This time of year is about building a base.
If Thomas Barr is used to one thing in his training programme, it’s a leg session.
The Irish Olympic hero forced the world to sit up and take notice in Rio last year when he finished fourth in the 400m hurdles final. At 25, there’s serious hope that there’s even more there for him going forward, but it’s not going to be an easy journey.
At the minute, the Waterford native is in off-season but like any sportsperson nowadays – amateur or professional – that’s just your opportunity to get ahead.
So, even before he gets back into the new season in October, he’s going through strength work now – making sure there’s a base there so he can focus on speed as the summer approaches.
One of the best hurdlers in the world, Barr obviously has a bit about him when it comes to lower body work.
He has serious power in his legs, pure dynamism, and even one glance at the leg session or sessions he does would easily explain how that comes about.
The amazing thing is that, at 6 foot tall, Barr’s racing weight is under 11 stone. Whilst he’d admit he’s light, his legs certainly aren’t unnoticeable and, speaking from the Irish Life Health Schools Fitness Challenge, the Olympian walked SportsJOE through a typical leg day in the gym.
Trap bar deadlift
Hip thrust
Single leg RDLs (superset)
These are done as supersets. 6 reps on one leg are followed by step-ups with the bar on your back and then repeated on the other leg.
Plyometrics
Single leg bounding.
Ankle hops.
Nordic curls
Isometric holds
Lying on bench and keeping position with shoulders and feet.
Plank holds
Core work with Swiss ball
And that’s day one.
“Single leg deadlifts and stuff like that are basically to work on my stability and core strength – my glute strength and things like that,” Barr explained.
“It’s working on keeping things balanced on both sides, making sure I’m strong and stable. Especially for hurdling – I land off a hurdle at however many kilometers per hour and I need to be strong and stable.
“A lot of the upper body stuff comes from the likes of circuit training or medicine ball work. I don’t really do any benching or that kind of stuff, just circuit training and lighter body-weight exercises.”
He doesn’t need to, he’s doing enough.
One thing is for sure, Thomas Barr doesn’t skip leg day.
Thomas Barr was at the Irish Life Health Schools Fitness Challenge. New national research from Irish Life Health has revealed that 42% of parents in Ireland wrongly believe that their child gets enough physical activity.
