17. Competition Period - Early Stage

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During the early competition stage hammer throwers must accomplish the following tasks:

1. Enforcement of hammer throwing technique. 
2. Further development of speed-strength qualities, and 
3. Further development of the ability to coordinate movements. 
4. Support of the highest level of general physical development. 
5. Gaining experience in competitions (physiological and strategic preparation for the competitions).

The quantity, volume and intensity of the training regime depends upon the importance of competitions that athlete competes in during month of May. For those throwers, who have major competitions fall in major competition stage, it makes sense to up the volume of exercises with barbell, to the level of winter preparation phase, but the intensity will drastically decrease to 70-80% of determined weight.  Throwers, who care about their results and performances in competitions during the early stage in the competition period, it is necessary to lower the targeted volume as compared to previous months of training. Coach also should take into consideration the number of throws throwers should take in one training session. Throwers have the task to have their greatest technical preparation done in this stage, which means they should throw 35-40 throws, focusing on rhythm of the turns and the final turn, release. 

This is an example from the Soviet Era Track and Field Textbook. If you decide to use this as a template, take into consideration your time available to train and restrictions from your other responsibilities. A general rule of thumb has been to cut a Soviet Era weekly cycle in half as a start.

Monday: 

• Warm-up. Hammer throws off 3 turns. Weight throw (16kg) from one and 3 turns. Run from the start position, and acceleration runs. Jumps and Jumping exercises. Cool-down runs.

Tuesday: 

• Morning: warm-up, kettle bell throw (16kg) with one and two hands; weight throw (16kg) from one and 3 turns; cool-down run. 
• Evening: warm-up; exercises with barbell: close grip and wide grip snatch without catching the bar under, clean pulls, squats; kettle bell winds with two hands each side; cool down run.

Wednesday: 

• Warm-up. hammer turns and hammer winds. Hammer throws off 3 turns. Shot put throw or kettle bell throws (16kg) from various positions. Basketball or dodgeball. Cool-down run.

Thursday: 

• Rest day

Friday: 

• Morning: Warm-up. Hammer throws off 3 turns. Weight throw (16kg) from one and 3 turns. Run from the start position, and acceleration runs. Jumps and jumping exercises. Cool-down run. 
• Evening: warm-up, shot put throws; kettle bell throws (16kg) with one and two hands (60-100 throws); cool-down run.

Saturday: 

• Warm-up. Exercises with barbell: Power Cleans; deadlifts off boxes and without boxes, squats, and half-squats; Core work; hot sauna; massage.

Sunday: 

• Controlled competitions or active rest.

The major or second stage of competition period is a period of major competitions. Duration of this period depends on the competition calendar. Objectives for this stage are follows:

1. Perfecting hammer throwing technique. 
2. Physiological preparation.
3. Strategic preparation for each competition.
4. Increased level of the thrower's physical and functional conditioning. 

The main task for this competition stage is to achieve the highest performance results possible and ultimately win all the major competitions. Number of competitions per week should not exceed one. 

To achieve superior results and victory in competition, throwers should take about 2 weeks to prepare for them.  Based on this theory, here are the examples of weekly cycles that are planned to depend on the importance of the competition.

This is an example from the Soviet Era Track and Field Textbook. If you decide to use this as a template, take into consideration your time available to train and restrictions from your other responsibilities. A general rule of thumb has been to cut a Soviet Era weekly cycle in half as a start.

This weekly training plan for competing in meets is designed without any special preparation work and is characterized by two days of training and one day of rest.

Sunday: 

• Rest Day

Monday: 

• Morning: Warm-ups, hammer throws (25 throws), from those throws 6 reps will be done full speed; cool-down run. 
• Evening: warm-up, kettle bell throws (16kg) one, two-hands (80-100 throws); Jumps and jumping exercises. Cool-down run.

Tuesday: 

• Warm-up. Exercises with barbell: power cleans, deadlifts, and squat. Exercises for relaxation.

Wednesday:

•  Rest Day

Thursday: 

• Morning: warm-ups, hammer throws (25-20 throws), from those throws 6 throws full speed. 
• Evening: warm-ups, shot put throws (7,257 kg) from different starting positions; weight throws; jumps; acceleration runs; cool-down runs

Friday: 

• Warm-up. Exercises with barbell: snatch, snatch pull, squat and half squat. Exercises on relaxation. Massage

Saturday: 

• Rest Day

Sunday :

• Competition Day

This is an example from the Soviet Era Track and Field Textbook. If you decide to use this as a template, take into consideration your time available to train and restrictions from your other responsibilities. A general rule of thumb has been to cut a Soviet Era weekly cycle in half as a start.

