Leg Strength Workout

As discussed in another article in this issue, it’s important to provide athletes with variety in their off-season workouts. With that thought in mind, this month’s workout is designed to serve as a “day off” from sprinting and from running over hurdles, yet it still serves as a good strengthening workout for the legs that will enhance the quality of the sprinting and the hurdling workouts, all without even entering the weight room.

[am4show not_have=’g5;’]

[/am4show][am4guest]

[/am4guest][am4show have=’g5;’]

The workout consists of three sets of the following exercises, with a three-minute rest between sets. There should be no rest between reps or exercises. Each one should bleed right into the next one.

• 2x40m single-leg bounds (left leg)
• 2x40m single-leg bounds (right leg)
• 1x40m lunges
• 1x40m frankensteins
• 6xhurdle hops over five hurdles
• 5xA-skips over five hurdles (left leg)
• 5xA-skips over five hurdles (right leg)
• 6xOver & Unders using 10 hurdles

Now let me explain each exercise:

The single-leg bounds should be done on the grass to minimize the risk of shin splints and achy knees. The goal with these is to cover as much ground as possible with each bound, and to thereby cover the ground in as few bounds as possible.  Each step should land on the ball of the foot to mimic the explosive power needed when pushing off to attack a hurdle. In doing these, it would be best to bound first with the left leg, then to turn around and bound with the right leg. That way, each leg gets a rest, but the reps keep moving without a rest period.

With the lunges, the knees can “kiss” the ground, but shouldn’t rest there. Ground contact time with the knee should be minimal. Also, there are no walking strides between lunges. Every stride is a lunge. Arm action should mimic the up and down thrust of sprinting. The emphasis is not as much on covering ground as it is on getting good knee lift with each lunge.

A frankenstein consists of holding the hands out in front, shoulder-high, palms facing downward, with the elbows locked. Then march down the track swinging the legs up to the hands. The hands should not come down at all to meet the feet. As with the lunges, there are no walking strides. Each stride is a frankenstein stride.

For the hurdle hops, the hurdles should be set anywhere between 30 and 36 inches, depending on the current explosive power of the athlete. It’s always better to start with the hurdles too low than too high. The athlete starts with both feet together and pushes off of both of them up and over each hurdle. The hurdles should be spaced so that the athlete can explode into the next hurdle each time without getting crowded but also without feeling too far away. Because we are hurdlers, we want to emphasize minimal ground contact time, relying on the calves and ankles to provide most of the explosive power.

With the A-skips over hurdles, the skips are actually to the side of the hurdle, not over the top. The hurdles should be no higher than 33 inches for males, no higher than 36 inches for males. They should be far enough apart to allow for an easy skip rhythm. Athlete should stay on the balls of the feet all the way (including the leg that isn’t going over the hurdle), and the emphasis should be on keeping the ankles dorsi-flexed, exaggerating the knee lift, making sure the hip flexors do the bulk of the work.

With the over & unders, the hurdles should be placed so that the low bar of each hurdle is touching the base of the hurdle in front of it. Odd-numbered hurdles should be set at 30 or 33 inches, with the even-numbered hurdles set at 39 or 42 inches. Athlete steps over the odd-numbered hurdles, slides under the even-numbered hurdles. Athlete should do three reps stepping over with the right leg, and three reps stepping over with the left leg. That way, both hip flexors and both groins will get an equal amount of work.

Possible variations would include the following:

• Ankle weights can be added to pretty much all of these exercises. Just be careful not to wear ankle weights that are too heavy, so that you don’t cause injury. I would suggest between five and ten pounds. Build up to ten; don’t start at ten.
• For the lunges, holding dumbbells in the hands can add an upper body dimension to the exercise. Again, five to ten pounds will do.
• For the frankensteins, holding one dumbell in both hands, with the arms outstretched, will add an upper body dimension to that exercise.
• For the hops and skips, hurdles can be added. Building up to ten would be the goal.
• Distance can gradually be added to the lunges, frankensteins, and lunges. A full 100 meters would be the goal for all of those.
• Reps can be added to any of the exercises. Just be sure to keep everything balanced.
• A set (or sets) can be added to the workout if the athletes is well-conditioned enough.

Any variations should be made by the coach. As the fall season goes on, doing this workout once a week will prove very beneficial, and challenges to the various exercises can be added each week.

[/am4show]