPIs for long-distance running (Yildiz, 2006). This literature review aims to identify the factors involved in this problem, as well as to discuss the ethical considerations for hyperandrogenic females in elite track and field competition.

Brief Introduction to Track and Field

The sport of interest here is track and field, which is comprised of events involving running, jumping, and throwing. The running events include track races, road races, and cross-country races. Track and field meets may take place in either an outdoor or indoor setting. Due to their wider popularity and their relevance as Olympic events, this review focuses on long-distance running events, which take place at outdoor track and field competitions (Nelson, 2016).

Outdoor track races take place on a 400-metre rubberized oval, with competition distances ranging from 100m to 10,000m (Jordan, 2019). Road races are completed on paved roads, usually in cities, and typically include distances from 10-kilometres to 42.2-kilometres (the marathon) (IAAF Competition Rules 2009: Road Races, 2013). Cross-country races take place on courses which cover many types of terrain, such as dirt trails and grass, and typically range from 4-kilometres to 12-kilometres in distance (Cross Country, 2019). Road races and cross-country races may require athletes to complete hills and sharp turns (Jordan, 2019).

Race distances in outdoor track and field may be classified as either sprint or long-distance, with sprints being 100m, 200m, and 400m (Hamlin, Hopkins, & Hollings, 2015), and long-distance being the 1,500m, 5,000m, 10,000m, and the marathon (Maldonado, et al., 2002; Zemper, 2005). A sub-category of distance running events in track and field are middle-distance events, which are considered to involve the 800m, 1,500m, and 5,000m races (Di Prampero, et al., 1993).

Physiologically, a sprint requires rapid acceleration and constant high velocity, whereas a long-distance race requires the athlete to race at a submaximal velocity to complete the longer distance in the least amount of time possible, while using tactics to respond to their opponents in order to win the race (Kukolj, et al., 1999; Thiel, et al., 2012). Long-distance running also requires the ability to run at high speeds in the finishing stages of the race (Hayes & Caplan, 2012).

Defining the “Elite”

This literature review will focus on elite female distance runners who compete in the 1500m, 5,000m, 10,000m, and the marathon. Elite female distance runners are typically around 29 years of age, and so the focus of the literature will be contingent on adult female athletes (Hunter, et al., 2011). Elite is defined by the dictionary as the “best of a class,” or superior to the rest of the field (Elite, 2019). In the context of sports, elite athletes could be described as ones who have performed at the highest level in their sport: at the international competition level, such as World Championships or Olympic Games (Tammen, 1996).

Identifying what makes an athlete elite often involves defining key physiological variables which may differentiate the elite athletes from the sub-elite population in the same sport. There is an ongoing debate regarding what these variables are (Myburgh, 2003). It has been proposed that a high VO_2maxis a prerequisite for the classification of an endurance athlete as “elite,” and there has even been a specific cut-off value proposed for females (63 ml žkg ^-1žmin ^-1) (Sjödin & Svedenhag, 1985). Additionally, the ratio of oxygen cost during running at a fixed submaximal workload to the oxygen cost at a maximal workload (VO₂:VO_2max) was found to account for approximately 50% of variability in performance over distance races from 1,500m-5,000m (Myburgh, 2003). This implies that the VO₂:VO_2max ratio could be used to apply numerical values to the definition of an elite endurance runner by imposing some quantitative criteria.

Furthermore, elite athletes will be regarded as those who competed on their respective national team at an international competition. Though physiological factors are a determining factor of success in track and field, the debate regarding which physiological measure is the greatest determining factor regarding an athlete’s elite-ness can create confusion. For simplicity, the classification of elite will be based solely on athletes who compete at a high-level of competition, defined as belonging to their national team or having competed internationally.

Key Performance Indicators

KPIs can be defined as a quantifiable measure used to evaluate the success of an athlete in meeting physiological objectives for performance (Valle, 2011). Elite female long-distance runners are required to compete at high velocities while withstanding fatigue and ventilatory stress for the duration of their race, which can range from anywhere between 4 minutes to 2.5 hours. There are key physiological variables which have been found to be associated with long-distance running performance (Joyner, 1991; Thompson, 2017). KPIs for endurance running have been shown to include VO_2max,blood lactate threshold, and running economy (Joyner, 1991; Thompson, 2017). Maximizing these variables through appropriate training will optimize performance for elite long-distance runners.

VO_2max

VO_2max is defined as “the highest rate at which oxygen can be taken up and utilized by the body during severe exercise” (Bassett & Howley, 2000). As a KPI, high VO_2max is cited as a prerequisite for success in distance running, as high VO_2max values often characterize elite long-distance runners (Bassett & Howley, 2000; Morgan & Daniels, 1994). This parameter is measured as the millilitres of oxygen taken up by working muscles per every kilogram of body weight, per minute (ml žkg ^-1žmin ^-1). Oxygen uptake (VO₂) refers to the amount of oxygen transported from the lungs and delivered to working tissues during exercise (Xu & Rhodes, 1999). During predominantly aerobic exercise, there is an increase in oxygen delivery to working muscles (Vincent, 2008).

VO_2max is determined by many different variables. As maximal endurance exercise continues, the athlete will also eventually reach their maximum heart rate, maximum breathing rate, maximum stroke volume, and maximum cardiac output (Vincent, 2008). The eventual plateau of these variables indicates that VO₂ has reached its steady state maximal value, or VO_2max (Vincent, 2008). VO_2max presents an upper limit for endurance performance: specifically, the cardiorespiratory system’s ability to transport oxygen to working muscles limits VO_2max (Bassett & Howley, 2000). Average VO_2max values in elite female long-distance runners was found by a study to be 67.1 ml žkg ^-1žmin ^-1(Pate, et al., 1987).

The current world record holder for the female marathon, Paula Radcliffe, had a recorded VO_2max value of about 70 ml žkg ^-1žmin ^-1, a value which remained relatively stable over eleven years worth of measurements (Jones, 2006). Despite her VO_2max values being relatively stable, Radcliffe was improving her race performance throughout these eleven years, which indicates that KPIs other than VO_2max must have been improved (Jones, 2006). A paper by Joyner stated that elite male long-distance runners had average VO_2max values of 76.9 ml žkg ^-1žmin ^-1, with some of the highest values reported as being greater than 84 ml žkg ^-1žmin ^-1(1991). It would be expected that marathon world record holders would have the highest VO_2max values, but the male marathon world record holder has a reported VO_2max value of about 70 ml žkg ^-1žmin ^-1(Joyner, 1991).

Furthermore, elite athletes who have the same VO_2max often perform differently (Morgan & Daniels, 1994). In highly trained long-distance runners, VO_2max is unlikely to change with years of training, despite performance improvements (Tjelta, Tjelta, & Dyrstad, 2012). This is an indication that, while VO_2max is a KPI for endurance running performance, it is not solely adequate to predict long-distance running performance on its own; there are other relevant physiological variables which may also affect performance.

Blood Lactate Threshold

As a KPI, lactate threshold contributes to performance in elite distance running (Joyner, 1991; Thompson, 2017). Lactate threshold is defined as the percentage of VO_2max at which lactate begins to accumulate in the blood (Iwaoka, et al., 1988). Lactate is a byproduct of the glycolysis reaction, wherein glycogen is used by the working muscle to produce ATP via oxidative phosphorylation (Dill, 2018b). Produced within the mitochondria, pyruvate, a primary product of the glycolysis reaction, is converted to lactate in a reaction facilitated by lactate dehydrogenase (Dill, 2018b). Lactate is produced through anaerobic glycolysis, which does not require oxygen (Dill, 2018b). When the intensity of endurance exercise increases from moderate intensity to heavy intensity, lactate threshold has likely been surpassed (Dill, 2018a). Work rates beyond that of the lactate threshold prompts lactate to accumulate in the blood, a result of lactate production being greater than lactate removal.

The high energy demands required for high velocities in elite long-distance track and field athletes often require large numbers of fast twitch (type II) muscle fibers, additional to the slow twitch (type I) muscle fibers already recruited (Tesch, et al., 1982). This promotes lactate formation because fast twitch muscle fibers have a greater potential for lactate formation, compared to that of slow twitch muscle fibers (Tesch, et al., 1982). Fast twitch muscle fibers in elite distance runners have likely been trained so that lactate threshold occurs at higher proportions of VO_2max, or at higher speeds, allowing them to perform at higher velocities without accumulating lactate (Tesch, et al., 1982).

