How many days a week do you lift?

[rainbowgirl28]

Shot and Disc guys train far different from TURE vaulters. Muli eventers Train..............well for everything!! That was the point, train for the vault not the beach.

And multi-eventers do not live in the weight room. While thowers spend more time in the weight room than other track athletes, it seems to me like they still spend more time out on the track

[swtvault]

I am totally with ya'll on this one. In fact, I think every track athlete spends way too much time in the weight room working on the WRONG kind of strength. Like I have said on this board before, I would rather take 300 pounds and move it a foot in 1/10 of a second, than take 600 pounds and move it 2 feet in 6 seconds. The point is you need dynamic strength. I feel we should all train in this manner. Build your power, get explosive. The more power you can generate, the faster you can run, and the higher you can vault/hold. When I say power I mean taking alot of weight and moving it super-fast. BAM!! Do some power squats....use as much weight as you can and move it as fast as you can going down only a foot AT BEST. Do it only 3 times with up to 10 sets. Once you feel that you are losing power, and cant move the weight as quickly, stop, or reduce the weight. The reason for only going down a foot, is you want to teach your muscles to move through the same range of motion you do while running. Do you run with your legs at 90 degree angles? No. I am a huge believer that specificity is key. Supplement that with speed exercises such as plyometrics (Plyos are in fact speed) After all, pole vaulting is a dynamic, explosive activity! So train that way!! Lifting and working out are merely supplements; Although necessary, they should not be your primary focus--as everyone else said 10x over. I am now done with my ranting. I hope it was informative.

[Decamouse]

Never lifted in HS or College - lots of stairs - bounding - stairs with wgt jacket - then after College - lifted like crazy for awhile - heavy partial squats - allowed me to jump tired (HJ) - Jack Harvey at Michigan (Was in Grad School) got me lifting lighter but more explosive - Currently do multi events - shot - discus to pole vault - do not see the tie in - Hurdle and Lj to pole vault - yes - train to be explosive - not to move a house -

[ricko]

Ok...so I coached volleyball and not PV, but still alot of the same theory applies.

Sports like volleyball, most T&F, basketball etc benefit from explosive movements. Olympic lifts are actually encouraged by alot of college strength coaches who work with volleyball players (power cleans, explosive dead lifts, jump squats). You're training for that burst as you power yourself into the air, much like a volleyball player when he/she jumps. It's all quick.

Off season it's not a bad idea to improve your overall strength by doing more traditional lifting. It won't hurt you unless you refuse to stretch etc. In preparation for the season, I'd stick with the above mentioned types of lifts as well as plyometrics.

The most important part for pretty much ALL sports is your core strength. Abs and lower back. Most injuries occur because people don't have sufficient core strength to support what you're trying to do to your body. Abs and lower back should be trained several times a week. The superman (lying on the floor and raising your arms and legs) works great for that. (There are several variations).

[vaultin chris]

stop trying to be shot and disc guys and become track athletes.

What if we are also shot and discus guys? Does that make us any less of track athletes? i mean i think shot and disc are in the decathlon, and there the best athletes. ive read in many places that shot and disc are good events to do with pole vault because of the explosiveness it requires

I think its wrong for pole vaulter to try and be shot disc guys, i also think its not good to train for lond distance running. if u are a deca then u are the obvious exception to the rule. i think pole vaulters need to be track athletes - which to me means fast and stong (in will and muscle). it is evident that this doesnt include an aspect from all track events like the deca does, but it does include major factors in the vault.

[Robert schmitt]

I'll think what we are trying to say is that as coaches we see kids that get this distorted view that if they can bench 250 lbs (bigger=stronger= faster) they will have the strength to get up side down and push off the pole, or get on a bigger pole, or hold higher etc.... (In fact my head track coach in college, taught a track class and said a fifteen foot vaulter needs to be able to bench 250). Not true.....

What limits 95% of vaulters is as Brian said tech. It's not so much not having explosive strength but, not being able to use it or apply the explosive strength you have correctly during your vault that limits the majority of vaulters.

So If you really want to optimize your training for the vault, build strenght, and learn how to dynamically use that strength. Vault, do gymanastics, climb/swing from ropes, do pull ups, bubkas, wipers, learn some flips on the wake board, do some rock climbing. Try to be as explosive as you can be.

[Vaulterchick88]

stop trying to be shot and disc guys and become track athletes.

What if we are also shot and discus guys? Does that make us any less of track athletes? i mean i think shot and disc are in the decathlon, and there the best athletes. ive read in many places that shot and disc are good events to do with pole vault because of the explosiveness it requires

shot is especially good for vaulters because it builds up your triceps, and a lot of the lifting you do for throwing is the same lifting you do for vaulting.

[Vaulterchick88]

Shot and Disc guys train far different from TURE vaulters. Muli eventers Train..............well for everything!! That was the point, train for the vault not the beach.

And multi-eventers do not live in the weight room. While thowers spend more time in the weight room than other track athletes, it seems to me like they still spend more time out on the track

i used to throw shot, javelin and disc, now i vault and throw shot and disc, and i can tell you from experience the workouts i did as a thower helped my vault. a lot of the stregth training was the same and the sprint workouts were great for my run.

[oakcrestpolevault15]

im about 6 ft, 145lbs. as of right now im a 13 ft vaulter using a 14'1" 165lb pole. im just getting into the gym my senior yr in h.s. im lifting about twice a day, 5x a week. does any1 have any tips or exercises tht i could use to increase my pole vaulting ability????

[meg15078]

right now i'm in cross-country and were lifting every other day.

[Barto]

im about 6 ft, 145lbs. as of right now im a 13 ft vaulter using a 14'1" 165lb pole. im just getting into the gym my senior yr in h.s. im lifting about twice a day, 5x a week. does any1 have any tips or exercises tht i could use to increase my pole vaulting ability????

Yeah - stop lifting so much! If you were a 27 yr old juiced up Russian you would still be lifting too often.

Cut the weights down to 4 sessions per week. If you are motivated enough to do 10 sessions per week make the other 6 a mixture of sprinting, medicine ball, and core strength exercises.

Barto

[nessa_pv]

The guys here at my school I have to lift with cause thats the only time I can lift but they intimidate me so I dont like lifting around them.. but track hasnt started yet but still I'll try