Workout for Developing the Weaker Lead Leg
Set-up:
- Place six hurdles on the straight-away.
- Height should be 300h/400h race height – 36” for males, 30” for females.
- Hurdles should be 18-20 yards apart for males, 14-17 yards apart for females, for a rhythmic 7-step stride pattern between the hurdles. But be willing to space them further apart or closer together if the athlete is having trouble reaching the hurdles in seven steps or is getting too close in seven steps.
- First hurdle should be on the first 110h mark (males) or first 100h mark (females).
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Workout:
- Athlete concludes his or her warm-up by doing a couple reps over the first two hurdles leading with the stronger leg and a couple reps leading with the weaker leg to get a feel for the rhythm of the workout.
- Athlete does 12 reps over all six hurdles, with walk-back recoveries between reps. If the temperatures are excessively high then add in a 5-minute break after the 6th rep.
- First two reps should be done leading with stronger leg to establish the rhythm and speed.
- Reps 3-12 should be done leading with weaker leg.
- As athlete grows more confident and speed increases, coach should incrementally increase the spacing between the hurdles.
- All reps should be done from a standing start, taking seven or eight steps to the first hurdle and seven steps between all the rest.
- Workout can be done in flats or spikes. I prefer flats for this time of year.
Purpose:
- The thinking behind this workout is that the key to alternating successfully in the 300/400m hurdles lies in trusting the weaker leg at high speeds the same as you trust the stronger leg. You want to get to a point where you feel ambidextrous, or “both-legged,” as one of my hurdlers put it. The only way for that to happen is for the weaker leg to get as strong as the stronger leg. The only way for that to happen is to do a lot of reps leading with the weaker leg. With alternating drills, where the athlete is 2-stepping, 4-stepping, 6-stepping, or 8-stepping, the weaker leg is only clearing half of the hurdles. With this workout, the weaker leg is clearing all the hurdles. So it’s actually getting a chance to catch up strength-wise to the stronger leg.
- Also, because trusting the weaker leg is largely a matter of speed, this workout gives athletes a chance to start off a little slower if confidence in the weaker leg is lacking, and allows them to increase the speed through the course of the workout as confidence increases.
Variations:
- As the athlete grows more adept with the weaker lead leg, then all twelve reps can be done leading with that leg.
- To make it more of a speed workout (again, after the proficiency level has increased), lower the amount of reps, increase the speed, time the reps, and lengthen the recovery periods.
- Ultimately, this workout needs to be taken to the curve, since so much alternating in the race takes place on the curve. Start at the 200m or 400m start line and space the hurdles the same distance apart as you had them on the straight. But don’t do this workout on the curve until the athlete has mastered it on the straight.
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