Lactate threshold is an important physiological variable with implications for performance ability in endurance athletes. The faster an athlete can run without reaching lactate threshold, reducing the need for lactate metabolism, the more successful they will be in endurance events (Joyner, 1991). The percentage of maximal oxygen uptake (%VO_2max) where lactate threshold occurs is a common way to quantify lactate threshold (Dill, 2018a; Joyner, 1991). The most elite endurance runners, male and female alike, experience lactate threshold at 85-90 %VO_2max(Davies & Thompson, 1979; Dill, 2018a; Iwaoka et al., 1988; Joyner, 1991).

Some studies have indicated that the ability to run at high velocity without accumulating lactate as a fatigue substance in active muscles is more vital than a high VO_2max (Abe, et al., 1999). Lactate threshold has been shown to increase over time with endurance training in elite athletes and may be a KPI for long-distance running performance (Rabadán, et al., 2011). Competitive 10,000m races are often completed at high intensities, which emphasizes the importance of long-distance runners having lactate threshold occur at a high %VO_2max, so that they can compete at high intensities, but perhaps delay lactate accumulation (Tharp, et al., 1997).

Lactate threshold occurring at higher %VO_2max measurements are often measured in elite long-distance runners who have faster racing times and have years of training at intensities which correspond to their lactate threshold (Tjelta, et al., 2012). Lactate threshold at high %VO_2max values is predictive of endurance running performance ability, as these elite athletes are able to run at high velocities for longer periods of time without accumulating lactate and are able to forego the fatiguing effects of acidosis in the muscle (Coyle, 1999).

Running Economy

Running economy is a variable which has been shown to be predictive of endurance running performance. Running economy can be defined as the steady state oxygen cost for a given running speed, measured in ml žkg ^-1žmin ^-1, where a low oxygen cost at a running speed indicates high running economy, and high oxygen cost for a given running speed indicates low running economy (Helgerud, Støren, & Hoff, 2010; Larsen, 2003). To measure this variable, athletes have their VO₂ values measured while running at incrementally increased submaximal running speeds (Helgerud, et al., 2010). In theory, running economy should increase proportionally to running velocity.

Specialty in race distance has been found to affect running economy values (Berg, 2003). Runners tend to have better running economy in the velocities that they train to compete (Berg, 2003). Marathon runners seem to be more economical when running at marathon pace than middle-distance runners are at this pace, and middle-distance runners seem to be more economical at 800m and 1,500m paces than marathoners are (Berg, 2003; Helgerud, et al., 2010). There has not been any established relationship between the biological sexes and differences in running economy (Helgerud, et al., 2010; Morgan, Martin, & Krahenbuhl, 1989). Variability between individuals in this measure is likely caused by anatomical, mechanical, and neuromuscular differences (Helgerud, et al., 2010).

Ability to Run Maximally at the End of Long-Distance Races

In elite long-distance track and field, the ability to run maximally at the end of the race is an additional KPI (Auersperger, et al., 2009). The ability to develop and sustain relatively high speeds at the end of long-distance races, specifically the 1,500m and 5,000m, has been cited as equally important as high aerobic capacity for long-distance running performance (Auersperger, et al., 2009). Elite-level long-distance races are completed at high speeds, and speed ability becomes especially important in the latter stages of the race wherein the runners begin to accelerate and eventually run maximally (Bushnell & Hunter, 2007). The athlete must be able to accelerate in the last stages of their race, when they are fatigued, to the fastest speed that they physiologically can. It has been observed that elite males have greater ability, and higher likelihood, than elite females to accelerate and run at higher speeds at the end of long-distance races (Sandbakk, Solli, & Holmberg, 2018).

As will be discussed, speed ability may be increased through the improvement of determining physiological factors, such as muscle mass and musculotendinous stiffness. Increased muscle strength via increased muscle mass, especially fast twitch muscle fiber size, may be associated with increased speed ability, but sustained high running speeds may require the fatigue resistant slow twitch muscle fibers (Caminiti, et al., 2009; Korhonen, et al., 2009; Weyand & Davis, 2005).

Additional skeletal muscle may allow runners to apply greater forces on the ground, decreasing ground contact duration, enabling the athlete to reach faster velocities (Hayes & Caplan, 2012; Korhonen, et al., 2009;Weyand & Davis, 2005; Wong & de Heer, 2008). Increased musculotendinous stiffness in the lower leg increases energy return and therefore may decrease ground contact time, increase stride frequency, and consequently increase the ability to run maximally (Murphy, Lockie, & Coutts, 2003). The ability to run maximally at the end of a race, and factors which determine it, may be positively associated with testosterone, as will be further discussed.

Male and Female: Biological Sex Differences

The question of what classifies an individual as a male or a female is not a simple one to answer. The definition of femaleness in terms of biology is necessary to determine how sex hormones, which usually occur in higher levels in males, may affect female athletes. The differences between males and females have revolved around arguments concerned with social context, specifically regarding differing gender norms and gender identity, as well as the strictly biological explanations of sex differences (Kaplan & Rogers, 2010).

Males and females have fundamental structural and hormonal discrepancies which determine their diagnostic biological sex. Female is defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary as “the sex that typically has the capacity to bear young or produce eggs” (Female, 2019). Males are defined by the same dictionary as “an individual of the sex that is typically capable of producing small, motile gametes (such as sperm) which fertilize the eggs of a female” (Male, 2019). Biological sex is typically assigned at birth by a medical doctor and is based on these medical criteria: hormones, genitals, and chromosomes (Gender and Gender Identity, 2019).

Individuals with XX sex chromosomes are usually defined as the female sex and have female reproductive organs, whereas individuals with XY sex chromosomes are usually defined as the male sex and have male reproductive organs (Gender and Gender Identity, 2019). Sex chromosome determination occurs following conception when one of the two X chromosomes contributed to the fertilized egg is inactivated; if the inactivation occurs completely, the fetus will be male, but if the inactivation does not complete, the fetus will be female (Federman, 2006). Biological sex assignment of a child at birth may affect the trajectory of an individual’s life; the individual is expected to conform to societal norms associated with their assigned sex (Kaplan & Rogers, 2010).

Occurring at puberty, the development of secondary sex characteristics magnifies the biological distinction between the two sexes. Male secondary sex characteristics are mitigated by a sudden increase in testosterone production, and effects include spermatogenesis, increased muscularity, deepening of the voice, and beard growth (Federman, 2006). Female secondary sex characteristics are caused by the increase of estrogen production at puberty, which stimulates breast development, menarche, and terminal hair growth (Federman, 2006).

1. Body Composition Differences

Biological sex differences are also evident in body composition. Sex dimorphism exists at birth, but it is exaggerated markedly during puberty (Wells, 2007). Rapid growth patterns exclusive to males and females can be attributed to the dramatic hormonal fluctuations which are associated with puberty (Siervogel, et al., 2003). Following puberty, shape differences between males and females are exceedingly present. Patterns of lean mass and fat depositions differ between the sexes (Wells, 2007). After puberty, males typically develop an inverted triangle shape, with broad, muscular shoulders and narrow hips, often with little overall fat mass (Wells, 2007). Following puberty, females typically develop an hourglass shape, consisting of wider hips, with more fat deposits at the breast and thigh areas, and less muscle mass than males (Wells, 2007).

Total body fat increases in both sexes at puberty, but males experience a simultaneous increase in lean body mass (Siervogel, et al., 2003). This augmented lean body mass is associated with increased strength and metabolic rate in males (Siervogel, et al., 2003). Improved testosterone production may be attributable to the larger energy expenditure in active post-pubertal males (Siervogel, et al., 2003).Following puberty, a female’s body composition will be altered so that there will be a greater relative increase in fat mass than in lean, or muscular, mass (Wells, 2007).

After puberty, biological sex differences exist in terms of bone length; males tend to have longer bones with greater diameter following puberty, but bone mineral density is proportionally equal to that of female bones (Seeman, 2001). Male bones are considered stronger primarily due to bone length and width, rather than bone mineral density (Seeman, 2001). Height differences between males and females occur primarily due to male leg length being greater than female leg length (Seeman, 2001). Testosterone likely regulates this process in males, accelerating periosteal apposition (Nelson & Bulun, 2001; Seeman, 2001). In females, estrogen inhibits periosteal bone formation, decreasing the potential for bone length (Seeman, 2001). Differences between the biological sexes are increased after puberty and are critical to the biological differentiation of males and females.

