Posted: January 27, 2005

Science of Sport: How To Become A More-Powerful "Kicker"

By Owen Anderson, Ph. D. (copyright © 2003-2005)

Being able to produce powerful, extended kicks at the ends of your races is one of the most difficult tasks you are faced with as a runner. Basically, when you attempt to accelerate over the last 200 to 1200 meters of a race, you are asking your muscles to work at close-to-their-highest level - at precisely the time when they are most fatigued.

Not surprisingly, many runners don't know how to maximize their kicking power. In fact, a large number of athletes believe that a powerful kick is a God-given talent, impervious to the training process; naturally, these individuals spend little of their training time working on kick development. However, the belief that kicking prowess is locked in the genes is far from the truth. In fact, even if your current performance over the last 200 to 1200 meters of your races is more like a holding-on-for-dear-life stagger than a formidable surge, you can boost your kicking power dramatically in just six weeks. To do so, you have to enhance your muscles' abilities to work powerfully when they are close to exhaustion.

Of course, kicking ability is, to some extent, a direct function of fitness. That is, an athlete's ability to kick is directly related to the loftiness of his/her vVO2max and lactate-threshold speed, as well as the miserliness of his/her economy of movement. Kicking is also related to running-specific strength and power - and the degree to which an athlete has prepared in a specific way for a particular race distance. Runners who have come close to optimizing these variables will tend to have more speed and energy available for kicking and less fatigue during the closing stages of their races - and thus will usually be able to out-kick less-well-trained individuals.

Nonetheless, there are specific training techniques and workouts which do an exceptional job of enhancing kicking capacity. These strategies can be folded into your overall training schedule in the weeks leading up to a major race; doing so will make you particularly dangerous in the final strides of your key competition.

For example, a classic workout to enhance kicking prowess in 10-K competitions is one in which you warm up with about 15 minutes of moderate running and then clip off four 800-meter intervals at your current 10-K race pace, with two minutes of light jogging after each work interval. After the fourth two-minute recovery jog, rip through an 800-meter interval at eight seconds per 800 meters faster than your current 10-K tempo. Jog easily for two minutes again to recover, and then repeat the 800-meter effort at eight-seconds-faster-than-10-K pace. You will have completed six 800-meter work intervals in all, and you may finish the session with about 10 to 15 minutes of cool-down jogging. As you can see, the basic strategy underlying a workout like this is to build up some fatigue by running at 10-K pace - and then to force yourself to run at what essentially is a 5-K-like pace for a total of 1600 meters. Most runners would be happy to run at 5-K speed over the last mile or so of their 10Ks!

This classic workout is fine for someone with average running-specific strength whose training volume is about 25 to 30 miles per week. On the other hand, an athlete with excellent running-specific strength who has a weekly training volume of 40 miles or more could generally handle eight total 800-meter work intervals without major problems. Again, the last two 800-meter intervals would be covered at eight-seconds-faster-than-10-K pace (the first six intervals would be at 10-K tempo).

As you can readily see, these workouts are good - but not perfect. For one thing, they don't involve 10,000 meters of quality running, and thus they do not induce the same muscular fatigue which would be present in a real race. For another thing, they pepper the quality running with segments of two-minute recovery, again subtracting from the specificity of the overall effort. Nonetheless, they do succeed at requiring harder-than-race-pace effort in the face of significant fatigue. In addition, for the 10K it is seldom advisable (unless one is an elite runner) to run a full race distance, even when chopped into work intervals, at close-to-race pace during a single training session; this can make it hard to complete other planned, quality workouts during the week and can increase the risk of venturing into the overtrained physiological state. At any rate, the imperfection of the workout is a key reason why you should run several preparatory 10Ks in advance of your most-important 10K of the season. These tune-up 10Ks will not only give you a sense of your fitness; they will also give you a chance to "dig down deep" and turn your intensity of running up a notch over the last 800 to 1600 meters or so, thus upgrading your kicking capacity a notch or two.

An interesting question concerns whether the 10-K intervals should ever be run at goal 10-K pace, rather than current 10-K alacrity. Proponents of goal pace would argue that a runner could never learn to kick optimally in his/her major race without coupling the appropriate kick in training with goal pace rather than current speeds. This is logical, but of course the only trouble is that sometimes goal pace may feel like kicking speed during the work intervals which are carried out, and it may be very difficult to add much kick on top of the goal-pace hustling.

The answer to this dilemma really depends on how reasonable your goal pace is. If you can - without major difficulty - knock off at least six 800-meter intervals at goal 10-K pace, with two-minute recoveries, within a workout, then your goal pace is usually reasonable, and you should use it for your kick-advancing workouts, coupling the goal pace with the eight-seconds per 800-meter-faster (than goal) credo for the kick intervals. On the other hand, if the 800-meter intervals at goal pace are extremely difficult, it will not be possible to perform much in the way of kick intervals, and current 10-K ability would work better for the base intervals. Note that one can achieve a decent PR in the 10K by combining current 10-K speed over the first 5.2 miles with a powerful rush to the finish line over the last mile.

