I often scan the weekly injury stats for all the teams in the NFL to see which of my fantasy players will be out for the week and may be less than 100 percent for their upcoming games. I am always shocked to see how many players are listed as injured, doubtful or a game-day decision due to hamstring strains. It seems to be as prolific as the common cold when it comes to professional football players.

We could spend hundreds of hours examining the various causes for hamstring strains, yet many researchers have spent a good portion of their careers in the lab trying to isolate the reasons why speed athletes pull their hamstrings with no conclusive results. Some cite hamstring flexibility, while others identify strength deficiencies. Unfortunately, science aside, we have to accept that athletes who run fast will be at significant risk for a hamstring strain. Call it an “occupational hazard” or the “cost of doing business” in the world of high speed sports. Regardless, we have to get better in the way we treat and manage these injuries, because they are not going to simply go away with wishful thinking.

If you are going to undertake the challenge of rehabilitating a hamstring strain, it is best that you do a good job of it. A number of studies have shown that the most significant precursor to a hamstring strain is a previous hamstring injury. While this may not require the intelligence of a rocket scientist to figure out, it emphasizes the need to do a good job when strengthening a recently injured hamstring. The last thing an athlete needs is for his coaches and teammates to second guess his health and label someone injury prone because of a nagging or recurring hamstring injury.

After long discussions with Jimson Lee of SpeedEndurance.com, we decided it was worthwhile to produce a workshop series on the issue of hamstring rehabilitation for speed athletes. We receive numerous requests from athletes who are preparing for races or testing combines who are dealing with hamstring problems. Most, if not all, of these athletes are expressing significant frustration in navigating the problem. There are many different opinions on how to rehabilitate a speed-induced hamstring strain. Yet the average recovery time from what I would consider mild to moderate strains is anywhere between four to six weeks. Luckily, we have been able to help our athletes and clients rehabilitate their hamstrings in anywhere between four days and three weeks, depending on the severity of the strain.

In our workshop series, We have provided two hours of material on the subject of hamstring rehabilitation and outlined the key steps to be taken in the rehabilitation of hamstring strain injuries. We have also included some video footage that outlines the management of sprint mechanics during the active rehabilitation phase. With every hamstring rehabilitation case, the goal is not only to rehabilitate the current injury, but also prevent any future injuries in both the short-term and long-term.

For more information on our hamstring rehabilitation series, please click on the link below:

Hamstring Rehabilitation and Sprint Mechanics Management Series

- Derek M. Hansen -

Now that a new season in the National Football League is upon us, we are once again able to enjoy the feats of speed, power, strength and skill displayed by the stars of the game from week to week. Fans will argue back and forth over whose team is superior, citing the depth of their rosters, the experience of their coaching staff and the arm of their quarterbacks. The success of a team will depend on numerous factors, many of which are beyond the grasp of the average fan.

Because football is such a physical and brutal game, and played over a minimum of 16 regular season games, the physical preparation of the players will have a significant bearing on the success of the team over the duration of the season and into the playoffs. Good physical preparation will not only translate into performance gains, but also resistance to injury. Given that adequate strength and conditioning must be accumulated over a significant number of weeks in the off-season in order for the benefits to persist over the season, we must take a closer look at what players are actually doing during the off-season period.

The recent NFL players Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), however, has reduced the amount of mandatory off-season training time required for players from 14 weeks to 9 weeks. The current CBA has structured off-season training, in an effort to reduce wear-and-tear on the players, into three phases:

Phase 1 – The first two weeks of off-season training involves “strength and conditioning and physical rehabilitation only.” Only Strength and Conditioning coaches are allowed to work with the team, with no live footballs, helmets or pads allowed at any time. The intent is that only conditioning activities will be permitted in an effort to progressively prepare the athletes for more intense activities in later phases.

Phase 2 – The next three weeks of off-season training permits all coaches to be on the field of practice. Permitted activities include on-field work, including individual and group instruction and drills. Practices are helmets-only, with no live contact allowed. Offensive, defensive and special teams units can work together, but not against an opposing presence, and no one-on-one offense-versus-defense drills are allowed. Strength and conditioning activities are continued through this period.

Phase 3 – The final four weeks of off-season training can include on-field work, including individual and group instruction and drills. A maximum of 10 organized team activity (OTA) days are allowed, with no more than three days during the first two weeks and no more than four during the third week. In this phase, football is the main concern for coaches, with strength and conditioning activities taking a back seat. Although one would hope that strength could continue to be developed during this four-week period, it is likely that only strength maintenance can take place given the demands of the on-field work.

With only nine weeks for supervised physical preparation in the off-season, coaches must make sure that every bit of contact time with the athletes is optimized. Players will have a minimum of 16 weeks away from the coaching staff during the off-season. A good deal of de-training can occur during such a long time period, particularly if no quality training is undertaken. Ultimately, on-field performance will suffer and the probability of injury has the potential to increase significantly.

Thus, additional work must be done by the strength and conditioning coaching staff to ensure that players are educated on what they need to accomplish on their own during this unsupervised time. However, we can only assume that a good portion of athletes may do one of three things:

1. Do nothing
2. Train inappropriately (i.e. Cross-Fit or MMA training)
3. Actually follow the prescribed off-season training plan

Given the potential for athletes to arrive at training camp out of shape or inappropriately conditioned, the coaching staff must look at alternatives for ensuring their players are ready for training camp and the regular season. The situation will vary from team to team, but there will likely be a portion of the team that needs alternative strategies for ensuring their conditioning is bolstered in the off-season, as well as accentuated for in-season. Simply slapping fines on players or chewing them out will not suffice.

The Electrostimulation Advantage

My good friend and physiotherapist at Professional PT in New York, Rob Panariello, made a very good point the other day. He noted that the contracted off-season conditioning requirements for the NFL would necessitate that teams make better use of their in-season strength and conditioning program to not only maintain strength, but also build it over the course of the season. A good in-season program may be the difference between being a playoff contender and hitting the golf course early. Given the time and energy constraints in-season, special care will have to be taken to find methods for optimizing training adaptations in-season to get an added advantage over other teams.

One effective strategy would be to implement the regular use of electrostimulation in-season for players who want to improve strength and/or supplement conventional resistance training. Electrostimulation has been repeatedly proven in scientific research to provide significant strength gains – in many cases equal to or superior to that of weightlifting alone – when used regularly with the proper protocols and intensities. Other key benefits of electrostimulation for in-season football use include:

a. Maximal strength gains via electrostimulation come at little or no stress on the Central Nervous System (CNS). Thus, athletes can put in more work and still feel fresh and alert for other tasks.

b. Muscular strength can be improved with minimal stress on the joints and associated connective tissues. Many athletes complain of shoulder, elbow, ankle, knee, neck and hip pain from week to week. While conventional resistance training may exacerbate these problems, electrostimulation can train the muscles without stressing the joints further. And, by strengthening the muscular system, joints are provided with significantly more support from game to game.

c. Electrostimulation devices with massage and active recovery settings allow players to recover faster by enhancing circulatory mechanisms and flushing out waste products that collect in the muscles after games, practices and training sessions.

d. Electrostimulation allows the team to multi-task during their strength workouts and recovery sessions, creating a more efficient environment from week to week. Players can still review their playbooks, watch film and discuss strategies with coaching staff and fellow players while a portable electrostimulation unit is connected to their muscles.

e. Work can even be accomplished during travel on an airplane or bus. A portable electrostimulation unit can be attached to players’ legs during a long flight to enhance circulation and keep blood from pooling in the lower legs. Active recovery and massage programs can loosen tight muscles in the hips and back for long periods of inactivity and sitting. This is particularly important in a post-game scenario when athletes are on the road and have to head back to the airport soon after the game. Rarely is enough time prepared for cool down and active recovery. Electrostimulation can accelerate recovery in a scenario that may initially appear sub-optimal.

f. For athletes who sustain injuries during the season, use of electrostimulation can preserve or improve their strength throughout their rehabilitation and recovery. A common injury in football is an ankle sprain. Even though some athletes may not be able to place any weight on the injured side, they can still use the electrostimulation on the quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes and calves of the injured leg. Once the ankle has healed appropriately and the athlete is ready to practice and play in games, they will have not lost any significant strength in their lower extremities. In essence, they can hit the ground running.

The benefits of an electrostimulation program for in-season applications are obvious. For the most part, a strength coach can attain significant gains in-season with his players by simply having them sit down and allow the electrostimulation units to do the work for them. In some sessions, the athletes will be improving general strength capabilities. In other sessions, the electrostimulation units will speed up recovery and loosen muscles.

