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The purpose and goal of this article is to convey my ideas (and mine alone) of improving speed in American football players through increased exposure to the skill of linear sprinting during the off-season. These are some of the principles that I have applied with my players ranging from middle school up through the NFL, and I’ve seen nice improvements. Some of the results that I have achieved using this approach with particular clients are listed in the table below:

Why Train Sprinting for Football?

The need to train sprinting for football might seem pretty obvious. Many reading this article will quickly say, “Uh…football players obviously need speed. Speed kills. We recruit speed. We crave speed in our program. Our program is nothing without SPEED.”

I work with a fair number of high school football players going through the recruiting process who can’t stop talking about how seemingly obsessed college recruiters are about getting them to run a 40-yard dash or quickly asking if they run track and, if so, what their 100-meter time is.

Football recruiting based only on speed needs to change. The game is more than just physical output. Share on X

I have seen kids get completely ignored by colleges after running a 40-yard time at their camp that wasn’t up to the coaches’ expectations. Sprint times are becoming the ultimatum for some kids for scholarship consideration. It almost doesn’t matter if you are a better football player than the other guy at your position—if he runs faster than you, he’s likely getting the recruiting look while you continue contemplating how you can play at the college level.

The Four-Coactive Model

Recruiting based solely on speed needs to change. Anyone that truly understands the game of football and everything that goes into it will support this notion. The game is about far more than just physical outputs. My favorite illustration of this point comes from the Four Coactive Model presented by Dr. Fergus Connolly in his brilliant book Game Changer. I have rudimentarily summarized this model in Table 2³:

Based on this model, putting a major focus on a player’s physical traits only tells us about 25% of the whole story in terms of what a player’s true potential as a football player might look like. Compensations certainly exist where a player might make up for a lack of technical skill by having tremendous speed, but any time we see major deficits in any of the four coactives, it should raise a red flag of performance potential left on the table.

That being said, those of us who work with high school or college football players trying to make it to the next level still have to accept the reality of what coaches are currently looking for. And that, unfortunately, means that we need to create the greatest 40-yard-dash-running players possible. However, we should be mindful of how an improvement in speed can have a global effect on each of the four coactives.

The Butterfly Effect of Speed Improvement

I have a common response when I get a call from a client who ran a good 40-yard time in front of scouts or recruiters, and it goes something like: “Great… Now you can focus on playing football.”

While I like to joke about the obsession with 40-yard-dash times, there is no question that speed plays a role in a player’s ability to play at a high level. If technical and tactical ability are equal, a slower player will have to work harder to get to the same area of the field than a player who is faster. When it comes down to what you need to do to make the play, rather than what you can do, then the faster player will always have a physical advantage over the slower player. Plus, when it comes down to the bare-bones, off-to-the-races type of big plays on the football field, speed really helps.

I believe that an improvement in speed is an example of how making gains in one coactive can have a butterfly effect on the others. For one, when athletes feel themselves getting faster and have sprint-testing data to prove it, they get a burst of psychological positivity. I have yet to meet an athlete that isn’t completely hyped about getting faster or feeling fast. I believe there’s no doubt that this affects overall confidence, which can then carry over into practice or game situations when the season rolls around.

An improvement in speed shows how making gains in one coactive has a butterfly effect on the others. Share on X

In a previous article I wrote, I discussed some of the theories and bullet points behind non-linear skill acquisition, one of which is the idea of affordances. Affordances are fairly simple to understand and are basically the opportunities for action that an athlete perceives in his environment. If a running back sees an open hole at the line of scrimmage, he now has an affordance available to him.

Well, affordances are not just based on what the environment provides, but also on what the athlete perceives himself capable of doing. So, by getting faster, a football player can spread his newfound confidence over into his technical abilities and tactical awareness. Here are some examples:

• A defensive back who has the responsibility of covering a deep zone of the field might feel more confident in creeping up near the line of scrimmage to hide his true intentions, knowing that he has the speed to bail out and still get to his zone in time.
• A mobile quarterback might not be flustered at all by a pass rush because he feels confident he can escape outside the pocket and still make a play with his speed.
• An offensive lineman might pull around the edge with more tenacity knowing that he can easily keep up with the scraping linebackers and prevent them from getting to his ball carrier.
• A running back might see an open hole and think “end zone” rather than just “first down.”

This butterfly effect of training speed trickles over into maintaining health as well. When looking at the physics, there is virtually no exercise outside of sprinting that exposes an athlete to the same combination of power, speed, elastic recoil, rhythm, coordination, and more. There’s a reason that sprinting is often referred to as the most intense activity the human body can produce. If athletes understand the basics of sprinting safely and efficiently, they can prime their bodies to build resiliency.

The basics of sprinting safely and efficiently help athletes prime their bodies to build resiliency. Share on X

Concepts in Acceleration – Lessons from ALTIS

My mindset as it relates to linear sprinting has been heavily influenced by the folks down in Phoenix at a wonderful place called ALTIS. At the forefront of ALTIS are coaches like Dan Pfaff, Stu McMillan, and Kevin Tyler, who bring extensive experience and practical application in coaching elite track and field athletes from all over the world.

When visiting ALTIS or going through the education courses on their website, you quickly discover that they aren’t fully bound to traditional training theories and bring a lot of original thinking to the world of getting faster. In particular, I really appreciate their approach to using “motoric words”; that is, using certain words and cues to invoke a feeling in the athlete rather than just spitting out a body position. As an example, rather than telling an athlete to “arch the back” or “lift the knees up,” we can start using words like “drive”, “punch,” and “bounce” to give the athletes better context for understanding execution strategies.

Stu McMillan uses some fairly uncommon phrases to explain to his athletes what he wants to see. He talks about pressure and power, rather than saying “force into the ground,” to help the athletes understand they should press the ground away rather than stomp in an attempt to apply more force. He might discuss rhythm and timing to help athletes comprehend when foot strikes should occur at different speeds or body angles. Rather than telling somebody to “have good form,” he might explain what shape to display while achieving gradually more elevation on each step of acceleration. My favorite is how he doesn’t use the word “relax,” but instead uses the words patience and peace to help his sprinters remain at ease and let their performances unfold¹.

Speed as a Fluid, Harmonious Whole

This quote from the ALTIS foundation course really sums it all up nicely: “Athletes should be thinking about the expression of speed as a fluid, blended activity – with an execution from start to finish which manifests itself as a harmonious whole, irrespective of the distance being covered.”¹

This philosophy can be diluted down to three basic pillars of acceleration that are all interdependent:

1. Projection: Projecting with appropriate force from the first step to the last. Too much or too little force will negatively affect the overall rhythm of the acceleration, as well as disrupt the smooth rise in the center of mass.
2. Rhythm: Increasing the frequency of each step over the course of the acceleration distance. Shorter sprints (i.e., 40-yard dash) will require a faster change in rhythm than longer sprints (i.e., 100-meter sprint).
3. Rise: Raising the center of mass slightly with each step of acceleration until fully upright. Appropriate projection and rhythm will lead to a smooth rise in the center of mass, like a plane taking off into the air.

So, my interpretation of this information is that any time we are training for linear acceleration performance, we are focusing on projection, rhythm, and rise. They are present at all times in unloaded sprinting. However, particular drills can emphasize some over others:

• Resisted sprinting emphasizes horizontal projection and the application of pressure and power.
• Variations of dribble runs can develop rhythm and timing when in the upright sprinting shape.
• Buildup runs can help athletes understand the smooth connection between rhythm and rise.

The ability to accelerate is a cornerstone reality of any field-based team sport, and American football is certainly no different. If we are training to enhance the absolute output of acceleration, it is important that we use sound principles. Similarly, just because our players aren’t powerlifters or Olympic lifters doesn’t mean they shouldn’t execute sound principles and mechanics when lifting.

What About Top Speed?

Top speed (also referred to as maximum velocity) will determine the absolute limit of how much speed a player can generate. I won’t touch too much on top speed here because I have gone in depth on this topic previously on SimpliFaster and lent support for its development by referencing the work of Dr. Ken Clark. To sum up significantly, there is a positive correlation between the level of maximum speed that a player can hit and his ability to accelerate at any given distance. I have reposted the diagram used in my previous article to illustrate this point.

As you can see, even just a 0.5 meter-per-second (m/s) increase in top speed can result in a difference of a tenth of a second in a 20-meter sprint and even greater differential at longer distances. That tenth of a second could mean the difference between being drafted or not, receiving a scholarship or not, or saving a touchdown or not.

Charlie Francis and CNS Intensity

It seems almost every team sport preparation specialist that has looked into speed training has come across the work of Charlie Francis. I know that Francis influenced me, and shaped a lot of my early views on how to prepare for speed. What I really took to heart is that we are simply not sprinting enough if we expect to be fast. His work also taught me to find out more about the central nervous system (CNS) and ensure not to overwork it.

What I really took to heart from Francis is that we aren’t sprinting enough if we expect to be fast. Share on X

Francis developed an approach known as high/low sequencing, whereby days of high-CNS intensive work (i.e., sprints, Olympic lifts, jumps, etc.) are alternated with days of low-CNS intensive work (i.e., aerobic work, upper body lifting). He explains the rationale behind this approach, stating that it takes about 48-72 hours for the CNS to recover from intensive work, and only 12-24 hours to recover from low-intensive, or extensive, work⁴.

As a note, high intensity in this case refers to big time activation of the body’s nervous system, which can only be achieved by pushing the body’s limits of explosive power. This is different than high-intensity cardiorespiratory work, which focuses on the power of the aerobic system. Both might be described as “high-intensity,” but for the purposes of this article, when I say “high intensity” I refer to CNS intensity rather than aerobic intensity.

Are Any Football Players Actually Fast?

Charlie Francis stated that novice sprinters have a much harder time exhausting their CNS. Their outputs are just not high enough to really trash them. Instead, excessive volume will likely lead more to structural risks like excessive muscle fatigue, soreness, or the potential of pulled muscles and strains. So, volume should still be kept in check, but it’s possible that the CNS is not being drained quite as much as we might expect.

If we consider what Francis describes as a “novice” sprinter, we start seeing comments like the following⁴:

• Lacks basic technical skills that relate to sprinting.
• Does not generate nearly as much CNS fatigue as a top sprinter.
• Should see consistent initial drops in sprint times as speed potential unfolds with training.
• Needs more focus on general fitness qualities (strength, power, mobility, etc.).
• Tends to decelerate quickly on longer sprint efforts, thus able to see greater speed gains by improving top speed before focusing primarily on starts.

These comments sound an awful lot like they’re describing most football players learning how to improve their linear sprinting speed. In addition, Table 3 shows some of the maximum velocities, in meters per second (m/s), associated with what Francis refers to as beginner, intermediate, and top sprinters⁴.

Using the work from Ken Clark, we can objectively look at what this entails. Clark published a paper for the NSCA in 2017 titled “The National Football League Combine 40-Yard Dash: How Important is Maximum Velocity?” This article presents the mathematics to calculate modeled maximum velocity (top speed) from measured 40-yard dash times.

