Hi all, I am pretty new to the forum but I feel like this will be a good place to track my progress over the next 2 years (the rest of my college track and field career). Hopefully I can get some feedback and comments on my progress and some ideas for javelin in particular.
Back Squat: 260 (1RM)
Bench: 225 (1RM)
Hang Snatch: ~175 (1RM)
Standing Long Jump: 2.8m (9’2’’)
Best marks:
Javelin: 49.43m
Discus: 34.89m
Shot put: 12.18m
So as you can see I have a few things to work on to reach my goal which is to qualify for regionals in the javelin (61.6m). I also hope to increase my 1RM’s by about 50 lbs in the next year, as well as get faster and hopefully compete in some other events (the decathlon is a hopeful for maybe my last year).
Currently I am working on my approach a lot in practice for the javelin. I am using a 7 step approach now (2 steps forward and 5 crossover/block). I hope to get to a 14 step and one day win the Olympics! But lets keep to the short-term goals right now.
I’ll try to post each workout as they happen. I just started a maintenance phase following some super heavy 3x3s. We’re coming into the second half of the outdoor season with two meets scheduled before Conference and maybe another two if it looks like I might be able to throw the regional qualifying mark.
A hot, sunny day outside here. Good day for a couple throws and some core work!
Shot: 5 full glides. 3 right side throws in between. Some footwork.
Discus: 4 full throws.
Just working on the rhythm of the throws. Discus is feeling good but I keep dropping my left shoulder. Have to work on correcting that at the meet and staying in the ring.
Core: 3x20 SRT, OTF, AMS, SPW, and Fig8.
3x30sec on 30 off: SCT, HE, HUS, AS, and CU.
Feeling good, gotta get some good fruits and veggies in now along with some liquids! hot
Of course I jinxed it; the weather today was cloudy, chilly and raining. But it still proved to be a nice day for my javelin runups (inside) and weights (also inside).
Javelin approach work: some 7 step run-ups to mark my approach for this weekend. No throws today, just tossed around a football for awhile to loosen up my shoulder.
Stretched and iced the shins. Pain is definitely bearable but just had it for too long. Feeling loose and ready for this weekend. Also played 20 minutes of basketball which felt good after a long workout, stretch again and eat a fish burrito!
The bad weather is sticking around, not able to get outside for drills so had to stick to some discus footwork. Feeling off balance in my release, but trying to keep shoulders parallel throughout. I feel like I have 40+m in me but its just a matter of hitting the right spots at the right times. Going to a meet on Saturday so gotta get excited!
Core:
No medball work, just some body weight circuits
SCR, HE, HUS, AS, CU 3x30/30
Stretched, definitely feeling looser than the past few weeks. Muscles feel good, ready to put out some good throws this weekend really early (9:30am javelin).
Going to watch videos the next two days to get ready. Zelezny, Pitkamaki, and Thorkildsen! and some Lars Riedel to learn to not reverse too soon.
A pretty dismal meet. Cloudy and raining for most of the time. Javelin didn’t go as well as I hoped. Couldn’t get my block down and wasn’t patient transferring into the throw. Discus then was canceled a few minutes before my flight began because of the rain. Not a good way to end the meet for me, but we still have another 2 weeks before conference so I still have time to get better.
Today is active recovery. I plan on swimming some laps and maybe some cycling if weather permits. Feeling sluggish from the hotel sleep. Ready for some more lifting.
Discus day
10 airplane drills
Throws down the field, emphasizing the right side throws
10 full throws
3 “competition” throws
++ threw a personal practice PR at 37.43m, but still technique was not where it should be. I still feel out of control in the center of the ring. Need to emphasize stability in my drive out of the back, as well as posture throughout.
3x30/20 fly-ins = feeling a little slow on the first two but third was good.
3x4 hurdle hops off a 20in box. hurdles set at 36in
Maintenance weights:
Back squat
Push jerk
Bench press
Military press
++the weights felt really light today, my push jerk has increased by easily 10kg. Feels good!
That’s all for today. Going to stretch and ice my shins here after I get my much needed carb+protein blend. Feeling big!