This is a different example of a weekly cycle that is designed to prepare for major competitions, when qualification rounds are conducted the day before the main rounds.

Monday: 

• Morning: warm-up, hammer throws (25 throws), 5-6 full speed throw; kettle bell throws (16kg) or weight throws (15 throws) from one or three turns; jumps, acceleration work, cool-down run. 
• Evening: warm-up, exercises with barbell: power cleans, deadlifts, squats; exercises on relaxation.

Tuesday: 

• Rest Day

Wednesday: 

• Morning: warm-up, hammer throws (30 reps), 3-4 full speed; jumps, acceleration work, cool-down run. 
• Evening: warm-up, exercises with barbell: snatch, snatch pull, squat and half squat; exercises on relaxation; massage.

Thursday: 

• Rest Day.

Friday: 

•  Warm-up. Hammer throws (15 throws), 3 full-speed kettle bell throws (16kg) or weight throws (10 throws) from one or 3 turns. Run, acceleration run, cool-down run.

Saturday:

• Rest Day

Sunday: 

• Competition Day 

In 1988, Dr. Anatoliy Bondarchuk authored a two-part article for Track Technique magazine called, “Constructing a Training System.”

Dr. Bondarchuk presented his ideas on periodization. His thinking reflected the latest ideas at the time. It was an evolution of the classical Matveyev concepts, which were considered outdated, especially for elite athletes. The editor of Track Technique added.

• “It is important to point out that the principles relate directly only to the high-level athlete. For the developing athlete, the classical Matveyev model of periodization is still valid.”

After reading both parts of the article, I thought it would be best to include Dr. Bondarchuk's work as an appendix for you to read. Track Technique is no longer being published. I contacted Mr. Ed Fox, the publisher of Track and Field News. He was kind enough to give me permission to excerpt the two-part article. I reformatted the two-column text to into the U.S. Trade page format. I also redrew the diagrams to make them easier to read and fit into the page size. See Appendix B - Constructing a Training Plan.

This appendix relies heavily on the Legkaya Atletika article by Honored Coach, V. Petrov, on Technique and Special Exercises for Hammer Throwing. Translation from Russian to English was performed by the author of this book. These exercises are combined, with duplicates removed, with the list of special exercises in the  Soviet Era Track and Field textbook.

The exercises from V. Petrov are accompanied by figures showing the lifts.

In the large mix of different strength development exercises, included here are only those exercises that are used by hammer throwers, and they've been proven to be highly effective.

Exercises for the muscles of the arms and shoulders

1. Swings with a plate or kettle bell (Fig. 1)
2. Bent over rows (Fig. 2)
3. Clean pulls
4. Lifting kettle bells with the upper body
5. Wrist rolls. Winding a rope with a weight on a stick

Exercises for the muscles of the torso (CORE)

1. Side bends with a plate in the hands (10-15 kg) (Fig. 15)
2. Sit ups lying on a "horse" or inclined board (Fig. 3)
3. Deadlift, barbell on the right in the hands (Fig. 4)
4. Transfer of a kettle bell in a sitting position from left to right (Fig. 6)
5. Leg raises.
6. Hanging leg raises
7. Circular leg movements from lying or sitting position

Exercises for developing back muscles:

1. Lower back raises on the “gymnastic horse” with or without weight
2. Sitting on the “gymnastic horse,” legs are fixed and supported under bar, - bends with turns. Can be done with or without weights. 
3. Lying face down, legs are supported by bar or held by a partner, arms wide, perform turns from side to side with or without weight.
4. Standing with legs apart, lift a kettle bell (or dumbbell) with two hands up to your chest or higher 
5. Good Mornings, barbell turns, standing or sitting

Exercises for development of leg muscles:

1.  Back Squats (Fig. 8) Full, Half, Quarter
2. Jumping out of a squat or half-squat with a kettlebell or barbell (Fig. 10)
3. Lunges with a barbell on the shoulders (Fig. 13)
4. Stepping up on the bench alternating legs, barbell on the shoulders (Fig. 11)
5. Front Squats (Fig. 9) 
6. Squats on one leg
7. Barbell or dumbbell lunges
8. Dumbbell jumps
9. Leg presses

*Note: For developing leg muscles, back squats are performed using 80-85% of maximum weight. You should only perform the exercise with maximal weights with a partner to spot.

