3-7 Training System

[agapit]

3-7 Training System

Obviously if you aspire to reach 21' for men or 18' women you have to seriously think about training system you employ. If you think of the 3-year period you only have about 30 vault sessions when you really can introduce changes. 30 sessions is not that many as you can imagine, so every session should become like gold to you.

I told Bob Frailey once that a vaulter that runs 300m at 29 seconds probably over trains in that discipline. The logic behind it is that at some point the progress in one skill set would mean regress in another. This is because our muscle and organ complexes adapt to certain skills and often different skills require different coordination between these complexes.

The problem is, it is very hard to know where the border is. For example what level of long sprint preparation is adequate for a pole vaulter? Is going beyond 32 sec on 300m (men) becomes disadvantageous? We know for sure that running marathon at 2 hours would be detrimental for a vaulter's training menu, but what about close calls like weights, long sprint, cross country, gymnastics, etc.

Have you ever wondered why coach tells you that you have to run 6x200m and why not say 7 or 8 or 3? Furthermore, you may have 6-8 sessions when you run 200 meters in that fashion during a single season. Have you ever wondered how many session would be just a perfect number?

In order to achieve superior results training time management is crucial. By the way training is different from a workout. The difference is that training is directed on achievement of set objectives and workout does not have such objectives and therefore useless for elite athletes. If you come to a training session without an objective, do not do anything!

I have developed 3-7 Training System based on experienced of other coaches and scientists that I have learned from in the almost 25 year career as a vaulter and a coach. My last coach was Yuri Volkov (1986-1990) and exceptional mechanic and theoretician. I closely worked with Alan Launder in Australia (1991-1992). It is easier for me to name people that I have not met. All of them made contributions to this training system one way or the other.

I have used this training system with several athletes from high school to elite. The results are two Tennessee State High School Champions and a high school state record holder on the entry level and some 6 consecutive American Championship Wins with Lawrence Johnson on elite level. Russ Buller and Jim Davis worked with our group, but for a short time (8 months). Russ qualified for the 2001 US World Championship Team and we just love jimbo and his achievement at the 2004 Olympic Trials, although I do not try to take credit for jimbo's 19'.

Here is the history of using 3-7 Training System with Lawrence Johnson.

1. We had a coaching contract Sep 1996 through Sep 1997. During this time Lawrence won two US Championships indoor and outdoor. He was the first American after 1987 Indianapolis Indoor World Championship 2nd place by Earl Bell to win any medals for American Vaulter in a major competition. Ten years later, Lawrence won silver medal in Paris at the World Indoor Championship in 1997. Lawrence won outdoor American Championship with 5.90m. The week after that he had a major quad pull and rehab for 6 weeks. Going to World Championship in Athens 1997 he had only one practice and did not clear a height in Athens (Dean Starkey won Bronze 5.92m). Lawrence finished the season in GP with several 5.80s and 5.90m. For personal reasons we could not continue to work together for two years.
2. We had another coaching contract Dec 1999 through Sep 2001. During this time Lawrence won 2000 indoor and outdoor US Championships, 2001 indoor and outdoor championships (that make it 6 out of 6 when we worked together). In addition to the US Championships Lawrence won Silver Medal in 2000 Sydney Olympics. Interesting fact is 12 days before the Olympic final he seriously pulled his oblique and was not able to run for 5 days. Going to the preliminary round we did not know if he would be able to vault. Well another injury and another “heroic” struggle. A week before 2001 indoor US Championship where he set up the current American Indoor Record he pulled his right calf. Again driving to Atlanta we did not know if he would be able to vault. Well he end up winning World Indoor Championship a week after US Championship. What an epic struggle! After already winning 2001 Outdoor US Championship he attempted an outdoor American Record (I must say in the bad weather). He landed in the box and fractured his leg basically ending his season. Well Russ Buller went to the Worlds instead of Lawrence.

I believe faced with such adversity we achieved decent results. Several people asked me about my credentials, so I felt it would be good to establish it.

Now 3-7 Training System

Main Premise.

With every exercise that you do, your body goes through three stages; reaction, adaptation, and stabilization. Only during the reaction phase you achieve maximum changes with an exercise. During the adaptation stage the changes are very insignificant and during the stabilization phase regress occurs.

According to research and observation the reaction phase lasts for 3-7 sessions for any exercise performed in the weekly cycle (1-3 times a week). The biggest gains are achieved on the 3rd and 4th repetition. So we can say that any exercise that performed for more than 4 sessions is not giving you any growth benefit.

Think about your vault sessions. If you had more than 4 vault session in a season with the same objective, the sessions 5+ are useless for you. If you had more than 4 gymnastic sessions with the same objective 5+ sessions are useless. Coaches need to constantly modify objective and tools to stimulate body adaptation response. We rarely repeated 3 sessions with the same exercise with Lawrence and in three years of working together we only had one or two session when we did not achieve progress. Continuous growth in training must be achieved in order to reach 21' height.

More to follow

agapit

[USMC Vaulter]

A week before 2001 indoor US Championship where he set up the current American Indoor Record he pulled his right calf.

