PoleVaultPower.com

Allright so Cross Country is over and im super skinny and need to regain some lost muscle,

I need suggestions for workouts and stuff please...

also does anyone have some good core moves?

EDITED:

Please search chsvaulter, your question's been answered SO many times...

I am only leaving PowerPlant's post up as an example of rudeness that I am not going to tolerate on here. You can direct people to the answers in a nicer way. If a post is in the wrong forum, I'll move it.

5'8"
130lbs
13' pole 150lbs.
PR- 9'3"

since ur 5'8 130 and only got 9'3 with a 150lb pole, im going to guess you were most likely straightpoleing with that. I had the same problme my first year ever pole vaulting, it was right after xc and i was 5'5 125. And people can argue all they want on here that getting bigger wont make you any better. But i know from experience that when I put on about 15 pounds of muscle after that year I went from 8'6 to 13' just because the extra muscle builds better cordination and body control too.

The best way is lots of protein, push ups, pull ups, and things like low weight high rep lifting (depending on how old u are and if u plan on growing any more). Also tons of ab exercises because a strong core is real important in pole vaulting. If you havent lifted much I would stick to dumbell bench and things like that because it also builds up stabalizing muscles. Maybe use a bar once in a while if u feel like it. But u really dont need to be trying to lift too much weight till you have hit atleast 145. Just make sure to start of moderatly and dont over do it.

If you really want to gain upper body fast, start swimming butterfly, that is accualy how i got bigger faster.

Good luck.

Or, if you're jumping below 13', stay out of the weightroom all together... there are much more important things to be doing. Get on a high bar, there's strength training for you.

Thank you Vault Purple, That is some very good advice and that is actually what i have been trying to do.

ive been in my schools weight room three days a week and its helping with making me stronger and ill put you advice to good

work so, thanks.

Oh and to powerplant, this is my third year vaulting and in prevuious years i was overweight or had a lack of muscle, i dont lack technique, i was just weak and it was only recently that things have started to come together, but thank you.

powerplant42 wrote:Or, if you're jumping below 13', stay out of the weightroom all together... there are much more important things to be doing. Get on a high bar, there's strength training for you.

So I gotta ask--which philosophy do you like? Cause this was posted a little while ago..

Why should kids not lift? If they have solid technique, it's time to make them stronger, wouldn't you say so?

*insert clever/funny comment here*



I mean, maybe you were just being the devils advocate with why should kids not lift, or maybe you have changed your mind. I think to simply say 13' as the cut off is too broad of a statement to make...

I am being picky here to bring up a point. After all the recent talks about training philosophy, what are your thoughts now (I do NOT think there is a right or wrong answer here... jsut curious..)?

i think that he is saying that instead of trying to get stronger work more on technique then work on the strength later. My advice would do a lot of gymnastic work because it will get you stronger and help technique.

"But i know from experience that when I put on about 15 pounds of muscle after that year I went from 8'6 to 13' just because the extra muscle builds better cordination and body control too. "

Learning proper lifting techniques can improve motor skills, but I don't think that building muscle actuall improves coordination and body control. Learning proper squats and olympic lifts probably will improve body awareness and motor skills however.


"Oh and to powerplant, this is my third year vaulting and in prevuious years i was overweight or had a lack of muscle, i dont lack technique, i was just weak and it was only recently that things have started to come together, but thank you"

I sense some sarcasm here. The biggest problem with alot of the kids I work with is that they think nothing is wrong with their technique. If you are only jumping 9ft you gave a long way too go, I jumped 17ft and wasn't even close to accomplishing my technical model. I actually think the easiest way to improve from a 9ft vaulter is indeed hit the weights and sprint workouts, along with some serial jumps, bounding and long jumping.... Alot of technical problems I have with some kids is that they aren't strong enough to accomplish some of the technical aspects of vaulting.
Now I want to say this- being light as possible is very important in polevaulting! So I dont advice hypertrophy type lifting (high reps with 75% or more of 1rpm) instead high intensity lifting for recruitment and CNS stimulation (Low reps and high weights 85-95%)...Some natural hypertrophy will occur but you want to see minimal gain because its all about strength to weight ratio. You cant just jump into high intensity lifting so you will have to start with lower %'s and work your way up.

You have a PR of 9 feet... At this point, engraining the basics of the Petrov model is most important. Altius will definitely back me up on this one. If you lift, will you PR improve? Sure. But will it improve by as much as if you had just stayed on the high bar, runway, and track? Probably not... You don't have to be very strong all to jump ~12'.

