400M HURDLES THE MAN-KILLER EVENT

A TECHNICAL GUIDE FOR COACHES & ATHLETES OUTS ORK WITH 111 SAMPLE W ROHINTON MEHTA FOREWORD BY P. T. USHA

INDIA MASTERS ATHLETICS

400M HURDLES

THE MAN-KILLER EVENT

A TECHNICAL GUIDE

FOR COACHES & ATHLETES

ROHINTON MEHTA

India Masters Athletics © Dr. Rohinton Mehta Publisher : India Masters Athletics Printed and Computer set by Union Press, Mumbai

No part of this Publication can be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the Author, who can be contacted at 9820347787 or at [email protected]

This book is dedicated to the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) and the Sports Authority of India (SAI) for nurturing and developing Track & Field talent in India. CONTENTS FOREWORD iv PREFACE vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS viii LIST OF TABLES x GLOSSARY xi Chapter 1 : Introduction: The 400m Hurdles 1 Chapter 2 : Hurdling Ability 7 Chapter 3 : Overcoming Fear of the Hurdles 20 Chapter 4 : 400m Hurdles Racing Experience 32 Chapter 5 : Speed (Alactic Training) 35 Chapter 6 : Speed Endurance (Lactic Training) 39 Chapter 7 : Aerobic Endurance (Cardiovascular Training) 44 Chapter 8 : Rhythm and the 400m Hurdles 47 Chapter 9 : Training Psychology 55 Chapter 10 : Flexibility 67 Chapter 11 : Strength, Resistance & Core Training 72 Chapter 12 : Nutrition & Rest 83 Chapter 13 : Running Equivalent (RE) or Cross Training 91 Chapter 14 : Structured Warm-up & Cool-down 95 Chapter 15 : Correction of Common Faults in Hurdling 104 Chapter 16 : 111 Workouts for 400m Hurdles 114 BIBLIOGRAPHY 144 INDEX 166 P. T. USHA Usha School of Athletics Kinalur, Ballussery, Kozhikode 673 612, Kerala, India. Email : [email protected], Tel : +91 4962645811, +91 4962645812

FOREWORD

Books and doors are the same thing. You open them, and you go through into another world. - Jeanette Winterson -

t is with great happiness that I write this Foreword for the book “400m Hurdles - The IMan-Killer Event : A Technical Guide for Coaches & Athletes” authored by Dr. Rohinton Mehta.

The 400m Hurdles was an event very close to my heart and one in which I competed at the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984 missing out the podium by one hundredth of a second! The closest that any Indian athlete has ever come to garnering a medal in Track & Field at the Olympics.

There is no Indian book written on the 400m Hurdles and this book is an original and authentic attempt by a Masters Athlete who has himself won the World Masters Games Gold in this event at Sydney in 2009.

The 400m hurdles is as the name of the book suggests, a killer event! It requires all the components of fitness and technical proficiency including speed, stamina, speed-endurance, hurdling ability, flexibility and fantastic pace judgement. It is, as most coaches (and athletes) will readily agree, the most difficult event in Track & Field.

This well researched book which is divided into 16 Chapters takes the 400m Hurdles Coach on a complete journey of the event and addresses each and every component of preparing for this extremely tough event.

The book tackles with facility the training issues concerning alactic, lactic and cardiovascular training for the 400m hurdles. The book also covers technical aspects of hurdling, fear of

iv the hurdles, rhythm and racing experience. More importantly, a very detailed and exhaustive discussion has been undertaken of Energy Systems, Warm Up and Cool Down, Flexibility, Strength, Resistance & Core Training and Running-Equivalent for the 400m Hurdler. The book contains an extremely well researched Glossary of almost 200 important terms and definitions. The Glossary is the knowledge bank of the book and explains and elucidates the technical concepts used in the book.

But the crowning glory of the book are Chapters 9, 15 and 16 which deal with training psychology, correction of common faults in hurdling and 111 Workouts for 400m Hurdles. From the point of view of the coach, these three Chapters are a gold-mine of information and ideas, with readymade, tried and tested mental techniques and 111 actual training workouts.

This is a fantastic book which every 400m Hurdles’ coach and athlete must read, refer and possess. It is a serious and deeply researched work, written in a simple and straight forward style with a lot of practical tips, quips and ideas. This is a ‘must read’ book and a tremendous contribution to the literature on athletics written by a Champion athlete . I will definitely recommend this book to all coaches and athletes interested in the 400m Hurdles event but also other athletic events. This book is a device to ignite the imagination.

Republic Day, 2020 P. T. Usha

v PREFACE

The Preface is the most important part of a book. Even reviewers read a preface! - Philip Guedalla -

he 400m Hurdles is a fascinating race to watch, despite it being a laned and Tstaggered - start race, as the viewer is continuously able to track the progression of the race. This is so, as each of the 10 hurdles for each of the competitors (though in different lanes) is placed at exactly the same distance vis-à-vis each other, so the viewer has to merely track which hurdler has jumped first to track the progression of the race.

As a serious student of the 400m hurdles event, I soon realized that there was a dearth of major comprehensive work on the subject. This sparked in me the desire to address the issue and I started to make copious notes and penned ideas for over a decade which finally culminated in a full-blown research.

I happily embarked on a journey to trace the history of the event, collect information on the empirical studies conducted in the past and studied the current theoretical concepts and approaches associated with this rather tough event. As an author and a competitive practitioner of the event I had to shed my biases and prejudices and be judicious in separating passing fads from time-tested long term trends.

Coaches and athletes have both perennially struggled to come to terms with the rather complex, awkward, confusing and dangerous track event which the 400m Hurdles is. The reason why this event is tough to tackle is because it is an unknown and variable mix of about four different events viz. the 200m (as in its start), the 400m (as in its speed-endurance and pace judgement aspects), the high hurdles (in terms of the hurdling abilities) and the 800m (for its endurance and lactate requirements). The confusion becomes even more stark, when we factor in and bring into the training and competitive equations, the differently available innate ability of each individual athlete. How do you reconcile the fast twitched muscled athletes’ natural speed with the requirement of the event to also have aerobic endurance? Or how can the mid- foot strike and the middle distance shuffle of an 800m runner be converted to the explosive start required in the 400m hurdles and the acceleration that is needed before and after each of the ten hurdles? Similarly, the hurdling ability, fear of hurdles and the

vi flexibility requirements inherent in the demands of this event have to be juxtaposed with the mere running ability required for the 200m, 400m and the 800m races.

At the most fundamental level, the debate has often-times raged as to what genre of coach must lead the training for the 400m hurdles? Should it be the sprint-hurdling coach or the 400m sustained-sprint coach or the 800m endurance coach?

We thus see that the 400m hurdles is a hydra-headed monster and in a sense is a multi-disciplinary event. All this has led to an aura of mysticism, controversy and inclarity in the best approach to this wonderful and magnificent event.

There is a dearth of authorities and reliable literature in the Indian context. Even globally, there are not more than half a dozen good books written on the 400m hurdles. And whilst there are quite a few research articles on the event, they are scattered and tackle just one narrow aspect of the requirements of this event. More importantly, the literature on the event is conditioned by partisan, pre-judged and biased views of the authors who bracket themselves in one of the three or four schools of thought, be it ‘the sprint school’, ‘the aerobic school’ or ‘the hurdling school’!

Therefore, a need was felt to have an additional contribution to the existing literature, which was not from any particular school of thought, but one which was an amalgamation of all the schools. This athletic event requires a wide, holistic and decathlon-like approach and that is what I embarked upon. The approach to my tackling of this event is in a sense maverick in nature and the only rule I have followed steadfastly is that there are no hard and fast rules! There is only one thing that I have emphasized, as I am unable to shed this bias.... which is that the coach and athlete preparing for this event , must essentially prepare for the last 80m of the race! If you can tackle the last 3 hurdles of the 400m hurdles race, then and only then can you have been said to have gained mastery over this event. To gain this mastery, the coach and the athlete have to attain a perfect sense of balance, calibration and athletic nirvana! This attainment of balance is easier said than done as our inherent biases, prejudices, body-type and schools of thought continue to severely impede us.

My fervent endeavor over the length and breath of this work is to help the reader attain this elusive balance! I hope I succeed in doing so! If I don’t, please don’t blame me. After all, we are dealing with a deceptive and tricky Man-Killer!

New Year Day, 2020. Dr. Rohinton Mehta

vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

No one who achieves success does so without the help of others. The wise and confident acknowledge this help with gratitude. - Alfred North Whitehead -

y gratitude to my first coach, the late Naval Pithawala, for making a miler Mdo the sprint hurdles! He was the most humane coach I saw in all my life- time. I would be failing in my duty if I did not acknowledge the selfless efforts of my only other coach, Dinanath Maurya, who ensured zealously to keep me injury-free. I won the 400m Hurdles Gold at the Asian Masters at Bangkok in 2004 and the World Masters Games 400m Hurdles Gold in Sydney in 2009 under his youthful glare.

My heart-felt thanks also go to the best hurdles coach India has ever produced . . . the maverick, incredible and inimitable Bala Govind. He coached me for a very short period, but every workout was worth its weight in gold. I wish I could have trained more under him, which would have made me a much better hurdler technically!

I thank my wife (boss at home) Rupa, who supported me in all my sporting escapades and travels and endured my ill-mannered tantrums, especially when I was injured! She was also instrumental in typing and copyediting certain sections and the cover design of this book. Her suggestions were thoughtful, helpful and important.

I owe a very special debt to my colleague Swati Mahajan (who is herself a National Masters Athletics Champion with over 20 National level medals) who spent hours doing web-based research for sections of this book and also made critical suggestions which markedly improved the manuscript. She was also involved in the typesetting and editing of this book.

I have benefitted greatly in having life-long friends and family members who encouraged, sympathized and applauded all my wins and my losses! They were always there for me. In various direct and indirect ways, they have all contributed to my success. These friends include Arshish Tavadia, Ashrujeet Nayak, Brinston Miranda, Binaaz Mistry,

viii Costao Fernandes, Fareez Vasania, Firdosh Buchia, Homiyar Mistry, ‘Jay’ Maurya, Jimmy Gandevia, Khurshid Mistry, Mehernosh Bamboat, Minoti Prasad, Neville Lacca, Pervez Rustomkhan, Peshotan Mehta, Porus Pithavalla, Rayomand Irani, Rohinton Nazir, Sarosh Dubash, Shatanshu Panda, Sudesh Pansare, Zubin Saklatwala and the late Daraius Bhathena.

Praise and gratitude are also due to my publisher, India Masters Athletics (IMA) which has been in the forefront of the Masters track and field movement in India for the past about three decades. Special thanks are due to the peerless Gerald D’souza and Amarender Reddy of the IMA for their self-less work and leadership for the cause of masters athletics in India.

Probably the most anonymous and unseen gratitude is owed by me to the thousands of my Indian and International competitors and opponents who kept me on my toes for over four decades. I saw them as my “enemies” on the starting line.... but secretly I loved, admired and respected them!

My daughter, Megami, has always been my biggest critic and who never made a big deal of my over 200 medals. She has this uncanny ability to release my tension and pre-race butterflies by predicting (wrongly, most of the times) that I was going to lose! She would also tease me if I brought home Silver or Bronze medals! These light-hearted banter and jest actually reduced the competitive pressure.

I am humbled and ecstatic that this book has a Foreword by the greatest Indian athlete ever. My joy knew no bounds when the unrivalled and legendary ‘Payyoli Express’, the Olympian and Padma Shri awardee P. T. Usha (who is the National Record holder in the 400m Hurdles since 1984) readily agreed to write the Foreword!

ix LIST OF TABLES

Figures and tables are the quickest way to communicate large amounts of complex information. - Springer Publishing -

Table 1 : Distance and Placement of the 400m Hurdles. 1

Table 2 : A Bird’s-eye view of the book. 6

Table 3 : Lanewise stagger at the start of 400m Hurdles. 10

Table 4 : Ideal timings for the first 200m and final 200m 34 of a 400m Hurdles race.

Table 5 : Speed-endurance workouts for the 400m Hurdles. 40

Table 6 : The 3 Energy systems for the 400m Hurdles. 44

Table 7 : Number of strides between hurdles and stride length. 53

Table 8 : Types of Strength & Resistance Training. 74

Table 9 : The 9 systems to be developed by the 400m Hurdler. 115

x GLOSSARY

Wisdom is not in words; Wisdom is meaning within words. - Khalil Gibran -

BC Drills : ABC stands for Agility, Balance & Coordination. These are drills Adone by athletes to establish and build an athletic base. These are drills that improve the agility, flexibility, balance, conditioning and coordination of the athlete and forms the fundamental core of athletic training. Whilst it is possible to have a full two-hour workout dedicated to ABC drills, usually they are done as part of the early preparation, after the warm-up in each work-out. To that extent, some of the ABC drills become part of the athlete’s warmup routine. However, in a pure sense, ABC drills are a free-standing method toward making a well-rounded and fitter athlete.

Abductor : A muscle that functions to pull the leg away from the body

ACL : Anterior cruciate ligament of knee.

Adductor : A muscle that functions to pull the leg towards the body. The adductor is located in the upper inner thigh.

Adrenaline or adrenal medullae or Suprarenal Gland : A secretion of the adrenal glands (these are two organs that sit on top of each kidney) causing acceleration of the heart, constriction of small blood vessels, dilation of the pupils and increased metabolic rate. This adrenal secretion is a secretion of epinephrine and norepinephrine into the blood stream which is reputed to cause heightened emotion and a sudden increase in physical strength, as during fear or anger.

Affirmation Statements : These are statements by and thoughts of the athlete affirming to himself that he possesses the skills, abilities, positive attitudes and training necessary for athletic or sporting success.

Age-graded Tables : These are scientifically developed tabulations by statisticians taking into consideration age and performance of a Masters athlete which allows the athlete to compare his or her performance with that of any athlete. There

xi GLOSSARY are various versions of age-graded tables such as compilations by WAVA (WMA), National Masters News, Hy-tek, USATF etc. Basically, age-grading is finally reflected in a percentage of the best (open) timing in that event. Thus, a particular distance (eg. 400m) run by an athlete of a particular age (eg. 53 years) is compared to the top (world record) open timing and a percentage (eg. 93.5%) is arrived. This means that the performance was 93.5% of the open top timing after adjustment to age and sex. Age-grading percentage is a means of identifying the quality of a performance adjusting for distance, age and sex.

Aggression : It is a sequence of hostile behaviours or action in which the goal is to attack or injure another person. Aggression is usually accompanied by anger and could at times be a result of frustration. The reinforcement of the aggression in sport is to obtain an external goal such as victory or prestige or inducing the victim to flee and mentally (and sometimes physically) overwhelm them. The trait of aggression and bracketed morality, which takes the perpetrating athlete outside the normative rules of the game or sport, is to be discouraged and avoided. However, controlled aggression which remains within the rules of the sport (both in letter and spirit) is fair game, and needs to be encouraged.

Alternating Grip : A grip taken on a bar in which one palm faces towards your body, the other away. This form of grip prevents a loaded bar from rolling in your hands and is recommended when working with very heavy weights, especially when performing deadlifts.

Altitude Training : Training conducted at specially sited high-altitude training venues. This is of particular value to middle and long distance runners, as the thin air at high altitude, causes an increase in the oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood, thereby improving respiration and consequently enhancing athletic performance in the richer atmosphere at the sea level.

Anabolic Steroids : These are synthetically derived hormones that have both an anabolic effect (increase in muscular size and strength) and androgenic (masculinization) effect. These are banned as they unfairly improve athletic performance.

Androgenic Effect : The effect of artificial hormones on masculinization. It needs

xii GLOSSARY to be noted that artificially enhancing androgenic hormones is banned in sports as it gives both men and especially women an unfair advantage. However, the body itself produces androgenic hormones and these by itself cannot be a reason to disqualify an athlete as it is a naturally occurring phenomenon.

Antagonistic Muscle : Muscles that are so arranged to carry-out flexion and extension of a joint. Sometimes they are referred to as opposing muscles such as the quadriceps and the hamstrings or the biceps and the triceps. One muscle of the pair contracts to move the limb in one direction, and the other contracts to move it in the opposite direction. Both must be equally developed and strong otherwise an imbalance will occur leading to an injury.

Anterior : The front part of a body or muscle. The opposite of anterior is posterior.

Anxiety : It is the feeling of facing uncertainty or some kind of existential threat. In competitive sport, such anxiety is caused by fear of failure, fear of pain, fear of negative social evaluation and loss of self-esteem.

Arousal : In athletes, this is a psychological phenomenon that is associated with increases in heart rate, blood pressure, respiration and/or metabolism which brings the athlete in a heightened state of alertness. It is usually associated with competition and many a times in training time-trials. It is also associated with adrenaline flows.

Arthrometer : Medical device of measuring and recording joint movement.

Assertiveness : It is the expenditure of unusual effort and energy to achieve a goal. Assertiveness in sport is to do an action or embark on a behaviour which is bold, confident or forceful. Assertive behaviour could be dysfunctional (such as fouling) or functional (such as stepping out and hitting a good ball for a six).

Athletic Pyramid : The athletic pyramid is a pyramid of athletic skill abilities. The less skilled athletes (or hurdlers) are at the base and the highly skilled players are at the top. Research indicates that the athletes at the bottom or base of the pyramid tend to have diverse or heterogenous personality traits, whereas those at the top of the athletic pyramid are far more homogenous in terms of their personality and work ethic.

xiii GLOSSARY

Attentional Focus : This is the athlete’s ability to focus on relevant information (such as the sound of the starter’s gun) during competition.

Attentional Narrowing : This is the narrowing of the athlete’s attentional focus due to an increase in arousal (such as the narrow focus required to visually see the hurdle and go just above it).

arbell : A type of free weight made up of a bar (usually metal) with weights Bat both ends, which is long enough for you to hold with at least a shoulder- width grip. The weights may be permanently fixed to the bar or may be removable discs (plates) that are fixed to the bar with a collar.

BER (Basic Energy Requirement) : It is the number of calories expended by a person when the person is at rest.

Blood Sugar Level : The concentration of glucose in a person’s blood.

BMI (Body Mass Index) : This is a measure of a person’s body fat based on the person’s height and weight. BMI is an approximate measure to calculate fat content in a person and its unthinking application to athletes may give skewed results as athletes tend to have far greater muscle mass as opposed to fat which the BMI tests are not able to discern or detect accurately.

BMR (Basic Metabolic Rate) : This is the minimum amount of energy (in terms of calories) that a person needs daily to stay alive. BMR accounts for approximately 65% of a person’s daily energy expenditure even if the person does not do any activity or movement.

Body Fat Percentage : This is the weight of a person’s body fat expressed as a percentage of total body weight. Elite athletes especially endurance athletes and rock-climbers will have a very low body fat percentage, sometimes between 5% to 7%. As a thumb rule, men tend to have a lower body fat percentage than women.

Bone Density : The amount of bone tissue in a given volume of bone. If the tissues in the bone are more, then we refer to such a person as having ‘heavier bones’!

Bracketed Morality : It is the suspension of ethics, morality or fair play during sports or the athlete’s incapacity to understand and embrace standards of moral

xiv GLOSSARY behaviour and willingness to engage in aggression outside the sphere of the rules of the sport.

able Pulley Machine : A resistance training machine in which various Cattachments, such as a bar, handle, or rope, can be linked to weights by a metal cable. The force for moving the weight is transferred via a pulley or system of pulleys. These machines are designed to offer many exercise options while providing continual resistance throughout the full range of motion of the exercise. However, cable pulley machines do not work upon or challenge the balancing aspects of an exercise.

Calisthenics : Stretching and suppling exercises used by sprinters, hurdlers, jumpers and throwers as part of the training or warm up routine to improve mobility for competition.

Carbohydrates : A group of organic compounds, including sugar, starch and cellulose. An essential part of your diet, carbohydrates are the most common source of energy in living things.

Catabolic State : Whilst the words ‘catabolic state’ is open to interpretations, very simply, it means a state of breaking down larger molecules into smaller ones within the human body. Usually, catabolism refers to the breaking down of muscle tissue or the breaking down of glycogen, sugar or starch into glucose, or proteins into amino acids, or fats into fatty acids. A catabolic state is a condition caused by hard or excessive training coupled with a lack of adequate nutrition (especially protein) and/ or rest. It results in numerous side effects in the body, such as extreme fatigue, joint and muscle pain and insomnia.

Centering : The process whereby the athlete’s attention is brought to focus on an important task to be performed by him. Centering can be applied in training, or in competition. For example, in training, the coach will tire out the 400m hurdler and then ask him to go over the last 3 hurdles in a state of fatigue and exhaustion with a clear task-oriented suggestion to visually focus on the hurdles.

Chronological Age : This is the age of a person or athlete in years.

Cinder Track : A cinder track is a type of athletics race track whose surface is composed of cinders (crushed coal with certain black mud and binding glue).

xv GLOSSARY

Cinder tracks were in vogue up to the mid 1960s but now they are a rarity. They are also very difficult to maintain and get slushy when it rains. The Tokyo Olympics in 1960 was the last Olympics to use a Cinder track. The spike nails used for cinder tracks are usually 9mm and above. In terms of speed, a Cinder track is faster than a grass track but slower than a synthetic all-weather track.

Circuit Training : A routine of several exercises performed in sequences, each for a specified number of repetitions. The exercises are separated by timed rest intervals and circuits are separated by longer rest periods.

Consolidated Oedema : Swelling which has become firm. When pressed, an impression of the fingertip is left behind. Also called pitting oedema.

Contraction Speed : How fast a muscle can develop (maximal) force.

Contrast Bathing : Immersing a body part in hot and cold water alternatively, to increase blood flow.

Cool-down : A period after completion of your main training session or race that includes activities such as slow jogging, walking, and stretching of your major muscle groups. It is designed to help return your body to its pre-exercise state.

Core Stability Exercise : Exercise which improves the support and protection given to the spine by the trunk muscles.

Creatine : A naturally occurring energy-producing substance that is synthesized from amino-acids in the human body. Artificially, creatinine can be extracted from proteins (meat, dairy or plant based) and then supplemented. Phosphocreatine is a form of creatine that serves as an energy buffer or shield during periods of intense exercise.

Crouch Start : The starting position used by sprinters and hurdlers in which the athlete adopts a bent leg position, with the foot of one leg and both the knee and foot of the other leg in contact with the track.

eadleg : Severe thigh muscle (quadricep) bruising combined with muscle Dspasm. Dip Finish : A lunging dive executed just before the finish line, particularly by sprinters and hurdlers, to gain vital inches over opponents.

xvi GLOSSARY

Dislocation : Bones in a joint becoming malaligned due to injury.

Disuse Atrophy : Muscle wasting due to lack of use. It is the degeneration of the muscle.

Doping : The use of drugs to artificially enhance athletic performance.

Drop Set : A form of weight training in which you carry out one set of a particular exercise to muscle failure, then immediately lower the weight and carry out a subsequent set to failure.

Dumbbell : A type of free weight made up of a short bar (about 5 to 6 inches) with a weight at each end. It can be and usually islifted with one hand.

go Goal Orientation : It is a goal disposition that perceives ability as being Ea function of out-performing others as opposed to improving oneself. In athletics, it is manifested in winning races rather than breaking records or establishing PRs.

Epinephrine : The adrenergic hormone released by the adrenal medullae into the blood stream.

Exercise Progression : Increasing the exercise overload to keep pace with tissue change (adaptation).

alse Start : A false start is committed when an athlete moves or begins to Frun before the starter’s gun is fired to signal the commencement of a race. Fartlek : A form of training, of Swedish origin, for middle and long distance runners in which the athlete alternates periods of fast and slow running during a training run, preferably in open country.

Fats : A group of organic compounds, including animal fats, such as butter and lard, and vegetable fats, such as vegetable and bean oils. Fats are a significant source of energy in the diet and many play essential roles in your body’s chemistry.

Fibrin : A blood chemical involved in clotting. Fibrin which is an insoluble protein forms a fibrous mesh that impedes the flow of blood.

Fight or Flight response : The fight or flight response which is also called hyperarousal or acute stress response is a physiological reaction that occurs in

xvii GLOSSARY

response to a perceived harmful event. It is the body’s reaction to alarm, stress or shock. In athletes, the stresses of competition or a very fast pace or other disturbing or stressful factors may either get the best or the worst out of the athlete. Either he reacts with an adrenaline rush and hits back with vengeance or just crumbles and mentally and / or physically gives up. In other words, the athlete fights or flees! Such a response to fight can be developed in training by progressively difficult physical training and mentally toughening the athlete.

FITT : Mnemonic standing for Frequency, Intensity, Time and Type. These variables together make up exercise overload.

Free Weight : A weight – usually a barbell, dumbbell or kettleball not tethered (attached) to a cable or machine.

Functional Rest : Resting an injured tissue but continuing to exercise on uninjured parts of the body.

lycogen : A type of carbohydrate found in the muscles and liver that provides Genergy during strength training. Glycogen is made up of linked units of glucose. Any glucose that is not used by the body is converted into glycogen for storage.

Goal Setting : A theory of motivation that positively energizes athletes to become more productive and effective through the use of goals. The goals can be short, medium or long term goals. Similarly, the goals can be easy, moderate or difficult to achieve. Goals to be effective, must be SMART (ie. Specific, Measurable, Action- oriented, Realistic and Timely).

Grass Track : A grass (or sometimes dirt/mud) track is made of grass, turf, dirt or mud on which athletic competitions are held. The spike nails used for grass tracks are usually 9 mm and above. In terms of speed, grass tracks are slower than cinder and synthetic tracks.

ead (of a muscle) : The point of origin of a muscle. This is the apex or Htop of the muscle. Heat : Track race serving as a preliminary elimination round before a final in a track and field meeting.

xviii GLOSSARY

Hurdle Specifications (400m Hurdles) :

Men = 36 in (91.4 cm)

Women = 30 in (76.2 cm)

The first hurdle is 45m from the starting line for both Men and Women and the distance between hurdles is 35m. The distance from the last (10th) hurdle to the finish-line is 40m. This is true for open and Masters (Men & Women) 400m hurdles races. The marking on the track for the placement of each of the 10 hurdles is always in green colour.

Men (Hurdle Height) :

35 – 49 years : 36 in. (91.4 cm) 50 – 59 years : 33 in. (84 cm)

Women (Hurdle Height) :

35 – 49 years : 30 in. (76.2 cm)

NOTE:

1. There are no 400m hurdle specifications provided for men 60 and above and women 50 and above as there is no 400m hurdles event slated for those age groups (for those age groups, the event comes down to the 300m hurdles).

2. The toppling weight for both the open Men & Women is 3.6 kgs. This means that if a 3.6 kg weight is placed upon the horizontal bar of the hurdle, the hurdle will topple or fall over in front. Similarly, the toppling weight for the Masters Men 50-59 years age group (33 inch hurdle) and the Masters Women 30 – 49 years age group (30 inches hurdle) are both 2.7 kgs.

Hyperplasia : Excessive healing, where tissue cells multiply more rapidly than expected following injury.

Hypnosis : A procedure wherein changes in sensation, perceptions, thoughts, feelings or behaviours are suggested by an external therapist or hypnotist. The success of hypnosis will depend upon the hypnotic responsiveness of the subject ie. a desire or willingness to be hypnotized.

xix GLOSSARY

magery : It is the use of all the senses to create or re-create an experience in Ithe mind. In sport, it is used by the athlete to mentally visualize a particular technical skill or task (such as the start or the motion of hurdling) or an outcome (such as a winning moment or passing an athlete in a race). Imagery uses the four Ws, viz. where, when, why and what of the imagery. Imagery thus has twin goals, viz. to learn or perform a skill and goal attainment.

Impingement : Compression of tissue through pinching between two body structures.

Impression construction : It is the process of constructing and building an image of oneself for others (mainly the competition) to see. A positive body language is an important component of impression construction. But sometimes impression construction is to down-play the impression and remain low-key and surprise the opposition and gain a benefit of surprise.

Impression Management : It is the same as self-presentation and is the whole gamut of process by which a person or athlete monitors and controls how he is perceived by other persons, especially the competitors. Impression management is all about perception building and at times involves positive body language, subtle gamesmanship, postural, gestural and verbal communication. In sport, the purpose or goal of impression management is a signal to the opposition that you are unbeatable!

Inflammation : The first part of the tissue healing process. Inflammation is recognized by heat, redness, swelling and pain.

Instability : Excessive and uncontrolled movement of a body part.

Isometric : A form of training in which your muscles work but do not contract significantly, such as when pushing against an immovable object.

Isotonic : A form of training in which your muscles work against a constant resistance so that the muscles contract while the resistance remains the same.

ITB (Iliotibial Band) : A tough group of fibres running along the outside of your thigh that primarily works as a stabilizer during running. Kettlebell : An iron weight resembling a ball with a handle.

xx GLOSSARY

actic Acid : A waste product of anaerobic respiration. It accumulates in your Lmuscles during intense exercise and is involved in the chemical process that cause muscular cramp.

Lag Phase : Period following injury during which tissue is healing but its strength does not increase.

Lateral Rotation : Twisting a limb away from the body (outwards).

Lateral : Positioned towards the outside of your body or a part of your body. Movement in the lateral plane usually refers to a side-to-side movement.

Learned Helplessness : It is a condition or situation in which a person or an athlete feels that they have no control over their failure and begin to believe that failure is inevitable. Many a times in such conditions, the athlete focuses not on winning but on ‘not losing’!

Ligament : A tough and fibrous connective tissue that connects your bones together at your joints.

altracking (of the knee) : Faulty movement of the knee cap. There is Mproblem with the way the knee moves. Masters Athlete : Also known as Veteran athlete, who take part in special athletic events in track and field, road running and cross-country running. The competitors normally feature five-year age group for men and women beginning from the age of 30 to 100. At the world level, World Masters Athletics (WMA) is the apex governing body of Masters Athletics. Whereas, the International Masters Games Association (IMGA) holds multi-sport competitons (like the Olympics) in various sports (including track and field). Similarly, there are continental bodies for each continent including Europe, Americas, Asia and Oceania. The Masters athletics scene is modelled after the World Athletics’ (formerly IAAF) normal athletic circuit and competitions are held at the regional (city), district, state, national, continental and world levels. In fact, the popularity of Masters athletics (also called age-group athletics) is on the rise and certain specific Masters events are held even in the open/IAAF (now called World Athletics) championships including the World Championships and the other Diamond Meets. In fact, very soon, masters events will find pride of place even in the Olympics!

xxi GLOSSARY

Medial Ligament : Inner ligament of the knee consisting of several bands.

Medial Rotation : Twisting a limb towards the body (inwards).

Meditation : It is a form of self-induced relaxation, calm, clarity or compassion to focus one’s mind for a period of time and giving attention to only one thing. It is a state of mental silence. In sports, it is used to prepare for competition, to lower stress and endure injuries & fatigue.

Mental Practice : It is the use of imagery and visualization by an athlete to mentally rehearse, learn, or retain a particular skill or task.

Metabolism : The sum of all your body’s chemical processes, it comprises anabolism (building up compounds) and catabolism (breaking down compounds).

Mondo Track : It is a prefabricated synthetic rubber track surface, composed of two different layers vulcanized together. The vulcanization process guarantees molecular bonding between the two layers such that it is a seamless piece of material. Mondo was founded in Alba, Italy and currently has manufacturing plants in Italy, Luxembourg, Spain and China. The top Mondo tracks are SportsFlex Super X 720, SportsFl Super X and Mondotrack WS.

Movement Dysfunction : A reduced quality of movement (eg. limping).

Myositis : Medical condition where calcium is deposited within a muscle after injury.

egative Splits : A negative split is a racing strategy that involves intentionally Ncompleting the second half of the training run or race faster than the first half. It is usually employed in races including and upwards of 400m up to the Marathon and the 400m hurdles, but cannot be really employed in pure sprints such as the 100m, 200m and the sprint hurdles as such minute calibrations are difficult to execute. An example of a negative split for the 400m hurdles with a final timing of 50 seconds would be say the first 200m in 26 seconds and the final 200m in 24 seconds.

Non-weight bearing : Keeping the foot off the ground so that no bodyweight is taken through the lower limb joints. Swimming is a non-weight bearing exercise.

NSAID : An acronym for non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug.

xxii GLOSSARY

ber Test : A measure of flexibility of the iliotibial band (ITB). OOedema (Edema) : The medical term for swelling and the accumulation of fluid beneath the skin.

Orthotic : Shoe insert designed to correct foot motion.

Overflow : Nervous impulses travelling to an injured muscle because the good muscle on the other side of the body is worked hard.

Overload : The progressive increase in weight used for a particular exercise. It is designed to promote adaptation of the body in response to training. The challenge placed upon the body during exercise.