Legendary strength coach, Al Vermeil, made another good point to me about introducing electrostimulation in-season for NFL athletes. The added benefit of educating athletes on the benefits of electrostimulation and taking them through the process of using a portable electrostimulation unit during the season is that these athletes will now be equipped to use electrostimulation as part of their off season training. High quality portable electrostimulation units are available for anywhere between $500 and $1,000 – well within the budgets of professional athletes who are motivated to improve off-season conditioning. In fact, a number of NFL teams and athletes are already using Globus electrostimulation devices for both in-season and off-season applications.

While the benefits are apparent, there is still the obstacle of getting players to do something new. Many players are of the mind that they want to only do what they are “required to do.” When playing football, or any professional sport for that matter, becomes a job, it is common for players to “punch the clock” when the day is over. With the average career of an NFL player lasting approximately 3.5 years, it is in the interest of the players and the team to look at simple ways to improve their chances of extending the length of their career and the overall quality of time in the NFL.

It is important to note that electrostimulation should not be relied upon as the sole source of strength training for an athlete. While electrostimulation can elicit strength gains in individual muscles equal to conventional strength training, it does not provide the inter-muscular coordination elements introduced by conventional training exercises such as Olympic lifts, plyometrics and sprinting. Electrostimulation should be viewed as a supplement to an athlete’s regular training regime.

While electrostimulation is no magic bullet, it can be a simple add-on to an existing training program that needs an edge on the competition. A simple investment of $20,000 by a team could provide them with 20-25 electrostimulation units that could be used by the entire team in an effective manner throughout the season and off-season. Given that the average NFL team is worth close to a billion dollars, $20,000 seems to be a safe bet.

In a future article, I will present strategies for implementing electrostimulation sessions during a typical in-season week for football. Due to the versatility of many of the new electrostimulation devices, with strengthening, recovery, loosening and warm-up/potentiation protocols, sessions can be performed every day of the week, leading right up to game day. The volume of use need not be high to get a profound effect, particularly if you are strategic with your application of this technology.

Click on this link to download the MP3 where Al Vermeil talks about one of his successes with electrostimulation and pro sports.

Or, use the player below:

Visit our store to learn more about the Globus SpeedCoach electrostimulators used by a number of teams and players in the NFL.

It was a very insightful and worthwhile interview. Please take the time to view the interview below:

If you are currently using electrostimulation with your training or you are considering using it as a supplement to your conventional strength training, I encourage you to watch the video series. It may help to answers some questions that you may have or clarify some specific details regarding the use of electrostimulation. Our intent is to educate individuals on the best use of this technology in the hopes that more athletes and coaches take advantage of the wide range of benefits provided by electrostimulation.

Part 1 of 2: Planning and Application of the Globus SpeedCoach

Part 2 of 2: Planning and Application of the Globus SpeedCoach

At first glance, it sounds like an unnecessary question: “Are we running enough?” If we looked at the unprecedented growth in obesity in North America, the obvious answer would be “no”. However, taking that angle would be considered “easy pickins” as societal obesity is a much more complex problem of lack of education, depression, over-consumption and lack of movement of any kind. Would more running solve the problem? Possibly, but it would be a tough sell and would have to be bundled with a comprehensive program of lifestyle modification.

The main thrust of this article is to examine current training methodology and determine if athletes, particularly athletes who run in their sport, are running enough in their training to prepare them for both training and competition. And, are these athletes doing the correct type of running to prepare them optimally? In both cases, I would argue that there is not enough attention paid to the optimal prescription of running for modern athletes. This issue also pertains to rehabilitation. In the fields of training and rehabilitation, the proliferation of individual exercises, complex protocols, irrelevant testing batteries and fancy terminology have inundated the professions to the point of suffocating progress. In many ways we have interfered with proven methods of training, preparation and rehabilitation.

Provided below are some of the primary examples of how running, in many different forms, could be better integrated into a training, rehabilitation and injury prevention model to enhance the abilities of all athletes.

Sprinting and Speed Development

I often use the line, “In order to get faster, you need to run fast.” There are very few statements in the field of training that hold more truth. Others may argue that athletes must first get stronger, achieve more endurance or must be towed behind a car to imprint faster running onto their nervous system. While you must have adequate strength and work capacity abilities to improve your speed, your primary improvements are going to come from the high quality sprinting that you undertake in your training program. If someone is towing you faster than you can run, you are both idiots and deserve the road rash on your chest when the experiment goes terribly wrong.

How much high quality sprinting is enough? You will often see high-level sprint coaches document a minimum of 400 to 600m of high quality sprinting per workout, with three training sessions prescribed per week. That is approximately 1200 to 1800m per week. For athletes running 100, 200 and 400m distances in their competitions, with some athletes running multiple races in a day, this type of volume makes sense. For team sport athletes such as football, baseball and soccer players, I would argue that a smaller overall volume is required to address their speed requirements, as well as strengthen their muscles and connective tissue for the demands of numerous repeat accelerations in a game. The total workout volume can be cut in half, yielding workout totals of 200 to 300 meters per session, or a total weekly volume of 400 to 900 meters, depending on how much high intensity running is being undertaken in an athlete’s sport practices.

Consideration of the total sprinting volume in a sport practice is important when calculating overall stress and the requirements for adaptation in an athlete. In cases where sporting practices and competitions yield a significant volume of acceleration and fast running, sprint-training volumes can be reduced and a greater emphasis can be placed on other elements such as maximal strength or recovery and regeneration. However, some sport practices may involve a good deal of standing around and rehearsal at sub-maximal speeds. In these cases, sprint volumes in training must be increased significantly to compensate for the lack of quality running taking place. Assuming that simply playing your sport will satisfy your sprint training requirements is naïve and may result in a de-training effect and diminished speed abilities. Additionally, inadequate high intensity sprinting work in training can lead to a higher probability of injury once you are actually required to run fast in a competition.

Work Capacity and Muscular Endurance

For sports that involve a significant amount of running, high to moderate volumes of low intensity running can satisfy the general endurance requirements. It is very common for athletes to undertake other forms of cardiovascular exercise – using machines such as a stationary bicycle or elliptical trainer – in an effort to replace running. The common reason for replacing running workouts with these alternative methods is to reduce the impact stress on the lower body. While this may be a legitimate excuse in some instances, nothing replaces the actual act of running.

People do not consider running a complex training activity. In many ways, it is considered one of the lowest forms of exercise. However, the specific act of running prepares the muscles in a way that is only specific to running. The ground contact phase engages a wide range of muscles eccentrically, while the push-off phase requires a powerful concentric effort on the part of numerous large muscle groups. All of this occurs in a cyclical manner that turns muscles on and off in a fraction of a second over hundreds upon hundreds of repetitions. In the game of soccer, athletes will typically run a distance of 10 kilometers at varying speeds. Athletes that cannot handle this volume of running – with all of the stops, starts, direction changes and skill-specific footwork – will not be able to perform at a high level over the duration of their competition and may be at greater risk of injury.

Running provides special endurance training for the muscles involved in locomotion for most sports. Swimming, riding a stationary bike or using an elliptical trainer cannot provide the same level of specific muscular endurance. While these forms of endurance training can provide general improvements in fitness and conditioning, they are lacking the biomechanical specificity provided by running and, hence, are incomplete for preparing athletes for the large majority of sports. Running must be part of the preparation. It would be like a boxer relying on rowing or exhaustive push-ups for his upper body endurance for competition, without incorporating actual punching skills and drills in his training program. There would be limited transfer and the results could be disastrous.

Aerobic Training

A quick look at a MET (Metabolic Equivalent Task) table will show you that running is easily one of the most effective ways to train the aerobic energy system. While the intensity of exercise will always have a significant bearing on the impact of the exercise, the list below provides a relative sense of the demands of various activities.

Measurement in MET’s Per Hour

2-3 Slow walking, Playing musical instrument, Slow Dancing, Bowling, Fishing

4-5 Brisk walking , Climbing stairs , Moderate cycling, Slow swimming

6-8 Rowing, canoeing, kayaking vigorously, Dancing vigorously

7-12 Singles tennis, squash, racquetball

8 Jogging (1 mile every 12 min), Skiing downhill or cross-country

10 Running 6 mph (10-minute mile)

13.5 Running 8 mph (7.5-minute mile)

16 Running 10 mph (6-minute mile)

If you are pressed for time and want to maximize your time spent exercising, running will be your best bet. I know a high-level swim coach who uses running as a staple for building aerobic capacity with his athletes. It is a good way for him to improve aerobic systems of the athletes without having to pay for more pool time and potentially wear out their shoulder joints. This is a perfect example where running has provided additional value to a sport that doesn’t even involve running. Yet, there are still many cases where coaches are not fully including running in their aerobic training – and these are sports where running is the primary means of locomotion.