According to this math, a football player would have to run around a 4.37-second 40-yard dash to achieve a correlated velocity of 10 m/s. Any football scout will tell you that this is a blazing fast time for a football player. But is it blazing fast in the context of human ability?

Let’s consider the current NFL Combine record holder John Ross, who ran a recorded 4.22-second 40-yard dash. His associated velocity based on the math reported by Clark would be around 10.35 m/s. Fast for a football player? Undoubtedly. Fast compared to a top sprinter? Not even close.

Maintaining Perspective for Football Players

So, even the fastest 40-yard dash time ever recorded at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis would be considered “intermediate” in the world of sprinting. Now, I must state that 40 yards might seem far to some, but it is not a relatively far distance compared to events like the 100-meter sprint (which converts to about 110 yards).

Some players have more speed than their 40 times represent, as the 40-yard distance is just not enough room for them to continue accelerating to their true top speed. Tyreek Hill is a great example. According to Wikipedia, he ran a 10.19-second 100-meter sprint in 2012, which should put him close to a max velocity of 11.5 m/s. Hill is widely considered the fastest player in the NFL—but even with his 100-meter time, he STILL would not be considered a “top sprinter” in the world of track and field.

It seems that, at best, football players will only achieve a relatively intermediate output of speed no matter how much they develop. Let’s also consider the weight room in this regard: Are we going to have top-level powerlifters or Olympic lifters on our football team? Likely not. Again, at best we will probably see beginner-to-intermediate levels of output when compared against the best in the world.

Let’s be real about this though—this is FINE. Football is a team sport that is based on using specific tactics and techniques to get a higher score than your opponent. It’s quite literally NOT based on the absolute outputs of any particular movement. The only thing that matters is doing your job and doing it with enough skill to help your team win the game. That’s it.

Football is quite literally NOT based on the absolute outputs of any particular movement. Share on X

However, while speed work might not be draining a football player’s CNS as much as it might for a high-level sprinter, we should also keep in mind that CNS fatigue will accumulate from other factors of football practice such as technical and tactical training. While we might be able to get away with more consecutive exposure to high-CNS training elements in the off-season, we still must be careful not to do too much on any given day.

Rethinking High/Low Sequencing

So, as I understand it, we won’t have the fastest, strongest, or most powerful people in the world playing on our football team. Therefore, it’s my belief that the focus needs to shift away from constantly chasing higher outputs and be put instead on developing the skills of movements like sprinting, jumping, or lifting, and letting the outputs happen organically. Two quotes from two great track coaches support this notion:

Charlie Francis: “I would be careful of the concept of ‘trying’ to run at 100%. If you run smooth, things will often sort themselves out, if the technique is good.”

Stu McMillan: “Coordination…rhythm…timing…balance…posture…elevation…These are the things that are truly the prime determinants of speed.”

I like to believe that skill is improved through high-quality exposure to the necessary stimuli to invoke change. As Dr. Kelly Starrett says in reference to how people move throughout their lives, “Practice makes permanent.”⁸

Most strength coaches I know who work in the private sector or in the college setting get four days to work hands-on with their players. I also know that a lot of strength coaches try to adapt Charlie Francis’ high/low model. Thinking they absolutely must follow a high day with a low day, they might end up with something like Table 4.

This was my exact template a few years ago. After thinking about it more, I realized a major issue: it only devotes two out of seven days to enhancing the skill of sprinting. With football players, it’s likely that they need more exposure to sprinting in order to foster the growth of speed as a skill.

On his website back in 2014, Derek Hansen provided a theoretical template for utilizing a high/low approach with American football players over a five-day training period. If strength coaches have a system where they can access players for five days’ worth of training sessions, then this seems to be a really nice balance that allows for at least three days of high-intensity CNS work and naturally builds recovery into the program. Table 5 shows a rendition of Derek’s theoretical training week⁵.

My Solution

The fact is that most strength coaches work with a four-day training week and are faced with the challenge of having to build very explosive athletes while ensuring that they don’t fry them from a CNS standpoint. My solution has been to simply expose my athletes to some sort of speed and high CNS stimulus every training day while managing volumes with a “micro-dosing” mentality (stay tuned).

In the context of American football, I believe that constant speed exposure may be warranted. Share on X

One of the criticisms that Charlie Francis makes about having more frequent speed days is that it does not feature a “wave” progression and results in constant exposure. But when I consider the context of American football, the players will need to sprint at any given moment, on any given day of practice or during games. Therefore, in the context of football, I believe that constant speed exposure may be warranted for three primary reasons:

1. The speed outputs of football players are drastically lower than top-level sprinters, enabling them to train in more intensive environments more frequently, as long as volumes are accounted for.
2. Greater exposure to high-quality sprint training can enhance the skill acquisition of getting faster.
3. Football players must have the capacity for explosive efforts at any given moment, all week long during the season.

This is my interpretation and my thinking, which may be different than yours and that’s okay. But I will provide my most-recent general template for high school and college football, showing the field work in combination with weight room work in the off-season.

Table 6: My high school football off-season general training template, which shows field work in combination with weight room work in the off-season. *MRSL = Maximal Resisted Sled Load and can be understood by reading George Petrakos’ articles here and here. **Explained later in the article.

In these templates, four out of seven days are devoted to enhancing the skill of sprinting. The “off” days naturally build in three “low” days by default—the players are typically not engaging in required physical activity on these days and might engage in rest or recovery-based protocols. If we give them too many “low” days, as in Table 4, then they spend the majority of the week in a more down-regulated state, which will make the transition to in-season or spring ball much harder.

Micro-Dosing: Saving the Nervous System

A template is really nothing if we don’t consider the volume being performed within it. In Key Concepts Elite Edition, Charlie Francis gives an example of Ben Johnson averaging around 500 meters of total sprint volume in a speed session. Considering that Ben Johnson was clearly a top-level sprinter, the effects on his CNS after 500 meters of speed work would be very high in comparison to a football player. If Johnson performed three speed sessions a week using a high/low sequence, this volume would result in around 1500 meters a week.

Let’s also keep in mind that sprinting is sport practice for a sprinter. Much as a sprinter needs higher volumes of sprinting, powerlifters and Olympic lifters need more “practice” volume as well. Football players are not sprinters, powerlifters, or Olympic lifters. They are football players. Therefore, our goal should be to find the LEAST amount of sprinting, Olympic lifting, and strength training that will still yield positive results. This allows us to free up more CNS capacity for training aspects of the game like practicing positional skills, gaining a deeper understanding of the game tactics, and maintaining a healthy psychological state of mind. In the off-season, this means achieving deeper adaptations from representative learning drills and small-sided games or 7-on-7s.

Determine the LEAST amount of sprinting, lifting and strength training that yields positive results. Share on X

To bring up Derek Hansen again, he wrote an article back in 2015 discussing the use of “micro-dosing” for speed work during the football season to maintain a speed stimulus within the week of sports practice⁶. The article touched on the idea of performing a small handful of sprints to conclude the warm-up before practice, and how this can help maintain exposure to speed throughout the season. The concept ties into finding the minimal effective dose to see results but not excessively add to fatigue.

This became my journey for all forms of preparation for my football players. Where could I minimize volumes of general physical training while capitalizing on the most important aspects of performance?

The Needs Analysis: Filling in the Holes

High school players are exposed to plenty of game-like stimuli almost all year round with the upswing of 7-on-7 tournaments and collegiate recruiting camps that feature 7-on-7 situations as well as 1-on-1 situations. As stated previously, my goal for these kids is to get them as fast as possible in the 40-yard dash to help them get recruited. So, when we have our speed-dominant days (Tuesdays and Fridays in Table 6), I want to do my best to ensure that they feel focused and ready to commit to developing acceleration skills. I also don’t want them to perform too many repetitions of sprinting in the session, where quality starts to deteriorate.

For the college guys, they have already been recruited and must now acknowledge that playing the game and becoming a solid contributing player to their team should be paramount. However, we all know that college players are still largely scouted based on their ability to run a fast 40-yard dash. So, they need some exposure to representative learning in the form of agility training and small-sided games to enhance their technical-tactical skillset. However, they must also continue to devote some time to ensuring they reach a minimum performance threshold in speed, power, and strength if they expect to make it to the next level.

Team sports are incredibly complex, and training for them becomes a bit of a jigsaw puzzle. As Fergus Connolly talks about extensively in Game Changer, team sport athletes are very much creatures of habit. To this end, if I can find a volume range that works to enhance performance but not overload the system, then I can theoretically maintain this volume range while the players’ skill improves and training becomes more potent through a rise in intensity rather than always tweaking reps or sets. The players’ minds and bodies can become accustomed to knowing when certain stimuli will occur and approximately how much effort will be put into each workout. As long as we continue to enforce quality over quantity, we should start seeing improvements in the targeted skills.

My Volume Guidelines

As far as direct speed training is concerned, I have seen some nice improvements from using the volume ranges shown in Table 8, listed by position group.

Cyclical drills like skips for distance or bounding are also added into the volume (total yards) for the field work, but broad jumps and throws are not. I believe more volume of cyclical activities in relation to explosive jumps will positively influence speed gains, so I make cyclical activities and sprint variations the priority.

When all is said and done, my athletes will typically only perform about four to six total sprints for the workout (with about one to three more done in the warm-up period). Since speed is present every day in some form, we really don’t need to do that much, especially if we want to keep quality high. Days that feature sprint testing will always fall on the lower end of total volume ranges.

Position will determine how far each sprint effort is in terms of distance. This affects total volume, so that linemen can perform the same number of repetitions as skill players but not travel as far. For example, on a testing day, a skill player might perform three 40-yard sprints to achieve a volume of 120 yards where a lineman might perform three 20-yard sprints to achieve a volume of 60 yards.

Examples of Drills and Protocols

In my program, I focus on sprinting as a skill by using complexes to develop my football players. My goal is to expose players to different concepts of acceleration and horizontal power so they harness skills with which they become very familiar but continue to refine over time. I alternate between using complexes and testing so that the psychological stress associated with testing days starts to diminish and I can track changes as they occur throughout the year.

Speed-Power Complexes

I love speed-power complexes for a couple of reasons. For one, I find that they help keep football players engaged because players tend to enjoy variety. In my experience, moving from one exercise to another helps them dial in for that particular moment and then they are stimulated by a new task afterwards. The other reason I enjoy speed-power complexes is because they challenge the football players to address different concepts of acceleration.

For example, taking an athlete’s arms out of the equation with a stick acceleration or while holding a medicine ball requires that they find a way to brace their trunk appropriately and find more power in the leg projection. There is also a potentiation effect as the first two exercises attempt to set up the final exercise in the complex where it’s all “put together.”

In my programming, I break up the complexes into two primary templates: Acceleration Complexes and Top Speed Complexes.

