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Shins, Ankles, Knees, Tendons and Hips: All 16 Weeks

These run in every session and into the season. This page shows how to do each one; the sets and reps for each session are on that session page.

These exercises run all 16 weeks (and can be used into the season).

Tendons change slowly. In adult studies on tendon growth, strength rose in the first two months of training and knee tendon stiffness changes observed after three months ^[1],Research points to at least 12 weeks of tendon loading for young athletes, based on adult trials ^[2].

Tendon pain above 3 out of 10 ends the session, every session.

Shins and ankles

Calf and soleus endurance are the focal points for the shins.

Knee-to-wall ankle check

What: A quick test of how far your knee travels over your toes.
How: Face a wall, toes a few inches back. Keep the heel down and push the knee forward to touch the wall. Move the foot back until the knee only just reaches. Under 4 inches from wall to big toe, see an athletic trainer.
Cue: "heel down, knee to wall"

Single-leg calf raise (straight knee, then bent knee)

What: A slow calf raise on one leg, done 2X - one with straight knee (calf) and one with bent knee (soleus).
How: Stand on a step on one foot, heel hanging off. Rise as tall as you can, hold one second, lower slow. Bend the knee slightly and repeat.
Cue: "up tall, lower slow"

Tib raise

What: Lifting your toes toward your shins to train the muscle on the front of the shin.
How: Back against a wall, heels about a foot out. Pull your toes up as high as they go, then lower slow.
Cue: "toes to shin"

Toe and heel walks

What: Walking on your toes, then on your heels.
How: Walk 20 m tall on the balls of your feet. Walk back on your heels with your toes pulled up.
Cue: "tall, toes up"

Single-leg balance

What: Standing on one leg until the ankle stops wobbling.
How: Stand on one foot, knee soft, arms relaxed. Once it is easy, close your eyes.
Cue: "quiet ankle"

Knees and tendons circuit

Three rotations of calf, knee, hip, circuit.

In adult studies greater than 70% of your hardest effort changed tendons,lighter holds did not ^[3] have the same effect.

Calf wall push

What: A still push through the ball of the foot that loads the Achilles.
How: Hands on the wall, lean from the ankles, heels up halfway. Lock the ankle and push into the floor without moving.
Cue: "lean, lock ankle"

Spanish squat

What: A deep sit-back hold that loads the knee tendon.
How: Loop a band behind both knees and anchor it in front of you. Sit back until your knees bend about 90 degrees, shins straight up and down. No band? Hold a wall sit.
Cue: "shins straight, sit back"

Single-leg bridge hold

What: A one-leg hip lift held at the top, for the hamstring and glute.
How: Lie on your back, one heel on the floor, other leg up. Drive the hips high and hold, ribs down.
Cue: "heel down, hips high"

Hips and core

In elite male sprinters, the hip extensors showed the biggest muscle differences from slower sprinters ^[4]. Hip strengthening is a main driver for speed development across all 16 weeks.

Hurdle lunge

What: A deep lunge that opens the front of the back hip. Hip mobility for every event.
How: Step into a long lunge, back leg turned out like a hurdle trail leg. Push the back hip forward and hold.
Cue: "back hip forward"

Copenhagen plank, short lever

What: A side plank with the top knee on a bench, for the inner thigh and hip.
How: Side plank on your elbow, top knee on a bench or a partner's hands. Lift the hips into a straight line and hold.
Cue: "stack hips, lift"

Front and side plank

What: Still holds for the trunk.
How: Forearms down, body in one straight line, ribs pulled down. Turn to one elbow for the side plank.
Cue: "long and still"

Hip flexors pull the knee through. Hip flexor training improved 40-yard dash time in untrained adults ^[5].

Wall knee drive

What: A knee drive against a wall for hip flexor strength.
How: Hands on the wall at shoulder height, body leaning forward in a straight line. Pull the heel up toward your butt and bring the knee through to hip height, toe up. Set it down and repeat.
Cue: "heel up, knee through"

Banded or pulley knee drive

What: A knee drive against resistance on the ankle.
How: Loop a band or a simple pulley around one ankle, anchored behind you. Stand tall, hand on a wall if you need it. Pull the knee up and through to hip height, then lower slow.
Cue: "pull it through"

Floor knee pull-through

What: A slow mountain climber for hip flexor control.
How: Start in a push-up position. Pull one knee toward your chest, slow and controlled, then return it. Hips stay level.
Cue: "slow knee, flat back"

Neuro base: the A-series

The A-series teaches your foot to land under your hip (or just slightly in front), and every sprint, approach, and hurdle step builds on that.