Injury Prevention

Although there have been many books written on preventing and treating running injuries, an appropriate amount of running can help to minimize the risk of injury. For athletes that are required to run at high velocities, a minimum amount of high-speed running must be consistently maintained throughout the year. High velocity sprinting places a significant amount of stress on the lower extremities, particularly the hip flexors, quadriceps and the hamstrings. Sprinting also involves a high level of precise, inter- and intra-muscular coordination at extremely high velocities. Individual muscle groups must contract concentrically, eccentrically and isometrically at different stages of the stride cycle in mere hundredths of a second, transitioning from handling excessive loads to being unloaded. If an athlete’s body is not put through this combination of stress and coordination on a regular basis in the appropriate amounts, it can increase the probability of muscle strain when the athlete is required to move at high velocities.

This phenomenon is common in recreational sports where old buddies get together for a game of touch football. Because most, if not all, of these participants have not maintained their sprint capabilities through regular high-quality training sessions, they are not prepared for high-speed running. When the first long pass goes up and the designated receiver tries to break into open space and make the catch, it is not uncommon for the play to be ended with the receiver clutching his hamstring. In many ways it becomes a “use-it or lose-it” proposition. If you haven’t been using it, you will suffer the consequences.

At higher levels of performance, we sometimes see baseball players in season – with a rigorous game schedule and little time for training – have periodic problems with muscle strains in the lower extremities. Casual observation reveals that the game can be quite explosive – with hitting, throwing and base-running occurring at high velocities – but also very sedentary with lots of sitting in the dugout and lots of standing around in the outfield. This mixture of inactivity and extremely high velocity bursts can spell trouble if the athlete has not maintained a baseline volume of acceleration and sprinting in their training. The games alone do not provide enough opportunities for high-quality running to maintain an athlete’s minimum requirement of sprinting volume and keep injuries at bay.

Low-intensity running over higher volumes also helps to maintain overall fitness and circulatory abilities that keep an athlete more resistant to injury. Good aerobic conditioning not only allows athletes to warm-up more easily, but also keeps their bodies warmer throughout a long game or training session, even if there are lengthy periods of inactivity between plays.

Rehabilitation

Unfortunately, running is often regarded as one of the last activities to be undertaken as part of a rehabilitation regime for most injuries. I have athletes that tell me that their physical therapists won’t allow them to run until week 12 or week 16, but they can do lots of fancy exercises with balls, bands and balance boards. My common reply is, “Then how are we going to get you ready to play? Your sport does require you to run all of the time, doesn’t it?”

Like weightlifting, running can be introduced at lower levels of complexity and intensity presenting little to no risk to a rehabilitating athlete. In the case of athletes undergoing ACL rehabilitation, low intensity marching knee-lift drills can be introduced a few weeks after surgery, encouraging athletes to support their bodyweight during the stance phase, as well as introducing more knee flexion work during the knee-lift phase. This work can gradually progress to skipping drills and low-amplitude jogging or shuffling (sometimes referred to as “ankling”). While many ACL rehabilitation programs do not have athletes running until the 12th week following surgery, it is possible to insert elements of running very early on in the process. These early interventions not only allow athletes to run at an earlier stage in the rehabilitation process, but also give them a larger foundation of preparatory work that makes them stronger and more durable at later stages of their recovery.

In the case of rehabilitating a hamstring after a first- or second-degree strain, running is probably the most important rehabilitation tool to apply after the first 48-72 hours following the injury. Because the vast majority of hamstring strains occur during running, it is imperative that the running motion be incorporated into the rehabilitation process. As described previously, running is a complex task of recruitment and relaxation at high velocities. Only running drills and actual running can load the recovering tissues in a way that will duplicate this sequence and prepare them for the rigors of sprinting. Intensity can be managed by limiting the speed of acceleration and the distance covered over each sprint repetition. Starting with low speed accelerations over 10 meters for five to ten repetitions per set is common. Each day of rehabilitation can include slightly higher velocities, longer distances and greater overall volume. Depending on the severity of the strain, athletes can build themselves back up to full speed running in anywhere from five to fifteen days.

Closing Remarks

We are living in a time when technology is king and finding new ways of doing things takes precedence over tried and true methods. Unfortunately, running is not innovative, trendy or sexy, and the human race has been doing it for thousands upon thousands of years. However, it is important to point out that we cannot outrun evolution and arbitrarily decide which “flavor of the month” exercises are best for enhancing performance or preventing injury. I constantly see and hear so-called “experts” describing new methods for running faster, including new weightlifting exercises, new diets, new contraptions, new running techniques and greater core strengthening. My advice is to just go out and run. Learn the proper technique, follow the proper progressions, use appropriate volumes, give yourself adequate recovery and maintain your abilities through regular, consistent training sessions. And, support your running with common sense use of weights, plyometrics, warm-ups, nutrition, stretching and general conditioning. Unfortunately, there may not be an iPhone App for you to download and follow, but common sense, evolution and history can guide you much better in the long run.

The video resource is divides starts into four main types:

1. Free Form Starts

Free form starts include all types of starts that involve no special equipment and no form of external resistance. These starts allow the athlete to express their strength and power with their own body weight, mastering the technique and their coordination in a natural manner. An athlete can focus on technique and relaxation during free form starts. Speed and efficiency of execution are the primary goal in all free form starts.

2. Medicine Ball Starts

Starts that involve the throwing of a medicine ball in advance of sprinting can be useful for developing starting strength and power through the initial starting movement. The medicine ball can be between 4 and 12 lbs providing a suitable amount of loading through the initial movement. The weight of the medicine ball should be heavy enough to provide an external load without impeding the speed of the starting movement. And, the initial push out of the start is loaded with the strides involved in the acceleration phase unloaded, allowing the athlete to focus on speed of movement and relaxation.

3. Resisted Starts

Resisted starts involve external resistance applied throughout the duration of the entire start and most, if not all, of the acceleration distance. This resistance is commonly applied through the use of a dragging sled or resistance bands. Not only do resisted starts build starting strength, but also reinforce optimal posture and drive angles through the duration of the acceleration distance. It is important to ensure that the resistance applied during these starts is not excessive, significantly changing posture, limb mechanics and ground contact time.

4. Obstacle Starts

Obstacle starts incorporate quick evasive movements with acceleration to simulate patterns of movement encountered in sporting scenarios. Vertical objects placed in the path of the athlete can necessitate horizontal deflection or vertical deflection in prior to their primary acceleration phase. These obstacles are placed in the initial vicinity of the start, requiring the athlete to perform agile movements or jumps in a very short time span. These movements are followed by a linear acceleration over a set distance. It is important to avoid over-cluttering the start with too many obstacles, resulting in an unrealistic scenario.

Start Mechanics and Training Applications – Preview

The intent of this video is not to provide a cookie cutter or paint-by-numbers approach to improving starts and acceleration. The idea is to provide coaches and athletes with guidelines and progressions for using various starting methods to improvement movement efficiency, starting strength, acceleration power and overall speed. Depending on the abilities of the athlete, the phase of development and the emphasis in your training program, you may decide to use different starting strategies. And, you can add some variety to help stimulate enthusiasm amongst your athletes and make your workouts a little more interesting.

This video resource is offered via digital download or as a hard copy DVD. For more information on “Start Mechanics and Training Applications” please visit www.strengthpowerspeed.com.

I had the pleasure of being in Times Square in New York City last weekend for the announcement of the 2011 Heisman Trophy winner, Baylor’s Robert Griffin III. As soon as his name was announced, I thought of fellow strength coach and friend, Chris Ruf of Baylor University, and his contributions to the achievement of this award. When I contacted Coach Ruf and congratulated him, he mentioned that track and field’s loss was Baylor Football’s gain. And, on further research, I discovered Robert Griffin III could very well have represented the United States in the 2012 Olympics in the 400m hurdles.

As a track and field athlete, Robert Griffin III broke state records for the 110-meter and 300-meter hurdles. He ran the 110-meter hurdles in 13.55 seconds, and the 300m hurdles in 35.33 seconds. The 300m hurdle time was one-hundredth of a second short of breaking the national high school record. He was also won gold in the 110 and 400-meter hurdles on the AAU track and field circuit. As a high school junior, he sprinted 13.46 in the 110-meter hurdles and 49.56 in the 400-meter hurdles. In 2007, as a junior, he was rated the No. 1 high school 400-meter immediate hurdler in the country, and was tied at No. 1 for the 110-meter sprint hurdler in the nation. In 2008, at the age of 18 years, he qualified for the semi-final in the 2008 U.S. Olympic trials in the 400m hurdles running a world-class time of 49.73 seconds. Unless you have been living in a cave for the last few months, I don’t believe I need to elaborate on his football accomplishments.