Overtraining : Training beyond the level that is ideal for maximum benefit. People who over-train subconsciously or consciously believe that more is better! Overtraining is considered to be far more negative to the performance of a sportsperson than undertraining and is the main cause of mood disturbance, injuries and sub-par performances in sport. Overtraining has to be differentiated from overreaching which is short-term overtraining that is at times part of normal training. In overreaching, the athlete is asked to go beyond his normal training regimen once in a while and push himself slightly beyond his normal limits.

Overuse : An injury which develops slowly.

ain : It is an unpleasant sensation occurring in varying degrees of severity, Pespecially as a consequence of injury, disease or emotional hurt. Pain Barrier : An experience of temporary acute pain that affects runners at a certain point in long-distance runs and must be endured, until it passes, if the run is to be completed. Depending upon the fitness, age, sex and conditioning of the athlete, the pain barrier hits different athletes at different points in time. The pain barrier is also sometimes loosely referred to as “hitting the wall”. At the elite marathon level, this physical and psychological barrier is usually encountered at the 32 km mark.

Pain Tolerance : A personality characteristic to tolerate or endure pain. Some humans (and sportspersons) are naturally better able to tolerate pain than others. This refers to the higher pain threshold. However, with proper and progressive

xxiii GLOSSARY training (both of the mind and the body), it is possible for any athlete to increase tolerance to pain.

Paratelic-Dominant Orientation : A person or an athlete with a personality orientation of being fun-loving, happy, humorous and having a here-and-now perspective on life or the sport. A paratelic-dominant orientation is not to be confused with a flippant or devil-may-care attitude. A person can have a paratelic- dominant personality and yet be extremely competitive. The best example of this was Usain Bolt.

PCL : Posterior cruciate ligament of the knee.

Pep talk : The practice by the coach (or professional psychologist or senior member of the team or an influential person whom the athletes respect) just before the competition to energize and motivate them.

Perfectionism : It is the setting up of exceptionally high performance standards for oneself or the team. Perfectionism, within practical limits, is a positive trait to possess in sports. However, over-perfectionism or fixation over perfectionism or what is sometimes called neurotic perfectionism is destructive and is associated with inflexibility, low self-esteem, impracticality and inferior performance!

Periodization : A method of splitting a training period up (weekly/monthly/ yearly) to focus on different fitness components at a time and avoid overtraining.

Personal Best (PB) : An individual athlete’s best performance in a particular athletic event throughout his/her athletics career.

Photo Finish : The finish of a track race for which a photograph is required to determine the final placings where several competitors have crossed the finish line almost simultaneously, making it impossible to judge the finish accurately with the naked eye alone.

Pictorialism or Pictorialist : It is a belief that an actual image (or picture) is being scanned when an individual visualizes a scene, task or outcome.

Positive Sandwich Approach : This is a popular form of instruction, wherein coach begins with a compliment, then gives a future-oriented task, advice, instruction or command and then again ends with a compliment. It is a highly motivational xxiv GLOSSARY method, which gets absorbed because it is not seen by the athlete as criticism or as a negative comment.

Posterior : The back part or surface as opposed to anterior.

Power : The amount of force produced in a given time. It is a combination of strength and speed.

Proprioception : It is the joint balance sense. It is the sense of the relative position of one’s own parts of the body. It is very acute in the soles of the foot.

Protein : One of the three main nutrients (along with fats and carbohydrates) that supply energy to the body. Protein is required for muscle growth and repair.

ange of Motion : How far you are able to move a joint. It depends upon Rthe flexibility of the muscles and tendons. Referred Pain : Pain travelling from one body part to another.

Regimen : A regulated course of exercise and diet designed to produce a pre- determined result.

Repetition (Rep) : One complete movement of a particular exercise, from start to finish and back.

Resistance Training : Any type of training in which your muscles work against a resistance. The resistance may be provided by a weight, an elastic or rubber band, or your own bodyweight.

Resonance Performance Model : A model that explains the process by which ordinary athletes become elite athletes. Resonance refers to the flow, intrinsic motivation, adaptation and emotion of the athlete.

Rest Interval : The pause between sets of an exercise or run that allows muscle recovery.

Retinaculum : Strong fibrous band attaching between structures.

Rubefacient : Having a heating effect.

xxv GLOSSARY

Factors : Variables making up a fitness programme viz. stamina, suppleness, S strength, spirit, speed, skill and specificity. Self-hypnosis : It is the process of hypnotizing oneself without the aid and assistance of an external therapist or hypnotist.

Self-presentation : The process by which persons or sportspersons monitor and control how they are perceived by other people and competitors.

Self-regulation Model : Self-generated thoughts, feelings and behaviours that are planned by the coach or athlete and periodically adapted based on performance feedback such as training log or competition outcomes.

Self-serving Hypothesis : It is a negative attribute that some people or athletes sometimes make articulating (and at times believing) illogical and false attributes to explain away failures to enhance or protect their egos.

Set : A specific number of repetitions.

Smith Machine : A common piece of gym equipment made up of a barbell constrained within sets of parallel steel nails that allow the motion of the bar only in a limited vertical direction. It enhances safety of the lift or exercise but does not challenge or workout the balancing aspects of the exercise. The Smith machine allows the training of various body parts and is very versatile.

Specificity : Matching an exercise to the precise requirements of a sport or activity.

Spica : Taping or splint which immobilizes a digit or limb together with the body part it attaches to. A thumb spica immobilizes a wrist and thumb; a shoulder spica, the upper trunk and arm; and a hip spica, the lower trunk and leg.

Split Routine : A pattern of training in which you focus on working one part of your body (for example, your upper body) in one strength training session, and another part of your body (for example, your legs) in the next session, rather than working the whole body each time. Sometimes, the word split routine is also used to signify training twice a day.

Sportsmanship or Sportspersonship : This is the performance of sporting activity or athletic tasks, especially in competitions, with a high level of fairness and

xxvi GLOSSARY morality. There is a very thin line between subtle gamesmanship and unsportsmanlike behavior. The former is part and parcel of any sport and is to be encouraged but not the latter.

Spotter : A training partner who assists you with a lift, providing encouragement and physical support if necessary, for example, intervening if you are about to fail the lift.

Sprint : To run at full speed over a short distance. Usually, the 100m and the 200m are called pure sprints, whereas the 400m is a sustained sprint. Sometimes, the word sprint is also used to describe the last part of a longer race that is run as fast as possible. But in a pure athletic sense that is not a true sprint and is better referred to as a ‘kick’. Elite sprinters usually use starting blocks to start a sprint.

Stabilizer Muscle : Muscle which is better at and whose main function is holding a body part tight and protecting it.

Staggered Start : Start of a race run in lanes in which the competitors in the outer lanes start from scratch lines several metres ahead of those in the lanes inside them to counteract the extra distance involved in running wide around a bend.

Starting Blocks : They are a device used in certain track events (viz 100m, 200m, 400m, 110/100/400/300 hurdles and the 4 x 100 and 4 x 400 relays) by sprint athletes to hold their feet at a start of a race so that they get a stable and strong push-off and do not slip as they bolt out at the start when then the gun is fired. Starting blocks also protect the track, as taking starts on synthetic and Mondo tracks tears off the track surface. The starting blocks have two padded panels that are attached to a rod-like configuration. The starting blocks are adjustable to cognize for the comfort and height of the athlete. In smaller athletic competitions athletes can bring their own blocks. However, in all World Athletics / WMA events and major meets, the blocks are provided by the organizers and only those blocks can be used.

Static Exercise : An exercise in which you hold a position. For example, pushing against an immovable object.

Strength Training : A form of resistance training in which your aim is to build the strength of your skeletal muscle.

xxvii GLOSSARY

Subluxation : Bones in a joint becoming partially malaligned due to injury (also called partial dislocation).

Super compensation : The method by which tissue microscopically damaged by exercise is rebuilt to become stronger.

Superset : A type of training in which you perform two exercises in a row with no rest between; the exercises can target the same or different parts of your body.

Supplement : Any preparation in the form of a pill, liquid, or powder that contains nutrients.

ake-off Leg : Applied to the jumping and hurdles events, this is the leg Tthat produces the propulsion to the clear either the bar or the hurdle, or to achieve horizontal jumping distance at the moment of take-off. The term take- off is used in the context of events such as sprint & intermediate hurdles and horizontal & vertical jumps.

Tartan Track : It is a trademarked all-weather synthetic track surfacing made of polyurethane used for track and field competitions. The manufacturer is the american company 3M. Since the word ‘Tartan’ has become so synonymous with synthetic tracks, all synthetic tracks are erroneously called ‘Tartan tracks’! Just as in India, photocopying is called ‘Xerox’ (which is actually a brand of photocopying machine)! A good quality ‘Tartan’ track to be built from scratch will cost about $ 1 Million (Rs. 7.5 Crores as of January 2019).

Testosterone : a male sex hormone (C19 H28 O2) produced in the testicles. This naturally occurring and naturally produced testosterone is also called endogenous testosterone. On the other hand, exogenous testosterone is an artificially produced anabolic steroid that is administered to mimic the effects of testosterone in the body. Testosterone improves athletic performances in both males and females. Therefore, exogenous administration of testosterone is banned in sport.

Theory of Planned Behaviour : A theory of exercise behaviour that suggests that intention is caused by planning, attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioral control. This theory believes that intention and meticulous planning leads to exercise or training behaviour, which in turn leads to sporting success.

xxviii GLOSSARY

Thermal Imaging : Taking a photograph of heat rather than light.

Thought Stopping : In sports, the learned art of replacing a negative thought with a success-oriented positive thought.

Toe Box : Front part of a running shoe that covers the toes.

Tracking : Direction of movement of the kneecap within the groove of the thigh bone.

Training Age or Athletic Age : This is the age in relation to the number of years of proper and consistent training put-in by the sportsperson or athlete.

Training Intensity : How hard an exercise is (Eg. speed of running or amount of weight lifted).

Training Psychology : It is an organized and systematized program, technique or strategy that teaches and assesses psychological skills and teaches mental methods to enhance psychological skill. In sport, it is the technique or strategy used by the coach or the athlete himself to enhance the psychological skill in the athlete to make it possible or more likely that he will succeed in the sport.

Training Volume : Quantum of exercise performed (Eg. sets, repetitions, or mileage).

Trauma : An injury which occurs suddenly.

Tying up : A condition sometimes experienced by runners during the latter stages of the longer sprint events, where lactic acid builds up in the leg muscles to such an extent that their function becomes temporarily impaired causing the athlete to slow dramatically towards the finish of the race.

itamin : Any one of a group of chemical compounds that is required by your Vbody in small amounts for healthy growth and development. Most vitamins are not made by your body, so must be taken in the diet.

arming up, warming down : Pre and post-competition exercises, the Wformer preparing muscles for strenuous competitive activity and the latter helping to prevent muscles stiffening up after such activity. A warm-up is a series

xxix GLOSSARY

of low-intensity exercises that prepares your body for a workout by moderately stimulating your heart, lungs and muscles.

Width of Attention : An athlete’s attentional focus ranging from narrow to broad. Sometimes, also called attention span.

Wind Reading : Wind velocity measurement that has a bearing on performances in the sprints and horizontal jumps, especially where records are concerned.

one or playing in the zone : A term that is used to describe an athlete Zperforming extraordinarily under external negative stimuli.

xxx Chapter 1

INTRODUCTION: THE 400M HURDLES

If you’re strong, then train for speed. If you’re quick, then train for strength. If you’re neither, then just train! - Loughborough University Gym Maxim -

he 400m hurdles consist of 10 hurdles spaced at 35m. The distance to the Tfirst hurdle is 45m and the distance from the last (10th) hurdle to the finish is 40m. In the open division, the hurdle height is 30 inches (76.2 cm) for women and 36 inches (91.5 cm) for men.

Delineated below is a table showing the distance and placement of the 10 hurdles in the 400m hurdles race :

Sequence Distance from Distance from Hurdles Distance to next of Start Line Finish Line that fall hurdle(in metres) Hurdle (in metres) (in metres) on curves 45 (from Start Line) 1 45 355 √ 35 (to 2nd Hurdle) 2 80 35 320 √ 3 115 35 285 4 150 35 250 5 185 35 215 6 220 35 180 √ 7 255 35 145 √ 8 290 35 110 √ 9 325 35 75 35 (from 9th Hurdle) 10 360 40 40 (to Finish Line) Finish Line 400 ------

Table 1 : Distance and Placement of the 400m hurdles

1 INTRODUCTION: THE 400m HURDLES

Whilst there is nothing like a difficult or easy event in track and field, there is almost unanimous agreement amongst leading coaches of the world that the 400m hurdles is by far the toughest event in track to master.

But what is it that makes the 400m hurdles such a tough and dreaded event? Let us first discuss this issue which will shed a lot of light in preparing for this wonderful event. a. It is a speed and power event. It clearly requires good sustained sprinting ability. b. This event requires ability to master and take a crouched or sitting start and that too necessarily on the bend! c. The 400m hurdles necessarily requires: i. Hurdling ability. This basically means the visual steering ability of a horizontal jumper. ii. Ability to hurdle with either legs, unlike the 110m and 100m hurdles. d. The 400m hurdles also requires the running strength of an 800m runner. And to that extent, sufficient aerobic strength. In terms of aerobic requirement, the 400m hurdles is equivalent to a flat 600m run! e. More than any athletic event, the 400m hurdles requires a very high ability to take lactic acid torture. The event becomes a killer at the 300m mark and the athlete needs to blank out the effects of the huge lactic acid build-up and continue not only to run rhythmically but to perform the powerful action of hurdling over the last 3 hurdles! But to do that, the 400m hurdler needs to see the last 3 hurdles clearly and focus on them in a state of high distress. To do this, the coach has to, in training, apply the principles of centering and make the athlete focus on the last 3 hurdles. f. This requires an exceptionally aggressive mental attitude, verging on a kill-bill mind-set. Over and above this, the event throughout requires high levels of concentration and especially at the end under extreme fatigue. g. In terms of flexibility and hip-mobility, the 400m hurdles imposes very high requirements. h. The 400m hurdles (like the flat 400m race) is an event that requires rhythm… such that there is as little variation in pace, form and speed as possible.

2 INTRODUCTION: THE 400m HURDLES

Yet, the athlete must be able to change gears when required to… especially in the last 100m. i. This event, again, like the 400m flat race, requires perfectly managing the race distribution and to that extent requires strategic planning of the race unlike the 100m and the 200m run which are basically a mad-rush to the tape! j. Lastly, the 400m hurdles, more than any other race, requires extensive racing experience. This is one event where first timers and rookies will always struggle, as they will invariably underestimate the special demands of the event and end up either too early into lactic or out of fear, run a very slow race.

The various above-mentioned criteria and special needs make the 400 hurdles an extremely difficult event to compete in. This is evident from the global empirical evidence before us where there is prima facie validity that millions run road events, thousands run track, whereas only hundreds run the 400m hurdles! The fitness of the 400m hurdler is usually such that he will be able to impact races from the 100m and sometimes up to even the 1500m.

There are many calculations and formulae created to predict 400m hurdling timing. Most such predictions (and the predictors!) fall flat on their faces! Any prediction requires a personal knowledge and information about the speed, endurance, flexibility, height, age, sex, hurdling ability and 400m hurdling experience of the athlete. Without knowledge of these crucial variables, one cannot predict accurately. Despite that, there are three predictors which I would like to share with the readers:

1. Best 200m time x 2 + 8 seconds (eg. 24.1 seconds x 2 + 8 = 56.2 secs). This formula is based on the assumption that the hurdling ability of the athlete is of mediocre quality. 2. a) Best 400m time + 4 secs for the efficient hurdler (eg. 53 seconds + 4 = 57 secs) and b) Best 400m time + 7 secs for the not so efficient hurdler (eg. 53 seconds + 7 = 60 secs) 3. A third predictor has been put forth by E. Bulaschnik in his famous work “How to Approach 400m Hurdles Training” which basically gives a formula to find an athlete’s maximum 400m hurdles potential based on his 110m

3 INTRODUCTION: THE 400m HURDLES

hurdles and 400m flat timings! It is 800 divided by the sum of the 110m hurdles speed and the 400m (flat) speed in metres per second. Thus, for example, an athlete’s best 110m hurdles timing is 16 seconds and his best 400m flat is 50 seconds, then his respective speeds in metres per second is 6.88 and 8.00, then his best or maximum potential in the 400m hurdles is 800 / (6.88 +8.00) = 800/14.88=53.76 seconds. Most athletes start young at the age of 7 to 12 years and at that point in time, there is no scope of competing in the hurdles and definitely not the 400m hurdles as that event is not available for those age groups. Thus, the 400m hurdler has in the past either been a sprinter or a middle-distance athlete!

There are basically 4 varieties of 400m hurdlers. i. The sprint type ii. The endurance type iii. The technical type and iv. The running type

It would be quite trite to mention that every 400m hurdler will have all the above mentioned 4 criteria but will usually have a preponderance of any one or two. For example, the great P. T. Usha (4th in the Los Angeles Olympics) was a sprint type and a running type of 400m hurdler rather than an endurance or technical type.

Let us quickly discuss the 4 types of 400m hurdlers:

i. The sprint type has basic speed or natural speed and will be good over distances of 60 to 200m. Such hurdlers excel up to the 5th hurdle after which their performance would dip, unless they work on their speed- endurance and special (hurdles) endurance.

ii. The endurance type of the 400m hurdler is usually a good 800 m runner who has dropped down to the 400 or at times a 400m runner graduating to the intermediate hurdles. Such athletes have better speed-endurance and whilst they may be slower up to the fifth hurdle, they tend to have a negative split and do much better over the next five hurdles. It has been observed that the endurance type of 400m hurdler tends to have better rhythm and race judgement than the sprint type and also a far superior

4 INTRODUCTION: THE 400m HURDLES

ability to tolerate the lactic onslaught. But their weakness is lack of basic speed. Double Olympic Champion, Felix Sanchez was an endurance type 400m hurdler with a stunning 800m PR of 1:49:39. iii. The technical type of the 400m hurdler is that hurdler with a lot of 110 or 100m sprint hurdling below his or her belt and who has moved on to the 400m hurdles from the sprint hurdles. The sprint hurdler’s technical efficiency is unquestionably superior to the 400m hurdler as the sprint hurdles are higher and at far shorter distance as compared to the 400m hurdles. Thus, the hurdling ability, mobility, flexibility and hip-strength of the technical type is superior and he gains valuable micro-seconds before, over and after each hurdle.

Legendary Indian hurdling coach Bala Govind used to explain: “If your hurdling is good, you will gain about .20 second at each hurdle… this translates to a full 2 seconds over the 400m hurdles race.” Andre Philips who had a 47.19 400H PR had an astonishing sprint hurdle best of 13.25 secs.

Empirically, it has been observed that the technical type of hurdler usually has speed too but lacks both speed-endurance and the special endurance required over the final 3 hurdles. iv. The running type of the 400m hurdler is one quite close to the endurance type. This type of hurdler depends on his running ability to win races but has just enough technical expertise to negotiate the 10 barriers without any major embarrassment! The running type of hurdler will be good in-between the hurdles and from the last hurdle to the finish. They are usually very good in running over distances ranging from 300 to 800m.

5 INTRODUCTION: THE 400m HURDLES

Introduction : The 400m 111 Hurdles Workouts Hurdling for 400m Ability Hurdles Correction of Overcoming Common Faults fear of the in Hurdling Hurdles 1 2 Structured 16 400m Hurdles Warm up & 3 racing Cool Down 15 experience

4 14 Running Equivalent (RE) Speed

or 5 (Alactic 13 400m

Cross-Training Training)

6 12 Hurdles Speed

Nutrition

7 Endurance & Rest 11 (Lactic

Training) 8 10

Strength, 9 Aerobic Resistance Endurance & Core (Cardiovascular Training Training)

Rhythm Flexibility and the 400m Hurdles Training Psychology

Table 2 : A Bird’s-eye View of the Book

6 Chapter 2

HURDLING ABILITY

The will to win is nothing if you haven’t the will to prepare.

General urdling essentially is a sprinting action. Brent McFarlane, the wizard of Hthe world of hurdling has said: “Hurdling is a faultless, perfect sprint over barriers.” The lower height of the hurdle in the 400m hurdles (as compared to the 110/100m hurdles) requires less body lean into the hurdle as compared to the sprint or high hurdles. Thus, the 400m hurdler goes over the hurdle in a relatively upright position. The lower height of the 400m hurdles also means that the hurdler does not have to raise his centre of gravity as high as in the sprint hurdles. Therefore, the 400m hurdler does not need to ‘snap’ the lead leg down as aggressively as compared to the sprint hurdler. That is the reason why the 400m hurdler floats over the hurdle. Most elite coaches will advise their top 400m hurdlers to hurdle the first, second, sixth, seventh and eight hurdles with a lead left leg. This is so as these 5 hurdles will come on the curve. A lead left leg clearance will have the advantage of the athlete running close to the left (inner and shorter) edge of the track. If the athlete is hurdling with the lead right leg, then the athlete will be forced to run closer to the right edge of the track, thus cover a little more distance. Additionally, a lead right leg clearance may mean that the hurdler may pull the trail leg (left leg) over the left inside of the hurdle during clearance, resulting in a disqualification. Scores of hurdlers have been disqualified for leaving the trailing left leg below the hurdle. The biggest such disqualification was that of Zambian, Samuel Matete who was disqualified in the semi-final of the 1992 Barcelona Olympics when he knocked over the last hurdle – in the lane next to his! However, the coaches’ wish to have the 400m hurdler use a lead left leg on the curve may not always be possible, especially if the hurdler is unable to lead with his left leg and can only lead with his right.

7 HURDLING ABILITY

Hurdling is a specialized event and therefore its training is by nature very specific. To be a good hurdler, you have to hurdle! Hurdling efficiency and dropping your 400m hurdles time as compared to your 400m flat timing is an important key to success. An Olympic level 400m hurdler will have a differential of anywhere between 2.1 to 3.6 seconds. Lower level international athletes would have a hiatus of 3.7 to 4.5 seconds and mere mortals above 5 seconds. A differential of less than 2 seconds is virtually impossible; no matter how great the athlete’s hurdling is. The differential of the current World Record holder Kevin Young (USA) though is 1.67 secs (46.78 v. 45.11)! But Young was a superlative hurdler and one of the only two men to go under 47 seconds. Young’s World Record was established at the 1993 World Championships in Athletics at Stuttgart and remains unbeaten after a quarter of a century. Many athletics gurus consider this World Record the best performance ever by any athlete over any distance!

Lutz Jannek, the German researcher on hurdling, has estimated that a world- class sprint hurdler needs to perform about 18,000 hurdle clearances to establish an indelible and perfect high hurdles technique! It may well be argued that the 400m hurdles not being as technical an event as the high hurdles, may not require this quantum of single-minded dedication to hurdle clearances. Despite that, and even after giving due weightage to the fact that the 400m hurdles are lower in height, and any thought that technique development plays little or no role, would be fraught with risk, if not downright suicidal. Any belief that mere occasional hurdling technique development will suffice the needs of the 400m hurdles event would be as wrong as the ancient belief that the earth was flat!

However, too much of hurdle drills are not recommended. Whilst you must do periodic hurdle drills, the emphasis should be on real-time and actual hurdling. For example, most general track athletes do hurdles drills, especially in the off-season, but most of them are not good at hurdling. Merely doing an excess of hurdling drills is not necessary as the real hurdling motion is actually quite different. It is just like shadow boxing or punching a bag… yes, these are necessary training tools for any boxer but it cannot substitute the real fight with a live and moving partner. As Bruce Lee famously said in Enter the Dragon… “Boards don’t hit back!!” In short, avoid unnecessary hurdling drills. Use a performance approach ie. use the muscles, forces and the speed used in the actual event.

8 HURDLING ABILITY

Modern hurdling theory gives far less importance to hurdle drills than in the past. There is no doubt in any researcher’s mind that a hurdler has to do the hurdling drills just as any athlete (especially the sprinters) need to do the ABC (Agility- Balance-Coordination Drills). The point that is being made here is that there must not be an over-dose of hurdling drills as they do not closely resemble a full hurdle clearance. There is no doubt that the hurdle drills open out the hips, strengthens the psoas, teaches the hurdler ‘bounce’, improves his explosiveness and much more. But to be fixated in training with hurdle drills is to miss the woods for the trees! I have observed hurdlers who are top-notch in hurdle drills but come a cropper when actually hurdling! The reason for this is that hurdle drills are not completely transferable to the actual hurdle clearance, especially when the hurdle drills are not performed in a manner that closely mimic the actual hurdle clearance motion.

Dr. P. N. Grimshaw in his scientific study entitled A Kinematic Analysis of Sprint Hurdles Training Strategies (Isolation Drills), explains that the mean horizontal velocity of the hurdle drills movement and the full hurdle clearance are completely different. Similarly, the stride distance at full hurdle clearance is much more than during hurdle drills. The full hurdle clearance is on an average 27% more than during hurdle drills. So, the situation is analogous to teaching a man normal driving and then asking him to compete in a Formula 1 race. The bottom line is pretty simple… do your hurdle drills but do not be obsessed with them. If one has to put a finger on to the number of times a 400m hurdler should do a complete hurdle drills workout in a year, I would say no more than 12 times!

Lastly and most importantly, do not train doing hurdles at less than 80% effort. You are how you train. If you habitually hurdle below 80% effort (even if that is going over 15 hurdles in one go or a tough hurdling workout with over 30 hurdles in a session) then the hurdling imprint in your brain will be a slower hurdling technique. You are then only training to be slow. The way you train is the way you race!

The Start

The 400m hurdles like the flat 400m is run in lanes (usually 8 lanes) of an International Standard Track and the start of the race is staggered just like in the 400m flat. Delineated below is a table showing the lanewise stagger at the start of the 400m hurdles from lane 1 to lane 8.

9 HURDLING ABILITY

400M STAGGER LANE AT THE START (IN MTRS) 1 0.000 2 7.665 3 15.331 4 22.996 5 30.662 6 38.327 7 45.993 8 53.658

Table 3 : Lanewise stagger at the start of the 400m hurdles

At the start, spot the first hurdle at the 30m mark ie. 15m from the first hurdle. After the characteristically aggressive and short first five strides from the blocks, the hurdler needs to then stabilize into his sprinting action and view the first hurdle at the 30m mark. Then at the 35m mark ie. when the athlete is 10m away, he must attack the first hurdle by a slight acceleration. This acceleration at the 35m mark, will both, minimize and compensate for the deceleration that is bound to happen just before the hurdle. Thereafter, the last stride to the first hurdle should be both shorter and faster and the athlete must ‘sprint through’ the first hurdle.

The 400m hurdler has to execute a similar acceleration 10 mtrs. before each subsequent hurdle and also ensure that the last stride before each of the 10 hurdles is shorter, crisper and faster.

A mature male athlete who is about 6 feet tall should typically have a stride pattern of 20-23 steps to the first hurdle. Whereas a woman of about 5 feet 6 inches should take anywhere from 22 to 25 steps. The start from the blocks for the 400m hurdles is to be taken in the same way as in the flat 400m. The athlete has to attack the first five strides with the same body inclination and aggression of a sprinter. The acceleration pattern thereafter up to the 30m mark should be similar to that employed in the 400m flat race. It is thus suggested that when the 400m hurdler practices starts, he should practice over 2 hurdles (ie a distance of 80m). This prepares the athlete not only for the start but also the effective stride pattern over the first two barriers.

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The Lead leg In the earlier days, ie. upto 1900, hurdlers used to jump over the hurdles rather than sprinting or striding over them. It was American Alvin Kraenzlein who developed and employed the modern technique of using a straight front leg with the trailing leg tucked under the leg. Kraenzlein won the 110 m and 200 m hurdles of the 1900 Paris Olympics using this technique. Since the past about 120 years, various modified versions of this technique have been used by hurdlers.

The hurdler has to lead with the knee. The knee of the lead leg needs to be thrust up and into the direction of the hurdle with alacrity. The knee of the lead leg drives towards the hurdle with the lead foot trailing behind the knee! The lead leg must go just over the hurdle. If the leg goes too high, then the parabola of the trajectory will be sharp or acute. The higher one goes over the hurdle, the more time it takes!

The lead leg must NEVER be fully straight over the hurdle. At no time in the hurdling motion is the lead leg fully extended. This is a common mistake made by rookie 400m hurdlers, especially those with good flexibility! The reasons are very simple. Firstly, a fully extended lead leg takes that much more time (to extend and then unextend or retract) and therefore slows down the hurdler. Secondly, the modified ‘snap’ of the lead leg into the ground will be far faster and easier when the lead leg is not fully extended.

The lead leg and the opposite arm are driven inwards. The lead leg and the opposite arm must move toward the centre of the hurdler’s body. There must be no leaning back just before the hurdle. The hurdler has to run tall and his balance must be on the forefoot. The centre of gravity will be behind if the hurdler is leaning away from the hurdle. It will also mean that the hurdler is on his heels. This is the position that the hurdler needs to avoid at all costs as it applies braking forces to his momentum and breaks the sprinting rhythm. Hurdling is a sprinting motion and we have never seen any elite sprinter run even one step on his heels!

The height of the hurdler plays an important role in teaching him the lead-leg descent. By and large, the ‘descent’ or ‘pull down’ or ‘snap-down’ for a tall hurdler (taller than 5’11”) begins as the hurdler’s heel clears the hurdle whereas the ‘pull- down’ for shorter hurdlers (shorter than 5’11”) must happen after the calf crosses the hurdle. 11 HURDLING ABILITY

There is a raging debate between researchers and coaches writing on the lead-leg snap-down in the 400m hurdles. There are three distinct schools of thought. The first view is that the 400m hurdler requires almost as much of a snap-down as the sprint hurdler. The second thought pattern is that there is no need for any elaborate snap-down to happen in the 400m hurdles, as the barriers are spaced quite far (35m apart) and the hurdler has enough time to spot the hurdle and he is travelling at a good speed or velocity. The third opinion (which is the majority opinion and the one endorsed by this author) is that the 400m hurdler requires a lead-leg snap-down which is approximately 70% of the snap-down in terms of aggression and timing of the sprint hurdler.

Following are the reasons why the 400m hurdler also requires a lead-leg snap-down, but one which is about 30% less pronounced or elaborate than the sprint hurdler: a) The job of a good hurdler is to clear the barrier in as little time as possible. When the hurdler snaps-down the lead leg into the ground (track), he is cutting short his ‘flight’ and ‘landing’! b) The sooner the hurdler makes contact with mother earth the better. This is because you get over to move ahead only when you push-off. You cannot push-off if you are ‘flying’. c) As a natural corollary to point (b) above, we need to appreciate that when you are ‘flying’ over the hurdle, there is no acceleration that is happening and so you have to come back to the track to accelerate. The snap-down brings you quickly back to the track for you to accelerate. d) The lead-leg snap-down thus limits the 400m hurdler’s loss of horizontal velocity while he is in flight. e) The lead-leg snap-down allows the hurdler to land in a sprint-friendly position, with the centre of gravity under the body rather than it being ahead of the body. This allows for a quicker return to the proper sprinting-action motion. f) Research has shown that the snap-down of the lead-leg can allow the hurdler to land anywhere between 3 inches to 12 inches closer to the hurdle just cleared. The extra flight time for these 3 to 12 inches when multiplied 10 times can be a sizeable time. It is crucial to understand that the flight of

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the hurdler (whether the 400m hurdler or the sprint hurdler) is the phase in which no accelerating forces can be applied and it is this phase of the race (and it happens 10 times!) that gobbles up precious micro-seconds and is the cause of the time loss in any hurdles race. g) When the lead-leg snap-down is too passive, the hurdler tends to land with the centre of gravity in front of the body and this results in creation of braking forces that tend to be applied, not only slowing the hurdler down, but sapping him of energy for which he will have to pay dearly at the end of the 400m hurdles race. h) Maureen Reynolds in her influential article Technique Philosophy in Hurdling has explained: “What the hurdles coach has to do is to limit the degree of the jump, so that it appears to be more of a flowing running stride… The hurdler does not want to prolong the flight phase but wants to ground as soon as an optimal speed allows it… Time spent in air is time lost.” i) It may then be argued that if 70% aggressive lead-leg snap-down is so beneficial, then why not employ the 100% aggressive sprint hurdle lead-leg snap-down even in the 400m hurdles? The reason for not doing this emanates from the fact that the sprint hurdles race is almost solely an alactic activity and is over in 13 to 15 secs. Whereas the 400m hurdles has a lactic acid (speed endurance) component of about 35% and an aerobic component of about 25% and the race is over 47 to 50 secs or more. A full throttle super-aggressive lead-leg snap-down will sap the muscular energy of the 400m hurdler and he has to survive the dark and very painful onslaught of the demons of lactic acid. Therefore, he needs to snap-down, but a bit less elaborate! j) The snapping down of the lead-leg is to be done in such a manner that the leg is grounded in an extended and vertical position. Further, the foot lands on the ball of the foot and the heel does not make any contact with the track. This basically means that there will be very high eccentric strain on the calf muscle of the lead-leg at the landing and the calf muscle of the trail (take- off) leg at the take-off. It has to be appreciated, that the clearance stride will be anywhere from 2.8m to 3.5m (depending upon the velocity, age, sex and height of the 400m hurdler). Since the lead-leg (landing foot) lands on the ball of the foot, there is not much scope (leverage) to accelerate from the

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very first step after landing and so the hurdler has to use his hip extensors (ie. the ichiocrucial and gluteus maximus muscles) in tandem, to accelerate on the first step after landing. It is only at the second stride after landing can the hurdler resume or continue the acceleration.

