Athletes Over RunnersOver the last two month we've looked at most of the aspects of our summer training. From easy runs to strides to long runs and aerobic workouts, we've seen all the parts involving running. However, our program builds human beings, not runners. Even on the physical side of things, that means developing athletes who specialize in running, not lungs with legs. That's why a large part of our program--including our summer training--emphasizes strength, mobility, and coordination. We've already hit on that briefly with regards to our warmup. This week we want to look more closely at the activities that follow our run. Often these can take up as much if not more time than the actual running, which raises more than a few questions. Today we want to try to answer them.  From top high school athletes to professionals like Sam Parsons--who runs for Tinman Elite and has a 5k personal best of 13:12--strength training is a regular part of their schedule. Conditioning vs. SimulationHow does someone get better at something? They do that something. There's an obvious truth in that train of thinking. The closer one gets to approximating an activity, the greater the benefit. While the activity itself wins in that department, one typically wants preparation before that point. That's why students do worksheets full of math problems before a quiz and theatre groups conduct dress rehearsals. It's why basketball teams scrimmage and softball clubs hold intrasquad games. It's also why later this fall we'll complete race-pace workouts. Essentially these are all varying degrees of simulation, and while they sit at the far end of the spectrum with the actual activity, there are plenty of options backing away in the other direction. Even simulations require preparation of individual skills. So the theatre group works on singing through a particular number from their musical, or the softball team takes batting practice. But even these particular elements require background skills. The theatre performers develop breath support to sustain their vocals as they move around stage. The softball team incorporates biceps curls or swings weighted bats to improve bat speed. These sort of activities on the other end of the spectrum classify as conditioning. Good preparation for any activity requires a balance of conditioning and simulation. Running is no exception. So while we do need to spend ample time running at race pace, we also need time for conditioning. Some of that is running at other paces and/or distances. But some of that conditioning extends beyond running. That's where ancillary work comes in. Does Ancillary Work Improve Performance?Often individuals question whether strength, mobility, and coordination work improves performance. I would say the answer is complex. If two individuals did the exact same training in terms of running, but one added on ancillary work, would they be faster? We already addressed mobility work in part when exploring our warmup. When it comes to strength training, reviews of studies seems to suggest so, though there are individual studies that did not observe any direct performance benefits. Most of this is in theory tied to running economy--the amount of energy an athlete needs to maintain a certain pace. However, I think the greatest benefits of this training are indirect. Strength and mobility work decrease injury risk by preparing body to handle loads efficiently. Healthy runners can tackle more intense workouts and thus get faster. Therefore, anything that reduces injury risk is going to inversely increase the likelihood of improved performance.  His name shows up a lot on here, but for good reason. One of my go-to gurus for ancillary work is Jeff Boele. Flexibility, Mobility, and StrengthThree words that often appear together are strength, mobility, and flexibility. In fact, the last two are often used interchangeably. However, I believe each of these concepts--though related--are different. The analogy I prefer to make the distinctions clear is a road. Imagine an empty field. Someone wants to reach a house in the middle of that field. But for individuals to get to that house, there needs to be a road. Fundamentally there are three key characteristics of that road. The first is its length. A road is of limited benefit if it ends short of the intended destination. The second is the smoothness of the road. A road with lots of potholes isn't going to lead to a comfortable ride. Even if the road reaches the intended destination, cargo in vehicles is much more likely to be disrupted and/or damaged. The last quality is the durability of the road. A smooth road to the destination isn't everything. I imagine you could craft a smooth road out of chocolate, but between the summer heat and sweet-toothed children, I doubt it would last very long. Optimal running performance is like that house. Flexibility refers to the extent of the range of an athletes motion and is like the length of the road. Mobility can be compared to the smoothness of the road, how effectively an athlete's body can move through its range of motion. And lastly, strength refers to the body's ability to maintain repeated activity within its range of motion without breaking down, what one could