Winter training

Winter training is absolutely vital to spring track & field athletic success. I encourage all of my track athletes to compete in winter sports. The majority of my XC girls are basketball players. We also have several boys basketball players, wrestlers, and swimmers. Another competitive season during the winter is invaluable to their spring track season. But for those who are not doing a winter sport, it is necessary for their success as track & field athletes to be participating in winter workouts.

Starting with the distance runners. Off season training, especially in the dead cold of winter can be miserable. The key is to get a group of committed athletes together to hold one another accountable. We focus on slow easy runs, with relatively low mileage (25-30 miles per week)and we avoid road running as much as possible. After Christmas Break, we start up on running interval workouts on the track 1-2 times per week along with our easy runs. We also do a ton of core work, and plyometrics. At any point during training where athletes are feeling fatigue or pain it's a good a idea to take a break and ice and rest. It is a long season.

Sprinters/Jumpers/Hurdlers need to be in the weight room focusing on core excercises and explosive Olympic lifts, and plyometrics (i.e. box jumps, bounding). We also run short sprints (30m - 60m) (indoors if it's too cold and wet because sprinting is harder on muscles than distance running). We also do a ton of sprinting drills, resistance workouts with the pulley, stairs, and hills. We alternate Monday - lift, Tues - Run, Wed - Lift, Thur - Run, Fri - Core and balance. In January we run a few longer intervals in the (200m-400m)at least once per week.

Our throwers lift everyday, and focus on explosive olympic lifts (i.e. power cleans, jerks) and Jammer press. It's also more important for throwers to focus on squats for leg strength, and incline and decline bench press. Our throwers also do a ton of core, and plyometrics as well. They also do some of the short sprint workouts with our sprinters.

Just to recap, encourage your athletes to compete in winter sports. We are a relatively small 6a school so this is vital for success in all of our programs. But if they are not competing, encourage them to do winter workouts. This is a vital time since the outdoor season is so short.