Instead of adding to the existing hurdle training thread, I thought I’d start a new one on off-season hurdling.
I’m a collegiate hurdler who has just completed a long season. I plan on taking a month off and then beginning lifting for next season. I’m running the 110s in 14 low. Do you think I should incorporate any kind of hurdle tempo work in the summer? I didn’t plan on sprinting again until September, but that may be another topic altogether.
I’ve contemplated doing some hurdle tempo, like the back and forth drill of Jean Poquette that dlive11 has described. Think this would be a good idea, or am I better off just leaving the sticks alone till fall?
I dont think you should ever stray away from the Hurdles for too long. A break is needed, yes, as the collegiate season is a long one.
( I will not talk about the no sprinting issue now), but Hurdle work should be incorporated into your weekly program. I would start off with some wall-drills, derivative work, etc. and then add in some complete work on tempo days. Remember to keep working on flexibility and core-strength work as well over the summer.
dlive11, thanks for the response. In past years I have just lifted during the summer, then resumed sprinting and tempo work once practices begin in the fall. We typically begin hurdling again in early November. Keep in mind our ultimate goal is outdoor NC’s at the end of May.
Do you feel that we should be doing more hurdle work in the fall? I’ve always been leery of starting on the sticks too early, for fear of being burned out at the end of a long season.
My ultimate question is this: How much sprint work should an NCAA athlete do in the summer? How much hurdle work? Dlive11, when you say complete work, do you mean hard runs out of blocks? Or just more work over the top of hurdles, such as the tempo down-and-backs already described?