Interview with Josh Hurlebaus on Sprints: 10-16-2012
I am always excited to pick Josh Hurlebaus’ brain regarding the topic of speed. Learning to sprint fast and run a good 100, 200 or 400m is a process that has quite a few more variables than something fairly simple, such as vertical jump. A good sprinter needs speed, power, proper biomechanics and specific endurance. Mixing all these ingredients into one pot takes an intelligent and experienced chef. Josh took the time to answer three questions of mine. Here are his answers.
#1. Just Fly Sports: What do you feel is the biggest mistake college sprint coaches make in training their athletes?
Josh: I think the biggest mistake college sprint coaches make is that they place too high of an emphasis on “conditioning” for the event rather than using specific means to prepare the athletes for the event.
For example, there is a school of thought that is very popular in the midwest that high volumes of tempo and medium intensity work is necessary in order to make sprinters faster. This is especially true in the offseason and early season. Whether this is because of our climate or inadequate facilities, the point is that speed and power are often neglected until the season starts. This is a very costly mistake! Yes, tempo and medium intensity work will keep athletes healthy through the offseason as intensities and speeds are rarely high enough to cause any sort of hamstring pull, etc…until races begin.
Acceleration and top speed are both incredibly unique in their motor patterns and forces compared to tempo and unless you are practicing them from early on you will flirt with injuries. Programs that just do loads of tempo and save the 100% work for races are inviting injury. The problem is that most of these schools have a very large enrollment and vary large teams, so they can still field a competitive team with the athletes that survive the season and they will still think that their programs are great.
#2. Just Fly Sports: If you could go back in time and change your training in college, what would you have done differently?
Josh: In short I would have spent my first two years becoming a better athlete on the whole rather than worrying about maximizing performance through chasing weight room numbers and power/weight ratios.
I did more of a Barry Ross style program and thought muscle mass was sent straight from hell. I wanted to be lean and powerful! Well it turns out there are reasons why 95% of good sprinters not only are strong, but LOOK strong as well.
It wasn’t until my junior year that I started doing some general lifting and added a couple pounds that I began making good progress towards improving. Combine that with going back to some more remedial training in the offseason such as skips and bounds to increase coordination that I started seeing really good results. This isn’t to say that being ripped is a physical requirement for sprinting. Too much size will be just as detrimental as being too skinny, especially when you hit longer sprinting distances.
#3. Just Fly Sports: What do you feel are adequate strength levels for a sprinter? Short vs. Long? Where are the limits before strength would negatively affect sprint training?
Josh: Honestly, I think whatever weight my athletes can put up by using a simple progression is the perfect weight for them. I stick to a simple weight room philosophy- every exercise is multijoint.
Exercises with higher speed and coordination components come first (kettlebells, olympic lifts, etc), next come exercises that hit the most muscle mass and have the highest demand on the body (squats, lunges, etc), and so on down the line until we finish whatever is prescribed for the day. I don’t believe in making the weight room complex as hell in order to bust through a lifting plateau, etc, unless that plateau is being caused by some sort of form or mobility issue.
The trick is to not expect too much out of athletes in the short term. I know it is popular to say things like “All other things being equal between two people, a stronger athlete will win” but that puts too much of an emphasis on strength. You can use that sort of mind set with anything. “All other things being equal, the skinnier athlete will win due to less wind resistance”. Train your athletes to be athletic, not weight room beasts. Taking a guy from 285 to 400 in the squat is awesome, however that 400 lb squat means absolutely nothing
if they are uncoordinated and can barely hop, let alone bound. Muscle is worthless if you can’t control your body. Consistent and gradual gains are what I am after.
When it comes to the limits before strength negatively affects sprints, I say that as soon as strength is masking a form or coordination deficiency, you are too strong (at least for that moment in time). It is very easy for a person who is strong as hell to make up for a lack of coordination and timing coming out of the blocks simply because they can handle the forces and correct/stabilize themselves. You might be thinking “But they overcame their starting problem, why is that bad?” Well it is bad because those inefficiencies don’t disappear. They will emerge later on in the race and now you simply have a great starter who finishes like crap. I would rather take an athlete who is weaker and unable to mask what is wrong, take the time to correct what needs correcting, and gradually build strength and power from there.
About Josh:
Josh Hurlebaus is the sprints coach at Carroll University and recently coached LJ Hyland to an All-America finish and school record (dropping a full second off of his PR) in his inaugural year in charge of the Carroll sprinters. Josh has been an Elitetrack member since 2005 and is actively involved in many sprint discussions. He also has consulted various All-American sprinters from other schools such as Zach Lee and Scott Thomas.
A former Carroll athlete himself, Josh was a 4x All-American and continued to set personal records post-collegiately. He was a 1x USATF Indoor Qualifier. Below are his personal bests.
60m– 6.73
100m-10.38
200m– 20.97 (21.47indoor)
Find his blog at yourunlikecrap.com
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