Train with PUSH is a proud supporter of the HMMR Podcast and, as we’ve mentioned on our most recent episodes, they have agreed to do a special giveaway for our listeners. PUSH is bringing world class strength coach Dan Baker to the US next month and wants one of our listeners to attend for free. Learn more about the event and how to win below. Read more
Last month we solicited entries for a giveaway of a PUSH band velocity measurement device. To enter, podcast listeners simply had to send us an email with a description of how they would use a PUSH band. After some time to review the entries, Nick and I have are happen to announce Cal State-Fullerton masters student and assistant strength coach Arjan Dougan as the winner. Read more
Velocity-based based training has been around for decades, but the topic is starting to gain some steam as new technologies become cheaper and also provide easier access to data. As a result research and practical usage is moving so fast it is hard to keep up with. Read more
I returned from Tuscany on Saturday, but my training camp actually ended only yesterday since I still had a few extra vacation days remaining to focus on training back here in Zurich. Overall the training camp was a success. Above all I have come back to Zurich refreshed with renewed energy to start the core of the season. I have also made definite technical progress, which is more and more difficult as I approach my 30th birthday. As I explained at the start of the camp, my technical goal was to get get more radius after landing on the first turn. Rather than utilizing an early double support phase to patiently push the hammer, I try to force the hammer around and thereby reduce the radius of the implement. I focused on this point entirely for the last two weeks and it seems to have paid off. While the error is still there, my small improvements are now present in nearly every throw rather than just one or two throws each session. And I had a my best results with every implement so far in this training cycle. In the coming weeks I’ll post some more video showing the differences.
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I like to make even my smallest competitions a little special. The routine of putting on my uniform and picking up my competition hammer lets my body know that it is time to step it up. Part of this is saving my nicest, best hammer for use in competitions only. It is a treaty to be able to throw it. Once it gets in my hands I feel like I can do anything with it.
The Premium Szymon Ziolkowski Line hammers from Polanik.
This year Polanik gave me one of their Premium Szymon Ziolkowski Line hammers to throw. I wanted to make sure I had thrown it enough before giving my feedback, but after one season and a dozen competitions I feel like I can finally give a good assessment of it. Read more
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Autumn is the time of year that most people work on three things: technique drills, heavy weight training, and heavy hammers. While our annual planning model doesn’t follow that same route, I am in the middle of a training block where I am throwing just the heavy 9-kilogram (19.8-pound) hammer. In this respect, hammer throwers around the world are ahead of the other event groups. I know many shot putters that throw only the competition weight hammer, out of fear for ruining their rhythm. I know others that might dabble only with light shot puts. But it seems the majority avoid heavy shot puts. It is a similar story in other events. Despite this, it can still be difficult to find training hammers in various weights.
This post is not about rehashing why this is an important part of training (the two main reasons are: overweight implements help develop special strength and, as I pointed out again last week, training variation is critical). What it is about is how to find the best implements to train with. After nearly a decade of training in Seattle I had amassed a personal arsenal of perhaps 30 hammers with 18 different weights ranging from 2-kilogram to 16-kilogram (plus an adjustable weight hammer I inherited from Ken Shannon). Now that I have moved to Zurich I have slowly been increasing my club’s inventory with the help of Polanik. This is essential to becoming a good hammer thrower. Even if you focus on the weight throw throughout the winter(which again, I am not a fan of), it is still helpful to have a variety of weights to use so that you can work on different aspects of the throw. Read more
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The world of watchmaking and the world of hammer throwing can seem very different at first glance. One appears to rely on power and strength while the other requires finesse and attention to detail. But when you think about it, you could just as easily swap the descriptions. The hammer throw requires as much technique and finesse as it does power. Like the watchmaker, a hammer thrower must combine many parts (speed, rhythm, technique, power, balance, strength, flexibility, etc.) into a working throw. And, like the hammer throw, watch making is also about power. Making a mechanical watch is as much about generating consistent and reliable power to the watch than it is about the looks. After all, the watch’s first function is to tell the right time.
The new Maurice Lacroix Pontos S watch with orange highlights and a NATO strap.
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A decade ago I was searching all over for a 6-kilogram hammer. At the time the IAAF had changed the official junior implement from the 16-pound (7.26-kilogram) implement to this new odd weight of 13.2-pounds (6-kilogram). And it was nearly impossible to find. The large equipment suppliers offered 12- and 16-pound varieties for high school and senior athletes. Some of them also had 14- or 18- pound hammers for training, but not what I was looking for. Then I heard rumors of a Canadian company that had discovered a polish supplier. It was like I had discovered gold, and within the next week I was the proud owner of a Polanik 6-kilogram hammer.
The same thing happened to me in 2005 when I started to train with Bondarchuk. He Told me to throw the 10-kilogram hammer one session and I had never even seen one. Again, none of the American suppliers were helpful nice they did not carry anything that heavy, but Polanik had just what I needed. For the past decade I’ve been a Polanik thrower, and that makes me proud to announce that they are my new official equipment supplier. Read more
Sooner or later most track and field athletes accept the fact that the sport will not make them famous or rich. At most, a handful of track geeks will recognize your name when making their predictions for the Olympics or World Championships. And while we must eventually accept this, it is hard. We watch professional athletes on the TV making millions and feel that we should also be rewarded for having dedicated our lives to maximizing our physical gifts.
The Evergreen Athletic Fund has found success in helping athletes by creating new sources of support in the sport.
The truth of the matter is that no one is sitting around waiting to hand money to athletes for their talents. What brings this topic to mind is a discussion I had with elite discus thrower Will Conwell after the Evergreen Athletic Fund‘s annual meeting on Tuesday. We were both a little exhausted from hearing athletes complain about lack of support and then do nothing about it. It’s not that I think athletes are undeserving of support from the USATF and others, but athletes have been calling for more support for the last century and little has changed. Yelling loader won’t help. For better or worse, athletes have to take some initiative to find that support. I learned this lesson from Harold Connolly. After getting little support from USATF for the youth hammer throw, he started to raise his own money and create his own path where he found much more success.
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On the red carpet.
Since announcing my partnership with Maurice Lacroix last month, I have been eagerly looking forward to visiting the annual Baselworld international watch show. For those of you not familiar with Baselworld, it is to the world of horology what the Detroit Auto Show is to the car industry. Over 2,000 brands converge on the Swiss town of Basel to show off their new offerings for the year to industry insiders, journalists, and consumers. Every type of watch is there, from Timex to Rolex to niche brands selling timepieces that cost more than a house. Read more
