The Season and the Athlete
Season arc, capacity, readiness, strength, and cooking for the athlete in front of you
The season moves from drills toward sprinting and accuracy. The prescription changes for each athlete. Wellness governs revision.
- 1The Seven Seasonal Headlines2 screensFrom preparation drills to Accurate Hurdling, then cycling between faster splits and accuracy to the end.
- 2Drills Toward Sprinting2 screensRoughly 80 percent drills early, reversing toward 80 percent sprinting late.
- 3Capacity and the Hurdle Count2 screensEnough hurdle exposure, not too much. Capacity is built across the season and spent against a capped hurdle count.
- 4Cook for the Athlete in Front of You2 screensSame philosophy, different dish. Coaching one body part can be the route to changing another.
- 5Readiness and Wellness2 screensThree numbers at the start of practice; wellness failures change the method.
- 6Strong in Our Shapes3 screensEnough strength, kept simple, lifted on sprint days, in service of the shapes.
- 7What Stays Off the Track2 screensEvery step on the track has a named purpose. Tempo runs and aimless fitness running are out.
- 8Time It, Film It, Play the Rhythm2 screensEvery rep timed and filmed. Rhythm is King trains the fifty.
The Seven Seasonal Headlines
From preparation drills to Accurate Hurdling, then cycling between faster splits and accuracy to the end.
Seven Headlines
Preparation Drills. More Aggressive Drills.Sprinting for Splits. Sprinting for Even Faster Splits.Accurate Hurdling. Back to faster splits. Back to Accurate Hurdling.
Coach notes
- After Accurate Hurdling first enters, the season cycles back and forth between chasing faster splits and restoring spatial accuracy through the end of the season.
- These are general headlines. Dates, entry and exit criteria, drill contents and target times are open.
Open
- Unresolved Calendar placement and entry or exit criteria for each headline.
The Earlier, the Faster
Accurate Hurdling is the final precision layer.It comes after stiffness, coordination and rhythm are installed.The earlier in the season it can begin, the faster the founder expects the athlete to become.
Coach notes
- Measure and rehearse ideal step, takeoff and touchdown locations. See Opening, Accurate Hurdling at the Opening.
KU-015ADrills Toward Sprinting
Roughly 80 percent drills early, reversing toward 80 percent sprinting late.
80/20 to 20/80
Early season: about 80 percent drills, 20 percent sprinting.Late season: about 20 percent drills, 80 percent sprinting.
Coach notes
- These percentages are the founder's illustrative examples.
- Form-first chain: physical preparation gives access to strong shapes; understanding enables form; form enables speed. There is no shortcut around the early technical phase.
- Racing into shape: technically demanding drill work produces fitness as a secondary effect. Fitness is not the primary intention.
What Thins Out Late
Sprint drills: many early, fewer late, settling around four or five.Usain is often dropped late in the season.ABCs: four hurdles early, down to three or two when fatigue matters.
Capacity and the Hurdle Count
Enough hurdle exposure, not too much. Capacity is built across the season and spent against a capped hurdle count.
Hurdlers Have to Hurdle
Hurdle skill needs enough hurdle-specific exposure.Flat speed can help, but it does not make a better hurdler.To get faster over hurdles, the athlete must hurdle.
Build Capacity, Spend It Well
Capacity is built over the course of the season.The hurdle count is capped per workout.Protect the nervous system by letting high-value work displace lower-value work.
Cook for the Athlete in Front of You
Same philosophy, different dish. Coaching one body part can be the route to changing another.
Nearsighted and Farsighted
One athlete is nearsighted, another farsighted.A prescription that worked for one cannot be handed unchanged to the other.
Coach notes
- Athletes differ in strengths, weaknesses and their connection to parts of their own physiology.
- Every athlete is a unique puzzle. Two-way communication is required.
KU-007Change the Hands to Change the Feet
Hands may change feet. Feet may change hands.Forward lean may change stiffness. Stiffness may change track contact.
Coach notes
- The prescription considers what the athlete tolerates, enjoys, understands, physically feels and responds to.
KU-008Readiness and Wellness
Three numbers at the start of practice; wellness failures change the method.
