May 5, 2006

Track & Field is a very diverse sport with numerous different events. Each event places different stressors on the body, which then requires each athlete to be trained slightly different. At Florida State we carry the same basic training philosophy for the Track & Field program and then branch out to individualize for each event. The team's workouts are divided into categories of throwing, short sprints and jumps, long sprints, multi's & pole vault.

Short Sprints & Jumps
This group begins with an Olympic movement starting from the ground such as the snatch or clean, or some other type of explosive movement. After completing the explosive movement the athlete then performs a strengthening exercise for the legs. One day a week the leg exercise will be unilateral such as a lunge or step up, and the second day the exercise will be the squat. Following the leg exercise will be an explosive back strengthening exercise such as the clean pull, followed by core training of the abs, low back, hip flexors, and groin.

Long Sprints
The long sprinters workout follows very closely to the short sprinters workout. The main difference is that the long sprinters do all of their Olympic movements from the hanging position instead of from the ground. It is designed this way because they do not start from the blocks when they compete.

Multi's / Pole Vault
For this group the workout is again very similar to the short sprints and jumps workout. However, both the short sprints, jumps, and pole vault require lots of explosive strength. For this group though we add in a few upper body strengthening exercises such as the DB Bench & Push Press.

Throws
The throwers workout is much more intense in nature and designed to develop max power and explosion from each athlete. Significant time is spent working on both explosive strength & speed. Each workout starts off with an Olympic Lift, followed by a couple strength exercises, and core work. A lot of rotational abdominal work is done for this group as well as heavy low back and abdominal exercises. Equal time is spent on the upper and lower body while keeping in mind that these athletes still derive most of their power from their legs.

This is the basic layout and design of each of the workouts used for Track & Field. The Throws groups trains four days per week (two heavy, and two light) in the off-season, and trains three days (two heavy, and one light) in the competitive season. The other track athletes workout out either two days or three days per week depending on the individual. In each group a lot of time is spent on core, stabilization training with medicine balls and stability balls and other body weight movements. Many adjustments are made to this basic outline depending on the individual needs of each athlete.