A good day in jav today, messed around with a full approach from the back of the track and tossed one out to 52m (with a 1m foul), but my form is still lacking. For some reason I just can’t pick up the soft step/block with my left leg and I keep pushing too far forwards in my block. It was a PR though, but still not satisfied. A good thing since I have 2 more years of javelin after this year. Anyway, here’s the workout:
pig stick down the field
blocking drills with cross steps in
7 full throws
3 “competition” throws (with 51m PR)
Core workout
3x20 each OTF, AMS, SPW, Fig8
3x30/30 SCR, HE, HUS, AS, CU
Big meet this weekend at an ACC school. A lot of good jav throwers to look forward to seeing, I might not make finals again but if I hit 50 I’ll move up in the conference to maybe 6th. Definitely excited! Gotta keep working on my form and watching videos… maybe I’ll hit 40m in discus next…
Not the greatest day of discus practice. Can’t seem to get a good grasp of the technique sometimes, today was a good example of that. Sometimes just have to relax and let things happen, and I seem to get too tense thinking of all the different aspects of the throw I need to work on.
Anyways, here’s the workout:
10 airplane drills
5 full throws (cut off there)
6 stand throws* things were feeling better here
Weights:
4x2
Hang snatch
Mid thigh
RDL
Pullups
Stretch and relax. Watched some videos of myself from Tuesday, my block was definitely missing and I am going to work on the soft-step until the meet this weekend. Really looking forward to the conference meet, there will be good competition there. I hope to hit in the 50s this year… 60s next… 70s… 80s… 90s?
Javelin: Did work without the jav today to get my rhythm. For the first time ever I hit my block leg well, it felt great to get it but of course no javelin to see how it worked. Hopefully I will be able to replicate it tomorrow at the meet because the minimum mark is supposedly around 52m, a big PR for me if I were to hit it.
Discus: Still feeling rusty with the disc. Might be coming out of the back too hard = out of control throws. I just feel out of rhythm with the discus. Hope to pull it together, but I have until Saturday before I throw at the meet. Time tomorrow for some drills hopefully.
Anyway, plan on having a good dinner tonight and getting plenty of rest since we are leaving at 6am tomorrow morning. Lovely!
Hopefully my next post includes the words “PR” near the words “Javelin”. Here we go!
Good meet! A couple good throwers at this meet but I managed to get to finals with a PR of 51.83m. Ended up placing 8th overall in a pretty competitive field. Felt really good to get one out there but after watching the videos I still have a lot to work on. It all came down to still having no block, but at least my arm is in good shape right now.
Just have to rest until Monday and then really practice hard for the conference meet in two weeks. Can’t wait. Time to rest, just back from a 4 hour bus ride.
A cold day out on the track today. Started snowing and the wind was blowing in so the throws were weak, but kept at it. My upper back is in some pain from the throws this weekend, my technique is not helping my muscles and joints…
Monday
Weights 3x2 Maintenance
Back squat
Push jerk
Bench press
Military press
Weights were easy though my back was tired so the squats weren’t moving as fast as I would have liked, hoping that having this following weekend off will be enough rest to PR again at the conference meet. Right now 7th overall in the conference in javelin so scoring would be great.
Javelin:
pig stick
stand throws emphasizing the block leg
3-steps
5-steps
7-steps all penultimate steps
2 full throws: hurt too much to keep going, needed to ice afterwords. Not sure how to work on the flexibility of my upper back, just keeping with the several jav warm-ups I already use.
Long day overall, lots of technique work still needs to be done. I already know I can throw the jav well, but without any block I will never be able to get it past the 50s. Just gotta keep at it all day-every day. Wish I had a few more years of experience behind me so that I could compete with some of the beasts in my conference. Just means I have to work harder than them at it!
More javelin work, snowing and cold outside so decided to just work on footwork indoors! Snow in April… bah
Javelin:
warmup
knocken ball throws into net
3 step knockenball
5 step w/ towel
7 step w/ towel
The block works in practice, but come javelin time I have trouble being nearly as patient and can’t trust that the block will cause a big throw. Until I get it, i’ll just keep throwing out my back.
Core work
medball tosses
ab circuit
A really good day overall, feeling confident about my knowledge of the event so I just have to transfer this into competitions. It is cool that I can use several ‘sprint cues’ to help me get into a better position for throwing. All events seem to have some similarity.
Another day of improvements, in the words of an ex not-so-successful teammate of mine “if I keep PR’ing every meet eventually I’ll be great!”. Hopefully this holds true!
