The program runs over 3 weeks in the lead up to the WC
Week 1
MON - TUE - travel to training camp
WED - 800m warm up, ABS circuit 5
5x10m low leg lifts
5x10m side ups
5x10m back hypers with twist
5x10m rockers
5x10m crunch and twist
5x10m low circles
Tempo: 100s,3x4100 tempo (50m walk, 100m walk)
Hurdle mobility II
3x8 hurdle walk overs
3x8 hurdle bent leg middle of hurdle
3x8 hurdle over unders
3x16 hurdle in place dual trial legs
3x10 crocodile walk with pause
THU
2400 warm up
3x200 lactoacid capacity (6’)
ACAP 1/2 squat high
2x60 1/2 squat (2’)
2x72.5 1/2 squat
2x85 1/2 squat
2x95 1/2 squat
8x17.5 jump squat
Hang from bar 2x30"
APOW step up
2x4x 30 step ups
2x4x37.5 step ups
10x4x42.5 step ups
Mobility - hurdle snake
6x6 one step snake under hurdles lined up with cross bars in a straight line and every other hurdle facing opposite
3x10 crocodile wlak with pause
8x100 sprinter’s cool down
Tempo cresendo runs
Long controlled accel and decel.
Mobility hip 1
Mobility shoulder
FRI
1300 warm up
Hurdle mobility repeat from WED Mob II
1x 8 hurdle at 8.20m
1x7 hurdle at 82.m
1x6 hurdle at 8.20m
Mobility hurdle snake from THU
SAT
800m warm up dynamics
ABS circuit 3
3x10 scissors legs
3x10 reverse hypers
3x10 rockers
3x10 Bart Connors
3x10 back hypers
3x10 low circles
3x10 V-ups
3x120 flutters
3x10 prone hip ext.
3x10 medium circles
3x10 toe touch
Tempo 100s
2x4x100 tempo runs
Mob. hurdle snakes from THU or FRI
WEEK 2
MON
800m warm up
GCAP snach
2x30kg
2x35kg
2x42.4kg
6x2x47,5kg
Hurdle jumps
1x4x6 hurdle jumps
Lactacid 60-60-60
2x180m EFE
ABS circuit 5 from WED Week I
TUE
1300m warm up
2x25 starts over 2 hurdles
2x30 starts over 2 hurdles
1x 8 hurdle at 8.20m
1x7 hurdle at 82.m
1x6 hurdle at 8.20m
Mobility hurdle snake from THU week 1
WED
Travel to Osaka
THU 1300 warm up
Tempo 100s
3x4x100 tempo runs
Hurdle mob II
FRI
1700m warm up speed
2x25 starts over 2 hurdles
2x30 starts over 2 hurdles
ABS circuit 4
Tempo crescendo runs
Long controlled acc + decel.
Mob hip 1
SAT REST
SUN
800m warm up
GCAP snatch
2x30kg
2x35kg
2x42.4kg
6x2x47,5kg
8x100m sprinter’s cool down
Tempo crescendo runs
Long controlled acc + decel.
Mob hip 1
No. Just making a point. Never, never, never make any change at the last second, even if you are being followed by CBC.
Everything that can be done is done by now. You go with what you have.
Changes at championship meets are never a good idea, but making them in the short hurdles create a whole series of ramifications that often require weeks to work through. If Perdita wasn’t on the verge of disaster it should have been left alone.
If she was beating Gail Devers over 60m hurdles indoors, there was absolutely nothing wrong with her start when it comes to the 100m hurdles and that had been proven all that summer before Athens.
CBC was a nightmare from all directions. not only were they pestering the athletes with disturbing questions, they were on the coach too. Can everyone answer honestly?
Stupid Media question to Athlete: Everyone on the team is falling short. Are you worried about your event now?
Typical answer: Well, I, err, umm…
Correct answer that you’d love to hear: So what the fuck does that have to do with me? I got nothing to do with them or their problems! Piss off!
Stupid Media question to Coach: What do you intend to do in these remaining few days to get your star ready?
Typical answer: Well we’re working on… (fill in the blank, but, whatever you say, they’ll want to film it!)
Correct answer: Everything’s done.
I remember bringing an old college girlfriend to a meet once, and, not being acquainted with the sport and seeing a distinct lack of action before the races, she asked me: So, what, exactly is it you do anyway? Fortunately, my superpowers don’t include pride, so I was able to reply honestly: “Not much.”
I can’t see Gary or Perdita using such salty language, well maybe Gary at times, but not in front of a camera. On the otherhand, I might tend to respond as you suggested, or worse yet made a really smart-ass remark, so it’s probably best that I avoid those situations.
I’d be interested in hearing thoughts on this taper.
For example, in week 2, the volume for the snatches is the same on Monday as it is on Sunday, which is the day before competition begins. Is this irrelevant?
Also in week 2, Mon and Tues are, to me, a bit more on the higher end of the intensity scale. Does the lower volume make this okay?
And, again, no upper body weights? I find it hard to believe that a coach would allow someone to skip that altogether.
We don’t have much to go on without the previous sessions, and it’s hard to guess the intensity, but I wouldn’t use back to back H.I. sessions, especially in that order- LA first day and skill/hurdles the next. Seems like a recipe for an accident unless the athlete is extremely diciplined and controlled in practice- sometimes tough to do so close to a big meet.
Hard to argue with results but I would like to hear what work preceeded her accident in 2008 where she shattered her big toe joint hitting a hurdle.
Other info missing is travel to Osaka- from where? I have to assume from nearby.