2. Sex Hormone Differences

There are hormones which exist in higher quantities exclusively in males or females (Friedl, 2005; Pietrangelo, 2018). Attributable biological differences between the sexes are propagated because of these sex hormones. The main sex hormone produced among males, via the testes, is testosterone (Friedl, 2005). In females, estrogen is considered the major sex hormone and is predominantly produced in the ovaries (Pietrangelo, 2018).

Testosterone

Testosterone is produced by both males and females, in the testes and ovaries respectively, but the key difference between the sexes is determined both by the quantity of testosterone which is produced and by how much is converted to estrogen by the aromatase enzyme (Federman, 2006). The sex hormone difference can be exemplified by a large discrepancy between testosterone and estrogen production in males and females (Federman, 2006). Males produce at least twenty times the quantity of androgens than females do, which shows that androgens, specifically testosterone, are typically male hormones (Federman, 2006).

Although testosterone may be classified as the “male” hormone, and estrogen as the “female” counterpart, both sexes produce and utilize each hormone. For example, estrogen is instrumental for both males and females as a necessary component for bone growth, bone density, and epiphyseal plate closure at the conclusion of the pubertal growth spurt (Federman, 2006). Additionally, progesterone is a female sex hormone, also produced in the ovaries (Pietrangelo, 2018). The normal levels and actions of each sex hormone differ between males and females, and the distinction is important when considering the effects of male hormones on female physiology and performance effects in long-distance running.

Endogenous testosterone is defined as testosterone which is produced within the organism and is highly associated with attributable biological differences related to the male sex (Bahrke, Yesalis, & Wright, 1996; Endogenous, n.d.). At puberty, endogenous testosterone levels rise markedly in males (Federman, 2006). Normal serum levels of testosterone in males have been found to be 8.7-33.0 nanomoles per litre (nmol/L) (Ramasamy, et al., 2015; Testosterone, Total, Bioavailable, and Free, Serum, n.d.). In females, normal serum levels of testosterone were found to be significantly less, at 0.3-2.0 nmol/L (Testosterone, Total, Bioavailable, and Free, Serum, n.d.).

Testosterone is derived from cholesterol, classifying it as a steroid hormone, and can cause a response in virtually any cell in the human body (Wood & Stanton, 2012). The production of testosterone from cholesterol in males occurs in the Leydig cells of the testes, a reaction catalyzed by enzymes (Friedl, 2005). The testes produce about 7,000 micrograms (µg) of testosterone per day, and about a quarter of a percent of this is converted to estrogen (Federman, 2006). In females, testosterone is produced in the ovaries and acts as a precursor to estrogen synthesis (Wood & Stanton, 2012). Female ovaries produce 300 µg of testosterone per day, and half is converted to estrogen (Federman, 2006).

The production of testosterone from the testes is regulated by multiple hormones, such as insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1) and luteinizing hormone, in conjunction with circulating testosterone in a negative feedback loop (Friedl, 2005). When low testosterone is detected in the blood, the hypothalamus secretes gonadotropin-releasing hormone, which, in turn, signals the pituitary gland to secrete luteinizing hormone (Friedl, 2005). Luteinizing hormone is the key regulator in testosterone production in male testes (Friedl, 2005). Testosterone effects are seen in most tissues, acting through specific androgen receptors which are present in virtually every human cell (Friedl, 2005).

Testosterone has androgenic effects, including the development of male characteristics, as well as anabolic effects (Celotti & Negri-Cesi, 1992). Androgenic effects associated with increased testosterone include lowered voice, and pubic and axillary hair development (Zitzmann & Nieschlag, 2001). Testosterone is an anabolic hormone; it increases total body mass, building muscle mass and muscle strength while also reducing body fat, effectively increasing the lean mass proportion of body composition (Friedl, 2005; Wood & Stanton, 2012).

Anabolic steroid supplementation is often used to synthesize these effects, with users aiming to build large amounts of muscle mass quickly (Bahrke, et al., 1996). Uses of these synthetic testosterones are usually associated with sports that require large stature and have power and speed components, such as sprinting and football (Cronin & Hansen, 2005). Benefitting sports performance, testosterone activates IGF-I and erythropoietin which increases muscle and bone mass and increases red blood cell formation, respectively (Friedl, 2005). Mostly occurring in supplementation trials, testosterone has also been associated with aggression and hostility (Friedl, 2005). Testosterone may also modulate performance-enhancing effects in long-distance running, an effect which will be discussed in sections to follow.

Estrogen

Estrogen, a steroid hormone, is considered the major female sex hormone and is responsible for many endocrine actions which result in typified female physiology (Pietrangelo, 2018). However, estrogen is also produced in males and has important non-sex specific functions in both males and females (Pietrangelo, 2018). Premenopausal adult females have previously measured serum estrogen levels which range from 0.052-0.9 nmol/L (Serum Estradiol, 2019). Levels of estrogen are variable and dependent on phases in the menstrual cycle (Pietrangelo, 2018). Postmenopausal females and adult males have similar serum estrogen levels at less than 0.035 nmol/L and 0.035-0.139 nmol/L respectively (Serum Estradiol, 2019).

In premenopausal adult females, estrogen is synthesized from androgens through the action of the aromatase enzyme, which is localized in the highest concentrations in the ovarian granulosa cells (Erhmann, et al., 1992; Nelson & Bulun, 2001). Estrogen production through aromatase action occurs in many locations within the body and is not limited to female reproductive organs. Smaller amounts of estrogen are produced in premenopausal females in the adrenal glands and lipocytes (Pietrangelo, 2018).

Males and postmenopausal females also produce estrogen, wherein aromatase action occurs mainly in the adipose tissue and in the skin. (Nelson & Bulun, 2001). In males, estrogen production has been found in the testes, but this only accounts for a relatively small proportion of their total circulating concentration (Nelson & Bulun, 2001). Aromatase has been found in many different locations, including neurons and astrocytes in the brain, and in osteoblasts, chondrocytes, and adipose fibroblasts in the bones (Nelson & Bulun, 2001). Regarding the systemic action of estrogen, the concentration of estrogen produced in peripheral, or non-ovarian, tissues relies on circulating androgens (Nelson & Bulun, 2001).

Estrogen exerts its endocrine actions most notably in premenopausal females, due to the high concentration of the steroid hormone produced, resulting in typically female characteristics. Secondary sex characteristics, which occur at puberty and are estrogen-derived, in females include breast development, and pubic and axillary hair growth (Federman, 2006). Estrogen levels also help to regulate the menstrual cycle, as well as the regulation of gonadotropin secretion for the purpose of ovulation and preparation of tissues to respond to progesterone (Pietrangelo, 2018; Nelson & Bulun, 2001).

Additional to the well-known major functions of estrogen, it also has diverse applications beyond the puberty and the female reproductive system. In females, estrogen sustains important bodily functions such as the maintenance of bone mass, lipoprotein synthesis, cognitive function, and regulation of responsiveness to insulin (Nelson & Bulun, 2001).

As discussed previously, females are likely to have greater fat mass than males. This increased fat storage may be useful for maintaining adequate energy storage for a regular menstrual cycle to occur (Márquez & Molinero, 2013). Estrogen has been shown to play a causal role in the stimulation of fat cell formation, increasing total adipose tissue and body weight (Nelson & Bulun, 2001). Aging has also been found to be exaggerated by the presence of estrogen, accelerating the aging process especially in obese females who produce estrogen both via the ovaries and additively their large adipose tissue mass (Nelson & Bulun, 2001).

As mentioned previously, estrogen is instrumental in the maintenance of bone mass and growth plate closure. Specifically, estrogen exerts its effects through the inhibition of bone remodeling, the suppression of bone resorption, and through stimulating bone formation (Syed & Khosla, 2005). This affects both males and females. Adults with either a lack of estrogen receptors or deficiency in the aromatase enzyme are likely to experience osteopenia and unfused epiphyses and may be more likely to experience bone fractures (Syed & Khosla, 2005).

Estrogen exerts cardioprotective effects; the hormone acts as a vasodilator and has been associated with increasing high-density lipoprotein concentrations, effectively reducing the chance for atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease (Mendelsohn, 2002). Beyond estrogen’s association with maintaining female reproductive function and development of secondary sex characteristics, the hormone’s previously discussed systemic effects are unlikely to impose any performance advantages in long-distance running (Tokish, Kocher, & Hawkins, 2004).

