Box Plyometrics Julius & Andre

Norwegian Record in womens long jump

European Championship BARCELONA (from ANB)

A week ago, she considered dropping out of the European Championships. But now Margrethe Renstrøm does not regret that she changed her mind.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W63QyRr_MAY]

Without the pressures and expectations, due to her knee, Margrethe Renstrøm qualified for the long jump final in Barcelona. Against all odds, she improved her Norwegian record from last year by 4cm - to 6.68m.

And was rewarded with an unexpected in the final of her  European Championship debut.

Unreal

- "This is hardly to be believe. Yes, almost unreal," exclaimed 25-year-old from Søgne when she had barely digested the record shock.

Almost a year she has struggled with jumpers knee in her right leg. Also when she beat Berit Bert´s legendary and ancient Norwegian record (6.56) in the National finals in Lillehammer last year, she was bothered by it.

- "But I have managed to keep it in check, partly by adding to the training so that the load on the right leg has become less, "says Renstrøm. But a week ago the pain worsened. It was so bad that she seriously considered dropping the whole European tour.

She had written off the final

- "But after a training session in Kristiansand Stadium last Thursday, I decided nevertheless to travel", she says.

And the regret she certainly does not today. For now, she is suddenly in the European Championship finals, she had long ago written off the possibility of.

- Early in the season there was a realistic goal. But this situation has been in the past, there has not been in my thoughts, "said Tjalve-girl overwhelmed.

- I was really happy just to come here, and had no pressure at all, "she adds.

Rises when it comes
But perhaps precisely why it was surprising result as it was - in addition to that, she apparently is a championship performer.

- Yes, I have the ability to raise me in the championship. It can often go so-so in training, but I manage to exploit the tension positive regard, "says Southerners, who either could not unsettle that first jump was dead.

- I had not completed a full jump more than once in the past month, so I was very uncertain in advance. Front of the second attempt I moved the run-half feet backwards to be sure. And it ended with a perfect board. There was absolutely no talk of a hedge jump. I just "snogging the" smiling Margrethe.

The situation reminded undeniably the Championship last year, when she was struck with a record jump by four invalid attempts. (ANB)

Switching satsfot?
Our record holder in long jump has long considered to replace satsfot.

- I did not take a chance on it now, but there is a possibility that I will do it eventually, "said Renstrøm who jumped 6.10 to bet on his left foot.

But that is enough right foot in Wednesday's European Championship finals. A final she had expected to see from the stands. Now, she is instead one of the players.

Against all odds.

Birmingham UK, GMAC & HPC Training Centre

"Nature has provided man with the possibility to enhance his abilities in extreme situations, and we need to utilise it in the training of the high class athlete." -- Prof. Yuri Verkhoshansky. More on this man´s training philosophy and systems soon….

Back in England for xmas I took the time to go back the Perry Bar training site and the Birmingham High Performance Centre to talk all day with my old friend Darren Joseph, coach to high jumpers Jordan Roach and Phillis. Also Andy Paul, a very nice old friend who´s a coach. I missed my other friends and old training partner Tom Parsons and coach Fuzz Armed, GB national high jump coach, as I got enchanted by the new Gymnastics & Martial Arts Centre (GMAC) next door.



GMAC - An excellent training centre that has been built, next to where I used to train indoors, at Alexander Stadium in Birmingham. The fact that it is only 10 meters from the athletics high performance centre is exciting for me, because sooner or later the athletes will begin to understand the value of postural gymnastic training to their performance, and when they do there are some of the best training facilities and coaches in the world ready to be used. 10 Meters is not a lot, but it can be a mile in terms of communication and understanding. It would be nice to see the physical gap between the building covered, with open access either side to a cafe that sells training recovery drinks and protein supplements. Then both world class gymnasts and athletes will have a place to discuss ideas and shared problems.

Phil Barrow is the head coach at the City of Birmingham Gymnastics Club. If you have any interest in gymnastics he IS your man, a charming individual and a world class instructor. I we had a good chat about some old friends and discussed Vincenzo Canali´s work.

