Summer Training Ideas for Sprints & Hurdles & Jumps Part II
“Summer, summer, summertime…
Time to sit back and unwind”
Summertime for high school and college athletes is often a period of recovery both mentally and physically from the grind the academic and athletic year. The coaches have a short period of time without the athletes around to devise a plan for the upcoming year. The athletes are typically busy in the summer months with jobs or internships. The coaches remain hopeful that their athletes are “staying fit.”

Related Article: Summer Training Ideas for Sprints, Hurdles & Jumps Part I
A longer season is a successful season… Each championship meet your athletes attend has the potential to be a qualifier for the next. Some athletes survive and advance while others start their summer early, which means a longer break.
I have athletes that end their season when finals have ended and others that stick around for quite a bit more time. For this reason, I seem to think the first phase of my training theory for the summer is simple:
- Stay active
- Do things you enjoy that are NOT track & field related (i.e. swim, bike, etc.)
- Reflect
- Rehabilitation & Recuperate
The second phase of summer training is a little more specific. I try to give Plan A, B, and C so the athletes can get the work in regardless of their situation. The athletes should be able to do at least one of the workouts assigned even if they are doing an internship in NYC, studying abroad for the summer, or stuck at a campsite in Maine.
Here is an example of a Plan A, B, C for an acceleration themed day during this time of the summer.
Plan A = Active warm up; 3 x 10m, 20m, 30m stadium or hill accelerations with 1’ recovery for every 10m run between reps and 4’ between sets; weight room session; multi throws; cool down.
Plan B = Active warm up; 3 x 10m, 20m, 30m on grass with 1’ recovery for every 10m run between reps and 4’ between sets; medicine ball routine; multi jump mini bounds on grass; cool down.
Plan C = Bike 10-20;’ Dynamic Mobility; acceleration workout on bike – 3 x 3-4 x 8” on bike at high effort and high resistance with 1’ between reps and 5’ between sets; body weight circuit; multi jump hop series; cool down.
In my end of the year meetings, I tell the athletes that it is their responsibility to get work done over the summer regardless of the situation. Having a Plan A, B, and C gives them various options. The athletes can also mix and match parts of the workouts based on the type of facility or lack of facility. For instance, the athlete could do the running from Plan A with the strength from Plan B and the multi movements from Plan C. Now, the athlete can’t say they didn’t have a chance to workout because of facilities. Yep…take that away from them.
Coaching Resource: Complete Speed Training 3
Here are some examples from the suggested July training:
July
Day 1:
Plan A
1) Active Warm Up (your choice)
2) 3 x 10m, 20m, 30m Accelerations (fast) on grass w/ walk back recovery between reps and 3’ between sets
*Feel free to run these up an incline or using a sled to really focus on pushing mechanics.
3) 3 x Standing Triple Jump (add 1 more each week)
4) Harvard Abs 5 + 10, 10, 10 (add 1 Harvard Abs each week)
5) 1 set of 8 reps of Cancer. Go Slow!!!
6) Static Stretch for 12’ plus 1 x 30” Eldoa
Plan B
Plan C
Bike Acceleration Workout
Day 2:
Lift
Day 3:
Plan A
1) Circuit Warm Up
2) Workout Choices: 10 X 100m or Running Circuit or Jump Run Circuit
3) 2 X Killer Pillar x 15
4) Static Stretch for 12’ plus 1 x 30” Eldoa
Plan B
Plan C
Bike Tempo Workout
Day 4:
Lift
Day 5:
Plan A
1) Active Warm Up (your choice)
2) Workout Options: 8 x Cross Fields (run diagonally across on grass field and walk along baseline/goal line) or 6 x 2/1/15
3) 2 x Monster
4) Static Stretch for 12’ plus 2 x 30” Eldoa
Plan B
Plan C
Bike Tempo w/ Circuit Workout
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