Drills and Block Starts Workout
by Steve McGill

This time of year, as we’re bringing more speed into the equation but still seeking to master hurdle drills, I like to do workouts with my hurdlers that combine drills with speed-specific work. With indoor meets starting up, some block work becomes essential, but, in my opinion, it shouldn’t be done at the expense of continuing the rhythm and technique development begun in the off-season. So, this workout serves as a way to get in work on both fronts — rhythm and technique development as well as speed development and working specifically on race-specific elements. 

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So, those of you who have been following me on YouTube and/or have been subscribed to this magazine for a while know that I have three bread-and-butter hurdle drills that I use throughout the year, adding variations as necessary for the individual athlete. Those three are the marching popovers, the cycle drill, and the quickstep drill. Once a hurdler has developed a consistent efficiency with all three drills, then I can start experimenting a little bit to add more of a challenge. The first half of this month’s workout represents an example of such a challenge.

FIRST PART OF THE WORKOUT

• Set up five hurdles, starting at two clicks below race height. (For females, this will mean going down to 27 inches, which will require using fold-up hurdles or similar practice hurdles). 
• Space the hurdles as follows: 
  • For females: 15 feet to the second hurdle, 17 feet to the third hurdle, 19 feet to the fourth hurdle, 21 feet to the fifth hurdle. 
  • For males: 17 feet to the second hurdle, 19 feet to the third hurdle, 21 feet to the fourth hurdle, 23 feet to the fifth hurdle.
• Have the athlete do a marching popover to the first hurdle, and then run off the first hurdle, transitioning into quick-step rhythm the rest of the way.

The goal here is for the cadence to stay the same as the spacing grows farther apart. In order to maintain the cadence, speed will have to increase, so the athlete is continually accelerating. But the athlete isn’t hyper-focused on accelerating; instead, the athlete is focused on maintaining the rhythm. And by maintaining the rhythm, acceleration occurs naturally. 

VOLUME

Generally, I’ll want three quality reps at each height — three reps at two clicks below race height, three reps at one click below race height, and three reps at race height. 

For the reps at race height, it’s okay if the first hurdle remains at one click below race height.

I don’t change the spacing when I raise the hurdles. Part of the challenge in this workout lies in negotiating the space between the barriers as the hurdles get higher and there’s less room between the hurdles.

I like for this part of the workout to be done in spikes to emphasize the quickness element, but it can also be done in flats.

SECOND PART OF THE WORKOUT

After a short break of about 5-10 minutes, the athlete will transition into the speed portion of the workout. Prior to beginning the actual reps, I’ll have the athlete do two or three 40m sprints from a falling start, get a few warmup reps over the race-height hurdles, and then get in one or two block starts past the first hurdle, but with no hurdle there. All of this prep work has to do with shifting the mindset from drill mode to speed mode, from think mode to attack mode. 

VOLUME

• 3 block starts over the first hurdle.
• 3 block starts over the first two hurdles.
• 3 block starts over the first three hurdles.

Hurdles should be at race height unless there’s a reason to keep them lower. Sometimes I might do a couple practice reps over lower heights, but the reps that count should be done over race height. If the athlete is a beginner or is relatively new to using the starting blocks, then doing the whole workout over lower hurdles is okay.

Spacing can vary. Generally, this time of year, when doing the workout outside on a cold, hard track, I’ll move in all hurdles after the first hurdle a full two feet, especially if the athlete’s upcoming race is indoors on a much faster track. Other than that, my go-to spacing for any block work is for all hurdles to be discounted one foot from race distance. 

This second part of the workout serves the purpose of reminding hurdlers (as most hurdlers tend to be over-thinkers) to focus on speed and aggression, and to not fixate on the technical elements that were at the forefront of their minds in the first half of the workout.

So again, this workout serves as a good way to continue developing technique and rhythm while also implementing race-specific training. Below is a video from a recent workout where one of my athletes is doing this workout. Not all reps are in the video, but the video provides a good visual of what the workout looks like.

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