Exercises for development of multiple muscle groups:

1. Deadlifts
2. "Soviet Muscle Snatches" (Fig. 14) 
3. Power snatches 
4. Power cleans
5. Push presses
6. One-handed kettle bell cleans
7. Snatch pulls
8. Snatches from the side, standing with the bar on your right side (Fig. 12)
9. Hang snatch. Barbell can be above or below the knees
10.  Jerk Press close grip or wide grip. Standing or performing split jerk
11.  Flat Bench Press, Incline Bench Press or Push Ups. You can perform press wide or close grip. Wide grip allows for muscles to work more effectively than doing it with other grips.

Exercises for development of throwing abilities:

1. Shot put throws forward, backward.
2. Shot put, weight, medicine ball, or kettle bell throws to the left and to the right (just like imitating the hammer finish).
3. Kettle bell juggling
4. Throwing of kettle bells with left and right hand
5. Kettle bell winds

Lifting weights or doing other strength-building routines has a noticeably substantial influence on your testosterone level. Some of the ways, backed up by research, that you can increase your testosterone even more are:

1. Do lifts that use a combination of large muscles, not lifts such as biceps curls that isolate muscle groups.
2. Increase the weight with fewer reps instead of lots of reps with lighter weights.
3. Decrease your rest time during the training session.

Although these suggestions help in increasing testosterone, a good plan for training should also include exercises that improve cardio and flexibility for general health.

There is a RED ALERT. Overtraining could result in blowback.  Throwers, even elite ones, who push the envelope too far, can do harm to their body when there is a drop in their testosterone. At this point, cortisol, a stress hormone, increases. Throwers will end up with low testosterone levels and high cortisol levels.

The subject of testosterone levels is something that athletes know and talk about. It's often in the context of gaining strength and muscle mass. 

Advertisements for testosterone enhancers are all over the media. Supplemental testosterone boosters aren't addressed in this training guide since they are quite common. On the other hand, the relationship between cortisol and testosterone is seldom, if ever, a subject of discussion.

The relationship between cortisol and testosterone is not a positive one. Testosterone increases anabolism, energy storage and muscle mass gains. Cortisol promotes catabolism which decreases energy storage and muscle mass.

The cortisol response is triggered if throwers train too much. Other factors that trigger it are stressors like worry, problems at work, conflict with relatives, etc. If athletes never take a break, the cortisol response may never be turned off. If this continues, negative effects will creep in and suddenly an athlete will run headlong into a wall.

Homeostasis and Cortisol and Testosterone Levels

The human body has self-regulating systems that work together to create an equilibrium which is called homeostasis. An example is the constant body temperature of warm-blooded mammals. Hormones have a give and take relationship. If one hormone increases, then another hormone decreases.

There are two opposing groups of hormones involved in increasing strength. One group helps to increase muscle mass and strength. These are anabolic. The other group helps to decrease muscle mass and strength. These are catabolic (think catastrophic).

Anabolic hormones include testosterone, insulin, and growth hormone. Testosterone is the most anabolic hormone that humans have. Metabolism includes anabolism which increases the synthesis of muscle protein. This enhances muscle building and strength.

Catabolic hormones include cortisol, adrenaline, and glucagon.  Metabolism also includes catabolism which increases the decomposition of muscle protein.

To increase muscular strength, athletes should look at reducing catabolism and increasing anabolism naturally.

Cortisol and testosterone are hormones that athletes can control somewhat with their lifestyle and training regime. In building strength and muscle, think of testosterone and cortisol as being exact opposites.  They have an antagonistic relationship.

Testosterone aids throwers in reducing body fat, building muscle, and keeping a high libido.

Elevated levels of cortisol do the opposite. Cortisol causes a decrease in muscle, an increase in belly fat, suppression of the immune system, and a decrease in libido.

Fight or Flight

Cortisol can be secreted during physical or mental tension. It may seem counter-intuitive that testosterone is reduced, and cortisol is increased when facing imminent danger. Testosterone is thought of only being a strength hormone. 

However, in human beings, testosterone also encourages other behaviors such as mating, competition and being aggressive. Rather than responding to any influence that testosterone is having on behavior, when cortisol levels increase, the body's energy stores are mobilized, the heartbeat increases. For flight, blood is pumped to the legs to prepare to run away.  It becomes a matter of survival, either run away for dear life or fight and win or die trying.

Normal Daily changes in Cortisol and Testosterone Levels.

Cortisol and testosterone levels are influenced by activities and stressors. They are also part of the physiological and biochemical processes within the human body. These processes follow a circadian rhythm or daily changes.  Cortisol and testosterone have a natural ebb and flow throughout the day.  Testosterone levels are at their highest at night and their lowest during the day. Cortisol levels, on the other hand, are lowest at night and rapidly increase when waking up. 