Strangely enough, I had a conversation a few weeks ago with legendary strength coach, Al Vermeil. He was commenting on how he thought hurdlers made good football skill players. He mentioned Willie Gault and a few others. And, I know that the San Francisco 49ers were evaluating Renaldo Nehemiah – the world record holder in the 110m hurdles, with no college football experience – in 1982 when Al was still the strength and conditioning coach for the team. It made me ask the question, “What other great hurdlers became professional athletes in the NFL?”

Transferable Qualities of Hurdling

If there is a correlation between hurdling and football success, what are the factors that contribute to this relationship? If you examine the key elements of hurdling, you can see that there are some significant abilities that could transfer over to football as follows:

Pure Speed

To be a good sprint hurdler, you must be fast. If you examine the sprint abilities of the top hurdlers, you will find they have excellent sprint times. In most cases, these athletes have possessed great speed abilities (i.e. much faster than most NFL players), but are not fast enough to rise to the top of the 100m rankings. For example, Terrence Trammell has run 12.95 seconds in the 110m hurdles and has also run 10.04 seconds in the 100m. Mark McKoy, the 1992 Olympic hurdle champion, ran 10.08 seconds in the 100m and 6.49 seconds in the indoor 60m. Does a great 100m time make you a fast hurdler? Absolutely not. But the faster hurdlers are fast sprinters, relatively speaking, and can transfer that speed to success in football.

Mobility

Without a doubt, great hip mobility is required for success in hurdling. Is it a coincidence that most strength coaches are using hurdle walk-over drills in an effort to build more hip mobility? No. In football, greater hip mobility allows athletes to change direction, both horizontally and vertically, with greater quickness, power and efficiency whether it means getting around or over obstacles. More flexibility in the hips also reduces stresses through the lower back, knees, quads and hamstrings. This quality definitely allows a hurdling athlete to make a smoother transition to the football field.

Vision and Focus

Pure sprinters simply need to focus on the finish line. Sprint hurdlers have to get over ten 42-inch barriers in as little time as possible. Their vision is not focused on individual hurdles, but an array of barriers. Focusing too much on one particular barrier can result in disaster as attack angle, rhythm and flight mechanics can be disrupted. Good vision is not about locking onto one specific hurdle, but scanning through the rows and not panicking about any one in particular. While you are focusing on what you need to do, barriers are crashing around you and limbs are flying into your lane. These are qualities that transfer well to football, particularly if you are a quarterback like Robert Griffin III. Over the longer hurdle races, such as the 400m hurdles, this focus must be maintained as severe fatigue sets in and consistent stride length must be maintained.

Athleticism and Technique

The technical requirements of hurdling lend themselves to the intricacies of football. Great hurdling athletes are not inattentive. They must be aware of the technical requirements of their sport and work on the individual elements every training session. This quality must be combined with significant athleticism and coordination. Running at near full speed and executing technique that allows you to clear a 42-inch hurdle be a mere fraction of an inch takes years of careful practice. It is no different than the skill required to catch a pass at near full speed with defenders draped all over you, all while having the presence of mind and skill to get both feet down inside the sideline.

Stride Frequency and Length

Running between each of the ten hurdles in the 110m hurdles requires quick, consistent stepping in order to post a fast time. The strides between the hurdles tend to be significantly shorter and quicker than those applied in a straight sprint such as the 100 meters. On average, the fastest portion of the men’s 100 meters at the world class level involves 4.8 strides per second, 2.3 meters per stride and a horizontal velocity of 11.8 meters per second. Whereas in the 110m hurdles, a world class athlete can put down as many as 6.0 strides per second in between hurdles, at a shorter 1.80m per stride and a peak horizontal velocity of 9.3 meters per second. Thus, sprint hurdlers put down shorter, quicker strides at a sub-maximal horizontal sprinting velocity than 100m sprinters. This is a much more compatible stride pattern for football, where quicker, shorter, nimble strides are more effective for starting, stopping and cutting movements.

Contact and Collisions

Anyone who has trained and competed in hurdles knows that at any given time, you could end up on the ground in a split second. As a youth, I vividly remember a training session where I cleared the first hurdle and then, on the second hurdle, I broke the cross-board between my legs, skidded for 8 yards and then found my face buried underneath the third hurdle. Like a good hurdler, I got up and readied myself for the next repetition. Football is no different, although a spindly hurdle tripping you is not a good comparison to a fast moving 240lb linebacker putting you on your back. But of all the track and field events, hurdling is most likely to knock you on your butt with annoying regularity.

The Hurdling/Football Athletes

Now that I have put forward my argument as to why I feel hurdlers make good football players, here is my incomplete list of the athletes, in no particular order, I have found to have had significant successes in both the hurdles and professional football:

- Jerry Tarr attended the University of Oregon where he competed in both football and track. Tarr was a member of Oregon’s 4 x 110 yard relay team with Mike Gaechter, Harry Jerome, and Mel Renfro, setting a world record in the event in 1962. Individually, Tarr excelled in the 120-yard hurdles. He was the first athlete to win back-to-back NCAA titles in the high hurdles in 1961 and 1962, and in doing so, helped Oregon win its first ever NCAA Men’s Outdoor Track and Field Championship in 1962. Tarr went on to play professional football rather than continue his track career, completing one season as a wide receiver with the Denver Broncos of the AFL in 1962.

- Richmond Flowers played football for the University of Tennessee and was also a member of the track team. Alabama football coach Bear Bryant hired Billy Hardin, the former Olympic hurdler, to try to persuade Flowers to attend Alabama. Flowers ultimately went to Tennessee and, as a Junior, defeated Southern University’s Willie Davenport in the 120-yard high hurdles, winning the race in 13.3 seconds. The time was a tenth of a second slower than the world record. Soon after, Flowers injured his right hamstring while doing sprints in Knoxville. The injury prevented him from competing in the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, where Davenport won the gold medal in the 120 highs. Flowers eventually played in the NFL as a safety with the Dallas Cowboys (1969-71) and New York Giants (1971-73). Flowers was a backup safety on the Cowboys team that lost Super Bowl V to the Baltimore Colts, 16-13, in January 1971. He made six interceptions, all with the New York Giants, in his five-year NFL career. Four of his interceptions came in 1972.

- Earl McCullouch played college football at the University of Southern California and was one of five USC Trojans players taken in the first round of the 1968 NFL Draft after his senior year. In the 1967 and 1968 seasons, McCulloch played wide receiver on the USC offense that featured tailback O. J. Simpson. McCullouch was difficult to cover in pass routes and pursuit due to his world-class sprinting speed. As a member of the USC Track & Field team, McCulloch was the NCAA 110 Yard High Hurdle champion in 1967 and 1968, the NCAA 55 yard indoor high hurdle champion in 1968. He was the world record holder for the 110-meter men’s high hurdle sprint from July 1967 to July 1969, and also was the lead leg sprinter of the USC NCAA 4 X 110-yard world record (38.6 seconds) sprint relay team in 1967 and 1968 (the team also featured Simpson and future Olympian sprinter Lennox Miller). McCullouch played for the Detroit Lions (1968-73) and the New Orleans Saints (1974). He was named NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year in 1968.

- Willie Gault played in the NFL for 11 seasons for the Chicago Bears (1983-87) and Los Angeles Raiders (1988-1993). Gault was a standout in both football and track at the University of Tennessee receiving All-American honors as a receiver in 1982. Gault was a member of a world record-setting 4 x 100 meter U.S. relay team and earned a spot on the 1980 Summer Olympic team as a 110 meter hurdler only to miss the games due to the U.S. boycott. His best times are 13.26 in the 110 meters hurdles and 10.10 in the 100 meters. Gault was drafted in 1983, selected 18th overall in the first round. In Super Bowl XX, Gault had four receptions for 129 yards, and four kickoff returns for 49 yards. Gault finished his 11 NFL seasons with 333 receptions for 6,635 yards. He also returned 9 punts for 60 yards, rushed for 154 yards, returned 45 kickoffs for 1,088 yards, and scored 45 touchdowns. More recently, Gault has gone on to compete in Master’s track and field, recording world records in both the 100m (10.76) and 200m (21.80) in the 45-49 year old age group category.