Three Numbers
At the start of every practice, each athlete gives three ratings from 1 to 100:Muscular freshness. Joint condition. Energy, mood and desire to train.
Coach notes
- The founder uses these to detect overdrilling and overworking. His stated operating condition: value-adding drills continue while the numbers do not dip outside the 80s.
- The founder answered this without his notes and asked for it to be asterisked. It is provisional until reconciled with his complete program.
Open
- Needs the founder Anchors for the 1-to-100 scales, the exact meaning of "outside of the 80s", and the action attached to it.
KU-012When the Method Itself Changes
Poor results change the prescription.These change the method:Injury. Signs of overtraining. Recovery that is not enough for the next workout. Burnout. Loss of fun. A dreadful grind.
Coach notes
- Stay Dangerous is a max-effort program, but max effort does not require max volume. Volume can drop to a level that looks uncomfortably low to an outsider when recovery or wellness calls for it.
- Listening to the body and stopping at the right time outranks external expectations about workload.
KU-007Strong in Our Shapes
Enough strength, kept simple, lifted on sprint days, in service of the shapes.
Strong in Our Shapes
Hurdle strength is the ability to create, hold and move quickly through the race's shapes.An athlete can be strong in the weight room without being Strong in Our Shapes.Sufficient strength matters. Enormous strength does not.
Coach notes
- Plyometric work, hurdling and sport exposure can supply enough natural strengthening; at times the founder has taken athletes out of the weight room entirely.
- For athletes at this level, weight training is mostly preventative maintenance: protect the Achilles, soft tissues and joints, and reduce the exertion the race demands. "It's good to be stronger."
- Ceiling raising: to bench 200 pounds twenty times, either grind upward at 200, or build to 350 so 200 becomes easy.
Lift on Sprint Days
In the perfect season: weight room on sprint-practice days.Three times a week in preseason. Twice a week in competition.Do a little less on the track those days to make room.
Coach notes
- The historical obstacle has been recovery: track work is engaging, and the drive to get it right has sometimes pushed athletes close to their limits, leaving them under-recovered for the sprint day two days later.
- The founder's 15 percent was a ballpark illustration of "a little less," not a target. This is a reallocation inside the sprint day, not an extra day.
- He does not regret the prior allocation; regular lifting is the next opportunity to improve a system that already worked.
KU-015AUKeep the Weight Room Simple
A handful of exercises, done regularly, progressively overloaded.30 to 45 minutes.
| Exercise | Note |
|---|---|
| Nordic curls | after practice, never before; no weight room needed |
| Hex-bar deadlift, no negatives | pull to the top, then drop the weight |
| Single-leg split squats | |
| Monkey Feet | dumbbell on the foot, hip-flexor knee raises; a cable machine works too |
Coach notes
- The founder avoids Olympic lifts he is not skilled at teaching and does not want a large, complicated weight-room system. He closed the topic at this depth.
KU-015AVWhat Stays Off the Track
Every step on the track has a named purpose. Tempo runs and aimless fitness running are out.
Excluded
No tempo runs.No non-specific fitness running on the track.No track steps without a named technical, rhythmic, sensory or output purpose.
Coach notes
- Purposeful replacement: if athletes take steps on the track, the work reinforces a named quality such as form, rhythm, timing, foot feel or proprioception. A drill can be high or low intensity; intensity does not replace specificity.
- The kicking-the-fence drill is also excluded; the lead leg punchdown replaces it.
KU-008Max Intent, Not Max Volume
Not every task needs max velocity or max strength.Every task needs max intent toward the output it is for.
Time It, Film It, Play the Rhythm
Every rep timed and filmed. Rhythm is King trains the fifty.
Time and Film Every Rep
Time every repetition. Film every repetition.The athlete investigates both the timing and the form on film.
Rhythm Is King
Rhythm is King is the founder's iOS rhythm game.Left and right thumbs stand in for left and right foot contacts.Match the step rhythm of a preset hurdle-race time while clearing hurdles down the track.
Coach notes
- First to Fifty names the race. Rhythm is King trains the fifty.
- The game works and is playable. Its source is in the founder's GitHub repository and on his own computer.
Open
- Unresolved Scoring, presets, miss behavior and distribution status of Rhythm is King.
KU-015AR