Crazy Cores

Hey Everyone,

So I've always been a strong believer that if you core/abs are strong then your body benefits greatly!
So, because I have a fat tummy now, I have started doing my ab work-outs after track and in my limited free time...
This workout is what I used to do when I was swimming and sparing for martial arts.

I. Single Bikes-
*There are two very effective ways to do these. Hands on the floor and hands off. Both will create a different work out so I usually do both. (If you know about these, forgive me for the explanation)
1. With your hands on the floor (not elbows, but palms flat, usually a little bit behind you) pull your legs up with your knees bent to your chest. This is considered a starting position. With single bikes you are going to extend one leg at a time pointing your toes as straight as possible. Follow then with your other leg while pulling the other one back to your chest. Like riding a bike. To really get your sides involved with this, swing your shoulders, opposite shoulder to opposite knee. (Does this make sense? I'm bad at explanations sometimes)
2. Hands off the floor. Usually its good to cross your arms close to your chest. Again, swinging motion helps sides.
So the work out:
Single Bikes- Repeat two times
1. Hands on the floor: 40 seconds
2. Hands off: 20 seconds
3. Hands on floor: 30 seconds
4. Hands off: 15 seconds

(Obviously you can change the times needed for these...)

2. Double Bikes-
1. Same as single but your are keeping your legs together. Be careful because this one can hurt your back. If your back starts to hurt, stop =)
1. Hands on the floor - 30 seconds
2. Off the Floor- 20 seconds
3. Hands on the floor - 25 seconds
4. Off the floor-15 seconds
Repeat if desired

Crunches-
Its good to do crunches, but I usually do mine differently.
I do 90 degree crunches and pikes.
90 degree- While laying down, make yourself look like you are sitting in a chair. Your legs should be bent, but your knees should be at a 90 degree angle. Don't let your feet fall down, keep them straight, too. (Putting your feet on a living room table is usually good).
Then there is the pike position. All the divers make the pretty pike dives, where there legs are straight in the air. So in these crunches- your legs are together and straight in the air. Point your toes and you are going to try and push your body to make your finger tips go up past your knees. (Eventually, you want to be able to touch your toes. Crazy hard, but not impossible. I can't do it anymore, but it should be fun to try!) Be careful with these, they can hurt your back, too.
1. 90 degree- 2 x 40
2. Pikes - 2 x 15
3. 90 degree - 2 x 20
4. Pikes 2 x 10

Finally, the famous 6 inches! Or Leg Raises =)

Lay flat on your back and raise your legs 6 inches
Be sure to do these properly!
Hold for 40; 30; 25; 20; 10
between each, rest for 5-8 seconds


Feel free to change the times, but those are what Im going to really start doing as often as possible!!!

Hope this helps. If anyone wants to see exactly what they look like, find me at the fields or something!

Outtie!
Sam

Improving top speed

K.Russ writes,

"My workout buddy is looking for a program to work more on top speed and less on endurance. Any ideas?"

First, here is an article with some basics from bodybuilding.com.

Second, our track workouts are really geared more towards develloping speed and quickness than they are towards endurance. The intervals we'll end up doing, the 20/10s are much better than most endurance running for speed because the intervals are recruiting your fast twitch fibers as well as your slow twitch fibers, while most long distance endurance running just uses your slow twitch fibers. Because the intervals don't take very long, and work equally well (perhaps better) if you are a little fatigued, I'm scheduling speed and quickness drills in addition to the intervals.

As pointed out in the article above, speed is about form and strength. Form can be tough to work on by yourself (or without someone who knows how you should be running to begin with), but there are some things you can do. The falling starts we're doing work on form. For more info on falling starts and some discussion on form, check this post out. The swinging arm drills can be helpful, though they'll make you feel goofy. Also, running hills can help with form and strength, not big hills, just 15 degrees or so. And don't run down hill. The bodybuilding.com article talks about jogging down the hill to increase stride length, but I read recently (somewhere on this site) that downhill running can cause hamstring injuries.

The plyos we're doing will increase strength, you can do them 2-3 times a week. Running stadiums is a great way to increase strength and may help increase your stride length as well. If you're interested in lifting weights at all, that can obviously help with strength as well. The consensus seems to be that more weight, lower reps, lots of rest is better for develloping power. I go back and forth on what I think is good for ultimate. Currently I'm leaning towards 3 sets of 8 reps with 30 seconds rest between sets. I keep planning on posting my workout but I keep tweaking it. I also do a longer plyo routine, which I also keep tweaking.

If you'd like me to expand on a particular point, let me know.

Daddy D'z - A Good Reason To Do Your Track Workout At Phoenix Park

I don't have too much to report here, other than 1) Amy runs with her elbows out, 2) Fox looks better from the back when he's doing groin stretches, 3) Wood has excellently executed frog jumps, and 4) you should allow extra time when doing the "dot drill" using puddles of water to try to interpret the Rorschach-esque final product. Mine looked like North America with a giant tumor coming out of Canada!

Anyhow- falling starts were started, with extra attention paid to arms (90 degree angles people), plus the above mentioned drills. We finished off with intervals which have not gotten any easier thanks to my 5 week break. Ha!

And, yes, we did reward ourselves with a nice helping of Daddy D'z afterwards. Mmmm . . . BBQ.