Last Weekly BlogThis week at Torque I did a lot more work regarding my form. A lot of people think sprinting just takes sprinting up a hill from time to time, which this is beneficial. Some people think in order to be fast you have to be strong in your lower half, which this is also very true. But the biggest and most important thing about sprinting that will raise your speed is your form when your sprint. There is many people out there that are really fast, but since their form is so awkward, it slows them down a lot.
We did many things the same as last week. We worked on my A-skips in place. Then we moved to A-Skips while moving at a rhythm. We also did some explosion drills. I did some medicine ball squat throws, as well as kettle bell thrust. Most of the explosion drills that we do work mainly on the hips. The reason for this is because you are generating your power through your hamstrings and hips. We also did some new drills. Caleb put a band around me and I stood facing the wall. Right when he said go, I would take my outside foot, turn it 90 degrees with a small step, then really push off the foot to generate power for my other leg to come through. I would stop after two steps. I did this for five reps for multiple sets. I would also switch sides. We then went to a drill that football combines and camps love to do. The thing coaches are looking for in this drill is your quickness, agility, and ability to get out of your cuts. What you do is run to the right to the five yard cone, then turn back around and run to the ten yard cone, then finally back to the other direction for another five yards. I am really good at this because I am very elusive and work great with getting out of my cuts. At the end, my best time was a 4.25.
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SaturdayThis week at Torque I did a lot of sprinting. We went outside even though it was a little chilly. I was prepared because I brought some leggings as well as a sweatshirt. Not to mention it was an early morning, so temperatures would be lower. Honestly, I like the running in the cold more than anything. The reason for this is because when it is hot outside, you get extremely hot while running sprints and sweat really bad. When it is cold outside, you are obviously a little cold at first, but as you are running you warm up really quick and don’t sweat as bad. I also liked this day because running sprints really let me know what my 40 yard dash time is. My best time was a 4.76. I wish it could’ve been a little better, but I will take it.
I started out running 10 yard sprints. I did three reps of this without time. On the fourth rep I did time it. The time was a 1.45. This was pretty good, but still could be improved. I then went to 20 yard sprints. I only did one 20 yard sprint that wasn’t timed because it was a longer distance and Caleb didn’t want to get me tired for the 40 yard dash. I then did a 20 yard sprint for a time of around 1.2 seconds, which is also pretty good. I then did a practice 40 yard dash at about 90 percent. The reason for this is because after all those warmups of 10 yard and 20 yard sprints, It would really tire me for my real 40 yard dash. During the practice run, I felt pretty smooth, so that was good. I then went to my real 40 yard dash. I was a little nervous, just because I wanted to get a good time. After running it, I felt really confident, except I felt like I could’ve gotten a better start. At the end when he told me my best time, I was content. Form WorkThis week at Torque I did a lot more work regarding my form. A lot of people think sprinting just takes sprinting up a hill from time to time, which this is beneficial. Some people think in order to be fast you have to be strong in your lower half, which this is also very true. But the biggest and most important thing about sprinting that will raise your speed is your form when your sprint. There is many people out there that are really fast, but since their form is so awkward, it slows them down a lot.
We did many things the same as last week. We worked on my A-skips in place. Then we moved to A-Skips while moving at a rhythm. We also did some explosion drills. I did some medicine ball squat throws, as well as kettle bell thrust. Most of the explosion drills that we do work mainly on the hips. The reason for this is because you are generating your power through your hamstrings and hips. We also did some new drills. Caleb put a band around me and I stood facing the wall. Right when he said go, I would take my outside foot, turn it 90 degrees with a small step, then really push off the foot to generate power for my other leg to come through. I would stop after two steps. I did this for five reps for multiple sets. I would also switch sides. We then went to a drill that football combines and camps love to do. The thing coaches are looking for in this drill is your quickness, agility, and ability to get out of your cuts. What you do is run to the right to the five yard cone, then turn back around and run to the ten yard cone, then finally back to the other direction for another five yards. I am really good at this because I am very elusive and work great with getting out of my cuts. At the end, my best time was a 4.25. SaturdayThis week we did a lot of form work with Caleb. I honestly do not love days like these because you are doing things that are so detailed and it takes a lot of mental strength to do the details right. You sweat a lot just because you are doing the little things and you do a lot more than you think you are doing.