Nigel Lewis – Emails and response

THE JUMPS NEWSLETTER Nigel Lewis: Senior UK Athletics Jumps Coach Friday April 2nd 2010 NEWS Hi Simon I tutored for UK Athletics last weekend in Birmingham and Aberystwyth. Travelled over 400 miles and met  some great coaches. Over 170 coaches now subscribe to my newsletter and last weekend in Birmingham one of the aspiring coaches I was assessing was one of the coaches who subscribe to this newsletter. Her name was Lisa from Peterborough, and she passed as a Level 2 coach so can now 'fly solo' and gather around her a group of talented jumpers to coach and hopefully make a difference to their lives. At Birmingham by sheer coincidence was discussing drills for triple jump, we looked out of the window and Phillips Idowu was 'drilling' on the infield. He was working on combination hopping and bounding and looked very quick and strong. I told the group of 14 coaches that I had planned it for them ......some of them even believed me!!! Been busy this week on my DVD Power Point Presentation with audio commentary. Should be ready by early summer. I had an interesting email from Anthony Bateman [see below] Hi Nigel, Your letter was forwarded to me by a colleague long jump coach and one I found very interesting. One point I tend to explain differently from yours when coaching the hang movement is, instead of saying drop the lead leg, rather, allow the body to catch up and pass it into the long peak-height position. This seems to avoid possible forced movements that could spoil the upper body positioning. I'd be interested to know your thoughts on this. Its not a great deal different but to me it is a more natural explanation. Great contrbution you are making and a number of LJ coaches I have spoken to have nothing but praise for what you are doing. You may not get much directly but the appreciation is there. Regards, Tony Bateman, Winchester & District AC. MY REPLY WAS: Hi Tony, Thanks for your email a short while ago. I agree that there are many ways of explaining movement patterns and technical points. I love coaching the hang but would consider it to be the most difficult of styles to coach effectively. The hitch-kick being the easiest. When I introduce the hang to a jumper who is 'ready' and has mastered the stride jump initially, I ask them them to straighten and then extend the free leg so that it become a strong long lever and can then be driven downwards and backwards to 'meet up' with the take-off leg. I find that by doing this creates a firmess and added tension to the core as well as positioning the hips and it then helps to stabilise and create that long shape we are looking for and ultimately creates a moment of inertia to slow down forward rot ation. Younger jumpers who employ the hang find it difficult to get into and hold this long, pin like shape in the air. They also find it difficult to get into the L shape at the apex of the jump - with the legs bend at 90 degrees at the knee to allow for the legs to come through as short, fast dynamic levers to give a good leg chute. Thanks for your comments Tony - much appreciated and will mention your views in my next newsletter [if you don't mind]

THE APPROACH RUN [2]

CONTINUING FROM LAST WEEK How does the jumper accomplish an accurate approach? This is a problem that all coaches and their jumpers have. It appears to never go away and I get many emails asking how can coaches ensure that their jumpers do not continually foul out or jump from well behind the board. So here are some tips from Randy Huntington: Practice! Practice! Practice!Practice!Practice!Practice! Energy Distribution down the runway! Programming Adjusting Accuracy and Visual Control PROGRAMMING Consistency of Stride Pattern - loads of statistics out there that show that it is nigh on impossible to guarantee that all the strides in the approach run remain the same for every approach run over a jumpers career. So this is a component that must be consatntly practiced and rehearsed. All the phases of the approach run must be worked on. The start over the first 5/6 strides should be looked at with great detail. If a jumper is 'lazy' over these first few strides then the mid phase and attack to the board will be comprimised. I work hard with my jumpers on the start. The big question is do you have a walk/jog on or adopt a static start? I have favoured a static start for the younger jumpers until they have more experience. THIS TOPIC WILL BE LOOKED AT NEXT WEEK Accumulation of Errors - for every error the jumper makes over the first 6 strides will have that knock on effect and the jumper will have to make several adjustments as he/she nears the board. Youngsters are unable to do this on a consistent basis and is possibly one of the major reasons that they fail to find the board and foul out. I have often stated the fact that the approach run is a complex serial skill amd must be treated as such. I liked this analogy from Randy: The long jump approach run is a dance - You are on a stage so you MUST choreograph your approach ADJUSTING Adjusting the position of their measured start mark.  We need to spend a great deal of time practicing this under a variety of conditions. I have my jumpers 'move' their check mark backwards and forwards during a session. They still MUST attempt to hit the board. They must develop spatial awareness and be able to make minor adjustments to body positioning and running action earlier in the approach run rather than 3 to 4 strides from the board. Accuracy (Visual Control/Steering) As they approach the board they modify their stride pattern to hit the board accurately. Use of oversize board (different colors) for a time to help the athlete adapt to visual control and overcome the fear of fouling. This is a subconscious event! In the absence of an oversize board I enscribe a 1 metre chalk circle from which they take off from [actually I've never seen an oversize board!] The moment they begin their approach run they are attempting to run in a STRAIGHT LINE to the boad. You've only got to have a few of the strides containing unwanted lateral movements and the chances of missing the board are hightened. I sometimes place a white chalked line right up the centre of the approach run. Jumpers have to be able to 'steer' up the runway. TO BE CONTINUED NEXT WEEK