Progesterone

Another female sex steroid hormone, progesterone, is produced primarily after ovulation and has functions regarding the maintenance of reproductive health. This includes preparing the uterine lining for a fertilized egg following ovulation and supporting pregnancy and lactation (Pietrangelo, 2018). Progesterone is produced primarily in the placenta and the ovarian corpus luteum (Young & Lessey, 2010). In menstrual cycles where conception does not occur, progesterone prepares the endometrium for menstruation (Young & Lessey, 2010).

Progesterone and estrogen mediate the secretion and action of the other, creating a cyclical pattern which maintains the health of the endometrium (Young & Lessey, 2010). This balance between the main female sex hormones is instrumental in maintaining health, as disruption of the cycle causes many problems such as endometriosis, abnormal bleeding, cancer, and miscarriage (Young & Lessey, 2010).

A study by Brinton, et al. highlighted the multiple effects of progesterone which are not related to reproduction. These functions occur in the central nervous system and regulate cognition, mood, mitochondrial function, inflammation, neurogenesis and regeneration, myelination, and recovery from traumatic brain injury (Brinton, et al., 2008). Although progesterone does have some functions beyond reproductive health, it may not significantly affect performance indicators in long-distance running (de Jonge, 2003).

Sex Differences in Long-Distance Running Performance

In most sports, males are often regarded as physically superior: stronger, faster, and more powerful than females (Thibault, et al., 2010). Long-distance track and field running is no exception to this (Thibault, et al., 2010). When comparing running speeds recorded during the world record 5,000m and marathon performances, it was observed that elite male runners are 12% faster than their female counterparts (Coast, et al., 2004; Joyner, 2017).

In the past, the female disadvantage in endurance running perhaps has been highlighted by the fact that females had been competing at high levels for significantly fewer years than males. The female Olympic marathon event was not added to the Games until 1984, whereas males have been competing in the marathon since the event was invented (Cheuvront, et al., 2005). This likely widened the performance gap between males and females, since males have had adequate time to reach their potential for training and racing (Cheuvront, et al., 2005). After females began high-level competition in distance running, females showed improvement at a more rapid rate than males for three decades, but the discrepancy between males and females, even in world record performances, still exists (Hunter, et al., 2011). It seems that recently females’ performance values in long-distance track events have reached a plateau after steadily increasing for many years (Cheuvront, et al., 2005).

The remaining sex difference in elite long-distance runners is likely related solely to the biological differences between males and females (Hunter, et al., 2011). Sex differences exist in many factors which may increase the discrepancy in performance between the sexes, such as body weight, body composition, and thermoregulation (Cheuvront, et al., 2005).

For the purpose of this literature review, it is useful to highlight the factors which have been classified as both highly associated with long-distance running performance and differing between males and females. In terms of physiological factors, it is likely that males outperform females in KPIs for long-distance running, and in factors which directly contribute to KPIs.

VO_2max

Differing VO_2max values may be the best explanation for endurance running performance differences based on sex (Cheuvront, et al., 2005). The largest ever recorded VO_2max values in males and females, both found in cross-country skiers, were 94 ml žkg ^-1žmin ^-1 and 77 ml žkg ^-1žmin^-1, respectively (Astrand & Rodahl, 1986).

Cheuvront, et al. (2005) cited that the VO_2max sex difference in elite long-distance runners in races ranging from 1,500m to the marathon as roughly 10%. Elite male distance runners were found to have higher VO_2max values compared to values recorded in elite female distance runners in an analysis of Spanish national team runners who competed in events ranging from the 800m to the marathon, as shown in Table 1 (Legaz-Arrese, et al., 2007).

 

A study by Billat, et al. (2003) found that elite male 10,000m runners from Kenya had higherVO_2max values than their female counterparts. Increased fat mass in females may be a contributing factor to their lower VO_2max when compared to males, who are typically leaner (Helgerud, et al., 2010). This is caused by fat mass interfering with the physiological ability of muscle to consume oxygen via infiltration of fat within skeletal muscle fibers, compromising the contractile proteins within the muscle (Vargas, et al., 2018).

High VO_2max values seen in elite male long-distance runners may be partially attributable to the high hemoglobin and hematocrit typically observed within this population (Coast, et al., 2004). Hemoglobin levels have been found to be higher in males compared to females by 12% (Handelsman, et al., 2018). A study found that elite male long-distance runners had hemoglobin values of 14.9 ± 0.4 grams per decilitre (g ždL ^-1), and their female counterparts had hemoglobin values of 13.4 ± 0.4 g ždL ^-1 (Foster, et al., 2014).

High hemoglobin content in the blood and high concentration of red blood cells positively affect oxygen uptake into working muscles by increasing the oxygen-carrying capacity in the blood (Handelsman, et al., 2018). In general, VO_2max values increased linearly with an increase in race distance, reflecting the relative contribution of the aerobic energy system (Joyner, 2017). The male-associated higher oxygen-carrying capacity becomes increasingly beneficial for longer endurance running events because the aerobic metabolic demands can be met with less cardiovascular effort.

Sex differences in VO_2max may also be attributable to the greater cardiac output observed in males (Cheuvront, et al., 2005; Pelliccia, 1996). Cardiac output is the product of heart rate and stroke volume (Sandbakk, et al., 2018). There are no observed sex differences in heart rate; cardiac output differences are likely explained by the greater stroke volume in males (Sandbakk, et al., 2018). The larger male heart can push out a higher volume of blood per heartbeat, resulting in higher cardiac output, compared to the cardiac output of the female heart (Ramsbottom, Nute, & Williams, 1987).

Also positively contributing to stroke volume, elite endurance-trained males have larger blood volume than their female counterparts (Sandbakk, et al., 2018). Because of this advantage, elite males may be able to perform long races at high velocities without reaching oxygen debt and muscular fatigue, because their cardiac output, and therefore VO_2max, is adequate to saturate the muscle with oxygen for the purpose of oxidative phosphorylation and subsequent ATP production (Dill, 2018a).

Capillary Density

To match oxygen supply to oxygen demand during exercise, oxygenated blood must efficiently perfuse the working muscle (Pittman, 2011). To increase oxygen uptake into the muscle, high capillary density is required (Pittman, 2011). Therefore, capillary density is a factor which contributes to VO_2max. Capillary density has been found to be lower in endurance-trained females than in endurance-trained males (Robbins, et al., 2009). By contrast, a study found that male and female athletes of equally high endurance training status had practically identical capillary density values (Ingjer & Brodal, 1978).

High capillary density in elite long-distance runners is likely a product of training, rather than sex. Share on X

Similarly, a study on aerobically active males and females found no significant sex difference in capillary density (Gries, et al., 1985). It seems that, when compared to sex, endurance training status has a greater influence on capillary density (Ingjer & Brodal, 1978). Endurance training has been shown to significantly improve capillary density in skeletal muscle, suggesting that high capillarization in elite long-distance runners is likely a product of training, rather than sex (Costill, et al., 1987).

Running Economy

Sex differences in running economy are less commonly recognized in the literature. A study by Daniels and Daniels (1992) tested elite male and female distance runners for this parameter and concluded that males had better running economy; they consumed less oxygen than females at common absolute velocities. Another study also highlighted that males often have greater economy than females, but these results should be adjusted to be relative to body mass, which would equate the values between sexes (Bourdin, et al., 1993).

Contrarily, research by Cunningham (1990) found that male and female cross-country athletes have a similar running economy and extrapolated that primary performance differences are associated with the VO_2max discrepancy. Morgan, et al. (1989) also noted that a running economy sex dichotomy does not exist. In general, it is noted that elite female shave higher oxygen uptake measurements for a given standard submaximal speed, putting them at a disadvantage to males for performance in distance running, but when these values are adjusted for body mass, running economy is equalized (Bourdin, et al., 1993; Helgerud, Ingjer, & Strømme, 1990). Based on a review of the available literature, sex differences in running economy are not consistently studied nor recognized and may require additional standardized testing with large sample sizes (Helgerud, et al., 2010).

Lactate Threshold

Lactate threshold is highly associated with endurance running performance, but there is no established evidence for sex differences in this parameter (Cheuvront, et al., 2005; Iwaoka, et al., 1988; Joyner, 2017). Lactate threshold in female runners has not been studied extensively, but available research does indicate that elite female runners can run marathons at about 75-85% of their VO_2max, which is essentially equal to lactate threshold in elite male marathoners (Davies & Thompson, 1979; Iwaoka, et al., 1988).

