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Pe 605 Strength and Conditioning Project
Pe 605 Strength and Conditioning Project
Mathew L. Ferris
Introduction
High school track and field in Minnesota has multiple events including the following:
100m dash 100/110m hurdles, 200m dash, 300m hurdles, 400m, 800m, 1600m, 3200m, 4x100m
relay, 4x200m relay, 4x400m relay, 4x800m relay, discus, high jump, long jump, pole vault, shot
up, and triple jump. How the running portion of track and field works is the athletes check into
their event than go to the races start line. Once at the start line, the starter will give the athletes
one or two commands (depending on the race) which will be “runners to your marks” than shoot
the gun or “runners to marks,” “get set” than shoot the gun. The gun shot is the start of the race.
The fastest time wins the race. How the field events portion of track and field works is the
athletes check into their event than they get three jumps or throws. The top eight athletes who
have the best jumps or throws go onto finals. Once in finals, the best throw or jump will win the
event. In high school, track and field starts around the middle of March and around 12 track
meets a year not including state. The average high school track and field team will have 2 meets
The athletes I will focus on will be junior and senior boys in high school through the high
school. Junior and senior boys are usually 17 and 18 years old. The skill level of these boys
depends on the individual. Some boys have matured compared to others and some boys are more
athletically gifted than others. Also, the commitment and motivation level of the athletes depends
on what they want to do with their future. The athletes who show no interest in competing at the
college level show less commitment and motivation than those athletes who show interested in
Needs Assessments
The sports needs for track and field consist of throwing, short distance sprinting, mid-
distance running, long distance running, jumping, hurdling, and handing offs batons. All of the
major muscle groups are emphasized in track and field but with special attention to core strength,
grip strength, hip power/strength, and hamstring and quad power/strength. Common injury sites
in track and field are feet, shins, knees, hips, hamstrings, low back, shoulders, elbows, and
wrists. The energy demands vary on the event being discussed. For immediate events the ATP-
phosphocreatine system (Ratamess, 2012, pg. 106-126) is used. For short events the
anaerobic/lacate system is used (Ratamess, 2012, pg.106-126), and for long events the aerobic
system are all used within track and field (Ratamess, 2012, pg. 106-126). The fitness needs in
track and field are muscle power/strength, endurance, sprinting speed, pace setting, reaction
time, body coordination, and reduced body fat percentage. There are no equipment restrictions.
Track and field athletes should workout 4x a week. An athlete must have some experience in
resistance training to distinguish between good and bad technique. The workout will be a total
body workout with Olympic style lifting, basic strength lifts, and sport specific exercises.
In track and field, athletes are always pushing their bodies beyond the body’s point of
exhaustion. When training, an athlete develops more motor unit recruitment which means once a
motor unit has already been recruited it will take less energy to be recruited again. This means
that the energy once used before will no longer need used this time and can be used elsewhere
which helps the body become more efficient. Training also increase the firing rate of the number
of times per second a motor unit is being discharges (Ratamess, 2012, pg. 47).
In track and field, a 400m runner would want Type IIa muscle type. A 400m is a long
sprint which means the runner needs fast-twitch muscle fibers which are explosive/fast
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movements (such as sprinting) but the runner also needs the perfect blend of slow-twitch muscle
fibers for the aerobic portion of the races even though it may not be much (Ratamess, 2012, pg.
65). Another type of change is more beneficial for jumpers, hurdlers, sprinters, and jumpers not
muscle hypertrophy. Most of time, mass does not equal speed or does not fly. Muscle
hypertrophy would be beneficial for throwers. Nutrition is important for all athletes to reach the
next level, especially in track and field. I’m not a nutrition expert so I’m not professionally able
to really assess someone’s diet or tell someone what they can/should eat. For starters, I would
suggest following the “My Food Plate” guideline to get an all-around good nutritional diet.
When training, muscle size, strength, endurance, and power increase but can only be
maximized when the supporting structures adapt correctly (Ratamess, 2012, pg. 73). What does
this mean? The connective tissue needs to increase their strength, size, and endurance as well.
