Building a strong base as an athlete is paramount to longevity of a season. But base-phase training is not only long slow distance runs, it should also involve working on structural strength and mobility.
The idea behind the base phase is that the lower intensity of running allows the body to adapt to the pounding of running for long periods of time. Working on speed later in the season stresses the muscles exponentially more than base phase running and stresses the body more metabolically. Increased stress can lead to increased incidence of injury through a myriad of different avenues. So working on running long and slow will slowly adapt the body and allow a safe and steady incrimental increase in mileage. At the end of the base phase often you'll be running close to your peak mileage for the year, then as mileage decreases, intensity can increase with less risk of injury.
Base phase training can (and in my opinion should) involve strength and mobility work. Mobility should be stressed all year, but especially during early season running in order to increase mobility and allow small injuries from the previous season to be relieved as well as prevent any traumatic injuries that may occur and overuse injuries in the future.
Strength work is underemphasized in the running world, in my opinion. Mastering basic weightlifting movements and practicing them, especially during the base season, can only improve running technique and help improve performance. For example, a back squat (Squatting with a barbell resting on your shoulders) not only increases muscular strength in the legs, it also increases bone density in the legs and core skeletal system. A basic back squat also reinforces mobility in the hips and ankles, strength in the upper back, abdominals, and gluteals and improves the structural integrity of the tendons and ligaments in the hips, knees and ankles. Many runners are disinterested in lifting a barbell over their heads, but a basic barbell press allows the core muscles to engage with a vertical load being placed on it (similar to running, but the load is coming from below, still on the vertical plane). The barbell press will also allow improved strength in the postural muscles and again, reinforce the density of the skeletal system being stressed.
Strength training is a great way to improve your technique by reinforcing the core muscle groups necessary to running with good form. There is no end to resources out there to finding out what you can do to become stronger, but remember safety is number one and technique is always more important than pounds lifted.
If you're interested in receiving a personalized strength training program contact Peak Performance at stone.davidj@gmail.com
Base Phase Workout:
Now that you've had a week to acclimate to running...
3k - 5k:
3-5 miles easy
5k-10k
4-7 miles easy
10k - 21k
5-9 miles easy
21k+
7-11 miles easy
Post Run for all:
40 Sit Ups
30 Push Ups
20 Pull Ups
Mobility Wod:
Don't forget to come to Dick Pond in Lisle this Thursday at 6pm for a fun run and a Peak Performance Training lecture on endurance nutrition!
Showing posts with label MWOD. Show all posts
Showing posts with label MWOD. Show all posts
31 May, 2011
27 May, 2011
Mobility Matters
Endurance athletes are notoriously not mobile. This is a problem. In the ancient days of endurance sports there were schools of thought that believed it was beneficial to be less flexible and that increased flexibility would decreaes force production of the legs during distance events. Upon investigation, however, there have been no studies that support that statement significantly. On a recent run, I was blessed to meet a young man from the Sudan who is an extremely talented runner. Upon completion of our run he began to do a series of drills that displayed (in addition to his overwhelming reserve of energy) incredible flexibility.
It makes more sense for a runner (or any athlete) to be as flexible as possible, it can only decrease the amount of work needed to complete a foot cycle. Let's think about it: the amount of force required to propel the body forward when running is going to be the same whether the runner has high or low mobility, as it relates to mass x acceleration. Mobility does not apply to mass (your body weight), and it only applies to acceleration in as much as the musculature's ability to contract efficiently. The muscles used to run do make up the tension that must be overcome to complete a foot cycle. Since mobility does not really apply to force, where does mobility affect runners?
Mobility is related to the tension that the legs must overcome to function properly. Think about your legs now: you have quadriceps in the front of the legs that flex the hips and raise the knees up. In the back, you have hamstrings and gluteals which pull the legs back down providing the force that propels the body over the foot and thus, forward. Now if you increase the tension of the hamstrings significantly, they will be in a constant state of pulling the leg posteriorly (toward the back). Now, instead of simply overcoming gravity + the weight of your leg to lift your knees to run, you also have to use that musculature to overcome the tension of your hamstrings. Initially, this is minimal, but anyone who has run long-distances will tell you, the small things begin to matter more and more the longer you run.
Still not convinced? Spend one week working on your mobility and tell me your quality of life has not improved. If you need a place to begin, look here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkPLnVU1KOo&feature=player_embedded
Base Phase Workout:
Lunge Matrix: http://www.coachjayjohnson.com/2010/04/lunge-matrix-as-warm-up/
Followed by 30 minutes easy and consistent
Then, 10 x 100m (or 15 seconds) strides
Lastly, 2 x 10 pull ups with 4 minutes rest between sets.