A-march

What: A slow march that builds the sprint leg action.
How: March forward tall. Lift the knee to hip height with the toe pulled up, step over the other knee, and put the foot down under your hip.
Cue: "toe up, step over"

A-skip

What: The A-march at skipping speed.
How: Skip forward. Knee to hip height, toe up, then snap the foot down under the hip. Opposite arm drives.
Cue: "knee up, snap down"

Modified Nordics

Nordic hamstring exercise roughly halve hamstring injuries ^[6] (mostly soccer, mixed ages), and the trials used about two sessions a week ^[7] (adult amateur soccer players).

Modified Nordic

What: A slow forward lean from a kneel, resisted by your hamstrings, finished with a hip pop.
How: Kneel on a pad, partner holding your ankles. Keep hips straight and lower your chest toward the floor as slowly as you can. Catch yourself with your hands. Push back up, then pop the hips through so the hip, knee, and ankle extend together.
Cue: "lower slow, pop the hips"

Mental rehearsal

Find one video of an athlete in your event whose form you want, and study it. If you already know correct technical form from experience, picture yourself instead. Close your eyes and run your event in your head: walk through your warm-up drills, step onto the runway or into the blocks, and run one jump, one hurdle race or one sprint with correct form all the way through the finish. Feel each body movement. It takes as long as your race, plus a minute for your warm-up drills.

When you wake up.
Right after your circuits.
Before bed.

This trains your nervous system. Imagery plus physical practice beats physical practice alone ^[8].

Daily shin ABCs

Every day, rest days too, 2 to 3 minutes.

Seated ABCs: trace the alphabet with your big toe, each foot.
Band ABCs: loop a band around your toes and trace the alphabet against it.
Foot on foot: cross one foot over the other and push against it, up, down, in and out, 5 s each way, then switch.

Research notes

Science works through iteration, meticulous perseverance, comparison, challenge, and identifying patterns across the spheres of science, so no single study is the whole answer. Findings come from other populations, animal models, or other tissues in the body, because living systems share enough molecules and machinery that these clues help us understand our own health. Individual papers are cited as keystones to stir thinking, and each one opens onto years of peer-reviewed work it was built on. Follow the citations when something is relevant to you: they open further readings you can bring to your coach, athletic trainer, or doctor.

Kubo K, Ikebukuro T, Yata H, Tsunoda N, Kanehisa H, 2010, Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. Month-by-month changes in strength and knee tendon stiffness over 3 months of isometric training in 8 adult volunteers. https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0b013e3181c865e2
Mersmann F, Bohm S, Arampatzis A, 2017, Frontiers in Physiology. Review of muscle and tendon development in youth athletes, with a tendon-loading program of at least 12 weeks proposed from adult trials. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2017.00987
Oranchuk DJ, Storey AG, Nelson AR, Cronin JB, 2019, Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports. Review of 26 isometric training studies, mostly adults, on effort, muscle length, and tendon change. https://doi.org/10.1111/sms.13375
Miller R, Balshaw TG, Massey GJ, et al., 2021, Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise. Muscle size of elite versus sub-elite adult male sprinters. https://doi.org/10.1249/MSS.0000000000002522
Deane RS, Chow JW, Tillman MD, Fournier KA, 2005, Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. Eight weeks of hip flexor training and sprint, shuttle run, and vertical jump performance in untrained adults. https://doi.org/10.1519/14974.1
van Dyk N, Behan FP, Whiteley R, 2019, British Journal of Sports Medicine. Meta-analysis of the Nordic hamstring exercise and hamstring injury in 8,459 athletes, mostly soccer, mixed ages. https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2018-100045
van der Horst N, Smits DW, Petersen J, Goedhart EA, Backx FJ, 2015, American Journal of Sports Medicine. Randomized trial of 25 Nordic sessions over 13 weeks in 579 adult male amateur soccer players. https://doi.org/10.1177/0363546515574057
Simonsmeier BA, Andronie M, Buecker S, Frank C, 2020, International Review of Sport and Exercise Psychology. Meta-analysis of imagery interventions in sport studies, mixed ages and levels. https://doi.org/10.1080/1750984X.2020.1780627
Kubo K, Morimoto M, Komuro T, et al., 2007, Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise. Plyometric versus weight training and Achilles tendon and joint stiffness in adults. https://doi.org/10.1249/mss.0b013e31813e630a
Kubo K, Ishigaki T, Ikebukuro T, 2017, Physiological Reports. Plyometric versus isometric training and muscle and Achilles tendon stiffness in adults. https://doi.org/10.14814/phy2.13374
Lauersen JB, Andersen TE, Andersen LB, 2018, British Journal of Sports Medicine. Meta-analysis of strength training and sports injury in 7,738 people aged 12 to 40, mixed sports. https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2018-099078
Moran J, Liew B, Ramirez-Campillo R, et al., 2023, Journal of Sport and Health Science. Meta-analysis of plyometric jump training and lower-limb stiffness in healthy individuals. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jshs.2021.05.005