PoleVaultPower.com

One of the things that really interests me is the Warm Up Routines for competitions...Either as a coach or a vaulter list your Meet Day Warm Up Routine!

While I am thinking about it...if anyone has any good weightlifting programs designed for pole vaulters, I would interested in seeing those too.

Mine takes about 35 minutes to have a complete warm up for me. Usually at practice it's a little longer, but not that much.

Jog for about 5 minutes
skips with crossbody arm swings
skips with shoulders circles forward and back
skip scoops
Active butterfly stretch
fire hydrants
lying legswings
iron crosses (front and back)
Rockback hammies
Toe tappers
leg crosses
active hurdler stretch
active calf stretch
standing leg swings (both directions)
followed by a couple of strides (in flats)
high knees
straight leg runs

put on the spikes
about 4-5 sprints progressively getting faster

I don't do vault drills to warm up in a meet. I spend that time that people do those drills on extra stretching so that I can make sure I have my speed on the runway. To me I feel as though that doing 2 and 3 step drills at a meet are good for some people and negative for others. I think drills are good for me at practice, but in a meet it's time to man up and trust yourself enough to go from your long run and at least drive it in. So I'll grab a softer pole I know I can roll over and make into the pit on and just do a press in to make sure the steps are on then grab the next pole. Take 3 more warm up jumps, moving up poles as needed, and then wait for the competition.

Borntovault wrote:Mine takes about 35 minutes to have a complete warm up for me. Usually at practice it's a little longer, but not that much.

Jog for about 5 minutes
skips with crossbody arm swings
skips with shoulders circles forward and back
skip scoops
Active butterfly stretch
fire hydrants
lying legswings
iron crosses (front and back)
Rockback hammies
Toe tappers
leg crosses
active hurdler stretch
active calf stretch
standing leg swings (both directions)
followed by a couple of strides (in flats)
high knees
straight leg runs

put on the spikes
about 4-5 sprints progressively getting faster

I don't do vault drills to warm up in a meet. I spend that time that people do those drills on extra stretching so that I can make sure I have my speed on the runway. To me I feel as though that doing 2 and 3 step drills at a meet are good for some people and negative for others. I think drills are good for me at practice, but in a meet it's time to man up and trust yourself enough to go from your long run and at least drive it in. So I'll grab a softer pole I know I can roll over and make into the pit on and just do a press in to make sure the steps are on then grab the next pole. Take 3 more warm up jumps, moving up poles as needed, and then wait for the competition.

Thanks for the info. It took me awhile to refind my post. I have a couple of questions about the routine...I am sure that I know them by different names, but elaborate if possible...

Skip Scoops
Active Butterflys
Lying Leg Swings
Toe Tappers

Thanks for the info

Skip Scoops-low skips and every 3 stick one leg out a little and bend down and scoop with your arms and so everytime you end up alternating sides

Active Butterflys- like regular butterflys but you flap your legs, (everyone says its bad for you but if you are warming up actively like this they are fine, its just when you do it when your muscles are cold is when it's bad)

Lying Leg Swings- lay on your back and put one foot flat on the ground and the other leg straight out. Then kick your leg forward like your kicking a ball. stretches the hamstring and the hipflexors.

Toe Tappers-lay on your back roll back to your shoulders and do scissor kicks with your legs so that your toes touch the ground.

hope that helps

A complete warm up

http://www.neovault.com/training1.asp

I used to warm up forever before meets and anything, now I just try to do little things and make them count.

Jog/run a lap (get faster every 100 meters)

Forward skip with arm swing for 50m
Sideways skip with arm swing for 50m
Other way sideways skip with arm swing for 50m
Backwards skip with arm swing 50m

Walking leg lift toe touches for 50m (usually 26 toe touches)
Jog 50m
Backwards toe touches leg lift (10 each leg)

50m A-Skip

30m But Kicks 20M high knees

Put on Spikes

50m cycle run

20m fast but kicks

20m fast high knees

Two fast 10 left runs without pole

Some grass vaulting drills

Then pole vault time.


Basically just start slow and slowly begin to get legs moving faster and faster. (No Stretching before the vault!)

