Weight Training for Track & Field Athletes

Weight Training for Track & Field

Athletes• Presented by:

Sarah Hoffman

• M.A. Exercise Science-University of South Dakota• CSCS (Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist)

OVERVIEW

o Core Strength & it’s importanceo Progression of liftingo Teaching proper lifting techniqueo The Different types of lifts o Varying lifts & weightso Different types of weight trainingo The Do’s & Don’ts of USD Track

& Field

Starting Simple:Body weight exercises

• Push-ups• Pull-ups• Sit-ups• Leg lifts on bar• Pillar holds• Pillar lifts

Core Strength & its IMPORTANCE

• If you can’t hold your body in theses proper positions how are you suppose to do it while running, jumps, or throwing?

Progression of core strength

Developing: arm, back, & shoulder strength for a

beginner athlete

Progression of arm, back, & shoulder strength

continued…

Developing: Beginners lower leg strength

• BALANCE is STRENGTH

•Make sure when squatting that the knee does not go over your toe

•When your knee goes past your toe, it causes all the pressure to be focused on the knee

Lunge Matrix: A lower leg strength progression

• Focus on posture• Make sure

foot/ground contact is directly below the knee

• Foot always stays square

• Keep knee slightly out

Lunge Matrix Progression

• Arms above head• Holding weight at chest• Holding weight above head• Matrix Low switches

– Stay low– Posture – Foot contact directly below knee,– Foot square & knee slightly out

• Matrix Power switches– Same as Low switches except

explode up as high as possible

Teaching Proper Lifting Technique

• Make sure every athlete knows how to properly lift

• If they are not ready, pull them back to the non weight bearing exercises, machines, or other lighter techniques (broom sticks, or PVC piping)

Resistance Training Exercises

• Arms– Bicep curls– Tri extensions– Tri push-downs

• Back– Bent over row– Lat pulldowns– Seated rows Calves– Standing

• Calf raises – Toes straight ahead– Toes pointed in– Toes pointed out

• Chest/Shoulders– Flat bench– Incline bench– Dumbbell flies

• Hip/Thigh– Hip sled– Regular squats– Single leg squats– Step-ups– Walking lunges– Deadlift– Leg curls

• Shoulders– Upright rows– Military press– Shrugs

Olympic Lifts

• Snatch• Push Press• Split Squat Snatch• Powerclean• Hangclean• Jerk

Vary the lifts

• 3-5 week phases with a week of recovery

• Don’t always do the same lifts, mix it up!

• EXAMPLES:– Regular Squat– Front Squats– Single leg Squats– Walking Lunges– Step ups

Vary the weight

• IT’S OKAY TO LIFT ALL SEASON, BUT CHANGE IT UP!!!!

• Phase #1: Strength Building Phase

• Phase #2: Maintaining Phase• Phase #3: Peaking Phase

After the weight room

• Medicine Ball/Multi Throws– Overhead backwards– Between the legs forward– Straight up throws with a squat– Lunge, Lunge, throw– OR BE CREATIVE

• May only need 5 reps• Your body will remember the last thing you

did on that day

Strength Building Phase

• Heavier phase– Usually during off season or

beginning of pre-season•Focus: Hypertrophy and Muscular Endurance (at the beginning)

•Strength & Endurance (later in the phase)

• Less reps• More recovery

Maintaining Phase• During the Season

• The athlete is training hard for specific events– Ex. Hurdling, sprinting, distance, field events

• Medium amount of resistance training– Make lifting event/sport specific

• Weight should be less than what the athlete was lifting in pre-season

• More Reps

• Less Recovery

Peaking Phase

• You don’t want your athlete to have their best performance at the first meet of the season.

• Want them to perform well enough to qualify for state, but best performance should come at the end of the season

• Lifting should be light & fast (focus on speed of bar)

• Few reps (rapid fire of fast twitch muscles)

How to choose lifts

• Keep the lifts sport/event specific– This will increase the likelihood that there will

be a positive transfer to the sport

• Maintain Muscle Balance– Keep a balance of muscular strength across

joints and between opposing muscle groups• Agonist vs. Antagonist

– Biceps & Triceps OR Hamstrings & Quadriceps

Do’s & Don’ts of USD• We don’t use a 1RM

– Can be very dangerous for inexperienced athletes

• We do use a 3-5RM– We use a formula to calculate a 1RM, can be found on the

internet. Find a formula that best fits your athletes

• We do use weight belts– But not all the time, if we are lifting heavy, mostly in Olympic

lifts, we require them, otherwise we use the valsalva maneuver

• We progress from side by side leg lifts to single leg lifts– These lifts are more track/event oriented, but each athlete

must be ready to do this or they will get injured.• Snatch to split squat snatch OR squats to single leg squats

• We don’t lift Olympic back-to-back days– Your body needs at least 48hrs. to recover from Olympic lifting

How to Calculate proper # of Reps & Sets

% of 1RM

# of Repetitions Allowed

100 1

95 2

93 3

90 4

87 5

85 6

% of 1RM

# of Repetitions Allowed

83 7

80 8

77 9

75 10

70 11

65 15• Other 1RM values may vary slightly from .5%-2% from the provided table above.

• This table is based on a 1RM percentage, and may not accurate for athlete performing multiple sets.

Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning. Baechle & Earle. 2000

Questions?www.usd.edu/track

Sarah.Hoffman@usd.edutrack@usd.edu