Benjamin driven hard by Jackson

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Britain’s top 400m runner Tim Benjamin says he has been surprised by the severity of his training programme under new coach Colin Jackson.

The Welshman, 24, said: "Colin works me so hard I’ve been sick on the track.

"He is really tough. What surprises me is the standard that he sets, particularly the time on the track he wants you to hit.

“It’s very different to any training I’ve done before. I do a lot more strength work in the gym.”

Benjamin hooked up with Jackson in September after leaving Tony Lester’s Berkshire-based training stable to return to south Wales.

Jackson, the former 110m hurdles world record holder, has also recruited Olympic 400m gold medallist Michael Johnson to help Benjamin, although his input has yet been called upon.

Benjamin’s injury problems continued last season as a knee problem forced him to miss the Commonwealth Games and severely hindered his preparations for the European Championships, where he finished sixth.

He has decided to miss the entire indoor season to concentrate on getting back to full fitness ahead of next August’s World Championships in Osaka.

“The main aim is to maintain a healthy winter and hopefully that will speak volumes on the track when it comes to performances,” said Benjamin.

"I’m hoping to race a lot earlier than I’m used to, so I can attack my PB in June, July and August.

“The World Championships in Osaka are quite late in the year. So too are the trials and that’s great because it gives me so much more time. I don’t have to rush anything.”

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/athletics/6200885.stm

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will colins training routine have an adverse effect on tim?? will it get to the stage where he flogging a dead horse due to the workload??

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Fantastic question Xman?
What suprises and shocks me from reading interviews about British athletes is their lack of knowledge about their sports…

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I kno i shouldnt judge without seeing the full training programme but I am worried that Jackson’s training methods are the run of the mill “no pain no gain” programs, i.e. ridiculously high volume/intensity, little rest, etc.

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I agree. Many athletes equate getting sick during workouts as an indication of how hard they are working and as a result how effective their program is.

Coaches who blast these athletes into submission are thought of as great because they really pushed their guys. If the goal of the workout was to make the guy vomit, well then mission accomplished.

Often, the athlete does not even know what components might be necessary to construct a proper program because they’ve never been exposed to one.

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Well if it doesn’t work out I think he’ll just move to John Smith after all!

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Tim is a clued up guy, have no worries about that! I lived with him for a week, and I have just moved in with Rhys who is the same-students of the sport. They do work hard yeah, but they both know when to back off, especially Tim!!!

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Jamie Baulch achieved his pb’s during the short time he trained under Colin, over 60m, 200m and 400m so it looks like he may know what he is doing, and it looks like he knows the values of developing speed for 400m runners.

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I dont think he got his PBs over the 60 and 200 with Jacko? Dont forget he ran and trained alongeside Jacko rather than Jacko being the coach. Colin looked after his weights and some of his track session untill he disappeared to Linford (What a move that proved to be).

I am not sure when he ran his 60 PB early 90’s I think, but his 200 (20.84) is from 1994 and his 400 (44.57) is from 1996.