To keep this article from being incredibly long, I want you to know that all the exercises listed below are “searchable” on internet video platforms. I have ensured that the title of each exercise is, indeed, “searchable” so if any reader is unfamiliar with an exercise, a simple internet search will reveal the answer. I have uploaded some clips of my athletes performing some of these drills on my YouTube channel as well. Keep in mind that there are certainly more exercises that can fit into each category.

How I Test Speed

I typically test sprint performances in two-week cycles. So, I perform two weeks of speed-power complexes where no timing is done at all. Here, the focus lies in the development of skill and recharging the athletes’ focus. Then, for two weeks after that, I swap out the speed-power complexes in favor of some sort of sprint test.

I typically test either two- or three-point sprints for 20-30 yards if I want to get a measure of progress on acceleration, and I love using the flying 10-yard sprint test to measure changes to top speed. The 40-yard dash is used sparingly and I tend to stay away from it until I feel comfortable that the athletes are psychologically ready to perform a skillful sprint and not throw everything by the wayside just to get a decent time. This takes a lot of patience and practice. When timing 40s, I set up a fully automatic timer (FAT) and then I also hand-time it and record both times just to have some different vantage points.

Speed Is Great, but the Game Determines Everything

The major drawback of using 40-yard dash times and 100-meter sprint times as prime determinants of a prospect’s grade for recruitment is that the context does not match what really happens in the game. Wouldn’t common sense seem to say that coaches should look for players who play fast in the game, not just perform well on a linear sprint assessment?

It really all comes down to an athlete’s limiting factors. Simply stated, these are factors that limit a player’s ability to perform at a higher level. Limiting factors can exist in any of the four coactives: physical, psychological, technical, or tactical. In addition, when assessing limiting factors, the most sensible approach for a coaching staff is to identify them within the context of the game, not just in a closed testing environment. In other words, the game determines everything about how we should prepare football players.

The game determines everything about how we should prepare football players. Share on X

Performing a 40-yard dash is a skill, as is performing a 1-repetition maximum barbell squat. If a player is not familiar with the particular skill, there’s a good chance he won’t perform too well on it, despite his potential. There are plenty of players who are “ballers” on the field but don’t seem to test very well in combine-based activities. The context is different. Also, consider the players that absolutely crush the combine drills from practicing them over and over, but neglect the technical and tactical skill preparation of football and struggle to replicate these outputs in the context of the game. Of course, the most promising prospects (from a physical perspective) are the ones that both play at a high level and stand out at combines.

To me, it seems a big risk for a coaching staff to recruit solely based on sprint times and how a player performs in closed drills at a camp or combine. The complexity of the football game far exceeds any activity in these camps or combine environments. To understand how a player operates within all four coactives, we have to watch the player play the game. This idea is probably best summed up in a quote from Bill Belichick in reference to how he believes players should prepare:

“We’re training our players to play football, not to go through a bunch of those February [combine] drills. Yeah, our training is football intensive. We train them to get ready to play and ultimately that’s what they’re going to do…in the end, they’re going to make their career playing football. We already know that with our guys, and we don’t have to deal with any of that other stuff. We just train them for football. I think it’s huge.”⁷

As much as I love speed, I love winning football games more. Share on X

Later this year, Fergus Connolly and I will provide a detailed, systematic approach to how players and coaches can start preparing players for the context of football in our upcoming book, The Process: The Methodology, Philosophy & Principles of Coaching Winning Football.

For me, increasing 40-yard times is a necessary step to help players get noticed in recruiting. Training for linear speed certainly helps improve physical capacity, but the reality of football is that assessment and testing must consider all four coactives if we really want to effect change in the wins and losses columns. As much as I love speed, I love winning football games more.

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

References

1. ALTIS Education Web site [Internet]. Phoenix (AZ): ALTIS Education; [cited 2018 July 6]. Available from: https://education.altis.world/
2. Clark KP, Rieger RH, Bruno RF, & Stearne DJ. The NFL Combine 40-Yard Dash: How Important is Maximum Velocity? The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research. 2017.
3. Connolly F. Game Changer: The Art of Sports Science. Las Vegas (NV): Victory Belt Publishing Inc.; 2017.
4. Francis C. Key Concepts: Elite Edition. CharlieFrancis.com; 2008.
5. Hansen D. Applying the “High-Low” Training Concept to American Football. Strength Power Speed[Internet]. 2014 [cited 2018 July 6]. Available from: http://www.strengthpowerspeed.com/high-low-training-football/
6. Hansen D. Micro-Dosing with Speed and Tempo Sessions for Performance Gains and Injury Prevention. Strength Power Speed [Internet]. 2015 [cited 2018 July 6]. Available from: http://www.strengthpowerspeed.com/micro-dosing-speed-tempo/
7. New England Sports Network Web site [Internet]. Watertown (MA): New England Sports Network; [cited 2018 July 6]. Available from: https://nesn.com/2016/02/bill-belichicks-advice-to-prospects-training-for-nfl-scouting-combine/
8. Starrett K. Becoming a Supple Leopard 2^ndEdition: The Ultimate Guide to Resolving Pain, Preventing Injury, and Optimizing Athletic Performance. Las Vegas (NV): Victory Belt Publishing Inc.; 2015.

Many strength and conditioning coaches now capitalize on complex training methods to augment the performance of their athletes in training. This trend often utilizes the phenomenon of post-activation potentiation (PAP), which involves muscular contractions of typically moderate to heavy resistance, prior to performing a lighter-resistance ballistic movement with similar biomechanical characteristics¹.

Performing a squat as the heavy strength exercise, followed by explosive vertical jumps, is an example of complex training for lower-body power development. Many studies have shown that PAP potentially increases the rate of force development that would lead to an increase in acceleration and velocity.

Post-Activation Potentiation (PAP)

Short-term gains in power after heavy muscle pre-loading are thought to result from three physiological mechanisms¹:

1. Phosphorylation of myosin regulatory light chains.
2. Increased motor-neuron pool excitability.
3. Pennation angle of the muscle fibers.

The first mechanism renders the actin-myosin interaction more sensitive to myoplasmic Ca²⁺, which is released from the sarcoplasmic reticulum during muscle contractions. It is believed that phosphate binding induces a structural alteration in the myosin head, resulting in an increased rate of myosin cross-bridge movement and an improved force-producing state.

The second mechanism centers on the spinal level, where an increase in α-motoneuron excitability, as reflected by changes in the H-reflex, leads to a potentiated muscular state. The H-reflex is a reflexive neural signal that, when superimposed on voluntary muscle activation, increases the subsequent strength of the electrical impulse, thus activating more motor units.

The third mechanism suggests there may be a decrease in the pennation angle of the muscle fibers following a conditioning exercise. A decrease in the pennation angle of the muscle means that an increased force can be transmitted through the tendon, and ultimately to the bone, upon contraction.

Performing an explosive power exercise while the affected muscle groups are in this potentiated state may further enhance both acute and chronic gains in muscular strength and power². Many aspects of a strength and conditioning program center on power development, with PAP commonly utilized. Although most research investigating this phenomenon has emerged in the past decade, this method of training can actually be tracked back to the mid-20th century in track and field³.

Intra-Complex Recovery Interval

There are many factors that influence the implementation of PAP in training (training status of the athlete, type and intensity of the conditioning stimulus, etc.)¹. However, the most commonly neglected factor when programming PAP in training is the intra-complex recovery interval (i.e., the rest period between the conditioning stimulus and the subsequent ballistic activity). A muscular contraction produces both PAP and fatigue, and it is the net balance between these two that determines whether the subsequent performance response is enhanced, reduced, or unchanged.

Don’t neglect the intra-complex recovery interval when programming PAP in training. Share on X

Figure 1 illustrates, hypothetically, the relationship between PAP and fatigue following a conditioning stimulus. When the volume and intensity are low, PAP is more dominant than fatigue, and a potentiation in subsequent explosive performance can be immediately realized (Window 1). As the volume and intensity increase, fatigue becomes dominant, negatively affecting subsequent performance.

Following the conditioning activity, fatigue dissipates at a faster rate than PAP, and a potentiation of subsequent explosive performance can be realized at some point during the recovery period (Window 2). Thus, it is vital to identify the optimal rest interval whereby the muscle has partially recovered from fatigue, but remains in a potentiated state. A recent meta-analysis has shown that the greatest PAP effect seems to be elicited 15 seconds to four minutes after a plyometric exercise, and at least five minutes following a traditional moderate or high-intensity exercise⁴.

Many training programs, especially in track and field, often neglect this critical consideration when planning an evidenced-based PAP protocol. Track coaches often follow the concept of “speed-transfer,” where athletes perform heavy quarter back squats in the weight room, and then immediately proceed to the adjacent track to perform strides close to maximum speed. Other strength and conditioning coaches, especially in a team sports environment, may also traditionally utilize a blanket or standardized intra-complex recovery interval across all the athletes, hoping that every athlete can capitalize on some aspect of the effect of PAP within the training program.

Coaches should scientifically plan their athletes’ performance improvements, not leave it to chance. Share on X

This would be like throwing a dart blindfolded, hoping that it will hit the bullseye every time. All the above practices are far from the ideal, especially if we seek a best practice—yet evidence-based—approach to make sure that we scientifically plan the performance improvements in the athletes under our charge, and not leave them to chance.

Identifying the Optimal Rest Interval for Your Athletes

There are many studies that aimed to individualize the optimal intra-complex rest interval for an athlete, but then deemed the process too time-consuming, especially in a team sport setting.

One study (see Figure 2) attempted to create an ideal scenario of utilizing 10 separate testing sessions over a period of three weeks to identify an elite badminton athlete’s optimal rest interval (3-12 mins)⁵. The badminton athlete had three strength training sessions per week prior to technical training. In most settings, however, it is certainly impractical to impose on an athlete to come in for numerous separate testing sessions just to identify their individual rest interval.

Past literature has considered ways to optimize the efficiency of identifying an individualized intra-complex rest interval. A recent study (see Figure 3) investigated the effects of a 3RM bench pull on subsequent 3kg overhead medicine ball throws in high school canoeists, where a counterbalanced order of six intra-complex recovery intervals (1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11 min or 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 min) was used for two separate testing sessions⁶. This drastically reduced the amount of rigorous testing to only two sessions, thus optimizing the delivery of a PAP protocol within a training program and increasing the overall efficiency of the program delivery.

Supplementing Corrective Exercises During Rest

One concern is how to effectively utilize the intra-complex recovery within a training program. Resting for large periods of time can sometimes be impractical when working on tight time frames. A possible solution is to tailor mobility and/or stability drills for the unaffected limbs (i.e., upper body corrective exercises for lower body complex exercise sets), with the aim of addressing inefficient movement patterns that may cause a decrease in optimal movement mechanics, and potentially cause an increase in injury potential¹.

This may effectively address other injury management concerns of the athletes during training, which you can supplement into a complex training protocol without unnecessarily extending the total training time. The program design factors in all these to deliver an effective, yet efficient training regimen.

