	AllExperts > Track & Field
	Search

About Byron Collyer
Expertise
I can help athletes and or coaches with javelin training and technique, core training, shot put training, functional fitness, explosiveness and injury prevention.

Experience
I'm an X-National Level Javelin Thrower and provicial level decathlete and am employed as a Private Sector Certified Personal Trainer with a degree in Human Kinetics and I'm a Certified High Performance Core Specialist. I've trained numerous clients and athletes regarding sports conditioning and have trained many track and field athletes especially javelin throwers with great success over the past 10 years.

Education/Credentials
Bachelor of Science Human Kinetics (UBC). National Strength and Conditioning Association Certified Personal Trainer (NSCA-CPT). C.H.E.K. Certified High Performance Core Specialist. Extensive Biomechanics & Movement Analysis knowledge. Past Experience as a Certified Sports Aider.

You are here: Experts > Sports > Track and Field > Track & Field > top speed

Track & Field - top speed

Expert: Byron Collyer - 10/21/2009

Question
Hello, i am 14 years old and run about 13 secs for the hundred meters(on a grass track), I race against people running 12 secs.
i can run with them for the first 40m and then fall away before coming on strong toward the end. Some people say its because my striding gets to long during the middle section of the race.
Do you have any tips to help this or to increase my top speed?
thanks, Ben

Answer
Sure ben, here are a few basic ones.

1) Strengthen your hamstrings-they're one of the key muscles that'll make you faster overall. Hit the gym and start building them up.

2) To go faster, make sure you're striding behind you. Your stride can be long-just make sure you're not throwing your leg out in front of you (which causes braking). Basically, to go faster, you extend and power backwards with your strides-never extend forward to get speed.

3) Make sure your hamstrings are really flexible. It's vital that both your hamstrings and calves have good flexibility-it'll make you faster so be sure to stretch em out.

4) Start strengthening your core as well. Here's a quick article on core training-it's on javelin but just follow the "core" parts-they're universal and thus, apply to your event.

Article:

How to train your core for javelin throwing

Believe it or not, core training is actually relatively straightforward. There are a few major muscles in your core that need to be firing while you participate in various physical activities and there are a few tricks to get them firing in the first place but beyond that, there's not much else you need to know to effectively train your core for javelin throwing.

For this article, we're going to concern ourselves with major core muscles such as: Transverse Abdominis (TVA) and your kegels or pelvic floor muscles. We'll start with TVA.

TVA is a large deep abdominal muscle that lies underneath your superficial abdominal muscles such as Rectus Abdominis (your six-pack) and your obliques (love handles). TVA wraps around your entire abdominal torso area and acts like a giant weight belt for the spine. When TVA is activated, it truly plays the role of providing a solid foundation or solid core. Core training is focused on using TVA to improve its strength so that it can provide a stronger foundation for the athlete.

To engage TVA, you simply draw your stomach in toward your spine. It's the same as if you’re trying to make yourself skinnier trying to "suck in your gut". More specifically, you're not just drawing in your stomach you're trying to draw in your lower stomach. If we take a center point of where we want you to draw your stomach in, the center point would be about 2 inches below your bellybutton. Focus on drawing your stomach in at this point so that your core is engaged and strengthening the connection between your pelvis and your torso. Be sure that when you draw your stomach in, you don't hunch over. It's very important to maintain good posture while engaging your core.

Draw your stomach in to fire TVA and engage your core during any and all activity including weight training, be it abdominal or other muscle group exercises, throwing during practice and especially during competition.

To supplement TVA, you can also engage your kegel muscles to more effectively train your core. Your kegel muscles are your lower pelvic floor muscles used to stop the flow of urine. If you have trouble finding them, the easiest way to learn how to contract these muscles is stopping the flow on your next trip to the washroom. These muscles play a supportive role in further engaging your core. Try drawing in your stomach and contracting your kegel muscles at the same time. This should give you an idea of how challenging it is to effectively train your core. This challenging endeavor may be why they're so much confusion surrounding how to properly train your core however, a little time and focus on these two muscles will pay great dividends for your core training.

To train your core, all you have to do is engage these two muscles as mentioned earlier however, you may want to get comfortable with using them first. You can practice firing TVA and your kegels in the car or while walking through the grocery store. This is a great way to learn how to engage them properly before you move on to more challenging movements such as engaging your core during your javelin run up.

You may find that engaging your core limits your ability to take deep breaths to some degree however, over time, this slightly limited sensation should pass and you'll be able to engage your core without it hampering your breathing. As a side note, make sure you're not drawing your stomach up and in which would slightly compress your diaphragm. Focus on simply drawing your stomach in to avoid putting any excess pressure on your diaphragm and you should find it easier to maintain a normal breathing pattern.

Core training for javelin summary:
Step #1: Draw in TVA 2 inches below your bellybutton to engage your core.
Step #2: Contract your kegel muscles and TVA to fully engage your core.
Step #3: Draw your stomach in and not up onto your diaphragm to engage your core. Step #4: Keep your breathing constant and don't ever try to hold your breath while
    engaging your core or doing any other exercises for that matter.
Step #5: As you're learning, practice firing TVA and your kegels while sitting in the car
    or walking around and as you improve, engage these muscles to engage your
    core during all of your javelin training.

______________________________________________________________

Hope all this helps Ben,

Cheers,

byron

Add to this Answer Ask a Question