The first thing we did was we took an 18 pound medicine ball and we did 12 reps of 4 sets of backward ball throws. This was a little warm-up after we stretched. It is not supposed to be too hard for me but it just wakes me up and gets a little explosion out of the way. The next thing we did was A-Skips in place for 4 sets. The first two sets I was allowed to use my arms. I was supposed to really focus on having a good rhythm, driving my foot to the ground, and being consistent. The next two sets I was forced to put my arms on top of my head. It was the same thing, but without your arms, everything feels different. After this we did 4 sets of A-Skips while actually moving. At first when I did it, Caleb laughed at me because I was going way too fast. The whole point was to have a nice rhythm for me, keep my foot pointed up, and to really focus on driving with my hips to have a fluent motion. A lot of times, people will tend to focus on moving their feet as fast as they can, which causes problems because they aren’t using any power. After this, we did four sets of A-Skips for ten yards, then high knees the next ten yards. The first two sets I was allowed to use my arms and the other two I couldn’t use my arms. This was easy besides when you transitioned to the high knees, because everything was different. He told me though, when you do A-Skips, you want to have a medium paced rhythm, but when you go to high knees, you don’t want to all of a sudden get really fast. You are supposed to increase the speed but still use your power in your legs. SaturdayWell, the training session was the toughest session so far. I threw up twice during the middle of the workout. But at the end of the workout it felt great. I started up my Saturday morning at 8:00 with a tough and beneficial workout. It honestly is a great feeling.
The first thing I did was I supersetted vertical medicine ball throws, kettlebell swings, and rock-a-byes for four sets. I did the medicine ball throws for 12 reps. These get really tiring at the very end when you get to the last couple reps. The kettlebell swings I did for 10 reps. I used to do these when I was in the 6th grade and didn’t find them hard, but after I was taught to really pull the kettlebell up to your face level, it was tough. The rock-a-byes, which is a lower ab workout, were probably the toughest ab workout I have ever done in my life. Part of this might have been because I have never tried this exercise before, but what you did was you let your feet of the ground and head while laying on your back, and you rocked until your heels touched the ground and your shoulder blades touched the ground, while your body was completely straight. This was when I was ready to throw up. I then did real sprint, but with a twist. I did four reps for four sets, with two reps being different to the other two reps in each set. My first two reps, I had two bands wrapped around my shoulders getting held back by Caleb. I would run from one side of the gym to the other, which usually took twenty seconds. The next two reps I would lay on my stomach then when Caleb said “Go”, I would stand up and run to the other end of the gym. After my second and third set of these exercises, I let some of my breakfast out of my mouth. At the end of my session, I did my basic stretches as usual to loosen up my muscles and to easy up the soreness. SaturdayWe have changed the day of week I will be training with Caleb. I am now training on Saturday rather than Sunday.
I started up with my usual walking stretches like normal. Right after my stretches, Caleb told me to get on the stationary bike and pedal for two and a half minutes. I was thinking nothing of it at first, but after a minute, this did not feel like a warm up. It had to be the most tiring warm up I have ever done because I felt exhausted after it. I then went into super sets. I was super setting (doing two different exercises repeatedly) with medicine ball throws and 180 degree spin jumps. I would do twelve reps of the throws and do the jumps for thirty seconds for four sets. The reason for doing these exercises is to strengthen your hip flexors and explosion, which is very important for your start in a sprint. After this I did lean and sprints. These are exactly what they sound like. You start standing up, then you lean forward as far as you can until you feel like your about to fall, and last you sprint as fast as you can for fifteen yards. This also helps with the start of the sprint, but it also makes your body get used to leaning forward while running, because if the weight of your body is straight up, you’re not going to be as fast as if your body weight leaning you forward. Last thing I did was a little weird. I would shuffle over cones on the side of me, then jump forward one cone, then jump to the side, then forward again continuously, and at the last cone I jumped forward, I would then jump on a thirty six inch box. After a while of doing these, they are much more tiring than they sound. I didn’t get the point in this at first, but he then told me the reason for this exercise is to increase your stability and balance, because on a football field, your not going to be able to run in a straight line all the time. You have to be able to change direction. SundayThis was my second week of going to the gym heavy. Football season has officially ended, so it was time to put the work in the off season. I went to the gym on Wednesday this week instead of Sunday. The reason for this was because my dad and I went to church and then after went to Lowe's. By the time we finished, it was too late for me to go to the gym, so Caleb was nice enough to change the date to Wednesday. WednesdayI woke up at 5:45 just to make it to the gym by 6:30 in the morning. We had to do it that early in the morning because it we either early morning or late afternoon, and I had to work that afternoon. It was horrible waking up that early, but honestly, it felt so good when I finished my workout, because my training was done and out of the way.
