Hurdle Drills

Hurdle Drills, the Why.

This is holding everything else equal such as stride mechanics, turnover rate, heart rate, diet, start, percent body fat, and general health such as allergies and the like.

The pelvic girdle capsule is basically the location for one’s running muscles. They are the hardest to recruit, easiest to de-recruit, easiest to injure, hardest to heal, and generate facia or scar tissue very easily. But you need them to run, especially if you want to run fast. So, two things need to happen. First break up the scar tissue via the hyperextension of the capsule and second recruit the muscle groups without generating scar tissue (sort of defeats the purpose). The old saw of light weights, lots of reps, over a long period of time equals strength and at the same time maintaining range of motion (aka no scar tissue generation).

The hurdle drill is five different ways of walking over and under and around 10 hurdles. Why ten? Keeps the counting simple. Each of the five ways amounts to 100 hurdles each or 200 steps each for a total of 1000 steps or what the term is “500 hurdles”. This routine takes 40 minutes. This is based on the PhD of Tatyana Zelentsova (two-time world record holder in the 400 hurdles).

You start first with no weights for about three months with the hurdles on the lowest setting or lowest click. Depending on your inseam and time, you progress to the next highest click or in some cases the third click. For simplicity of discussion, the click shows the coach how stretched out you are.

Here is why.

Let’s say you have a stride length of 6 feet and you run the mile. In that mile you have strided 880 times. Each time you stride (say with trainers on) you have lifted 8 ounces or a half pound. Thus, you have lifted in that mile 440 lbs. Let's then say you wish to run the mile in 4 minutes. That means in that four-minutes time you have also lifted 440 lbs or about 110 lbs in a minute.

Let's say you start with no weights, just your trainers, and do 500 hurdles. You have now lifted 500 lbs over the span of 40 minutes (8oz. trainers 1000 steps). This amounts to about 12.5 pounds per minute. In the above example, you need 110 lbs. in a minute. You have a results gap. But the athlete presses on and adds ankle weights. Let's say 10 pounds on each ankle (this takes about a year to get to this safely or about 2 lbs. to start and then 2 lbs. added every three months or about 8 lbs. a year). Now, in a years time, the athlete does the same 500 hurdles at the same time of 40 minutes but now has lifted 10,000 lbs. Divided out (10,000/40) that is 250 lbs. per minute and in four minutes 1,000 lbs. which is far more than the required 440 lbs.

Side bar, the above explains the so-called need for long runs. More about that later. Given the athlete now has adequate muscle recruited to run fast and broken up scar tissue, the athlete can now focus on heart rate training, nutrition, and mechanics. This holds for ladies also.

Now the question is what about the 100-meter dash? Well, if you have a stride length of, say, 6 feet that means you take about 55 strides per 100. Let's say you want to run the 100 in say 10 seconds. Let’s say you are also in trainers (starting to see why spikes are preferred?) which are 8 ounces. You have lifted 55 times 0.5 or nominally 28 lbs. in 10 seconds. Times this by 6 to get it in minutes, which amounts to lbs. per minute or about 168 lbs. Pretty obvious 10 lbs. per ankle does the trick. But stride length and stride angle increases with the amount of ankle weights applied over time. The end goal is 20 lbs. on each ankle.

Regarding the 100, just to put things into perspective, Bolt has an 8’ stride length and Gatlin has about a 7-foot stride length. You need not only capsule strength but scar tissue removal. This concept holds for the 40-yard dash also. Pat has trained 4 folks under 4.4 seconds - - - - one was 3.85 (at age 36), one was 4.0 (age 32), one was 4.2 (HS Jr), and one was 4.4 (HS Jr).