Connective tissues consist of bones, tendons, ligaments, fascia, and cartilage. With proper
connective tissue adaptations, athletes are able to absorb force properly to bone, joint stability,
and injury prevention. When creating a training program, coaches should create a full body
strength training program which includes major and supporting muscle groups. For example,
major muscle groups may include squats, RDL’s, lunges, etc. For supporting muscle groups, for
example, exercises may include hip extension, flexion, abduction, and adduction. Age has a
major influence on this process. Bones grow in length and width (Ratamess, 2012, pg. 76). Each
bone has its own rate of metabolism which means bone may take up to 18 years or 25 years to
grow. Every person is different. Training an athlete who is 12 years old is different than training
an athlete who is 24 years old. Lifting weights early in lift will help bones grow healthier and
stronger.
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system to transport the chemical to targeted tissues, and eliciting a chain of events leading to
requested function (Ratamess, 2012, pg. 85). Some of the hormones that will influence athletic
Testosterone is important in athletic performance because it helps build muscle mass and bone
density which will help an athlete to become stronger. Growth hormones help the body
synthesize protein, glucose, and amino acids. Also, growth hormones have an effect on ligament
and tendon strength. Cortisol helps regulate the body’s metabolism, blood sugar and water/salt
levels. Also, cortisol helps the body to reduce inflammation which is important in the recovery
process of athletic performance. Estrogen, smaller portions in boys/men, will help reduce muscle
damage, control inflammation, and make fuels from fats which is important because the body
needs to burn fats instead of protein. Progesterone, smaller portions in boys/men, helps regulate
brain activity, blood sugar levels, and helps build bone density. An athlete’s age, sport, gender,
and level of competition does have a specific influence on a person’s hormonal state.
Professional sports will have a higher demand on the body compared to youth sports.
For track and field, depending on the event the athlete is compete in, the athlete will rely
on a different task. For a 400m runner, the athlete would need a high intensity task (85-90%)
with a small amount of endurance (10-15%). Based off of what a long sprinter (400m) needs,
he/she would need to be trained a special way compared to a short sprinter (60m, 100m, 200m)
or a mid-distance runner (800m). For a long sprinter, the dominant energy system being used is
the anaerobic system (85-90%) and the secondary energy system will be the aerobic system (10-
15%). Describe, in detail, the important aspects of your dominant metabolic pathway and oxygen
Outline the cardiorespiratory response your athletes have to training. What is the average VO₂ of
your athletes? Will increasing the different measures of cardiorespiratory performance influence
athletic performance? Describe if and how you would use pulmonary and ventilator training with
your athletes.
Training Plan
Comp.
Comp.
Prep. Prep. Comp. Prep. Comp.
Mesocycle 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
(months)
Mesocycle
Technique
Synthesis
Synthesis
Capacity
Strength
Review
Themes
Speed
Work
Peak
Peak
Microcycle
13-16
17-20
21-24
25-28
29-32
33-36
9-12
1-4
5-8
(weeks)
My plan is broken up into two season, indoor and outdoor (macrocycle). From there, I
break my plan up into two phases for indoor and outdoor season which are preparation and
competition. Once again, I broke the training up into different themes throughout both season
(mesocycle): work capacity, technique, speed, strength, synthesis, peaking, and reviewing.
Finally, I broke my themes into short four week training blocks (microcycle). Work capacity is
getting the athlete’s body into shape. Once the athlete is starting to get into shape, than they will
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work technique. Once technique is developed, athletes will work on their speed and strength.
Once the preparation work is complete, the athletes will combine the work they’ve put together
the past months to compete against other individuals and teams. Once indoor is finished, athletes
will take a small recovery and retool for the outdoor season.