- Rod Woodson is a former NFL defensive back best known for his 10-year stint with the Pittsburgh Steelers as well as contributing to the Baltimore Ravens’ Super Bowl XXXV championship season. While attending Purdue University, Woodson excelled at both track and football, receiving All-American honors on two occasions. Woodson established school records in both the 60m and 110m hurdles and earned five Big 10 championships during his collegiate career. He qualified for the 1984 Olympic trials in the 110m hurdles, but elected to pursue a career in football following graduation. In addition to playing for Pittsburgh and Baltimore, Woodson also played for the San Francisco 49ers and Oakland Raiders, wearing No. 26 throughout his career. He holds the NFL records for career interception return yardage (1,483) and interception returns for touchdowns (12), and was named the NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 1993. His 71 career interceptions places him third overall in NFL history. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio in 2009.

- James Owens played in the NFL for the San Francisco 49ers (1979-80) and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (81-84) over six seasons. He played both the running back and receiver positions throughout his career. While at UCLA, Owens was the NCAA 110m hurdle champion in 1977, while placing second in 1975-76. Owens also competed for the U.S. in the 1976 Montreal Summer Olympics, placing sixth overall in the final. His personal best times were 13.46 in the 110m hurdles and 10.47 in the 100m. He still ranks second on UCLA’s all-time 110m high hurdles list. As a halfback for the UCLA Bruin football team, Owens had eight 100-plus yard games finishing his career with 2,074 yards and a 5.01 average. Owens was voted team MVP in 1977 and received the outstanding senior award in 1978. Ironically, sprinting and hurdling legend Jesse Owens’ original name was James Cleveland Owens. He became Jesse when a teacher accidently wrote down his name as “Jesse” instead of J.C.

- Renaldo Nehemiah was known more for his hurdling prowess than football achievements. In 1981, Nehemiah became the first person to run the 110m hurdles in under 13 seconds posting a 12.93 second World Record at the Zurich Weltklasse meet. Nehemiah dominated the hurdle events in high school running 12.9 seconds in the 110m hurdles and 35.8 seconds in the 300m hurdles (remember, RG III ran it in 35.33 seconds). At the University of Maryland, Nehemiah achieved three NCAA hurdle titles, two indoor and one outdoor. Despite dominating the sprint hurdle event in the late seventies and early eighties, Nehemiah decided to pursue a football career in the NFL, even though he had not played collegiate football. He played two-and-a-half seasons with the San Francisco 49ers and amassed career totals of 754 receiving yards, four touchdowns and an average of 17.4 yards per reception. After a lackluster career in the NFL, Nehemiah returned to the hurdles in 1986 to achieve world rankings four more times from 1988 to 1991.

- Tedd Ginn, Jr. currently plays for the San Francisco 49ers in the NFL and played for the Miami Dolphins from 2007 to 2009. Ginn was a national champion 110m hurdler as a high school senior running a time of 13.40 seconds (he ran a wind-aided 13.26), also running a time of 36.73 seconds in the 300m hurdles. Ginn was recruited to run track at Ohio State, but decided to focus on football. He finished his career at OSU with 125 receptions for a total of 1,943 yards and 15 touchdowns. He also set a Big 10 record for most career punt returns for touchdown (6 in total).

- Paul Lowe, an Oregon State graduate, was a high hurdle champion in high school and college. “That’s where I got my style from with the high knee action. I was only 170lbs, so I wasn’t going to run over anyone.” Lowe amassed 4,995 yards as a running back for San Diego and Kansas City in the NFL averaging 4.9 yards per carry from 1960 to 1969.

- Reyna Thompson played defensive back for the Miami Dolphins (1986-89), New York Giants (1990-92) and the New England Patriots (1993). In his senior year in high school in 1981, Thompson clocked the nation’s fastest time in the 110m hurdles at 13.4 seconds. He then enrolled at Baylor University on a track scholarship. He qualified for the 1984 U.S. Olympic trials in the high hurdles, but was not able to compete due to a hamstring injury.

- Roger Craig, the star running back for the San Francisco 49ers from 1983 to 1990, outlined how he attributed much of his football success to running the high hurdles in his book, Tales from the San Francisco 49ers Sideline. “My football running style helped me when I was running the hurdles – and my form in the high hurdles helped me on the football field, too. Ira Dunsworth, my track coach, taught me the correct form to use on the track. I finished in second place in the 110m high hurdles and the 400m hurdles at the Iowa State Track and Field Championships my senior year. I found that I could be even more effective on the football field if I applied the same principles of running with my knees up.”

- Bobby Mitchell played for the Cleveland Browns (1958-61) and the Washington Redskins (1962-68) as a halfback in the NFL and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1983. Mitchell had a successful hurdling career, setting an indoor world record in 1958 in the 70 yard low hurdles with a time of 7.7 seconds. Mitchell had an opportunity to try to make the 1960 Olympic team, but instead opted to play for the Cleveland Browns.

- Tyrone Wheatley played for the New York Giants (1995-98) and the Oakland Raiders (1999-2004) in the NFL, totaling over 6,500 all purpose yards as a running back and kick returner. As a high school track and field athlete, Wheatley ran the 110m hurdles in a time of 13.87 seconds in 1991. At the University of Michigan, Wheatley placed eighth in the 1995 NCAA outdoor championships in the 110m hurdles, earning him All-American honors. He finished his college career running 13.77 seconds in the 110m hurdles and 10.46 seconds in the 100 meters.

- Gene Washington was NCAA Indoor Champion in the 60 yard high hurdles in 1965 for Michigan State University. Washington played for the Minnesota Vikings (1967-72) and the Denver Broncos (1973-74) as a wide receiver. Washington made the Pro Bowl in 1969 and 1970.

- Qadry Ismail played wide receiver in the NFL between 1993 and 2002 for a number of teams including the Minnesota Vikings, Green Bay Packers, Miami Dolphins, New Orleans Saints, Baltimore Ravens and the Indianopolis Colts. Ismail won a Super Bowl in 2000 while with the Baltimore Ravens. As a high schooler, Ismail finished his senior year as the third-fasts 110m hurdler in Pennsylvania State history with a time of 13.71 seconds. He went on to play football and run track at Syracuse University, posting a best 110m hurdle time of 13.60 seconds.

- Jabari Greer currently plays for the New Orleans Saints as a cornerback. He was initially signed by the Buffalo Bills in 2004 after playing his college career at the University of Tennessee. In 2003, Greer won the SEC 110m hurdle title with a personal best time of 13.32 seconds, the second-fastest time in school history behind Willie Gault’s 13.26 seconds.

- Nolan Cromwell played defensive back for the Los Angeles Rams from 1977 to 1987. He was named to the Pro Bowl over four consecutive years (1980 to 1983) and played in the 1979 Super Bowl with the Rams. As a college athlete at Kansas University, Cromwell earned All-American honors in the 400m hurdles with a performance of 49.47 seconds. In 1975 and 1976, Cromwell was the Big Eight 400m hurdle champion.

- Mel Renfro placed second in the 1962 NCAA Track and Field Championships in the 120-yard hurdles while competing for the University of Oregon. Renfro was also a member of the 1962 440-yard relay team, coached by Bill Bowerman, that broke the world record with a time of 40.0 seconds. As a football player, Renfro had a 14-year career in the NFL playing as a defensive back for the Dallas Cowboys. He was selected to the Pro Bowl in each of his first ten seasons in the NFL and played in four Super Bowls. Renfro was selected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1996.

- Hugh McElhenny was a running back in the NFL from 1952-1964, playing for the San Francisco 49ers, Minnesota Vikings, New York Giants and Detroit Lions. He gained a total of 11,375 all-purpose yards in his 13 year career. While with the 49ers, he was nicknamed “The King”. McElhenny was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1970. When attending George Washington High School in Los Angeles, McElhenny held city school records for the 120 yard and 180 yard hurdles. He claimed that the training he performed for track and field helped him in football.

- Glenn Davis was a world class sprinter and hurdler who won a total of three gold medals in the 1956 and 1960 Olympic games. Davis ran the 120 yard high hurdles in 14.0 seconds and had world records in the 200m low hurdles (22.5 seconds) and the 400m hurdles (49.1 seconds). His Olympic titles were in the 400m hurdles in the Melbourne Olympics in 1956 and the 1960 Rome Olympics. Davis is the only man to have set world record in the 400m with hurdles and without. After his illustrious track career, Davis played wide receiver for the Detroit Lions in the 1960 and 1961 seasons.

