Thread by @pntrack

I’ve had dozens of inquiries about shin splints, hamstring injuries, and generally injury-prone sprint groups in this, our first pandemic track season.

The view from 30,000 feet... “Why does this surprise us?”

Contributing factors (thread)

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1) For some kids, it was nearly 5️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ days since their last track meet.

2) Sprinting is the most EXTREME exercise in the human experience.

3) Running is not sprinting.

4) Many of our best male athletes spent the LONG off-season as body-builders.

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5) 🏋️‍♀️ and body armor are critical for injury prevention in collision sports. However, body-building, weight gain, and flex-posing 💪 are recipes for ⬆️ exposure to many non-contact injuries. Strong muscles can put ⬆️ stress on connective tissue (tendons, ligaments, bones, etc) ⬇️

6) In Illinois, 🏀 overlapped with 🏈 and 🏈 overlapped with 🏃.

No breaks.

No recovery.

Growth stunted.

Tons of injuries.

Throw in trainers, private coaches, AAU, and 7 on 7... did we really think kids would stay healthy?

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So, we have track teams with half of our athletes SOFT and under-trained, the other half HARD, but over-trained.

What do we, as track coaches, do? Ignore it?

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1) Make *survival* your mission this spring.

2) No one sprints more than 3️⃣ days per week, including meets.

3) 4️⃣ day work-week for sprinters. Do minimum dose X-Factor work on non-sprint days. Block starts and low-impact handoffs qualify as X-Factor.

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4) Health trumps workouts.

No one practices with sore shins‼️

No one practices with sore hamstrings‼️

The more your athletes know that you *care* about their health, the better athletes they become. 🙂

5) Jump practice... max 3️⃣ days per week). Only jump when healthy.

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6) Limit hurdling.

⬇️ impact hurdle drills 👍 when healthy.

⬆️ speed hurdling should never be over more than 2-3 hurdles in one rep. 90% at 2️⃣. Never more than 4 reps. Never more than 3️⃣ days/week including meets. High speed = spikes, video, and ⏱.

(slow hurdling is stupid)

Jump days, hurdle days, sprint days, and meet days are all the same. Total of 3️⃣ per week, max. Even 3 will be too much for some kids. ONE is too much for unhealthy athletes.

Don’t burn the steak!

SURVIVE‼️

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7) Back off and “just run” in practice? ⬆️ volume and ⬇️ sprinting? Didn’t Clyde Hart keep sprinters healthy with tons of tempo runs?

If anyone thinks the answer to injury problems this spring is stretching, a mile warmup, 10x200, and a mile cool down, we can’t be friends.

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8) MORE SLEEP‼️ We recover, repair, and grow when we sleep. #Dopamine #Testosterone

9) RPR‼️ If 5 minutes of RPR a day would prevent almost all soft tissue injures and improve performance, would that be something you’d be interested in?

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10) STOP TRYING TO WIN EVERY MEET‼️

Make performance your mission.

Your best athletes don’t have to run in 4️⃣ events. They don’t have to run in every damn meet.

SURVIVE‼️