Fun Competition Workout
by Steve McGill
I’m generally not a fan of fun “games” in practice, and usually get annoyed with athletes who ask for a fun day. If the work ain’t fun, I tell them, you need to be doing something else. But competitive games can sometimes be quite beneficial when it comes to not only breaking the monotony, but also when it comes to creating a race-like atmosphere. This month’s workout is based on that premise. It was inspired by a competition that I and my coaching staff came up with at one of my camps, and that we implemented for the last session of our camp in November of 2019.
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The idea, simply, is to turn drills into races, which obviously means that this workout can’t be done alone. If an athlete has no training partner of similar ability level, then the workout can be done as a race against the clock. But here’s the workout as designed:
Set up two lanes of seven hurdles each. The lanes can either be side by side or add a lane between them for social distancing purposes.
The hurdles should be at race height.
The hurdles should be spaced 25 feet apart for males, or 22 feet apart for females.
The start line should be 33 feet from the first hurdle for males, or 30 feet from the first hurdle for females.
The approach to the first hurdle will be six steps (or five steps for hurdlers who take seven steps to the first hurdle in a race), from a standing start.
Add a finish line (cones will do) ten yards beyond the seventh hurdle.
For each rep, a coach at the start line will give commands, and another coach at the finish line will determine the winner.
The athletes will do a total of 9 reps. Because of the heightened intensity level that competition creates, it’s best to divide the reps into three sets of three, with a walk-back recovery between reps and five minutes rest between sets.
For the athletes, the fun of the workout lies in the racing aspect. There are plenty of opportunities for friendly trash talk between reps. And for the coach, it’s always rewarding to watch teammates make each other better. The challenge of the workout lies in staying disciplined in one’s movements. The athlete who gets too caught up in racing will make mistakes. So, just like in an actual race, you have to focus on your own lane even as you’re racing to win. So this workout serves as good mental training for the racing mindset.
There are many possible variations that can be implemented in this workout. The number of reps isn’t set in stone. The number of reps per set isn’t set in stone. The spacing between the hurdles isn’t set in stone. The distance off the last hurdle to the finish line isn’t set in stone. Also, if you have enough hurdlers and enough hurdlers, you could also turn this workout into a relay affair, like a shuttle hurdle race. You could even consider boy/girl teams if you have enough space, as well as enough time and help to set up all the hurdles. And, as mentioned above, timing the reps could be a viable option as well.
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