- Clyde Scott competed in both track and football at the University of Arkansas and the US Naval Academy. Scott won the 110m hurdles for Arkansas in the NCAA Championships in a time of 13.7 seconds. He competed for the U.S. in the 1948 London Olympics and won the silver medal in the 110m hurdles. In 1948, Scott was chosen in NFL draft, playing three seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles and one season with the Detroit Lions.

Concluding Remarks

As I noted before, this is not a complete list. In fact, I may have omitted several professional football players who actually competed in the hurdles as part of their careers in the decathlon. Jim Thorpe is one name that comes to mind. And there may have been several great hurdlers who made the decision to stick with track rather than invest more energy into football. David Oliver, who has a personal best time in the 110m hurdles of 12.89 seconds, also played wide receiver at Howard University. Does anyone know whether or not Tim Tebow ran hurdles in grade school?

Regardless, there are many reasons why hurdling is compatible with football. Would I recommend that athletes who want to excel at football take up hurdling? I don’t see why not. I believe that performing a number of hurdling drills can have a positive impact on many of the qualities I have identified. I currently incorporate hurdle sprints into several of the training sessions I provide for football athletes. As a general philosophy, I believe competing in several track and field events and other speed and power dependent sports can have a beneficial influence on an athlete’s overall development. Hurdling is just another activity that has the ability to vault an athlete over the competition.

Running successfully over long distances (I consider anything over 400 meters to be a long distance) requires a composite of many factors. The majority of distance runners will tell you that “mileage” and overall training volume will form the foundation of their training program. Hence, good distance runners tend to have:

- Low body mass
- Low percentage of body fat
- High percentage of slow-twitch muscle fibers
- Relatively high VO2 max (maximal oxygen uptake)
- A poor chance of winning in the Ultimate Fighting Championship

Thus, when we picture a successful distance runner, we tend to think of a skinny person of average height with an efficient cardiovascular system and big lungs. We certainly do not envision a heavily muscled body sculpted through hours of hard work in the weightlifting gym. So why would any lightly muscled distance runner even consider touching a weight when planning their training program?

An excerpt from exercise physiologist Dave Costill’s 1979 book, A Scientific Approach to Distance Running, gives us a closer look the average strength characteristics of the typical elite distance runner.

“In 1968, we tested Lou Castagnola, a 2:17 marathoner. At that time he had a maximal oxygen uptake (VO2 max) of 72.4 ml/kg minute and a vertical jump of 29.2 cm. Following the 1968 U.S. Olympic marathon trial, he terminated all training. Three years later we re-examined him and found his VO2 max had declined to 47.6 ml/kg minute. His vertical jump, on the other hand, increased to 51.cm, a 76% increase despite his detrained status. This suggests that endurance running impairs leg speed and explosive power.”

Although this excerpt is from an old book, it’s findings hold true over numerous research studies performed in the three decades since its publishing. And, these findings can be confirmed by simply going for a 45 minute run, then following up the run with an explosive weightlifting session. The two activities mix as well as a snack of popcorn and bubblegum.

If strength and power related activities are so incompatible with cyclical aerobic activities, why would we be proposing the use of strength training for distance runners? It seems as though the results would be disastrous. Yet there still remain many good reasons for keeping strength training within your long distance running program.

Improved running mechanics. Improvements in multi-joint strength and power abilities can minimize excessive hip, knee and ankle flexion during the support phase of the running stride. A longer ground-contact time is often observed in runners with a lower strength-to-weight ratio. These athletes experience a greater amount of flexion in the lower extremities on ground contact, negatively affecting their running economy. Higher strength levels achieved through a combination of conventional weight lifting and plyometric training can improve overall lower body strength, stiffness and elasticity, ultimately enhancing running mechanics and efficiency. Flat tires on an automobile ultimately result in poor performance and fuel economy. The same could be said for running athletes with poor lower body strength.

Enhanced injury prevention. Overuse injuries often plague long distance runners, particularly when the majority of mileage is accumulated over hard, paved surfaces. As the research has shown, resistance training performed early in the development of young athletes can increase their bone density. Continued resistance training through an athlete’s lifetime can help to preserve bone density and slow the potential for loss of bone density in latter years. As many long distance runners have discovered, stress fractures in the feet and lower legs can be a common symptom of high mileage. Any means of strengthening these bones could help to minimize the incidence of injury and, hence, lost training time.

Soft-tissue injuries such as tendonitis, low back pain and shin-splints can also be prevented with a training program that incorporates exercises that progressively load muscles and connective tissue. A stronger, more resilient body will allow for more intense workouts and higher volumes of training for running athletes.

Neuromuscular recruitment improvements. A maximal strength program may make perfect sense for 100 meter sprinters, but there are also unique benefits for longer distance runners. A well designed strength training program that incorporates low repetitions, relatively high loads and appropriate recovery times between sets will develop muscles that produce more force while not resulting in unwanted muscle bulk. Improvements in maximal force production make sub-maximal efforts much easier, particularly over longer durations. And, since not all long distance running occurs on flats or down-hill sections, hill climbing can be enhanced by muscle strength improvements derived from strength training.

It is interesting to note that I recently cracked open my copy of Peter Coe’s book, “Better Training for Distance Runners.” I was encouraged to find a photo of Sebastian Coe half squatting with a loaded barbell of 100 kg – which would be well above his training body weight. In the text supporting the photo, Peter Coe states that, “Five reps constitute a typical set.” This was not surprising to see as we have heard many stories of Seb Coe running very fast 400m splits in relays. Although he was renowned for his middle-distance accomplishments, it was apparent that he had significant speed abilities that could not be developed by high volume running alone.

Balancing out your training. At some point in your training, you will reach a point of diminishing returns with one or all of your current training elements. You can only run so far before you stop improving and start to de-train or get injured. Cross-training can provide significant benefits while preventing plateaus in training and elevating complimentary qualities such as speed, power, strength and durability. These qualities are often forgot when mileage is the primary concern for athletes competing in distance running. Once you direct a portion of your time and energy to higher intensity qualities, they can feed back into your primary training and provide a transfer effect that leads to better overall running performance. Also, you cannot discount the benefit of having a variety of training environments and modes to keep you psychologically fresh and enthusiastic about your training. Achieving a proper balance of training inputs can improve performance without increasing the risk of overtraining.

If you examine the most recent achievement by Kenyan athlete, Patrick Makau, completing the Berlin marathon in a World record time of 2:03:38, you can come up with some interesting conclusions. He averaged a 4:43 mile pace over 26.2 miles translating into 70.75 seconds per 400m (the equivalent of running around a quarter mile track 104 times). In order to run consecutive 70-second quarter miles for two hours, I would surmise that he has the capability to run a 400 meter race time of no less than 47 seconds, a 200m race in 21.5 seconds and a 100m time of under 11 seconds. That type of performance takes a degree of fast twitch muscle fiber that doesn’t come just from long runs in the plains of Africa.

Exercise Prescriptions

So if we can all agree that improved strength qualities can enhance overall running performance, how does one go about developing an appropriate strength training program? As with any exercise prescription or planning process, individual differences will arise depending on age, gender, experience, pre-existing injuries and goals. However, there are some basic guidelines that can be followed to get the most out of a strength training regime that will add value to your running program.

Don’t be afraid to lift heavy weights using less repetitions. Conventional wisdom for endurance runners has been to lift light weight over numerous repetitions. It is not uncommon for long distance runners and other endurance athletes to engage in 3-4 sets of 15-20 repetitions with low recovery times between sets. While this may intuitively fit with their endurance profile, it does very little to improve their durability and high performance capabilities as the type of work they are performing is too similar to what they are already doing with their running. In other words, it is overly redundant. These endurance athletes would be better served by running more, as it is more specific to their ultimate goal.

There is a misplaced fear that lifting heavy weights will result in bulky, useless muscle. If the correct repetitions and loads are selected, weightlifting can yield great improvements in muscle recruitment and force production, without significant increases in muscle cross-sectional area and body weight. Sets in the range of two to five repetitions with 80-95% of a one repetition maximum can easily be integrated into a runners training program without creating unwanted side effects. Of course, time has to be taken to develop technical proficiency and progressively build up the loads being lifted to ensure that an athlete minimize risk of injury. Such work also prepares athletes for the stress of other complimentary activities such as plyometrics.

Why sit when you can stand? Implement the majority of your exercises with your feet planted on the ground. Ground based exercises such as dead-lifting, squatting, lunging and overhead pressing can provide the vertical loading required for improving lower limb force producing qualities and postural integrity. While many core-strengthening routines utilize exercises that are carried out in horizontal positions, I’m a big proponent of loading the body vertically. It’s been many tens of thousands of years since we were quadripeds. Now that we are walking and running bipedally in the upright position, our training should reflect this fact. Loading the spine, pelvis and legs vertically with weight training will pay dividends for running athletes who spend most of the time on their feet.