TRIPLE JUMP 'JUMP' DEVELOPMENT

Spent a few hours on Thursday morning working with a 19 year old triple jumper who I expect to jump beyond 15mts this summer. He told me that he had never been shown how to land from the jump phase. Up until that morning he always landed virtually upright and was possibly losing 50cms. So we spent over an hour on developing: 'the long low hop - the 'bound' - ending with a split and pull ' A lot of empahsis was placed on ensuring that he was running into the hop phase as opposed to preparing to hop. I consider the hop phase to be an extension of the approach run. The take-off angle into the hop phase being crucial. It was slow patient work but at the end of this specific drills session I had him taking the speed in to the hop and then utilising that speed throughout the remaining phases AND he was able to take off effectively from the step landing into an efficient landing position. I shall elaborate on the details of the this skilled practice next week............. All for this week Have a Happy Easter, Nigel My response, Hey Nigel, Love your letters they are great, and I´m glad to hear people are listening to you in B´ham..... Margrethe Renstrøm finally set a new Norwegian record of 6.64m last summer and went to the World finals. She had 60% plus of her competition jumps as fouls due to her aggressive approach in previous years. Also her final stride used to be too long causing problems. A bag full of drills daily helped.... Its been years since I´ve seen or heard any coach actually touch upon the real reasons for approach variation. Keep pushing and maybe it will dawn on them... In 99-2000 I was working daily under Dr F-X Li at B´ham uni on standard deviation (SD) of foot strikes with data from all over the world from Carl Lewis to non athletes. Strangely about 1 in 200 people will run like robots with no SD in toe to board distance when long jumping.... This does not mean they are good at hitting the board. It just means they have no SD. Understanding this gait regulation system in humans is crucial in developing learning paradigms for coaches. Stride length is regulated by air time between foot contacts. I.e. tempo and rhythm, you need too ´feel´the rhythm to ´enjoy´ the ride. Stride air time is regulated by vertical impulse of the foot strike. Time to contact to an object (take-off board) is calculated by the rate of radial expansion of two points on the object within the visual field. I use two bright cones on the edges of the board. SO a strong connection needs to be made, in the athletes mind, between the rate of expansion of the cones and the vertical pressure of each stride. The ´zeroing in´on the board only happens during the last 7 strides, so consistently the start mark position has little baring on the take-off point. I use a 4 stride from the board mark in competition warm up. Take an average from a load of run through´s. Some times the officals won´t notice, and leave it there during competition. The athlete is trying to hit the board and not the 4th marker as that is strictly for me only. I instruct the athlete to move the start mark forward or back relative to their foot placement on the 4th mark, NOT THE BOARD. I have had a lot of success with this technique. I will be fascinated to find out what you think of this approach and my thinking. I tell the athletes that your mind is like a parachute, if its not open it will not work! Keep up the good work Nigel, I´m following. Kind regards Simon Hunt

Norwegian Athletics Training Conference

November 20 - 22 there was a very useful training conference at the Norwegian School of Sports Science. Here are some of the main highlights.

Vincenzo Canali - "Postural Base of Sport", this was a true eye opener. His method of ´kinetic chain´ testing and building in the body, is fundamental for all sports particularly athletics, gymnastics, swimming and all yoga/pilates. His methods are simple and straight forward, but are underpinned by an excellent knowledge of anatomy and physiology. His six phases 1) passive, 2) isometric, 3) eccentric, 4) concentric. 5) dynamic and 6) sports specific, really show how posture is the medium between which strength and technique combine to produce effective power in a sports specific movement. Since his workshop I have been incorporating his techniques with all my clients on a daily basis. I am currently working on my own presentation of his ideas with video, in the mean time you can see his work at:

http://www.stabhochsprung.com/epvc/gymnasticmovies/index.html

The presentation he gave is at:

http://www.stabhoch.com/epvc/canali_gymnastics.pdf

Plus a lot of pole vault videos relating to his work can be found at:

http://www.stabhochsprung.com/

When you understand how the body best deals with force, with regard to postural postion in the sagittal plane, it becomes obvious how and why athletes are using their bodies. For example in the high jump there are variations in technique, all of which can be justified regarding the mobility of the individuals kinetic chain, like foot up or down during the jump, lead arm position, lead knee position and sartorial strength relative to adductors and hamstring co-ordination. If you would like to discuss any of these aspects please just email or comment below.

