Workout to Strengthen the Non-dominant Lead Leg
by Steve McGill

One thing we can all agree on is that being able to lead with either leg is a useful skill to have in the long hurdle events (200m for youth, 300m for most high schools, and 400m for collegiate and professionals). Developing the ability to lead with either leg requires a good amount of time, particularly in the off-season, after the peak competitive season has ended and our eyes turn toward the next season. In the past, I’ve discussed several drills that I use to help facilitate the development of this ability, most of which involve alternating – 2-step drills, 4-step drills, 8-step drills, for example. While I’m not saying that I no longer feel that such drills are effective, what I am saying is that such drills need to be complemented by drills that don’t involve alternating, but that instead involve leading with the non-dominant lead leg over every hurdle during each rep. 

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The reason I find this methodology to be useful is simple: it allows the athlete to clear more hurdles using the weaker leg. So, if I set up eight hurdles and I’m alternating, I’m only using the non-dominant leg four times. If I’m not alternating, I’m using the non-dominant leg all eight times. The drills that involve alternating stay in the workout rotation because they help the athlete to develop the rhythm of switching legs, which is why we bother to have them strengthen the weaker leg to begin with. Also, the stronger leg can kind of “teach” the weaker leg what to do in regard to executing the movements. The drills that don’t involve alternating give the body more opportunity to grasp and ingrain the movements. So, when leading with the non-dominant leg, the lead leg gaining more and more efficiency is only part of the equation. The other leg has to get used to pushing off into the hurdles, as it isn’t accustomed to doing so. That leg also has to grow accustomed to driving to the front after pushing off. The arms also will need some reps to adjust, as will the torso, which tends to stay too erect when the athlete leads with the non-dominant leg. 

I’ve probably mentioned this before, but in the early part of the competitive season during the year when Sydney McLaughlin switched from 15-stepping to 14-stepping for most of the 400h race, she ran a 100h race leading with her non-dominant leg the whole way. That race is what set my mind ablaze a little bit, as it got me thinking that she and her coach had hit upon a brilliant way to get the non-dominant leg to where it’s as efficient as the dominant leg. The key thing that needs to be trained, ultimately, is speed. If you can’t lead with the non-dominant leg when you’re sprinting at full-speed, then when it comes time to use it in a race, disaster could strike, or, at the very least, clearing even one hurdle with the non-dominant leg could throw off the whole rhythm of the race. 

With all that being said, the workout I want to discuss involves hurdle drilling in which the athlete leads with one leg the whole way each rep, with some variation regarding how many reps are done leading with the dominant lead leg vs. how many are done leading with the non-dominant leg

This past weekend, I had a kid named Aiden come down from out of state to train with me. Because it was our first time meeting together in person (although we’d been messaging back and forth during his outdoor season). Aiden has just graduated high school and is looking to walk on at the college he’ll be attending in the fall. Because it was our first meeting together, I wanted to teach him how to do all the drills that I use. And because he is still working on being able to alternate in races, I decided to mix in some drilling using the non-dominant lead leg.

This is the workout we did, not including warmup and practice reps:

• 3 marching popover reps over five 30” hurdles spaced 12 feet apart, leading with the dominant leg.
• 3 marching popover reps over five 30” hurdles spaced 12 feet apart, leading with the non-dominant leg.
• 3 marching popover reps over five 33” hurdles spaced 12.5 feet apart, leading with the dominant leg.
• 3 marching popover reps over five 33” hurdles spaced 12.5 feet apart, leading with the non-dominant leg.
• 6 reps of quickstepping over five 36” hurdles spaced 25 feet apart; six strides to the first hurdle, which is 33 feet from the start line. All hurdles are cleared leading with the non-dominant leg. 

Below is footage of some of the reps. His left leg is his dominant lead leg. In the first popover rep in the clip he leads with his left leg; in the second one he leads with his right leg. The hurdles are at 30”. In the third and fourth reps in the clip, the hurdles are at 33”, and again he leads with his left leg (third rep) and then right leg (fourth rep). All of the quickstep reps are done leading with the right leg — the non-dominant leg.

 

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Now, if I’m working with someone whom I’ve already been coaching for a while, and I know their dominant side is working well, we would most likely do all of the reps leading with the non-dominant leg, since this workout is specifically designed to work on that leg. If I’m working with an athlete who competes in both the long and short hurdles, I still would have all the reps done leading with the non-dominant leg because we can work on short hurdles another day.

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