Incorporate jumps, plyometrics and/or medicine ball throws into your routine. A good portion of your strength training activities can be undertaken without the use of weightlifting equipment. Jumps that focus on strong hip extension – such as jumping up stairs or up onto a box – can help develop powerful glutes, quads and hamstrings. Plyometric jumps over short distances, focusing on quick ground contacts, can develop lower leg strength and elastic power that can feed back into efficient stride mechanics. The addition of medicine ball throws and passes to your strength training routine can provide a total body workout that can build general strength, power, mobility and speed. Incorporating a combination of these activities into your overall training program one to two times per week can add the right type of intensity to your training program without creating more wear and tear. As with a higher intensity weight training program, a gradual progression of work for these ballistic activities is essential to avoid joint and soft-tissue injuries, thereby facilitating the positive evolution of your training program.

Running drills for strength, speed and power. Basic running drills that incorporate marching, skipping and rapid knee lifts can be useful in isolating the key mechanical components of the running stride and enhancing these individual qualities. Often referred to as the A, B and C’s of running drills, these drills can be used to hone technique, improve flexibility, stabilize posture, build core strength and enhance force production capabilities. These drills can be combined with regular running workouts or used in a separate qualitative technique workouts. If performed in association with a longer distance running workout, it is recommended that these drills be performed prior to the run when fatigue is not a factor. In many ways, these drills can be used as a warm-up or technique primer before a running workout.

Keep it simple. People are always anxious to add more elements to their training program in an effort to improve performance. It is advisable to add new elements incrementally in an effort to evaluate their efficacy and your body’s reaction to additional work. Patience and meticulous planning will pay off in the long run, while the haphazard clustering of new techniques can only end badly.

Additionally, there are always new training types and trends that claim to enhance performance. Rubber bands, vibration platforms, kettle-bells, suspension training, hot yoga and hypoxic training devices are examples of trendy innovations that are flooding the market. This list is endless and can be expensive. Certainly these devices can add variety to your program. But do they actually deliver improved performance? That is the question that you seriously need to ask yourself when faced with the prospect of handing over more cash with no tangible return on your investment. Everyone likes the idea of placebos in training, as the mind can be a powerful ally in your day-to-day struggle to carry out your workouts. But in the long run, the “sugar pills” may just add more calories, not better performances.

Final Remarks

Perhaps I am just a purist. I believe that common sense adjustments to the volume and intensity of a training program over time can yield the best results. When it comes to a training program, you must have a full understanding of the contribution of all of the exercises and inputs. You must also have a means of monitoring the value and shortcomings of specific training elements. If something is not working for you, do not hesitate to remove it or, at the very least, minimize its involvement. Alternatively, you may know that some training elements are providing value added. However, would an increase in volume lead to greater improvements, or would a point of diminishing returns become a factor?

Ultimately, your training program is no different than a culinary recipe. A given gourmet recipe may call for one tablespoon of salt in order to make the dish taste just right and get rave reviews. Yet two tablespoons of salt might lead to a gut-wrenching experience that drives people out of your restaurant. The right ingredients added at the right time and in the proper amounts are the key to a good recipe. A training plan for long distance runners, or any athletes for that matter, should be no different. Make sure that you are adding the right types and amounts of work at the right time in your program, using experience and common sense as your guides. With careful management and decision making, your workouts and your meals will be much easier to digest.

The lack of early age athletic “preparation” as well as the common occurrence of youth athletic “sports specialization” is presently an all too common theme in the United States. The dream of a college scholarship and perhaps an ensuing professional payday appears to often be the incentive for such early sport specialization. However, too early a sport specialization does have its consequences. An example of such a consequence is the 12 year-old baseball pitcher whom I recently rehabilitated after arthroscopic elbow surgery. According to his father “this young man is going to be the next Roger Clemens”. Obviously the father did not realize that throughout Roger Clemens’s athletic career, this Hall of Fame caliber pitcher never had elbow surgery. My time and experiences with this young athlete was my incentive to write this article.

The athletes of today live in a much different society than the athletes of decades past. The days of walking or riding a bicycle to one’s destination is often replaced with a car ride from parents, an arranged “carpool”, or perhaps a helping hand from a friend or neighbor. The advances in technology have provided us with the Internet, a venue for obtaining information effortlessly and provides an ease of multiple tasks as it is no longer necessary for one to leave their home as often to make a sales purchase, communicate with friends, travel to the public the library, etc… and essentially producing instant gratification at one’s fingertips.

The days of sandlot competition and playground pick-up games have been frequently replaced with various video games played at home in a sedentary position. However, there are certainly millions of children, teenagers, and young adults that participate in athletic activities. Some of these young athletes partake with the aforementioned dream of their participation evolving as a gateway to a college scholarship and perhaps even an eventual professional occupation. Though the number of Americans that participate in some type of physical activity, and more specifically, the number of present day athletes who physically train with the goal of athletic enhancement is probably at an all time high, the question arises are these athletes prepared for the stresses of vigorous Athletic Performance Training as well as the enduring repetitive stresses that will occur over a long competitive season? Unlike the athletes of decades past, many of today’s adolescent and teenaged athletes are often sedentary when off the field of play, and many are of the mindset of “sport specialization”, meaning a significant percentage of these individual athletes participate in one specific sport and only that sport activity throughout the year (i.e. 24/7/365).

Each year an increased number of athletes (just like that 12 year old pitcher) walk through the doors of our physical therapy clinics with both performance training and athletic participation injuries. Many parents with whom I speak are of the opinion that the performance training as well as the organized athletic participation of these athletes is initiated at too young an age. I have had many conversations with a number of Strength and Conditioning (S&C) Coaches, many with whom I associate, and their opinion with regard to this subject matter is that prior to the initiation of the athletes performance training a “lack of physical preparation” occurs all too often. This opinion comprises athletes of all ages and levels of competition including those at both the college and professional level of play. Often times it is the athlete’s skills that render them successful, but it is their lack of physical preparation and at times, their lack of “athleticism” that may “set them up” so to speak, for potential injury.

At the time of the initiation of an athletic performance training program, many young athletes, and at times their coaches, are more concerned with the amount of weight the athlete can lift vs. the proper way to prepare to train. A common question a coach or teenage athlete may ask their peer is “How much can you bench?” vs. “What kind of training program do you utilize? “

If the present day young athlete is less physically active (sedentary) during the early developmental stages of life, and disregards the opportunity for their body, and more specifically the neuromuscular system of the body to adapt and develop from the experiences of the various environmental stresses that occur in a child’s life, are they less prepared at the time of the initiation of performance training and/or their selected sport of participation? If the physical stresses such as walking, running, bicycle riding, tree climbing, participation in various sports and physical activities, etc… occur less frequently or are even eliminated, in addition to elementary schools and physical education classes eliminating “dangerous” activities such as a schoolyard game of “tag”, or climbing ropes in the gym class, is the young athlete of today as physically well prepared as the young athlete of the past? Are today’s young athletes prepared to adapt to the high stresses that are applied to their body over a prolonged period of time without breaking down? Are college and professional athletes, whom are so specialized and demonstrate high skill levels for their particular sport of participation, also prepared for the high stresses of their off-season training program?

Skill vs. Athleticism

Many successful one-sport specialized athletes are very “skilled” at their particular sport of participation. Though a baseball player may have a .300 batting average, or a basketball player may make a high percentage of his/her shots, are these athletes flexible, strong, powerful, and fast? Is their conditioning and work capacity at optimal levels? Are they prepared for the training that hopefully will not only enhance their level of play, but also allow them to resist the stresses associated with athletic participation over a long season (avoid injury) while maintaining their ability to perform at an optimal level of performance time and time again?

There are also many athletes that display high levels of ‘athleticism”, but are not necessarily “skillful”. For example, an athlete with a superb vertical jump many not be a very good shooter of the basketball. A football player who displays excellent running velocity but demonstrates the inability to catch a football may be assigned to become a defensive back or with special teams. There is certainly a difference between “skill’ and “athleticism” and it would be a crucial mistake for a coach to not recognize the differences between these two physical entities. Our responsibility as S&C Coaches is to enhance the athleticism and work capacity of our athletes, as well as assist in injury prevention. The newly developed athletic “enhancement” will eventually transfer to result in optimal athletic “skill” performance as the athlete continues to practice their skills over time i.e. hit a baseball further. The S&C Coach is also responsible for the preparation of our athletes, when necessary, prior to their participation in a stressful performance training program, to ensure that the training is applicable, that athletic enhancement is achieved, that overall work capacity is enhanced, and that the reduction of a potential risk injury is attained. The coaches, and more specifically, the position coaches of the specific sport of participation are the individuals responsible for enhancing the specific skill(s) level of the athlete. Due to the distinct differences displayed in these two physical entities (skill vs. athleticism), a very highly skilled athlete may not be prepared for the task of strenuous athletic performance training, or for their long season of participation during athletic competition.