The Trail leg The foot of the trail leg remains below the knee throughout the motion of hurdling. The trail leg must be active throughout the range of the hurdling motion. At no point in time should the trail leg be static or motionless as that will slow down the hurdler. The 400m hurdler must sprint off the hurdle with the trail leg coming down quickly and grabbing the track.

The trail leg has to be raised or lifted above the level or height of the hurdle to be cleared. As the trail leg passes over the hurdle, it is almost at a right angle (900 angle) to the body, which is kept square and facing forward. This lifting or raising of the trail leg in a right-angle position will necessitate abduction of the thigh at the hip joint which is assisted by the gluteus medius muscle. Similarly, the cocked- up ankle of the trail foot is kept locked in that position by the peroneus longus and brevis muscles.

Once the trail leg passes over the hurdle it has to be pulled through with alacrity and is placed aggressively in front of the just landed lead leg. This fast pull through of the trail leg is controlled and facilitated by the hip flexors and the abductors of the thigh.

As the trail leg comes in contact with the track (in front of the already landed lead leg), the lead arm has to undertake an equal and opposite reaction in the backward direction. The lead arm is the opposite arm of the lead leg and that is the arm which will go backward and down with the fingers of that hand pointing downwards and the palm facing backwards.

Since it is paramount that the shoulders must face the front and remain square throughout the entirety of the race and the flight over the hurdle, the above mentioned equal and opposite reaction of the lead arm going backward must be equal in force to the trail leg’s force. However, the trail leg is bigger than the lead arm in mass (size) and therefore to have an equal reaction, the lead arm must swing wider than the trail leg to counter its reaction. If this is not executed to perfection,

14 HURDLING ABILITY the body (upper torso) will twist after the trail leg grips the track, throwing the hurdler off-balance.

Another aspect that a 400m hurdler has to remember is that the take-off leg (ie. the trail leg) is in a sense ‘left behind’ during the early part of the acceleration phase. Thus, during the initial phase of the clearance, the knee of the trail leg is held behind the hip joint. This ‘leaving behind’ of the take-off (trail) leg ensures an active and flat take-off and reduces the parabola of the clearance. The leaving behind of the trail leg results in the formation of a near mid-air split between the lead and trail legs. After the split has occurred, the lead leg ankle passes over the hurdle and at that point in time, the trail leg which is currently almost straight from hip to ankle begins to fold from the knee into the butt forming a right angle with the ankle being cocked up.

The complete clearance phase (ie. from the moment the trail foot breaks contact with the track to the moment the lead leg lands onto the track takes a split second and usually between 280 to 380 microseconds in the case of elite hurdlers.

Horizontal and Vertical steering Don’t look out of your lane especially in the race. Unlike a flat race (whether a 400m or a 100m race) where you can afford to peek out; in the hurdles, you cannot and should not, as you need to visually steer into the next upcoming hurdle. A fraction of a second of lack of concentration will mean that the upcoming hurdle will either come too close or remain too far. This may cost you the race!

A good 400m hurdler has an uncanny ability to have a feel for stride length and stride rhythm. The elite and experienced 400m hurdler knows (about 3 to 4 strides before the approaching hurdle) whether his stepping is correct and whether or not he requires any adjustments (lengthening, shortening or quickening the last couple of strides). This is almost an art form and very difficult to teach, but it usually comes with a lot of practice and even more so with extensive racing experience.

Horizontal and vertical steering of the hurdles requires not just technique but also immense concentration and a high width of attention. As said earlier, a split- second lapse in concentration would mean that the hurdler either comes too close or is too far from the hurdle. To train towards building concentration, coaches sometimes purposely make other runners run in the lane next to the hurdler, so

15 HURDLING ABILITY that the hurdler is disturbed. The aiding runner is instructed to run about a step- in front of the hurdler so as to create the dissonance and the hurdler is asked to ignore the aiding runner’s presence! The 400m hurdles requires not just attention but also focus and attentional narrowing.

400m hurdling, they say, requires the 5 ‘S’ factors of Speed, Stamina, Strength, Suppleness and Skill. In this section, we are discussing the last one i.e. Skill… the skill to horizontally and vertically go over the hurdle. Hurdling skill depends on coordination, which in turn is divided into agility, flexibility, mobility and rhythm. The skill factor in hurdling is extremely vital as hurdling technique in the last 100m of the race will always deteriorate even for the most experienced hurdlers. At that point of extreme fatigue, if your technique is good, then even with a deteriorated technique, you will be able to negotiate the last 3 hurdles with aplomb.

Many coaches believe that to have hurdling technique for the 400m hurdles, the athlete has to sometimes practice and participate in the sprint (110m/100m) hurdles. Research and empirical evidence has indicated that the technique of the sprint hurdler is far superior to that of the 400m hurdler. The formula discussed by me in the Introduction to this book as given by E. Bulaschnik indicates that a 0.10 second improvement in the 110m hurdles timing, allows for a potential improvement of 0.18 second in the 400m Hurdles. Similarly, an improvement of 0.10 second in the 400m flat timing allows the 400m Hurdles timing to drop by 0.06 seconds. We thus see that lowering the 110m hurdles timing (through practice and competition) greatly benefits the 400m hurdler!

Hurdling on the Curves : Hurdling on the curve is fundamentally unnatural and poses various problems especially on the second curve of the 400m hurdles race, when the hurdler is fatigued. This results in stutter-stepping, stumbling, over-striding, loss of rhythm and balance. The cross-bar of the hurdle stays straight whether it is on a straight- way or on the curve. The hurdle cross-bar does not curve with the lane. Therefore, you have a situation wherein you have a straight cross-bar and a curved lane!

Therefore, the question that needs to be addressed is whether the 400m hurdler on the curve, has to lean into the curve like a 400m sprinter would or run straight into the hurdle like a 110m or 100 m hurdler would? Most top hurdling coaches

16 HURDLING ABILITY recommend that latter strategy ie. drive straight into the hurdle the way a sprint hurdler would. The reason for this choice is actually quite straight-forward. If the hurdler clears a hurdle on the curve with his weight leaning sideways (to the left), the way a sprinter runs, then the hurdler is going to land off-balance. This will result in a stumble, loss of stride pattern and rhythm. But on the other hand,if the hurdler does not lean into the curve and goes with the flow of the hurdle rather than the flow of the lane, then he will land a little far from the inner (left) edge of the lane. Therefore, the choice is determined by evaluating whether the hurdler will lose more time by touching down slightly wide on each of the 5 hurdles on the curve or whether the hurdler will lose more time landing off-balance? My personal experience is that landing off-balance causes more time loss than one step a little on the outside part of the lane.

Needless to say, the above mentioned strategy (of not leaning into the curve) is to be applied only for the last 3 or 4 strides before the hurdle on the curve and not to the whole curve!

In other words, the hurdler must run on the curve just like a 400m flat runner ie. hugging the inner (left) edge of the lane and leaning the upper body into the curve, but as the hurdler approaches the hurdle (on the curve), he must drift a little to the middle part of the lane and slightly reduce his lean. This technique will ensure that the hurdler gets the benefit of both ie. maximizing his sprinting and not compromising his hurdling ability over the curve.

More importantly, after touching down, the hurdler must cut back in slightly towards the left and resume his body lean into the curve. However, the hurdler must remember that he must first touch-down before he cuts back in. If the hurdler cuts back in whilst he is still in air then he will again stumble and lose his balance and rhythm upon touch-down.

Similarly, when hurdling on the curve, the hurdler must keep a slightly lower centre of gravity during the hurdle clearance. If the hurdler is too upright, then he will float or sail and lose his forward momentum which will spoil his stride pattern and rhythm. So, the hurdler must instinctively lower his body slightly just before the hurdle on the curve.

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21 Observation Checkpoints for the 400m hurdles Coach : Below are delineated a list of quick observation check points to be observed and appropriately encouraged or discouraged by coaches in connection with the technical aspects of hurdling:

1) Aggressive approach to the hurdle.

2) Hurdling with the knee.

3) Avoidance of sideways or lateral movement.

4) A short last step before the hurdle.

5) Landing on the ball of the foot.

6) At landing, the centre of gravity must be directly and vertically below the body and not in the front or back of the body.

7) Heel must be close to the top of the hurdle.

8) The lead leg must not be fully extended.

9) The trail leg foot’s toe must be cocked up.

10) The lead hand (ie. the hand opposite the lead-leg) must not go past the centre of the body.

11) Proper pull-through movement of the trail leg.

12) No stuttering before the hurdle.

13) Observing technical differences between right and left lead-leg hurdling.

14) A fluent transfer from sprinting into hurdling stride and an equally fluent retransfer to sprinting.

15) Encouraging slight acceleration about 10m before each hurdle.

16) Discouraging leisurely ‘flying over the hurdle’ (which almost looks like a photo-op!). The hurdler who looks like a static photo over the hurdle, may look great, but is actually slow over the hurdle!

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17) Look out for imbalance in sprint action, as that may be responsible for errors during the flight.

18) Ensure that the athlete’s wrists are not flapping down and behind.

19) Ensure that the head and chin of the hurdler is steady and non-jerky and that the hurdler is not looking down.

20) The hurdler must be encouraged to lean into the hurdle with a flat back and he must not hunch the back and shoulders.

21) Similarly, the coach must see to it that the athletes do not lower their chest over the hurdles.

19 Chapter 3

OVERCOMING FEAR OF THE HURDLES

Losers see Barriers Winners see Hurdles - Anonymous -

hurdler who is afraid of the hurdles is like a fish who is afraid of water or A a Formula 1 race driver of speed! There are many athletes, in the athletic pyramid, who have an inherent fear of the hurdles. If such fear is too chronic or deep-seated, it will be very difficult for a coach to put that athlete into the 400m hurdles regime. This ‘Fear Factor’ is very crucial in determining whether a particular athlete will blossom and flourish as a top-notch 400m hurdler.

There are indeed many techniques and tricks that can be employed by the discerning coach to ensure that the fear abates. Following are some suggestions, recommendations and ideas that can be employed to tide over the fear of the hurdle: a) A fundamental view is to ensure that the hurdler has sufficient height. A short hurdler who is also afraid of the hurdles is a recipe for disaster. There is a natural selection process and the event selects the athlete. Hurdlers are usually tall, more so the sprint hurdlers. Michno has reported that up to 1983, only one of the sprint hurdlers was below the height of 1.80m (5’11” ft) out of the then world’s top 50 all-time performances! In fact, he calculated the average height to be a whopping 1.87m (6’2”).

But even the 400m hurdler has to have sufficient height preferably above 5 ft. 10 inches. Kevin Young the current 400m hurdles World Record holder was 6 ft 4 inches tall.

Research by this author of 400m hurdlers indicated that the average height of the 8 finalists at the 2016 Rio Olympics was an astonishing 188 cms (6’2”) with only one athlete (Kenya’s Boniface Tumuti) shorter than 6 feet, at 5’9”.

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Though some short 400m hurdlers have achieved great success including the former Indian record holder (49.51) Joseph Abraham, who was only 5 feet 4 inches tall! b) Practicing over hurdles with reduced height and spacing allows the hurdler to build confidence. c) Another method is to reduce the height of the hurdle and direct the athlete to have very fast runs over the hurdles. When this is achieved, the hurdle height is increased to normal or a little less than normal and the athlete directed to go over it at normal speed. So, the progressive way to go about is:

i) Low height hurdles and normal pace over hurdles.

ii) Low height hurdles and faster pace (faster than race pace) over hurdles.

iii) Slightly higher hurdles (but still lower than normal height) and normal pace over hurdles.

iv) Slightly higher hurdles and faster pace over hurdles.

v) Normal height hurdles with normal pace (race pace).

vi) Normal height hurdles with fast pace.

vii) Higher height hurdles (i.e. higher than normal) with normal pace.

The above-mentioned progression will ease the athlete into the event and if there is any fear of the hurdle, it will naturally wane. d) Many coaches have also tried to break-in the athletes to the hurdles by using foam hurdles. These hurdles have a foam padding and also their toppling force is lesser, thus protecting the shins, ankles and knees of the hurdler and progressively the hurdler can build his confidence. This technique is usually used for sub-junior and junior athletes who are just starting out into hurdling. e) Visualization and imagery is also a tool that the coach can use to remove the fear of the hurdle from the mind of the athlete. This is done by asking the athlete to make or create a mental imprint of the hurdling motion or technique.

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This can also be done by showing the rookie hurdler live demonstration of his senior peers going over the hurdles and also showing videos of elite international hurdlers.

The use of imagery and visualization to go over the hurdles and various segments of the race in the mind of the athlete, allows the athlete to go over various ‘what if ’ situations and variables. These situations, inter alia, would include: withholding the effects of lactic acid, the final 3 hurdles, the start, the weather (wind, heat, cold, rain), various lane draws (specially the first and last lanes), dealing with particular competitors (proverbially fast finishers or fast starters), dealing with competitors who play mind games or sledge and the precise moment of acceleration.

As the visualisation process becomes easier, the hurdler will be able to visualize even whilst doing core physical movement (such as during warm-up). Visualisation allows the athlete to go over the race without actually physically doing the motion and without the attendant risk of injury or fatigue! f) Another rather fundamental method to purge the athlete of any fear of the hurdles is to very progressively get the hurdlers to do hurdle drills. This gives the young or fearful rookie to ‘get to know’ the hurdles and to handle the hurdles. This way, the athlete sheds his fear of the hurdle. g) The coach also needs to reason with the athlete that the hurdle is not a demon. It needs to be emphasized that the hurdle cannot and will not move or attack the hurdler. It is but an inanimate object which cannot bite, scheme, attack, increase in height or shift! This is a very logical and trite thing and almost comical for the coach to articulate, but it imbibes a sense of safety in the apprehensive athlete! h) Last but not the least, it is for the coach to increase the flexibility and range of motion of the athlete. An athlete who is having superior flexibility and stretching will find going over the hurdles that much easier and therefore is a tremendous confidence booster.

Whether a rookie hurdler is fearful of the hurdle is to some extent dependent upon the inner and innate wiring of the hurdler. Some athletes are afraid of the hurdle and have to work towards shedding this fear. Others are naturally

22 OVERCOMING FEAR OF THE HURDLES and innately able to face the hurdles without any real fear even though they have never hurdled before. For example, Sally Gunnell of Great Britain secured a respectable 5th place in the 1988 Seoul Olympics 400m hurdles final, with a timing of 54.03 secs (which actually would have fetched her the Gold at the previous 1984 Los Angeles Olympics) and this Olympic final was only the 9th time she had run the 400m hurdles! This shows both, innate talent and no fear! Not surprising, in the next Olympics in 1992 at Barcelona, she won a Gold in 53.23 secs! But the great Edwin Moses (USA) arguably the best ever 400m hurdler in history, won the Montreal (1976) Olympic Gold in a then World Record time of 47.63 and this was just the second 400m hurdles race of his life! But then Moses was extraordinary… not only did he have no fear of the hurdles but his concentration and consistency was of such calibre that he holds the longest international winning streak of any athlete in any event… 107 races! This almost robotic streak lasted 9 years, 9 months and 9 days!

Hurdle Drills Hurdle drills are not just done by hurdlers but even by other athletes, especially sprinters. The hurdle drills are done by normal athletes mainly in the off-season, but hurdlers do it throughout the year though relatively less in the actual competitive season.

Hurdle drills are various drills, exercises or movements done by an athlete or a hurdler using hurdles... usually 5 or 6 hurdles. The idea behind hurdle drills is to:

a) Improve pelvic and groin strength and mobility. b) Improve hip strength and mobility. c) Imbibe rhythm. d) Trigger the fast-twitch hurdling muscle fibers by doing plyometric movements. e) Eradicate the fear of the hurdles and instill confidence. f) Develop ankle flexion and calf strength. g) Practice and improve lead leg technique. h) Practice and improve trail leg technique. i) Teach the hurdler to stay tall in his movements.

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j) Teach the hurdler to lead with his knee. k) Improve the hurdler’s core (both abs and back muscles). l) Teach the hurdler to remain on the toes and avoid flat-footed movements. m) Improve the overall hurdling technique.

Hurdle drills are usually done with the hurdle height 3 inches lesser/ lower than the hurdler’s competition hurdle height. By hurdle drills we are not referring to the mini hurdle drills which is done on mini or small wire hurdles which are about 6 to 12 inches high. The mini hurdles workouts are basically done to improve stride length and are done as part of the ABC training to improve speed, agility and timing. The hurdle drills that we are referring to here are the drills done with normal competition or training hurdles. Almost invariably, the hurdle drills are done on shoes and rarely on spikes.

As discussed earlier, hurdle drills are a means to an end and not an end in itself. The quantum of hurdle drills must be optimum… normal athletes need to do these perhaps 5 times in a year, whereas 400m hurdlers about a dozen times in a year. The coach and the hurdler must realize that any excessive fixation with hurdle drills is neither warranted nor necessary and may even be counter-productive, in that, the time spent doing the hurdle drills could be better utilised doing real time, real speed, real height hurdling.

So, whilst every hurdler must do hurdle drills and they are extremely useful to the hurdler, the hurdler must not overdo the same. Younger or rookie hurdlers need to do a bit more of hurdle drills but as you graduate into a seasoned hurdler, all you need is to top-up the hurdling drills with a maximum of 10 to 12 sessions annually. Any more is a waste of precious time.

It should suffice to understand that the actual action of hurdling is far more explosive, aggressive, fast and different as compared to the drill work. It is analogous to a warm-up or the ABC drills… without doubt these are essential but the warm- up and ABC drills are only a means to an end. Similarly, the hurdle drills are vital but only at an optimal level… no less, no more!

We delineate below the more important hurdles drills which will help develop the hurdler’s hurdling technique.

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A) Sitting Hurdle Drills 1) Seated Hurdling Motion or Leaners : Sit in the hurdler’s stretch position with the left leg in lead-leg position and right leg bent and take your right hand towards the left leg (extended) toes but keeping more towards the centre of body. Do about 10 repetitions. Then repeat with the right leg in lead-leg position with the left leg bent in hurdle stretch position and take the left hand towards the toes of the extended right leg but keeping it towards the centre of the body. This drill focuses on the arms and the hip flexors.

2) Trail Leg Rip-through : Here the hurdler sits in the classic hurdling position. The lead leg is straightened and the trail leg is bent at a 90 degree angle. Then the trail leg is picked up and placed on the ground with the foot flat and pointing in front and the knee towards the sky. Thereafter the same leg is taken back in the trail leg position. When you move the trail leg ahead, the back hand goes towards your cheek and the front hand goes ripping towards the extended front (lead leg). Do about 5 to 10 repetitions. Then repeat with the other leg. B) Dynamic Hurdle Drills : 1) Hurdle Walk : In the hurdle walk, the athlete performs the full hurdling motion over 5 to 8 hurdles set out about one metre spacing but at a walking pace. The hurdle distance (of one metre) can be slightly adjusted to cognize for the height of the athlete.

The athlete stands about a couple of metres before the first hurdle and starts to walk towards the hurdle He then picks up the lead leg knee very high. Thereafter, he places the lead leg vertically down on the other side of the hurdle. The athlete must ensure that the lead-leg’s lower part (from ankle to knee) should be parallel to the body when it goes over the hurdle and the lower part of the leg should not reach out or extend in front

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of the body. Thereafter, the athlete brings the knee of the trail leg out to the side to a position above hip height with the foot cocked-up to clear the hurdle. The athlete then brings the trail knee across the hurdle. Now, the athlete must, as soon as the trail knee clears the hurdle, bring the knee up and to the front and centre of the body and place the trail-leg vertically down on the other side of the hurdle. Again, the athlete must ensure that the lower part of the leg should not reach out or be extended in front of the body.

The athlete must then repeat the full action across all 6 to 8 hurdles set- up. The athlete must however ensure four things. Firstly, the hips must be kept high throughout the action. Secondly, the athlete must take off being on his toes and not absolutely flat-footed. Thirdly, the athlete must have good and natural range of arm movement without flaying them too much. Fourthly, the height of the hurdle must be 3 inches lower than the usual competition hurdle height of the athlete.

2) Trail Leg Isolation : Here too there must be 5 to 8 hurdles set at a height which is 3 inches lower than the competition hurdle height of the athlete.

The trail-leg isolation drill is designed to develop and improve only the trail leg. This drill must however be done using both the left and the right trail legs, even if the hurdler is leading with the same leg. This is so that there is symmetrical and holistic development of both sides (legs).

This drill can be done either using three strides or just one stride between the hurdles and therefore the hurdles will have to be appropriately spaced.

To perform this drill, the athlete first performs the drill by walking down the side of the flight of hurdles taking only the trailing leg over the hurdle. The lead leg must go just past the side of the hurdle before the trail leg is taken over the hurdle.

Initially, the hurdler must do this drill at walking pace and as he begins to master the movement he must do it at jogging pace and finally at the fast semi-sprint clip. It is important to note that quality of execution of the

26 OVERCOMING FEAR OF THE HURDLES

trail leg motion is more important than mere speed of the drill. Further, like in the hurdle-walk drill, the hips must be kept high throughout the motion. The eyes must be looking ahead at the next hurdle. The arm movement must be in the proper or natural range, neither too constricted nor too wide, with the opposite arm leading the motion.

3) Lead Leg Drill :

This drill is designed to work only the leading leg. Again there are 5 to 8 hurdles set up at 3 inches lower than normal competition hurdle height.

Usually this drill is done using three strides, so that you lead with the same lead-leg in each drill. Needless to say, the athlete must do this drill with both legs, especially if he is a 400m hurdler.

The drill is performed alongside the hurdle and the athlete attacks the hurdle in the normal way except that he only takes the lead leg across it. The trailing leg is taken alongside the hurdle.

Initially, this drill is done at jogging pace but with expertise, it should be done at quasi-sprint speed.

Again, as in the two prior drills, the hips are kept high throughout and the eyes focused on the next upcoming hurdle.

4) Tall Bunny Hops :

In this drill, which develops explosive power and leg strength, about 4 to 8 hurdles (at a height 3 inches lower than competition height) are placed about 1 to 1.25 metres apart depending on the height and experience of the athlete.

The athlete then does a double leg bunny hop over the hurdle using both legs and taking a swing with both his hands in a continuous motion. The tall bunny hops are thus done without the athlete stopping, resting or shuffling after the jump. They are thus done continuously and smoothly one after the other and the last couple of jumps will always be difficult as the hamstrings, calves and especially the hips are tiring.

27 OVERCOMING FEAR OF THE HURDLES

This drill is a bit dangerous, in that, if the athlete is not focussed enough, he may trip over the hurdles, especially after the third or fourth jump. If the coach observes such a risk then he must lower the height of the hurdles by a further 3 inches and make it 6 inches lower than the athlete’s competitive hurdle height.

5) The Sideways Hip Drill :

This is a very common sight at the tracks and is also called Side March Overs and in this drill about 5 to 8 hurdles are placed about a three- fourth of a metre or so apart (depending on the height of the hurdler). The hurdle height is adjusted or rather lowered to at least 3 inches below the hurdler’s competitive height.

The hurdler then goes over the hurdle sideways first in one direction (ie say, using only his left leg to go over) and then in the second set (after some rest) with the other leg (ie right). However, the points to remember are :

a) The whole routine (ie each set) must be done with a good bouncy motion on the toes.

b) The lead leg (side-ways) must be taken with the foot being parallel to the hurdle bar and the ground/track.

c) The trail leg (also sideways) is pulled after the lead leg is over the hurdle bar and the lead leg is on its way down. The trail leg must also have its foot cocked parallel to the hurdle bar/track.

d) After the lead leg (sideways) lands on the track, the athlete must put the tail leg parallel to it and then with a bouncy and shuffling motion reach out again towards the next hurdle in a lateral or sideways motion or direction.

e) At all times in the drill, the athlete must remain tall and on his toes and maintain a good bounce and lead with the knee going high up (but moving in a sideways direction).

28 OVERCOMING FEAR OF THE HURDLES

This drill is excellent for the hips, pelvis and knee thrust. It also develops bounce in the athlete.

6) Trail Leg Circles :

This drill is also sometimes called the Fence Drill. Here a hurdle is placed about a little less than a metre away from a fence or a railing. Then the athlete goes to the side of the hurdle and leans on to the fence or railing with hands extended and yet keeps his body reasonably upright. Then the athlete picks up the leg closer to the hurdle and takes it over the hurdle and in front and without putting the foot down brings it back on the starting position, again ensuring that he does not put it on the ground.

The hips are tall and the foot goes over the hurdle in a straight position with the toes pointing forward and the position of the foot being parallel to the ground / track.

This motion is repeated 6 to 10 times (depending upon the experience and strength of the athlete). Thereafter, the same drill is repeated on the other side of the hurdles with the other leg, as both legs must be simultaneously developed.

In the initial stages, the hurdle height must be 3 inches lower than the hurdler’s competition hurdle height. However, once the athlete becomes adapt at it, the height can be increased to normal competitive height.

7) Wall Drive :

Here a hurdle is placed (usually at the competition height of hurdle) against a fence or a wall. Then the athlete stands about 2 metres away from the wall and drives into the hurdle taking one long step and takes the lead leg over the hurdle and into the fence or wall and recoils and bring the lead leg back onto the track. At the time the lead leg touches the fence / wall, the trail leg is on the track and the foot is on its toes. The lead leg that drives into the wall, firsts touches with the ball of the foot and then the heel. The athlete then backs off a bit and does the same motion 6 to 12 times with the same lead leg.

29 OVERCOMING FEAR OF THE HURDLES

Thereafter, the athlete does the same motion (wall drive) with the other leg.

8) Single Leg Hurdle High Knees :

This drill is also sometimes called the Rain-Dance! Here the athlete places one hurdle on the track at normal competitive height and the athlete does single leg high knees in a rhythmic bouncy motion with a slight body lean and perfect hurdling hands motion.

So, the athlete first starts with, say the left leg and takes his knee up on a hurdle drive position and drives the knee until the foot is above the level of the hurdle cross-bar. The athlete immediately and very speedily brings the foot down and with the same lead leg does the motion. This motion is repeated 6 to 12 times depending upon the experience and strength of the athlete. At no time in the drill, does the athlete touch the hurdle in any way. The hurdle is placed just so that the athlete can get a perfect estimation of the height of the cross-bar. The drill is then repeated with the other leg (which now acts as the lead leg).

This exercise is very good for firing up the hamstrings and glutes and triggering a fast reaction of the leg muscles.

9) Single Leg Walk Over : Here, about 5 to 7 hurdles are placed in a straight line with each hurdle base touching the support legs (what is touching the track) of the hurdles ahead.

Then, the athlete walks over the hurdles in a continuous manner using both legs one after the other. The athlete must be walking tall and be on his toes with proper dorsi flexion of the leg and ensuring a high knee lift and a smooth pass over the hurdle. It is a continuous rhythmic motion and only the lead leg touches the ground between each hurdle and not the trail leg.

10) Double Leg Walk Over : Here the hurdles placement is the same as in the single leg walk over.

30 OVERCOMING FEAR OF THE HURDLES

Now the athlete walks over the hurdle and after landing brings the trail leg and places it parallel to the landed lead leg and then again picks-up the same lead leg and walks over the next hurdle. Thus, in the double leg walk over the hurdler walks over the 5 to 7 hurdles, each time leading with the same lead leg. After completing one set with one lead leg, the athlete must come back to the starting point and do the double leg walk over with the other lead leg. In other words, the athlete will lead and trail with both the legs. The double leg walk over is a good drill for balance, coordination and rhythm for the hurdler. There are some excellent videos on the internet on YouTube on the issue of hurdle drills. Below are the links for a few of them. Studying them will give the coaches and athletes a practical and visual perspective of the various hurdles drills. a) Beginning Hurdles : Tips and Drills by Micheal Wellington. b) Hurdles Drills by Complete Track. c) Advanced Hurdle Drills and Techniques with Jaret Campisi d) Speed Hurdle Training by Aaron King. e) Hurdle Agility Drills & Tips for Great Hurdling by Expert Village f) Trail Leg Drills for Faster Hurdling by Jaret Campisi g) Hurdle Training - Technique Reaction by Tee Reese h) 300 meter Hurdle Drills & Techniques to Improve by Jaret Campisi i) Improve your Hurdling Form and Technique with the “Five Step Drill” by Championship Productions. j) Track & Field Tips : The 1st Hurdle with Dominique Arnold. k) Edwardsville Hurdle Drills by Alec Holler. l) Hurdle Drills by Tim O’Neill m) Track & Field Hurdles drills by Rmasters TV. n) Hurdle Drills : Arm and Hip Flexor Focus by Ernie Clark.

31 Chapter 4

400M HURDLES RACING EXPERIENCE

Every pro was once an amateur. Every expert was once a beginner. - Anonymous -

he 400m hurdles is a tactical race in terms of energy preservation and Tutilization. To some extent the 400m flat is also similar, but the 400m hurdles requires much more pace judgement. If the athlete goes out too fast (compared to his ability) he will pay for it in the end, both in terms of lactic acid build-up and messing up his rhythm. Similarly, if you go out too slow, you will have to do ‘catch- up’ in the last 100m, again leading to a possible mix-up in rhythm and stepping.

It takes an athlete at least 10 races to understand the energy system utilization and pace judgement. Almost invariably, rookie 400m hurdlers even if they are otherwise seasoned 400m or 800m runners, will find the 400m hurdles a hard nut to crack in the last 80m. This is the main reason why inexperienced 400m hurdlers crash or fall on the 9th or 10th hurdles. In fact, even Kevin Young when he established the still-standing 400m hurdles world record of 46.78 at the Stuttgart World Championships in 1993 crashed into the last hurdle, but fortunately did not fall! Apart from the lactic acid build-up, the sheer strain of hurdling 10 times and changing the normal sprint striding, creates and puts lot of pressure on the hip, adductor and back muscles. When these muscles stiffen, they completely change the gait of the athlete and he tends to trip. Usually, it is a lead/front-leg trip which results in a fall or a bad crash.

Therefore, racing experience is crucial in this event. Racing experience is crucial at the 8th hurdle and years of training and racing come into play at this rather crucial moment in the race. The 8th hurdle is unique in a way. It is at this point in the race that the lactic acid formation starts to properly take its effect, this is also the last hurdle on the bend and it is exactly here that the wind directions are likely to change. All this puts technique, rhythm and strength to test. At this mark, all systems are under stress and this is the point in the 400m hurdles race where running ends and racing begins!

32 400M HURDLES RACING EXPERIENCE

Racing experience, imagery and utmost focus and concentration allows the hurdler to have a feeling of comfort and déjà vu. He knows he has gone through this sudden and simultaneous stress on all parameters and survived it in the past (or has learnt from his mistakes!) and is therefore able to ward off any panic and panic there will be! This part of the race (from the 8th to the 10th hurdle) is so difficult on the body, mind and rhythm that the last 3 hurdles are not seen properly and appear blurred due to extreme fatigue. Any mistake at this point will be too late to be rectified. Any panicked attempt or any half-measures without focus or concentration will inevitably result in a disaster. In the finals of the men’s 45+ 400m hurdles at the World Masters Games in Sydney in 2009, the race was absolutely even up to the 8th hurdle with four athletes going virtually neck to neck. Then suddenly all hell broke loose! Terry Baldwin, the Australian national champion crashed into the 8th hurdle and crashed out of the race! Thereafter, Georg Herger, the Swiss naturalized Australian, badly hit the 9th hurdle and twisted mid-air and almost fell! Not to be left behind in the curse of the lactic acid, the Polish champion, Jerzy Krauze, trying to accelerate, lost his rhythm and tripped over the last hurdle and barely survived. This author, while running a steady and ultra-safe last two hurdle clearances, maintained his rhythm and won the gold by sprinting brilliantly to the finish after the last hurdle. This won India the only Gold medal of the Games! It has been observed that to a large extent, 400m hurdles is more of a race with an ego goal orientation rather than a timing-centric time-trial.