It makes more sense for a runner (or any athlete) to be as flexible as possible, it can only decrease the amount of work needed to complete a foot cycle. Let's think about it: the amount of force required to propel the body forward when running is going to be the same whether the runner has high or low mobility, as it relates to mass x acceleration. Mobility does not apply to mass (your body weight), and it only applies to acceleration in as much as the musculature's ability to contract efficiently. The muscles used to run do make up the tension that must be overcome to complete a foot cycle. Since mobility does not really apply to force, where does mobility affect runners?
Mobility is related to the tension that the legs must overcome to function properly. Think about your legs now: you have quadriceps in the front of the legs that flex the hips and raise the knees up. In the back, you have hamstrings and gluteals which pull the legs back down providing the force that propels the body over the foot and thus, forward. Now if you increase the tension of the hamstrings significantly, they will be in a constant state of pulling the leg posteriorly (toward the back). Now, instead of simply overcoming gravity + the weight of your leg to lift your knees to run, you also have to use that musculature to overcome the tension of your hamstrings. Initially, this is minimal, but anyone who has run long-distances will tell you, the small things begin to matter more and more the longer you run.
Still not convinced? Spend one week working on your mobility and tell me your quality of life has not improved. If you need a place to begin, look here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkPLnVU1KOo&feature=player_embedded
Base Phase Workout:
Lunge Matrix: http://www.coachjayjohnson.com/2010/04/lunge-matrix-as-warm-up/
Followed by 30 minutes easy and consistent
Then, 10 x 100m (or 15 seconds) strides
Lastly, 2 x 10 pull ups with 4 minutes rest between sets.
Nutrition: Improve Quality, Increase Quantity
Nutrition can be a touchy subject for some athletes, especially endurance athletes. The idea of changing things up from a training standpoint can be terrifying, but when changing things from a nutrition standpoint, it's simply unheard of. However, I think once any athlete looks at their diet there will almost always be some concessions that can be made. The book Once a Runner has a famous quote that, I believe, sums up the attitude of many endurance athletes, "If the fire is hot enough, it'll burn anything". Implying that as long as you train your ass off you can eat whatever you want and not worry about negative health effects. While it's true that if you burn enough calories, you won't gain weight, and you can actually run the best race of your life even if you eat Mcdonald's every day for a month (See this link: http://msn.foxsports.com/other/story/Illinois-marathon-runner-only-eats-McDonalds-as-he-trains-for-his-next-race-031011) there is more to nutrition than calories-in/calories-out.
Quality of diet is not the whole ball game when it comes to becoming a better athlete, but it can be a very important piece of the puzzle and, in fact, when the quality of food you eat is good, you get to eat more of it. So what constitutes high quality food? The types of foods that provide sufficient nutrients without causing an inflammatory response from your body, and that will not overload you with excess, unnecessary calories. That was a mouthful (pun somewhat intended). Let's break that statement down.
Sufficient nutrients: As a human the functions of the body are fueled by the food that is ingested. The more work you do (physical activity) the more energy you need (caloric intake). If only it were that simple. If you expend 2,000 calories/day, in theory, you could function just fine taking in 2,000 calories of strawberry rhubarb pie. Unfortunately, strawberry rhubarb pie does not contain the necessary amount of protein required to sustain high intensity activity. Eventually, performance and health in general would begin to decline. The term "balanced diet" is used to describe proper nutrition as it involves taking in all of the macro and micro nutrients necessary for optimum health and performance. Thus, in order to provide an athlete with the sufficient nutrients for peak performance and health, drawing nutrients from several different sources will ensure that all nutrient needs are met.
Inflammatory Response: Most athletes are familiar with inflammation as a concept. The most acute and understandable source of inflammation is injury (the swelling of a sprain involves inflammation of the tissues in the ankle). Inflammation can be brought on by several different causes, one of which is food. Inflammatory foods are the foods that your body does not process well, and which cause tissues to become inflamed. Usually, inflammation occurs in the internal tissues and organs, but can often manifest itself in muscular tissues. Studies on diet with rheumatoid arthritis patients have shown that anti-inflammatory diets can relieve much of the inflammation of RA. More recent studies are beginning to show that athletes can also be affected by inflammatory responses to diet. Foods that can cause inflammation: Gluten, cheese, low-grade meat, refined sugar, refined flower, omega-6 fatty acids.