Applying PAP for Performance

Taking into consideration both the intra-complex recovery interval and supplementation of corrective exercises, you can optimally utilize PAP for performance enhancement while addressing the injury potential for an athlete. These ideas assist in creating a training program that is highly individualized for each athlete.

It’s possible to use PAP to enhance performance while addressing the injury potential to an athlete. Share on X

However, most strength and conditioning coaches might be faced with training athletes in a team setting, which may provide a challenge in implementing an individualized PAP protocol. That being said, experience shows that implementing complex training for a squad of 15 elite-level badminton athletes only requires two testing sessions to identify each athlete’s optimal intra-complex recovery interval. This also gives insights to each individual’s back squat one repetition max (1RM) and counter-movement jump performance variables (if you utilize a force plate and linear transducer system).

This is strategically planned quarterly throughout the competition season, to monitor the strength and power developments of the badminton athlete. It also enables alterations to the PAP protocol, which is typically planned during the in-season training program. As complex training focuses on both strength and power training qualities, the relatively long competitive season of a badminton athlete’s annual competition schedule improves and/or maintains these two performance variables.

Training at high intensities over a season requires an athlete to develop a level of robustness to remain injury-free for competitions. Thus, it is a best practice to maximize the use of the intra-complex recovery intervals to supplement corrective exercises to address any movement deficiencies highlighted from movement screenings. Such programming has proved to have good levels of buy-in with sports coaches, as it minimizes idle time within training.

The use of intra-complex recovery intervals minimizes an athlete’s idle time within training. Share on X

The utilization of corrective exercises assists in increasing the training density of a physical training program from the standpoint of performance enhancement, while also taking into consideration the injury risk of the athlete. Table 1 below illustrates sample PAP protocols tailored to the moderately and highly trained individual for lower-body power production.

Addressing the Individual Athlete

The most commonly neglected factor when programming post-activation potentiation (PAP) in training is the intra-complex recovery interval. Many coaches often ignore an athlete’s optimal recovery interval and simply utilize a blanket time frame, citing ignorance and/or lack of time to craft an evidence-based training program.

This article highlights the potential of only utilizing two testing sessions to identify an individualized intra-complex recovery interval to optimize the implementation of a PAP protocol within a training program, thus increasing the overall efficiency of the program delivery. Executing corrective exercises (mobility and/or stability drills) during the intra-complex recovery interval of a complex training protocol may also be a solution to address individualized injury management concerns of an athlete during training, without unnecessarily extending the total training time. This may be the best practice of implementing a scientific approach of factoring complex training within a training program cycle.

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

References

1. Tillin, N. A., & Bishop, D. (2009). “Factors modulating post-activation potentiation and its effect on performance of subsequent explosive activities.” Sports Medicine, 39(2), 147-166.
2. Lim, J. J., & Barley, C. I. (2016). “Complex Training for Power Development: Practical Applications for Program Design.” Strength & Conditioning Journal, 38(6), 33-43.
3. Verkhoshansky, Y. (1966). “Perspectives in the improvement of speed-strength preparation for sprinters.” Track Field. 17(9), 11-12.
4. Wilson, J. M., Marin, P. J., Duncan, N., Loenneke, J. P., Jo, E., Zourdos, M. C., & Brown, L. (2012). “Post Activation Potentiation: A Meta Analysis Examining the Effects of Volume, Rest Period Length, and Conditioning Mode on Power.” Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 44, 86-87
5. Lim, J. J., Barley, C. I., & Chua, Y. J. (2016). “Intra Complex Recovery Intervals for Acute Lower Body Post Activation Potentiation in Elite Badminton Athletes.” Journal of Athletic Enhancement.
6. Wang, C. C., Lin, S. C., Hsu, S. C., Yang, M. T., & Chan, K. H. (2017). “Effects of Creatine Supplementation on Muscle Strength and Optimal Individual Post-Activation Potentiation Time of the Upper Body in Canoeists.” Nutrients, 9(11), 1169.

As I wrote about before in my somewhat controversial article on squat depth, there are different forms of exercises that may be more appropriate at different points of the year. We all agree that we need to increase specificity of movement as we get closer and closer to the season and this article presents the progression that I like for lunging movements.

Early in my career, I did not realize that there were variations in the performance of a lunge and, as such, I never saw a huge reason to emphasize them. I saw great improvements from squats, so I thought I should just stick with those as a bread-and-butter exercise year-round. My perspective was that everything related back to the squat and I should train my athletes as such.

As I have grown over the years and increased my knowledge, I have changed my perspective. Exercises elicit specific responses and each one is unique. Performance and the force vector of the load matter and they produce different reactions.

My Experience with Lunges and Biomechanics

As I learned the lunge early in my career, it seemed that the performance of the lunge was done as an initiation of gravity, a deceleration of the movement until the back knee was just above the ground, and a return of force to the starting position. After this, we would increase the complexity of performance of the lunge by having the athlete perform it in a walking manner. The initial portion of the movement is the same, but after the foot makes contact with the ground and the body is decelerated, the person then allows their momentum to go straight ahead and pulls themself through for the subsequent repetitions, rather than return back to the starting position. While these are two excellent exercises, I don’t necessarily feel like they’re the starting or ending point for a progression that could take us throughout the year.

By using planned progressions, we ensure that we perform these exercises as effectively as possible, say @jbryanmann. Share on X

The technique on these exercises, as with nearly any exercise, is absolutely crucial to ensuring that the athlete improves in their performance, decreases their risk of injury on the playing field, and reduces the risk of injury in the weight room. By going with planned progressions, we make sure we stay on track to do these in the most effective way possible.

The Lunge Progression I Use

This lunge progression has two separate portions. The first is about two different things: achieving the proper position and strengthening the muscles around the knee to be able to withstand the forces placed upon it by the latter portions of the progression, which are for transfer to sprinting and other sports-specific activities. The second portion is about propulsive forces that are applicable and transferrable to sprinting.

As a side note, it is important to talk about the mechanics of propulsion for sprinting. Examining the programs of many major universities, it appears that everyone wants to train the muscles of the knee as the major contributor to speed enhancement. When examining the biomechanics literature, it is apparent that placing a major emphasis on this is a lost cause—the main function of the knee extensor muscles is not propulsive at all; it is, in fact, all negative work^1,3.

What this means for a coach is that the purpose of the knee extensor muscles is to absorb force and keep you upright, or in simpler terms—they keep you from falling on your face. Once you possess enough strength to prevent falling on your face, it may not be necessary to further increase the strength as it won’t enhance performance. What then is responsible for propulsive forces? This, of course, depends on the speed. Surprisingly (at least to me), below 7m/s, the prime group is the plantar flexors (gastrocnemius and soleus). Above 7m/s, the prime group is the hip extensors (gluteus maximus, biceps femoris long head, semitendinosus, and semimembranosus)³.

On to the lunge progression.

Step 1: Split Squat

I like using the split squat to see an athlete’s ability to achieve the bottom position of the lunge. I want to ensure that they don’t have a restriction of some sort (such as hip flexors that are too tight, ankle restriction, etc.) that would prevent them from reaching that position. After achieving that position with bodyweight and lighter weights, we’ll increase the load for two to four weeks.

Video 1. Before lunging, split squats are great for teaching body positions and learning to apply force into the ground with the right mechanics. Split positions are natural progressions, and are common when teaching beginners and improving technique with advanced athletes.

Step 2: Split Squat with Six-Second Eccentric

I like to do this to ensure that athletes are ready to withstand loads that will have acceleration of gravity and forward momentum. As a result of this eccentric loading, tissues that may be restricted tend to increase in length at the sarcomere, giving us a little bit more range of motion. Both are handy to have as we progress throughout the training program. I like to stay here for two to four weeks.

Step 3: Lunges with Push Back to Starting Position

This is the lunge that I talked about initially with the description. I like to progressively overload this and stay with this variation for around four to eight weeks, until I stop seeing a fairly significant increase in load from session to session. I feel that I need to emphasize that on the return to the starting position, the athlete needs to maintain a vertical torso. Often, the athlete will shift their hips back and fold forward at the waist to initiate the movement. This can create excessive forces at the lumbar spine and cause the athlete to lose their balance and fall forward when there are any significant loads on the bar.

Video 2. Popular options with lunges are the reverse styles that ensure athletes have great positioning before they learn to step forward. This video shows an example of lunging backwards, a staple with many coaches.

Step 4: Walking Lunges

This is the last of the lunges described initially. I like to stay with this and progressively overload it as well. It is nothing to see athletes doing lunges with 140kg+ on this movement after they have done it for any significant time, or if the athlete is returning to this movement after doing it heavy previously. Again, I like to progress this to where the athlete uses a heavy load with great technique. I like to progressively overload this and stay with this variation for around four to eight weeks, until I stop seeing a fairly significant increase in load from session to session.

Video 3. Walking lunges are excellent for skilled trainees that have polished the earlier lunge progressions. Coaches can add countless small variations, but they must be purposeful and effective in execution.

For steps 5-7, I only do the initial, push-back type variation. For resistance, I primarily use various bands. Increasing the distance of the movement increases the intensity of the movement by increasing the band length and, thus, the tension. For the cable movements, while there isn’t a length-tension relationship to alter (to the same extent), the cable length is finite. Rather than risk breaking the apparatus, I simply do the push-back variations.

All of these lunges occur with the initiation of the movement from the hip and added forward propulsion from the ankle. These result in the back leg being straight as a consequence of the forceful hip extension and plantar flexion rather than as a goal. The leg in front is not the focus of the exercise as it was in the previous variations; it is simply to stop the force that you produced with the back leg.

Step 5: Hip-Dominated Lunge Initiation

I like to drop back to an unloaded bar or no more than a 40kg load and change the performance of the movement. From the standing position, when lunging forward with the right leg, the left hip and glute, quickly followed by the calf, should forcefully drive the athlete forward. This means the hip moves before anything else in the body, and that makes it appear that the head is thrown back. The goal is to drive the center of mass forward and, depending on the wording, this sometimes clicks with the athlete (hips lead, belly button leads, etc.).

This is often a tough concept for the athletes to grasp, and should be taught with a lot of coaching until they get it. I feel it’s easier to watch this and hear it rather than read it and understand it.

The hip-dominated lunge can be tough for athletes to grasp—they need to see it and be taught it, says @jbryanmann. Share on X

I remember that when I read Dr. Yessis’ work, I thought this was a regular lunge. Upon visiting him, I saw that I was greatly mistaken about its performance. Whether it was youthful arrogance and overconfidence or difficulty in written expression, I’m uncertain. Whatever the reason, I didn’t get it down, so I think it’s best illustrated with the videos provided. I like to stay here for only one to two sessions, and I’ve thrown this in just as an intermediary for teaching purposes.

