Falling Starts Workout
by Steve McGill
In other articles in this issue, I discuss the importance of driving out of the blocks aggressively, without popping up too soon. One way to address this issue and to ingrain a forward thrust from the first step is to have hurdlers do workouts that emphasize acceleration. Such workouts are done at very short distances so that the athletes can focus on developing explosive power. As discussed elsewhere, hurdlers need to have the beast mode mentality of sprinters when coming out of the blocks and attacking the first hurdle. So, in the midst of all the hurdle drilling and speed-endurance workouts, it’s also important to work on the acceleration phase of the race in order to learn and ingrain the proper angles, and also to develop the aggressive mindset required to get out to a good start.
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With those thoughts in mind, the following workout is one that should be included in a sprint hurdler’s training regimen once a week, or every other week at the least:
The Workout:
–6 sets of 15m, 25m, 35m, 45m sprints
–First three sets from falling start
–Last three sets from 3-point start
–Walk-back recovery between reps, 4 minutes rest between sets
–Spikes are preferable for this workout
With the falling starts, the athletes stand on the balls of the feet, with both feet together, behind the start line. They fall forward upon the word “set” from the coach, then, when they feel that they are about to fall flat on their face, they take the first step while swinging the arms. From there, they keep pushing, attacking the track, swinging the arms vigorously for the whole rep. The angle that the fall creates mimics the angle of coming out of starting blocks.
With the 3-point starts, the athletes start by leaning forward over the start line, with one foot behind the other, just as they would be in the starting blocks. But instead of both hands being on the track, only the hand opposite the foot that is in front is on the track, right behind the start line. On the word “go,” the athletes should push off of both sweet while releasing the hand that’s on the track and swinging the arms vigorously. Again, push push push and swing swing swing through the whole rep.
The idea is to accelerate, to drive, to gradually rise to full height while accelerating.
If an indoor track is available, it’s definitely best to do this workout indoors if possible. If not, then it could be done in a long school hallway, but obviously no spikes would be worn. If done outdoors in cold weather, the warmup should be done indoors, and the warmup should be long and vigorous to prevent injury.
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