So far, we have dealt with kicking for 10-K competitions. What should the 5-K runner do to enhance kicking capacity? Note that faithful followers of the 5K have a bit of an advantage over 10-K adherents, in the sense that the full race distance (or more) can be covered within one quality workout, with considerably less risk of overtraining and lingering leg-muscle fatigue. Thus, a standard kick-augmenting workout for 5-K runners would involve hitting four 800-meter intervals at current or reasonable-goal 5-K speed, with two-minute jog recoveries, followed by an 800 meter interval at six-to-eight-seconds per 800 faster-than-current/reasonable-goal pace. After yet another two-minute recovery, 1000 meters could be ripped off at seven-to-10-seconds-quicker-than current/reasonable-goal tempo, followed by a 10- to 15-minute cool-down.

It is important to progress with all of the training that you do, and a key progression for both the 10-K and 5-K kick-boosting workouts would be to lengthen the work intervals. For example, the basic 4 X 800 (@ current or reasonable-goal speed) plus 2 X 800 (@ kick pace) 10-K workout could be changed to 2 X 1600 meters, followed by 1600 meters of kicking (the two-minute recoveries would continue to prevail, and the 1600 meters would be completed about 16-seconds-faster-than 10-K speed). Similarly, the more-advanced 6 X 800 plus 2 X 800 of kicks could be altered to 3 X 1600 with 1600 meters of surging. Ultimately, this session could progress to three miles continuously at 10-K speed, followed by (with a minimal break) one mile at kicking speed, which in this case would be 16 seconds faster per mile than the pace used in the three-mile prelude.

Along similar lines, the 5-K kick-spiker could move up to 3 X 1200 at 5-K pace, followed by 1 X 600 at kick speed and then 1 X 800 at kick velocity, all with two-minute breaks. This could progress to 3 X 1200 at 5-K pace, followed by 1 X 1400 at kick tempo, and then to 2 X 1800 at 5-K speed, followed by 1 X 600 and then 1 X 800 (or else just 1 X 1400) with kick. Bear in mind that a reasonable choice of kick tempo is about four seconds per 400 meters faster than current/reasonable-goal pace. Please note that with all of these sessions you are working on the development of an extended kick, not just the ability to run hard over the last 100 to 200 meters of a competition. Incidentally, kicking strategies and workouts - and proper running form during powerful running - are taught at my running camps at Pepperdine University in the summer. To receive a free 2005 camp brochure, please drop me an e-mail note at owen@rrnews.com.

If you are a marathoner, should you work on developing a kick? Bear in mind that marathon success really hinges on the ability to choose an appropriate goal pace for the race (it should be about 33 seconds slower per mile than the pace which accurately reflects 10-K ability) and on the capacity to sustain that tempo for the full 26.2-mile distance; these factors "swamp" the small effect on overall time produced when one is able to perk things up a bit over the last mile of the event. In the marathon, the key is to maintain pace over the last mile or two, in spite of running on legs which have almost completely run out of glycogen. The ability to maintain pace is fostered by adding chunks of goal-pace running to one's long training runs, by developing the right physiological variables (vVO2max, lactate threshold, economy), and by guzzling sports drinks (with no accompanying water or gel) at the appropriate rate before and during the marathon itself. The correct sports-drink intake pattern is eight to 10 ounces 10 minutes before the race begins, followed by five to six regular swallows every two miles or so during the event. This must be practiced during long training runs; it is important not to wait until race day to try it out for the first time.

For the 1500-meter runner, kick-enhancing workouts would include the following:

(1) 3 X 400 at current 1500-meter tempo, with 30- to 60-second jog recoveries, followed by 300 meters all-out (try two sets of this for starters),
(2) 500 meters at current 1500-meter tempo, one-minute recovery, 600 at current 1500-meter tempo, one-minute recovery, and then 400 meters all-out (two sets), and
(3) 2 X (4 X 400), with one-minute recoveries between 400-meter intervals and a four-minute recovery between the sets. Within each set, the first three 400s are covered at race pace, while the fourth 400 is significantly faster than race tempo.

Somewhat surprisingly, strip- or super-set workouts can also enhance kicking power. This may seem strange, since strip sets involve running progressively more slowly over the course of a set, the exact opposite of what is desirable in a well-kicked race. However, strip sets improve one's ability to run at a quality speed in the face of nearly overwhelming fatigue, and thus they can be a valuable part of the kick-improving process. The strip sets could take on a variety of different shapes and sizes, but one possibility for an experienced 10-K runner would be to simply hit 4 X 1600, with a two- to three-minute recovery in between the 1600s. The key would be that the first 800 meters of each 1600-meter interval would be completed a bit faster than 5-K pace, with the second 800 meters of the interval slightly faster than 10-K speed (no recovery is permitted between these 800s). The idea here is to create a situation in which you must crank out a speed which is somewhat tougher than 10-K pacing, even though your muscles are gripped with fatigue. Note, however, that a "reverse-strip" set, with the first 800 meters at 10-K tempo or a little faster, no recovery, and the second 800 at 5-K pace, might be even more profitable (because it would more effectively mimic a kicking scenario).

