• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Click here to download the  free ebook of Alberto Juantorena’s  detailed training workouts leading up to the 1976 Montreal Olympics

SpeedEndurance.com

Success in Track & Field ... and Life

  • Home
    • About
    • Contact
  • Track & Field
    • 400 meters
    • 800m & Mile
    • 1/2 & Full Marathons
    • Long & Triple Jump
    • Hurdles
  • Training
    • Weight Training
    • Abs & Core
    • Injury Prevention
    • Shoes & Spikes
    • Masters
  • Coaching
    • Freelap Friday Five
    • Interviews
    • Sports Nutrition
    • Sport Psychology
  • Archives
  • Shop
    • My account
    • Checkout
    • Basket

Interview with Andreas Behm (by Mike Young)

You are here: Home / Coaching / Interview with Andreas Behm (by Mike Young)
9
SHARES
FacebookTwitter

October 4, 2012 by Jimson Lee 1 Comment

Last Updated on April 26, 2014 by Jimson Lee

Andreas Behm is the coach of Aries Merritt, the London 2012 Olympic Champion at 110mH, the 2012 Diamond League winner, and now the World Record holder with his 12.80 at the Brussels Diamond League.

If you haven’t read the Aries Merritt Teleconference Excerpts, I recommend it as there are so many great lessons and tidbits in such a few short words.

Mike Young from EliteTrack and the Vancouver Whitecaps recently interviewed coach Behm.  For the entire interview, go to http://www.elitetrack.com/blogs/details/7385/

Here are two of the Q&A from Mike’s Blog (the rest are good hurdle questions):

Aries had what might be the greatest season ever for a high hurdler, was there anything different that you did this year that you can pin his continued development and consistency on?

While everyone sees the success Aries had this season, it is important to understand that this was more than just one year in the making. It took us two or even three years to get to this point. The obvious technical change everyone has been talking about is the switch from an 8 step to a 7 step approach. It gives him an increase in propulsion on his approach and better velocity on takeoff through the first hurdle. The work on this started two seasons ago when we were still using an 8 step approach. On acceleration days Aries would alternate his front feet on each rep, so as to get used to having his unaccustomed foot forward in the blocks. The other major technical component we refined was his hurdle clearance.

We worked on establishing consistent takeoff distances, an aggressive takeoff angle, closing down into and over the hurdle as well as continuously moving his limbs over the top of the hurdle. All this resulted in him clearing the hurdle a lot lower and more fluidly than he used to. Aries also has simply been a lot more diligent regarding his work ethic, nutrition, treatment and rest. He has basically been able to stay fairly healthy for the last two seasons for the first time in his career, which means lots of great training sessions without setbacks and interruptions. He is at an age where his maturity and experience finally match his talent and that has made all the difference in the world.

How much emphasis do you place on building strength in the weight room? Does it differ with different athletes, ages, etc? And what is your general strength development philosophy?

Throughout the year I tend to go from structural to maximal and finally to more dynamic and functional lifting as the year progresses. I also start off with more double support lifts and transition to more single support exercises as we go along. Once I have developed strength and power to satisfactory levels, I like for the body to be able to express these qualities unilaterally. I feel very strongly in having a multifaceted approach and making sure that track training, weight training, general and specific strength methods are all used in an integrated manner. The levels of each that are applied depends on the type of athlete you are working with and the strengths and deficiencies they bring with them.

As far as a general and overarching philosophy, I believe in posture, rhythm, range of motion, coordination, (and depending on the lift, bar speed) before weight. If you are working on all those qualities you will be able to lift heavy and explosively in time, but never stop working or compromise these just for the sake of lifting heavier.

On a more hurdle specific note, I have put an added emphasis on such lifts as quarter squats, low box step ups and explosive movements from shallow flexion. These help more closely mimic the force application demands of a shuffling hurdler. A hurdler simply cannot open up and apply forces into the track with the range of motion that a sprinter can, due to the limited amount of space they have to work with between the hurdles

For the entire interview, go to http://www.elitetrack.com/blogs/details/7385/

See also  Indoor Track Facilities: Hazardous to your Health?

Category iconCoaching,  Hurdles,  Interviews,  Track & Field,  Training Tag iconAndreas Behm,  Aries Merritt,  Mike Young

About Jimson Lee

I am a Masters Athlete and Coach currently based in London UK. My other projects include the Bud Winter Foundation, writer for the IAAF New Studies in Athletics Journal (NSA) and a member of the Track & Field Writers of America.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. radunga says

    October 16, 2012 at 1:42 pm

    http://radunga-dejandohuella.blogspot.com.es/2012/10/yohan-blake-yo-soy-la-bestia.html

    Some data about Aries Merritt and others athletes like Yohan Blake in the blog- I’ld expect they are joyning to most of you!

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Primary Sidebar

Recommended

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xbs-aWxyLk

Shop Our Store

  • Bud Winter (9)
  • Championship Productions (6)
  • Clyde Hart (2)
  • Derek Hansen (1)
  • Electrical Muscle Stimulation (2)
  • Jim Hiserman (6)
  • Jimson Lee (4)
  • Uncategorised (0)

Articles by Category

Products

  • Jim Hiserman - Developing 800m Runners: Identifying, Categorizing and Developing 400m-800m Type Athletes $42.99 $39.99
  • Private Coaching - Monthly Plan $600.00 $525.00
  • Jim Hiserman-Developing-Distance-Runnersv2 Jim Hiserman - Developing Distance Runners Volume 2: A Systematic Approach to Developing Individual Success within a Dynamic Team Culture $34.95 $29.95
  • Feed-the-Cats-Clinic-3-Pack-701 'Feed the Cats' Clinic 3-Pack $64.99
  • Tony Holler's Feed the Cats": A Complete Sprint Training Program Tony Holler's "Feed the Cats" Complete Sprint Training Program $49.99
  • Bud Winter and Speed City presents Arthur Lydiard 509x716 Bud Winter & Arthur Lydiard MP3 [Download only] $9.99

RECENT POSTS

  • Oregon22 Coaches Club now Online
  • IFAC 2022: The Return of In-Person Conferences (with Virtual option)
  • Here is our 400m Discussion Recording… over 2 Hours Long
  • The Best Free Coaching Book – post Beijing 2022 Olympics
  • The Ultimate 400m Track Webinar for Coaches & Athletes
  • NACAC Athletics Coaching Science Series 2022
  • Top Six 400m Predictor Workouts (Number 4 is my Favourite)
  • Best 6 Podcasts for 2021 (and Beyond)
  • Why Karsten Warholm’s 45.94 400mH WR is my Highlight of 2021
  • Sprinting: 10 Research Articles for Effective Sprint Training [Part 23]

Copyright © 2023. SpeedEndurance.com is owned and operated by Aryta Ltd. Privacy Policy | Cookie Policy
Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
Manage Cookie Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behaviour or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}