Programming for a female track athlete

[pshotsb17]

Hello,

I have been approached by a female track athlete to help her with strength training.

She is a 180cm, 20yr old 400M hurdles runner. All legs. She also runs the 100M and 300M. She has no injuries other than intermittent mild sciatica. She eats very well (I think even Jordan would be impressed with her self-taught nutrition).

I've been discussing her training with her, and it stuck out to me that weight training is not a material (but not non-existant) part of her training at present. I think some SS could help her improve her times. Thought I'm not an SS coach, I've been doing lifting the barbell almost exclusively for around 15 years, so I feel comfortable coaching her technique within the SS framework. I have read all of Rips books including PP, but though she is an advanced athlete, I feel establishing her strength base is key.

My question:

What is appropriate programming for such an athlete? Would a simple Starting Strength LP suffice?

Thanks for your input!

[pshotsb17]

Will she be training for track at the same time?

Understood that she eats well, but is she able to gain weight?

Yes she trains track almost year round, with the second half of the year being the low season in terms of competition, and the most important meets being in the late spring.

She can certainly gain weight, the question is how much is beneficial to running hurdles. I would think increasing strength at her current weight would be preferable to increasing speed?

[pshotsb17]

She's tall. How much does she weigh now?

How many days does she have to train? What day would be best for training legs and posterior chain that wouldn't effect track practice?

I will come back to you on the details.

Basically, take a look at her track schedule and think about where training best fits in and how to minimize impact between both. If lifting starts to crush her track performance, then she is going to burn out. Conversely, if lifting is titrated into her training well, she will see some benefits and the schedule could be modified as preferred.

I am not certain telling her to stop training for track for 8-12 weeks to run the LP is the right choice if she needs to maintain a baseline year round.

I agree, I do not want her to stop training and do SS. My current thinking is to build 2x a week SS into her current training schedule, but I need to of course as you mentioned above get more clarity on her training schedule.

Stay tuned...

[George Christiansen]

A lot of how you run her programming would have to do with the specifics of her track training. It would be ideal if she is self coaching or at least has some say in her track programming, so that she could cut out any junk miles/training she is doing now and do just enough to stay sharp while focusing more on getting stronger.

[Tom Campitelli]

I agree, I do not want her to stop training and do SS. My current thinking is to build 2x a week SS into her current training schedule

This is probably the right approach. Have her squat twice a week. One of those squats may become lighter when recovery becomes an issue. Have her deadlift once a week and power clean once a week. Deadlifts would eventually go on the light squat day. Alternate press and bench. Her back will probably feel better. Performance on the track will be the determining factor on weight gain. If she puts on some muscle, that is not a bad thing for the shorter events. Since she isn't currently training for strength, she doesn't need anything fancy.

[goskers]

I was a decent D1 track athlete. I was a 400m guy who ended up doing the 400m hurdles for the last couple of years.
I wish I would have known about SS during this time period. I fought myself lifting after my freshman year in college and out on 20lbs of pretty clean muscle. I became a much better athlete immediately. So much so that my coach asked other teammates if I was on steroids.

Our strength facilities for track were not good early on. From sophomore year on I would go to the rec center and lift before practice. All of my energy was going into getting stronger. My 'program' was more towards that of a bodybuilder with emphasis on hamstrings, hip flexors and power cleans. Either way, I would recommend that you get your athlete on SSLP as suggested ASAP. Encourage her to lift prior to her running session. Yes, she will be dead during some of her training but my body both physically and mentally became stronger because of it. When you know that you can run certain times/splits after killing yourself in the weight room then you have a bit of a mental edge when it comes to performing when you don't quite feel up to it.

[TommyGun]

I have been approached by a female track athlete to help her with strength training.

Just curious, and to get a feel of the level of competition....are we talking a top tier D1 program, or a Div 2 or 3 program, or a local track club? It is almost more difficult to work in the strength training at the top tier D1 programs because the athletes seem to get into touble when they train outside of the athletic dept's script of exercises. And if an injury occurred while training with an "outsider" doing strength training not prescribed by the college's strength and conditioning coach, well, nothing good can come out of it. The scholorship could be put at risk.

Good luck. She would benefit from it as all atheletes would.

[OZ-USF-UFGator]

I've got my 13 year old soccer, basketball, swimming and 400m/pole vaulting daughter on a squat, deadlift, bench, lat. pull linear progression. Progressing from a 30 to 100 pound squat (sets of 5)has made an immediate impact on jumping, speed, durability and confidence. She goes into competition KNOWING she has an edge because almost no other females she goes up against truly strength trains. We intend on a 2 day / week lifting schedule when soccer starts.

[Marenghi]

Thats great.

And alternating lat pulls with any kind of rowing (or adding rowing) and benching with pressing would be a good idea imo.

[OZ-USF-UFGator]

Thats great.

And alternating lat pulls with any kind of rowing (or adding rowing) and benching with pressing would be a good idea imo.

Pressing is coming, as an alternate with deadlifts when deadlifts get hard enough that we cant do them every workout.