Today’s episode features strength coach Sheldon Dunlap, one of the most creative strength coaches I’ve met who is doing big things with strength training for speed enhancement.
Sheldon has been a strength coach at UC Davis 3 years, one of his primary sporting assignments being track and field. Prior to UC Davis, Sheldon was a strength coach for the NBA D-league Erie Bayhawks and was an intern at Duke University.
I first met Sheldon at the First Annual “Bay Area Sports Performance Seminar” put on by Dr. Ramsey Nijem, as we sat at a table together while listening to presentations. In learning of some of the things that Sheldon was doing in the weightroom with his track athletes, and the impact it was having on their performances, I discovered I was sitting next to a young pioneer in our field.
Today’s show is all about Sheldon’s strength system for track, which has unique ideas in the sequencing and integration of oscillating reps, as well as training methods for the hip flexors (TFL in particular) and the feet. This is an awesome “nuts and bolts” episode with training ideas that anyone can instantly integrate into their own system (as I have).
Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:03:12 — 56.6MB) | Embed
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | Android | Pandora | iHeartRadio | JioSaavn | Podchaser | Gaana | Email | Deezer | Anghami | RSS
View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage.
Key Points
- What Sheldon is doing with his track program’s strength and conditioning
- How Sheldon got into tendon elasticity considerations in his program
- How Sheldon replaced the isometric phase of Triphasic Training with an oscillating isometric phase
- The types of lifts Sheldon used in his program
- Sheldon’s approach to hip flexor work, specifically TFL work
- How skateboarding impacted Sheldon’s long jump takeoff
Sheldon Dunlap Quotes
“Tendon elasticity is the name of the game in track and field”
“I replaced the isometric phase (of Triphasic Training) with oscillating work… we had our Blue and Gold meet that year and people were getting PR’s left and right, left and right”
“The first time around I did this we did two weeks of eccentric, two weeks of oscillating, and then they went home, and I used 5-3-1 for their concentric phase while they were at home”
“I want a “black mini band” type of athlete (an athlete who produces more movement power respectively through the power of the fascial system”
“(After a deep oscillating squat phase) I felt like lightning coming out of the bottom of the squat, but I got stuck halfway up”
“After going TFL pops, the next day after bounding, my TFL had never been so sore in my life”
“The stronger your TFL is the less you have to rely on your psoas”
“In skateboarding you are able to produce a lot more elasticity because you are putting your foot on the ground with a great amount of force in a small amount of time”
Show Notes
Oscillating squats
TFL Pops
Free Speed Training eBook - Velocity 101
Improving speed is one of the most popular topics in the athletic performance equation. Where there are many ideas and thoughts out there, as to particular training exercises, or setups, the more core aspects of speed training often go without mention. These include the fundamental aspects of what makes an athlete fast, specific sprint-power concepts, the relevance of "3D" motion, motor learning and more.
Velocity 101 will help you take a leap forward in understanding of what makes athletes fast, and how to train it effectively