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How come, it seems to me anyway, that most high school pole vaulters also run distance. It seems like those two would be an awkward combination.

hmmm.... Maybe its different where you are.....but up here in the midwest at least, you'll rarely see a vaulter/distance combination. And for those that do this combination, they seem much slower then those who are actual sprinters. It would be very rare to see someone excell at both.

I do cross country during the fall but just to keep in shape a little better for vaulting. It gives you a lot of endurence so you can vault a lot more.

Once again............Why vaulters should NOT run distance workouts for any lengthy timeframe!!!!! If you want to be a slow vaulter, run CC if you want to be the best YOU can be, train for the vault or play an explosive sport out of season.



From: Pristine Publishers Inc. [mailto:pristine@charter.net]

Synergy Fitness makes a big deal about target training

fast-twitch and slow-twitch muscle, why?


To reap the full benefits of Synergy Fitness training,

it's necessary to understand how your muscle fiber --
slow, fast, and super-fast -- are developed.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You have three types of muscle fiber that make up your "muscles," and this is sometimes called muscle composition.

This is important because it's the fitness training that targets the super fast-twitch muscle that makes your body produce the most powerful body fat reducing, muscle toning, fitness hormone in your body - HGH growth hormone.

Muscle Fiber Types

The average person has approximately 60 percent fast muscle fibers and 40 percent slow-twitch fiber (type I).

The fast-twitch muscle actually has two types of fiber -- fast and super-fast.

The fast muscle (what the researchers call IIa) moves 5 times faster than the slow muscle -- and the super-fast (IIx) moves 10 times faster than the slow muscle fibers. And there can be swings in fiber composition, (Muscle, Genes, and Athletic Performance, September 2000, Scientific American, Jesper).

The following chart shows that while there are differences in muscle fiber composition, muscle types can be developed based on the way they are trained.

Muscle Fiber Composition

Muscle fiber Average Sprint trained Aerobic trained
type person

Slow (type I) 40% 40% 55%

Fast (IIa) 50% 20% 40%

Super-fast (IIx) 10% 40% 5%

Sprinters have a higher percentage of the super-fast (IIx). Endurance trained individuals have more slow muscle fiber (type I). While we are born with slightly different muscle composition, the point is; super-fast muscle can be developed if exercised properly.

Why is this important?

Researchers show that anaerobic exercise (short, quick-burst, gets you out-of-breath fast exercise) is the type of fitness training that increases HGH growth hormone. And HGH is, without question, the most powerful anti-aging, and anti-middle-aging, body fat-reducing, muscle-toning agent known.

Yet, when we finish high school (perhaps with the exception of a few that compete in college and the small number that make it to the pros), we become slow-twitch exercisers at age 20. And this is a mistake!

Many may continue developing slow-twitch muscle (less than half of your muscles) with weight training and cardio at the gym, and with jogging. If you think about it, we start the muscle atrophy process (the wasting away of muscle) on half of our muscle fiber ... AT AGE 20!

No wonder we have an obesity epidemic and this year, 650,000 Americans will hear their physician say, "you have diabetes."

The cure for the national obesity crisis, the cure for the middle-age somatopause, the cure for insulin resistance and (in many cases) diabetes, and the cure for the high cost of healthcare--is so simple, that we keep missing it.

The cure is natural. It's free. But it can't be done overnight because the muscle fiber needed to perform high-intensity anaerobic exercise has atrophied (wasted away).

There's great news?

You can build back your fast-twitch muscle fiber (slowly at first) by performing plyometrics to build the fast muscle (IIa) and performing sprinting types of training to build the super-fast (IIx) to the point where you can release HGH growth hormone through fitness training.

The Take Home

You may need to be doing more than working your slow muscle fiber with weights, cardio, and jogging. But don't neglect slow-muscle because this is 40% of your muscle fiber, and to a degree, it serves as a base for the development of the fast and super-fast muscle fiber.

Have a great day!


Phil Campbell, Author Ready, Set, GO! Synergy Fitness for Time-Crunched Adults

National Library of Medicine link, click RESEARCH SUMMARY

Chapter 4, "The Target Zone Training Method," Ready, Set, GO! Synergy Fitness for Time-Crunched Adults

Actually there are none of those at my school. Most of them are just straight vaulters and nothing else.

OK. My turn. PVJunkie is dead right and I am living proof. About 2.5 years ago, at age 39, I had a fitness revelation and started runing again. Trained as long distance runner (Marathon, age 13, CC, and a class called Sports Fitness in 7th grade MWF 5mi runs, lifting 2 days/week) it was natural to go trail running. I worked up to weekly 2 hour 13 mile trail runs, on hills and got great endurance -- weight loss a mere 3.5 lbs) Two years ago I re-started vaulting, at 139 lbs, and had some success. To be a better vaulter, my coach had a strap-high bar. I started going to local gyms and eventually put one in my back yard. I actually stopped running due to knee problems, and only did gymnastics, maybe 1-2 time a week, and for 45 min at a time, with maybe 5 min actually on apparatus. Now, I never intended to lose weight, but the pounds started melting and I was HUNGRY all the time. I could eat all I wanted and it still kept falling off. What was the reason?

I took me while to realize that POWERFUL excercise, that which causes maximum intensity at maximum speed, was what gymnastics was. I like to swing giants, and if you can do 10 in a row you get really tired. Like your heart is beating mega fast and it takes 2-3 min to get ready to go again. All for about 20 sec of excercise.

So what about the knee problems? I had chronic knee tendonitis and a groin pull until I started POWER LIFTING and doing plyometrics (jumping, explosive lifts) with weight on your body. Within a week the problems were gone. I believe this type of excercise, done properly, and with appropriate rest in between (appropriate for your age that is) can cure almost any chronic injury. Otherwise your muscles stay just strong enough to maintain a re-injury threshold of performance.

This year I am 128 lbs, and still vaulting on the same 140 lb poles, with better results. I no longer run long distances, but prefer trampoline, jumping rope, swinging etc. If you want to vault high, learn to EXPLODE in every muscle group!

Distance Blows. GO LONG JUMP!!!