Step 6: Hip-Dominated Lunge, Horizontal Resistance

This lunge is done in the same manner as the previous one; however, now there is resistance provided by a cable or band and attached to a waist belt worn at the athlete’s hips (not spine, but the belt should be just above the greater trochanter on the femur). You must choose the load carefully. Most cable stack machines have only a single or double pulley, which allows for slack to be put into the line. This may not be beneficial for the athletes, and could in fact be dangerous.

Video 4. Adding elastic or horizontal resistance creates a new loading component to traditional lunges. The use of horizontal resistance challenges the support leg more and is a great option for athletes.

If the movement is done in a manner where the athlete’s acceleration causes the load to increase its vertical acceleration beyond the movement, they have a period of weightlessness coupled with the load coming down complemented by the acceleration of gravity. This is enough force to cause injury.

I have had good success with utilizing Keiser machines, as the resistance is forced air rather than gravity-based, and this allows for small increases in the loads. I have also utilized resistance bands with no issue. Dr. Yessis has his own bands available with an anchoring system, belts, and cuffs to allow for a variety of exercises to be performed correctly. I usually stay here from 4-12 weeks, depending on how the athlete looks and how their movements are changing in the sport.

Step 7: Hip-Dominated Lunge Performed Explosively

This is done in the same manner as the previous lunge; however, instead of focusing on a step out, the emphasis is placed on an explosive drive or leap. Resistance will initially have to be decreased. Once the athlete can achieve a certain goal, increase the resistance. I recommend staying here from 4-12 weeks; again, depending on how the athlete looks and how their movements are changing in the sport.

Video 5. Athletes who are competent in lunging and have eccentric abilities can benefit from a horizontal drive forward. Lunges don’t need to be slow and static, but they still require control and focus.

Step 7 is the end of my lunge progression—for now—performed in the sagittal plane. When examining the works from Morin²and seeing the joint contributions for the sprint, it is easy to see how the second half of the progression is performed with more specificity. With 80% of the force of sprinting derived from the hip and 20% derived from the ankle, the high level of transfer from this method of lunging to the performance of the sprint is clear to see.

Ideas on Program Design and Lunges

There are some ways to increase variation within the movements, of course. Sometimes you may feel that an athlete needs a bit more before progressing, but either they are bored or it seems like they would benefit from a change. If it’s not the appropriate time to change to the next progression of the exercise, just change the variation of the loading.

With the split squat, you can obviously change foot position: front foot elevated, rear foot elevated, the height of the elevation, among others. For the lunges, in addition to the split squats, you can also change from dumbbell to barbell to specialty bars (safety bar, cambered bar, etc.). Additionally, you can change to a less stable load such as suspended plates and suspended kettlebells—this will be an additional challenge.

Regardless of the means of programming, a central tenet of periodization is moving from general to specific exercises. While we all can recite and regurgitate this, I noticed when looking back at my programs and evaluating others, we often don’t do this. We have variation in load, we have variation in movement, but we do not have increases in specificity.

In my opinion, it is possible to elicit more specific responses and continue the transfer of training as we move from general to specific. Some people will read an article like this and decide that all they need is specific and forget the general means, as I have seen by the arguments on my squat periodization article. Both general and specific means are needed and both are vital to performance.

We need to program both general and specific exercises, as both are vital to performance, says @jbryanmann. Share on X

The way it was explained to me by Yessis and Bondarchuk—and this is, of course, my paraphrasing—getting better at the general exercises opens the window to how much or how good of an adaptation will be made via special exercises. Yosef Johnson told me that through his conversations with Yuri Verkhoshansky, they squatted heavy to make the adaptation of the depth jump that much more powerful. With periodization texts, you often read about how one cycle potentiates the next, and this is the same with the exercises.

Getting stronger at the general movements and being diligent about improving them may not mean you’ll see increases at that point from their enhancement, but later, when you start using the exercise variation. HOWEVER, if you’re squatting just to squat, lunging just to lunge, cleaning just to clean, and so on, you’ll never have a greater level of adaptation beyond your initial one. The caveat is, of course, people with lower training qualifications, as they will adapt to and improve from just about anything.

I think this is part of the problem for those who have issues with periodization: If their specific population of untrained individuals sees a great response to general training, why would you need anything else? Just by simply getting under a barbell their subjects got better, so this is what should work with elite athletes. I think that some of these academics lack the understanding of being in the trenches.

Here is what I have learned from my years of working with athletes and now getting into academia. What works well in a study with untrained subjects may or may not work well with highly trained athletes. The converse is not true though: If it worked well with highly trained athletes, it works AMAZINGLY well with the general population or untrained athletes.

Planned variation & program changes from general to specific elicit the highest possible #adaptation, says @jbryanmann. Share on X

Further arguments can be made about adaptation curves, variation, intensity, etc. However, what absolutely cannot be argued is that planned variation and changes in the program from general to specific elicit the highest possible adaptation.

Parting Thoughts on Lunges and Making Choices on Progressions

Realize that this progression is only about the lunge—this does not mean that the lunge is the most specific or ultimate exercise, by any means. There are other exercises that may increase sprint speed equally well, if not better, through the use of carefully selected special exercises. This article just demonstrates the ability to make what is normally a general exercise into one that is far more specific.

Everything is context-specific, and exercise selection is no different. You can randomly throw things against the wall and possibly cause an adaptation, or you can go through progressions from most general to most specific and increase your chances of seeing improvements.

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

References

1. Dorn, TW, Schache, AG, and Pandy, MG. “Muscular strategy shift in human running: dependence of running speed on hip and ankle muscle performance.” J Exp Biol. 2012.215: 1944 LP-1956. Available from: http://jeb.biologists.org/content/215/11/1944.abstract
2. Morin, J-B, Gimenez, P, Edouard, P, Arnal, P, Jiménez-Reyes, P, Samozino, P, et al. “Sprint Acceleration Mechanics: The Major Role of Hamstrings in Horizontal Force Production.” Front. Physiol. 2015. 6: 404. Available from: https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fphys.2015.00404
3. Schache, AG, Brown, NAT, and Pandy, MG. “Modulation of work and power by the human lower-limb joints with increasing steady-state locomotion speed.” J Exp Biol. 2015.218: 2472 LP-2481. Available from: http://jeb.biologists.org/content/218/15/2472.abstract

In our training, we hear over and over again how important sleep is, but do we really take it to heart? I know many past high school athletes who have wished they were more serious during their season. Sleep is essential to good health—it helps your brain work properly, improves learning, helps you pay attention, regulates hormones, affects your body’s reaction to insulin, and helps repair your heart and blood vessels. Being regularly sleep-deprived makes you irritable, weakens your immune system, and lessens your ability to focus and remember things.

For athletes, sleep can literally make or break their career. Share on X

All the adverse effects of sleep deprivation are amplified for professional athletes, who depend on their body’s performance to make a living. Sleep for athletes can literally make or break their career! One study showed that basketball players who increased the amount of sleep they got demonstrated a 9% improvement in accuracy when shooting the ball. The same study found similar improvements in swimmers—performance improved as the amount of sleep increased.

How Better Sleep Improves Athletic Performance

A better night of sleep enhances an athlete’s performance in the following ways:

Fewer Mistakes

First of all, insufficient sleep impairs your judgment. Sleep fuels the body’s ability to concentrate, remember, and learn. So, when it’s running on fumes, the brain has much more difficulty organizing and retaining new information.

One study showed that the “plate discipline” of MLB players (how often a batter swings at balls outside the strike zone) steadily decreases as the playing season wears on. It seems counterintuitive—you would think the opposite would be true—because a player gains so much continuous practice throughout a season. However, the results were consistent: The players’ judgment was better at the beginning of the season than the end. A 162-game season would certainly cause some mental exhaustion!

Fewer Injuries and Better Health in General

In one study, researchers found that among high school athletes, the amount of sleep they got was the biggest predictor of injuries. In another study, researchers at the University of California determined that when athletes got less than six hours of sleep at night, the rate of injuries was higher during the game the next day.

Tired athletes are slower to react to a ball, puck, or player speeding toward them, increasing the likelihood of injury. Additionally, insufficient sleep doesn’t allow the body time to repair from the stress of workouts and games. And, because exhaustion also affects the immune system, sleep-deprived athletes are more susceptible to illness.

Faster Reaction Times

Although my playing days are over, I have a cousin who plays college football for the University of Utah. I talked to him about his view on sleep, and he told me: “It makes a huge difference in my performance. If I’m not fully awake, my reaction time is slower. I make so many more mistakes.”

Going 22 hours without sleep can impair reaction time more than four alcoholic drinks can. Share on X

Every millisecond counts when you’re an athlete, and inadequate sleep can greatly impair reaction time. Research shows that even a relatively minor loss of sleep can affect reaction times on a level similar to that of being legally drunk. Just one all-nighter can decrease reaction times by a shocking 300%; in fact, going 22 hours without sleep can impair reaction time more than four alcoholic drinks can.

Better Overall Performance

Good sleep is essential if you want to maintain peak fitness, both physically and mentally. It improves accuracy, sprint times, and many other metrics of success in sports. Studies have shown these improvements across a variety of sports, including tennis, basketball, weightlifting, swimming, and more. One college football coach always used the mantra: “Out-sleep our opponents: that’s the key to getting stronger.”

How to Sleep Like a Pro Athlete

While most folks aren’t competing to bring home the gold, sleep is just as important for non-athletes. How can you learn to sleep like an Olympian? Here are some things that the pros implement into their sleep routine that will be just as beneficial for you:

Rethink Your Sleep Environment

Evaluate the temperature, light, and noise level of your bedroom. “Make your room like a cave,” says Cheri Mah, sleep expert at the University of California San Francisco. “You want it to be really dark, quiet, and cool.”

For darkness, look at installing some blackout curtains over your windows, or start using an eye mask. For temperature, too cool is better than too warm. Set your thermostat between 60 and 70 degrees, and have extra blankets close by in case you wake up cold.

For noise control, think white noise—it helps to block out sudden intrusive noises, like a door slamming or a dog barking. Use earplugs or a fan, or invest in a quality sound machine. There are also many “white noise” smartphone apps, both free and paid, that offer similar benefits.

Develop a Wind-Down Routine

Your wind-down routine should last 20-30 minutes; it should be relaxing and get you ready for a restful sleep. “Reading is great—a real book, not an iPad or phone that emits blue frequencies of light, which can negatively impact sleep,” says Mah. If you do have to read from a screen, there are apps you can install that overlay the display with an orange or red tint, eliminating the blue light that can cause sleep difficulty. Stretching or yoga is another good wind-down option.

Embracing the wind-down routine will also give you a tool to combat instances or periods of anxiety. The night before a high school or college basketball game, I’d sometimes get pre-game jitters that made it hard to sleep. But when I took time before bed to relax, it was easier for me to fall asleep. The more consistent I became with a schedule, the better I felt.

Approach sleep as a ritual: Train your body to recognize the cues of bedtime, and before long you’ll be falling asleep faster and deeper.