Edvard Harnes - Strength and conditioning for jumps. I had a good chat to Edvard about his experience with the German national team, and his website can be found at:

http://www.trenerforeningen.org/

He has a lot of presentations and video at:

http://www.trenerforeningen.org/webmaster.shtml

Norwegian Athletics Training Conference

November 20 - 22 there was a very useful training conference at the Norwegian School of Sports Science. Here are some of the main highlights.

Vincenzo Canali - "Postural Base of Sport", this was a true eye opener. His method of ´kinetic chain´ testing and building in the body, is fundamental for all sports particularly athletics, gymnastics, swimming and all yoga/pilates. His methods are simple and straight forward, but are underpinned by an excellent knowledge of anatomy and physiology. His six phases 1) passive, 2) isometric, 3) eccentric, 4) concentric. 5) dynamic and 6) sports specific, really show how posture is the medium between which strength and technique combine to produce effective power in a sports specific movement. Since his workshop I have been incorporating his techniques with all my clients on a daily basis. I am currently working on my own presentation of his ideas with video, in the mean time you can see his work at:

http://www.stabhochsprung.com/epvc/gymnasticmovies/index.html

The presentation he gave is at:

http://www.stabhoch.com/epvc/canali_gymnastics.pdf

Plus a lot of pole vault videos relating to his work can be found at:

http://www.stabhochsprung.com/

When you understand how the body best deals with force, with regard to postural postion in the sagittal plane, it becomes obvious how and why athletes are using their bodies. For example in the high jump there are variations in technique, all of which can be justified regarding the mobility of the individuals kinetic chain, like foot up or down during the jump, lead arm position, lead knee position and sartorial strength relative to adductors and hamstring co-ordination. If you would like to discuss any of these aspects please just email or comment below.

Edvard Harnes - Strength and conditioning for jumps. I had a good chat to Edvard about his experience with the German national team, and his website can be found at:

http://www.trenerforeningen.org/

He has a lot of presentations and video at:

http://www.trenerforeningen.org/webmaster.shtml

High jump Phase 1 – Strength & Conditioning

Nikolai - Winter 2009

Phase 1 - Strength & Conditioning
Week 1 - 5 Mon, Wed, Fri = 3 x week @ Sognsvann
Week 6 Rest

Warm up

Stretches 1 - 7 and dynamics

Skipping 2 mins (250 jumps)

Drills
5m ankle x3
5m ankle, 5m heel x3
5 m ankle, 5 m heel, 5 m knee x3
Total 90 m

Barbell Complex 20kg
Upright row 7
High pull snatch 7
Squat press 7
Good mornings 7
Bent over row 7
Dead lift 7
Bicepp Curl 7
Total 49

Clean 70% max (explosive power)
3 sets x 10 reps @ 40-45 kg
5 Tiggers + 90 sec rest between sets
Total = 30 reps + 30 contacts

Squat (Quads + Hams)
1 x 10 @ 20 kg - Front + Full
1 x 10 @ 40 kg - Front + Full
3 x 10 @ 80 kg - Back + 90´ + 8 Box Split Jumps
1 x 10 @ 40 kg - Front + Full
90 sec rest between sets
Total = 40 reps + 24 contacts

Calf Raises (Gastroc)
5 x 20 @ 40/60/80/60/40 kg
30 - 40 sec rest between sets
Total = 100 reps

M. Greene (Stimulus - Response)
3 x 5 @ 45 kg 1-5 sec hold + clap
5 x Box 2 Box + 90 sec rest between sets
Total = 15 reps + 15 contacts

Core Abs
90 Degrees 20 - 30 sec
Head raise 20 - 30 reps
60 Degrees 20 - 30 sec
Plank 20 - 30 sec
Rev. Plank 20 - 30 sec
Sides L + R 20 - 30 sec
Slow s leg 20 - 30 sec
Slow b leg 20 - 30 sec
Total 3,30 - 5,30 min
2-3 Sets + 2 min rest

Cool Down
3 x 30 m Tempo Sprint
Stretches 8 - 15
Skipping 2 mins (250 jumps)