The fitness of pole vaulters: a discussion...

[KYLE ELLIS]

The thing about phelps is that he probably burns 8000-10000 calories a day. No polevaulter should have such a hard workout to expend anywere near that amount of calories. I am pretty sure the amount of calories expended is relational to oxygen consumed in a day.

[powerplant42]

So how can someone get closer to their absolute strength without gaining any real weight? I'm just trying to figure that out now...

[KYLE ELLIS]

So how can someone get closer to their absolute strength without gaining any real weight? I'm just trying to figure that out now...

Its like you said power plant, high weight and low reps (3-6reps)... Also at a certain age you might have to start watching what you eat. Basically use the overlad principle and make sure your body is being stimulated (don't do the same training year around)... But if you are still growing you are going to gain weight, nothing you can do about that.

[powerplant42]

Ok, that's what I thought, but wanted to be sure.

I have another discussion/question for this topic... I could go out and do the research on my own, but I'd like to see the information be up here for everyone too lazy to do that (ironic, right? ). What are the benefits of using, say, 3 sets instead of 4 sets? What principles are at work here?

[KYLE ELLIS]

I think that has to deal with periodization and time under duration. From what i know it takes a certain time under stress to make an adaptation. In Supertraining he reccomends 4-6sets for heavy lifting with low reps.

[SlickVT]

With the forum logging me off every visit, I have missed this thread until today.

I think that the key point that is being neglected is that training varies IMMENSELY depending on the time of year, and also what is trying to be accomplished that year.

For instance, rep/sets and espsecially exercises in the weight room vary significantly from preseason to early and late competition seasons. Also, depending on someones strengths, they may want to focus on improving their speed instead of focusing on technique or vice versa, and those training/recovery periods are significantly different as well. Depending on how you want to feel on certain days, tuning your training can have some pretty huge benefits.

PS... Does anyone else have to log in EVERY visit?

[powerplant42]

Have you rechecked the 'log me in automatically' box? The server change unchecked it for me too I think...

The question now is HOW should periodization be accomplished, why, and when.

[swtvault]

SAID--Specific Adaptations to Imposed Demands. We have all heard this before. Without going into too much detail, this is the essence of any successful program. As far as periodization is concerned, the specificity of each macrocycle should be narrowed each year as your body Adapts to Imposed Demands. The mesocycles will be broken into periods of high volume--low intensity initially--which leads into higher intensity, and lower volumes (with more rest.) This way you are optimizing time spent training and keeping the quality at a maximum. The benefit of Periodization (and the SAID principle) is that when done correctly, the volumes and intensity can be increased incrementally with each passing mesocycle. Doing this also optimizes recovery, and can fully utilize the energy system you are trying to maximize (in our case, the anaerobic system.) The real challenge of this is implementing a workout that maximizes training time, and keeps the program totally specific without performing useless or redundant exercises.

[powerplant42]

So what you're saying is that the need for periodization becomes more and more important as an athlete's career develops (they lift for more time)?

[KYLE ELLIS]

So what you're saying is that the need for periodization becomes more and more important as an athlete's career develops (they lift for more time)?

I would say periodization becomes more important the more an athlete's career develops , but I think the total time they lift would become less. If they reach a certain strength, then I think more of the focus would be on sprinting, jumping, more sport specific activities.

[powerplant42]

What I meant by 'lift for more time' was 'cumulatively lift for more time', not in a single session. But now that we are on the topic of sprint/jump training we can discuss plyometrics.

The basis of plyometrics is based on SAID. The Stretch Shortening Cycle is the determining factor in the amortization phase. By trying to have as short an amortization phase as possible, you strengthen the stretch shortening cycle.

How do plyometrics fit into the equation?

In my opinion, they should be about 40% of the focus in any given training cycle (not including track work/pit work, of course). The legs and chest are the main focus. Jumprope, clap pushups, squat jumps with or without weight, etc.

[Lax PV]

How do plyometrics fit into the equation?

In my opinion, they should be about 40% of the focus in any given training cycle (not including track work/pit work, of course). The legs and chest are the main focus. Jumprope, clap pushups, squat jumps with or without weight, etc.

40% of the lifting portion I believe to be a bit high. That is saying for every 12 reps you do in a weight room, 8 plyo reps will be completed. I think it all falls into the periodization again--and the age old credo, it depends on how developed your athlete is. Along with my post from before about periodizing the weights and tonage of lifts, I also like to periodize the plyo exercises throughout the year. A couple years back a friend and I completed a study on the relative ground reaction forces (GRF) of various plyometric jumps--all normalized to a simple maximum standing vertical jump (SVJ). With this rubric in hand, it was rather straight forward to say then that 10 SVJ was about the same about of work of X number of Y jumps. This could be done in a linear fashion, i.e. looking at the relationships of the relative GRF, or it could be curvilinear just like if you bench 100 pounds 10 times, does not mean you can bench 1000 pounds once.

Using these concepts the intensity of each jump or rep and be calculated into the set up, and now we can limit ourselves to say, 50 contacts a week (a number I found to work pretty well with intermediate athletes...a higher number for beginners, a lower number for advanced). By the time of championships however, the number of contacts may be down to 20, but the might be single leg, the might have a weight vest, anything that will make the exercise more intense.

As far as the clap push-ups, I would refer to the previous conversation about the cost/benefits of bench press--maybe use a vertical med-ball toss??