Great post but a quick correction - LoJo set the American record at 5.96 on 3/3/01, however that was beaten a year later (3/10/02) by Jeff Hartwig with a jump of 6.02m.
I noticed that in several of your posts so I thought I'd just point it out. In any event, Laurence is a phenominal vaulter and his credentials speak volumes for himself, and for you as well agapit.

I look forward to more of your posts.

[agapit]

A week before 2001 indoor US Championship where he set up the current American Indoor Record he pulled his right calf.

Great post but a quick correction - LoJo set the American record at 5.96 on 3/3/01, however that was beaten a year later (3/10/02) by Jeff Hartwig with a jump of 6.02m.
I noticed that in several of your posts so I thought I'd just point it out. In any event, Laurence is a phenominal vaulter and his credentials speak volumes for himself, and for you as well agapit.

I look forward to more of your posts.

The American indoor record is still showing 5.96m and 6.02 for Jeff, but maybe it was not ratified because of the rank of the competition, etc. Otherwise why would they show 5.96m. http://usatf.org/statistics/records/ind ... en_all.asp

agapit

[USMC Vaulter]

Ahhhhhh - didnt realize that Jeff's jumps were still pending. I apologize. Anyone know why his jumps are still pending????

[agapit]

Ahhhhhh - didnt realize that Jeff's jumps were still pending. I apologize. Anyone know why his jumps are still pending????

could be rank of the competition, doping control requirement etc.

agapit

[rainbowgirl28]

I wouldn't trust anything on the USATF website. They are notoriously horrible about keeping it up to date and accurate.

[mikepv1]

Lawrence won outdoor American Championship with 5.90m. The week after that he had a major quad pull and rehab for 6 weeks.

Interesting fact is 12 days before the Olympic final he seriously pulled his oblique and was not able to run for 5 days.

A week before 2001 indoor US Championship where he set up the current American Indoor Record he pulled his right calf.

After already winning 2001 Outdoor US Championship he attempted an outdoor American Record (I must say in the bad weather). He landed in the box and fractured his leg basically ending his season.

I am not saying that it had anything to do with the 3-7 training system, but why did Lawrence Johnson get injured so much?

[VaultBrad]

thanks for clearing up the difference between training and working out. it makes sense to not want to over train a certain thing. your methods certainly seemed to work with lawrence.

Agapit keep the awesome posts coming! you have been a tremendous addition to PoleVaultPower.com!

[agapit]

Lawrence won outdoor American Championship with 5.90m. The week after that he had a major quad pull and rehab for 6 weeks.

Interesting fact is 12 days before the Olympic final he seriously pulled his oblique and was not able to run for 5 days.

A week before 2001 indoor US Championship where he set up the current American Indoor Record he pulled his right calf.

After already winning 2001 Outdoor US Championship he attempted an outdoor American Record (I must say in the bad weather). He landed in the box and fractured his leg basically ending his season.

I am not saying that it had anything to do with the 3-7 training system, but why did Lawrence Johnson get injured so much?

Well as I said, Lawrence has a propensity for injuries. Like I said he had an injury every year since he came to college in 1992 including major take off ankle reconstruction that prevented him from doing many kind of jumps in training since then. He is a very dedicated athlete and often over trains himself. For example he is known to get up at 2 am and go run a mile or run stairs a week before a major competition (on his own).

There are only two modes of training, overtraining and under training. He often crossed the border. It is a skill that elite athlete should also posses. Yuri Volkov used to say that the best athlete is not the most talented one is the one who can cope best with injuries.

The higher performance intensity required for 20’ –21’ vault will inevitably take athlete closer to the edge of human abilities therefore increasing potential for injuries. In my opinion injury management and prevention will become even more important as we progress.

Time and goal management in training process would also become crucial in order to achieve superior results.

So why is your coach telling you to run 6x200m instead of say 7x200m?

As to the 3-7 system, you are welcome to ignore it if you choose.

agapit

[agapit]

thanks for clearing up the difference between training and working out. it makes sense to not want to over train a certain thing. your methods certainly seemed to work with lawrence.

Agapit keep the awesome posts coming! you have been a tremendous addition to PoleVaultPower.com!

When a man vaults 21', I would say that I contributed.
agapit

[Carolina Extreme]

I wouldn't trust anything on the USATF website. They are notoriously horrible about keeping it up to date and accurate.

DITTO!! USATF is very often way behind in posting records. They have been that way for years. Hartwig earned the record through hard work and getting the job done. Let's give credit where it is due. Johnson is an incredible athlete as well.

Thank you for the posts Agapit. I very much enjoy vault talk that stimulates thought. When we stop learning we stop growing. Maybe we will cross paths in Knoxville this weekend or next, during our next two meets. If so, I would love to chat a while.

[agapit]

I wouldn't trust anything on the USATF website. They are notoriously horrible about keeping it up to date and accurate.

DITTO!! USATF is very often way behind in posting records. They have been that way for years. Hartwig earned the record through hard work and getting the job done. Let's give credit where it is due. Johnson is an incredible athlete as well.

Thank you for the posts Agapit. I very much enjoy vault talk that stimulates thought. When we stop learning we stop growing. Maybe we will cross paths in Knoxville this weekend or next, during our next two meets. If so, I would love to chat a while.

Absolutely agree about Jeff! Gatorade Classic is at 3.15pm tomorrow, I believe. Will see you there without rain.