General Strength (GS) has become a garbage “throwaway” term in
the Track & Field world. You can give the circuits all kinds of cute names
like Waterloo, Dunkirk or D Day, but whatever name you use, it has evolved
into mindless repetition of poor quality movements with no specific goal in
mind. I remind you that just getting someone tired is not training with a purpose;
it is just getting someone tired. Hurdle overs and unders are great if they
placed in the correct place in a workout, if not they are just stuff. If you
look at the composition of the various GS workouts proliferating on various Internet
sites what you see is too much work in prone and supine positions with no discernible pattern or sequence to the movements. I observed much of this first
hand in my work with the Oregon Project. I could
see no sequence to the application of the circuits and the
distribution of the work throughout the training cycles. I was uncomfortable with it then and I
am more uncomfortable now that it has taken on a life of its own. With middle distance
and distance runners this has replaced strength training with
appropriate resistance. What everyone calls GS or General Strength is circuit
training. It has a place in a program, but you must develop strength before you
can endure it. The guiding principal is to develop strength before strength
endurance and power before power endurance. Circuit training can and should be
used during certain phases of the training year to enhance strength endurance
and/ or power endurance depending on the composition of the circuit and the
work to rest ratios and resistance. The movements need to be carefully chosen
to fit the athlete’s event, their specific needs and the time of the training
year. I encourage you to take a long hard look at how you are using this
component. If it is just stuff thrown together, then it is just stuff. Anyone can do stuff!
3 Comments
Jonathan
INteresting this is the topic of your blog today because on my ride into work this morning I was listening to music and the analogy it makes with training. This is what I concluded:
1. Merely knowing the principles or music theory does not make you a good musician. Yes knowing these principles are necessary but there’s more.
2. Just knowing a bunch of notes (ie exercises) doesn’t make you a musician either. Yes you might be able to play a few songs but that’s about it.
3. Both the principles (music theory) and the notes (exercises) are needed in order to be effective.
The theory tells us where to put the notes in order to gain the desired outcome but without the notes themselves there still would be no music. And so it is with athletic development, athletic training, coaching, etc.
Just my 2 cents.
Carson Boddicker
Coach Gambetta,
I agree with you that there are some huge limitations to the idea of “GS” circuits. Would you advocate that middle and long distance athletes work themselves to a level where they are doing power endurance circuits? At what time of the training year? How about sprinters?
Regards,
Carson Boddicker
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Good post. Our old track coach, Dave Costello, used to recruit soccer players for middle distance. For that same reason, the ability to shift gears. Plus, in the championhip meets when all 8 lanes were filled and things got crowded, they were used to being pushed around, stepped on, and having to hold their ground.