If you train your body to recognize the cues of bedtime, you’ll soon fall asleep faster and deeper. Share on X

Another component is the idea of “protecting the bedroom.” Keep work, electronics, entertainment, and other potential stress-inducers away from the area that you sleep in, so your body doesn’t begin to associate stress or tension with your bed. Training your body to recognize that the bedroom is only for sleeping and intimacy will allow it to relax more quickly, and also helps reinforce the sleeping ritual.

Stick to a Schedule

Decide on specific bedtimes and wake-up times, and be consistent with them. Waking up and going to bed at the same time every day will allow your body to regulate its internal clock, which in turn can often improve your quality of sleep. A regulated internal clock naturally teaches your body when to start falling asleep, and when to start returning to consciousness, which can help with insomnia and night waking. It might be difficult at first, but the effort will pay off.

Additionally, consider following the maxim: “Early to bed, early to rise, makes one healthy, wealthy and wise.” Not everyone is a morning person, but setting an early schedule might be just the change you need to transform your quality of sleep.

I wasn’t a morning person until I was in high school. I made a choice to start waking up early before school so I could train for basketball. I would wake up three days a week and play ball at 6:00 a.m. for an hour. At first, it was super difficult and I always felt tired. But after consistently following that schedule, I started to feel and perform at a higher level.

Going to bed early and waking up early really made a difference in my training. I got more done and was more productive the rest of the day. Honestly, developing healthy habits and long hours of hard work helped me to get good enough to play intercollegiate ball.

Make Use of Bright Light and Exercise

What your body does during waking hours can have a big effect on how it rests— namely, the quality of sleep. Vigorous, daily exercise can trigger deeper, more restful sleep and even light exercise has been shown to cause solid improvements. Enjoying bright sunshine in the morning can also help reinforce circadian rhythms, but be careful to avoid too harsh or bright artificial light in the evening.

What your body does during waking hours can have a big effect on how it rests—i.e., sleep quality. Share on X

Avoid Alcohol and Caffeine

The reasons for skipping caffeine at night are obvious, as its primary function is to wake us up. Keep in mind that it has a half-life of approximately six hours, so you’ll want to start avoiding it just before dinnertime.

While avoiding alcohol may seem counterintuitive since it can make people sleepy, the drowsiness doesn’t last. As your alcohol levels start to fall during the night, it disrupts your sleep and makes you groggy and sluggish in the morning. Say “no” to the nightcap!

Aim for Seven to Nine Hours

How much sleep do athletes need? Pro athletes typically need more than most—it’s recommended that they get 8-10 hours every night. But for the average adult, aim for seven to nine hours of sleep a night to avoid the effects of chronic sleep deprivation. The average teenager requires even more: between 9 and 9.5 hours of sleep at night, but studies have shown that less than 15% of teens get more than 8.5 hours. Individual needs may vary, however, so take into account how rested you feel and schedule more sleep if need be.

It’s not always easy to make this happen. Work, family commitments, play—many competing priorities or temptations can pull us away from a night of restful sleep. When I asked my cousin how much sleep he tries to get, he told me: “Personally, I choose to go to bed fairly early at 10:00 p.m. This was sometimes hard because in college a lot of parties and activities are going on. But getting a good rest is always worth it.”

Don’t Nap

While short 20-minute power naps certainly have their benefits, try avoiding naps altogether–particularly in the afternoon–if sleeping at night becomes an issue for you. Napping can disrupt your body’s natural sleep cycle and circadian rhythm, making it harder to fall asleep at night.

Invest in High-Quality Sleep Materials

You may think it doesn’t make much of a difference, but what you sleep on can have a major impact on the quality of sleep you’re getting. Your mattress should be comfortable yet supportive, and remember that most mattresses have a lifespan of 9-10 years, so it’s important to replace them when they’re no longer doing their job effectively. Evaluate your sleep positions and make a pillow decision based on that: Side and back sleepers need a firmer pillow, while stomach sleepers need something flatter.

Start with a Few Sleep Strategies

Don’t underestimate the importance of sleep on your decisions and performance. Share on X

Even just implementing one or two of these strategies will improve your sleep quality, help you feel more rested in the morning, and improve your performance throughout your day. So, whether you are an athlete or coach, don’t underestimate the importance of sleep. You’ll be surprised by how much a healthy sleeping pattern will better your decisions and performance.

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 decathlon and heptathlon are not for the weak of heart. These events take years to master, and are usually undertaken by the athletes who are the most dedicated. You cannot be great at the combined events if you don’t have the hunger to be the best, or the time to dedicate to learning and working at all of the events.

You cannot be great at the combined events if you don’t have the hunger to be the best. Share on X

There is so much beauty in trying to become the best at multiple events… but it requires a lot of work, and can be extremely challenging at times. A high school sprinter or thrower might get frustrated trying to correct a bad habit, or feel like training is sometimes too mundane. A decathlete or heptathlete has to deal with that tenfold, as they are always trying to not just learn new skills (as a beginner), but also refine their skills across all disciplines.

To address this, here are five essential considerations when training athletes to succeed in multiple events.

1. Athlete Selection: Attitude, Commitment, and Heart

The ideal combined events athlete always strives to get better in each event, but at the same time understands the big picture. It is a long process and, as mentioned, it can be very frustrating at times. The adage, “jack of all trades, master of none,” has been said about decathletes for years, and it couldn’t be truer. Every aspiring decathlete and heptathlete should always strive to improve, yet understand they might never be the star on their team in just one event. The ideal decathlete or heptathlete should love the challenge of getting better, be there each day to work on their craft, and be quick to bounce back from a bad event or training session.

 

2. Designate Who Is in Charge

“Look at me. Look at me. I am the Capitan now.”– Abduwali Muse

There are many moving parts and things to consider when putting together the training for high school decathletes and heptathletes. At the high school level, your program might have one coach, or 10 coaches. I always advocate for one coach to put together the training for the combined event athlete. Different coaches can help the athletes out in different events, but there needs to be one coach or “director” who organizes the training. This ensures clear communication and expectations for the athlete.

I recommend just one coach—not many—to put together training for the combined events athlete. Share on X

When we train our combined event athletes (even during the high school season), we try to hit each event (or commonalities of those events) twice a week. This can be done in a two-hour practice, as long as it is planned out. “Go hurdle today” or “just go with the jumpers” will not suffice, as the athlete will most likely spend too much time on one event, and not come close to the balance of training that a combined event athlete needs.

The main thing to understand is that training for the combined events should be a planned-out process, and not something you just guess at. That is a true recipe for disaster. With proper planning and organization, the high school combined event athlete will be light years ahead of their competition.

3. Priorities: Speed and the Beginner

“I feel the need… the need for speed!” – Peter “Maverick” Mitchell

If you look at the events in the heptathlon or decathlon, they are all speed/power events except for the last one (800m or 1500m). Therefore, your training for the combined events must reflect the demands of the event as a whole. You should target most of your training for speed and power gains. The faster an athlete becomes and more powerful they are, the better they will be across the board. A faster athlete can sprint faster, hurdle faster, jump higher (and farther), and have more speed in the throws, which should lead to farther throws.

Your training for the combined events should target speed and power gains. Share on X

The neat thing about it is that the more you train for acceleration, speed, power, strength, etc., the more your endurance qualities will also improve. Proper training for all of the events helps out in the long run, for the long run. I have found that good tempo run training—as well as proper placement of “pacing runs” for the final event—helps tremendously in decreasing time, as well as increasing confidence heading into the last event. I always want my athletes to look forward to that last event: It becomes yet another opportunity to PR and score more points.

Every beginner combined events athlete comes to the table with strengths and weaknesses. Some athletes are stronger in the sprints, some in the field events, and some might even have a very strong endurance background. In terms of “strengths and weaknesses,” I try to work hard at the athlete’s strengths, and even harder at their weaknesses!

It may sound cliché, but there should be no event that gets a pass because the athlete is already proficient in it. You should always be striving to improve! As a high school athlete, this should be no problem for them at all.

There should be no event that gets a pass because the athlete is already proficient in it. Share on X

For the very beginning decathlete, we prioritize learning and development in the hurdles, pole vault, and javelin. For the very beginning heptathlete, we prioritize learning and development in the hurdles, javelin, and high jump.

4. Balance Your Training Plan

Cliff Rovelto, the extremely successful combined events coach at Kansas State, talks about the “3 C’s” in combined event training (commonality, complementary, and compatible). When you train for the combined events, your training needs to look at common parts across the events (e.g., takeoff drills that work across events, acceleration drills, medicine ball throwing drills, etc.). The training on one day needs to complement that of the next, and the types of modalities that you use in one training session need to be compatible with one another.

When you train for combined events, your training needs to look at common parts across the events. Share on X

I have found the best way to do this is through “high/low” type training. Many successful sprint and hurdle programs have used this method, most notably that of the late Canadian sprint coach Charlie Francis. We do something of very high neural demand one day (speed/power), and then very low/general the next. The two extremes provide clear signals to the brain as to what we are trying to accomplish each day, and this type of training allows the body to super-compensate after a workout, not just reach homeostasis (stability/normal resting point). We always take a day off each week (Sunday).

5. Know How to Manage Your Athletes During the Competitive High School Season

It is quite difficult for a good decathlete or heptathlete to make everyone happy during the high school season. Your typical combined event athlete will be good at multiple events, and a lot of times the high school coach will only want the kids to compete in their best events. In my opinion, if you have a kid who really wants to be a combined event athlete, you need to let them compete in all of their events (except for the javelin or 800m/1500m) at some point during the high school season.

They should most definitely do their strong events to help the team at the big invitational and/or district meets; however, they should be able to use the smaller meets/dual meets to compete in some of their weaker events. The competitive experience is very beneficial for them. Promising combined event athletes should not do the same four events every single meet of the season.

I always find it beneficial to have them do a sprint, a jump, a relay, and a throw every few meets. Sometimes this isn’t possible due to the meet schedule (or location of the throws area in relation to the track), but it’s a good guide. For instance, if you have a heptathlete competing in a lower-key meet, it would be a good idea for her to do the 100mH, LJ, SP, and run on the 4×4. For a decathlete who is a very good vaulter, it would be a good idea for him to do the 110mH, HJ or LJ, DT, and 4×4. He can save his PV for the upcoming invitational.

Promising combined event athletes shouldn’t do the same four events every single meet. Share on X

I like having my combined event athletes run on the 4×4, as it is a great “gut check” race, as well as a great training session hidden in competition. Finally, it is at the end of the meet!

The main thing to stress when it comes to planning for meets/season management is that you must keep the big picture in mind. If you understand that the little meets aren’t that important, and that you should use some meets as nothing more than glorified practice sessions, then you can go into the meets looking to always improve on the weaker events, and allow the athletes to gain that valuable competitive experience in those events.

