In this post we’re going to cover some fundamentals of the high jump, and a couple of things that are opinion and debated in high jump circles, like how to initiate the curve. These ideas are based on Brian Clymer’s presentations.
In athletic performance, when muscles are stretched immediately prior to contraction, they are capable of producing greater forces.
Throwers move in a way that stretches the chest muscles just prior to the throw. This stretching of the chest muscles increases their ability to speed up the implement.
In the jumpers, when the foot contacts the ground, allow the leg to flex slightly, allowing the extensor muscles to stretch and the leg to operate like a spring.
In this post I provide you the Latif Thomas’ step-by-step approach for teaching all the skills of acceleration and top speed running, including all of his best coaching cues and strategies.
Plyometrics are one of those elements of training that’s crucial for sprinters and jumpers. What the ultimate goal of plyos are is to decrease the amount of time that it takes for the muscle to lengthen and then shorten, but also increase the amount of elastic energy that we can store and release during that period of time. That’s what the goal of plyos are. Sprinting, in and of itself, is a plyometric activity.
Today I’m going to explain about something a little more basic, but very important. I´m going to take you through basic anatomy and mechanics of a proper breath with a belt. When we aren’t thinking about it, we normally take breaths properly. If you’re like going to dive underwater or something, you’re going to get a big belly breath. You’re going to expand your diaphragm and get as much air in you as possible. But anytime you tell someone to take a big breath, they normally do it incorrectly. They take a big chest breath. They kind of suck their belly in and take a big shallow breath and they get their chest real big. That’s not what we want to do when we are doing a Valsalva maneuver to lift heavy weights.
Dorsiflexion is one of the most important aspects of proper sprinting form and developing speed. It doesn’t matter what the rest of the body is doing. If you don’t have correct ground contact, you won’t sprint fast. In this post you’ll learn why running on your toes dramatically reduces speed.
In this post I show you 4 sprinting drills that are incredibly effective at developing proper form and preparing the body for acceleration work. These drills are an essential element of Ken Harnden´s athletes sprinting workouts and are performed during most of the training year.
Learn cool down drills that will improve sprinting technique, speed up recovery and help prevent injuries. A good post workout routine that includes specific cool down drills is a critical component of sprint training. Unfortunately, it’s also one of the most overlooked areas when it comes to speed training and most track and field events in general.
Learn some of the most common errors athletes make with sprinting technique and how to avoid them. In this post I ´ll share with you coach the errors coach Karim Abdel Wahab has seen athletes make throughout his time working with elite sprinters as well as football players preparing for the NFL draft combine.
Starting with the the most common mistake, which is staying too low out of the blocks or at the beginning of the sprint, you’ll learn why staying low dramatically reduces the ability to produce force down to the ground and results in slower speed. Coach Karim provides an effective cue to help solve this issue.
Another common error is breaking at the waist. This breakdown in technique also inhibits speed and will result in slower times and can potentially lead to injuries. Learn how to spot a “fake lean” and some tips on optimal sprinting biomechanics.
Finally, there area two Athlete Insight sections in which Olympians Jeremy Dodson and Janay DeLoach discuss about the biggest myths and worst advice they heard in high school and why you should avoid them if you want to reach your potential.
Learn how to sprint faster with proper ground contact and force application. One of the biggest misconceptions out there is how the foot strikes the ground (it’s not on the toe and not on the heel). This post covers where the foot strikes the ground and why that is important for force application and speed development. In order to take advantage of the “stretch reflex” and really utilize the muscles of the lower leg, it’s important to ingrain into the nervous system how to properly land with each stride. This post teaches the fundamentals of correct ground contact throughout the entire sprint. Athlete Insight sections cover force production and how striking down and back is different than “stomping” your way down the track.