Warm-up:
- 800-1600m
Dynamic Stretching (20m):
- Walking toe touch - Butt kicks
- Skipping leg swing - High knees
- Quad pull - Jogging leg cycles
- Lateral lunge - Walking heel to toe
- A-skip - Ball of foot walking
- B-skip
- C-skip
Sprints:
- 30m, 60, 90m
Pre-Season Workout
Workout Repetitions Time (seconds) Rest (minutes)
200s 6 32-34 2
Cool Down:
- 800-1600m - Neck rolls
- Static hamstring stretch - Shoulder rolls
- Standing quad pull - Cow face pose
- Static groin stretch - Cross-body arm stretch
- Butterfly
- Kneeling hip flexor stretch
*1 day a week complete core exercises (300) & 1 day a week complete a plank circuit
Once practice starts, everyone will do their warm-up which is typically anywhere from 800m
to a mile (depends on their event). We do a warm-up to shake out any of the tightness from
previous day’s work, get the blood flowing to different muscles in the body, and build up a little
endurance. Next, we go onto the dynamic stretching listed above. The reason we do dynamic
stretching before we start a workout is because we want to get the muscles warm and loosened
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up. Also, we do it because sprinting is an active exercise so we want to do an active warm up.
We want to warm up our body and muscles the same way we are going to train them. The
stretches listed will hit every major muscle group in the body. Once our dynamic stretching is
done, we will complete out pre-season workout which is 6x200s at 32-34sec with 2min rest. We
are doing this workout to get athletes into a running pace and rhythm. It’s an easy workout to
help runners develop self-awareness of their own body. Since the workout is at a slower pace, the
athletes heart rates won’t increase too high and won’t need much recovery time. Upon
completion of the workout, the athletes will cool down as listed above. Again, the stretches will
hit every major muscle the athlete used while working out.
Training Components
Flexibility training will be incorporated into my training plan two ways. First, during the
cool-down. During the cool-down while the athletes are doing their cool-down static stretching
they will hold their stretches for 30 seconds which will help stretch the muscles for an extended
period. Over time, this will help develop flexibility. The second way I will have my athletes do
hurdle drills. Hurdles drills will help develop hip flexibility which in track and field athletes is
extremely important because the hip is always going to hip extension. Flexibility will help the
athletes develop more range of motion which in return will decrease the athlete’s chance of
injury and flexibility will allow muscles to work more effectively. The most beneficial flexibility
and stretching exercises are any exercises which involves the lower half of the body. For
example, any exercises including the hips, hamstrings, quads, glutes, calfs, and groan. The focus
on flexibility will not vary depending on the time of season. The focus will vary on if the athlete
is responding to the exercises. For example, if Athlete A responds to the exercises than he/she
may advance to more difficult exercises or will hold the exercises longer. If Athlete B doesn’t
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respond to the exercises than I need to find different exercises for the athlete. From Runners
World, Amby Burfoot mentions that the only athletes who truly need flexibility are figure skaters
and gymnasts. Also mentioned in the article, flexibility doesn’t help prevent injuries but may
cause injuries because of the excessive overuse of range of motion. Injuries may be prevented be
For a 400m runner, 80-85% of the training should be anaerobic and 15-20% of the
training should be aerobic. Depending on the time of year will determine the volume, frequency,
and recovery time of the training intervals. The training will adapt over the season by starting off
with slower interval times and receiving a decent amount of rest. As athletes start getting into
shape, the interval may become faster or the rest time may get short. As the season gets closer to
the championship season, the interval times will be anywhere between 90-100% effort but their
rest time will increase to nearly full recovery, if not than full recovery.
Age, skill level, and hormonal development is always a factor in training. The older and
more talented the athletes are the more in depth a coach can become. When athletes are younger,
coaches should focus their attention on technique more than weight because without proper
technique athletes may cause serious injury. The appropriate level of intensity, repetition, and
resistance of my athlete depends on where they are at during the season. For example, during the
off-season and preseason my athletes will lift heavier to build strength but when the season gets
about six weeks away from championship season the athletes will tend to lift lighter weight. The
reason they go from heavy to light to because strength is already in place so now we need to shift
our focus to light, fast, more sport specific repetitions. As far as intensity goes, there should
always be high intensity. For equipment, I like to body weight, barbells, free weights, dumbbells,
kettlebells, and resistance bands. As mentioned before, it depends on what time during the
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season it is depends on how many repetitions and sets my athlete will have. As mentioned
before, technique is my #1 role in training. Not only do my athletes need to have proper
technique while training but the facility needs to be safe. For example, the floor can’t be ripped
up making an uneven ground to train on. Also, the facility should be clean.
