In part #1 of my previous article, (see: Does the Squat and Deadlift Improve Sprinting Speed? Part 1), you saw the proof for exactly why both the squat and deadlift are very useful choices when the number one goal is to get faster. Now, the next question that often arises is what kind of squat…
Archives for Olympic Lifts
Top 4 Farmers Walk Handles Exercises
No Funding? No Problem! Homemade Training Equipment for Teams with Tight Budgets. After the release of the first homemade training equipment article and video highlighting the use of sandbags to gain more strength, power, and explosive speed, a lot of emails and questions were sent from readers wondering about my mention of farmers walk…
How Sprinters Use Cleans and Olympic Lifts for Strength Training
How does the fastest woman on earth do cleans? Cleans have been in the programs of track and field athletes for decades. Throwers, sprinters, and jumpers can all benefit from training in the weight room with cleans and snatches due to the high threshold motor unit recruitment that is unique to lifting with the Olympic…
Peaking Your Sprinters and Field Athletes with the Olympic Lifts
The first of June means one thing in track and field. The most important time in nearly all of track and field for anyone competing in the United States. And you want to be peaking. Championship season. Collegiate conference meets have happened. NCAA regionals are in the book. Most track and field athletes are reaching…
Quick tips for better Olympic Lifts
The Olympic lifts are the most complex moves to do in the weightroom. Great lifters spend years and years on technique and train exclusively in this sport. For most of the athletes that I work with, this is not the case, they Olympic lift (Clean, Snatch, Jerk) with me 2-3 times a week and if…
3 Methods to Coach Olympic Lifts More Effectively
As a coach there are so many options to include in your training program that it can sometimes be overwhelming. We know that strength training is important (including olympic lifts) but if it isn’t distilled down to the essentials we can end up in a position of “paralysis by analysis.” These questions have crossed my…
Loading for High School Weightlifting
With high school weightlifting, much of the time spent in the weight room will be dedicated to the coaching of athletes on the proper movements, positions, and providing general technical info needed to safely complete the movements with maximal return on the time invested. The other portion of the time of the strength coach will…
Teaching Olympic Lifts in Large Groups
If I presented most people with the following list, the likely response would be “Psssshhhht, impossible” -Actually finding a real live bigfoot. -Water skiing with no boat. -Climbing Mt. Everest with no ropes. -Developing a cold fusion machine. –Teaching Olympic lifts the right way to large groups of athletes. Like the guys on Monster…
Olympic Lifting for Track & Field
As a division 1 track and field athlete (at Indiana University, and a thrower to be specific), I know the importance of Olympic lifts to being a complete athlete. Getting your throwers on the platform is not a difficult task, but the connection is sometimes lost on your jumpers and sprinters. During my time competing…
Indoor Track Season: Week 1 of 13
Ah, yes! Track season! Simultaneously the source of great fun and great overwhelm. I’ve already posted my annual plan for the track season. But I thought I’d share my Week 1 microcycle. This is my plan for the first week of practice. Will it go this way? Not likely. But since I know the physiological effect…
This will make your life easier
My first job out of college was not coaching track, it was teaching a classroom full of kids with behavioral, social and emotional disorders. Spend a few full work days restraining a kid screaming racial slurs and trying to spit at and bite you for six hours and you quickly learn the art of patience….
FAQ – Boo Schexnayder’s Horizontal Jumps Program
If you have questions about Boo Schexnayder’s new horizontal jumps training program and/or DVDs, please post them in the comments section below. Please note, this is not a place to ask training questions, only questions about the program itself, i.e., how, if and why it is a good fit for your coaching/training needs. Training questions…