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Altius,


Realistically I don't have the access to do training like that all year round. Last year we finally got our first sit of pits at our own school, let alone a coach. I've been self teaching myself for years. I do have the opportunity this year to get in to do vault training once a week during the winter and I plan to take advantage of that. But other than that one day, I've just looked to everyone here for general pole vaulter physique to work towards. When I enter college next year I will be on a plan just like you stated. From what the coaches told me 2-3 days a week is sprint work and lifting, while the rest of the days are strictly vaulting drills, and one day of jumps. I just know that my build currently is not what it should be, I feel too top heavy and am working on getting a more rounded physique.

Another note, am I shooting for high reps when I lift? PV2020 stated something about doing heavy reps. I'd imagine I wouldn't want to bulk up too much and low reps does this correct? The last two days my weight lifting has consisted of 12 reps per set. Should I change this?

Thanks everyone I appreciate the help.

tylerd1994 wrote:
Another note, am I shooting for high reps when I lift? PV2020 stated something about doing heavy reps. I'd imagine I wouldn't want to bulk up too much and low reps does this correct? The last two days my weight lifting has consisted of 12 reps per set. Should I change this?

Thanks everyone I appreciate the help.

For some reason this is the most common misconception in weight training that high school athletes, as well as some older athletes still poses.

Weight training 101 Lesson:

[Strength] 1-3 Reps of heavy maximum effort weight for the most beneficial strength and power gains.
[Bulk] 5-8 Reps of moderately heavy weight, something you could finish 4 sets of 5-8 reps but that last one on the fourth set is really hard builds the most muscle
[Endurance] 10+ Reps for multiple sets for strength endurance. However some people still see pretty good muscle gains in this range.

This is why people usually start a periodization weight training program with a few weeks of lifts in the 10 rep range to just get body used to lifting, then they move to the 5-8 range for a few weeks to get a little muscle gain to help with injury prevention and to just gain anything back you may have lost in a rest period. Then you would switch to heavy weight at the 1-3 rep range to get your body used to just moving heavy weight and you will see less muscle gain because the lower rep does not harm body as much so it does not need to repair and make more muscle (this is how muscles get bigger), instead the heavy weight starts to train the neuromuscular connections that activate the muscle fibers. So instead of just adding more muscle, it trains your body to use what it has more efficiently.

Squat, bench, leg press, shoulder press, incline, and any large range power motions always need to follow the above progression to prevent injury. You never want to just hop into the 1-3 rep range in power movements because what most people do not realize is that even if they have 'big muscles', they may still have weak tendons and ligaments that are being pulled on when lifting. So the first two phases of the weight training program also strengthen all that 'soft tissue' to prevent injury.

Things like snatches and cleans you can do them up to like 5 rep with moderate weight to work on technique while you are going through your injury prevention phases, but because these are an explosive action lift, they are going to be more beneficial in that 1-3 rep range of just moving as much weight as you can 2-3 months before your season starts.

People on Pole Vault Power may argue the importance of lifting in pole vaulting, but I do not think too many will argue with the above methods I listed above as being a good lifting program that will make you a stronger and faster athlete.

PV2020,

Okay I understand what you mean now. I do think I'm going to stick to my 8-12 reps for the time being because it has been since March since I lifted. Once I get my stronger form back, especially in the squats and olympic lifts, I'll move towards the high weight stuff. It seems like that once the actual season starts that is what I'll do. By then I should be in pretty darn good shape, and I'm not going to want to be sore very often because I'll be vaulting quite a bit. So for the time being I'll stick to the higher reps and lower weight until my form is perfected, and I pass the injury phase. By the time Febuary or so hits I should be in awesome condition to train on the heavy weight.

Thanks!

I am a fairly short vaulter 5'7". I just want to tell you that the size of your body is not as important as the size of your heart. Being short may be a disadvantage, but if you are willing to work harder than everyone else, then it doesn't have to hinder you a bit. Once you have a college picked out and decided on, talk to your coach there and (s)he'll tell you what pre-preseason work (s)he wants you doing. Good luck. Go high!

There's no optimal body shape for pole vaulting. So many things interfere with performance....anyone with 2 legs and 2 arms can do pretty good.
If you consider the 2 current vaulters: Lavillenie and Otto, you've got the answer...
Pv is all about using the stiffer pole your skills allow you to according to your body wheight..
Better small, but dynamic and fast than tall, strong and slow.
Focus on your speed at end of approach. Has to be controled to allow proper plant technique.
I also know vaulters that have never entered a gym and cleared 17'.
My advice is don't waste too much time lifting (if you do, don't go over 8 reps using 80% of your max, cos after, mvt is slow and muscles become less dynamic. Keep power training as a global muscular reinforcement to avoit injuries.
Keep it dynamic and keep the good work on.