It's TOO COLD - Indoor Training ideas at home.

Down here in Houston, much of the year we are fighting the weather being too hot. This time of year our practices are also at the mercy of the weather - we are constantly dodging the cold or the rain. Saturday was a beautiful and warm day, but it rained all day. Today there is no rain in sight, but it is currently 33 degrees outside with some high humidity making it feel like 25 degrees... that is too cold to pole vault!

One day we will have an indoor facility to train in when it is raining, too cold, or too hot! Unfortunately that day is not today. So for not we are stuck at the mercy of the weather. So vaulters... that just means you get a day off, right?

Well, you could take a day off. But unfortunately the laws of physical and mental training aren't put on pause just because the weather is bad. Being in and staying in good shape requires CONSISTENT training. Two to three weeks is about the very longest a high level athlete in great shape can go before losing significant amounts. That is the athlete who has trained 6 days a week for the past 4 months. Now that does not describe the average high school athlete. The average high school athlete is only training maybe 2-3 days a week, and only most weeks. You will fall behind much quicker. So the moral of the story... DON'T JUST TAKE THE DAY OFF! Get some good work in at home or at the gym. Here are some ideas to get you started.

1. Do your sprint work out on the bike.
A great way to keep you legs in sprinting shape is to get on a spin bike. Just translate that workout onto a bike. For example - instead of a 200 m workout you may do five 35-30 sec. bike sprints at 80% effort with 2 min. rest (light, easier spin) in between. This is a great way to manage injuries as well and still get your legs in shape.

2. Do some circuit work.
Circuits are a great way to still get some good work capacity in  and some general strength trained. Here are two options.

Circuit #1:
Body weight squats x 20
Pushups x 10-15
Toso Rotations x 20
Lunges x 10/leg
Long crunch x 20
Alternating SuperMans x 20

Circuit #2:
Long Crunch x 20
Reverse Crunch x 20
Fire Hydrant Bent Leg Side Lift x 15/leg
Good Mornings x 10
Torso Rotations x 20
Lateral Lunge x 10/leg
Body weight squats x 20

3. Visualize and/or Film Study
Study some film - you can start by learning more about the vault. Look back through the earlier posts and study the vault. Study your own film. Then go and study some great technical vaulters like Sergey Bubka or Maxim Tarasov. Then sit back and close your eyes and visualize yourself vaulting and try to do it perfectly... and clear the bar! You can start by "watching" yourself vaulting then move into visualizing from the vaulter point of view. It takes some practice to be able to do it, and to it at full speed. Training yourself like this can keep you sharp when you can't get on the pit either due to weather, schedule or an injury. I know vaulters who have been out for weeks due to an injury and by doing the right training and visualizing they PRed in their first meet back.

Pole Vault is an individual sport... so it is up to YOU to get better! Put the work in!