Hi I’m 16, actually in a few days i will be, and i’m gonna be a junior. i wanted to join the track team or xcountry team. I’ve been a soccer player all my life and have played gold level club soccer so im pretty good. ive noticed that i’m faster than a lot of ppl so i thought id start running. my main problem i think is that my quads completely over power my hamstrings. im talkin major imbalance. i can do around 5 repetitions on 250 pounds with the leg extensions (quad exercise)(thats the whole machine) but my hamstrings are nowhere near that strong. are there any track events or types of running that i will have an advantage in b/c of quads or am i just screwed? and what type of hamstrings excercises should i do? also do most schools have track yr round? i used to have a great endurance but i have been slackin for a few months so i’m just startin to run again and rebuild up my endurance. plz let me know if my quads can help me in anything or if they are a waste. if you need my upper body lifting stats plz let me know. i dont know my pb in anything b/c i have never timed myself.
Don’t worry about having strong quads, you still need strong quads. Having strong quads will not be a problem, as long as you get your hamstrings up to or preferably past the level of your quads.
Good exercises are good mornings, romanian deadlifts, glute-ham raises, reverse hypers, reverse leg press, reverse lunges, bulgarian split-squats, deadlifts, and others that I can’t think of right now. Sprint training will also improve the hamstrings.
K thx but do quads actually help me for anything? and is there anywhere i can get information on the excercises you just listed like how to do them cuz i only know a few
yes these are mostly used at acceleration
I’m not the best person to answer this, but I’m pretty sure that your quads are used a lot in the start. They are probably used at least somewhat in full stride, too.
You can find demonstrations of most of them here:
http://bsu.edu/webapps/strengthlab/Home.htm
On the Bulgarian Squat they show on that site, you can do them with dumbbells, too.
Reverse Hypers you can only do if you have that machine, which you would be very lucky to have access to.
To do a reverse lunge, you stand with a barbell on your back, then lean forward a little with one leg(the working leg), by bending at the knee, and then extend your other leg(non-working) back behind you to the ground, then you bring that leg back up by pressing with your working leg. Remember to keep your Upper body tilting forward some, and you lower back flat/arched a little. There is a picture of the bottom position here: http://www.defrancostraining.com/pics/pics.htm#jones1
Reverse Leg Press I think you have to have a machine for them. I’m not too sure about them as I have only heard about them on this site and in CFTS.
If quads are used a lot in the start then would that mean that I would be a good short distance runner? It would make sense but maybe its not a big aspect of the start so plz let me know. If having very strong quads makes your acceleration or start quick then i can do short dashes or something of the sort. thx for replies plz lemme know wat i can do
Strong quads assist acceleration since the quads are used a lot in acceleration.
Just try everything out, indoor track if you can, outdoor run the 100, 200, 400, or anything else you want. See what you do best in and what you like the most.
Remember to strengthen your hamstrings before then! :). And also start training!
How strong should the hammys b relative to quads? cuz my legs r fuckin huge right now and no fat seriously its like sick how big my quads r. yah im workin on the hammys daily… i have leg weights i use too so i can run w/ them on. thx for the help guys hopefully i get a fast time. also wats relatively fast for some1 16 yrs old for the 100, 200, 400 and w/e else you said.
thx a lot sprint
Correct me if im wrong guys , age doesn’t matter ( under prime) but, your training age does.
How can you ever really be sure which are stronger between the quads and hammies…By how much you can lift with each?
ya thats a good way but you should b able to just tell which is stronger. and also if u have repeated hammy pulls or quad pulls then the opposite one is strong and that one is weak…imbalance is really bad
the high school i coach at has a lack of machines that work the hamstring and last year i had my best two guys go down with hamstring pulls. can anyone givee some in depth hamstring workouts or link to some?