view like the road's durability. Obviously the three are interrelated. A road that isn't durable won't remain smooth, and the least durable road is one that doesn't exist at all. In a way, flexibility and strength combine to support mobility, but they have to exist in the right proportions. A road that extends well beyond the house isn't beneficial. If anything it increases the likelihood for travelers to drive past their destination. A road made from titanium would probably be incredibly strong in most circumstances, but it wouldn't allow for much traction. In the same way, runners do need flexibility, but too much can potentially be counterproductive. If strength training goes overboard, the hypertrophy (increased muscle mass) can actually impede range of motion. But in the right doses, each is important, and so we want to incorporate exercises that promote and develop them.  The road to great running requires flexibility, mobility, and strength ... but probably not much chocolate. Working Our Butts OnI've introduced lots of running experts in the blog. If asked what part of the runner's body needs the most work, one might expect the top answer to be the calves or maybe the hamstrings. However, the top answer given by individuals like Jay Dicharry or Jeff Boele are the muscles of the hip capsule, particularly the gluteal (butt) muscles. When these muscles become weak or don't contribute a high percentage of the work of running, that work often either shifts to the front side (quadriceps) or down the kinetic chain to the lower leg (calves). Quad-dominant running tends to place excessive force on the knees, whereas calf-dominance tends to put strain on the foot, Achilles, and calf muscles. Getting the glutes to do their share of their work requires that (1) they have the necessary strength, (2) runners have the capacity to engage them, and (3) running form encourages their contribution. Just running mindlessly won't improve these and may in face engrain bad habits. However, our ancillary work has the capacity to contribute to all of these. The majority of the ABC exercises we do at the end of every practice target hip mobility. Strides and elements of our other strength routines, like squats, lunges, or the Australian crawl, require activation of the glutes. And our form drills work on the sort of mechanics that allow the glutes to power someone's run. Feet FirstA key area of strength that is often underemphasized in runners is the foot, which contains well over 100 muscles, tendons, and ligaments. Once again, running--especially in super-supportive shoes--provides a limited opportunity to target the foot. We need exercises that allow the foot to engage well, especially the big toe. This was something totally foreign to me a year ago. In recent months I've been trying to learn quite a bit here and experiment with my own training, and so I do expect more to emerge here eventually. For now however, we already discussed the barefoot strides that follow our recovery runs. We will also move out of our shoes to do a number of barefoot exercises, especially following our hard days. Being barefoot allows the foot to operate in a less restricted fashion and gives a runner higher quality feedback regarding positioning.  One of the tools I've been playing with recently is the MOBO Board, designed by Jay Dicharry to improve running posture through increased foot control and stability. Coming to a practice near you?!?! Down the RoadAs our weeks of summer training unfold, we will see our strength training progress just like our running. In the first week, that will mean a handful of daily post-run exercises. We'll also introduce the Fab 5 , the Lunge Matrix, and the Barefoot Routine, each the starting point of their own progression. In later weeks we'll implement CoreX (our challenging core routine) and our Multi-Directional Cooldown. The Fab5 will evolve into the Plank Matrix and the Lunge Matrix into the Lower Body Circuit. These and the Barefoot Routine each have advanced versions that we'll reach following the dead period. All of the above are bodyweight exercises. My goal is that by the end of summer, many of our runners will be able to advance to weighted exercises. We were able to acquire some medicine balls and kettlebells through grant funding. These can either be incorporated with our lunges and squats or crafted into their own workouts. If runners can get comfortable with this, I'm hopeful that we can graduate to lifting some weight. However, this is another area where I need to grow as a coach (and/or find some qualified helpers). Let's Get to It!I hope the last few weeks have been illuminating with regards to our summer training. This is our last primary post in that series, though I wouldn't write off the possibility of some secondary posts in later weeks. To summarize:
As our summer training gets underway, next week the structure of the blog posts will shift a bit with multiple sections. There will still be an instructional portion, but more of it will offer practical updates and information about our program. I plan for them to continue to drop every Monday, so stay tuned next week for the new format! Comments are closed.
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