I have provided an example of what you could do with a decathlete whose stronger events are the hurdles, PV, and LJ.  In this example, the athlete has a small dual meet on Wednesday, and a very important invitational on Saturday.

 

Sample Week in Competition Season: 1 Lower-Key Meet, 1 Invitational

Mon: Block starts – 4 x 20m, 4 x 30m (some over hurdles), LJ technique, MB throws.

Tues: PV, 6 x 200m tempo runs.

Wed: Dual meet – 100m, HJ, DT, 4 x 400m relay.

Thurs: PV drills, JT drills, 6 x 200m or general strength circuits or strides in grass (depends on how athlete feels after meet) – i.e., easier recovery day.

Fri: Block starts over hurdles, shot put power throws (brief quality session).

Sat: Invitational – 110mH, PV, 4 x 400m relay.

Always Keep the Big Picture in Mind

If you can find the right athlete—dedicated to working hard with a goal of becoming the best—coaching the combined events is a lot of fun at the high school level. With proper planning, organization, and communication, the high school decathlete and heptathlete can be a huge asset to any high school program.

When you train your decathletes and heptathletes to become better overall athletes, make speed and power gains the biggest priority and they will have a lot of success over the years. If you keep the big picture in mind, which is helping them become great decathletes and heptathletes at the next level, you will see each practice and meet as just a step in that direction. A bad meet, bad throw, no height—you can see them all as just learning experiences on the way to years of success in the combined events!

Addendum: Sample Microcycles Throughout the Year

Skeleton Training Format (I keep this format the same throughout the training year, from September to August.)

Monday: Acceleration development (from stand, blocks, crouch, etc.), jumps (bounds or technical work), throws (medicine ball or shot put).

Tuesday: Throw or vault technique (JT for heps, PV for decs), tempo runs (runs of lower intensities, with shorter rests), general strength circuits.

Wednesday: Hurdles, LJ approaches, LJ work, speed endurance.

Thursday: Same as Tuesday.

Friday: Acceleration development/speed development, jumps, throws (medicine ball or shot put).

Saturday: Throw technique (DT and JT), tempo running.

Sample Week in General Prep

Mon: Acceleration development – 4 x 20m, 3 x 30m, 2 x 20m (2-3 minutes between runs, 4 minutes between sets). Bounds – (SLJ, STJ, RR-LL, standing 5 bounds) x 4. Throws – power MB throws – 4 exercises x 5.

Tues: Low-intensity technique drills – jav work w/MB and PV walking drills, as well as jump fundamental drills (skips, posture work, etc.); tempo runs to follow – 8 x 200m w/2 minutes rest @ 70%.

Wed: Hurdle drills, then 10 x 10 hurdles, low and close w/3 steps between. Bleacher bounds to follow.

Thurs: Drills as on Tuesday, then general strength circuits x 3 (30 seconds on, 20 seconds off). Extended cool-down to follow.

Fri: Sled pulls over 30-40m or hill sprints of 40-50m. Bounds and throws as on Monday.

Sat: Easy throws technical day, 10 x 100m tempo runs w/2 minutes rest @ 70%.

Sample Week in Pre-Competition

Mon: 4 x 20m, 4 x 30m, 2 x 40m. HJ technical work, SP to follow.

Tues: Heps – JT; Decs – PV. Tempo to follow (8 x 200m w/2 minutes rest). Cool down w/circuits.

Wed: Hurdle work (fast!), then LJ approaches on track x 6, 3 x 120m to follow w/long rest between.

Thurs: Same as Tuesday.

Fri: Similar to Monday, w/sprints, HJ, and SP.

Sat: Throw (JT and DT), 1500m/800m pacing runs.

 

Sample Week in Competition

Mon: 4 x 20m, 3 x 30m, 2 x 40m from blocks. HJ technical work, SP to follow.

Tues: Heps – JT, Decs – PV. Tempo to follow (8 x 200m w/2 minutes rest).

Wed: Hurdle work (fast!), then LJ approaches on track x 6, 3 x 120m to follow.

Thurs: As on Tuesday, some DT before tempo runs.

Fri: Block starts over 3H, hurdle hops 4 x 4, OHB x 4.

Sat: Competition – 110mH, PV, SP, 4 x 400m relay.

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

Each season, I look forward to the student-athletes who are just beginning their athletic endeavors for the first time. Freshman athletes—with minimal recreational or organized athletic experiences—are wonderful to coach, but developmentally, they deserve a training program that gradually eases them into the physical and emotional demands of their sport.

Today, sport at any age level has become a science. There is a surplus of literature about any sport available online, in print, or from peer-reviewed sources. The volume of information available can feel intimidating, but you don’t need to read everything written about your sport. In fact, reading everything available on your sport may confuse you more than support you. A basic, fundamental understanding will provide the necessary oversight to prevent injury, maximize performances, and allow these new athletes to enjoy a positive athletic experience.

My previous athletic experience prepared me exceptionally well for our grueling freshman track workouts. As a competitor, I didn’t realize that grinding out 2.5-hour high-volume, high-intensity workouts on a regular basis overwhelms and underserves the needs of all athletes, not just freshmen. Those workouts were ridiculous, but back then I lacked enough of a fundamental understanding of my sport to know that 2.5-hour workouts and a non-stop Monday through Friday practice schedule were an inappropriate use of my time.

In high school sports, athletes are not all equal. Less-experienced or younger athletes require shorter, age-appropriate workouts. A good coach moderates the volume of meters run, jumps taken, or weight lifted to prevent overuse injuries and raise the ceiling for performance of these individuals. As I mentioned earlier, the literature available is vast, but a consensus exists on the moderation of practice volume, especially for sprinters, jumpers, and throwers.

These principles prevent injuries, maximize performance, and foster a positive training environment. Share on X

Good coaching never reinforces bad habits, like poor posture, by pushing athletes through fatigue or exhaustion.¹Practice technical skills while athletes are fresh. Let them execute the skill correctly and back them off. This is just one fundamental principle of several presented in this article that work together to prevent injuries, maximize performance, and foster a positive training environment for athletes.

The seven principles presented originated in track and field, because this is the sport I coach and understand best. The principles are not absolutes, but they apply in most contexts. I rely on track and field as a model because many of the raw athletic skills necessary for other sports are embedded within the fitness and coordination developed within track and field. Again, instead of telling you to read everything you can get your hands on, I have attempted to condense the most widely accepted ideas in track and field down to seven fundamental principles to support your coaching.

The Athlete Is No. 1

In scholastic sports, coaches are there for their athletes. I love winning and you should too, but if you strip the fun out of this sport for the cost of winning, you’re not going to have a team any athlete wants to compete for. Chances are your team probably won’t win anyway. We gain buy-in for the team when athletes want to be there. Practices can and should be fun. Athletes should improve each successive year. If your athletes are not having fun, or improving, then it’s time to reflect on your coaching philosophy.

If your athletes aren’t having fun, or improving, it’s time to reflect on your coaching philosophy. Share on X

Kids try new sports because they want to be successful. I believe athletes have the right to choose their event. Athletes should own their event, and our job is to guide them to success. They will make mistakes and that’s okay, but no coach needs to explicitly tell an athlete that they’re terrible at their event.

If an athlete really is pretty bad at their event, you have choices:

1. Let them stick with it because they still enjoy practicing and competing for the team.
2. Encourage them to shift their passions to a different event. Recommend a new event for them.

A good coach guides, teaches, and educates—they do not dictate. That’s how athletes lose interest. Everybody likes choice, so why not compromise?

When you’re coaching a drill or an exercise in practice, devote your undivided attention to each athlete performing that skill. Athletes expect and demand our critical but caring attention, and we can give it if we plan appropriately. If you bounce around between events and never spend adequate time observing, recording, and providing feedback to your athletes individually, then you’re not serving their needs. Remember, we do this for them. Athletes are No. 1.

‘Emancipate Yourself from Volume’²

Less is more. There are three high school coaches who hit this point harder than any others: Latif Thomas, Tony Holler, and John Brumund-Smith. It’s important for athletes to walk away from a workout on Monday and recover fully for another workout on Tuesday. Previous athleticism goes a long way in supporting an athlete’s experience in a new sport, but too much volume will shut down any athlete, as it did for me on our most difficult days.

Again, 2.5-hour high-volume workouts are ridiculous. No athlete needs more than two hours in a given practice session and no workout should focus on high-intensity, high-volume fitness for the same duration. If you want to be fast, then forget workouts like a 10x100m or 4x300m. High-volume speed endurance workouts of more than 800-1000 meters will not drop times. Instead, they will reduce coordination, erode recovery, and overuse your athletes’ muscular-skeletal system.

Too often, coaches prescribe interval and aerobic work for their sprinters. Getting through a “hard” workout becomes more important than the coordination necessary for good technique. Overtraining overloads the central nervous system and the average high school body eventually breaks down from overstimulation. Volume workouts do not build speed—they overuse and abuse, and your athletes lose.

Volume workouts do not build speed—they overuse and abuse, and your athletes lose. Share on X

According to Coach Tony Holler (from Plainfield North High School), athletes should train the minimum effective dose. Holler says, “We train at 100 mph so that 80 mph feels comfortable.”³ In most sports, speed is the key that unlocks all gates. Sprinters deserve the correct balance of “acceleration (high intensity runs of 2-4 seconds), top end speed/maximum velocity (high intensity runs of 4-8 seconds), and speed endurance (high intensity runs of 8-15 seconds).”³ In track and field, “speed creates endurance, endurance does not create speed.”

Never push your athletes through exhaustion because “10% undertrained is better than 1% overtrained.”² This applies to the track and to the weight room.⁴ I would rather my athletes task their muscles on Monday and recover for practice on Tuesday than exhaust them on Monday so much that they lose Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday entirely. By reducing the volume in a training session, our athletes return to practice the next day hungry, healthy, and ready for another great session.

Practice Technical Skills at Least 3 Times Per Week

If you want to train great jumpers, then you have to let them jump… often! The same is true for throwing, sprinting, hurdles, and even distance running! Sprinting is sprinting is sprinting. Each event has its unique challenges for the human body.

Your athletes must acclimate to their functional motions and to the resistances—weighted or gravitational—applied to their bodies. They must experience these challenges frequently. For example, in competition, sprinters will wear spikes, but if in practice “they aren’t wearing spikes, they aren’t sprinting.”⁵

Before the 2017-2018 indoor season, I primarily coached shot put. We had some weight throwers who competed well, but I wasn’t very familiar with coaching the weight so I didn’t give it a lot of attention. At the end of last year, I knew that I would have to train a new crop of young throwers. Plus, there were easy points to score at our county championship because the weight throw was relatively uncontested.

Each week, I devoted at least three practice days to weight throw technical drills and at least two out of our four practice days in the weight room getting my athletes stronger, acclimating them to the resistances experienced while executing their functional motions. We threw weight for 30 minutes with ample recovery time every Tuesday and Thursday. On Mondays and Fridays, we practiced smooth entrances with our arms, lots of spinning footwork, and weighted bar spins in classrooms.

