I'll have to meet a deca coach then!
I agree that we can all learn from one another.
What have you adapted into your training based upon decathlete training styles?
It's a lot of things really.
I got one of the best sprint coaches around pretty close, as I am a big fan of Track and Field, we talked about the 100 meter dash and one thing he mentioned was how sprinters often gets an inbalance in strength between quads and hams, and that will cause the hamstring tear.
The quad becomes too strong, the hamstring cannot "hold up".
So when I had a little hamstring problems a month ago, I started to pay more attention to training the hamstrings, have included some stiff leg deadlifts in my training. I have a feeling the hamstring problem won't come back.
Another thing he mentioned is how little time the sprinters spend in actual top speed (max effort), since that is so rough on the body. Less than 1 hour each year.
This added to my belief that if I want to train real hard, I need to back off the training intensity between the max effort days, or max effort lifts.
Finally, Track athletes do quite a bit of plyometric jumps. I am going to start doing these 2-3 months out of the meet.
I've already started to do medium long sprints once a week, 40-60 meters. These first couple of times, I'm being very careful though, not wanting to tear up the hamstring or shit like that.
On a final note: I believe what sets "Pudzi" apart from most, isn't his awesome strength. It's his incredible endurance. He is able to lift max for 90 seconds. Always.
I think more strongmen should leave their egos at the door, and start training to lift sets for 90 seconds instead of try to get as many reps as possible. Lower the weight if necessary, but get the stamina to stay the course.
Just my opinion after seeing some strongmen in training.
-Hedge