After reaching their peak, the levels of cortisol gradually decrease during the day. Knowing the timing of these ebbs and flows can help in planning daily training sessions.

Is there Good and Bad Stress?

Can athletes' stress by pushing themselves to the limit and then just one more rep be good? In the big picture of how things work, the human body can’t tell the difference between stressors.  When early humans confronted dangerous situations, their response gave them an opportunity to survive. Either they would fight the danger or run away as fast as their legs could carry them.

How does this primitive environment compare to the modern air-conditioned weight room straining with heavy weights to exhaustion? As strange as it might sound, the athlete's body is unable to distinguish the difference. The hormonal response to the stress is identical.

The flight or fight response was designed to last only a brief time, an explosion of strength and energy. If survival was the result, then the stress response was turned off and relaxation was possible.

Since the body can't tell the difference between stressors, the modern world's worries and overtraining can have long term impact. What should be a quick on and off response, becomes a continual state of fight or flight to the body. Stored energy, used to deal with the stress response, is continually being mobilized and used up.

Prolonged stress increases cortisol levels which can remain elevated. This state can make the thrower feel worn out and convert workouts into fat storing instead of muscle building.

Common Sense Ways to Lower Stress

Here are some great suggestions to combat stress, keep cortisol levels in check and improve your strength and endurance:

1. Get Enough Sleep

During sleep is when the body recuperates, replenishes, rebuilds, and restores itself. Many of the body's adaptations to the training routine happen during sleep.

The daily, or circadian rhythm, is governed by the cycles of sleep and being awake. Cortisol levels can be kept low when sleep is of decent quality and of long enough duration.  When an athlete is fatigued or deprived of sleep, cortisol levels increase in the morning, which is normal, but also at night.  Interestingly, people who sleep only 4 hours and not the recommended 8 hours, have not only higher cortisol levels, but also higher levels of a hormone, leptin. This hormone stimulates appetite, which can create the munchies and a desire to eat sweets or "comfort food."

2. Take a Day off

If athletes don't have scheduled rest days in their training plan, then they can quickly move to chronic fatigue and being overtrained. This condition will cause an athlete's cortisol levels to go sky high. To recover from this condition can take weeks or even months.  Believe it or not, training in the weight room can be a traumatic experience for an athlete's body. Everyone needs time for recovery and rebuilding.  Athletes, who overtrain, should expect higher cortisol levels with more catabolism, and lower testosterone levels with less anabolism.

3. Lift Heavy

Training for strength is a particularly effective way of increasing athletes' testosterone levels and muscle mass.  Lifts that incorporate large muscle groups in coordinated movements such as deadlifts, clean pulls, snatches, jerk presses and squats will boost testosterone levels and at the same time maintain low cortisol levels.

4. Exercise in the Morning

Throwers' cortisol levels are high, and testosterone levels are low in the morning. To rev up anabolism for the rest of the day, train with high intensity in the morning. Doing this will increase testosterone levels and boost muscle protein synthesis and energy storage.

Extremely long warm-ups and three-hour training sessions, with little or no transference of skills to Youri's Technique, are a waste of both time and energy. You're better off to use your time and energy on drills and exercises that can be done as warm-ups specifically to develop hammer throwing skills. Low intensity, competitive form movements can be used to prepare you for your training sessions.

Drills and exercises in this book can be used to as warm-ups and, at the same time, improve your hammer skills.

By focusing on the competitive form, you'll be able to increase your intensity during your session easier. Waste not your energy in irrelevant warm-up movements and you'll want not your energy when practicing in the circle.

Energy should not be wasted in the training plan, too. Basic strength building and weightlifting shouldn't consume a lot of energy, taking away from your ability to do your throwing training. Lifts should be done at a lower intensity so that you can recover and recuperate without overtraining and diminishing your energy for throwing.

With a proper basic strength routine, your body will become accustomed to the lifts. The lifts should become easier over time, providing you with more energy to focus on throwing technique. Don't do special exercises at maximum on a regular basis.  Incorporate speed training into throwing sessions with varying intensities within a throwing session and lower weights for the hammers.

With intelligently designed training routines and individual sessions, less will be more. Each session should be an hour and a half or less. Ideally, high intensity sessions should last no longer than 45 - 50 minutes. Doing this will give you time to recover and rebuild. And in some plans, you'll be able to do more than one well-designed session per day.