TRAINING: 5 Things I learned from Loren Seagrave
Apart from yet another phenomenal coach with a very very well constructed moustache, Loren Seagrave needs no real formal introduction. However, if you have been living under a rock all of your life, or typed “Lauren” instead of “Loren” in google search, I will help you out.
Loren is a world renowned speed coach. He has worked with the Atlanta Falcons (NFL) as well as a handful of Olympic and World Champions. He is currently the director of the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida.
The Man, The Moustache
Loren recently came to Hammarby Friidrot to present a workshop for some of our coaches and athletes.
So here are:
5 This we learned from Loren Seagrave
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If it feels powerful it is too slow
If your contact time (contact between foot and surface) feels powerful it is time wasted. 50 steps where you can win 0.01 of a second on each contact time will drop your overall time in the 100m by half a second!
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Your stronger leg should be the one in the back at the blocks.
The leg that is positioned in the rear of the block is in a quarter squat position so it needs to be your dominant or stronger leg.
[Tweet “If it feels powerful it is too slow”]
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Don’t triple extend in the start phase.
“Staying Loaded” as you drive out of the box enables for maximum power. If you triple extend fully in the start phase, the following positions are not powerful and hence we decelerate into the next stride.
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If you’re a sprinter and have a weak core, it’s like shooting a cannon from a canoe.
Fairly self explanatory. Hold your positions, transfer your power. Sprinting is an explosive event. If the core is not strong enough to distribute forces that are required an athlete will ultimately hurt themselves.
[Tweet “Hold your positions, transfer your power”]
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3 muscles cross the knee and the hip and they all work as flexors of the hip. If you bend your knee, the muscles are switched off and the leg dangles behind you.
If an athlete loses contact through both the hip and the knee the result is a loss in tension. This equates to a loss in time since the trailing leg will return to contraction much slower.
Still getting after it, even in jeans!
So there you have it, a lifetime of knowledge summarised in 5 points…
Of course this is a very very short summary of an absolute library of knowledge but do not dispare. Loren has published material and thankfully for us given many presentations that can be found online.
Here is an example: From the IAAF Coaches Conference we attended during the London World Championships.