A very tough but more conventional strip-set affair would involve rocking out 200 meters at close-to-max pace (perhaps just two seconds slower than your best-possible 200-meter effort), followed by 400 meters a bit slower (but still very fast), 800 meters a little slower than the 400, and then 2400 meters at 10-K pace. The important things to remember about this workout are that the 200-, 400-, and 800-meter segments would all be significantly faster than 10-K pace - and that each interval within the strip set must be commenced without any recovery at all (you finally get recovery after the 2400). Two sets are possible for the experienced, well-trained 10-K competitor, and a six-minute break between sets is allowed. One of the goals is to develop the ability to run at 10-K pace no matter how one feels, and the idea is that if one can run at 10-K speed in spite of the presence of back-breaking fatigue, it will also be possible to hit higher speeds towards the ends of races.

Anecdotally, another type of training session seems to work well for kick upgrades. This kick-building (KB) workout was utilized by elite competitors from the former Soviet Union, including Olga Bondarenko (gold medalist in the 10K at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul). To carry out the KB, you do the following (after an appropriate warm-up, of course):

(1) Run 400 meters two to three seconds faster than your current 5-K pace.
(2) Run moderately for 400 meters to recover.
(3) Cover 300 meters at your current 1500-meter (or one-mile) race pace.
(4) Run moderately for 300 meters to recover.
(5) Hit 200 meters one second faster than if you were running at your current 1500-meter (or one-mile) race velocity.
(6) Run modestly for 200 meters to recover.
(7) Strike 100 meters at close to top speed.
(8) Jog 100 meters to recover.
(9) Without taking a break, repeat steps 1-8 in order twice more, so that you will have completed steps 1-8 three times in all. This is the first set of Olga's session, and it is 6000 meters in total length. For many runners, it will be a good stopping point for the day.

At a later date (or on the same day if one is an advanced runner), one can (after several minutes of light jogging if this is happening on the same day), complete steps 1-8 twice more, in order, for the second set. This adds 4000 more meters of running to the session, giving you 10K in all, with 5K of quality effort (all at faster-than-5-K speed). Most runners would end the workout at this point with 10 minutes of light jogging. However, an experienced, very fit runner may - like Olga - take a short break after the second set and add a third set consisting of just one run-through of steps 1-8 prior to the cool-down.

Basically, you start this KB session running a 400-meter interval at a decent pace (just a little faster than 5-K speed). After recovering briefly, you must then run a 300-meter interval a little faster, a 200-meter interval even faster, and a 100-meter acceleration at close to all-out intensity. The first run-through of the eight steps is not so bad to take, since the intervals are pretty short, but you must then immediately repeat this 400-300-200-100 pattern two more times. Toward the end of the third run-through in the first set, you are significantly tired, but you are forced to step up the pace with each shift to a shorter interval. As you descend the 400-300-200-100 ladder, you are getting more fatigued, but you are running faster and faster, and the recoveries are getting shorter and shorter. The KB workout is making you a better kicker; you are developing the ability to surge, not sputter, when you are tired. The second (and possibly third) sets enhance this capacity.

Note that one of the beauties of this workout is the transition from steps 7 and 8 back to step 1 in sets one and two. In this change-over, you first run a 100-meter interval at top speed, which - on top of the previous 400, 300, and 200 - forces your leg muscles to cry out for mercy. Instead of mercy, however, you get just a bare-bones, 100-meter recovery, and you must then launch into a 400-meter surge at faster than 5-K race pace. You can't heed your legs' lamentations; you must learn to relax and stride out powerfully at a quite challenging pace. This part of the workout will be especially hard at first, but it will really help to maximize your ability to run fast when you are hurting.

The final word on the KB: Note that since the majority of the quality running within the workout is at 1500-meter race pace or faster, the session is teaching you to dish out 1500-meter race speed in the last stages of your 5- and 10-K races. When you are very efficient and fairly comfortable at 1500-meter pace over the final stages of your races, watch out! Your PRs are going to tumble, and the days when other runners sizzle past you at the ends of races are over!

Note, too, that an important element in becoming a crackerjack kicker involves spiking your max running speed - the fastest velocity you can maintain during 50 meters of running. Boosting max running speed will extend the range of paces you can utilize in races in a positive way. It will be easier for you to "dial up" speeds which are considerably faster than your 5-K or 10-K velocities; they will not be a dream - they will be there waiting for you. Hiking max running speed involves optimizing both stride rate and stride length, feats which can be accomplished by combining high-quality running training with a strength-training progression which begins with general strengthening and then moves through running-specific fortification, hill training, and finally explosive workouts.

Kick-enhancing workouts may be used at various times in the training year (all kick sessions are good workouts in their own right for improving lactate threshold and economy at high speed), but they work particularly well during the six to eight weeks leading up to a major competition. Carrying out a kick workout once a week, in combination with a vVO2max session and some other form of quality training (fartlek efforts, long-interval running, or hill climbing) can be a devastatingly effective way to prepare for your big race. After all, the kick workouts are very specific to race situations, they assist vVO2max-type work in enhancing lactate threshold, economy, and power, and they add some real excitement to the way in which you finish your competitions - and finish off your competitors! ©

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