Excess, unnecessary calories: Excess calories are those calories that go beyond the caloric needs of the day and are most often found in foods that are not nutrient dense. Interestingly enough, those foods that are not dense in nutrients, but contain excessive calories are often those that are also inflammatory foods. Pastas, breads, desserts, alcohol and several other foods contain plenty of calories, but are low in nutritous content. It's true, pasta contains many carbohydrates but serving sizes in the US often contain more than enough carbohydrates to fulfill a day's needs, but are difficult to digest, dehydrate athletes, and provide very few vitamins or minerals.
Figuring out what to eat can be difficult. Making a drastic diet change can be nearly impossible. The easiest place to start in making a positive nutritious change is in diet quality. When you eat high quality foods (lean meats, fruits, vegetables) you get to eat more of them with few negative results. As you begin to dial in your nutrition as an athlete there will be small nuances that make big differences. Finding those small details can take a long time, and involve a lot of trial and error, but you can make a simple positive change immediately by improving the quality of foods you eat.
Base Phase Workout:
45 minute run easy and consistent (if you live near hills, run them)
MWOD Afterwards: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ro45mUvQzo&feature=player_embedded
Then, 20 push ups (Unbroken)
Post distance run, feelings in the MWOD
Quality of diet is not the whole ball game when it comes to becoming a better athlete, but it can be a very important piece of the puzzle and, in fact, when the quality of food you eat is good, you get to eat more of it. So what constitutes high quality food? The types of foods that provide sufficient nutrients without causing an inflammatory response from your body, and that will not overload you with excess, unnecessary calories. That was a mouthful (pun somewhat intended). Let's break that statement down.
Sufficient nutrients: As a human the functions of the body are fueled by the food that is ingested. The more work you do (physical activity) the more energy you need (caloric intake). If only it were that simple. If you expend 2,000 calories/day, in theory, you could function just fine taking in 2,000 calories of strawberry rhubarb pie. Unfortunately, strawberry rhubarb pie does not contain the necessary amount of protein required to sustain high intensity activity. Eventually, performance and health in general would begin to decline. The term "balanced diet" is used to describe proper nutrition as it involves taking in all of the macro and micro nutrients necessary for optimum health and performance. Thus, in order to provide an athlete with the sufficient nutrients for peak performance and health, drawing nutrients from several different sources will ensure that all nutrient needs are met.
Inflammatory Response: Most athletes are familiar with inflammation as a concept. The most acute and understandable source of inflammation is injury (the swelling of a sprain involves inflammation of the tissues in the ankle). Inflammation can be brought on by several different causes, one of which is food. Inflammatory foods are the foods that your body does not process well, and which cause tissues to become inflamed. Usually, inflammation occurs in the internal tissues and organs, but can often manifest itself in muscular tissues. Studies on diet with rheumatoid arthritis patients have shown that anti-inflammatory diets can relieve much of the inflammation of RA. More recent studies are beginning to show that athletes can also be affected by inflammatory responses to diet. Foods that can cause inflammation: Gluten, cheese, low-grade meat, refined sugar, refined flower, omega-6 fatty acids.
Excess, unnecessary calories: Excess calories are those calories that go beyond the caloric needs of the day and are most often found in foods that are not nutrient dense. Interestingly enough, those foods that are not dense in nutrients, but contain excessive calories are often those that are also inflammatory foods. Pastas, breads, desserts, alcohol and several other foods contain plenty of calories, but are low in nutritous content. It's true, pasta contains many carbohydrates but serving sizes in the US often contain more than enough carbohydrates to fulfill a day's needs, but are difficult to digest, dehydrate athletes, and provide very few vitamins or minerals.
Figuring out what to eat can be difficult. Making a drastic diet change can be nearly impossible. The easiest place to start in making a positive nutritious change is in diet quality. When you eat high quality foods (lean meats, fruits, vegetables) you get to eat more of them with few negative results. As you begin to dial in your nutrition as an athlete there will be small nuances that make big differences. Finding those small details can take a long time, and involve a lot of trial and error, but you can make a simple positive change immediately by improving the quality of foods you eat.
Base Phase Workout:
45 minute run easy and consistent (if you live near hills, run them)
MWOD Afterwards: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ro45mUvQzo&feature=player_embedded
Then, 20 push ups (Unbroken)
Post distance run, feelings in the MWOD
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