For most coaches and the athletes they train, there is nothing higher on our wish list of accomplishments than to achieve the the best performance at the most important competition of the year. I have always trained my T&F athletes to give their peak performance of the year at the major championships for their event. This might be a college conference championship meet or a World Championships or an Olympic final. I to my more than 30 years of coaching I have listened to many other coaches’ ideas and tried many routes to achieve this goal with athletes in a variety of events. Most of inexperience has been working with athletes in speed and power events ranging from tort and long sprints to hurdling and jumping events. Next I discuss some of these routes and explain what has worked well for my athletes in trying to achieve optimal performance at the desired time of year.
Timing of the Taper
Early in my coaching career I was led to believe that peaking and tapering constituted a special phase in the training and competitive year where a different approach should be taken to make sure the athlete was ready for the big event. Some examples of protocols I was led to try included these:
• Delaying the highest intensity of training until the last 14 to 21 days prior to the big event
• Dramatically decreasing the volume of training and increasing the number of rest days 14 to 21 days prior to the big event
• Using new and different training means such as swimming or running in water while reducing the number of training sessions on the track
Devoting a larger proportion of training time in the last 3 weeks of training to psychological skills training
All of these schemes have value and can contribute to achieving the peaking and tapering desired. However, the common thread seen in these examples that I found did not contribute to the desired goal was that these tasks were only emphasized in the last 14 to 21 days before the major event. Emphasizing different schemes or exercise protocols in the 2 or 3 weeks before a major competition can interrupt the natural rhythm and flow of training and recovery that the athlete has become accustomed to during the course of training.
My experience has been that the process of peaking should begin on the very first day of training in the general preparation segment. The habits we establish and the baseline of conditioning and technical and tactical skills we ingrain in our athletes become the pedestal from which we launch our final peaking or tapering process at the end of the year. Early in the training year I present all of the skills that the athletes will need to have in their arsenal to approach the highest stress of the competitive year calmly and with confidence.
Thus, in terms of peaking and tapering, I simply work to help my athletes improve their critical skills over the course of the entire training year, working from very closed teaching environments to very open, competitive ones. My experience has been that as athletes achieve confidence in their skills, we can use this as a focal point in competition. In our sport athletes have almost total control over the performance, so if we remain focused on the skills that are most important to their performance, they will perform better.
Final Taper
How do we approach the highest competition?
During the early and middle part of the competitive cycle, we observe how athletes are performing in competition. We determine their most critical errors and why they are occurring. Using this information we select coping mechanisms, whether they are physical or psychological I tasks, that we spend time developing in training and competition. As we approach the later stages of the competitive season and therefore the peak event of the year, we continually practice the familiar tasks that we believe are critical to the performance. Along with this comes a gradual decline in the volume of training and maintenance of high intensity work used throughout the entire training year. In sprinting and hurdling, for example, it is important to use high-intensity, competition-specific runs at least once every 3 to 4 days to maintain not only fitness but technical rhythm and competence as well. Similarly, we do not abandon strength training but continue with short, intense bouts of strength work right up to the day before competition. The key clement here is to not introduce new exercises and training protocols but rather stay with the familiar and proven exercises and seek better timing and execution of those exercises. This method supports the psychological needs of the athlete and improves the critical physical skills required for the best performance.
Applying Gary Winckler’s Expert Advice
In this section by Gary Winckler, readers can learn about the peaking strategies used by an extremely experienced sprint coach, who discusses not just the physical aspects of the optimal preparation of his athletes but also technical and mental issues related to peak performance. Key ideas in Gary’s section are planning a taper that does not • interrupt the natural rhythm and flow of an athlete’s usual training and recovery scheme; focusing on psychological fitness to help athletes be confident about their competence to perform the required skills under the pressure of competition; slightly reducing the training volume but maintaining similar intensity during the final taper; maintaining short, intense bouts of strength work right up to the day before competition; and performing the sessions at the time of the main event.
The results of the competition went as planned, except that we came up 0.03 s short in the final! The first round was a solid race with easy qualification to the semifinal. The semifinal was a very competitive race, and our start to the first hurdle was not as good as we had planned. Late-race technical proficiency saved the day. In the final, again the start was not as good as most of the field, but the midrace hurdling was the best in the field and produced the needed momentum to finish strongly off of the last hurdle to in a silver medal.
The volume of training performed at this time was slightly less than that used during most of the competitive training segment. Training intensity was the same as that used during the rest of the year. Most training sessions were carried out in the afternoon, except for a few morning sessions to match the time of the first round of competition. During the 21 days leading up to the major competition, the athlete and I discussed key technical points we wanted to focus on. All runs were timed and compared with results achieved in previous seasons. These timed runs all indicated that special fitness and technical preparations were as good as or better than those of any previous season.
Athletes should stay in their familiar training environment prior to competition. Training camps are all the rage with many teams and individuals leading up to a major competition. If these camps are not properly planned with familiar food, good sleeping arrangements, and good training support, the camps merely become another obstacle that the athlete needs to adapt to leading up to the major competition. Athletes should travel early to major events only when they need time to adapt to a time change.
Based on the taper model shown, when would the last competition be adviseable?
I have always kept a 10 day competition exclusion period before major meets because if you get a mild strain 10 days out, you can recover in time but if you get a strain closer in than that, you’ll probably run out of time and be S.O.L.
News reports from the Canadian Camp are that there will be relay competitions AND an individual hurdles comp with Perdita on Mon August 9th in Dusseldorf.
While there is more than 10 days to the relays, the 100m hurdles heats are slightly inside of the 10 day safety zone.
She has already run very well in recent meets, so should she take any risks to get another in now?