We mocked competition as much as possible, whenever and wherever possible. My sophomore boys, Tim and Brandon (pseudonyms), improved their season best performances by 11 ft. 3 in. and 7 ft. 0.5 in., respectively. In our sophomore all-city championship, Tim threw 28 ft. 9 in. and finished sixth, while Brandon threw 32 ft. 5 in. and finished second.

Brandon improved steadily over the course of the entire season while Tim struggled with his form all season long. Tim’s technique only started coming together in the last two weeks of our season, but when Tim uncorked a 6-foot improvement on his personal best, the atmosphere became instantly electric. Suddenly, his competitors looked worried. Functional movement must be reinforced in practice frequently if athletes wish to see improvement in their performance, like Tim or Brandon did this past season.

I did not become a more knowledgeable weight throw coach this past season. I became a more attentive observer and a more critical voice. Most importantly, I created the time and space for my weight throwers to focus deeply on their functional motion. I encouraged all my throwers to practice their footwork in the hallways between classes, swing their backpacks like the weight, and show off these skills to their very confused friends. Tim and Brandon demonstrated to me and our team that a commitment to functional movement leads to more confident coordination and improved performances.

A commitment to functional movement leads to more confident coordination and improved performances. Share on X

Beyond practicing the event, coaches should provide weight training exercises that correlate directly with the functional motion. For example, javelin throwers should rotate their arms for warm-up and use band-resisted mechanics, multi-directional flys, and axe chops with a weighted bar to access their functional motion. In the weight room, shot putters should rely on the incline bench press, deadlift, squat, clean, and medicine ball throw from standing and supine positions.

Jumpers need to be in the air, but more importantly, jumpers need to practice their approach on the runway. Every step matters on the runway. Practice stride-stride-long-short jumps, box jumps, and 1-step pop-ups into the pit.

Each event has a set of requisite functional motions that should be drilled at least three times per week in practice. Whether it’s sprinting, throwing, jumping, or hurdles, athletes must execute their functional motion at maximal effort regularly.

‘If Your Coach Can’t Explain How a Drill Translates to Your Performance, Don’t Do That Drill.’⁶

Drills reinforce each technical element of performance. Why teach a drill that doesn’t have a direct benefit to an athlete’s event? I’ve seen a lot of pointless exercises that reinforce motions completely absent from an event’s necessary biomechanics. If you want to train better sprinters, then they need to sprint. Building arm strength and resilience to fatigue happens in slow, controlled settings, like in the weight room, with flys, pull-ups, and push-ups. Hurdlers gotta hurdle; throwers gotta throw.

When I train discus throwers, we use the South African drill to improve vestibular control over angular momentum. This drill isolates the spin and improves an athlete’s self-awareness while spinning. I use this drill for discus throwers because it’s easy to observe, easy to analyze, and translates directly to performance.

Rather than overload athletes with information, provide them with the knowledge to find success. Share on X

When one of my athletes asks me why we use the South African drill, I tell them exactly what you just read. If they have further questions, I answer those questions too. As a coach, you need to be ready and willing to answer your athletes’ questions. We don’t need to overload our athletes with information. Rather, we need to provide them with the necessary knowledge to find success.

Sequencing Matters!

Never begin a practice session with slow strength exercises like core or weightlifting. This will fatigue your athletes’ muscles and weaken their joints ahead of technical drills when they need to be fresh. What benefit is there in wobbly sprinting or jumping with a weakened core?

When an athlete trains in a fatigued state, their body compensates with poor form, and then reinforces that poor form in subsequent technical exercises. This is how injuries occur. Forget the slow stuff first. If you’re sequencing core and strength before their technical, dynamic/plyometric, or cardio workouts, then you’re practicing in an unnecessarily fatigued state and increasing the chance of injury.

Sequencing matters. Functional movement matters. I recommend following this sequence for all practice sessions:

Technique > Sprinting or Plyometric Drills > Cardiovascular Workout > Strength Exercises

In a 1.5-hour practice, select no more than two of the above training modes and devote 30-45 minutes to each. For example, if middle distance athletes are going to complete a plyometric circuit and a long run for cardio, then make sure that the plyometric circuit precedes the run.

Plan and sequence all practice sessions carefully to support the health and safety of your athletes. Share on X

Here’s another example. When pole vaulters practice, they combine both technique and sprinting in a single 45-minute session, which can be followed by a strength lift in the weight room. It’s okay if the vaulters don’t sprint on the track that day because they completed relatively decent speed work from their 3-, 4-, and 5-step practice jumps. Save a true, sprinting workout for the vaulters on their next practice day. All practice sessions should be planned and sequenced carefully to support the health and safety of your athletes.

Plan Collaboratively

All coaches of individualized sports, like track and swimming, should be aware of what their athletes wish to accomplish at the beginning of the academic year. At the beginning of the year (not the season!), ask your athletes about their goals for the season. Develop a plan based upon their goals.

When you plan collaboratively, you know where you’re headed together. The old saying has merit: “When you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” Sometimes, it might seem that planning is a futile endeavor because your athletes get sick, go on college visits, have a lot of homework, etc. However, some planning is better than no planning at all.

I believe that it’s important for coaches to establish open and honest communication about their athletes’ academic commitments, extracurricular activities, and familial obligations. A great coach can balance their athlete’s time comfortably for both parties. Develop a plan and stick with it. Embed flexibility into your plans. Write your plans down!

Instead of responding to breaks, like holidays or mid-terms, as they happen, plan ahead with those breaks in mind. In fact, don’t even treat them as impediments to the training schedule. They do not obstruct training if they are always in the schedule each year. Let your athletes have the time off that they deserve, but provide them with adequate resources to maintain their fitness independently. Your best, most committed athletes will not back off.

Instead of treating school breaks as impediments, plan for them in your training schedule. Share on X

Treat any break away from school as a part of the normal training schedule. Plan together and be flexible. You deserve no apology from your athletes for missing a practice or a meet if you never bothered to plan with them in the first place. Care about your athletes as individuals beyond just track and field. Their success reflects well on you. Planning ahead demonstrates investment in, and accountability to, each other’s goals and needs.

Be Positive and Have Fun

If your athletes don’t enjoy practice, then why should they show up in the first place? Athletes are never one-dimensional. Most new athletes don’t show up for practice because they already love track and field, or want to be worked into the ground. No, they show up because they expect an all-comers sport like high school track and field to be fun and engaging. These athletes probably think that their initial, flirtatious affair with an all-comers sport will not overcommit their time. I don’t see anything wrong with that.

It’s important to keep young athletes engaged and motivated so that they will gradually commit more time to the team in the future. Furthermore, as young athletes age and adapt to a greater commitment, you can help them develop their organizational skills to balance schoolwork with practices and competitions.

Young, supported athletes grow into mature, experienced athletes that excel in performance because they know how to balance training with their other obligations. This careful balance relieves undue stress and clears the mind for competition. It’s our job to build athletes for the future, not just the season. Plan ahead and keep them engaged.

It’s a coach’s job to build athletes for the future, not just the season. Share on X

Play games that have athletic benefit in a track and field practice. A dynamic warm-up doesn’t have to occur on the same 40 meters every day. Try substituting part of your dynamic warm-up routine with games like Everybody’s It, or Lions & Tigers. Games help warm up muscles and games are fun.

For jumpers and hurdlers, use an obstacle course to support plyometric training. Set up hurdles to sprint, hurdles to jump (see Stefan Holm’s video), step ladders for coordination and quickness, mini-hurdles for good sprint form, and cones for hip strength and ankle mobility. Complete time trials of the obstacle course. Set it up differently the next time. Your athletes will walk away from an obstacle course practice fired up for next time.

The throwing events are no throwaway for fun. Coordination is a crucial biomotor skill in the throwing events, so you should have the opportunity to practice it. It’s also really easy to train coordination with informal games. Spread Hula-Hoops out on a field and assign points to each hoop. Set a timer or limit the total number of throws per round. Whoever has the most points at the end of three rounds wins the game. I call that game “Shotty Hoopla.”

For the discus, ask each athlete to bring in an old mop and scatter them in the field. Place them in a formation that supports your discus throwers’ weaknesses, like releasing early or late. Knock the heads off the mops! Or, if you’ve got limited space, chalk up your practice shot and throw for height against a wall. Vary the distance or angular distance for javelin and award points based on the coordination goal for that day. Keep games informal, with healthy competition. If you want to keep track of the points over the course of the season, that’s up to you.

When your distance runners go on those long, slow cardio runs, have them set a timer and tell them to avoid looking at their watches. Instead, encourage them to tell jokes and be creative with their time. Here’s a good one: Imagine your favorite teacher is a superhero. What is their superpower? What does their costume look like? “Oh, look at that! Two minutes left in our 40-minute run. Where did the time go?”

Build a team culture that reinforces participation, as it’s an unmistakably powerful motivator. Share on X

The focus should always be infectious positive energy. When your athletes have fun at practice, their emotional fuel tank fills up and inspires them to return for more. As coaches, we must build a team culture that reinforces participation. It is an unmistakably powerful motivator.

A Glimpse of the Ideals

When athletes arrive at practice, I hope that they enjoy training for the improvement they will achieve in performance and for the community we build together in a season. Our small, isolated school communities represent a larger community of youth coaches, who embody this sport for everyone involved. We need to support each other. Good coaches teach other coaches, spread our knowledge to our athletes, and open ourselves up to feedback.

We all run our teams differently, but these seven principles offer a glimpse of the ideals for track and field, and other sports. Some of the principles require a shift in mentality or expectations, while others require more careful planning. Without reservation, I believe that we can implement all seven principles effectively. Any coach that does will most assuredly improve their athletes’ performance and the culture of their team.

*Special thanks to Branko Miric for his constant support of my coaching and his unrelenting pursuit of excellence in the pole vault community.

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References

1. Thomas, L. (2018, April 30). “3 Reasons Why Sprinters Fall Apart at the End of Races.” Retrieved from Complete Track & Field: https://www.completetrackandfield.com/3-reasons-sprinters-fall-apart/
2. Thomas, L. (n.d.). “Emancipate Yourself From Coaching Slavery, None But Ourselves Can Free Our Sprinters!”. Retrieved from Complete Track & Field: https://completetrackandfield.com/cst3/plc2-freedom-from-sprints-coach-slavery
3. Holler, T. (2016, December 17). “The Survival of King Mithridates.” Retrieved from Illinois Track & Cross Country Association: http://itccca.com/12626/2016/12/the-survival-of-king-mithridates/
4. Halson, S. L. (2014, September 9). “Monitoring Training Load to Understand Fatigue in Athletes.” Sports Medicine, pp. 139-147.
5. Holler, T. (2018). “Can Your Kid Sprint?” Retrieved from SimpliFaster: https://simplifaster.com/articles/can-kid-sprint/
6. Quote from Branko Miric (August 2017).