Workout: Quick Step Variation for Beginners

This month’s workout is a good fall workout for beginning hurdlers. It’s a variation of the quick-step workout that I have my hurdlers do in the fall. The basics of it, as described in this month’s article entitled “Hurdling in the Off-season,” are as follows:

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• Set up 5-10 hurdles, with the first hurdle on the regular race mark, and all hurdles after that spaced 24 ft apart (males) or 21 feet apart (females).
• Hurdler jogs up to the first hurdle, then speeds up the last three steps into the first hurdle, then continues with a quick three-step rhythm over the rest of the hurdles.
• At the completion of the rep, the hurdler turns around, jogs back slowly on the balls of the feet, then goes again.
• Ten reps would be considered a full set. Five reps would be the minimum.
• Rest between sets should be five minutes minimum, seven minutes max.

The assumption for the regular version of this workout is that all hurdles are set at race height, with the possible exception of collegiate or professional hurdlers, who might not want to go over 42-inch barriers this early in the season.

The variation presented in this workout is primarily for beginners, as stated above, but it can also be useful for hurdlers who are coming back from injury or who want to master technique at lower heights before moving up to race height. Here’s the variation:

• Set up six hurdles.
• Spacing should be the same as for the regular quick-step workout.
• Athlete does three sets of five reps over the six hurdles.
• For the first set, all hurdles are set at 6” below race height so the hurdler can focus on rhythm/cadence. For girls, this would mean a 27” inch hurdle, which means training hurdles would need to be used. Or, take off the top part of the hurdle and rest the crossbar against the bottom part.
• For the second set, set the first three hurdles at 6” below race height, and set the last three hurdles at 3” below race height.
• For the third set, set the first two hurdles at 6” below race height, set the next two hurdles at 3” below race height, and set the last two hurdles at race height.

This variation allows the hurdle to focus on tempo without being overly concerned with hurdle clearance. In the first set, the focus is solely on rhythm development and mastering technique at the lower height. I’d say that for beginners, it might be a good idea to keep the hurdles at this low height for the entire workout if their technique still leaves much to be desired. For hurdlers who do make the shift to the second set, however, the idea is to continue with the same rhythm, quickness, and aggression with the last three hurdles being higher. Same goes for the third set. The idea is, don’t focus on the hurdle height; focus on what you are doing. It’s not about the hurdle; it’s about you.

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