Distribution of effort across the full 400m hurdles race is crucial to a good timing and any need to respond effectively in the last 80m of the race. Distribution of effort is a learned and practiced art. It is best learnt in the rough and tumble of competition! The coach must explain to the hurdler that every hurdler (running at the top of his ability) will necessarily lose velocity over the course of the race. When touch down times of rookie as well as world class 400m hurdlers are analyzed, the common thread is the clear increase in the touchdown times. The hurdler must thus ensure that the first half (200m) of the race is run neither too fast nor too slow. This is easier said than done. Racing gives the hurdler a grip on pace judgement and distribution of effort. Optimally, the distribution of effort must be such that there must be no more than a 5% differential between the first and second half of the 400m hurdles race.

33 400M HURDLES RACING EXPERIENCE

Below is a table of ideal or optimal (5%) differential timings for diverse levels of athletes for the first 200m and the final 200m of a 400m hurdles race:

Projected Final Time First 200m (in secs) Final 200m (in secs) (in secs) 47 22.33 24.67 48 22.80 25.20 49 23.28 25.72 50 23.75 26.25 51 24.23 26.77 52 24.70 27.30 53 25.18 27.82 54 25.65 28.35 55 26.13 28.87 56 26.60 29.40 57 27.08 29.92 58 27.55 30.45 59 28.03 30.97 60 28.50 31.50 61 28.98 32.02 62 29.45 32.55 63 29.93 33.07 64 30.40 33.60 65 30.88 34.12

Table 4 : Ideal timings for the first 200m and final 200m of a 400m Hurdles race When touchdown times of even elite 400m hurdlers are analyzed, the deceleration or loss of velocity from quite early in the race is observed. This deceleration is quite different from the drop in velocity in the flat 400m, where the deceleration does not commence until after the half way mark (ie. after 200 to 220m).

Part of the racing experience issue is also the good habit that needs to be cultivated in the athlete that he needs to visit the stadium before-hand ie. preferably a day before and check out the track surface, wind-conditions, registration desk, call room, warm up area, toilets, canteen etc. In the bigger Championship Meets with large participation, the athlete also needs to time himself from the hotel or the Games village to the track and accordingly leave the hotel or Games village on the big day.

34 Chapter 5

SPEED (ALACTIC TRAINING)

The Sprint is like life... blink and you miss it. - Steve Backley -

peed is Stride Frequency x Stride Length. It is how fast a particular distance Sis covered (in seconds). Since the 400m hurdles is run over just 400m, it is essentially a sustained sprint and therefore development of speed, especially over 200m, is crucial. Therefore, speed workouts are paramount to develop basic, pure or top speed.

It is an open secret that it is far easier and possible to develop aerobic and to some extent speed endurance than to develop pure speed; as speed is to a large extent dependent on your muscular make-up in terms of fast-twitch muscle fibre. That is why it is said that sprinters are born and distance runners are made! Whilst this adage is true, it is true only to a limited extent. Whilst it is true that speed is ultimately the greatest limiting factor in any running event especially events that are 800 meters and less, it is absolutely possible to develop speed with proper and sustained training. It is indeed possible to take your speed as close as possible to your body’s natural ability or potential. This requires not only practicing sprints and speed workouts but also honing speed through refinement of running technique, weight training and starting technique.

The speed requirement of a 400m hurdler is not similar to a 100m sprinter and therefore speed over 60m or 100m should not be the target. Instead, the 400m hurdler must endeavor to build a very good speed over 200m to 300m. Despite this, a certain amount of pure speed workouts need to go in, such as flying 60m runs, some standing 40m runs at almost 100% effort and very fast runs of 150 to 200m at 95% to 90% of top 100m speed. The recoveries must be long enough to allow maintenance of speed.

35 SPEED (ALACTIC TRAINING)

More importantly, speed development and sprint workouts must not be merely undertaken in the competitive season but must be addressed throughout the training year.

The importance of speed in the 400m hurdles is most appreciated at the beginning of the race. High speed over the first three hurdles sets up the tempo for the entire race.

Speed, for the purpose of the 400m hurdles has to be developed at two levels viz Pure or Raw Speed and 400m Speed:

1. Pure or Raw Speed Pure speed is the speed over 60 to 80m. These are short bursts with or without flying starts. These must be done throughout the year. If pure speed is high, the racing speed over the 400m hurdles will be high. Many athletes and even coaches fail to understand the importance of pure or top speed over 60 to 80m. They bring an intuitive argument and reason that if the race is run over 400 m and that too over hurdles, you don’t need the athlete to be very fast over 60m. This thinking is completely wrong! The fact is that if your pure speed is high, then you will be able to stay with your competitors over the first 180 to 250m at a lower percentage of your top speed! Thereby, allowing you to be more relaxed and comfortable.

We have seen that the 400m hurdles is essentially a speed race and hurdling is a sprinting action. It seems unbelievable, but is indeed true, that the speed velocities achieved in the 110m sprint hurdles and the 400m hurdles at the elite level are almost the same! To illustrate, Kevin Young in his 400m hurdles World Record (1992) of 46.78 secs had an average velocity of 8.55 m/s; whereas Aries Merritt in his 110m hurdles World Record (2012) of 12.80 secs had an average velocity of 8.59 m/s and Colin Jackson in his then 1993 World Record in the 110m hurdles of 12.91 secs had an average velocity of 8.52 m/s. What this shows, is that speed is at the core of the 400m hurdles and proper and sufficient training inputs must go into the development and maintenance of speed. Speed training is always geared to make the athlete faster. To improve speed, the athlete has to work on triggering the fast twitch fibres in the muscles.

36 SPEED (ALACTIC TRAINING)

Basically, the athlete needs to stimulate or innervate the muscle fibres. There are many ways of stimulating, triggering or innervating muscle fibres. Many a times, speed needs to be increased with ‘artificial help’ such as downhill sprints, using pulling forces such as bands, wind tunnels, flying starts etc. In contrast, the torque in sprinting or what is called ‘sprint power’ can be improved by sprinting with resistance such as uphill sprints, inertia runs, parachute running, and sprints with speed and distance variations. One of the simplest methods of innervation used by athletes is to do the on the spot extremely fast sprinting motion with very less knee lift and a very quick leg turnover.

A quick caveat though, the contrast method is a great innervator, but the use of devices to generate, both faster than sprinting and slower than sprinting action, must be limited, such that bulk of the sprinting done by a sprinter is neither ‘assisted’ nor ‘resisted’. It is, reiterated that the way you train is the way you race. Thus, bulk of a sprinter’s training must be normal sprinting with emphasis on optimal stride length and a fast cadence.

2. 400m Speed: This is again a no brainer! To run the 400m hurdles, one has to cover 400m! So, speed over 400m is both necessary and crucial. A 400m run is a sustained sprint. It is running the 400m at a fast clip but not as fast as the 100m dash.

The 400m speed development gears itself to the athlete’s ability to distribute one’s speed in the most efficient manner over the total racing distance of 400m. Whilst nobody is able to run the 400m in an all-out fashion, having outstanding pure or raw speed can be a tremendous advantage.

Therefore, apart from developing pure or raw speed (ie 60 to 100m), the 400m hurdler needs to also focus on the 300 to 400m speed. Empirical evidence has shown that a good 400m hurdler is a very capable 400m runner and even at the Olympic level most 4 x 400m relay teams will have one athlete who is a 400m hurdler! Such is the power and strength of the hurdler that at the Doha World Athletics Championships in October 2019, the Gold Medal winning US Women’s 4x400m relay team had two hurdlers (Dalilah Muhammad and Sydney Mclaughlin)! At any given level of competition, a good 400m hurdler will be able to impact and hold his own in a 400m flat race.

37 SPEED (ALACTIC TRAINING)

To improve the 400m flat speed, the athlete has to undertake, in training, repeats of 120m to 450m; with a lot of emphasis on runs of 200m to 300m. Time trials over the 300m are the staple diet of 400m runners. We thus note that for the development of 400m speed, the athlete has to have the ability to do very fast 300m runs in training, basically covering the distance without significant lactic acid build-up. Depending on the sex and level of the athlete and his or her conditioning, an athlete running hard, will incur significant lactic acid build-up anywhere between 35 to 40 seconds into the hard run. Thus, the distance of 300m is ideal, as most quality 400m runners will cover this distance of 300m between 32 to 38 seconds and therefore will be working only a couple of seconds into lactic acid build-up. This allows the 400m hurdler to undertake several 300m runs in a training workout and thereby working towards the development of superior 400m speed and coming onto the cusp of speed endurance.

38 Chapter 6

SPEED ENDURANCE (LACTIC TRAINING)

You can’t reduce lactic acid, but you can increase your tolerance to it... but it’s a good idea to match your training bout to the type of dance you do. - Deborah Bull -

n terms of aerobic capacity, the 400m hurdles is equivalent to a flat 600m. IThus, the speed endurance requirement is much more than the flat 400m. A good 400m hurdler should be able to run a very fast 400m flat race and also excel at the 600m. In fact, elite 400m hurdlers consistently run the 4 x 400m relays for their respective countries and are capable of very good timings.

Speed endurance and lactic acid tolerance can be built in various ways. Firstly, the athlete can in training do flat runs over 500m and 600m. This is called over-distance work. Secondly, the special hurdling needs of being able to negotiate the last three hurdles in a state of extreme fatigue has to be cognized and practiced. This may mean doing an over-quantum with the number of hurdles one sometimes negotiates in practice, where the athlete sometimes goes over 12 to 15 hurdles in training. Thirdly, a combination of the two above training regimes may be employed. For example, the athlete runs 300m flat and then hurdles another 200m. The idea is basically to shock your body to endure the specific or special rigors of this event and prepare for the final 100m and the last 3 hurdles. Experienced hurdlers always quip that the 400m hurdles race begins in the home stretch! To endure the fatigue of the final 80m in the 400m hurdles race, the athlete has to prepare for speed-endurance. In speed-endurance training, the athlete incurs a very high oxygen debt and there is a definite lactic acid build-up. During an athlete’s sustained sprinting, lactic acid build-up begins anywhere between 35 to 37 seconds of running at a high intensity, depending upon the level of the athletes, their conditioning, sex and age. Since the 400m hurdles is analogous to a 600m

39 SPEED ENDURANCE (LACTIC TRAINING) flat run, in terms of speed endurance; the speed-endurance requirements are more than that of the 400m flat runner.

There are different ways in which speed-endurance can be built; and to do this, the athlete can do a myriad of distances from 100m to 600m. The number of repetitions is figured by multiplying the aerobic equivalent of the race distance (in our case 600m) 2.5 times. Thus, in the case of the 400m hurdles (aerobically equivalent to 600m) this would be 600m x 2.5 = 1500m. The recovery must be almost full ie. anywhere between 5 to 12 minutes depending on the distance run. This kind of speed endurance work helps develop the lactic acid system to tolerate lactic acid formation in practice.

Following are seven such workouts for elite athletes doing the 400m hurdles, the first three workouts are shorter speed-endurance workouts and the next four are longer speed-endurance workouts:

Speed-endurance Type of Speed- Recovery Workout endurance 15 x 100m 5 minutes recovery Shorter 10 x 150m 6 minutes recovery Shorter 7 x 200m 8 minutes recovery Shorter 5 x 300m 10 minutes recovery Longer 4 x 400m 11 minutes recovery Longer 3 x 500m 12 minutes recovery Longer 2 x 600m 12 minutes recovery Longer

Table 5 : Speed-endurance workouts for the 400m Hurdles

Whilst speed endurance and special (hurdles) endurance (to negotiate the last 3 hurdles) along with speed work are the two major systems that need to be developed by the 400m hurdler; these types of training put immense pressure on the athlete and could lead to burn-out and chronic fatigue. Thus, care must be taken to incorporate easier pure aerobic sessions into the schedule of training to avoid exhaustion. This would include long (and at times easy) runs from 2k to 8k or trail runs! Another method to avoid the long term burn-out due to speed and

40 SPEED ENDURANCE (LACTIC TRAINING) speed endurance workouts is to incorporate a sensible alternate ‘Hard-Easy’ day schedule. Here the coach uses athletic commonsense to alternate a hard running or hurdling session with an easy or easier running session. This is many a times, referred to as a recovery run. Similarly, the coach can give rest to the runner/ hurdler by following a hard running or hurdling workout or a tough race with upper-body weight-training or swimming!

Speed endurance is crucial to the 400m hurdles, as the race requires the athlete to run at high (85-90%) sub-maximal speed for a long distance (400m with 10 hurdles). It is for this reason that it is said that the hurdler must not hurdle in training at sub-maximal speeds of less that 80%. The athlete must simulate race conditions by training at speeds close to the race pace. Only when this is done, will the workouts present physical stresses similar to the race.

It is crucial to understand and remember that too much of aerobic work will result in what is called a ‘middle distance shuffle’; where the athlete runs with a short arm movement, a lower knee pick-up, a mid-foot strike and a relatively feeble drive. Therefore, even in the off-season, the 400m hurdler needs to do limited pure aerobic work and concentrate mainly on speed endurance and some speed work. In fact, many coaches who are from the “sprint lobby”, believe that the 400m hurdler must never do repetitions of more than 600m. I believe that this suggestion is not completely right and whilst there is merit in the adage that too much slow work (over-distance repetitions run at slower pace and with longer recoveries) will produce a slow racer, there must be sufficient pure aerobic work, in the off-season. The coach and athlete have to bear in mind that the aerobic requirement of the 400m hurdles is that of running the flat 600m and the 600m is just below the cusp of middle-distance!

Speed endurance helps in the development of the lactic system which has a 35% weightage or importance in the gamut of running systems required for the 400m hurdles. Now, the lactic acid system or training has two aspects to it; viz. the production of lactic acid and the tolerance of lactic acid. Both these (production and tolerance) are interrelated, but yet have subtly different uses or importance.

41 SPEED ENDURANCE (LACTIC TRAINING) a) Production of lactic acid This aspect of speed endurance or lactic acid training deals with going into the zone of lactic acid ie. to produce lactic acid and run through it with the effects of lactic acid (lack of oxygen and muscle tightness) in your body. Such lactic acid production would be achieved through relatively longer running intervals of 300 to 600m run at about 85% to 75% of top 100m speed. In these, the rest (recovery) between each repeat should be long enough so that the lactic acid is washed away by efflux of time (rest) and the lactic acid is not taken into the next interval (repetition) as far as possible. In other words, after producing the lactic acid, the quality of the next interval must be maintained by taking sufficient rest in between the intervals.

An illustrative example of a ‘production’ lactic acid workout session would be 5 intervals of 300m at about 85% of top 100m speed but with full recovery (about 10 minutes or more). Thus, let us assume that an elite 400m hurdler has a best 100m time of 10.5 seconds. Then he must do each of the above mentioned production lactic acid 300m runs in about 36.24 secs. b) Tolerance of lactic acid Here the aim is to ensure that the lactic acid produced is not allowed to be dissipated or washed away, by ensuring that the recoveries are short. This would mean that the athlete would start the next interval in some amount of oxygen debt and with creatinine phosphate levels still sufficiently present in the blood (and muscles).

Tolerance work is usually done with shorter intervals; mostly 120m to 150m with quicker and shorter rests such as a quick walk back or even a jog back. The idea is to start the next interval before the body has fully recovered and yet endeavor to maintain the required pace over the distance. An illustrative example of a ‘tolerance’ lactic acid session would be 3 sets of 3 x 120m with jog back recovery and about 5 minutes rest between each set.

Lactic acid build-up has to be quickly flushed out of the body, whether during training or racing. There are many ways to do it, but the simplest one is to walk during recoveries between repetitions in training and atleast take a 10 minute walk after every race. Thereafter, some static stretching will ensure

42 SPEED ENDURANCE (LACTIC TRAINING)

that the lactic acid is flushed out. If possible, an ice bath or even a cold-water shower will immensely help in getting rid of the lactic acid toxins from the blood stream.

Lactic acid is that demon that turns legs into lead! During intense running, when oxygen uptake is lower than what is required by the body, lactic acid is formed. Lactic acid is a compound produced when glucose (carbohydrates) is broken down and oxidized. When lactic acid is produced, it in turn produces hydrogen ions and this produces the burning sensation in the muscles, until they are active and in the system.

‘Lactic threshold’ running pace is a hard but manageable pace that forces the body to begin producing considerably more lactate. When you run at lactate threshold pace, over time, your body conditions itself to move the lactate around and tolerate it. This improves future performances at that pace. In other words, to improve your racing, you need to do workouts that increase your lactate-transport potential.

But what is an athlete’s ‘lactate threshold’ pace? There are different formulas, but one which is quite accurate is that it is your 5k race pace plus 20 seconds per mile. Usually, to get benefits from 'lactate threshold' training or what are called tempo runs, the athlete must run at least 20 minutes at the lactate threshold pace and up to a maximum of 40 minutes. For the 400m hurdler, 20 minutes is the right time. Merely doing lactate threshold (tempo) training will not be sufficient for the 400m hurdler as the pace is too slow. Therefore, other more intense workouts to generate and tolerate lactic acid have to be done such as repeats of 600m and 800m.

43 Chapter 7

AEROBIC ENDURANCE (CARDIOVASCULAR TRAINING)

When the aerobic base is fully developed, your body needs much less speed-work to get the same result, which makes training more sustainable. - Zach Bitter -

here is considerable consensus amongst the top researchers and coaches that Tthe proportion of the three energy systems required for the 400m hurdles are as follows:

Sr. No. Energy System Approximate Requirement 1 Alactic or Speed effort 40% to 45% 2 Lactic or Speed-Endurance effort 35% to 40% 3 Aerobic or Cardiovascular Effort 15% to 25%

Table 6 : The 3 Energy Systems for the 400m Hurdles

Thus, there is clarity that speed is the most important single system closely followed by Speed-Endurance and therefore these two combined make up about 75% to 85% of the running energy system requirement. But we must not lose sight of the fact that aerobic strength plays a 15% to 25% role. This is not insignificant.

Aerobic work leads to several positive changes in the cardiovascular function. It leads to a lowered heart rate at rest and increased stroke volume. These changes happen due to what is called cardiac hypertrophy or the actual enlargement of the heart muscle! Cyclists call this having a ‘bigger engine’! Athletes call it... well... the “athlete’s heart”! This enlargement of the heart has been measured to upto a whooping 25% enlargement in triathletes and ultra-distance athletes. But, for the 400m hurdler, an enlargement of even 5% is pretty useful in the last 80m of the race. At the physiological level, what really happens is that the walls of the

44 AEROBIC ENDURANCE (CARDIOVASCULAR TRAINING) ventricles become thicker, this enables the athlete to pump blood with greater force enabling more blood to be pumped with each beat.

The enlarged pump (Heart) also leads to increased capillarization (ie an increase in the number of capillaries in the muscles and around the alveoli) and this ensures that the reverse process of removal of waste products, lactic acid and carbon dioxide takes place with ease. So it is a positive double whammy for the 400m hurdler. A stronger heart sends more oxygen to the muscles and removes toxins quickly. This is worth its weight in gold at the 320m mark of the 400m hurdles race. It for this reason that the 400m hurdler must not avoid aerobic work.

We have observed time and again in the 400m hurdles, that athletes are habitually swallowed by pursuers in the last 60m of the race. It is at this point in the race where your aerobic strength kicks in. It is indeed trite to note that the Gold is awarded to the athlete who finishes first and that there are no prizes for the one leading the race! To finish first, will require the right levels of aerobic base. Any 400m hurdler who completely ignores development of the aerobic system will pay heavily in the final 60m of the race.

The aerobic base is mainly built in the off-season. In India, that is from May to July; whereas in Europe and the USA, it is in the winters, from December to February.

The conventional method of aerobic training for the 400m hurdler is the long-run; whether on the road, track, cross-country or beach of up to 8 km. but never more than 10 km. Apart from these long runs, which must not be undertaken (even in the off-season) more than once a week, the 400m hurdler must do tempo runs of up to 4-5 kms. The long run benefits the cardiovascular system, whereas the tempo runs improve the maximum oxygen uptake.

The last method to develop the aerobic system apart from the long and tempo runs is to do long intervals with short recoveries (rest) such as repeats of 1600m, 1000m, 800m and 600m and 20 minute fartleks. The emphasis in the off-season phase is to go for quantum of repetitions rather than speed or speed endurance and the aerobic work needs to be done at less than 60% of top 100m speed for repetitions of 600m and less than 50% of top 100m speed for repetitions of 1000m and thereabouts. Let us take three hypothetical examples:

45 AEROBIC ENDURANCE (CARDIOVASCULAR TRAINING)

1. An elite 400m hurdler has a best of 10.5 sec for the 100m. He must endeavor to do repeats (say 4 repeats) of the 600m as off-season aerobic training at about 1:45

2. An intermediate level 400m hurdler has a best of 12 secs for the 100m. He must do repeats (say 4 repeats) of the 600m as off-season aerobic training at about 2:00.

3. An entry level 400m hurdler has a best of 13.5 secs for the 100m. He must do repeats (say 4 repeats) of the 600m as off-season aerobic training at about 2:15.

46 Chapter 8

RHYTHM AND THE 400M HURDLES

Get rhythm when you get the blues. - Johnny Cash -

n athlete has finite reserves of endurance, strength, speed and ability to Atolerate lactic acid build-up. Research and empirical evidence has shown that a steady rhythm and an even race will normally yield the best timings.

In a sense, the 400m hurdles race is a rhythm-breaker! Unlike running events from 800m to the Marathon which can be run almost at a consistent pace and rhythm, the 400m hurdles cannot be! The start itself and going over the 10 hurdles, necessarily breaks the hurdler’s rhythm. Before each hurdle, the hurdler will naturally and instinctively slow down. Thereafter, when the hurdler sails over the hurdle, he has no contact with the ground and is floating through and so again the rhythm is disturbed. Thereafter, on landing, after clearing the hurdle, the hurdler has to get back into running form from hurdling. Here again, the rhythm goes for a toss.

We thus see that by the very nature of the event, the 400m hurdles is a rhythm- breaker. The athlete must thus work over time, both in practice and in races to ensure that the race is as rhythmic and even as is possible. Therefore, the prime focus of the elite 400m hurdler is to establish a pre-determined and much practiced stride pattern both from the blocks to the first hurdle and then between each successive hurdle.

To add insult to injury and make the rhythm go haywire, as the race progresses, (especially after the half-way point), the hurdler begins to tire and there is a perceivable build-up of lactic acid and also the strength (both maximal and core) begins to slowly wane even in the most elite of athletes. The net result of all this is that the hurdler is not able to sustain the same number of steps between the hurdles. Thus, if a particular hurdler, given his specific height and training, takes 15 steps between hurdles, he will now fall short and will have to take 16 steps.

47 RHYTHM AND THE 400M HURDLES

This again breaks the rhythm, but more importantly, it brings forth another dimension or problem which psychologically irks most 400m hurdlers. If you have to drop down from 15 strides to 16 strides, it necessarily means that you must have the ability to hurdle with either leg! Most non-elite hurdlers hurdle with one leg only and therefore at the transition, they cannot drop-down from 15 strides to 16 strides but will have to ‘chop-down’ to 17 strides! This chopping process not only costs the hurdler precious micro seconds each time he chops-down, but severely breaks the rhythm which is anathema to the event.

The ability to distribute speed and energies in the most economical and efficient manner over the complete race distance is the primary aim of the 400m hurdler. Rhythm is important as it helps in avoiding too much tension and stiffness in running style in the last 150m of the race. One of the flaws of stuttering or shuffling before each hurdle is that it in turn leads to greater fatigue and loss of rhythm and performance.

Rhythm can also be affected due to bad hurdling technique. When fatigue sets in at the 300m mark and the hurdler’s technique is also bad, that is when there is a chaos and disruption. A fatigued hurdler with bad hurdling technique tends to either hurdle too high (ie. jumping) or too low (ie. hitting the hurdle) and either of these cause utter loss of rhythm and the latter can also lead to a fall.

The rhythm in the 400m Hurdles is to a large extent determined by the stride pattern, change-over of strides and the athlete’s conditioning (ability to handle the onslaught of lactic acid induced fatigue).

Most optimally (and in most cases, this is almost wishful thinking), the ideal stride pattern should be a consistent pattern of odd number of steps between all the hurdles such as 13, 15, 17 or 19 steps all the way. This has the advantage of allowing the athlete to use the same ‘left’ lead leg throughout the race. Edwin Moses, arguably the best 400m hurdler in the history of the event, took 13 steps throughout and therefore hurdled only with the left lead leg and did not require any changeover. But then, Moses, as we know, was an exceptional hurdler, the likes of which the world has not yet seen again… except perhaps Kevin Young who is the current World Record holder. A 400m hurdler who leads all through with the left leg is running closer to the inner curve of his lane and will gain about two metres over his opponent who leads entirely with the right leg.

48 RHYTHM AND THE 400M HURDLES

However, this may not always be possible. The athlete may be uncomfortable with hurdling with the ‘left’ lead leg. More probably, even if the athlete can lead with his left leg, he may at some point in time in the race (depending upon his or her height, flexibility, muscular strength and conditioning), be unable to maintain the above recommended odd number of stride pattern (13, 15, 17 or 19 steps) and his or her stride length will shorten a bit. This will necessitate a transition or a changeover to more number of strides between the hurdles. Thus, 13 strides may become 14 strides and 15 strides could go to 16 strides or 17 strides would increase to 18 strides. But then, as explained earlier, the transition or change over from 13 to 14 or 15 to 16 and 17 to 18 strides ie. from odd to even number of strides, would mean that the hurdler now has to hurdle with his right leg.

Again, this may not always be possible. The athlete may be unable to or uncomfortable (physically or psychologically) to use the right leg as the lead leg. In such a situation, the athlete will have to drop from an odd stride pattern to the next higher odd stride pattern. Thus, the hurdler will have to transit or changeover from 13 to 15 strides or 15 to 17 strides or 17 to 19 strides and so on. Again, this will mean that the athlete will have to chop his stride because in reality and in a physical sense he will drop from 13 to 14 strides, but because he cannot hurdle with the right lead leg, he will have to shuffle, such that he goes from 13 to 15 strides. This shuffle (which normally has to be done just once, at the time of the changeover) will break the rhythm and momentum and negatively affect the timing.

The athlete with poorer conditioning and aerobic endurance or a shorter athlete in the 400m hurdles will have to make the changeover or transition earlier in the race than an athlete who is aerobically fitter and whose speed endurance is good or who is perhaps taller. It is important to note (especially for the coaches), that the changeover or transition in the stride pattern should be initiated before the hurdler is engulfed by fatigue due to lactic acid build-up. All this is predetermined in practice and fine-tuned over unimportant races. If the athlete takes himself to the brink of his fatigue and then decides to change his stride pattern, then he would have entered the dark and gory zone of the lactic acid cave. Such behavior would lead to an immediate and drastic loss in rhythm and running strength. For elite Olympic level 400m hurdlers, the changeover, if it takes place, happens after the 7th hurdle. It needs to be reiterated that there are elite hurdlers who indeed can

49 RHYTHM AND THE 400M HURDLES hurdle with the same odd number of stride pattern throughout the 400m hurdles race, especially the 15 strides pattern. The transition or changeover happens in the following forms : i) The single changeover At the highest international level, this is the preferred transition or changeover. Here, the hurdler transits from an odd lead leg pattern of 13, 15 or 17 strides to an even lead leg pattern of 14, 16 or 18 strides respectively. In this type of changeover, the best is the odd number of strides with the left lead leg up to the 7th hurdle and the last 3 hurdles with an even number of strides such that the 8th hurdle will be with right lead leg, the 9th hurdle with the left lead leg and the final hurdle again with the right lead leg. So, the hurdler has predominantly (8 times) used the left lead leg and the right lead leg only 2 times. Thus, after the 7th hurdle, the hurdler continues the new (changed) stride pattern till the end of the race. Thus, there is a single changeover and the athlete does not again have to do a changeover. However, this necessitates that the athlete be able to hurdle with either leg with facility. Thus, a typical single changeover stride pattern would be 15 steps up to 7th hurdle and then 16 steps for the 8th, 9th and 10th hurdles. ii) The double changeover In this type of changeover, the hurdler who is taking odd number of steps between hurdles (such as 13, 15 or 17 strides) would change the stride pattern to an even one (14, 16 or 18 strides respectively) and then go back to an odd stride pattern of say 15, 17 or 19 respectively. So, in this case, the changeover happens twice and progressively the hurdler goes from odd to even to odd stride pattern with one increasing step per transition.

Thus, a typical double changeover stride pattern would be 13 steps up to and including the 5th hurdle and then transiting to 14 steps for hurdles 6, 7 and 8 and then again changing over, this time to 15 steps for the last two hurdles. So, in our example above, the hurdler goes with a 13-step stride pattern up to and including the 5th hurdle, all with the left lead leg. Then, he takes 14 steps for the 6th hurdle, going over with his right lead leg. Then he again takes 14 steps for the 7th hurdle, going over with his left lead leg. Thereafter,

50 RHYTHM AND THE 400M HURDLES

the hurdler again takes 14 steps for the 8th hurdle, going over with his right lead leg. At this point, the hurdler does the second changeover and takes 15 steps for the 9th hurdle with his right lead leg and finally, again takes 15 steps for the final hurdle with his right lead leg. Thus, in our example, the athlete hurdles 6 times (1, 2, 3, 4, 5 & 7 hurdle) with the left lead leg and 4 times (6, 8, 9 & 10 hurdle) with the right lead leg.

Some elite athletes, especially those who are shorter than 5 feet 7 inches, employ the double changeover. iii) The ‘big shuffle’ changeover This type of changeover or transition is used by relatively inexperienced 400m hurdlers and by those who are unable to hurdle with either leg. Here the hurdler goes directly from an odd stride pattern (13, 15 or 17 strides) and drops in one transition to the very same (odd) stride pattern but by 2 more steps! Therefore, the athlete transits from 15 to 17 steps at one point in the race. Usually, this is after the 6th hurdle. Thus, a typical ‘big shuffle’ changeover stride pattern would be 15 steps up to and including the 6th hurdle and then taking a big shuffle or chop down to 17 steps for the 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th hurdles.

The disadvantage of this type of changeover is that immediately at the transition, that is at the 6th hurdle (as is the example given above), the stride length will have to be drastically shortened from about 8 feet to 7 feet.

This type of changeover is usually not recommended by coaches at the elite level but the ‘big shuffle’ or chop down is popular at the lower levels of competition (400m hurdles races above 53 seconds for men and 57 seconds for women). iv) The ‘free bird’ changeover This is a very rarely used and even rarely encouraged stride pattern for the 400m hurdles at the international level. In a sense, it is dangerous and will require extreme ambidextrous hurdling ability with an uncanny eye-leg coordination and very good reflexes.

The ‘free bird’ as the name suggests, entails running without any predetermined stride pattern and changing over as and when required but keeping to the

51 RHYTHM AND THE 400M HURDLES

rhythm. Thus, in the ‘free bird’, the hurdler hurdles over with whatever is the suitable lead leg, making split-second and last moment decision whether to hurdle with the left or right lead leg!

The danger in this type of free-flowing stride pattern is that if there is the slightest hesitation or indecision on part of the hurdler or the slightest loss of concentration or confusion, the hurdler will crash into the hurdle, perhaps tripping over with the lead leg.

Coaches are not in favour of this ‘open’ stride pattern, as they argue, that if an athlete is so ambidextrous and is able to hurdle with either leg with fluency and facility, then instead of taking chance at every hurdle, it is better to ask the athlete to follow the ‘single changeover’ stride pattern or the ‘double changeover’ stride pattern.

The only type of athletes who can consistently pull off the ‘free bird’ are those who are naturally good at hurdling but who run the 400m hurdles occasionally and as a second event with their main event mostly being the 400m flat. If executed properly and without fear, the only advantage of the ‘free-bird’ is that it is very rhythm-friendly.

Adjustments to Rhythm We have seen that rhythm is dependent on the judicious practice and selection of the correct or optimum stride pattern. However, there are many other variables such as type of the track, wind conditions, wet surface, rain, a minor injury (affecting the stride pattern such as a sore glute or hamstring) etc. which could put a pre- determined and pre-practiced stride pattern a bit in disarray. This would lead to a situation where the 400m hurdler will have to make adjustments. Now, whenever the hurdler has to make these adjustments, he has to make them well in advance, perhaps 3 to 4 strides before the approaching hurdle. Minor step adjustments can be made by the hurdler moving slightly in or out in the lane on the turn. These adjustments would mean that the hurdler ‘chops’, ‘shuffles’ or ‘reaches’ (longer last stride) before the hurdle or goes a little wide onto the right side of his track. All this requires a split-second analysis and decision and this is where experience matters, especially true-blue racing experience.

52 RHYTHM AND THE 400M HURDLES

When a hurdler is steeped in 400m hurdles racing and has got more than 30 races below his belt, he develops an intuitive depth perception of where the hurdle is positioned and is able to seamlessly make the required adjustments. It is both intuitive and learned! The adjustment of stride length and stride frequency is first done at the sub-conscious level and then done physically before the approaching hurdle with as little loss of velocity and rhythm as possible.