VaultPurple's post brings up an interesting point. I have heard some arguments of static stretching v. dynamic stretching before vaulting, but I am not sure I'm on board for just one or the other yet (I prefer to combine them). Our sprint coach advocates dynamic stretching before and static afterward. He is very well educated on these matters, so I trust his judgment.

However, when we were doing fall conditioning and completing only a dynamic warm-up before the workout, I didn't feel like I was truly stretched out. I also started to have problems with my knees, which the trainer said had to do with tight IT bands/hamstrings because I wasn't stretching enough BEFORE working out. The same kind of thing happened last year during the season with my hamstrings when I was applying a more dynamic warm-up before vaulting, and it got better with increased static stretching again (in combination with the dynamic exercises).

So is there strong evidence for one or the other or is this more of a preference in the end? Is it really bad to static stretch before vaulting?

Static stretching is not bad before vaulting as long as the goal is to loosen the muscles. Attempting to increase flexibility by static stretching should be done after practice since by doing this there are tears in the muscle fibers that could cause injury. Also make sure before static stretching that you are fully warmed up. Also static stretching is shown to slow the CNS and cool down the body so never go from static stretching to sprinting. Most evidence supports that you should have a dynamic warm up going from almost as slow as you can jog and ending with strider's taking you nearly to full speed. This needs to be a very gradual process. Though studies show that active stretching is better they recognize the importance of flexibility to reduce injury and suggest that it is best when it is done after practice.

Some reasons you might get injured is you need to make sure when doing a active warm up it is from slow to fast. For example you would want to do walking A's and walking B's then skipping A's and skipping B's then running A's and running B's. Then quick leg A's and quick leg B's. Always low intensity to high. Also you build a surprising amount of muscle and quick twitch in these running drill so don't do them full speed for the first month of training, so as not to risk injury. Same with leg swings for the first month do them high enough to get a good stretch but not so much to where you are tearing the muscle fibers so far that you are making them susceptible to injury. After your done with your running drills you want to do 4x 60-100m strider's. At the beginning of the season you would want to run something like 75% for the first 80% for the second 85% for the third and 90% for the fourth. Each one is a gradual buildup to that percent. Near the end of the season you might start at 80-85% and end at 95-100%. Hope this helps. (I would definitely agree with the combination of active stretching/dynamic stretching and static stretching as long as it is done right.)

---Kasey

Thanks, KC. That makes sense. I usually do dynamic stretching and then static right after to make sure everything is stretched out well, but nothing to increase flexibility. I've never done the combination of walking then skipping then running then 'quick', but I can definitely see the advantages of starting off slow and working into it. I'm pretty sure I don't start off gradually enough from your description. Hopefully that will help in injury prevention, esp. in the hamstrings which I seem to be prone to get.

A large degree of flexibility specifically to the vault comes from "finishing the take off" and being able to extend your trail leg as far behind you as possible.

Like you guys said, theres a balance between static and dynamic. Think of it as a "range" of stretching. Personally, to target this specific flexibility, i like to start with lunges, allowing my legs to statically stretch for a few seconds, then stand back up and do the other leg. I will progress until there is no pause at the bottom when i am stretching. That way, you transition from static to dynamic stretching. Putting your hands over your head also allows you to stretch your torso in the same manner. When you think about static vs dynamic stretching as a spectrum, you realize that you can progressively stretch out more statically or dynamically as you please, if you are more sore/stiff/etc.... Just keep in mind that we do this AFTER at least 5 minutes of aerobic activity (either skips or jogs).

Warm Up:

800m jog, or 6 minute jog if no track is available
light stretching (Hamstrings, Quads, calves, glutes)
2 150m strides
Full Stretching (Abductors, Groin, Quads, Hamstrings, Calves, Glutes, lower back, deltoids, triceps, ankle rolls, hips)
20m of each of the following:
A- Skips
B- Skips
C- Skips
Frankensteins
High Knees
High Knees w/ butt kicks
--
2 30m strides

Pole warm ups:
3-5 straight pole 3 steps w/ swing
1 run through of steps to make sure they are on
1 full run up with plant (jagodin)
1 full run up with swing
1 full jump

Pole vault time!