1. CORE STRENGTH AND THE SPRINTS Natasha Kaiser-Brown Drake University

2. Sprint Mechanics Lower Body Knee Drive Touchdown Leg Recovery Upper Body Torso (slight forward lean) Shoulders (low and relaxed) Arms: Closed Angle (in front of shoulder) Open Angle (at hip)

3. Sprint Mechanics Cues “Knee Up-Toe Up” “Stay Tall” “Relax your Shoulders” “Don’t Run Side to Side” “Use your Arms” Weaker athletes are not capable of getting into or maintaining these positions due to underdeveloped core.

4. Sprint Mechanics “ All movements of limbs hinge on the strength of the torso. Abdominal muscles, traps, pecs, back”. Quad Muscles/Hip Flexors- attach to the front of the torso Hamstrings/Glutes-attach to back side

5. How to Identify Core Problems Watch from the side and directly in front Carrying extra weight Does the athlete run side to side? Do they have excessive forward lean (center of gravity is pushed) Do they lean too far back (center of gravity is pulled) Do they over rotate (face and torso can be seen from the sidelines)

6. Examples of Training Core Crunches Reverse Crunches Dynamic Flexibility Lead leg pick-ups, Eagles front and back, Inverted anything Walking over Hurdle Drills-Balance, flexibility, ISOLATE the core Pilates during their off season 2x week (dvd’s, classes, written exercises) Leg lowers, Superman’s, V-Sits with rotation, bicycles, planks,

7. How to Incorporate Core Work into the Workout Continuous Warm-up: Proprioceptor Work (barefoot, knee up, arm crossed, eyes closed for 30 sec hold) Jogging 50-100 Crunches (variety) Dyn. Flex. Sprint Drills StridersSprints

8. Workouts: (Early Season) Hurdle Drill Circuit (4x drill, run, abs) Walking or Running Stadiums Running Hills (form, power, speed, endurance) 10x Pit Jumps Plyo’s (box jumps-keep an eye on upper body as arms swing through) Plyo’s (box jumps-keep an eye on upper body as arms swing through)

9. Strength Training Squats (low weight-high reps) Single leg squats (low weight low reps) Hang Cleans (total body lift) Box step-ups End weights with ab circuit Physio Ball work (abs, feet on ball-hip raises, feet on the ball push-ups or planks, 5lb plate, held with both hands above head, rotate)