Males and females can train to maximize the training adaptations equally, which would improve lactate threshold. Share on X

Improvement of lactate threshold involves adaptations which increase the number of mitochondria in the skeletal muscle, effectively increasing the rate of glycolysis and pyruvate oxidation (Joyner, 2017). Time spent training at intensities higher than lactate threshold is likely the major determinant of lactate threshold (Joyner, 2017). Sex differences are unlikely to be a significant factor, as there are no significant findings to show that males and females do not have the same capability to generate mitochondrial adaptations in response to training (Joyner, 2017). Males and females are equally able to train to maximize the training adaptations which would improve lactate threshold.

Ability to Run at High Speed at the End of a Long-Distance Race

The ability to run at high speeds in the latter stages of a long-distance race was previously defined as a KPI. Additional to the VO_2max differences between males and females in long-distance running, factors which affect the ability to run at high speed may differ based on sex. Speed ability at the end of the race requires muscle mass and may be attributable to the high power output of fast twitch muscle fibers (Weyand & Davis, 2005). Males are capable of higher power output and therefore have greater ability for running at high speeds than females do (Perez-Gomez, et al., 2008). Sprinting ability in males has been quantified as about 10% greater than in females (Cheuvront, et al., 2005). Sex differences in speed ability may be attributed to factors which contribute to this KPI.

Greater muscle fiber cross-sectional area (CSA) has been found to decrease ground contact time and therefore increase capacity to race at high velocities (Hayes & Caplan, 2012; Korhonen, et al., 2009;Weyand & Davis, 2005; Wong & de Heer, 2008). Sex differences exist in muscle fiber CSA, where males generally have greater CSA than females (Cheuvront, et al., 2005). Both strength and running speed are positively correlated with CSA, creating a performance advantage for males in running events which rely on high velocities at the end of the race (Cheuvront, et al., 2005). Factors which affect muscle fiber CSA and speed ability, and therefore performance, in elite long-distance running may be attributable to biological sex hormone differences.

As previously noted, musculotendinous stiffness has also been defined as a contributing physiological factor in speed ability for finishing stages of long-distance races (Murphy, et al., 2003). In general, musculotendinous stiffness is proportional to the strength and mass of the muscle, which differs between males and females (Perez-Gomez, et al., 2008). Musculotendinous stiffness sex differences have been described for muscles in the leg, including the gastrocnemius, that are highly utilized in running (Perez-Gomez, et al., 2008). A study found that males have higher musculotendinous stiffness than that of females in the hamstring muscle group (Bell, et al., 2012). High musculotendinous stiffness in males likely contributes to increased ability to run maximally at the end of elite long-distance track and field races.

Hyperandrogenism

Some females are born with hyperandrogenism, a condition defined by the production of testosterone in higher quantities than a typical female would normally produce (Yildiz, 2006). Females with hyperandrogenism experience deviations from typical female physiology (Yildiz, 2006). Elite female long-distance runners who produce high levels of testosterone, near the normal male range, may experience improvements in distance running performance. In general, males outperform females in distance running (Coast, et al. 2004). Previously, KPIs for which males outperform females were identified. The sex differences associated with VO_2max and speed ability at the end of a race may be attributable to high levels of testosterone inherent to biological males (Billat, et al., 2003; Perez-Gomez, et al., 2008).

The subsequent section of this literature review will aim to describe the relationship between females with naturally high testosterone and improved KPI values, and the potential improvements in long-distance running performance.

Hyperandrogenism is an endocrine disorder which affects 5-10% of premenopausal adult females (Yildiz, 2006). Hyperandrogenism is an umbrella term for a group of disorders which share a common diagnostic criterion: above normal levels of androgen production, specifically testosterone, comparable to concentrations present in males (Handelsman, et al., 2018; Yildiz, 2006). The most commonly diagnosed hyperandrogenic disorder is polycystic ovarian syndrome (Erhmann, et al., 1992; Yildiz, 2006). Other hyperandrogenic diagnoses include idiopathic hirsutism, hirsutism and hyperandrogenemia, non-classical congenital adrenal hyperplasia, and hyperandrogenism, among others (Yildiz, 2006).

Individuals who are classified as Intersex, more recently termed as having Disorder(s) of Sex Development (DSD), are among those who experience hyperandrogenism (Handelsman, et al., 2018; Karkazis, et al., 2012; Ritchie, Reynard, & Lewis, 2008). Individuals with DSD are classified as having an atypical appearance of external genitalia at birth, making the assignment of biological sex a difficult task (Ritchie, et al., 2008). Females with DSD usually experience virilization, which can be defined as the development of physical characteristics usually associated with males, such as male-pattern muscle mass and deepening of the voice (Handelsman, et al., 2018; Virilization, 2019). Clinically recognized symptoms used for diagnosis of hyperandrogenism, other than directly measured blood testosterone levels, include hirsutism, acne, and virilization (Yildiz, 2006). In clinical diagnoses, these criteria are rated based on the rate of onset and severity (Yildiz, 2006).

Hirsutism is observed in 80% of females with hyperandrogenism and is defined as the growth of excessive male-pattern terminal hair in females (Yildiz, 2006). Females with this condition will often display male-pattern thick, dark hair on the face, chest, armpits, back, and pubic areas (Yildiz, 2006). Androgens affect hair follicles in these areas differently than at other areas where terminal hair does not develop. These hair follicles are highly sensitive to androgen concentration and take many years to eventually transform vellus (soft hair, such as on the scalp) into terminal hair (Yildiz, 2006). Although the presence of hirsutism does not elicit diagnosis of hyperandrogenism on its own, the presence of this condition is very likely in hyperandrogenic females (Yildiz, 2006).

Acne is a skin condition which affects many people, from adolescence into adulthood. The development of acne seems to be related to the autocrine and paracrine effects of androgens (Yildiz, 2006). Acne is not solely associated with male levels of testosterone; it exists in both sexes due to androgen levels increasing in both males and females at puberty. The adrenal glands produce more testosterone beginning at puberty in both sexes (Yildiz, 2006). Due to the link between androgens and acne, the skin condition is considered a symptom of hyperandrogenism, but acne alone is not considered indicative of hyperandrogenism (Held, et al., 1984; Yildiz, 2006). Because acne is exceedingly common, the presence of excessively severe acne in conjunction with hirsutism or irregular menstruation should be considered when searching for symptoms of hyperandrogenism (Yildiz, 2006).

An additional diagnostic criterion for hyperandrogenism includes virilization. Compared to other diagnostic criteria, virilization is much less common for females with high androgen levels (Yildiz, 2006). This condition is characterized based on several symptoms, such as male-pattern hair loss, enlarged clitoris, deepening of the voice, increased muscle mass, decreased breast size, and amenorrhea (Yildiz, 2006). These characteristics are quite physically masculinizing and can drastically change the appearance of hyperandrogenic females.

Sex Hormones and Distance Running KPIs

Supplementary to the changes in skin and hair, the masculinizing effects of hyperandrogenism in females may positively affect long-distance running performance (Celotti & Negri-Cesi, 1992). Testosterone has both androgenic and anabolic actions mediated through a single hormonal receptor type, which is present on many different cell types (Celotti & Negri-Cesi, 1992). Therefore, the masculinizing actions of testosterone are difficult to separate from the anabolic actions, and improvements in KPIs for long-distance running performance may accompany the physically male characteristics seen in hyperandrogenic females (Celotti & Negri-Cesi, 1992).

In fact, the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) has imposed regulations prohibiting hyperandrogenic female track and field athletes who have testosterone levels higher than 5 nmol/L from competing in distance events at high-level competitions, under claims that levels above this would impose a performance advantage (IAAF, 2018).

In the preceding discussion, it was outlined that among defined KPIs, differences in VO_2max in males and females had the most merit in explaining sex differences in long-distance running (Cheuvront, et al., 2005). There are multiple factors which determine VO_2max values, such as hemoglobin concentration, hematocrit, and cardiac output (Vincent, 2008).

At puberty when testosterone concentrations rise to typical adult male levels, hemoglobin concentrations also rise (Handelsman, et al., 2018). One study found that hemoglobin concentration, a factor which limits VO_2max, was positively associated with testosterone, although the relationship had some intra-individual differences (Slind, 2014). This improvement in production of hemoglobin occurs because of the positive influence of androgens on erythropoietin and red blood cell production (Genel, Simpson, & de la Chapelle, 2016; Goswami, et al., 2014; Handelsman, et al., 2018; Slind, 2014).

