Mailbag 003

Posted on August 26, 2009 by CoachJay

Coach Jay,

I don’t know if this is the right place to post this, but here it is. It’s a video of a group of Ethiopians doing warm up drills before what I assume is a training session. It even features Kenenisa Bekele.

What are your thoughts on the different elements of the workout?
-Kevin

Thanks for sharing this Kevin – it’s great footage and I never would have found it, so thanks for taking the time to email me, allowing us all to check it out.

First thought is that no single exercises is that challenging, yet what is impressive is the flexibility and general athleticism in this video. USATF coaching education defines five elemental Biomotor abilities – strength, speed, flexibility, coordination, and endurance – that should be considered by coaches when designing training. The Ethiopians are flexible and coordinated and that is a key difference between them and most American distance runners, yet there is no reason that an American distance runner should lose their flexibility and coordination as they matriculate from HS to college to post-collegiate running.

The second thought was simply that some of the silly, game-like skipping I have planned for the fall will be an easier sell when I show the athletes this video.

The third thought is somewhat nuanced, so rather than put it here it’s going to get it’s own post. The third thought is “They weren’t really doing drills and it begs the question, ‘Are we wasting time with drills for American distance runners?’”

Thanks for the email Kevin and I look forward to the comments of the readership.

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  • Rhymenocerous

    The thing that sticks out about the current crop of Ethiopian distance runners is their ability to absolutely crush the closing stages of races even off a fast pace. Obviously, highly developed aerobic systems help (which is THE key difference between African and Western distance runners) but I think a focus on power (spiked-up flying 30m-60m sprints are done regularly) as well as activities that give the athlete the capacity to be powerful (as seen in the video) sets them apart from even their Kenyan neighbors.
    It must be said that some suspect more dubious methods are at work as well, and with good reason. Though, you can't take a drug to run like Bekele (biomechanically).

  • jschools

    The use of the dynamic warm up it awesome. As a high school coach, it is difficult to get across the importance of dynamic warm up. Videos like this go a long way in selling the point to athletes.

  • http://hamiltontrack.blogspot.com hamiltontrack

    With my HS team we use a basic “dynamic” like warmup at the start of every practice… the team gets into the routine…

    At meets the team will do a lap jog, repeat the same “everyday” warmup then jog another lap… at that point each event group has a more specific warmup to do prior to their race (which may be immediately or hours later, depending on the meet…

    you can see our “meet” warmups here… if you are interested…

    http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=rSotFTm9…

    We end every practice as a team with a relaxing more “static” stretching routine… I never really have had to explain the reason behind this to my athletes to get them to “buy in” it is just what we do… for those couple of athletes that have asked I have talked about the importance of being warmed up properly to avoid injury and to perform at their best…

    just my 2 cents…

  • http://coachjayjohnson.com CoachJay

    …and videos like like go a long way to get post-collegiate athletes to buy into looking goofy and playful at practice, especially when the HS kids at Fairview HS are driving by in their SUVs yelling crap everyday as it is.

    Thanks again Kevin – really appreciate you sharing this.

  • Rhymenocerous

    Two words: Paintball Gun

  • billzeebub

    I've had a Ugandan 800m guy and a Kenyan distance runner in my group, and the difference between the warm ups that they were doing when they joined me were very interesting.

    The Ugandan was excellent at the dynamic stuff, making Bekele etc in the vid look like schoolkids. He was very thorough and had a great understanding of what he was doing and why he was doing it. He learned most of his GS and drills from the Kenyan distance camps in Eldoret, where he trained each year from 16-17yrs old.

    Prior to his workouts, the Kenyan simply wanted to run for 30mins @ c.7min/miles, swing his arms left/right/up/down/in circles and back, before doing 5 or 6 100m striders at around 1500m pace. He had no speed, often being beaten by slower athletes in tactical races, but his endurance running was great.

    My thoughts on the Ethiopian footage, is “Just how good could they be if they were to progress their warmup routine to reflect something similar to that of the better drilled Americans?”

    Would their exercise really be a great help in chasing more speed? It all looked like a very gentle warm up before doing something more dynamic if you ask me. Whilst this vid might be useful in proving to the kids that even the best guys do silly looking warmups, i'd be concerned that it could cause a few who ARE already buying into the full program to ease off the gas and carry out their drills at 25% effort, which is pretty much what we see KB etc doing here.

    IMHO, they need to fire the drill sergeant and hire JJ's services for a year or two ;)

  • http://stevemagness.blogspot.com stevemagness

    Just my opinion, but if those ethiopians were forced to into American style drills, I'd bet they'd be worse runners with worse running mechanics and form.

    Some of the things in that video I think are a little strange and probably don't do anything at all. It's important to remember that just because someone who is fast does something, it doesn't necessarily mean that it works.

    But I think the thing to realize is it all looks like a pretty natural/easy way to get ready to go. Your arms need loosened up? Do a bunch of arm swing type exercises. Hamstrings need warmed up? Do a variety of leg exercises to accomplish that. No one is trying to be exact, regimented, or rigid.
    It kind of reminds me of something a little kid would do while playing around.

    On your 3rd question on drills, my stance is pretty clear, but I'm convinced that we are wasting our time.

    And, I'm going to make a fun prediction that if this video starts getting around, you are going to see these Ethiopian style warm-up exercises pop up as the new way to warm up on all levels.

  • http://coachjayjohnson.com CoachJay

    Wow. What a great perspective, being able to watch those guys.

    I doubt the warm-up Ritz did today wasn't that complicated…

    http://www.flotrack.org/videos/coverage/view_vi…

    but I also think the best way to get ready for the 1,500m and the 800m is more specific than the 5k/10k. Plus, doesn't make sense that the better athlete you are the more athletic and dynamic your warm-up should be? That's my thought, but obviously I need a decade or two to figure this out.

    Thanks for the comment – I can't believe how diverse the backgrounds are of the readership and please know how much I appreciate the comments.

  • jschools

    Thanks for the information. Those warms look good. I am going to implement them into my track season next spring.

    I might have been misleading…90% of my XC kids buy into the dynamic routine. I was just trying to reach that last 10%. Here is another question…Do any of the high school coaches do a AM Warm up before meets? Like Coach Jay's RDAM?

  • http://michigancrosscountry.com/ Don

    Kids suddenly think they should use goo before a 5K race (often with caffeine). I'm thinking bad idea. Can you hit this and general pre-race nutrition for high schoolers (often limited to school day fare) in a mailbag article?

  • http://coachjayjohnson.com CoachJay

    I'll add this to the list Don, but the quick (and obvious?) answer is that they don't need a goo to run 5,000m well. The caffeine would have an ergogenic effect IF they only do it 1-2 times a month and don't ingest caffeine at any other time. But that's probably not the scenario for most kids with pop and or caffeinated energy drinks.

    …but yes, I'll add this to the Mailbag list and I appreciate your comment.