Anyway, training on Sunday went well. We did a lot of speed work and less quickness. This felt very beneficial to me. I started it off with some standing long jumps. I did around 15 reps of these. After that I did 20 yard dash sprints. These are my favorite because it is quick and you just have to focus on increasing your speed rather than maintaining it, which you have to do in a 40 yard dash. We then did some form work. Caleb taught me that your arms are very crucial in order to become faster, especially in the beginning. You have to imagine you are carrying a ball between the space of your hamstring and your calf. What this does is it makes your strides longer and more efficient. You also have to make sure you pick up your knees when you are sprinting. I also did a core exercise. They were called mountain climbers. What these do is it forces you to pick up your knees so you won’t drag your feet on the ground. After a couple sets of these mountain climbers, I was ready to be done. A change of plansI did take the week off of speed because as the season has come to an end, I need to take a week off, according to Caleb. It honestly felt pretty good to have a rest, but at the same time I felt like I got nothing accomplished. So, after I told my dad I wasn’t going to have speed, and considering the fact the season was almost over, he told me I could start getting in the weight room.
I did five workouts this week. I did chest and core on Monday, biceps and triceps and forearms on Tuesday, Wednesday I did shoulders and back, lower body on Thursday, and a little bit of agility for around fifteen minutes on Saturday, just because I felt like it. For chest, I did bench press and incline bench press. I then did some sit ups and Rocky Balboa’s, which I made up for myself, for core. I did curls with the bar and with the machine for a total of ten sets. I did different exercises for triceps for a total of twelve sets. Back I did three different exercises for a total of ten sets. Shoulders I did three exercises for ten sets as well. And for legs, my personal least favorite, I did leg press, hack squats, and leg extensions for a total of twelve sets for my quads. I did bent over rows and the hamstring machine for ten sets. I didn’t do much on Saturday since I was supposed to take the week off from it. I really only did some ladder drill and burst sprints in my basement hallway. The only reason I did any speed work was because I got bored at home. I plan to go back to Torque next sunday to do my speed training again. The good thing now since the season will be over is that we will start actual speed in a 40 yard dash instead of quickness out of cuts. This is going to be very beneficial to my final goal to get my time down to the 4.6 seconds range. Monday TrainingThis week was much different than the rest of the ones. I did not go to Torque Sunday because I had to attend my sister’s baby shower. But that does not mean I didn’t work on my speed. I was given some drills to do at my house that I worked on Sunday evening. I have a ladder in my basement that I used to do some footwork drills. I did one foot in each hole, two feet, Ickey shuffle, etc..
I then went outside and ran some sprints up my driveway, which is about 200 feet long. The good thing about my driveway is that it is going uphill. Uphill sprints are great for two reasons for increasing your speed. One thing it does is it works your hamstrings even harder that if you were doing straight ground sprints. Another reason for doing uphill sprints is that your natural body when running should be leaning forward, and when you are going uphill you have to lean forward just enough where your not falling backwards, but not too much where you fall on your face. The last drill I did is very beneficial to my main goal. I set up two cones in my backyard, 20 yards apart, flat ground. I did 5 sprints of twenty yards with no one timing me, but at the same time I was still timing myself in a way. I was doing my best to try to get my twenty yards in 10 to 12 steps. I reached that goal every time. Then I set up the two cones 40 yards away. I ran two total 40 yard sprints and had my dad come outside and hand time me. My first sprint I ran a 4.84 second time. I knew I could do better than that because my first 10 yards did not feel that explosive. After my second attempt, I increased my speed by .04 seconds. Even though this is just barely my best time ever, I was still satisfied because I ran it in grass and I am not even halfway to my 12 weeks. SundaySunday at Torque Performance was bad but really good at the same time. Bad in the sense that I felt like I was going to throw up every other rep of a drill, but good in the sense that I felt like some drills were really working and improving my speed and I was actually being productive more than any other time. There probably was a couple of reasons for this. One was Sunday was the first workout I had where it was chilly outside rather than warm like it has been. Although, I did wear compression pants and a sweatshirt while training. I also hadn’t eaten anything the whole day besides breakfast. I will make sure to eat something next time before I head to Torque.
Caleb did do some different drills with me Sunday. I worked on accelerating to a cone then breaking down as quickly as possible to sprint around the cone and back where I started. This drill really got to me because there was a bunch of accelerating, decelerating, chopping the feet, and changing directions. I also did some 90 degree angle work where I would run to a cone, run to the left and catch the ball, then turn and run back up field and have to avoid the defender, or in this case the medicine ball. We also did a drill I have never seen before. I would take short steps to a cone and then do a back-step off of my left foot and land on my right, then step to the right of the cone with my right foot, then back-step again, and finally I would burst up field. The purpose of this drill was to have quick feet because defenders will do different things every route, so I have to be ready to avoid him while still getting up field as fast as possible. At the end of the training session I did my usual stretching of my lower body to loosen up the muscles again. It was important to take my stretching serious because not only is it important to stretch when it is cold because your muscles tighten much easier, but also because my body wasn’t used to the cold weather. |