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How they train – Dai Greene

Dai Greene believes he is part of the strongest hurdles group in Europe under coach Malcolm Arnold and the hard work they do throughout the year makes him ultra-confident of striking gold in major championships.

He trains only once per day and has every Saturday off, but on other days the former footballer pushes himself through the pain barrier and rarely spends any time in the comfort zone.

During the early part of the winter he focuses on general fitness and aerobic ability and fartlek sessions and longer repetitions with short recoveries are the norm. Then, as he approaches the summer season, the efforts increase in intensity and recoveries between repetitions are longer.

His group includes Rick Yates and Jack Green, together with sprint hurdlers Laurence Clarke, Andrew Pozzi, Jack Meredith and Will Sharman, plus women Tasha Danvers and occasionally Eilidh Child.

It is a set-up which led to him taking the world title last week in Daegu in tremendous style, not to mention the European and Commonwealth titles in 2010.

But if there is one session or “secret” piece of advice he can give other athletes and coaches, then what is it? He told AW earlier on this year that no one ever enjoys hearing the answer.

“I tell them that most sessions are general but once a week I always do a hard run to hurdle 10 – usually twice in a session – and we do it all year around,” he explains.

“Whoever is asking for my advice will then usually say, ‘Oh, we’re not doing that, that’s not for me, why would you do that?’ All of which is quite funny, because this is the session I absolutely swear by.”

Why is it so effective? He explains: “The mental barrier of running to hurdle 10 becomes easier. The times also come down by a tenth or so every week as your fitness and the weather improve during the winter. But I guarantee no one ever wants to hear about that session when they ask me for advice!”

Much of Greene’s success stems from a regime masterminded by coach Malcolm Arnold in Bath. From 1972 Olympic 400m hurdles champion John Akii-Bua to fellow world championships gold medallist and sprint hurdles legend Colin Jackson, Arnold has coached some of the world’s greatest hurdlers. Before this, Greene’s early career was guided by Darrell Maynard.

“Some people come down and ask if they can jump in a session or train with us for a few weeks, but they have a big shock at how tough it is,” says Greene. “There are usually about 8-10 of us every day. I think it’s the strongest hurdles group in the whole of Europe. There’s a good atmosphere and everyone is there because they want to improve.”

Typical week pre-season

» Monday
Gym session: 3×6 cleans, bench press, squats @ 75% RM. Step-ups, box jumps, upper-body work circuit, ab circuit.

» Tuesday
(am) Track: 300m in around 35 seconds (30 seconds recovery) then 100m @ 100%. 15 minutes recovery then repeat twice more.
(pm) Conditioning exercises and hamstring work.

» Wednesday
Gym session: 3x6cleans, benchpress, hangsnatch, squats @ 75% RM. Single leg squat, med ball throws, upper body work circuit, ab circuit.

» Thursday
Hurdling session: Set up to H1, H2, H3. Then two runs to hurdle 10.

» Friday
(am) 3x300m (20 minutes recovery) in 32-33 seconds.
(pm) Conditioning work: hamstrings and calves.

» Saturday
Rest.

» Sunday
(am) Track: 5x250m averaging around 30 seconds with the last rep in 27 seconds (10-15 minutes recovery).
(pm) Conditioning work: hamstrings and calves.

Greene’s group only trains once per day, but he feels it is enough as the sessions are so intense. Earlier in the winter period he would typically run more reps with shorter recoveries, too, such as 9x300m with 3min rest. He also gets strange looks at training camps, he says, when he disappears for one-hour fartlek sessions

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