• 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

Lean, Fall, Sprint Series

You are here: Home / Coaching / Lean, Fall, Sprint Series
7
SHARES
FacebookTwitter

October 14, 2014 by Travis Hansen Leave a Comment

Last Updated on January 28, 2015 by Jimson Lee

This article is guest blogged by Travis Hansen, author of The Speed Encyclopedia.

He also wrote Why Acceleration is More Important than Top Speed in Most Sports and Building Your Horsepower – The Power Development Model Part 1 and Part 2, which are full excerpts from his book.

He also wrote 8 Reasons Athletes Injure Their Hip Flexors, and How to Develop Hip Flexors for Speed.

To read all his articles on this blog, click here.

LEAN, FALL, SPRINT SERIES

This start-acceleration based series that I’m about to share with you is intended to develop a number of specific skills and serves as a great training variation for power athletes/sprinters. Below I will introduce and then discuss each progression in its entirety, as well as provide proper video demonstrations for each.

Phase #1 – Basic Level-Standard Lean, Fall, and Sprint

Phase #2 – Intermediate Level-Stationary Diagonal Start

Phase #3 – Advanced Level-Lean, Drop, and Pop

The first progression is extremely basic and I’m sure that many will be familiar with this exercise. This drill simply teaches correct body angles (torso, knee, and shins), leg stiffness, balance, and effective front and backside mechanics. Very little time is generally spent here unless an athlete is very weak and uncoordinated, or happens to be hyperactive or tight at the front of the hips which in turn causes unwanted “hinging” or breaking at the hip as the athlete falls forward.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m73IkiXVK-A

The next drill in this series was introduced to me by Joe DeFranco awhile back. Obviously, the lean is omitted and the athlete must express immediate power and strength out of this aggressive body position in order to be able to accelerate forward quick and smoothly. I also want to quickly note that in his book: “The Sports Gene,” David Epstein notes that science has supported a standard human reaction time of a quarter of a second. [1] Furthermore, a study referenced from my book identified that human reaction time was a non-factor in high level sprinters. [2][3] The reason I bring all of this up is because the performance training industry tends to get caught up in the idea that we can improve HRT. What we really are seeking to improve, which this drills assists in, is rather pre and post-reaction movement response. Meaning, being able to enhance proprioception and quicken neural input into the brain prior to reaction, and then carrying out movement faster and with more power after we decide to react. Once our partner releases us from the approximate 45-75 degree body position, it’s then just an issue of recognizing the structural alignment we are in, and recruiting our muscles faster and with more force (RFD, etc.) to initiate maximal acceleration. Lastly, if you or your athlete has a decent foundation of strength, coordination, core stability, and power then this progression won’t be too difficult.

See also  8 Reasons Athletes Injure Their Hip Flexors

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_rGeLbI1XI

The final progression is what I’ve been experimenting with for awhile and was especially excited about. Having an athlete lean forward, fall to the ground, and then decelerate all of their downward momentum as they land in a pushup position, and then re-accelerate and “pop’ back up with minimal delay and total body control as they accelerate forward as fast as possible automatically requires high degree of athletic ability. I’m well aware that the drill lacks specificity compared to traditional block and 3-point start stances where the athlete or sprinter must take off from a static split stance position, however, I still think it’s a great challenge that provides a source of overload to the body to help enhance speed and power levels. Here are some specifics that this drills addresses for any athletic training population followed by an actual video of the drill:

  1. CNS stimulation
  2. Systemic Power
  3. Core Stability
  4. Several Start-Acceleration Techniques

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fb5xn3ju1QY

Hopefully this short piece disclosed a few new things that you can implement into your comprehensive speed training programs immediately. To re-iterate, drills #1 and 2 are geared towards beginner and intermediate level athletes and sprinters who are primarily deficient in strength and power output. Drill #3 is a great assessment of power and explosiveness. If you are strong in the weight room and able to apply that strength in speed and power based activities, or you just express strength well naturally, then you should excel in phase #3. If not, then this drill will help supplement these qualities to help make you faster!

See also  4 Tips on Soccer Speed Training

SCIENTIFIC REFERENCES:

  1. Epstein, David. The Sports Gene. New York, New York: The Penguin Group, 2013.
  2. Contreras B, Beardsley C. The Optimal Athlete: Sprinting. 2012.
  3. Mero A. Force?time characteristics and running velocity of male sprinters during the acceleration phase of sprinting. Research quarterly for exercise and sport 94: 94?98, 1988.

 

About the Author

Click here for a complete guide to speed development

Travis Hansen was the Head Strength and Conditioning Coach for the Reno Bighorns of the NBADL for their 2010 season, and he is currently the Director of The Reno Speed School inside the South Reno Athletic Club. He is the author of The Speed Encyclopedia.

Category iconCoaching,  Track & Field,  Training Tag iconTravis Hansen

Reader Interactions

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 Runners Volume 2 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

  • 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]
  • Pressure in Sports – Reflections from Tokyo 2020 Olympics
  • 2021 International Festival of Athletics Coaching [Nov 5-7]

Copyright © 2022. SpeedEndurance.com is owned and operated by Aryta Ltd. Privacy 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