Plyometric training is a big part of training for track and field. I will make sure there is at
least one day a week where we involve plyometric training. Plyometric training is included into
my training because track and field athletes need to have some spring in their step and these
athletes don’t spend a lot of time on the ground compared to other sports. During sprinting,
athletes spend about 90% of their time in the air. When sprinters make contact with the ground,
they need to be able to absorb as much force as possible than push themselves off of the ground
into the air as fast as possible and this is what plyometrics does. Plyometric training is where the
muscles exert maximum force in a short amount of time than quickly produces force.
Plyometrics training benefits track and field because it’s sports specific to what track and field
athletes complete in throughout the sport. Throughout the macrocycle, plyometric training will
vary depending on where we are at during the season. We will always be doing plyometric
training but when we get about six weeks out from championships season than athletes will be
doing more sport specific training. Getting closer to championship season means we want to get
our athletes to become more explosives and to exert more force. Will equipment be required?
While doing plyometric training, equipment isn’t necessary, but it depends on the athlete. We
want plyometrics to be quick and explosive, so some athletes may only need body weight to keep
these exercises explosive while others may use dumbbells, kettlebells, or even barbells with
weight. Like every exercise, age, ability, and technique are a factor. Without proper technique,
an athlete may cause serious injury. These exercises are taught to absorb force through flexion
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and younger athletes may not understand this concept. In my opinion, plyometric training is great
for training athletes to teach them to absorb force and develop force but only if taught in the
correct manner.
According to Ratamess, there are the five components of sprinting and seven main
aspects of agility. The five components of sprinting are reaction time, acceleration, stride length,
stride frequency, and max speed and power. I incorporate reaction time into my training plan by
having athlete close their eyes and I clap together two wood boards connected by a door hinge
which I called the “clapper.” Once I clap together the clapper than the athletes react to the sound.
This will simulate the start of a race. I incorporate acceleration into my training by creating
starting off small than working my way up the ladder. For example, I will do a standing start,
push-up start, and a three-point start. Also, I will do repetitions with only the first step
progressing into the three steps progressing into about 10m than 20m. This ladder will continue
until about 50m. I implement drills I call the “sprint progress” to help with sprinting technique
such as stride frequency and length. This sprint progression will benefit performance because
it’ll help athletes reach optimal sprinting angles. Max speed and power are created by resistance
training which is done all year round minus a month after the season is over because the athlete
needs to recovery their body. I tend not to incorporate any agility training into my training
programs. I don’t do agility training because track and field athletes do not have a reason to
change direction due to straight line running. With sprinting, I think it’s important to watch
where the athlete’s trunk is while sprinting. While watching an athlete’s trunk, a coach will be
able to tell if the athlete is going to have specific problems such as the lack of knee drive which
will cause a short stride length. So, I coach athletes to run with a vertical trunk which allows
access to proper knee drive. If an athlete “masters” an exercise I challenge them by adding more
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advancements to it whether it is more weight or a second portion of the exercise. Athletes get
bored easily, especially if they’ve “mastered” the exercise, so as a coach I need to keep them
engaged.
Program Summary
In track and field, 400m runners are special. A coach cannot train them to be strictly
sprinters because they won’t have the endurance to finish strong. A coach cannot train them to be
strictly mid-distance runners because they won’t have the speed to compete with other athletes.
This is why 400m runners are special. When training an athlete who runs the 400m, remember to
train them 80% anaerobic and 20% aerobic. The aerobic side of training will let the athlete
become strong and have the endurance to finish stronger. As a coach, we need to put our athletes
mentioned with the different training cycles, an athlete will run their fastest times during the
References
Ratamess, Nicholas. (2012). ACSM’s foundations of strength training and conditioning.
https://seanbernstein.com/trainingtheory/
Butfoot, Amby. (2004, August 25). Does stretching prevent injuries?. Retrieved from
https://www.runnersworld.com/health-injuries/a20845445/does-stretching-prevent-
injuries/