As previously discussed, hemoglobin is a major factor for oxygen delivery to muscles; it increases the blood’s binding affinity for oxygen (Slind, 2014), effectively increasing VO_2max and athletic performance (Handelsman, et al., 2018). While this association is well known, the physiological mechanism regarding how testosterone increases hemoglobin levels in the blood is less well understood (Handelsman, et al., 2018).

Testosterone improves sensitivity and secretion of erythropoietin, the main hormone involved in red blood cell production, which consequently improves hemoglobin concentration (Handelsman, et al., 2018). Improving circulating hemoglobin levels on red blood cells facilitates oxygen transport from the lungs to working tissues, improving VO_2max values and aerobic capacity (Handelsman, et al., 2018). This effect is often the goal of endurance athletes who participate in blood doping. In hyperandrogenic females, this may be a key factor which provides a performance advantage in distance running.

Cardiac output, the product of stroke volume and heart rate, has been identified as an important factor in the determination of VO_2max (Goswami, et al., 2014; Slind, 2014). As a determinant of VO_2max, cardiac output may be affected by testosterone. Males have larger hearts than females, consisting of larger atria and ventricles, and greater cardiac muscle mass (Ramsbottom, et al., 1987). These factors increase stroke volume by filling the heart with a larger volume of blood, the blood to be pumped more forcefully by the heart into the systemic vasculature, thereby carrying larger volumes of oxygen saturated blood to working muscles, improving oxygen uptake (Vincent, 2008).

In males and females of equally high endurance training status, males will have a larger stroke volume and cardiac output (Pelliccia, 1996). Androgen receptors have been identified in cardiac muscle cells and are associated with the promotion of cardiac protein synthesis and subsequent increases in left ventricular mass (Pelliccia, 1996; Steding, et al., 2010). High ventricular muscle mass would increase contractility, a determinant of cardiac output (Vincent, 2008).

Testosterone supplementation in hypogonadal treatment has also been associated with increases in blood volume, which would increase cardiac output (Friedl, 2005). In a study which administered testosterone treatment, cardiac output was increased, principally through testosterone’s vasodilator effect, compared to the placebo group (Pugh, Jones, & Channer, 2003). Considering these findings were achieved using acute therapy in vitro, there could be implications for the presence of a relationship between chronically high testosterone seen in hyperandrogenic females and cardiac output (Pugh, et al., 2003).

Optimal performance in the finishing stages of a long-distance race requires the ability to run at high speeds, a component which is dependent on muscle mass, a factor previously classified as differing based on sex (Bushnell & Hunter, 2007). Testosterone is widely recognized as an anabolic hormone, meaning that it is skeletal muscle mass-developing (Caminiti, et al., 2009; Greene, et al., 2006; Kadi, 2008; Slind, 2014). Testosterone facilitates hypertrophy of skeletal muscle by activating androgen receptors expressed on satellite cells and muscle fiber nuclei, enhancing muscle protein synthesis and causing a proliferation of myogenic pathways (Griggs, et al., 1985; Kadi, 2008). Testosterone may also reverse the effects of the catabolic hormone cortisol, decreasing muscle breakdown (Silver, 2001).

In a study on female hyperandrogenism, an association was found between testosterone and muscle mass development (Douchi, Yoshimitsu, & Nagata, 2001). Improvements specifically in the mass of weight-bearing, large leg muscles, which are necessary for running, have been shown after testosterone supplementation (Caminiti, et al., 2009). Barring that muscle CSA does not increase massively, it may be beneficial for hyperandrogenic females in elite distance running.

Furthermore, through research regarding muscle mass increase, it seems that testosterone therapy has been shown to increase the number and size of slow twitch muscle fibers specifically, increasing the overall oxidative capacity of the muscle and consequentially resulting in higher aerobic capacity and delayed fatigue, perhaps also increasing lactate threshold (Caminiti, et al., 2009; Volterrani, Rosano, & Iellamo, 2012). Upregulated expression of slow twitch muscle fibers has been shown to result from testosterone and androgen receptor pathways (Altuwaijri, et al., 2004).

One study found that slow twitch muscle fibers are relatively more sensitive to testosterone supplementation than fast twitch muscle fibers, which may be particularly beneficial for long-distance running performance by increasing aerobic potential (Volterrani, Rosano, & Iellamo, 2012). Testosterone may also facilitate the conversion of fast twitch muscle fibers to slow twitch muscle fibers, improving overall oxidative qualities in the muscle (Volterrani, et al., 2012). This effect will improve sustained speed ability and speed ability in the finishing stages of a race, which are necessary for competition in elite long-distance running.

Testosterone has been found to be positively associated with musculotendinous stiffness (Bell, et al., 2012). As discussed previously, musculotendinous stiffness has been associated with increases in muscle mass, a factor which is improved through testosterone supplementation (Caminiti, et al., 2009; Murphy, Lockie, & Coutts, 2003; Wood & Stanton, 2012). A study found that testosterone does enhance musculotendinous stiffness due to increased collagen production (Hansen & Kjaer, 2016). Furthermore, as a response to training, musculotendinous stiffness was found to increase much more in individuals who had higher levels of testosterone (Hansen, & Kajer, 2016). This could be associated with speed ability improvement in individuals who have high testosterone levels.

Based on a review of the literature, male-level testosterone levels in hyperandrogenic females are likely to enhance performance in endurance running on the basis of improving VO_2max and its determining factors, as well as by increasing finishing speed ability and its determining factors. The male sex hormone has been shown to increase hemoglobin concentrations, cardiac output, muscle mass, musculotendinous stiffness, and potentially increase oxidative qualities in the muscle fibers.

We need more research about the effects of endogenous testosterone in females; most studies assessed effects of exogenous testosterone treatments. Share on X

In the existing literature, there is evidence that androgen sex hormones have positive performance effects for distance running performance. However, further research regarding the effects of endogenous testosterone in females is warranted, as the literature was predominantly comprised of studies which assessed the effect of exogenous testosterone treatments, and there may be an alternate mechanism of action.

Ethical Considerations for Hyperandrogenic Females in Elite Track and Field

Since the emergence of Caster Semenya onto the international level of track and field in 2009, she has been a dominant athlete. The female middle-distance athlete’s prowess and physical differences have raised concerns, complaints, and controversy which led to major ruling changes within the IAAF and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) (Genel, et al., 2016). Semenya, who identifies as a female, is a South African multiple-time world and Olympic medalist in the 800m and 1,500m (Genel, et al., 2016). The combination of her masculine appearance and sudden dominance in the sport prompted complaints and subsequent medical testing (Genel, et al., 2016).

In 2009, Semenya won the 800m race at the Berlin World Championships by about two and a half seconds; virtually unknown at the time, she was immediately subjected to intense speculation and criticism from her competitors and onlookers (Karkazis, et al., 2012). The complaints were centred around her appearance; she was called “butch,” “not a woman,” and “a man,” with competitors claiming that it was unfair for Semenya to be competing with them (Karkazis, et al., 2012; Sudai, 2017). Her case received massive amounts of attention from the media (Karkazis, et al., 2012). After winning the 2009 World Championship, Semenya underwent “sex testing,” wherein she was under the impression that she was undergoing standard doping tests (Karkazis, et al., 2012). These tests showed that Semenya had a DSD, and therefore hyperandrogenism (Karkazis, et al., 2012).

Specifically, Semenya’s condition left her with undescended testes which produced three times the amount of testosterone as compared to typical females(Karkazis, et al., 2012). They also found that she had no uterus or ovaries (Karkazis, et al., 2012). Her testosterone levels were classified as within the normal range for males (Karkazis, et al., 2012). After the media released the intensely personal details about her body, Semenya’s case was a topic of public debate, and she understandably disappeared from the world of sport (Karkazis, et al., 2012).

In 2011, in efforts to prevent the recurrence of a similar situation, the IAAF imposed new regulations regarding testosterone levels for female athletes (Sudai, 2017). The policy stated that females must be under the imposed limit of 10 nmol/L of testosterone to be eligible to compete as a female and that the affected seek medical treatments, either hormone therapy or surgery, to lower their testosterone levels (IAAF, 2011). The policy aimed to preserve the sex separation in athletics, keeping males and females in discrete categories for competition (Sudai, 2017).