In the table below, we capture the correlation between the stride length required to be taken between hurdles from 12 to 21 strides.

Strides between each hurdle Average stride length required (Assumed distance = 32m) (in inches) (in feet) (in mtrs) 12 (104.987) (8’9”) (2.66) 13 (96.911) (8’1”) (2.46) 14 (89.988) (7’6”) (2.29) 15 (83.986) (7’0”) (2.13) 16 (78.740) (6’7”) (2.00) 17 (74.108) (6’2”) (1.88) 18 (69.991) (5’10”) (1.78) 19 (66.307) (5’6”) (1.68) 20 (62.992) (5’3”) (1.60) 21 (59.992) (5’0”) (1.52)

Table 7 : Number of strides between hurdles and stride length

The Table 7 is not a simplistic version of dividing the distance between each hurdle (ie. 35m) by whatever is the number of strides (from 12 to 21). This is because the distance between landing after one hurdle and take off before the next is approximately 32m. In other words, an elite and tall male international athlete in perfect conditions, is ‘in air’ for about 3m (9’10”). Thus, the strides between each hurdle are being calculated for a notional 32 m rather than 35 m. Needless to say, individual non-elite hurdlers may be ‘in air’ for perhaps less than the assumed 3m, given their age, sex, general or current fitness, height, velocity, hurdling technique, leg length, weather and track conditions etc.

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To conclude, I reiterate that rhythm is the strong regular repeated pattern of movement in running. It is that pace which a given athlete can run almost at his body’s limits but within his known capacity. In a sense, rhythm is a relatively steadier state of running. When we talk of running rhythm for the 400m hurdles, we are talking about maintaining a fast but steady run not only between hurdles but also over the hurdles. Winfried Vonstein in his informative article ‘Technical Development of Junior 400m Hurdlers’ states: “Unnatural stride rhythms, such as over- striding or strongly reduced strides, will never lead to optimal speed or to high level performance.”

One way the coach can help 400m hurdlers with their rhythm is to always tell them that in practice the athlete must always run an extra 10m after the last hurdle. Thus, if in a particular workout, the hurdler is doing 2 hurdles, then the hurdler must go over the second hurdle and then continue the run after the clearance without any break in rhythm for another 10m. A coach must never allow the athlete to finish any hurdle repetition just after the hurdle but must encourage and exhort him to go that extra 10m every time!

54 Chapter 9

TRAINING PSYCHOLOGY

The training is done. The work is in the legs. You’ve eaten right and rested well . But your head can make or break everything. Don’t neglect it! - Joanna Rowsell Shand, MBE - (Double Olympic Gold Medalist and World Champion Cyclist)

here are no two ways about the requirement that any sportsperson has to have Tan aggressive mental attitude and a competitive spirit. It is indeed a no brainer. However, some sports and some positions within specific sports require greater degrees of aggression and competitive fervor. For example, we have observed that fast bowlers are far more aggressive, engaging and competitive than spinners. Trekkers are far less aggressive than artificial-wall rock climbers and sprinters more firebrand than marathoners.

Seen in this perspective, hurdling is an event that requires a very aggressive mental make-up when the athlete is on the track. His levels of concentration and the power he has to generate to execute the difficult hurdling motion requires an almost uncanny disdain and aggression to negotiate the ten barriers. The levels of motivation, determination and mental toughness required both to practice and race over the hurdles is top notch and a good coach sniffs around to get a whiff of these attributes.

Due to the high intensity of the 400m hurdles, both in practice and in races, it is both physically and mentally stressful. This necessitates great emotional stability to put up with the immense physical and mental pressure. However, there are many athletes who thrive on and enjoy pressure and look forward to training hard. In such cases, the rigor of the 400m hurdles is actually enjoyed by the athlete and this makes their chance of success very high. This success, in turn leads to enjoyment and the increased enjoyment, results in an even greater success! Thus, the spiral upwards and the progression continues.

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Hurdling, whether of the sprint variety or the 400m hurdles, requires belief and more specifically, self-belief. It requires an aggressive attitude and an almost cocky belief that you are unbeatable. Once the technical skills are mastered, the hurdles event allows for complete domination by an athlete or nation. We know the heroics of Edwin Moses who won 107 straight 400m hurdles races and the almost uncanny domination of the USA over the past 118 years at the Olympics. At one point in time, the USA got all 3 medals (Gold, Silver, Bronze) for 4 straight Olympics: London (1948), Helsinki (1952), Melbourne (1956) and Rome (1960) in the Men’s sprint hurdles. This was won over and above 4 other similar prior clean slates in the Olympics at Paris (1900), St Louis (1904), London (1908) and Stockholm (1912) where the USA won all 3 medals!

Ask any elite sportsperson or top coach and the consistently recurring quip is that at the highest level, there is not much to differentiate between competitors at the physical level.The true differentiator is the mental strength and outlook of the sportsperson. The physical or technical skills required for a particular event or sport, will all almost certainly be possessed by each of the top athletes. The dimension that separates the Champion or a consistent Champion from the good athlete is the mind of the champion in training, victories, injuries and defeats. The physicality is the same, but the paradigm that makes the big difference is the attitude, motivation and the hunger of the Champion. The disciplined mind is what differentiates athletes with similar physical skills.

They say, that mental toughness cannot be taught and that strength of character is inborn. This is only partially true. Yes, no doubt some humans (like some animals) are innately grittier and mentally tougher than others. But it is not that this mental aspect of training cannot be developed, built and honed. It is indeed the role and duty of the coach to ensure that the athlete is mentally as strong as he or she possibly can be. Many a times, this necessitates the use of the positive sandwich approach by the coach.

Reams and reams have been written on training psychology and mental aspects of sports and training. But one of the most incisive and influential work is Dr. Jim Afremow’s magnum opus ‘The Champion’s Mind’. Every coach and athlete must read, digest and operationalize this wonderful work. I synopsize below, this almost 300-page work on the mind, mentality, aggression and training psychology

56 TRAINING PSYCHOLOGY of the athlete and weave it with other similar concepts and ideation and present to the readers a pot-pourri of 31 important concepts.

1) Mental Development and Strength Mind is what makes everything else work. The mind controls the body. Practice is not about going through the motions with your body while your mind and spirit reside elsewhere. Mental dexterity must be practiced and developed in a planned and purposeful manner. You have to prepare physically and mentally. By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail. Every athlete has a hidden inner potential to tap into, in order to unleash his inner champion. Champions aren’t just made in gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them – a desire, a dream, a vision. You must see yourself as a Champion. Mentally break all bad habits. Train your mind like you train your body. Mental toughness is the ability to remain positive and proactive in the most adverse of circumstances. Mental toughness is built by doing the thing that is hard, over and over again, especially when you don’t feel like doing it.

The mind is crucial. Hard training is nothing more than a series of arguments between the part of your brain that wants to stop and the part that wants to keep going. It is the mind that propels an athlete to do today what others won’t, so that tomorrow he can do what others can’t! The body achieves what the mind believes! The mind reminds the athlete that the voice in his head that says that he can’t do it is a liar!

2) Staying Focused Excellence can be achieved only today… not yesterday or tomorrow.

Stay focused. A Champion is a Now-ist! A distracted athlete is a defeated athlete. The non-medalist says “One day, I will”, whereas the gold medalist does it and says, “Today, I did”. Do it. Then say it.

3) Do not Panic Panic is when an athlete or sportsperson thinks too little. It is a reversion to instinct. It is like a boxer swinging mindlessly or the ‘rush of blood’ of a cricketer. In the 400m hurdles it may manifest itself in an unnecessary fast first half of the race or attacking at an inopportune time. Panic is not an

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option for a Champion. Go from panicky to pumped! Always breathe deeply. Be steady and be cool, calm and collected.

4) Self-Discipline Use the phrase “Think Gold and Never Settle for Silver” as your mantra for self- discipline during moments when discipline is absolutely required. But more importantly, it is about leading a gold-medal life and enjoying the journey to the Gold. Organize your life around your dreams… and watch them come true. Realise that a sportsperson’s impact goes beyond his performance. Lead by example, on and off the field... and this includes sportsmanship.

5) Proper Time Management Time management is priority management. Make good choices regarding how you invest your time, energy and resources. Time is scarce and limited as rest / sleep also have to be sufficiently incorporated. Therefore, management and distribution of training effort and the type of training juxtaposed with rest is a challenge for the athlete.

6) Enjoyment and Humour Mentally, enjoy your training. Enjoyment and humour are the best sports medicine. Finding humour in difficult situations is the best way to reduce unnecessary stress. Maintain a boundless sense of humour and develop a paratelic-dominant orientation. 7) Planning and Goal Setting Schedule the right number of daily challenges. An unrealistic plan is a self- defeating plan. Develop a vision for success and start enthusiastically about pursuing it. A Champion has to possess sustained obsession. The obsession bit is not so hard but keeping it sustained is a tough nut to crack. Set tough but realistic goals. Think it, then ink it. Train with purpose and passion. A champion is a believer of the theory of planned behavior. 8) Positive Relationships It is said that an athlete is most alive when he or she is in love! It is a state of emotional affairs when the reality is better than the dreams! Love and

58 TRAINING PSYCHOLOGY

positive relationships rekindle the zest to train hard. Love makes the tough training ride worthwhile. Build positive and productive relationships. These bring peace of mind and a sense of calm. A peaceful athlete is unstoppable.

9) Be Organised Organize to synchronize. An organized athlete is vastly efficient and at peace. Aristotle had quipped: “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then is not an act, but a habit.”An organized athlete is in far greater control of his emotions and game. Organizing your affairs is a practice and not a project. Benjamin Franklin put it superbly when he opined that for every minute spent in organizing, an hour is earned!

10) The No-Excuse Rule Great champions invite feedback from others as opposed to blocking criticism. Always share credit and accept blame. A champion adheres to a no-excuse rule. He is accountable for who he becomes and never blames others. He takes 100% responsibility for his success and failures and never indulges in self-serving hypothesis.

11) Visualization Visualize to actualize. See first with your mind, then with your eyes, and finally with your body. Visualization involves the use of imagery, mental practice and pictorialism. A Champion consistently practices re-creation of a situation and engages all his senses including sight, smell, audio and tactile. It is the complete mental rehearsal or recreation of the feelings of performing a sporting skill. Visualization is effective as it helps develop the neural pathways between the brain and the muscles. It imbibes a sense of déjà vu and the athlete has a greater likelihood of producing a positive performance as he has practiced it and been there a hundred times, so there is no mental shock associated with the tough competitive performance.

12) Correct your Mistakes and Forget them Every athlete has a bad day. During and after competition, we must quickly forget mistakes. Every athlete will fumble someday. The Champion fumbles

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and forgets. Don’t take your mistakes into the next competition. The athlete must proactively learn to think of failure as short lived…soon to be replaced with success.

Everyone loses, but a champion does not dwell on his or her defeats. Enjoy the defeat and introspect and then scrub the memory of the defeat or it will haunt you prejudicially. Doing this… an act of detachment, will lighten your load. Do not carry burdens that you need to leave behind, otherwise you will enter the negative world of learned helplessness. 13) Anxiety Management All athletes feel anxious before and during competition. But the champion gets his butterflies to fly in formation! Nerves are natural, but one has to ally with anxiety. Anxiety shapes you up and sharpens your focus…but only moderate amount of anxiety. Too much anxiety is an impediment. Anger is our instinctive defense against feeling scared… however, a little anger can provide pleasure, power, motivation and relief from anxiety. Rage takes energy and wastes the athlete’s adrenaline.

14) Have a Growth Mindset : A winning performance is greatly dependent on a growth mindset or attitude. A person’s mindset or attitude can be either fixed or growth oriented. An athlete with a fixed mindset fundamentally believes that performance is based upon innate talent. Whereas, an athlete with a growth mindset unflinchingly believes that performance is a result of the quantum of quality effort, training and practice that an athlete devotes to his craft.

Simon Rea in his influential book Sports Science explains that the coach must imbibe and the athlete must aim to achieve a growth attitude. In the case of an athlete with a fixed mindset, intelligence remains stable, whereas in an athlete with a growth orientation, the intelligence is developed and grows. An athlete with a fixed mindset is a drifter, he avoids challenges, gives up easily, ignores feedback and feels threatened by others’ success. On the other hand, the athlete with growth attitude is a climber, he embraces challenges, persists despite setbacks, encourages and learns from criticism and learns from the success of other people, including his opponents!

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The winning edge of a champion comes with hard work and imbibing new skills and for that to happen, the athlete must possess a growth orientation.

15) Positive Body Language Always (in training and competition) maintain a positive body language. This requires a positive, aggressive and perceptive mental approach. Body language is the non-verbal communication that consists of postures, gestures, facial expressions and eye movements that reveal your thoughts and feelings to others. Warriors don’t slouch in battle… neither do Champion athletes. A positive body language sends shivers up the competitors’ spines!

A positive or upbeat body language involves smiling, chin-up, chest out, standing tall and walking strong! When you have a positive body language, you are sending a fearsome message that I am trained, rested and ready! The positive body language is a result of a positive mental make-up and is a learned and practiced art. Carry yourself as a Champion. A positive body language is all about self-presentation, impression construction and impression management.

16) Subtle Gamesmanship Taking forward from a positive and confident body language is the art of subtle gamesmanship. The most important is the word ‘subtle’. If gamesmanship is overt, direct, crude or rude… then it will not have the desired result… which is to unnerve the competition and terrorize them. There are many ways this can be done, including but not limited to no eye contact, a special warm-up or flexibility routine, making the opposition wait, smiling, dressing for success, giving ones BEST (Body Language, Eye Contact (or lack of it), Speech & Tone of voice) 17) Be Prepared to Fail Play to win. Playing so as not to lose is rooted in fear. You cannot win at everything, you must be prepared to fail to get to glory. It is ok to fail, as long as you don’t give up. Think big, play bigger. Dare to be great… whatever it takes. A champion athlete is always willing to fail. If an athlete is not willing to fail, he will fail to be creative and will also not take measured risks in training and competition. In short, if an athlete is not willing to fail, then he is not

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ready to succeed! You won’t know your full potential until you have pushed past the point of failure.

18) Leaving Outside Life, Outside!

Don’t mix your outside life with your sports life. Leave the outside, outside. An athlete must have the ability to switch off the outside world (such as parent’s divorce, death in the family, relationship breakup, financial difficulties, homesickness, academic achievement etc.) when he is training and competing. Similarly, after performing, the athlete must switch off and go into a non- sports mode. So that you do not end up taking your game or training home. When an athlete is not training or competing, he must be relaxed and tension- free. Tension is who you think you should be. Relaxation is who you are.

19) Simplicity

Athletes must believe in and practice a variant of the KISS principle – Keep It Simple and Straightforward. Do not complicate your training and/or your competition strategies. Simplicity is supreme. Do not over-analyze or over-load your mind. Keep it simple, clear and powerful.

20) Positive Self-Talk

An athlete has to engage in self-talk, as only he knows himself the best. You must be your own inner fair critic. When an athlete engages in self-talk, he is able to improvise, adapt and overcome. Positive self-talk can allow the athlete to handle even the toughest situations. Self-talk also allows the athlete to mentally have contingency plans, so that when the unexpected things occur, the athlete won’t be shocked or unnerved. Self-talk allows the athlete to be flexible to deal with unplanned events. At the extreme end of the spectrum, self-talk can lead to a state of mind wherein the athlete blanks out negativity and only thinks success oriented positive thought.

21) Avoiding Paralysis by Analysis

The athlete must approach his craft in as perfect and professional a manner as possible. However, the coach and the athlete must avoid the perils of over-perfectionism and survive the ‘paralysis-by-analysis’ syndrome. An

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unnecessary and unfounded pursuit of perfectionism leads to underperforming by overthinking. The athlete must be his own toughest rival but he must not defeat himself! Some of the greatest mental errors that sportsmen make are overemphasizing the outcome, trying too much and tracking the negative. Don’t lose the game before you play it.

22) Only Defeats Teach You cannot learn responsibility until you see and analyze the effects of your negligence. Failure is a great teacher. Only defeats teach us… not victories. So, learn from your mistakes. Thus, the athlete has to focus on moving forward rather than delving upon the mistake. Quickly analyse the mistake and find solutions… then move on to your winning ways! And yes, don’t be too proud to seek and get help. Once you learn from failures, you win even when you lose! Malcolm X has put it so pithily when he said that every loss, every heartbreak, every defeat contains its own lesson on how to improve your performance the next time.

23) Variety in Training Infuse variety in your training. This will keep workouts fun and fresh. But to infuse variety, the athlete must internally accept and believe that variating his training and doing cross-training will help his cause.

24) Maintain a Training Log An important part of the training psychology is to keep an exercise log and a workout calendar. An athlete must be able to go back in time to see what he did that gave him certain results as well as to discern about his injuries, pain and illnesses.

25) Smartly Managing Pain and Injuries Sports training is almost always painful… especially at your body’s limits. Pain management is an important component of an athlete’s preparation. The athlete has to be wise and sagacious. He has to be able to differentiate between non-injury pain and injuries. The usual soreness, tiredness, discomfort is to be handled as a professional inevitability and the actual pain due to injuries have to be dealt with medically. Athletes, thus require a mental make-up of enjoying the

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‘suffer-fest’. This requires a lot of self-reflection and introspection…analogous to the humble dog who licks his wounds to be strong again. Another aspect of pain management is the use of hypnosis and self-hypnosis to alleviate pain and improve healing. Injuries introduce an athlete to himself! Use your head when you are injured. It is foolish to act tough when you are injured (in a medical sense). Recovering from injuries after reflecting upon them, makes an athlete mature. Bouncing back to health and the winning ways is a mental art. An injured athlete has to find ways of mentally spinning a negative (injury) into a positive. Funnily, many a times, the forced rest that the athlete takes due to the injury, strengthens him up and post-injury performance improves! The injury (and the resultant rest) is a boon in disguise! Handling pain and injuries is as much a mental phenomenon as it is physical. It teaches the athlete the power of patience and how to refresh and recharge. 26) Do Not Blindly Conform Think for yourself. You know your goals, game, injuries and yourself the best. So, think what is best for you. Blind conformity to what the world believes or says may actually lead to poor decision making and performances. Thinking for yourself usually yields the best results rather than following a ‘one-size fits-all’ formula… even one that has otherwise been successful for others. The athlete has to remember that he is unique and therefore has to find ways that work best for him and his situation. The F-1 Ferrari is a fantastic machine, but not in the Paris-Dakar Desert Rally! What works for others, may not work as well for you. So, think for yourself and do not conform for the sake of it. Try and do what others won’t do! 27) The Power of Meditation Meditation is a powerful tool to improve physical performance. Meditation calms the mind, allows you to contemplate, relax and clear the performance limiting mental cobwebs that so negatively affect superior physical performance. A quiet mind is a powerful mind. To be in the zone and perform at your ability’s best, requires a quiet and calm mind. Meditation allows the athlete to focus and inhibits the athlete from letting his mind wander. Meditation allows the athlete to empty his cup of knowledge and makes him open to learning.

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28) Being Unflappable and in Control At the highest level of sport… any sport... the athlete has to develop the habit of being unflappable. Control what you can… do not try to control that which is not in your control. An athlete cannot control the past, field conditions, weather, mistakes by his team-mates, spectators, opponents, crowd-noise, photo flashes, public announcements, scoreboard, foreign language, shadows, media, the time of the event, trash talk by opponents, call of nature, the number of participants etc. You must not let the uncontrollable affect you and your mental equilibrium. Play your own game. The athlete has to learn, in training, to detach from things that cannot be changed. An athlete, especially a champion athlete will not let others push his buttons. A sportsperson has to mentally learn and practice to ‘ignore the noise’, ignore the sledging and disparaging remarks of his opponents and/or the media. The athlete must learn to rise above the noise and not let extraneous and uncontrollable factors take over his mental stability. Nothing external should be allowed to affect you internally without your permission! The athlete has to continually practice reaffirming that he ought to and is in control and still is running his show! 29) Develop Instinct An athlete also has to develop instinct. A sportsperson with a heightened instinct knows what is happening around him and can almost read the mind and game of the opposition. A well-developed instinct allows the athlete to be creative and perform with spontaneity. When to pass another athlete or when to kick in a race is an instinctive reaction rather than a ‘pre-thought-out’ plan. 30) Specialize Many athletes and unfortunately, many coaches, believe more is better and push themselves or their athletes into more than two events. At the beginning, a naturally talented athlete will gain a plethora of medals, as he is innately or naturally gifted. Mentally, this is a great satisfier and a tremendous feel- good factor. But in the long run, it hurts the athlete’s potential to reach the pinnacle of his performance. At the elite level not even 5% of the athletes are capable of holding their own in even two events and a far lesser percentage in three or more.

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In fact, this was exactly the case with the great P. T. Usha. She never really specialized and the coaches and the nation expected too much out of her. She was made to do 100m, 200m, 400m, 4x100 relay, 4x400m relay and finally shifted her to the 400m hurdles at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics where she missed the podium by one-hundredth of a second. The Golden Girl as she was known, could have easily got the Gold if her think-tank would have made her concentrate and specialize only in the 400m hurdles about 3 years before the 1984 Olympics.

An athlete and more so a coach, has to imbibe that if you chase two rabbits, you will catch neither! A champion places all his energies and efforts on doing one good thing at a time. If you try to do everything, you will end up with nothing. An athlete, and more so a hurdler, has to bring a ‘one rabbit’ mentality to his sport. You can possibly do the 100 and 200m at the elite level or the 200m and 400m; but no one in even distant memory has cracked both the sprint and the intermediate hurdles at the highest level. At the elite echelons of competition, an athlete will face highly motivated, very talented, uncompromising and deadly serious competitors who have dreamed and prepared for a particular event their whole lives!

31) Believers are Achievers An athlete has to make his own destiny. Believers are achievers. If you profoundly believe you can accomplish something, chances are, you will. You have to believe you are destined to achieve big things in your sport. Imagine how great could be your performance if you thought and acted as if it were impossible to fail. Believers are great proponents of positive affirmation statements.

Any athlete and more so one competing in the 400m hurdles (which is an aggressive event) must imbibe the various principles of training psychology as elaborated above to garner the winning edge. The various tenets of sports psychology delineated in this chapter are all evidence-based and will allow the athlete to perform optimally.

66 Chapter 10

FLEXIBILITY

Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be bent out of shape. - Michael McGriffy -

irst, the shocker! Flexibility and stretching are not the same! These two Fterms have been interchangeably used, but that is, in a pure sense, a mistake! Flexibility is the range of motion for a given joint. Stretching is a form of exercise that can lead to an increase in flexibility.

Thus, flexibility is the end, stretching is the means to an end! The degree of flexibility that a person has, is influenced by the muscles and connective tissues, like ligaments and tendons. In a basic sense, flexibility is of joints and stretching is of muscles and ligaments. Flexibility is improved by stretching. Stretching seeks to lengthen the muscles, tissues, tendons and ligaments. Stretching also warms-up the body part that is stretched.

The first and most important aspect of the flexibility requirement for the hurdles is that the flexibility must be dynamic flexibility and not just static or passive flexibility. Also, any over-emphasis on flexibility is counter-productive. There must be specificity to the flexibility and the hurdler need not stretch like a ballet dancer. For the 400m hurdles, the primary requirement, apart from the hamstring stretch and hip mobility is a full groin stretch and full ankle flexion.

But why is over-stretching counter-productive? A very fully stretched joint or ligament is correlated to a certain amount of loss in strength. Hurdling is a very explosive activity and requires the hurdler to stomp the take-off leg down and then after sailing over the hurdle, to snap the lead leg down on to the ground. This requires immense dynamic or moving strength and power. When the athlete is stretched like a rubber-band, he is relatively much limper and is not able to do the explosive action of hurdling with power and aggression and to some extent even sprinting.

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Thus, the coach needs to remember that his hurdlers must have specific and sufficient flexibility… no less and no more! In fact, research has shown that a slightly under-stretched hurdler is better off than an over-stretched one, as the over-stretched hurdler loses a lot of explosive power and strength. Flexibility can be of three different types. 1. Static flexibility Static flexibility is controlled and slow and as the name suggests, ‘static’ or fixed, stable or undeviating. In static stretches, the stretch is held for anywhere between 15 to 30 seconds. Static stretching is the base on which the flexibility of the hurdler is built-upon. But, static stretching without the other dynamic methods of flexibility will be of limited use to a hurdler. Static stretching needs to be done at a level where there is discomfort but not pain. The athlete has to stop well before pain. What happens in a static stretch is that the muscle is stretched in a slow and gentle manner so as to increase its tension; very similar to the way we stretch a rubber-band. The same caveat applies, if you pull the rubber-band too hard, it will snap…similarly, if you stretch beyond pain, there will be a tear or a rupture.

Ideally, stretching should be done when the body is warm. Thus, before the hurdler does the static stretches, it is advisable to go for a couple of rounds of jogging. Static stretches can be done before the hurdling or running workout… though most athletes do it both before and after. Never stretch cold muscles, as they may become injured. Heat the body and muscles up with some activity like jogging or push-ups for about 5 to 10 minutes and then do stretching. 2. PNF Stretch PNF stands for Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation. PNF is done with a partner. In PNF stretching, the partner applies pressure to a joint and tries to take the movement to maximal stretch and at the same time, the athlete being stretched, offers resistance in the opposite direction of the partner’s force. The PNF stretch is performed extremely slowly and not with any aggressive or jerky movement. PNF stretching was developed mainly as a form of rehabilitation and involves both the stretching and the contraction of the target muscle or joint group.

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3. Dynamic Flexibility

Dynamic flexibility involves making repeated moving stretches such as swinging, bouncing or jerking the body part being stretched. It uses momentum. Dynamic flexibility is extremely important for the hurdler. Dynamic stretches are best done after the body is warmed-up. Dynamic stretches are best avoided after a workout, whether running or hurdling. Of the three types of flexibility discussed, dynamic flexibility is the most dangerous in terms of its propensity to injure the athlete. At the same time, it is the most effective for the hurdler.

Hurdlers not only do static and dynamic stretches to improve their range of motion and flexibility but also to augment their technique. Thus, hurdlers do high knees, front, side and back leg swings, shadow hurdling action, lead leg extensions, trail leg pulls, kick-backs, rapid arm swings etc. to mimic various motions of hurdling.

Flexibility is one of the five systems of fitness to be developed by a 400m hurdler, apart from strength, speed, aerobic endurance and muscular endurance. In fact, flexibility is one of the easiest fitness components to maintain, as it can be done just about anywhere, though it is most effective when performed at the end of the training routine.

As a general rule, hurdlers require far greater flexibility than a normal sprinter. Still further, as a general rule, the hurdler needs to do flexibility work of the dynamic type before his hurdling workouts and flexibility work of the static type after such workout.

A 400m hurdler needs to work on his flexibility at least four times a week, if not five. Following are the benefits of good flexibility to the 400m hurdler:

1. It reduces muscle tension and relaxes the body.

2. Increases range of motion of the joint/s.

3. It acts as a warm-up and cool-down of sorts.

4. Promotes circulation.

5. Develops body awareness and the hurdler gets to know his body.

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6. Prevents injuries.

7. Rehabilitates certain type of injuries.

8. Aids in improving stride length.

9. Makes easier the aggressive hurdling action.

The various flexibility routines are enumerated below and in Chapter 14 on ‘Structured Warmup & Cool Down’.

There are some very informative and excellent videos produced on the issue of flexibility and stretches for hurdlers on the YouTube. Delineated below are some such video links :

a) Dynamic Stretching Drills for a Proper Hurdles Warmup! By Championship Productions.

b) Best Hurdle Stretches for Hurdlers by Bubble Dust.

c) Hurdles Trail Leg Stretching for Hurdling Track and Field Easy Flexibility by Elasticsteel.

d) Hurdle Stretches by Gold Medal Excellence.

e) Hurdle Stretch Dynamic Stretching – Agility Drills by Sportplan.

f) Track & Field Tips for Lower Body Stretching by Expertvillage.

g) Hurdles Leadleg Flexibility Training by Elasticsteel.

h) Standing Hurdle Stretch by 24 Hour Fitness

i) Hurdles Trailleg How to develop flexibility for hurdling track stretching by Easy Flexibility.com

j) Hurdle stretch by Kelvin Franklin

k) Hurdle Warm up by Mr Gnilrewlib.

l) The Hurdle Warmup by Micheal Wellington

m) Hurdle Stretch by Finbar Mckenna.

70 FLEXIBILITY n) Dynamic Hurdle Stretch with Twist by Morris Brossette. o) Seated Modified Hurdler Stretch by Strong Runner. p) Dryland Hockey Training for Hip-Flexibility-Hurdling by Hockey OT. q) Rolling Hurdle Stretch by Fitness and Performance r) Hip Hurdle Stretching / Dynamic Warmup by John Clingman s) Pulseroll Hamstring Hurdle Stretch with Foam Roller by Pulseroll Official. t) Standing Hurdle stretch with thoracic rotation by Ashleigh Kast. u) 16 Dynamic Stretches for Runners by Redefining Strength. v) Psoas / Hip Flexor Stretch-Active Isolated Stretching by Adarsh Williams. w) Calf Stretch on Step by One Wellness.

71 Chapter 11

STRENGTH, RESISTANCE AND CORE TRAINING

...having the power of an 18-wheeler in the body of a Ferrari... because as a sprinter you need to lift for strength but you don’t want to get too bulky. - Michael Johnson -

trength training works by overloading muscles and then resting, so as to allow Sthe muscles to grow and become stronger. This is called adaptation. Thereafter, the same process is repeated. Overloading causes microscopic tears to the muscle cells which get repaired during rest coupled with nutrition (especially proteins). This repair process regenerates and grows the muscle’s size and/or strength, depending on the type of strength training stimulus. But what really happens is that the repair and regeneration is very slightly more than the damage (tears) and so the muscle’s strength increases or the size of the muscle becomes bigger. This adaptation process is also called neural adaptation. The gains in strength that occur during the early days of strength training can be quick and significant, but soon the law of diminishing marginal returns sets in and they tend to taper off after a relatively short period of time. The solution to the tapering-off or tail-off of strength gains is of two types:

i) The athlete must continue to overload the muscle through higher and additional strength training, and

ii) The athlete must change the type of strength training undertaken by him.

Strength training actually takes time to give real results and usually it takes at least 5 to 7 years of proper and scientific training for the gains to settle in. This is because technique plays an important role in the development of strength (whether it is running strength or maximal strength) and technique takes time to be honed and perfected.

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One needs to appreciate that genes and heredity play an important role in the development of strength and some people have innate or natural strength or can add bone and muscle mass more quickly than others. If such persons undertake scientific and progress-oriented strength training, then their gains will be very fast. This is not to discount the fact that any person or athlete, if he undertakes a scientific regimen of strength training, will improve.

There are three types of strengths required for the 400m hurdles. Running strength, maximal body strength and specific body-part strength.

Running strength is developed to be able to make a decisive push at crucial sections of the race and also before and after each hurdle in terms of acceleration.

Maximal body strength is required to be able to take an explosive start and to develop basic or pure speed which will come in handy up to the first two hurdles and then for maintaining the same.

Specific body-part strength refers to the strength gains of a particular body part. The 400m hurdler, for example, requires hip mobility & strength, core strength and strong hamstrings, quadriceps, calves and ankles. Therefore, specific strength work has to be directed towards these body parts by isolation strength work for those body parts. Development and maintenance of Strength and Power Strength and power can be developed and maintained by anyone. It is usually achieved by working against resistance and progressively increasing the load. Resistance can be applied in diverse ways.

The chart below gives a synoptic pictorial view of Strength and Resistance Training. Thereafter, we discuss each of the different forms a bit more in detail. Strength and/or Resistance Training apart from bringing in running strength, improves maximal and specific strength and contributes towards stronger bones and helps in eradicating weaknesses especially in the antagonist (opposite) muscles. Strength training, if improperly done or executed, could of course lead to unnecessary bulking-up and at times an over-indulgence of certain muscle sets could in fact lead to lopsided strength development which will lead to relatively weaker antagonist muscles (eg. hamstrings vis-à-vis quadriceps).

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Strength training plays a crucial role in any sport, but more so in athletics and even more so in an explosive event like the hurdles. Strength work is one of the best insurance against injuries as the strengthening process makes the working or operative muscles stronger and also stabilizes the antagonist muscles.

Body Plyometrics Weight

Strength Free Devices and Resistance Weights Training

Weighted Machines & Implements Pulleys

Table 8 : Types of Strength & Resistance Training

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Types of Strength & Resistance Training Needless to say, any unnecessary or excessive fixation to strength training could, apart from injuring the hurdler, actually slow him down. This has been observed quite often especially in male teenage athletes, who transcend the thin line between strength-training and body-building and develop bigger muscles (especially the biceps, triceps and forearms) which bring in decreasing marginal returns, in terms of running strength or hurdling ability. This is the age when the boys turn into men and the impressionist ‘peacock phenomenon’ sets in… but then, boys will be boys! The athlete has to understand that strength work is an accessory… a means to an end (to run faster over 400m hurdles) and not an end in itself.

