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Extending Athletes’ Careers

Derek Thomas

(seen above in blue at 2018 USATF meet)

PERSEVERANCE 

along the path to extending        AN Athletic career

 

This past weekend, I want to recognize the remarkable achievements of two elite athletes that I have worked with for years now in the weight room: Derek Thomas and Phil Reid – both of whom recently ran to top-15 finishes in the 800 meters and 5,000 meters (respectively) at the 2018 USATF Championships held in Des Moines Iowa.  These two have much in common:  they both currently run for the same professional running club, both ran in the same college program, and they are both enjoying success well after college.

 

The similarities don’t end there: Like many members of the HOKA (formerly ASICS) Aggies, both Derek and Phil work full-time jobs in the same town, jobs which don’t afford them the bona fide “professional” luxuries of big sponsors and endorsement contracts, or the perks of elite pro running clubs that pay for housing, meals, training & massage services, etc.  In spite of this, the fact that they continue to run (and run well) several years after college shows their biggest shared trait: PERSEVERANCE

Phil Reid

(seen winning the 2017 L.A. Rock and Roll Half Marathon)

 

Per . se. ver.ance (n). 1. Steadfastness in doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success

 

I have known and worked with these two athletes for years…long enough to witness many obstacles that stood in both of their paths – whether it was finances, injury, or sometimes life just getting in the way.  Difficulty…and delay.  And yet still these two have persevered against long odds to continue to do the most they could with what they had…knowing that they still had more than most.  They have often made sacrifices with family, career, and even their own health to keep their dream alive.  If SUCCESS = HARD WORK + PERSEVERANCE, I can vouch for how many times I have seen Derek and Phil display both of the latter traits…and I look forward to helping them both in any way I can as they continue to enjoy the former.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    – CHRIS BORGARD

                                                                                                                                                                                                   

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Pole Vaulters Strength

POLE VAULTING: SERIOUS ATHLETICISM IN MOTION

 

People ask me all the time, “Who are your favorite athletes to train?”  While I enjoy training athletes from all sports, I have a special affinity for pole vaulters.  I have worked with a number of great ones, to include school record holders at Cal Poly and Duke universities.  A couple of traits all pole vaulters have in common:

 

#1: PHENOMENAL CORE STRENGTH

It takes great full-body strength just to get up in the air and bend the pole prior to being slung skyward, but it takes exceptional core strength to control the body’s inertia and positioning during the slingshot sequence involving swinging, piking, inverting, rotating and pushing off over a bar that rests higher than your pole.

#3: GOOD FOOT SPEED

Among other things, a vaulter’s momentum into the pole at takeoff corresponds with speed down the runway.  A pole vaulter must be powerful enough with sufficient runway acceleration and turnover – especially if they aren’t very tall.

#1: NERVES OF STEEL

Vaulters must be fearless, and must not have even the slightest trepidation about launching their body upside down approximately 15 feet or more up in the air, all the while at the mercy of whiplash from a giant fiberglass pole.

 

The training programs I engineered for pole vaulters might be my absolute best (and favorite) works – all of our vaulters got stronger as the season progressed from March-May towards reaching their peak heights.  Obviously good coaching (which we had) was the main factor in this highly technical event, but these athletes would never be able to transition towards bigger poles and longer takeoffs without gaining strength and power when it matters most.  Even during season, there was no exercise that I considered too tough or risky – or that I didn’t think my vaulters had the strength to handle.  This hard-earned confidence is the same feeling you want your athlete to have during the critical part of their season, especially in the pole vault.

 

-CHRIS BORGARD