The recommendation for hyperandrogenic females to lower their testosterone levels in order to compete in professional competition, or otherwise be barred from competing until they do so, is controversial. The Court of Arbitration for Sport even suspended the policy for a two-year period after an athlete protested and refused to comply with the ruling (Sudai, 2017).

The sprinter, Dutee Chand, stated that she felt the ruling was unfair on the grounds that she was not doping, her body was natural, and she had no intention of cheating (Sudai, 2017). She went on to state her concerns regarding whether the recommended therapy intervention would decrease her performance level, or even her health (Sudai, 2017). It was then recommended that the IAAF revise their policy, because of claims that it was not based on established scientific evidence (Sudai, 2017).

In 2015, the policy was revised and reinstated; it no longer recommended surgery, and included rulings so that male to female transgender athletes and hyperandrogenic females may compete as females if they showed that their serum testosterone levels were below 10 nmol/L for at least 12 months prior to competing (Sudai, 2017).

IAAF hyperandrogenism regulations are currently pending modification. In November of 2018, the IAAF imposed regulations for female athletes with a DSD pertaining to the 400m, 400m hurdles, 800m, 1,500m, and the mile (IAAF, 2018). These regulations require female athletes who have serum testosterone levels above 5 nmol/L, or are “androgen sensitive” and wish to compete in these events, to meet certain criteria in order to be eligible (IAAF, 2018).

These criteria include that she must be recognized by law as female or as having a DSD, she must reduce her serum testosterone levels, through hormone therapy, to below 5 nmol/L for at least 6 months, and she must maintain this testosterone level continuously for as long as she wishes to continue to be eligible (IAAF, 2018). Additionally, the IAAF stated that they had conducted research and found that there is a performance advantage for hyperandrogenic female athletes in the events for which the restriction is imposed (IAAF, 2018). As implied by the ruling, female athletes who do not wish to comply with the ruling may compete in events outside of the specifically restricted ones.

The most recent regulations are interesting in that they seem to be pointed towards Semenya. Semenya specializes in middle-distance events—the 800 and 1,500—and has raced at a high level in the 400m. These are the same events which she is restricted from competing in if she does not lower her testosterone levels. The unreleased research conducted by the IAAF apparently found adequate evidence for an association between high endogenous testosterone in females and a competitive advantage in these middle-distance events.

These findings are in conjunction with the findings of this literature review, wherein the performance requirements for distance running, high VO_2max and the ability to run maximally at the end of a race, were found to both be subject to sex differences and to be positively affected by testosterone. The IAAF may have been biased by the Semenya case; in their efforts to reduce the chance of another comparable incident, they conducted studies which found testosterone to be beneficial only in her main events.

Semenya protested this ruling, saying it was “discriminatory, irrational, [and] unjustifiable” (Zaccardi, 2018). Since her protest, the IAAF delayed implementing the rule, and an appeal hearing date was set for the end of February 2019, with a final decision regarding the regulation to be expected for the end of April 2019 (Decision in Caster Semenya case delayed until end of April, 2019).

Considering the continuously unresolved issues regarding the IAAF regulations, the question pertaining to fairness remains. If the IAAF decides hyperandrogenic females are allowed to compete with females without lowering their testosterone, this would be deemed unfair for other female competitors, as they may be at a performance disadvantage. In juxtaposition, if hyperandrogenic females are restricted to either using hormone treatment to reduce their testosterone levels, or to not compete at all, this is unfair to them.

The link between endogenous testosterone and performance enhancement in females is not scientifically proven. Share on X

While the use of exogenous testosterone for doping may be commonly used by female athletes, hyperandrogenic females made no decision to have high testosterone. While their hormone profile may not be deemed “normal” for females, they are natural, and the recommendation by the IAAF to use hormone therapy to reduce testosterone levels may have negative health implications and is inherently unfair (Karkazis, et al., 2012). Furthermore, according to Karkazis, et al. (2012), the link between endogenous testosterone and performance enhancement in females is not scientifically proven.

Why are hyperandrogenic females discriminated against for a factor which may not have performance-enhancing effects? Share on X

Why are hyperandrogenic females discriminated against for something they cannot control? And why are they discriminated against for a factor which may not have performance-enhancing effects? The IAAF regulation promotes speculation and criticism of females who do not conform to traditional physical standards of femininity, such as Semenya (Schultz, 2012).

The IAAF regulation promotes speculation and criticism of females who do not conform to traditional physical standards of femininity. Share on X

The regulations are inherently sexist and may dissuade females who may not fit the typical female stereotype from participating in sport (Schultz, 2012). The implications of the regulations include that females are not supposed to be good at sport; when a woman excels in competition compared to the rest of the field, she will likely be tirelessly scrutinized and have her sex questioned. The fairness of the IAAF regulations remains to have biological and cultural considerations.

Conclusion

This literature review determined that, of the identified KPIs for long-distance running performance in elite females, onlyVO_2max and finishing speed ability were found to be divergent based on sex, and positively associated with testosterone levels. The available research was predominantly concerned with testosterone supplementation, which is not the same mechanism by which hyperandrogenic females have high testosterone, and thus the research findings should be taken with caution when considering the specificity to the literature review topic.

The only KPIs for long-distance running that differed based on sex & testosterone levels—mostly supplemented—were VO2 max and finishing speed ability. Share on X

Equal opportunity for females in elite sport should be prioritized. Hyperandrogenic females should be treated humanely and should not have to necessitate medical treatment to permit their performance in high-level athletics (Karkazis, et al., 2012). Biological advantages for performance may exist within many individuals, such as leg length, naturally high VO_2max, or a genetic predisposition for fast twitch muscles, but these aspects of the human body are not policed in the same way that high testosterone in females is.

Effects of high testosterone in a hyperandrogenic female may not equal the performance effects seen in females who deliberately use androgens to dope. Share on X

The mechanism by which testosterone affects performance may differ based on whether it is endogenous or exogenous, and therefore it may not be correct to assume that the effects of high testosterone in a hyperandrogenic female will equate to the performance effects seen in a female who deliberately uses androgens to dope. Perhaps, hyperandrogenic females should be allowed to compete in the societal gender in which they were raised.

Hyperandrogenism has inter-individual variability and possible performance-enhancing effects in long-distance running (Karkazis, et al., 2012). As such, each case should be treated individually, and with the utmost respect and discretion for the athlete involved. More investigation is required to determine whether endogenous testosterone in elite female athletes imposes a performance advantage in elite long-distance running.

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During the last month of the competitive season, the word “peaking” has become a term that makes me cringe. I find it trite, cliché, misunderstood, and mostly silly. Still, in conversation after conversation, I’ll hear some version of the phrases peaking at the right time, they always peak too soon, or these workouts will allow us to peak. Even worse, early or in the middle of the season, you might hear coaches saying it’s okay, we aren’t trying to peak right now or they beat us because they always peak around this time. I actually heard the latter statement in reference to our team’s performance this past season, when the 4×200 broke the school record during the third season of the meet. I’ll save the best example (or worst, depending on how you look at it) for later in this discussion.

To be fair, the philosophy of trying to achieve your best results during a championship phase makes sense—why wouldn’t anyone want to have their best performances when it counts the most? But we also have to understand that peaking goes beyond practice schedules, workouts, and the last month of the season. If we choose to believe that peaking only occurs because of training or working out during the final month or last two weeks of the season, then doesn’t our job then become obsolete the remainder of the calendar year? How then do we justify off-season training to our athletes? How do we get our athletes to buy in, if we only pay attention during the championship portion of the season?

The problem with our peaking obsession is that it belittles the amount of work, determination, and sacrifices required to be successful the rest of the season, says @mario_gomez81. Share on X

Michael Norman ran 43.45 (400 meters) at the Mt. Sac Relays in April, his season opener. Are we supposed to be less impressed because he didn’t do it at the World Championship or at the Olympics? It’s only April, was all I read when he posted the fifth fastest time in history. What if he’d run that time in May, June, July, or August? What’s the difference? There is no guarantee he will run faster this year, which underscores the problem with our obsession with peaking. It feels like we place all this importance on only one (or a few) performance, and we belittle the amount of work, determination, and sacrifice required to be successful the remainder of the time.

In descending order, below are the top 5 things I hate associated with the term “peaking.”

It Assumes Only One Performance Counts

Imagine summarizing the primary job of a track and field coach. Yes, relationships, mentoring, trust, and all those definitely matter, but the main goal is performance, especially in a sport where everything is measurable. So, shouldn’t the coach’s No. 1 job be to create the environment that guides an athlete to get faster, stronger, and better?