The importance given to strength work in athletic training, varies from coach to coach, athlete to athlete and event to event. Olympian and prolific sprinter, Adille Sumariwalla, who dominated the 100m sprint in the 1980s was a big believer of strength work and handled heavy lifting. On the other hand, Canute Meghalese, a fluid and smooth sprinter, was not high on strength work. It basically boils down to our chosen path up the mountain you are climbing!

Similarly, the event itself determines the quantum of strength work. The sprints and the hurdles require far greater strength training infusions than the 5K or 10K. Moreover, the event will also determine the type of strength work that needs to be done. Free weights and weighted implements are used much more by sprinters, throwers and hurdlers, whereas plyometrics much more by jumpers and free hand resistance, much more by distance runners.

Actually, modern thought has been that an elite 400m hurdler needs to do various types of strength and resistance training. This will ensure not only diversity in training and avoidance of stagnation but also fend-off injuries due to repeatedly using just one type of strength work. It has to be appreciated that the various types of strength work utilizes different strength systems viz. isotonic, isokinetic and isometric. This not only targets the specificity of the event but also provides the overload required for strength development without too much of a risk of injuries due to overuse of the same muscle or motion.

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1) Body weight In this form of resistance work to improve strength, the athlete uses his own body-weight to become stronger. This is the oldest method employed to gain and retain strength. This method of resistance training gives the athlete general body strength and helps him to garner muscular strength especially useful to run 400m to the Marathon. Body weight resistance is not very useful for pure explosive kinetics such as the start of the aggressive motion of hurdling but will indeed come in handy in the last 100m of the 400m hurdles race. Body weight related resistance, commonly employed by the 400m hurdlers include the following: Free Squats, push-ups, sit-ups, duck walk, burpees, step-ups, mountain man, bleachers work, on-the-spot single leg jumps etc.

2) Plyometrics Plyometrics is jump training. It works on the principle of falling body weight by way of bounds and jumps. It is necessarily a dynamic training using your own body weight. In plyometrics or ‘plyos’, muscles exert maximum and quick force in short intervals of time with the goal of increasing power. By and large, plyometrics challenge the fast-twitch muscle fibres. Usually, sprinters both like to and are better able to succeed at proper execution of plyometrics.

In technical terms, a plyometric exercise is a quick powerful dynamic movement that starts with an eccentric (lengthening of the muscle) movement and immediately followed by explosive concentric (shortening of the muscle) movement. Plyometrics are extremely hard on the muscles, tendons and joints and therefore have to be done in a scientific and supervised manner; otherwise they could result in injuries, pulls, strains and sprains.

Plyometrics is a high velocity movement that relies on power generated through what is called the ‘stretch-shortening cycle’. A muscle is stretched before an explosive contraction. It is like pulling or stretching a spring coil and then releasing it. The science behind plyometrics is that a muscle that is stretched before an explosive contraction will contract more forcefully and quickly.

Some of the top plyometric resistance work done by 400m hurdlers include: bounding, standing horizontal and vertical jumps, jumps over hurdles or barriers whether with one or both take-off legs, astronaut push-ups, bunny-

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hops, hops, box jumps, medicine ball throws, standing triple jump, trampoline workouts etc.

Whilst most of the time, plyometrics is done using only one’s body weight; it is possible, especially at advanced levels of training to do plyometrics with weighted devices such as weight vests, weighted belts, barbells and dumbbells.

3) Free weights One of the earliest and most time-tested resistance exercises is the use of weights to increase strength. Weights or free weights as they are popularly called, consist of weighted plates, dumbbells, sand-belts, barbells, and kettlebells. Free weights unlike machined weights, includes all weight training equipment that is not connected to an external apparatus (such as a cable, pulley, machine, rail etc). Free weights do not constrain the athlete to specified or fixed line movements as is the case with machined weights and pulleys.

The most popular free weight resistance exercises done by 400m hurdlers inter alia include: Power cleans, lunges, weighted high knees and marches, full, half & quarter squats, front squats, bench press, inclined/decline press, military press, lateral raise, upright and bent-over rows, dumbbell curls, dumbbell hammer curls, tricep press, tricep kickbacks, dead lift, stiff legged dead lift etc.

There is no doubt that a power event like the 400m hurdles requires the athlete to lift heavy weights, however, the key is for the lifts to be explosive. This means that the lifts must be such that the weight is moved as fast as possible throughout the complete range of movement. In other words, the weight- lifting motions must mimic the explosive power employed during locomotion over the 400m hurdles. The idea is to develop muscular strength that can be converted into speed. 4) Machines and Pulleys As body-building, weight-training and athletic training made progress over the years, a myriad of machines, pulley & cable systems and Smith machines were developed for specific set of muscles. These machines, most of the times (though not always), work only one body part and in one motion or trajectory and balancing the weight is not an issue or criteria.

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The fact that in machine and pulley type of resistance equipment, the trajectory is pre-determined and therefore the athlete does not have to balance the weights throughout the full arc of its movement is at the same time both an advantage and a disadvantage! From the safety angle, resistance equipment such as machines, pulley & cable systems and Smith machines are safer than free weights, both in terms of muscle tears, pulls and from the point of dropping the weights on oneself or others in the gym. Further, another advantage of machines and pulleys is that they isolate the muscle and are yet safer. For example, the leg-curl machine is a far simpler, safer and effective method of training and strengthening the hamstrings (the most important muscle for any runner) as compared to the stiff legged dead lift which though effective, can put a lot of strain on the lower back. However, machine and pulley weights are not as good for pure strength as they move in a particular path of movement and therefore require far less balancing and to that extent, utilizes much lesser of core strength and legs. Following are some of the best resistance exercises done on machines and pulley systems by elite 400m hurdlers: Leg Press, Hack Squats, Leg Curl, Leg Extension, Calf Machine, Lat Pulley, Smith Machine, Shoulder Press Machines, Preacher Curl Machine, Hip-Extensor Machine, Adductor and Abductor machines etc. 5) Weighted objects Strength and resistance training can also be done with the use of weighted objects such as weighted belts, weighted vests, boots, iron geta, medicine balls and running with small dumbbells. Here, the athlete does his principal activity with the same motion but with a weighted object, such as to increase the difficulty, thereby developing specific strength. Boxers use this type of resistance training when they train with 16 oz gloves and when in the actual fight they have to use 12 oz gloves. What the athletes and coaches have to remember is that the use of weighted objects whilst improving strength will slowdown the athlete. So, a fine or optimum balance has to be maintained, as the gains in strength could be more than off-set by loss of speed. Keeping this in mind, the athlete must use this type of training judiciously and not overdo it.

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6) Devices Modern athletics make judicious use of various devices such as elastic tubing, therabands, harnesses, car tyres, ropes, running parachutes, bosu ball, ankle weights to build strength, range of motion and balance. Again, like machines, these devices target specific muscle groups and movements. Devices are also extremely useful in preventing and rehabilitating injuries. The 400m hurdler can very effectively use various devices to improve his static stretching, dynamic flexibility, shoulder strength, balance and most importantly, his hip flexors. Devices are also vital in improving and strengthening the range of motion of the hips, groin, hamstring stretch, shoulder and ankle of the 400m hurdler. Coactivation Strength, power and stability are all developed and maintained by doing resistance work. An important point to remember is the development and strengthening of balancing or antagonistic or opposing muscles and fibres. For example, the 400m hurdler requires hamstring strength, strong abdominal muscles and all the hip flexors. But, all of these have opposing or balancing muscles. The hamstrings are balanced by the quadriceps, whereas the abdominal muscles depend on a strong back to perform optimally. This is known as the Principle of Coactivation. Similarly, the various hip flexors must all be strong. If there is any lop-sided development or strengthening, then the main muscle or the opposing muscle may give way. Stabilizers Although a specific muscle may not at times, appear to be active in a given action or position, it may be doing the crucial function as a stabilizer. If the stabilizer muscle or supporting muscles are weak, then the gait of the runner or hurdler will be different and the change in the neurological firing pattern will lead to injuries, pulls and strains.

Stabilizers are muscles that hold your body-parts in place and prevent them from being damaged while the primary movers (mover muscles) are moving the body or limb. Stabilizing muscle contractions are generally isometric contractons that act to support the trunk or the body, limit movement in a joint or control balance. In other words, whilst the stabilizer muscles are not directly involved with moving

79 STRENGTH, RESISTANCE AND CORE TRAINING the load, they work to keep certain parts of the body stable and steady, so the primary mover muscles can do their jobs efficiently. It is important to understand that while no muscle is a stabilizer muscle 100 percent of the time (since its more of a role than a persistent state), certain muscles work as stabilizers muscles much more frequently than others. For example, the rear deltoid acts as a stabilizer in the bench press, whereas the abductor or the gluteusmedius keeps the hips and quadriceps stable. Similarly, the lower back muscles keep our trunk stable for us to do the military press (which actually is an upper back exercise). Specificity Another aspect of strength is the correlation of strength or conditioning to the specific activity at hand. Merely because an athlete can squat heavy or bench press more, does not mean that he will be a good or better hurdler. There is what is called the Principle of Specificity. Unless and until the strength gains are channelized into the right direction and to the specific cause, the strength gains may be redundant and at times, even counter-productive... such as when too much strength training may lead to unwanted muscle mass which would actually slow down the 400m hurdler as he has to carry that extra muscle mass over 400m and across 10 flights of barriers. The specificity principle, when applied to the 400m hurdles, warrants that the athlete has to tailor his strength work to ensure that the ‘hurdling muscles’ are strengthened and developed, including the much lesser known and smaller groups such as psoas, iliacus, glutes, tibialis anterior, the pelvis and the tensor fascia. This is over and above the strengthening of the bigger and better known groups such as the hamstrings, quadriceps, calves / gastrocnemius etc. Core Training Core strength is paramount in any sport or athletic event but more so in the hurdles and the pole-vault. When a hurdler goes over the hurdle, he is in a sense, hanging in mid-air! At that point in time, his body is supported at the rear by the spinal cord (core) and back muscles and in the front by the abdominal muscles. If the core is weak, the body will slump like a jelly! Thus, abdominal and back muscles have to be strengthened and developed and then continually topped up to

80 STRENGTH, RESISTANCE AND CORE TRAINING keep them maintained. To maintain a good hurdling posture, one needs a strong core.

Thus, the athlete doing the 400m hurdles will have to do all the various exercises, without and with resistance (weights, therabands, medicine ball etc.) to develop core strength.

Strength of the core ie. both the abdomen and back are crucial. A strong abdominal core (rectus abdominus) will allow the hurdler to make the forward lean required to hurdle and to keep the body steady as it aggressively sails over the hurdle. Similarly, the antagonist muscle group ie. the back (erectae spinae) must be strong and supple to provide for a quick recovery from the forward lean and go back to the sprinting action.

Delineated below are some important core strength exercises especially tailored for the 400m hurdles:

1. Sit-ups (with variable leg and arm positions)

2. Feet and head above (just 6 inches above the ground)

3. Supine single kicks in front

4. Supine double kicks in front

5. Crunches

6. Sit-ups

7. Planks (different variations such as in push-up position, on forearm, side planks, upright plank, plank swimming etc.)

8. Supine bicycles

9. V Crunches

10. Boat

11. Camel / Cat

12. Raised hips

81 STRENGTH, RESISTANCE AND CORE TRAINING

13. Roll-up sit ups

14. Leg raise (half)

15. Swimming on back

16. Basic trunk extension

17. Opposite arm and leg extension on all fours

18. Swimming on belly

19. Superman

20. Leg overs (single leg, bent knee single leg, double leg)

21. Side jackknife (full and half)

22. Bridge

23. Tummy tucks

24. Balance T-bend

25. Pelvic Tilt

The reader is adviced to check-out the technique of doing the above mentioned 25 core strength exercises either on YouTube or by referring to a good book on core training, such as The Complete Book of Core Training by Kurt Brett and Mike Brungardt (Hyperion Publishers).

82 Chapter 12

NUTRITION & REST

The best 6 doctors: Sunshine Water Rest Air Exercise Diet - Anonymous -

he body does not get fitter through exercise! The body gets fitter and stronger Trecovering from exercise. A coach and an athlete need to know when not to train. Rest and recovery are also as important as training! We all know that ‘training quality’ is more important than ‘quantity’, specially in an event like the 400m hurdles. But when you do quality work, the strain on the system is heavy and if sufficient rest, recovery and nutrition are not provided, the system breaks down.

The 400m hurdles requires a training regime that improves strength, both muscular and running strength and not limb-numbing tiredness. Over-training is worse than under-training and the athlete must instinctively know when enough is enough. An athlete has to listen to his body and not try and run (or train) through pain and injuries. This leads to burn out or what is known as ‘chronic fatigue syndrome’. Champion British track cyclist, Graeme Obree, in the context of a motivated athlete, has summed it up well: “it is harder not to train, than to train!” Nutrition In terms of nutrition, the 400m hurdler does not need the calorie over-load or excesses of a marathon runner or Tour de France cyclist. In terms of calories, the male 400m hurdler weighing about 75 kgs in peak and proper training will require about 2600 to 3000 calories per day. However, the calories must come from the right sources. Without doubt, the 400m hurdler must strive to have a proper weight management plan in place. A plan which is such that he is both as muscular and lean as possible with minimal fat on his body. When an athlete has to traverse

83 NUTRITION & REST over 10 flights of hurdles over 400m, he has to be both, powerful and lean. That is where the challenge lies. The 400m hurdler cannot be as powerfully built as a 110m hurdler as they have to carry their frame for 47 to 50 seconds as compared to the latter doing it for 13 to 15 seconds.

With the above parameters in mind, the calorie intake for a 400m hurdler must come predominantly from protein and secondarily from carbohydrates and not so much from fat. In other words, the elite 400m hurdler requires lean muscle mass. To put it more scientifically, he needs about 1.5 to 1.7 grams of protein per kilogram of bodyweight per day. This translates to about 112 to 127 grams of protein for a 75 kg athlete. Protein is directly associated with muscle-building and is also important for the immune system and overall health and therefore protein has to be the prime concern and consumption!

The primary sources of protein are meat (chicken, mutton, beef, pork, tenderloin), eggs, fish and seafood, protein shakes and bars, seeds, nuts, soya, beans, legumes, lentils, milk and milk products (yoghurt, cheese, ice cream), green peas, nutritional yeast, hempseed etc.

Protein is the ‘building block’ needed to both, build the musculature and to recover from training. Most athletes do easily understand the former but can’t grasp the latter. In hard training, as is required for the 400m hurdles, the body enters a catabolic state. This is when muscles break down and the immune system is badly affected and this results in either injuries or infections (viral infections, skin infections and the humble cold, cough and influenza). Proteins build muscle and ward-off injuries and sickness! Similarly, and as a corollary to the build-up of lean muscle mass, research has shown that protein content is important in promoting short-term weight loss and that athletes retained more lean muscle mass and lost more fat mass when consuming higher-protein diets.

Next in importance to the 400m hurdler, is carbohydrates which basically come from starch and sugars. In a sense, they are the body’s primary fuel source. The carbohydrates are stored in the muscles, brain, liver and blood. The body then breaks down the carbohydrates (sugar and starch) into glucose which fuels our body and our cells.

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A basic concept that needs to be understood and appreciated by an athlete is that as the length of the run increases, the importance of carbohydrates increases. Thus, a pure sprinter needs a preponderance of protein and a marathoner needs carbohydrates but a 400m hurdler needs both in the optimal proportion, with a 50% to 60% emphasis on proteins.

Carbohydrates can come from refined sugars, syrupy energy drinks, colas and sodas, but these are junk carbos. An athlete must endeavor to get his carbs from fresh fruits, vegetables, granola, oats, pasta, bread, grains, legumes, potatoes, sweet potatoes, cereals, muesli, corn-flakes, pizza (the bread/base), bagels, biscuits, chia seeds etc.

Many 400m hurdlers have asked a naïve question… “Do we need to carbo load?” Whilst carb loading (ie. having extra amounts of carbs 48 hours before the race, so that the same is retained in the body) is a tried-and-tested approach to improve athletic performance… but only of the long-distance type. Only when the activity or race undertaken is beyond 60 minutes, will carb-loading be helpful. It is of no use to a 400m hurdler whose explosive effort is normally over in 47 to 60 seconds. The normal carbohydrate intake for a 400m hurdler should be about 5 gms per kilogram of body weight. Thus a 75 kg 400m hurdler needs to injest about 375 grams of carbohydrates from the right carbo sources.

Lastly, we come to fats. An athlete needs to understand that fats are not all bad and that an athlete also needs fats of the right type! Fats are found in meat, dairy products, fish, vegetable oils and nuts.

Fats in our body is essential for storing energy, insulating our bodies and protecting our vital organs. Thus, a completely fat-less body is not a desirable state for any human or athlete to be in. But, the two thumb rules to remember are:

1. The fats must come from the good or right sources, and 2. The fat level in the body must be controlled.

Thus, saturated fat or trans-fat in our diet increases LDL cholesterol (the bad cholesterol) which is the cause of heart, liver and lung diseases and also acts as an inhibitor to the HDL Cholesterol (the good cholesterol). The saturated or trans- fat come from margarine, pastries, cakes, cookies, white bread, French fries, fried samosas/ dimsums/ momos, coconut oil etc.

85 NUTRITION & REST

So, an athlete must make an attempt to reduce his LDL Cholesterol and increase the HDL Cholesterol (which is found in olives, canola, sunflower, soy, corn, nuts and fish).

Further, the athlete must control the fat-level or BMI (Body Mass Index) to an optimum level for his chosen athletic event. The BMI of a 100m sprinter, the 400m hurdler and the marathoner have to necessarily vary. Another aspect to be borne in mind is that BMI is never an accurate measure as greater muscle mass (and muscle is heavier than fat) on the athlete’s body can give skewed results. Despite that, a ball-park BMI for the 400m male hurdler should be in the 7 to 12 range and that of women 400m hurdlers in the 11 to 19 range.

Weight is an important determinant of BMI along with height, but what one needs to understand is that two persons weighing the same, say 70 kilos and having the same height, say 5 ft. 10 inches and therefore near identical BMIs may be diametrically opposite in terms of their athletic fitness, abilities and technical efficiencies. Therefore, any fixation to BMI may be counterproductive or illusory.

As far as the three categories of food are concerned viz. proteins, carbohydrates and fats, each athlete has to, given his/her training levels, phase of the training cycle, body-weight, sex and bodily strengths and predilections find his or her own food ratio. For the 400m hurdler, this should usually be in the region of 50% protein, 35% carbohydrates and 15% fats… all coming from the right and quality sources. It is emphasized that the source of the three categories is crucial. No debate discussion on food and nutrition for the athlete will ever be complete unless we address the issue of alcohol (wines, spirits and beers!). This is especially so as most athletes, especially the elite ones are below 35 years of age. To drink or not to drink is a debate of epic, herculean and himalayan proportions. There are three distinct schools of thought viz. the Tipplers (give no shit, drink what you want!), the Abstinent (No never!) and the Occasionals (nothing hurts once in a while!). In terms of the percentage of coaches that fit into each school in their rules for drinking by their athletes… (despite most coaches themselves being drinkers, if not drunkards!), one can safely synopsise a 10:60:30 ratio respectively.

However, any debate on consumption of alcohol must be undertaken on the added parameter of its addictive nature which disallows a drinker to keep to ‘safe’ levels!

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Whilst Louis Pasteur (and most modern day wineries!) may say that wine is the most healthy and most hygienic of beverages, the overall research and conclusions of science (and the media) have vilified drinking. Well, let me get this straight, I am not a moral preacher nor a prurient jailer. I am not preaching abstinence, even though I do not drink. But, if you choose to drink that one half glass of wine or a glass of beer ‘once in a while’, then I have no quarrel with that. The real question is, whether the occasional ‘one half glass’ will remain the occasional ‘one half glass’? Surely, even if an elite athlete drinks within limits, a half dozen times in a year, nothing should bother us. But if the 6 drinks become 60, 160 or 360, then we have gone down the slippery slope of addiction!

To conclude, I would only say that if you want to enjoy (which I don’t) a fine little glass of wine or beer occasionally in good company and you have the right restraint and discipline of the true athlete, don’t deprive yourself. But if you can’t control the quantum and/ or the frequency, then you better be part of the school of Abstinence!

Hurdling requires dynamic flexibility. There are certain food supplements that help flexibility! Hurdlers must actively consider these supplements. Gluocosamine, Chondroitin and Methylsulfonylmethane (MSM) are recommended for improved flexibility. Glucosamine builds tendons, ligaments and cartilage and helps in regeneration of the cushioning or lubricating fluids surrounding the joints especially the knee, ankle, hip and pelvis. MSM inhibits degeneration of joints due to disuse, overuse or misuse! Chondroitin keeps the cartilage healthy. Rest and Dynamic Rest Rest and sleep are the two most under-rated and misunderstood concepts in athletics. Any sports training is built upon three pillars: Training, Nutrition and Rest. Everyone (and his dog!) are convinced about the importance of training and most also understand the stellar contribution of good Nutrition, but Rest is anathema to most dedicated athletes! Somehow, there is guilt associated with Rest and ‘more training is better’ seems to be the front-running mantra, rather than ‘less is more’!

What most athletes and even coaches fail to cognize is that, no matter what your sport, you need to rest adequately and your physicality (musculature, bones, tendons

87 NUTRITION & REST etc.) all improve only during rest and sleep. Trained, rested and ready, is the adage that champions follow.

Rest has two components viz. rehabilitative rest (active or dynamic rest) and sleep. We will first discuss complete rest or sleep and then dynamic rest.

Sleep is a periodic state of physiological rest during which consciousness is almost suspended temporarily and the metabolic rate is decreased. Contra-intuitive as it may be, if you want to lose weight, you must sleep a lot, not because your metabolic rate decreases (as that will increase weight!) but because a disturbed natural sleep pattern will disturb the fat-burning hormones (leptin) which are mainly released during sleep! In fact, sleep deprivation is also associated with increased hunger and appetite.

There is nothing new in this concept and oriental medicine and Zen meditation have been great propounders of ‘sleep therapy!’ In fact, the Dalai Lama has said that ‘sleep is the best meditation!’

Sleep is the body’s defense against disease, as it regenerates scarred muscle fibres and tissues, releases the hormone leptin (appetite suppressant). Leptin plays a dual role, it not only suppresses hunger but it blanks out or neutralizes the effect of another hormone ie. grehlin (which is produced in the stomach and which signals to the brain whether we are hungry). Leptin, which is produced majorly during sleep, suppresses the effect of grehlin and neutralizes it.

Research on the association of sleep with body fat seems to conclude that sleep- deprived persons (and sportspersons) have higher grehlin levels and tend to ‘feel’ hungrier more often and with higher intensity. Thus, sleep plays a crucial role in not only recovery of the body and mind but also in weight management.

In short, sleep is invigorating, curative and recuperative for an athlete. Lack of sleep can break-down any person within a couple of days and more so an athlete. Any unpaid debt to the sleeping bank will have to be paid with diminished performance and even injury.

Having discussed the miraculous power of sleep and complete rest, we now embark upon the understanding of dynamic rest. Sportspersons require certain days of rest from the physical training regimen done by him or her. Due to the demands of

88 NUTRITION & REST specificity, any sports-person has to do repeated physical movements, motions, exercises to excel at his craft. So, a sprinter has to repeatedly run fast and do humongous amounts of strength and resistance training and the hurdler needs to hurdle to be a better hurdler.

This repetitive motion puts immense stress on certain specific body parts which need to be rested so that they could recuperate and rejuvenate. Despite this requirement to take periodic rest, the athlete is faced with a queer dilemma which is to train maximally his performance muscles and yet give them the required or sufficient rest. This is where the concept of dynamic rest comes in.

Dynamic rest can be explained quite cryptically as ‘resting without completely resting’! We have seen that fitness has various components including core strength and flexibility which go towards contributing immensely to the success of any athlete, especially a 400m hurdler. So on rest days, the athlete need not do the usual repetitive motion of his physical craft but he could on his rest days rejuvenate and revitalize by indulging in appropriate core strength, abdominal, back and flexibility workouts and perhaps also do a bit of yoga, meditation, easy swimming, breath- control under water, pilates or recuperative therapies like deep tissue massage, ice-baths and the like.

So, dynamic rest is doing any other ancillary exercise or routine which will not only help the athlete or hurdler to rest and relax but will also improve other components of fitness without putting stress on the main muscles, tendons and bones used for the principal event.

Dynamic rest, especially flexibility routines, ice-baths, deep tissue massages (which are quite painful), helps in the dissipation of lactic acid and takes care of a phenomenon called ‘delayed onset of exercise-induced fatigue’ which normally hits an athlete about 48 hours after a heavy workout.

Today, the concept of dynamic rest is given great importance to and some of the best coaches in the world give their athletes 7-day weekly routines with no full rest-day per week, but instead infuse two days of dynamic rest (as compared to the traditional full one day of rest) with superlative results!

There is of course one caveat that needs to be followed by the athlete and that is that in his exuberance to train harder and to train more, the athlete must not

89 NUTRITION & REST convert the dynamic rest day into a heart-pounding, muscle ripping training day. The athlete must show restraint and treat the dynamic rest day as a ‘moving or dynamic’ rest day. The dynamic rest day/s must be curative and rehabilitative in nature and must not stress the athlete further.

Before we conclude, it would be apt to differentiate between ‘dynamic rest’ and ‘functional rest’. Now, dynamic rest is the resting of the athlete from doing the same repetitive motion of the usual exercise when he is in full training but when he is not injured. On the other hand, functional rest is resting of an injured body part, muscle, bone or tissue but continuing to exercise the uninjured parts of the body. Thus, for example, an athlete may have had a fall and sprained or broken his wrist or broken his forearm, which will not allow him to do upper-body weight training but he can safely do other exercises such as abdominal work, core work, squats etc. which exercises and conditions the other uninjured muscles or body parts. Similarly, a hurdler with a strained calf can do swimming to keep his general conditioning and fitness in top shape. In other words, functional rest is resting only the injured body part whilst continuing appropriate and doable exercises for the uninjured body parts.

90 Chapter 13

RUNNING EQUIVALENT (RE) & CROSS TRAINING

It’s the cross-training that’s key. It doesn’t let your body adapt to one stimulus too much and it keeps your workouts exciting

- Brett Hoebel -

unning Equivalent (RE) is basically any fitness based aerobic work which Rworks the cardiovascular system in some manner other than running! Many coaches call the RE as cross-training. Runners turn to REs and cross training to also help combat boredom or to give an injury a break. Various studies have found that training effect on V02 max (the maximum capacity of a person’s body to transport and use oxygen during exercise) transfers between RE and running. In other words, when an athlete is cross-training, he is training his body to use oxygen in a similar effective manner as in running, without the attendant risks of impact injuries due to the repetitive motion of running.

Cross-training is an interdisciplinary method of gaining basic fitness. Cross-training involves combining exercises and systems of physical development from a sport other than the principal sport of the athlete. It works various parts of the body which would otherwise not be worked in the athlete’s principal sport.

Cross-training aims to eliminate this imbalance inherent in any sport. For example, running is fundamentally a lower body activity and does not properly develop upper body strength. Therefore, a long distance runner can swim or do weight training to improve and develop his upper body. This is cross-training in its most fundamental sense. The converse is also possible and today the most elite of swimmers and water-polo athletes do ‘dryland’ training which involves running, weight-training and the elliptical machine.

Cross-training or running equivalent must not be confused with multi-sport events such as Decathlon, Triathlon, Duathlon, Pentathlon, Martial Arts, etc. where the principal sport inherently requires practicing and excelling at diverse activities.

91 RUNNING EQUIVALENT (RE) & CROSS TRAINING

Cross-training is the divergent training undertaken by a sportsperson who is aiming to excel at one particular sport, but he occasionally trains in other systems, sports or activities to improve his performance in his chosen or principal sport.

Similarly, one needs to understand that the basic aim of cross training is not to compete in second (or third) sport, but to gain competitive advantage from the second (or third) sport to help become better in the principal sport. However, when an athlete trains properly in two or more sports, then it is very much possible for him to achieve competitive success in two or more sports at higher levels of competitions in both sports. Such athletes are called multi-sport athletes and they compete at a very high level in two or more different sports or at different point in time have achieved glory in two or more sports. The world has seen at least a thousand such athletes who have achieved pinnacle performances internationally in two or more sports. Globally, at lower levels of competition (such as at school, college, State and even National level) there are millions of sports-persons who have achieved decent standards in two or more sports.

In the world of athletics, the following multi-sports athletes were quite famous for their diverse talents :

• Sprinter Jim Hines played NFL for Kansas City Chiefs and Miami Dolphins.

• Sprinter Marion Jones played Basketball at the University of North Carolina and played in the National Championship in 1994. She was later drafted by the Phoenix Mercury in 2003.

• Sprint Hurdler Renaldo Nehemiah played NFL for San Francisco 49ers from 1982-1984.

• World Decathlon Champion in 1987 Torsten Voss switched to Bobsleigh in 1994 and won 3 World Championship Medals from 1995-1997.

• 3-time Olympian Mary Decker who won Gold Medals in the 1500m and 3000m in 1983 World Championship, placed 2nd & 3rd at the 2012 and 2013 ElliptiGO World Championships respectively.

92 RUNNING EQUIVALENT (RE) & CROSS TRAINING

Some of the more popular RE and Cross-training for athletes are: i) Swimming, Aqua Jogging and Water-Polo

ii) Cycling and Spinning

iii) Martial arts (like Karate, MMA, Tai Chi, TaekwonDo etc.)

iv) Hiking & Trekking

v) Elliptical, Adaptive Motion Trainer (AMT) machine or Nordic Ski

vi) Boot camps and Commando Training

vii) Boxing

viii) Ice Skating, Skiing and Roller Blades

ix) Games such as Soccer, Hockey, Water Polo, Kho-kho etc.

x) Brisk Walking or Power Walking

The idea of doing RE is to give your usual working muscles a rest and yet do some activity of such nature that the general or overall fitness, conditioning and aerobic strength does not deteriorate. At the pinnacle of sport, one of the greatest believers of cross-training was Martina Navratilova who infused very high levels of weight-training, running, basket-ball and skiing into her preparations to be one of the topmost tennis legends.

There are many reasons why RE or cross-training are commended by coaches. The prime such reasons are:

a) REs are used during off-season work to give the body a well-deserved rest, especially those muscles that are pounded and used every day in and out whilst hurdling or running.

b) Injuries warrant REs to be pressed into service. An injury to say the calf will not allow the athlete to run, but he could maintain his fitness by swimming.

93 RUNNING EQUIVALENT (RE) & CROSS TRAINING

c) Many coaches use RE even during the pre-season and some even during competitive phase or season, to give the athlete a dynamic rest-day! Usually, this is done by either playing a sport such as soccer or swimming or a day dabbling with boxing!

d) There are coaches that swear by the psychological or mental advantages of REs to pump-up the athlete and to bring the much-needed aggression in them. Today, professional athletes attend boot-camps, commando training, undertake boxing or martial arts lessons to set-up and bring about an aggressive streak amongst them. It is argued that such training is also very good for team spirit and builds a sense of camaraderie.

e) In other words, RE or cross-training is training in sports other than the athlete’s principal sport. Such training works, develops and strengthens different muscles and develops different energy systems. RE makes the athlete’s body generally fitter and improves the overall fitness and strength without the risk of over-using the muscles used in the principal sport. Today, swimmers and cyclists run and runners take the plunge into the pool. For example, ace cyclist, Lance Armstrong, was a very competent Marathon runner!

94 Chapter 14

STRUCTURED WARM-UP & COOL DOWN

Incorporating a good warm-up and cool- down into every session decreases chances of injury

- Samantha Stosur -

arm-up and cool-down are crucial to not just great training and racing but Walso to ward off injuries. I have observed that warm-up is not emphasized by Indian coaches especially the middle and long-distance coaches. There is a false belief that warm-up is only for sprinters. This is a dangerous myth. We will first deal with warm-up and then the cool down. Warm-up Warm-up has to be structured, specific, elaborate and continually rehearsed and practiced. It is vital for all athletes in every sport, more so to hurdlers, given the aggressive dynamic mobility required. A warm-up is also extremely important and necessary for Masters athletes (aged 30 and above).

An athlete, especially a hurdler, has to have 3 different modules of warm-ups. Two of them are training warm-up modules (one which is more elaborate and another relatively less elaborate) and the third one is the competition module. But why should there be a difference between a training module and a competition module and why should there be two training modules?