About 60 degrees outside so all the snow melted. Typical weather around here, nice one day, awful the next. Maybe we’ll get a hurricane/hail storm tomorrow?
The throws went well. I am getting more consistent in the upper 40s with my throws in practice but a severe headwind kept anything from being spectacular. Even the discus was getting pushed around. My footwork has improved a lot over the year so I just need to get my speed up and maintain the correct form in order to bust one out. The maintenance weights are leaving me with a lot of energy to put out bigger throws but I don’t feel as strong as I was maybe last week. The important factor in javelin though, is speed over strength so this won’t be a problem come next weekend. CONFERENCE.
No sprint work or plyos done. Practices are really simple right now. I’m looking forward to this summer and putting on some more muscle and working on my sprint speed/mechanics. I really enjoy sprinting in practice though I have been plagued with shin pain this year. Just have to keep taking care of myself.
Thursday: More jav work, last day to throw a lot before conference in one week.
Had a interesting day in the javelin overall. Threw a couple at around 49m and some bad ones, then was able to throw some stand throws and 3-steps at 45m. This means my runup/approach is giving me almost no advantage to a stand throw. But this also means that my release is improving for my short approach work, which hopefully I can transfer into my runup this next week… and if I can do this then I should be able to add nearly 10m to my throw. This is all hopeful but maybe that means hitting mid 50s to 60 even this year if I can get stuff together! Hopeful? hopeful.
Crossover drills
5-step throws
full runups/throws
3-step throws
stand throws
2x20/30 core session - gettin that look for the beach this summer! hah.
Tomorrow more footwork, maybe a throw or two to practice my releases with a full runup. Great weather here though, 70s!
Not a great day of work, body is tired from all the drills. Took it easy, did some light weights and called it a day. Eating some good food and resting for the weekend, then only 4 days til conference.
Well it’s been a few days since I posted last. Leading up to the conference meet my schedule was really busy with training and classes so I didn’t get to update much. The conference meet was a great experience overall; great facilities, fun competition, and lots of good marks for my team’s field events. We left last Wednesday for the meet and just got back last night, so my first priority was getting some REAL sleep instead of hotel sleep. Well, here it goes:
Javelin: PR! 55.56m (7th place overall)
All of my throws were past 51m at the meet, I had been tweaking the way I held and delivered the javelin throughout the past week and it appears to work better for my technique right now. On one of my throws I achieved a mini-block which is a great sign that I’m actually improving as a thrower and not just getting a better arm, though one of the coaches commented on how I was throwing with all arm. In any case it was a great achievement for me and now I will be able to compete in a few more meets to possibly qualify for regionals (61.6m). Truly exciting!
Hopefully improvement will continue and I will be able to qualify, I feel like I’m just getting a hold of things and if conditions are right, I could get a hold of one and do big things. Gotta keep tight with the technique over the next 2 weeks, then back to an ACC school for a big meet.
I have a lot of technical issues with the discus right now. I’ve been trying not to reverse, but my entrance is the real problem. I tend to dive into the center and land off-balance, causing a string of problems.
Also, I think that I lack a lot of strength to be really throwing it far.
But I guess I do reverse right now, not intentionally but because I’m out of control.
Discus is pure tech, I am a skinny and weak bastard and can throw the 1kg over 50m without much practice. Starting the turn with your left side is key, if you focus too much on the arm holding the discus you will then have lots of balance issues.
Start leading with your left foot and arm and everything should be suddenly working propery. The discus arm and the non pivoting leg should follow, remeber that separation between limbs is what catapults the discus. Add a motion like the shown by Schult in this video and you’ll be throwing far given your span even if you lack strength:
Schult was a beast! Thanks for the tip. I tend to worry about my throwing arm a lot and try to whip my left arm and head through the throw, causing multiple problems. Maybe some of those turns with barbells would help!
Most of the throws around 48-49m with an old jav and headwind, not the best conditions but I am still finding many technical issues, I am too impatient to wait for the block and I don’t open up enough to get my hips through.
Maintenance Weights Increased:
Back squat 4x2(4) 135,185,215,230,235,235,215(4)
Push Jerk 3x2 100,115,165,165,165
Bench 3x2 135,155,195,195,205
Military Press 3x2 125,125,125
Weights went well, my back squat is much better than the beginning of the year, have to adjust to a new 1RM closer to 300.