The Neuromuscular System of the Body

The significance of the nervous/neuromuscular system of the young athlete was very highly emphasized during my time studying in the Eastern Bloc. Many of the coaches and instructors stressed of how “plastic” the nervous system of an adolescent is, and how this system of the body could be “molded” during the athletes early years during the initiation of the process of “general physical preparation” (GPP) that would assist to result in the young individual becoming the best possible athlete that they themselves could come to be. In fact, these coaches and instructors stated that up to 57.5% of the physical qualities that are potentially developed over the athlete’s career (athletic life) occurred between the ages of 12 to 16. This information was further substantiated to me by Mr. Gregorio Goldstein, a former Soviet Weightlifter and Weightlifting Coach here in the U.S with whom my friend and at the time NFL New York Giant S&C Coach Johnny Parker and I studied with for approximately 5 years. Coach Goldstein also highly recommended, as the other Eastern bloc athletic enhancement authorities, the necessity for young athletes to participate in as many different athletic endeavors as possible. This participation was necessary to develop their nervous system, athleticism, and work capacity, prior to focusing on the specialization of their particular sport. This GPP also prepared the athlete for the high stresses of performance training to not only enhance the individual’s athletic performance, but to ensure the body’s resistance to these appropriately applied high stresses and reduce the risk and avoid possible injury. Even at the professional level of competition, Coach Goldstein recommended that the NY Giant football players participate in at least 250 to 300 hours of GPP annually.

Preparation for Athletic Performance Training

Prior to the initiation of any athletic performance training program, an evaluation of each athlete should be performed. If an evaluation were not performed, how would the coach possibly know of the deficiencies incurred by each athlete? The method of evaluation may be specific to the opinion and choice of each individual S&C Coach, but the utilization of some type of evaluative method is highly recommended. What is also recommended, if necessary, is a period of athletic performance training preparation. This preparation period of training will ensure that the athlete has achieved the necessary physical qualities of flexibility, muscle, tendon, and joint strength and stability, familiarization and the actual demonstration by the athlete of the proper exercise technique of those to be performed during the training program, as well as the enhancement of the athletes overall general physical conditioning and work capacity.

Preparation for the Training of the Adolescent Athlete

During the yearly training of the adolescent athlete, as previously stated, this young individual should participate and perform in as many different athletic sports and activities as possible. However, the total avoidance of specialization training is also not recommended. The emphasis is placed on GPP vs. sport specialization for a superior variety of stresses applied to the body for eventual adaptation by the athletes neuromuscular system in an attempt to “create” an overall better athlete. The preparation (GPP) vs. specialization guidelines for the adolescent through the early teenage years of training may be reviewed in Table 1.

Age____ Year of Training_____Percent GPP______Percent Specialization

12 __________ 1 _____________ 70–80% ______________ 20-30%

13 __________ 2 _____________ 50-60% ______________ 40-50%

14 __________ 3 _____________ 30-40% ______________ 60-70%

Table 1. General Physical Preparation of the Young Athlete

The appropriate progressive and repetitive practice by the athlete of their actual sports skills performed over time, will support the transfer of these enhanced neuromuscular qualities resulting in an “overall” superior athlete.

Adolescent athletes will initially utilize body weight exercises (i.e. push-ups, pull-ups, squats, etc…) and medicine ball activities during their training program. Rubber bands and other implements may be used to assist in unloading the athlete during the performance of specific exercise activities such as pull-ups, if the athlete cannot perform these types of exercises with their full body weight. When appropriate wooden dowels, PVC pipe, and lightweight bars may be utilized to assist the “eye of the coach” to ensure that proper exercise technique is maintained and/or improved while the application of these additional light intensities will continue to enhance the appropriate amount of applied “stress” for the athletes adaptation from the exercises performed.

Preparation for the Training of the “Older” Athlete

As a S&C Coach begins their work with the “older” (i.e. high school, college, professional) athlete, the biological age and sports skill experience of the individual athlete may not correlate to the same level of athleticism or physical condition/work capacity of these same athletes. These differences, if presented, are undoubtedly a consideration and will certainly have an influence during the planned course of applied stress of performance training for the desired outcome of optimal athletic development. Over the years during multiple conversations with S&C Coaches, and more specifically my friends Al Vermeil, Johnny Parker and Al Miller, I have heard time and time again how often the professional athletes they have worked with were not prepared to train. They have stated how frequently they have had to physically “prepare” many of their professional athletes prior to allowing the athlete participate in their professional teams the off-season S&C program. This is not to insinuate that the athlete’s previous S&C Coach was a poor coach. This is simply stating that at the time the athlete arrived to participate in the team’s off-season S&C program, they were not physically prepared, in the opinion of these coaches, to partake in the teams strenuous off-season training program. We have also had this same experience with some of the college and professional athletes we train at our Performance Center, as this was also often the case during my 10 years as the Head S&C Coach at St. John’s University.

The necessity of an athletes physical “preparation” is especially true of those specific high school, college, and professional athletes that have participated and completed a course of physical rehabilitation prior to their arrival for participation in an Athletic Performance Enhancement Training Program.

I have often heard at lectures, or during my conversations with other S&C Coaches that they don’t have the time to “prepare” the higher level athlete for their off-season athletic performance training program. This “preparation” would take away from the valuable training time that is necessary for the athlete’s actual participation in the specific off-season training program. Many of these coaches have been of the opinion that the athlete should participate in the same off-season program as their teammates, as the athlete will either adapt or not adapt i.e. “sink or swim” during the training process. The obvious response by many coaches would be how could a coach not spend the time to preparing the athlete?

As an example, during the 1980’s Coach Goldstein spent a significant amount of time teaching both Coach Parker and I the value of the overhead squat as both an evaluation and performance training tool. Al Vermeil substantiated this information when he expressed the importance of the overhead squat to me during a conversation that occurred in 1990. If the S&C coach utilizes the overhead squat as an evaluative tool, and a particular athlete demonstrates poor exercise technique, why would an S&C coach apply inappropriately high intensities to the athlete during squat exercise performance when the athlete had previously demonstrated such a poor squat performance? Should an athlete that demonstrates limited shoulder range of motion or poor thoracic mobility be stressed inappropriately and instructed to perform the overhead press or the snatch? Is it reasonable for an S&C Coach to prescribe excessive and inappropriate specific exercise intensity and/or volume when deficits in specific physical qualities and work capacity have been demonstrated? This is especially true when one would consider that these improperly performed exercises (poor technique) are to be performed repeatedly over time where both increases in exercise volumes and intensities will be applied as usually prescribed in any athletes training program design.

Preparation for training of the higher level athlete probably does not occur as often as we would assume. Yet it is very simply achieved in a fairly short period of time. Utilizing methods such as Javorek’s complexes, where an athlete will perform a “cycle” of 5-6 exercises in immediate succession for 6 to 8 reps per exercise and eventually complete 4-6 cycles in a training session is a very effective training method to establish the necessary exercise range of motion (flexibility), muscle and joint strength and stability, familiarity of the exercise performance (technique), and enhance the overall work capacity of the athlete. Initiating the exercise complex at 25% body weight and eventually achieving 40% body weight, as well as instituting activities such as medicine ball and running tempo, etc… depending upon the individual athlete, the GPP may take a total of 2 to 4 weeks to achieve. At that time the athlete will be well prepared for the advanced yet appropriate exercise volumes and intensities required of an off-season performance enhancement training program.

Considerations based upon the athlete’s biological and training (experience) age, athleticism, training experience, and evaluation test results will assist, when necessary, in the program development and prescribed exercise selection to be utilized by the athlete to prepare them prior to the initiation of their performance enhancement training program. Although many of these off-season athletic enhancement training programs may differ, what is certain is that often “preparation” of the athlete is essential to ensure optimal training success. There are coaches with the opinion that they do not have the necessary time to prepare the athlete for off-season training. These coaches will unfortunately likely find that that the athlete will lose that preparation time and perhaps an even greater amount of time when during the training period, the athlete performs poorly, breaks down, and is possibly injured. There is an old saying that states “you can pay me now, or you can pay me later”. We as S&C Coaches should determine the best time to write the check.