A training module is actually part of the workout and accords improvement benefits to the athlete. It is elaborate, time-consuming (time very well spent!) and in a sense energy sapping! This can well be afforded in usual training but during competition we need to have the athlete warmed-up but not tired. Further, many a times, an athlete will have to do more than one race in a day or session and the second (or third) race will come minutes or hours after a prior full-effort race. Therefore, a shorter (but yet effective) competition warm-up also needs to be developed.

95 STRUCTURED WARM-UP & COOL DOWN

Similarly, due to certain exigencies such as paucity of time, period of the training year, weather conditions (extreme heat, wind, cold or rain), the intensity of effort (eg. an aerobic run of 5 km versus a full power time trial of 600 mtrs) etc., the training warm-up may have to be truncated to adapt to the conditions and goal.

I now delineate a full or elaborate training warm-up for a 400m hurdler consisting of about 75 items. The slightly less elaborate training warm-up can then be a slightly shorter (in terms of time, repetitions, intensity and items) chosen by the coach/athlete depending upon the present needs of the athlete. Some of these warm-up exercises should also be done before the competition. These competition warm-up exercises are indicated by the letters (CW). This indicates that only those warm-up exercises have to be done for the competition warm-up.

I) Elaborate training warm-up for an elite 400m Hurdler (on days he is to do hurdle work)

To be done in Trainers (shoes):

1) 800m to 1200m jog with a few (about 6) pick-ups.

2) On the spot shoulder rotations (front & back) (CW)

3) On the spot Neck exercises (front, back, both sides, circular-both ways) (CW)

4) On the spot front and lateral arm swings (right & left) (CW) 5) On the spot bend with clasped and straightened hands (shoulder blade squeeze) (CW)

6) Front bend or toe touch (CW) 7) Standing side bends and split side touches

8) Knee rotations (with knees apart and joined) (CW)

9) Ankle rotations (circular-both ways, front & back) (CW)

10) Static stretches (sitting/sleeping) a) Single front (foot into groin) hamstring stretch (CW) b) Double front stretch (CW)

96 STRUCTURED WARM-UP & COOL DOWN

c) Butterfly front stretch (sitting groin stretch and lying groin stretches) (CW)

d) Hurdler’s stretch with all variations (CW)

e) Knee to chest (CW)

f) Pelvic tilt (CW) g) Cat stretch and Camel stretch

h) Back hyper-extension

i) Splits and splits with side/ front motion (side and forward & front on both sides

j) Lying hamstring stretch

k) Supine groin stretch

l) Back roll

m) Bridge

n) Sitting twist (on floor) (for glutes and side of leg) (CW) o) Side lunge

p) Sumo stretch

q) Spinal twist

r) Knees to side stretch

s) Back arch supine hyper extension

11) Standing stretches ™™ Arm over Head stretch

™™ Wrist flexion (complete routine… front, back, side and rotation)

™™ One leg stretch for quads – standing backward bend

™™ Calf stretch (CW)

97 STRUCTURED WARM-UP & COOL DOWN

™™ Lunge walk

™™ Standing hamstring stretch (single leg on each side) (CW)

™™ Standing high bar stretch (front/side) (CW)

™™ Static hurdler stretch on rod or hurdle (CW) ™™ Knee to opposite chest (standing)

™™ Leaning forward hurdle stretch (CW)

™™ Leaning back hurdle stretch (CW) ™™ Standing backward bend

™™ Standing forward bend (CW)

™™ Standing forward bend with rotation (CW) ™™ Standing side bend

12) Dynamic stretches

‹‹ Front single leg dynamic stretch (CW)

‹‹ Side single leg dynamic stretch (CW)

‹‹ Back single leg dynamic stretch (CW) ‹‹ Front hook stretch

‹‹ Dynamic hurdling motion (CW) ‹‹ Side supine dynamic side stretch

13) High knees on the spot

14) High knees moving forward (CW) 15) On the spot very fast running with very low knee lift (to trigger fast twitch fibres) (CW)

16) Front (lead-leg) hurdling cyclical motion (CW) 17) Dynamic side leg swing (alternate)

98 STRUCTURED WARM-UP & COOL DOWN

18) Exaggerated Sprint hand motion from bent position to upright position

19) Shadow skipping (without rope)

20) Hopping

21) Ankle to bum slaps (bum whackers)

22) Jogging with every second stride as high knee (CW) 23) Fast strides over 40 to 80m with variations (e.g. medium, medium-fast, fast, etc.)

24) Backward run with elaborate lower leg throw-back

25) Sideways running

26) Cross-legged sideways runs

27) Bounding

28) 20m accelerations from standing start or with start with on spot jogging

29) Jogging and bending over to touch the ground as you move forward

30) Katana jumps

31) Hip circles (CW) 32) Stiff legged runs on heels

33) Standing reverse hurdle stretch (CW)

Specific hurdles warm-up (may be done in Trainer shoes or in spikes)

a) Front leg dynamic (CW)

b) Trail leg dynamic (CW) c) Bunny hop over hurdle (lowered height)

NOTE: A) The whole elaborate training warm-up routine must be done at such speed and with such short recoveries that one must be able to complete it in a maximum of 45 minutes but preferably 30 minutes.

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B) Do relatively very less static stretches on training days consisting of high velocity or sprint work and do more of dynamic/moving runs and stretches. On aerobic and speed-endurance training days, the athlete can do the static stretches in a greater measure.

C) When doing the elaborate training warm-up, the energy consumption distribution must be never more than 25% as compared to the actual training (running/hurdling). In other words, if total energy at disposal is 100, then 15% to 25% must be utilized for the warm-up and 75% to 85% on the actual training.

D) After the elaborate training warm-up, the athlete must sweat but must not be drenched in sweat or be exhausted.

E) Depending on weather conditions (cold, heat, wind, rain) the athlete must cover himself adequately (track suit, Gore-Tex suit etc.). But more importantly, in hot weather conditions, as in India, the athlete must do the warm-up on just a good wicking T-shirt. You don’t want to be dehydrated before even starting the actual training workout. Remember you don’t have to wear a track suit because you are an athlete. Track suits are not a training uniform! Track suits are worn to keep the body warm in certain temperature or wind conditions. Track suits, especially in India, are more useful to cover your body after training!

II) Competition warm-up for the elite 400m hurdlers:

A) Warm-up in Trainer shoes 1) 800m jog (first 400 easy, next 200 fast jog and last 200 easy jog)

2) All exercises and warmup marked in the elaborate training warm-up above as CW

B) Warm-up in spikes There must be good recovery between each repetition

1) 2 x 40 gradual acceleration

2) 2 x 50 very fast strides

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3) 1 x 60 fast strides on the curve

4) 2 x 20 with crouch start

5) 1 x 40m fast sprint

6) 1 x 45 (first hurdle)

NOTE: A) As compared to the elaborate warm-up, the number of repetitions for the competition warm-up must be reduced to about half. Thus, if you usually do 5-6 repetitions, you must bring it down to 3. Similarly, the quantum of the static and dynamic stretches is down to about half of the normal.

B) The competition warm-up must be over in a maximum of about 35 minutes. (20 minutes in flats and 15 minutes in spikes).

C) In the competition warm-up, the emphasis must be on dynamic stretching, warm-up, movement and speed.

D) It is important to wear the track suit after the warm-up but before the actual race. Usually, there will be a time lag of about 30 minutes. The time lag maybe more in bigger championships and the Olympics where the athlete has to report to a call-room and then walk into the main stadium.

E) The competition warm-up is done with a far greater focus and concentration. The athlete must build-up towards the race and use visualization techniques learnt in training. The athlete must avoid looking at other competitors doing their warm-up and concentrate on his own warm-up!

F) If the athlete has any particular technique, routine or exercise that he has developed as part of his psychological warfare repertoire, then he must employ that appropriately. To have the desired effect, mind games have to be played subtly! Cool-down Cool-down or warm-down or limbering down is a set of exercises and activities done after the main training workout of the athlete. The purpose of doing structured cool-down is to allow the body to gradually transition to a resting or near-resting

101 STRUCTURED WARM-UP & COOL DOWN state and to flush out the accumulated lactic acid and fatigue. Cool-down is also positively correlated to warding off injuries, dizziness and muscle soreness.

After a running or hurdle workout, a cool-sown allows the athlete’s heart-rate to return to its resting state. The usual method of cooling-down employed by track runners (including the 400m hurdler) after a training or competitive race is to go for an easy jog followed by light static stretching and a cold shower or ice-bath.

The final aspect of a cool-down and one which is often neglected or not emphasized are the hydration (water and/or sports drinks) and ‘nutrition window’ issues. Empirical research has indicated that rehydration has both physiological and psychological benefits. Similarly, scientific research has concluded quite clearly and emphatically that immediately (within about 15 to 30 minutes) of any workout (whether running, hurdling or weight-training etc.) a light and small but potent amount of nutrition must be ingested by the athlete. This post-workout nutrition strategy is called by various names such as the nutrition window, anabolic window, protein window or metabolic window.

The ‘nutrition window’ is a popular and widely accepted nutritional strategy that involves consuming protein and carbohydrates quite immediately after the training workout or race. It is understood that the intake of the nutrients and the timing of the intake are both equally important in producing dramatic improvement in body repair and composition. Ingesting the nutrients in the right quantity and within time initiates the rebuilding of the damaged muscle tissues and the quick restoration of energy reserves. However, like exercise adaptation, here too, the nutrients taken in at the right time and of the right quantity and quality results in a super compensation and enhances both body composition and exercise performance.

This window of opportunity as it is sometimes referred to by coaches is considered so crucial by some researchers, coaches and even elite athletes that they argue that only a limited time exists after training to optimize training-related muscular adaptations through the rehydration and nutrition route. They thus opine that if there is any delay, then the window of opportunity closes and the opportunity is lost! This window of nutrition, it is argued, is open upto a maximum of 30 minutes after training, wherein the body can be taken from the catabolic state to the anabolic state.

The complete cool-down routine must usually be attempted to be completed in about 30 minutes and must generally aim for the gradual lowering of the heart

102 STRUCTURED WARM-UP & COOL DOWN rate and initiating the process of flushing out the lactic acid, other toxins and waste-matter from the blood and muscles. Delineated below is a sample cool-down routine of an elite 400m hurdler after an intensive training workout : 1) 800m easy run followed by 400m walk. 2) Static Stretches (sitting / sleeping) a. Single front (foot into groin) hamstring stretch b. Double front stretch c. Butterfly front stretch (sitting groin stretch and lying groin stretches) d. Knee to chest e. Cat and Camel stretch f. Lying hamstring stretch g. Supine groin stretch h. Back roll i. Bridge j. Sitting twist (on floor) (for glutes and side of leg) k. Sumo stretch l. Back arch supine hyper extension

3) Standing Stretches a. One leg stretch for quads – standing backward bend b. Calf stretch c. Standing forward bend with rotation d. Standing side bend 4) Full abs & back (core) routine (including 1 Plank) 5) Rehydration and ‘window of nutrition’ 6) Cold-shower or Ice-bath

103 Chapter 15

CORRECTION OF COMMON FAULTS IN HURDLING

When you make a mistake, there are only three things you should ever do : admit it, learn from it, and don’t repeat it !

- Paul Bear Bryant -

e have seen that hurdling is a technical event dependent to a large extent Wupon the quality of perfect hurdling. A hurdler who is bad in hurdling is like a fish which is bad in swimming! Hurdling is a highly complex and intricate phenomenon and there is a lot of scope for things to go wrong as various variables could get affected and lead to faulty or imperfect hurdling.

In this chapter, we discuss 16 common 400m hurdling faults and discern the reasons for such imperfect hurdling and then suggest corrective measures.

1. Problem or fault:

The take-off before the first hurdle is too far. Reasons & correction:

a. The order of front and back legs into the blocks may have to be reversed!

b. The first five to six strides from the blocks may be too short and so may have to be each slightly lengthened. A two-inch lengthening of each of the first six strides would mean a one-foot difference at the first hurdle. This may also require improving the leg strength of the athlete so that his contractive strength increases.

c. The athlete may not be aggressively accelerating 10m before the first hurdle. He must be trained to do so in practice.

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2. Problem or fault:

The clearance over the hurdle is too high. Reasons & correction:

a. The athlete may be afraid of the hurdle. This is detected if the athlete stiffens, cringes or decelerates before the hurdle. The solution is to build the confidence of the hurdler by making him hurdle over slightly lower- height hurdles and then build his confidence. Similarly, using foam-coated hurdles could help in improving the confidence of the hurdler.

b. The athlete may be coming too close to the hurdle. This could be so as the athlete is either over-striding or under-striding in his runs. This should be observed and corrected. Sometimes, when this happens on the curve, a simple solution may be to just advice the athlete to run a few steps on the curve, from the middle of the track rather than absolutely on the left. This may mean running a bit more, but the rhythm and clearance will be so good so as to compensate for running the foot or so extra!

c. Many hurdlers have practiced just skimming over the hurdles by placing matchboxes on hurdles and practice knocking over the matchboxes with the lead foot without touching the hurdle. This technique was first practiced by David Burghley of Great Britain who won the 400m hurdles Gold at the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics.

d. It is also possible that the heel of the take-off foot is being planted by the athlete on the ground. This means that the athlete is not in a proper sprinting action and is not on his toes or on the fore-foot. To correct this, the athlete must ensure that his centre of gravity is ahead and not behind him, by running tall and running slightly inclined forward. Further, the athlete must be encouraged in practice to have an aggressive or positive take-off rather than a passive or weak take-off.

e. Another way to ensure that the hurdler does not come too close to the hurdle is to put check marks on the take-off spot.

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f. If the clearance over the hurdle is too high and there is no flat clearance, then again, check marks will help.

g. Make the hurdler go over lower hurdles at full speed.

3. Problem or fault:

The athlete hits the knee of his trail leg (usually the medialis ie. above the inner knee) on the hurdle. Reasons & correction:

a. This usually happens when the knee of the trail leg is lower than where it should be and the flexion in the knee is less. When the athlete hurries the take off and runs through the hurdle, the trail leg knee tends to hit the hurdle.

b. The coach must instruct the hurdler to keep the trail leg back and not pick it up until he feels the push-off of the trail leg foot’s toe.

4. Problem or fault:

The hurdler goes over the hurdle and lands in an off-balance position. This off-balance could be in any of the four directions ie. left or right laterally (sideways) or front (excess or forward lean) or back (backward lean). Reasons & correction:

a. The hands, specially the opposite hand to the lead leg, controls the balance along with the abdominal muscles. Landing in an imbalanced state could be due to the lead leg and opposite hand being too much inwards rather than almost parallel to the front direction. This rotates the hips and you land slightly sideways rather than in front.

b. Another reason could be that the hurdler is too close to the hurdle just before clearance; forcing him to jump and land in such a way that the centre of gravity (mass) is behind, making the hurdler lean back.

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c. The angle of the head to a large extent determines the angle of the body. If the chin of the hurdler is dropped too much, then it will automatically take the head very low, reducing the angle between the body and the hurdle. This excessive body lean will mean that the centre of gravity of the hurdler upon landing would be far too much in front, and the hurdler will have to make more effort (energy loss) and take more time (to straighten up) before he resumes his sprinting action. It needs to be appreciated that the body lean of the 400m hurdler is far less elaborate and pronounced as compared to a 110/100m hurdler. In short, don’t drop your chin too much down.

5. Problem or fault:

Crashing into hurdles or hitting the hurdles, especially hurdles 8 to 10. Reasons & correction:

a. Usually when this happens late in the race (hurdles 8 to 10), it is due to extreme fatigue and lactic acid build-up leading to either loss of rhythm and stepping or concentration or both! The 400m hurdles is a killer race in the home stretch and extreme tiredness does not at times, allow the hurdler to focus on the on-coming hurdle with the result that the hurdler ends up either too close or too far from the hurdle.

b. The hurdler needs to spot the next on-coming hurdle at least 10m but preferably 15m away.

c. Another reason why hurdlers could hit hurdles is because of a tendency to look out of their lanes. It is imperative that in the 400m hurdles race, the athlete limits his attention and focuses within his own lane. If, for any inexplicable reason (perhaps to evaluate his position), the hurdler wants to peek out of his lane, he must choose to do so 4 or 5 steps after crossing a hurdle and never in the last 15m before a hurdle. I have learnt this the very hard way, when I looked out from my lane just before the 8th hurdle at the Asian Masters Athletic Championships in 2006 and almost crashed into the hurdle… lost my rhythm & stepping and withered away to a silver from a gold-medal winning position. I was indeed lucky, not

107 CORRECTION OF COMMON FAULTS IN HURDLING

to have completely crashed into the 8th hurdle! In short, the athlete must concentrate only on his own race and his lane and not be distracted by what is happening in the other lanes.

d. If the hurdler is hitting hurdles consistently in practice (or in races), then lowering the hurdle height in training by 3 inches will help the hurdler develop the confidence to go over the hurdles with speed. Once the confidence sets in, the hurdle height can again be increased to the normal height.

6. Problem or fault:

Poor balance at the take-off. Reasons & correction:

a. This happens due to:

i) Over-striding in the last one or two strides. This will mean that the hurdler’s last one or two strides are flat-footed, or

ii) Poor running or rather sprinting form, or

iii) Weak ankle and/or calf strength.

b. The solution is to improve sprint mechanics and ankle and calf strength. Further, the hurdler must practice in training to take the last stride into the hurdle, shorter and quicker.

7. Problem or fault:

Trunk rotation over the hurdle (leading to imbalanced landing). Reasons & correction:

a) Knee is not attacking first ie. the hurdler is not leading with his knee. The knee must be thrust up and in front, towards the hurdle.

b) The lead hand is passing the body’s centre line leading to a rotation of the torso and hips.

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c) The last stride is too long and needs to be shortened.

d) Rotation problems over hurdles are magnified on the curve in the 400m hurdles and the hurdler must therefore take extra care that the lead arm does not reach too far across, especially on the curve. Further, the trail arm (ie. the arm on the side of the lead leg) should deviate as little as possible from normal sprinting action.

8. Problem or fault:

Flat foot landing. Landing on the heels causes the hips to drop and this lowers the centre of gravity. Reasons & correction:

a) The sprint mechanics must be improved and the hurdler must run tall, before and after the hurdle clearance.

b) There must be active pull of the trail leg and the trail leg must not be passively dragged over the hurdle.

c) The hurdler must ensure that the arms lead both at the take-off & landing and the arms must not be at the side.

9. Problem or fault:

Locking the lead leg knee. Reasons & correction:

This is usually caused when the lead-leg foot is swung up over the hurdle instead of driving the knee. One way to correct this flaw is to perform skipping drills on the sides of and over the hurdles making sure that the knee is not fully extended.

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10. Problem or fault:

Zig-zag or serpentine line of movement between hurdles, especially on landing and after a few strides after landing. Reasons & correction:

This happens due to excessive rotation around the vertical axis and this is due to rotation of the hips. The best way to correct this flaw is to drive the knee (both vertically and horizontally) towards the hurdle, running tall and keeping the hips and shoulders square.

11. Problem or fault:

The hurdler consistently hits the hurdle with his trail leg toe. Reasons & correction:

The trail foot should have the toe cocked up. If the trail foot toe remains down, either the hurdler will be forced to ‘jump’ and thereby losing precious time, or the hurdler will hit the hurdle and again that will result in loss of form and timing.… and perhaps even fall down.

12. Problem or fault:

Flat footed running between the hurdles. Reasons & correction:

a) Though this is not purely a hurdling related issue, it can have tremendous negative impact on the 400m hurdler’s progression. There are various reasons for this:

i) This may be the natural way how that particular athlete sprints. Many athletes ‘sit’ during sprints.

ii) The athlete may be over-striding and is reaching forward, thus coming down on the mid-foot or heel.

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iii) Extreme fatigue in later parts of the race/training runs may lead to flat-footed running.

b) The correction lies in having the hurdler run on his toes. There must also be emphasis on an aggressive and explosive lead leg pickup and the athlete must do a lot of high knees in practice. The athlete’s over-striding must be curtailed and lastly his conditioning and ability to endure lactic acid build-up must be increased. c) The athlete must also be checked and evaluated to determine whether there are any bio-mechanical problem/s with the athlete’s foot or knees which is the cause of the athlete running flat footed. If any bio-mechanical fault is detected, it must be endeavoured to be corrected by an appropriate orthopaedic doctor or foot specialist.

13. Problem or fault:

The hurdler loses rhythm and his stride pattern gets badly disrupted. Reasons & correction:

a) To a large extent, both technical and rhythm related issues crop up in the last quarter of the 400m hurdles race. This is mainly because of the onset of the lactic acid phenomenon.

b) To tackle lactic acid related rhythm and/or technical issues, the coach must improve the conditioning of the athlete and make him perform both stride rhythm and hurdle clearance under fatigued conditions in training. There are various ways of simulating fatigue in training and they will be found in detail, in the next chapter titled ‘111 Workouts for 400m hurdles’ in this book. We delineate a few of them below.

i) 30 push-ups. Then immediately over the first 3 hurdles (ie. about 120m).

ii) 500m Hurdles (ie. 12 hurdles) @ 90% effort.

iii) 3 x (200m hurdles ie. 5 hurdles and then fast 200m flat).

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iv) 1 x 10 hurdles followed by 1 x 8 hurdles with just 5 minutes rest between sets.

In other words, the 400m hurdler must do workouts which are geared towards the special endurance needs of the event in the last quarter of the race.

14. Problem or fault:

The hurdler fades away after crossing the last hurdle and is consistently beaten in the final 40m. Reasons & correction:

a. The cause is usually lack of speed-endurance and inability to accelerate the speed in a state of fatigue. The hurdling technicals seem to be quite fine here but the hurdler is not able to turn over his legs and sprint to the finish.

b. The speed-endurance of the hurdler must be improved with larger doses of repetitions over 600m.

c. The hurdler must also be told to run aggressively after crossing the last hurdle in all training sessions. This improves the hurdler’s neuro-motor imprint that after the last hurdle he has to go fast. In workouts like 4 x 4H, the hurdler must be told to run 50m at full speed after crossing the 4th hurdle in each repetition.

15. Problem or fault:

The hurdler has excessive flexion of the lead leg throughout the clearance of the hurdle. Reasons & correction:

a. The take-off is too close to the hurdle.

b. The hurdler may have underdeveloped flexibility.

c. The hurdler must be encouraged to lead with the knee.

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d. Shadow hurdles exercise (front) must be practiced

16. Problem or fault:

The hurdler is consistently being disqualified as the trailing leg goes below the level of the hurdle from the side. Reasons & correction:

a. It is usually the left leg which trails and falls below the left side of the hurdle and does not cross the hurdle but goes around it. Again, this usually happens on the curves.

b. The hurdler is leading with his right leg and is running too close to the inner (left) edge of the lane.

c. The left leg (trail leg) must be cocked up.

d. The left leg (trail leg) must go across the hurdle from almost the centre of the hurdle.

e. The hurdler must learn to hurdle with his left leg as lead leg, especially on the bends.

113 Chapter 16

111 WORKOUTS FOR 400M HURDLES

Train Insane or Remain the same ! - Anonymous -

s a thumb rule, one needs to remember that speed over the flat 400m is an Aimportant predictor for success at the 400m hurdles. In fact, the 400m hurdler must also be a good 600m runner. Thus, apart from hurdling ability, the hurdler requires good running ability with a perfect mix of speed and speed-endurance.

In the ‘off-season phase,’ the hurdling to running training ratio should be about 20:80. In the ‘pre-competition phase,’ the ratio must be 40:68 and in the ‘competition phase,’ the ratio between hurdling and running sessions should be about 60:40. This also includes the hurdle races themselves, which are counted as hurdling workouts.

The intensity of training depends upon the period of the yearly training cycle, the current fitness of the hurdler and training conditions (wet track, rain, wind speed, temperature and even pollution). The intensity during the off-season phase is lesser and the quantum of work (resistance, distance, running repetitions/ intervals etc.) is more. This changes when the athlete enters the pre-competitive phase and the competitive phase where quality is emphasized over quantum. As a general thumb rule, higher the intensity, lesser is the number of repetitions or distance run. Similarly, when the intensity is higher, the rest (recovery) period is longer and vice versa.

The flow of this chapter on 400m hurdles workouts is divided in three distinct phases of the yearly training cycle viz. off-season phase, pre-competition phase and competition phase. I have enumerated 111 different workouts which can be done by the 400m hurdler across the three training cycles or phases. It needs to be borne in mind that it is not the intention that only these 111 workouts be done or that they be done in the sequence in which they appear here. More importantly, many of the workouts will necessarily have to be repeated by the coach or the athlete in any one yearly training phase. Similarly, if necessary, and if

114 111 WORKOUTS FOR 400M HURDLES the current needs of the hurdler require, then, the various workouts from the three different yearly training phases can be interchanged. The three phases of the yearly training and workouts within each training cycle are each encapsulated in the form of a table which enlightens the 400m hurdles coach and the hurdler, not only about each workout, but also indicates the rest or recovery required between each rep and/or each set.

Similarly, each of the 111 workouts are classified or grouped under nine different running systems that the workout will help develop in the context of the 400m hurdles. These nine running systems are:

Sr. Component addressed System of Training No. by the system Stamina to tackle last 100m 1 Aerobic Endurance of the race 2 Tempo Endurance (Lactic Threshold) Even-paced running 3 Race Pace Simulation Pace Judgement All out effort at 100% to 105% 4 Time Trial of ability 5 Speed Endurance Ability to run under oxygen debt a. Long (Lactate Production) Taking the athlete into lactic acid zone Ensuring the athlete can tolerate b. Short (Lactate Tolerance) lactic acid 6 Speed Start and Speed 7 Conditioning Fitness, body strength and flexibility 8 Technical Hurdling Ability Hurdling to tackle the last 80m of the 9 Special Endurance race

Table 9 : The 9 composite training systems to be developed by the 400m Hurdler

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Each of the nine distinctive running systems of development, growth and improvement of the 400m hurdler that need to be addressed are explained below so that the reader (whether coach or athlete) can understand which running system or criteria will benefit the 400m hurdler when he or she is doing each of the 111 workouts!

Last but not the least, each of the 111 workouts tabulated below, state the type of footwear to be worn whilst performing that workout. The different footwear to be used by the 400m hurdler in training are divided into three categories viz. Trainers, Racing Flats and Spikes. There is also a quick discourse (before the actual training tables begin) of the three categories of footwear.

In other words, each of the 111 workouts for 400m hurdles addresses four features or parameters viz the distinctive workout, the rest or recovery, the specific system developed by the workout and the appropriate footwear to be worn. We now discuss and explain, in brief, the nine distinctive training/running systems of development that need to be addressed by the 400m hurdler in the specific context of the 400m hurdles event. These nine running systems may also be called the type or category of workouts. 1) Aerobic endurance: Aerobic endurance system in the context of the 400m hurdles is the hurdler’s ability to sustain medium to high intensity runs for extended periods of time through the continued acquisition of oxygen. Aerobic endurance training enables the 400m hurdler to maintain the blood and oxygen supply required in the last 100m of the race. Aerobic endurance workouts take pride of place during the off-season phase of the annual training calendar so as to establish a base upon which the edifice of speed-endurance, speed and hurdling technicals are built. In latter stages of the annual training cycle (pre-competition and competition phases) aerobic endurance merely needs to be topped-up with minimal or occasional aerobic work.

2) Tempo Endurance: A 400m hurdler requires the ability to run at lactate-threshold pace ie. the ability of the athlete to hold the fastest speed at which the blood lactate levels stay fairly steady for a longer period of time. For the 400m hurdles,

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this period is about 15-20 minutes. The athlete has to endeavor to go fast for those 15 to 20 minutes but NOT at time-trial pace. This type of running pace is called a tempo run. It is a fast pace but not a frenetic pace. In a sense, it is a type of workout on the cusp of speed-endurance. Tempo runs are required throughout the 400m hurdler’s annual training cycle but more so in the pre-competition phase of training.

It may be apt to clarify that Tempo endurance runs for the long-distance runner (5K to Full marathon) will be longer (30 to 60 minutes) and slower than the tempo runs of a 400m hurdler. The same term (tempo) signifies a different time-frame of running for the 400m hurdler and the long-distance athlete as their lactate-threshold paces are different! Therefore, the 400m hurdlers tempo workout will be a faster pace over 15 to 20 minutes and a distance runner’s tempo workout will be a relatively slower pace over 30 to 60 minutes.

3) Speed Endurance: Many 400m hurdles coaches believe that the speed endurance system is extremely crucial for the intermediate hurdles. This is because the 400m hurdles requires a cardiovascular ability of running the flat 600m. Speed endurance training is spread out throughout the annual training cycle but is emphasised more in the pre-competition and competitive phases. The purpose of speed endurance training is to prolong the amount of time where a near maximal speed can be maintained.

Speed endurance workouts are of two types viz. lactic acid production and lactic acid tolerance. Sometimes, the former is referred to as longer speed endurance workouts (such as repeat intervals of 300m to 600m with longer recoveries) and the latter is referred to as shorter speed endurance workouts (such as repeat 100m to 200m intervals with shorter recoveries).

4) Race Pace Simulation: Here, the adage ‘the way you train is the way you race’ holds sway. In this system or category of training runs, the 400m hurdler attempts to run repeats of a distance shorter than 400m at a 400m race pace or thereabouts. The idea is to keep the athlete running at that pace which he wants to achieve in his race but over the 400m flat.

117 111 WORKOUTS FOR 400M HURDLES

Race pace simulation which is done in the pre-competition phase, ordinarily is not done in the off-season phase except when the coach enters the 400m hurdler in 800m and 4x 400m relay races in the off-season to hone some speed and evaluate the fitness of the hurdler.

5) Time Trials: One of the most dreaded workouts, the time-trial is a mechanism for the coach to fathom the current ability of the 400m hurdler. Usually, the time-trials for the 400m hurdles are held over flat distances ranging from 300m to 600m. It is a race against the clock and without any real strategy except to clock the best possible time for the allotted distance. It is by and large a 100% effort, though most athletes feel that it is more than 100% !

There are different variants of the time trial, such as a time trial without hurdles or a time-trial with hurdles or a time-trial where the athlete runs with (alongside) another runner or partially or fully paces another runner.

But the bottom line of all time-trials is to do a maximal speed run over a distance close to or the actual race distance. Time-trials are arguably the toughest training workouts as the athlete can try and push himself to limits even beyond his maximum, as there is no fear of losing a race! Time-trials teach bravery and are very good for mental and physical toughness.

6) Speed: Fundamentally, at the highest level, the 400m hurdles is a sustained sprint and therefore the speed system needs to be developed and plays a crucial role in achieving success in this event. Though speed can be developed with proper training, to a large extent, it is a natural phenomenon. Speed is stride frequency multiplied by stride length and therefore the perfect optimum of the two will give an athlete the best results.

There is no doubt that the speed system needs to be developed the most in the competitive phase of the annual training cycle. However, speed training needs to be continually undertaken so that it remains topped-up and therefore reasonable quantum of speed sessions are to be done in the pre-competition phase and some amount even in the off-season phase. A 400m hurdler has

118 111 WORKOUTS FOR 400M HURDLES

to develop both pure or raw speed and speed over 400m. Speed training is almost invariably done on spikes.

7) Conditioning:

In the context of the 400m hurdles, conditioning refers to bodily fitness, strength and muscular endurance which forms the base of the athlete’s early months of the annual training cycle. Conditioning is a general phase of training in which apart from running, the general or core fitness of the athlete is developed.

Conditioning for the 400m hurdler is undertaken primarily in the off-season and early pre-competition phases of the annual training cycle and almost never in the competitive phase.

Various forms of running equivalents and cross-training such as swimming, games such as soccer, rugby and throwball contribute to the conditioning of the athlete in the off-season and so do activities like boot-camps, commando training, hiking, boxing and martial arts. Similarly, certain types of circuit training entailing a mix of running and calisthenics also makes for a heady mix of conditioning for the 400m hurdler in the off-season. Conditioning toughens up the athlete and compels him to undertake activities other than or over and above running.

8) Technical:

For the 400m hurdler, developing the technical system entails training in hurdling in all its hues, shapes and colour! To be a good hurdler, one has to learn to hurdle perfectly. Technical training has two facets: hurdle drills and actual hurdling. Hurdle drills are done more in the off-season and pre-competition phase of the annual training cycle. Whereas actual hurdling takes paramount precedence during the competition phase and to some extent even during the latter part of the pre-competition phase.

9) Special Endurance:

We have seen that the 400m hurdles becomes a demon event or as the name of this book suggests, a man-killer, in the last 100m. If success has to

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be achieved in this event, a lot of training will have to go in tackling the last 100m of the race and the final three hurdle clearance.