Remember, that best (or worst) phrase about peaking I promised earlier? I actually witnessed a coach debriefing an athlete after a subpar performance and saying (paraphrased): Don’t worry, we always go fast and jump far at the end of the season. Right now, it doesn’t matter. What in the world is this coach doing the rest of the time? Isn’t it our job as coaches to make kids faster and better, regardless of the time of year? Isn’t it our job as coaches to allow kids to jump/throw farther year-round?

I understand the phases of training (and wasted a lot of valuable hours overthinking periodization during the last decade), as well as adaptation, but confidence, belief, and buy-in play such an essential role. If I’m an athlete and all year my coach tells me it’ll come together at the end of the year, at some point frustration will set in. I wish, for the sake of our profession, the aforementioned conversation wasn’t real, but it’s true, and I’m sure you’ve heard it in one form or another. It’s actually embarrassing.

If you, as the coach, are waiting until the end of the season for an athlete to be at their best, then fire yourself, says @mario_gomez81. Share on X

I’m not going full Ricky Bobby on you here—if you ain’t first you last—but think about it this way: If you, as the coach, are waiting until the end of the season for an athlete to be at their best (or, far worse, intentionally keeping them from their best throughout the rest of the season), then fire yourself. Any sane track coach should want their athletes to perform well early and throughout the season, not simply at the end of the season.

The Term Is Deceptive

When we, as coaches, talk about peaking, we are flat out lying to our athletes—we don’t control their performances. I can’t promise an athlete they will perform at their best at the end of the season. We can manage their training, create a great training environment, advise them to make smart choices, and educate them on the subtleties of peak performance, but ultimately, coaches play a small role. Again, this is not to lessen the impact a coach can have on an athlete, but more to highlight the false premise that we actually control an athlete’s championship performance.

An athlete’s home environment, what a parent cooks them for dinner, social influences, sleeping and resting habits, academic workload, mental makeup, and countless other unnamed influences all add up to determine how an athlete will perform at the end of the season. And those are the components we actually understand, or at the very least have some information about—think about all the information regarding body type, genetics, and stress that we still don’t know about. We are light years away from FULLY understanding how everything we do impacts performance and health.

Again, we have a ton of information, but we are still missing things we cannot begin to truly comprehend. And those elements are what make sports so fun and competitive: The unknown. If the smartest and most educated coaches, GMs, and organization presidents in the world cannot create formulas to figure out how to win a championship every year, then we must recognize that determining the best performance at the end of the year is, at best, an educated guess. We coach people, not robots.

The Peaking Process Starts on Day 1

You’ve said it, heard it, or commented about it: Trust the process. One day at a time. We can only control ourselves, not what anyone else does. There are a million ways to express this idea, and as cliché as it is, it’s still very true. Peaking is not a part-time process; it truly is a year-round or full-season endeavor.

I, unfortunately, fell into the trap of suggesting this to a social media “guru,” who then responded I should research my phases in sprint programming. The smartest and most uplifting change I made, several years back, was with my thought process and choosing to stop thinking about the season in only programming terms. That change in mindset freed me to write workouts for the athletes, not in terms of what I should do based on the time of year.

Do I have a yearly training calendar? Yes. Do I follow some basic rules about periodization, adaptation, and progressions? Of course. I’m not going to prescribe a 6×200 workout with a two-minute recovery during the final two weeks of the season. I certainly wouldn’t write a basic ladder-down workout at 95% intensity with full recovery during the first month of training, either.

Peaking is not a magic wish you ask for during the last few weeks or months of the season. It is a constant, gradual process, says @mario_gomez81. Share on X

However, in terms of importance and execution, I treat the first day of practice as I do the last hard workout before a state competition. We work acceleration principles on the very first day of practice with flats on, and we also work acceleration principles in spikes during the last week of the season when we work on handoffs, blocks, approaches, and posture to the first hurdle. I want an athlete to learn the basic “drive phase” mechanics, but I won’t wait to put a cone at 20 or 30 meters and blow a whistle so they become accustomed to that feel three weeks before the final. We will use resistance drills to learn pushing/pulling acceleration form to attack the beginning of the race.

Some days we use spikes, some days we don’t. Some days I use a hurdle (24-36” depending on the athlete, not the time of year), some days I only place tape or markers on the ground and attack for eight steps. What’s the point of this dragged-out rant? Simple: Peaking is not a magic wish you ask for during the last few weeks or month of the season. It is a constant, gradual process, not a foolproof plan you can suddenly make appear.

‘Peaking’ Implies Our Program Matters More Than the Athlete

We tend to hold on pretty tight to our system(s). The more someone tries to change our mind, the more hostile we become toward the disagreeing party. Several coaches in our city have a very specific sprint training system: Train hard for the 400, over distance, long to short, tempo repeats, etc. In his article “A Review of 400m Training Methods,” Mike Young wrote, “Athletes in a tempo-based program are getting in nearly twice as much volume in a highly specific activity, at an intensity that is still pretty darned close to the intensities observed in their competitive event [compared to anaerobically trained sprinters].”

This makes a lot of sense in just about any sport or life venture. Although I don’t agree with the 10,000-hour rule (see my golf game as a prime example), it certainly makes sense that if an athlete spends a lot of time developing a specific energy system, that athlete will be highly successful in that specific area. Here’s the shocker, though: Your training system doesn’t create great times. Superior athletes create/enhance your training system.

Again, I’m not downplaying a coach’s significant role in an athlete’s improvement, but how often do we get caught up in believing if it weren’t for our system, the athlete would not have performed as well? Over distance, speed reserve, speed development, tempo repeats—eventually you will hear it all. Every single athlete that has ever qualified to the Texas state meet in our program was a great athlete, the majority of them in more than one sport. They were either D1 athletes or possessed rare and raw athletic talent.

The best jumper I ever coached went over 24 feet in the long and over 48 in the triple and ran sub 22 in the 200. I also saw him jump over a teammate’s head and dunk during open gym. Our most recent state medalist, Meghan Tualamalii, earned a silver medal in the shot put. She “peaked” on her fifth throw of the state finals to place second.

Meghan also played back row for the school’s volleyball team and is a very talented rugby player, with great speed and lateral quickness. For fun, she often jumped over hurdles on her way to throwing practice. Our coaching staff did a great job in developing her skill set and strength. But how did she peak at state? My best guess is because she is a great athlete, with an amazing work ethic, and she is passionate about throwing. Not merely because of some system.

We Believe Peaking Is Solely Based on Workouts and Coaching

Newsflash: We aren’t as important as we think we are. Coaches play a vital role in the development of athletes, no doubt. Unfortunately, too many coaches go around patting themselves on the back because of the performance of their best athlete. They ran this time because of this workout or this progression or this weight room program. The audacity of such comments is amazing. The totality of a best time at the end of the season has so much to do with how an individual athlete can handle pressure and adversity, and not the 150s you prescribed at full speed during the last week of practice. The recovery you built into the last two microcycles helped, but perhaps the athlete was able to sleep 8-9 hours a night throughout the season.

Our programming can help with peaking, but ultimately, we only coach athletes a set number of hours. What they do with their remaining weekly hours matters so much more, says @mario_gomez81. Share on X

The programming coaches write can help with peaking, but ultimately, we only coach an athlete eight hours a week at the high school level. What the athlete does the remaining 160 hours of the week matters so much more. Are they getting enough sleep, eating right, recovering properly, and handling stress in a positive manner? There are so many reasons an athlete can peak or not peak at the end of the season, and it goes beyond the scope of what we can comprehend. But then again, if you only believe in running fast times at the end of the season, are you as important as you truly think you are?

Moving Forward

In the last race of the season, our girl’s 4×200—which in the third meet of the season had gone 1:44.28—ran 1:42.67. So, obviously we peaked them at the right time, correct? However, our 4×100 ran .1 second slower, so we completely messed up that specific effort… right? Meghan did not throw the last two days before the state meet due the state testing schedule, coupled with limited facility access at home and away, and she still performed well. Ultimately, we are not fully responsible for how an athlete performs at the end of the season.

As coaches, we can advise and empower athletes to make the right choices on the track and off the track. We can help put together a workout load that will prepare the athlete for a championship performance. Workouts matter, yes. Rest and recovery matter, yes. Belief and confidence matter, yes. But so do a whole slew of other things outside our control. In the end, all we can do is train and guide athletes to the best of our ability and let the results take care of themselves.

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