What exactly is it that you're 'not strong enough' to do?

i think Lax PV brings up an excellent point. i mean, really, how do you really decide, at what point, to start lifting?? Back in the day, i used to lift 15 hours a week, for bulk... . but i'm weird haha. That was also 4 YEARS AGO. i mean, i grew up, hanging on monkey bars and doing handstands in gym class. then, in 7th or 8th grade, i decided to to start lifting. I did lots and lots of research on it, and became rather good at coming up with low workouts...but if you ask me, most of it's common sense, anyway. Back to the topic! haha

HOWEVER, pole vaulting/gymnastics require totally unorthodox strength. Think about it; is it a normal movement, to be hanging then move to vertical and then push off?? NO! haha. you have to be strong in specific muscle groups that most lifting doesn't help you with. which leads to the difference between STATIC strength, and DYNAMIC strength.

Think about those words, static and dynamic. STATIC: exerting force by reason of weight alone without motion. It's exactly how it sounds. this obviously pertains to lifting weights. then DYNAMIC: marked by usually continuous and productive activity or change. If you read into it, you'll see it means "strenght by movement". pertaining to how well you can move your own body, around and environment, OPPOSED to moving weight around your body. Since, in the pole vault, constant movement is emphisized, obvioulsy a vaulter wants a high level of DYNAMIC strength. I'll give you some examples! haha
-being able to do a lot of push-ups
-being able to a lot of pull-ups
-FLARES! these are flares: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0Yd6VnK-P8 this guys has a VERY HIGH level or dynamic strength!

This leads back to the original question: how do you know if you should lift or not? Honestly, it's up to the athlete. When i started vaulting, i already had a high-level or dynamic strenght and a decent level or static strength. Most of my coaches agree that i should stick to a large amount of calastetics, which are dynamic exercises, such as pull-ups and push-ups and sit-ups, basically, exercises where you use YOUR OWN BODY AS RESISTANCE. Based on my personal physique, and ability, i could do either or, and be alright; but in the words of my high school coach, "you can always be stronger". So since I want to jump 16' this season, i'm going to do everything i can, to make sure that the muscles i'm going to be using in the vault are going to be...up to snuff.

I accomplish this in 1 way. I have a very diverse training routine. Look at bubka, he had something like...17 workouts a week?? and i think only 1 or 2 was lifting. and he did it ONLY TO MAINTAIN CERTAIN MUSCLE GROUPS. I think we could all admit thought that we're no where near his physical ability, so we could all lift a bit, but do you get my point?? I'll go deeper!

My lifting routine works on GENERAL muscle areas now, nothing too specific, like in the past. As a vaulter, you want to be light, fast and strong. so you CAN NOT BULK UP. However, there is a difference between bulking up and gaining 15 pounds of solid muscle, as stated above. You want to have good '%' strength. (EXAMPLE: i only weigh 130lbs, but i can squat 270lbs).
My Plyo workouts help me develope fast-twitch muscles, which keep me fast and "springy", but that i would say is the more advanced end of my training.
My gymnastics workout (which i believe is what most people are leaning towards you to do) works EVERYTHING. When you do specific gymnastics exercises, BASED AROUND THE POLE VAULT, not only does it help technique, but it also provides AMAZING CALASTETIC movements, which is what i feel is best for you, NOW.

This is what i'm FINALLY alluding to! haha. I think you should build a workout routine, structured around you, building lean, non-bulky, muscle. There's a bumch of ways to do this, but i'll RECOMEND a very GENERAL WAY that you can accomplish this. (I'm noticing that we have very similar specifications, the only difference in strength, is muscle structure).

ANYWAY, i'd reccomend that you start light, a lot of calastetics. I honesly DON'T want to get specific, cause a lot of people might fight me on this, but whatever, i'm going to tell you how I am able to do 30-straight pull-up, 100-straight push-ups and DO A FLAGPOLE! haha

Actually, i need to know a few things about you, first. Answer these questions, if you don't mind:
1. How many straight push-ups, pull-ups can you do?
2. How many sit-ups can you do in 1 minutes?
3. What's your vertical leap?
4. What's your most recent 100m time?
5. What are your goals?? for your body AND for your vaulting??

answer these questions, and i'll do my best to build a workout, scheduled around some goals that you might have. -6P