Lactic acid build-up at the 300m to 350m mark of the race is so extreme and indescribable that the 400m hurdles becomes a feared event. The coach thus has to fundamentally and essentially prepare the athlete to face the demons of lactic acid tolerance. If this is not done, the athlete will crack under the stress and fatigue of the lactic acid onslaught and his body will go into shock and crumble in the last 80m.

Special endurance workouts are geared toward ensuring that the 400m hurdler is better able to negotiate the demons of the lactic acid curse. These special endurance workouts mimic in training what will actually happen in the race, so that the athlete is not shocked when it actually does happen in the race. Special endurance workouts, like time-trials, are exceptionally hard on the body (and the mind), but with progressive practice, the body (and the mind) begin to adapt and become stronger and are able to withstand or tolerate the extreme fatigue of the lactic acid attack. Most successful and mature 400m hurdlers at an advanced level actually enjoy doing special endurance workouts! This is the signal that they have arrived!

As already delineated above, there are 3 types of footwear required by a 400m hurdler for the purpose of training and competition. These are basically divided into Trainers, Racing Flats and Spikes. A serious and advanced level 400m hurdler must always carry all three of these in his training kit, unless he is pre-informed about a particular day’s workout. We now discuss the three types of footwear required by the 400m hurdler and the role that those footwear play in their training and racing. i) Trainers: For all training runs on treadmills, road, beaches, trails and dirt, the 400m hurdler must use cushioned trainers. The longer runs (4K and longer) specially in the off-season and all other conditioning, running equivalents or cross- training work should be done in these trainers, which are the most protective shoes. These shoes are sufficiently cushioned and may be heavier (between 250 and 350 grams) than performance trainers, racing flats or spikes but they give the feet and legs the necessary protection.

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Thus, in all training, where speed, speed endurance or hurdling is not to be done, trainers are the perfect choice. Similarly, all track warm-ups and cool- downs must be done in these protective and highly cushioned running shoes.

Some of the more popular trainers over the years are delineated below by brand and generic model name (but not the current variant number as these keep changing every year or so): Asics Kinsei, Asics Cumulus, Asics Nimbus, Asics Kayano, Asics GT2000, Nike Air Zoom Pegasus, New Balance Fresh Foam Zante, Adidas Ultra Boost, New Balance FreshFoam 1080, Saucony Triumph, Hoka One Clayton and Hoka One Hupana etc. ii) Racing Flats: These shoes are like trainers but are extremely sleek, light weight and lack a substantial heel (hence the name – flat). They do protect the feet and legs much more than spikes but not as much as the cushioned trainers.

Actually, the racing flats are used by elite marathoners (those who complete the full marathon in under 2 hours 30 minutes) to do fast paced training or racing. The ideation behind using racing flats is to ensure that the marathoner is carrying the least weight on his legs. Thus, the elite marathoners do the bulk of their training in the heavier and cushioned trainers and race in the lighter (below 250 gms) and more flexible racing flats.

The 400m hurdlers, when they do longer speed-endurance workouts, on the track, should run in racing flats rather than in spikes as the racing flats are light weight and yet they protect the feet far better than spikes.

400m hurdling is an event that necessitates using the spikes a lot (for all speed and hurdling workouts). But the spikes have minimal protection and cushioning and therefore the 400m hurdler must find ways to minimize its use to the best extent possible.

Thus, most pre-competition phase training, especially the speed endurance, tempo runs and repeats even of runs over 100m to 1000m performed at below 85% of top ability, must be done on racing flats.

Within the range of racing flats, there are two varieties available; one which have slightly more weight and cushioning and others which are extremely light

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and minimalist. For the type of runs required for the 400m hurdles training, those racing flats which have a little more weight and a little more cushioning are recommended as against the minimalist ones.

Some of the more popular racing flats for use by 400m hurdlers are delineated below by brand and model names: Asics Gel DS Racer, Asics Gel Hyper Speed, Adidas Adizero Adios, New Balance 1400, Mizuno Wave Ekidan, Saucony Type A, Mizuno Wave Sonic, Brooks Hyperion, Nike Flyknit Racer, Nike Zoom Vaporfly, Newton Distance Elite, Under Armour Speedform Apollo, Nike Flex RN, Adidas Adizero Boston and Altra Escalante Race. iii) Spikes: The 400m hurdler must necessarily use spikes for all speed, hurdling and time- trial runs. In other words, most of the competitive season training and racing is done on spikes. The spikes used can have 5mm to 9mm nails (spikes) in them and will usually be between 5mm to 7mm depending upon the type of artificial track surface. In fact, many tracks or stadiums do not allow spikes above 7mm. The spikes are checked before the race in the call room to ensure that they are below the permissible size of length. This is done for the protection of the track surface and not for any other competitive or technical reason.

Since the 400m hurdles is a sustained sprint rather than a pure sprint, the 400m hurdler must use either spikes meant for 400m hurdles or spikes meant for middle distances ie. from 400m to 1500m. These are called MD spikes or middle-distance spikes and such spikes tend to have a little more flexibility, cushioning, slightly elevated heel and medium weight (between 110 to 200 gms) as compared to pure sprinting spikes which are extremely rigid, with no elevated heel, uncushoined and light-weight. Sprinting spikes must not be used by 400m hurdlers as the aggressive landing of the lead leg will injure the hurdler if the spikes are not at least sufficiently cushioned.

If the training or racing surface is grass or cinder (which is rare these days) then the 400m hurdler can use nails up to 9 mm. However, on artificial or synthetic tracks, spikes of the length of around 5mm or 6mm are recommended.

It has been observed that rookie athletes and hurdlers tend to use very long nails (up to 12mm) on their spikes even when training or racing on synthetic

122 111 WORKOUTS FOR 400M HURDLES tracks. This is wrong. The athlete has to understand that the purpose of the spikes is to give optimum traction at the start, in the race and over the hurdles. Very clearly, spikes give an advantage to the runner as compared to trainers or even racing flats, but if the spike nails are too long, then the athlete or hurdler has to put in far more effort to pull them out back from the track. This depletes the energy and strength of the athlete, especially in an event like the 400m hurdles where it would be a disadvantage. That is the reason why the top-most 400m hurdlers use nails which are 5mm or 6mm depending on the track surface, their body weight and sex.

Since the 400m hurdles race is run on two full curves (including hurdling on the two curves), most 400m hurdlers prefer to use spikes which have sufficient nail-holes on the outer side of each shoe (especially the left shoe) to give added traction to negotiate the curves.

The spike nails come in 3 distinct varieties ie. pin (needle), pyramid and compression tier (x-mas tree). Most varieties of Mondo synthetic tracks (including Mondo Super X and Mondotrack), which have a honey-comb or bubble-like surface, will not allow pin spikes as they have a tendency to rupture the bubbles or honey-comb structure of the top surface of these tracks. Similarly, most indoor tracks, which tend to have a smoother rubber surface will also not allow pin spikes. The rest of the synthetic tracks will allow all 3 types of spike nails.

Most elite hurdlers prefer to use the x-mas-tree spikes on Mondo tracks as they tend to give an optimal energy return or bounce-back due to compression (of the track) as compared to pyramid spikes. Since most tracks in India are not honey-comb or bubble type Mondo tracks, the best nail to use is the pin (needle) nail of 5mm or 6mm, especially for the 400m hurdles.

It must be understood and appreciated that as the general rule (with all other things remaining constant), shorter races like 100m, 200m and 110/100m hurdles can warrant the use of slightly longer nails such as 6mm to 8mm. But the longer races like 400m to 1500m and the 400m hurdles are best run on shorter nails viz., 4mm to 6mm. Further, if the track conditions are wet (due to rain) then the 400m hurdler may want to use one millimetre extra sized nails.

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It is important to note, that experienced and seasoned 400m hurdlers and in fact all serious athletes must possess spike nails from 4mm to 9mm and must use them as per the requirements of the event and the surface or the rules of that specific stadium or track. Another thumb rule to always remember, is that all shoes (trainers, racing flats and spikes) must first be broken-in by the athlete with casual wear and then used in training and never directly in competition.

Before we conclude, a few words on the actual shape and material of the spike nails will be warranted. All three types of spikes (pin, pyramid and compression tiered) are usually made out of steel. However, the most modern material to be used for making compression tiered (x-mas tree) and pyramid spike nails is ceramic. These ceramic nails are made by a Canadian company called Omni- Lite and are far lighter than steel nails. Most Mondo tracks having honey-comb or bubble structure recommend the use of Omni-Lite Xmas tree spike nails. Now coming on to the shape of the spike nail, the pin (needle) spike nail, as the name suggests, is very sharp and pointed at the tip and tapers from the base of the nail to the tip. On the other hand, the pyramid spike nail (which looks similar to the needle/pin) is also tapered from the base of the nail to the tip, but the tip is rounded and is not sharp and pointed. Lastly, the Xmas tree or compression tiered nails are somewhat conical in shape but have a tiered construction and flat tip. These are designed to compress the track rather than to penetrate the track. These nails work best with the Mondo (honey-comb and bubble type) track surface, as they use the track’s memory (resiliency) for greater energy return to the athlete after compression.

The following spikes are commended for the 400m hurdles: Nike Zoom 400, Saucony Vendetta (for women), Nike Zoom Rival M, Adidas Distancestar, Adidas Adizero Avanti, Nike Zoom Rival D, Nike Zoom Maxcat, Brooks ELMN, Asics Fastlap MD, Adidas Arriba, Nike Zoom Matumbo, Nike Zoom Victory and Adidas Sprintstar.

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111 SAMPLE WORKOUTS FOR THE 400M HURDLES : We now delineate and discuss the most important aspect of this coaching guide viz. the 111 sample workouts for the 400m hurdles. These 111 workouts have been divided into three annual training phases of off-season, pre-season and competitive season having 39, 44 and 28 sample workouts respectively. Each and everyone of these 111 workouts have been tried and tested by the author and by other elite Indian and International 400m hurdlers. These 111 sample workouts will give the coaches and the athletes sufficient training material to chalk out their own specific or personalized training programme for individual hurdlers, taking into consideration the age, sex, conditioning, physical attributes, years of training, hurdling ability and the specific needs of the athlete.

In all of the workouts which entail hurdling, any reference to hurdling (sometimes denoted by ‘H’) is a reference to 400m hurdle height and 400m hurdle placement. If any workout requires that the height or placement of the hurdle be changed, then that will be clearly specified in the workout table. Further, some hurdling workouts and/or races are to be done at the 100m / 110m hurdles height and placement, which too will be explicitly stated in the workouts. Thus, any reference to hurdles or hurdling in the sample workouts are necessarily a reference to the 400m hurdles, both in terms of the height of the hurdles and the placement position of the hurdles.

Workouts for the off-season phase The off-season phase in India would normally be considered the months from May to July. The competition phase ends usually around April. Thereafter, the athlete goes into a couple of weeks rest and then builds his base for the coming season, which usually starts in September or October and goes up to April. The off-season phase also sees the 400m hurdler doing a lot of weight training, conditioning & core work, flexibility exercises and endurance work and yet keeping in touch with speed and hurdling.

The off-season is controversial in terms of whether the hurdler must do hurdling. Quite a few coaches believe that the hurdler must be given full rest from the aggressive motion of hurdling and he must only build his base, both of running

125 111 WORKOUTS FOR 400M HURDLES and strength. However, most coaches especially in the case of elite athletes, would want their 400m hurdler to do some amount of speed work and hurdling during the off-season. These coaches reason that ‘hurdlers must hurdle’! The off-season is the best time to work on the hurdler’s start, hurdling drills and improving his weaker lead leg. Similarly, the hurdler can play with speed and hurdling in some of the off-season sessions by lowering the hurdle height and sprint through them. This is also the time of the year for the hurdlers to practice the sprint hurdles (110/100m) but with slight lowered height (perhaps by 3 inches). I now delineate 39 workouts for the off-season phase. The table of workouts has five columns including the type of running system or type of workout that it develops, the actual workout, the recovery/rest parameters and the footwear to be used. The next column contains the type of workout and has similar workout systems delineated one after the other, followed by the other systems. This will make it easier for the reader to refer to it. This is followed by the columns of recovery/rest and shoes. Sr Type/ Category Type of Workout Recovery/ Rest No of workout Shoes 1 Aerobic Trainers 20 minutes fartlek. Rest after completion Endurance 2 Aerobic 6 km cross country or Rest after completion Trainers Endurance beach run 3 Aerobic 3 x 12 minutes run Recovery 5 minutes Trainers Endurance 4 Aerobic 1600m, 1200m, 1000m Recovery 5 minutes Racing Endurance runs Flats 5 Aerobic 3 x12 minutes (Pace faster Recovery 10 minutes Racing Endurance than workout no. 3) Flats 6 Aerobic 3 km run on track Rest after completion Racing Endurance with 6 hurdles at 400H Flats & Special height. Two hurdles are Endurance placed evenly in the two straights and one each on the crown (middle) of the two bends

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Sr Type/ Category Type of Workout Recovery/ Rest No of workout Shoes 7 Aerobic 3 km run on a track. The Rest after completion Racing Endurance athlete runs both the Flats & Special straights @ 85% effort Endurance and then very slow jog on the curve. However, both the straights have one hurdle each

8 Tempo 4 km tempo run Rest after completion Trainers Endurance 9 Race pace 800m Race Rest after completion Spikes simulation 10 Race pace 400m Race or 4 x 400m Rest after completion Spikes simulation Race 11 Speed 4 x 1000m Recovery 5 minutes Racing Endurance-Long Flats 12 Speed 6 x 300m @ 70% Recovery 3 minutes Racing Endurance - Flats Short

13 Speed 5 x (100m, 200m, 100m Recovery 1 minute Racing Endurance-Short @ 75% pace) between reps and 3 Flats minutes between sets

14 Speed 20 x 200m With 100m walk Racing Endurance-Short recovery Flats 15 Speed 12 x 150m @ 85% Recovery 5 minutes Racing Endurance-Short Flats 16 Speed 6 x 300m @ 80% Recovery 6 minutes Racing Endurance-Short Flats

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Sr Type/ Category Type of Workout Recovery/ Rest No of workout Shoes 17 Speed 5 x (4 x 150m) @ 70% Recovery between Racing Endurance-Short reps 45 seconds Flats and between sets 90 seconds

18 Speed 5 x (5 x 60m) @ 90% 2-minute recovery Spikes between each rep and 7 minutes recovery between each set

19 Speed 10 x 150m (50m Fast, Walk back recovery Racing 50m Roll, 50m Fast) Flats 20 Conditioning 24 x 100m. Standing 30 secs recovery Racing Workout start. Normally done as between reps & 2 Flats 4 sets of 6 reps each minutes recovery between sets 21 Conditioning 5 x 800m – Hill Climb Slow jog back Trainers Workout 22 Conditioning 5 x 400m Hill @ 80% Recovery 6 minutes Trainers Workout effort 23 Conditioning 5 x 300m Hill Climb @ Almost full walk Trainers Workout 90% effort back recovery 24 Conditioning 10 x 100m bounding Recovery 4 minutes Trainers Workout 25 Conditioning 5 x (100m bounding, Recovery 50m jog Trainers Workout 100m skip, 100m between each 100m acceleration run) and 5 minutes recovery between sets

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Sr Type/ Category Type of Workout Recovery/ Rest No of workout Shoes 26 Conditioning Circuit Training on Rest 7-10 minutes Trainers Workout Track: 2 x (50 squats between the two then stride 100m; then sets 30 pushups then stride 100m; then 40 crunches then stride 100m; then 15 Burpees then stride 100m; then 25m Duck- walk then stride 100m) 27 Conditioning Swimming 10 x 100m As required - Workout/ Running Equivalent

28 Conditioning Swimming 2 x 1000m As required - Workout/ Running Equivalent

29 Conditioning Steady Cycling 25 kms Rest after completion As Workout/ or required Running Cycling for 10 kms with Equivalent 6 to 8 periodic bursts of about 30, 45, 60 seconds 30 Conditioning Hiking As required As Workout/ required Running Equivalent 31 Conditioning Football (Soccer), As required As Workout/ Throwball or Kho Kho required Running Equivalent

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Sr Type/ Category Type of Workout Recovery/ Rest No of workout Shoes 32 Conditioning Boot Camp As required As Workout/ or required Running Commando Training Equivalent

33 Conditioning Karate, TaekwonDo, As required Bare feet Workout/ Tai Chi, MMA, Boxing or as Running or Kick Boxing required Equivalent

34 Technical Hurdle drills + 6 x 60 Slow walk-back Trainers Workout strides recovery

35 Technical 8 x 1 hurdle from With about walk- Spikes Workout crouched start back recovery

36 Technical 5 x 5H 5 minutes recovery Spikes Workout

37 Technical 5 x 6H put randomly Recovery 5 minutes Spikes Workout 10m to 30m apart. The athlete hurdles over them with whichever leg comes naturally without any shuffle. For the next rep, the coach “reshuffles the deck” (ie. changes the location of the hurdles) (Technical workout which helps in hurdling with either leg)

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Sr Type/ Category Type of Workout Recovery/ Rest No of workout Shoes 38 Special 5 x (20 to 30 push-ups Slow walk-back Spikes Endurance then immediately over recovery of at least the first 3 hurdles ie. 5 minutes about 120m)

39 Strength Weight training in the As required Trainers gym (with emphasis on basic strength work). See Chapter 11.

Workouts for the pre-competition phase The pre-competition phase in India would usually be from July to September. This phase shapes the strength, endurance and power gained in the off-season phase into speed endurance. It is a stage in which there is shaping of power. This phase entails lesser aerobic work and more speed endurance work with far more of hurdling and speed.

It is important to note that just as in the off-season phase, there is some amount of speed and hurdling that will be done. In the same fashion, in the pre-competition phase there will be some topping-up of the aerobic work so that the aerobic endurance gained does not wane.

Delineated below are 44 workouts for the pre-competition phase that can be considered by the coach or athlete :

Sr Type/ Category Type of Workout Recovery/ Rest No of workout Shoes 40 Tempo 3 km Tempo Run + 6 x 8 to 10 minutes Racing Endurance 60m Strides recovery between Flats Tempo run & Strides

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Sr Type/ Category Type of Workout Recovery/ Rest No of workout Shoes 41 Race Pace 4 x 400m (At Race pace Recovery as required Spikes Simulation of 400H Race ie. 3 to 6 secs slower than 400m flat race pace). 42 Race Pace 2 x (2 x 200m @ 90% of Recovery only 1 Spikes Simulation 400m flat pace). minute between reps and full recovery between sets 43 Race Pace 2 x (4 x 100m @ 95% of Recovery 45 seconds Spikes Simulation 400m flat pace). between reps and almost full recovery between sets 44 Race Pace 3 x (300m @ 90% of Recovery 10 minutes Spikes Simulation 400m flat pace) 45 Race Pace 600m Time-trial 4 x 60m Recovery 15 minutes Spikes Simulation fast strides 46 Speed 600m, 400m, 200m, Recovery = 5 Racing Endurance - 400m, 600m minutes Flats Long 47 Speed 4 x 500m Full recovery Racing Endurance - Flats Long 48 Speed 2 x (500, 400, 300m) Recovery 4 minutes Racing Endurance - between Reps and 10 Flats Long minutes between sets

49 Speed 3 x 600m (First 400m Recovery = 5 Racing Endurance - medium-fast, last 200m minutes Flats Long fast)

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Sr Type/ Category Type of Workout Recovery/ Rest No of workout Shoes 50 Speed 3 x 500m (First 400m Recovery = 5 Racing Endurance - medium-fast, last 100m minutes Flats Long very fast) 51 Speed 3 x 500m (50m very Recovery is 5 Racing Endurance - fast, 50m Roll, 50m fast- minutes between Flats Long jog… continue sets 52 Speed 4 x 600m Recovery = 5 Racing Endurance-Long minutes Flats 53 Speed 5 x (2 x 60m @ 92%) Recovery 1 minute Spikes Endurance-Short between reps and 4 minutes between sets 54 Speed 5 x (4 x 30m @ 90%) Recovery 2 minutes Spikes Endurance-Short between reps and 8 minutes between sets 55 Speed 5 x (3 x 60m) @ 98% Recovery is 2 Spikes minutes between reps and 8 to 10 minutes between sets 56 Speed 6 x 120m accelerations Walk-back recovery Spikes (40m medium, 40m fast, 40m very fast) 57 Speed 400m, 300m, 200m Almost full recovery Spikes 58 Speed 5 x 200 from crouched Almost full recovery Spikes start. (progressively faster runs- Eg. 31 secs, 30 secs, 29 secs, 28 secs, 27 secs)

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Type/ Category Type of Workout Recovery/ Rest of workout Shoes 59 Speed Hurdle Drills + 5 x 50m Walk-back recovery Trainers fast strides for drills & Spikes for strides 60 Speed 40m, 50m, 60m, 80m, Slow walk-back Spikes 90m, 80m, 60m, 50m, recovery 40m 61 Speed 4 x 300 Full recovery Spikes 62 Speed 6 x 120 Repeats from Full recovery Spikes crouched start 63 Speed 400m Race Rest after completion Spikes 64 Speed 6 x 100m, 4 x 60m Recovery 3 minutes Spikes between each rep and sets 65 Conditioning 10 x 30m to 50m Steep Slow walk-back recovery Trainers Workout Hill/Slope 66 Technical 110m/100m H Race Rest after completion Spikes Workout & Speed 67 Technical Workout 3 x 6H with crouched Slow walk back recovery Spikes start 68 Technical Workout 2 x 1H, 2 x 3H, 2 x 5H Slow walk-back recovery Spikes 69 Technical Workout 1, 2, 3, 4, 3, 2 Hurdles Slow walk-back recovery Spikes 70 Technical Workout 4 x 2H, 2 x 4H Walk-back recovery Spikes

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Sr Type/ Category Type of Workout Recovery/ Rest No of workout Shoes 71 Technical Workout 4 x 5 Hurdles @ 110m Recovery is full Spikes hurdles or 100m hurdles height and spacing on the home straight with crouch start 72 Technical 3 x 6 to 10 Hurdles at Full recovery Spikes Workout reduced spacing (about 18m to 22m) at varying/ random distances. Distance to be covered is between 150m to 250m 73 Technical 4 x Fast Runs over Full recovery Spikes Workout 5 hurdles at reduced height and spacing over 150m 74 Special 6, 7, 8 Hurdles Full Recovery Spikes Endurance 75 Special 2 x 10H Full Recovery Spikes Endurance 76 Special 2 x (200m @ 95% then Recovery between Spikes Endurance 2-minute recovery, then set is 10 minutes run second 200m over final 5 hurdles @ 95% effort) 77 Special 2 x (300m over first 8 Recovery between Spikes Endurance Hurdles, then 2-minute set is 10 minutes recovery, then run 150m flat @ 95% effort).

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Sr Type/ Category Type of Workout Recovery/ Rest No of workout Shoes 78 Special 500m Hurdles (ie. 12 Full Recovery Spikes Endurance Hurdles) @ 90% effort + 5 x 80m fast striding 79 Special 3 x (100m flat then Full recovery Spikes Endurance hurdle the last 5H) 80 Special 4 x (5H+ 100m flat) 1 minute recovery Spikes Endurance between 5H and 100m and 7 minutes recovery between sets 81 Special 800m with 20 hurdles @ Rest after completion Spikes Endurance 85% effort 82 Special 2 x (4H then rest 1 Full Recovery (about Spikes Endurance minute then finish over 10 to 15 minutes) last 6H) 83 Strength Weight training (with As required Trainers emphasis on specific muscle groups especially hamstrings). See Chapter 11

Workouts for the Competition Phase The competition phase in India would normally be from end of September to April. Here the training focuses on speed and hurdling with enough of speed endurance and just enough aerobic endurance. The intensity of training is very high in this the competition phase. Needless to say, these are the months in which the athlete competes. The races (competitions) also act as full power training sessions! Further, the competition phase training is adapted in such a manner that it takes into consideration the quantum of competitions, the travel and the fatigue levels of the athlete.

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By and large, a good top-level 400m hurdler must race anywhere between 8 to 14 times in the competition phase, ie. by and large twice a month.

Delineated below are 28 workouts for the competition phase that a 400m hurdler can choose from :

Sr Type/ Category Type of Workout Recovery/ Rest No of workout Shoes 84 Aerobic 2000m tempo Run + 4 Full Recovery after Racing Endurance x 60m (To be done on tempo run & slow Flats the track) walk-back recovery for 60m 85 Race Pace 4 x 400m Race Rest after completion Spikes Simulation 86 Speed 2 x 500, 4 x 80 Full Recovery Spikes Endurance - between reps and Long sets 87 Speed 1600 (50m fast, 50m Recovery 8-10 Racing Endurance- medium); 1200 (50m minutes Flats Long fast, 50m medium) 88 Speed Endurance 1 x 500m, 1 x 300m Full Recovery Spikes - Short 89 Speed Endurance 1 x 600m, 1 x 300m, 1 Almost Full Recovery Racing - Short x 120m Flats 90 Speed & 300m flat @ 95%. Then Full Recovery Spikes Technical rest 2 minutes. Then do Workout 3 x last 5H with walk back recovery 91 Speed and Speed 600m Time Trial + 6 x Full Recovery Spikes Endurance 60m sprints

92 Speed 5 x 150 (Full Effort) Full Recovery Spikes

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Sr Type/ Category Type of Workout Recovery/ Rest No of workout Shoes 93 Speed 3 x 300 (Full Effort) Full Recovery Spikes

94 Speed 8 x Flying 60m @ 100% Full Recovery Spikes effort 95 Speed 6 x 120 (with crouch Full Recovery Spikes start) 96 Speed 100m, 150m, 200m, Recovery 5-6 minutes Racing 150m, 100m Flats 97 Speed 8 x 80m @ 90% Recovery 6 minutes Spikes

98 Speed 5 x 80m @ 90% Recovery of 6 Spikes 3 x 200m @ 95% minutes for 80m Recovery of 10 minutes for 200m

99 Conditioning Swimming 10 x 50m As required - Workout/ (mainly to be done Running as dynamic rest) OR Equivalent Swimming 2 x 500m (mainly to be done as dynamic rest) OR Swimming 30 x 30m to 50m under water, with rest of about 15 to 30 seconds. Helps in both the production of lactic acid and its tolerance.

100 Technical 5 x 2H from crouch start Full Recovery Spikes Workout (@ more than 100% effort of 400H speed)

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Sr Type/ Category Type of Workout Recovery/ Rest No of workout Shoes 101 Technical 1H, 2H, 3H, 4H, 5H @ Almost Full Recovery Spikes Workout 90% effort 102 Technical 2 x 4H, 2 X 3H, 2 X 2H, Full Recovery Spikes Workout 2 X 1H 103 Technical 6 x (1H and up to 60m Full Recovery Spikes Workout mark) (Full effort) 104 Technical 1 x 8 H, 1 x 6 H, 1 x 4 H Full Recovery Spikes Workout 105 Technical 1 x 8H, 2 x 7H, with Full Recovery Spikes Workout crouch start and full recovery

106 Special 1 x 10 H (ie. Full 400m Full Recovery Spikes Endurance hurdles), 1 x 8 H 107 Special 3 x (200m Hurdles ie. 5 Full Recovery Spikes Endurance Hurdles and then 200m flat) 108 Special 2 x (6H then rest 1 Full Recovery Spikes Endurance minute then do last 4H) 109 Special 2 x (400m then over last Full Recovery Spikes Endurance 5H) 110 Special 2 x 300m @ 92% Full Recovery Spikes Endurance 1 x 500m @ 98% (Like Time Trial) 111 Strength Weight training (with As required Trainers emphasis on maintaining strength gained in the prior two phases). See Chapter 11

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The Athlete’s Check-list for Competitions : The actual competition is the examination of the athlete! Just as we study over a year or semester and give periodic tests, do assignments and examination, in the same manner, competitions are the culmination of our training, efforts, strategy and endeavours.

Needless to say, any competition is a high pressure day. Some competitions are more stressful, higher-level and more competitive than the others but every competition will put immense pressure upon the athlete. In such a situation, the athlete must be both mentally and physically ready and in the right frame of mind to effectively and successfully compete to the best of his or her ability. There must be as few destractions and unnecessary pressures as is possible. Therefore, the athlete must be ready for battle and must cognize for various eventualities, situations and issues. Preparation for the competitive battle is crucial and it allows the warrior athlete to focus single-mindedly upon the competition to the exclusion of all other distractions. There is a lot that can go wrong on the day of the competition and it is the job of the athlete himself and his coach to ensure that nothing is left to chance and everything that needs to be carried and done is done properly and efficiently.

Below, is delineated, the complete athlete’s check-list of things to carry and things to do into any competition. This will allow the athlete to see the check list and ensure that nothing is forgotten, left out, missing or not done! The athlete, like the warrior must prepare, sharpen and take all his tools and weapons for competition. This check-list is a general prototype and each athlete has to personalize, individualize and customize his or her own check-list.

1) Trainers for Warm-up.

2) Spike Shoes (2 pairs), Spike nails 2 to 3 lengths and 2 or 3 types eg. Pin nails, Pyramid nails and Xmas nails. Know beforehand the stadium or Championship Meet restrictions on nail size/type.

3) Umbrella, Wind breaker or Gortex Suit/Track Suit or compression clothing.

4) Chest number/s.

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5) Safety Pins for chest numbers.

6) Personal ID card/s or Passport. Championship Meet entry card. Very useful for entry into Stadium, free meals, goodies bag, entry to buses/ transport provided by organizers.

7) Proof of payment of Entry Fees.

8) Club, State or Country colours...where it is compulsory to run in colours.

9) Medical Insurance .....especially abroad.

10) Groundsheet or Mat.

11) Large Napkin or small towel.

12) Therabands for stretching (if part of your routine).

13) Food, especially Meal replacement bars, energy gels, fruits, water, electrolytes, dry fruits, dates, gur, granola bars etc.

14) List and Timing of events. Always double check whether there is any change. This applies to Heats and Finals.

15) Mobile Phone and charger.

16) Bag that is carried must have name/address /Contact details/Emergency contact/Blood Group/Allergies and Medical issues tag.

17) Music head phones (if used to it).

18) Shades (if used to it).

19) Heat Spray (useful even as warm-up) and Cold Spray. Rubifecent or pain relief rub. Basic medicines, Bandaids, calf/ankle supports.

20) Sufficient cash in smaller denomination and Credit cards.

21) Research on area near the Hotel or Games village. Time and transportation details from Hotel to Stadium. A recce may be done..... preferably a day before the Competition.

141 111 WORKOUTS FOR 400M HURDLES

22) Know perfect location of Call rooms, Reporting or Registration Desk, Toilets, Canteens, Medical First Aid and Massage Tents.

23) Be very clear as to at what time reporting to Call room has to be done before the competition. Different events may have different reporting time frames.

24) Know and understand location of practice and warmup track/s. Sometimes such tracks have timing restrictions.Sometimes such tracks are below the stadium stairs! Also be clear about the route from Practice track to Call room.

25) Pen and Paper.

26) Ensure that there are no branding or advertising related restrictions regarding your apparel, bags etc.

27) Extra change of clothes.

28) If doing Relays....always carry a baton for practice with teammates. Also collect the Relay Chest numbers. These are different from Individual Event numbers.

29) Do prior research on weather conditions, the type of track surface and brand and/or type of the track eg. Mondo, Tartan, Cinder, Grass and any restrictions on use of certain types and length of spike nails.

30) Be very clear about the False Start rules. These are different from Meet to Meet and different for Masters Competitions. Be clear whether Block start is compulsory or crouched start is compulsory. Carry your own blocks or find out if organizer’s blocks have to be compulsorily used.

31) All seasoned athletes observe the way the Starter/s give their commands and the usual time lag between SET and GUN. Eg. In India, the Army starters are known to give faster starts ! Further, in foreign countries which are not English speaking (such as China, Korea, Russia, South America etc), the ON YOUR MARKS and SET commands may be in the language of the HOST country.

32) Extra Spectacles/Contact lenses and contact lens solutions.

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33) For Relays, properly see the exchange and acceleration zones.....also be clear how your incoming and outgoing teammates will exchange the baton and with which hand.

34) Basic Toiletries, chap stick, Toilet Paper, Sanitary pads and/or Tampons (for women athletes).

35) In Masters Competitions, always carry proper and acceptable proof of age.

36) Be extremely clear regarding the qualification rules in the Heats and the procedure for qualification. If possible, always run in the last Heat, that way, you know what are the timings you have to beat to qualify!

37) If the race is a massed start (such as 1500m in all types of Meets and sometimes even 400m and 800m in Masters Meets), then try and stand (if allowed), at the outer part of the track (towards Lane 8) and aim for the tangent of the curve.

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165 INDEX

The ultimate value of a book is greatly enhanced by the ability of a good index to locate all the places throughout the work that address specific interests and concerns. - Martin C. Smith -

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176 NOTES

177 NOTES

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