In the pursuit of running with beautiful form the maintenance of proper posture is crucial. Posture is the most efficient alignment of the spine and hips while running to provide the least amount of resistance and the most effective stride pattern. From the ground up: foot under the hip, hips forward (lead with the belly button), chest up (not slouched forward), head up and eyes ahead (not down). Watching a video of any of the best runners in the world will confirm that proper posture is quite upright and allows for smooth and flowing strides.
The musculature that is involved in allowing proper posture is essentially the muculature of the posterior chain, the abdominals, and the muscles surrounding the hips. Naturally, these muscles will develop over time with running properly, you will be forced to hold upright longer and under more intense speeds as you become more fit. However, you can get a jump on developing these muscles by including pull ups, squats, back extensions, and several hip movements intended to strengthen the hip complex.
The best part of developing some more muscle tissue is that it allows metabolic demand to be increased. Muscular tissue requires more caloric expenditure daily to maintain. This is a double edged sword however, with more muscular tissue, you have to increase caloric intake to prevent the body from breaking muscles down for energy.
Be more than just a runner, be an athlete.
3k-5k:
5-7 miles easy pace
5k-10k:
6-8 miles easy pace
10k-21k:
6-9 miles easy pace
21k+:
6-9 miles easy pace
Post run strength:
A1. DumbBell row (1arm) 6-8 reps; rest 20 seconds between arms
A2. Clap Push ups; amrap (-2); 3 min rest
B. 200 lunges for time
C. Back Extension; 3 sets of 25; 90 second rest
Showing posts with label strength training. Show all posts
Showing posts with label strength training. Show all posts
13 June, 2011
Running Logs
A training cycle can be considered a scientific experiment of sorts. If it's your first one, you are figuring out your limitations and testing your fitness in a race. If you have trained through many training cycles, you are usually repeating previous successful cycles with small tweaks here and there based on the outcomes. Maybe your mileage was too high and you got an overuse injury. Maybe you did not put the work in on the track and you shorted yourself with a slower time. Whatever the case may be, this new training cycle is a chance to right any wrongs, and perhaps try something new. It is difficult to know what to change, however, if you do not know for certain what you have done in the past.
A training log is your own personal method of keeping track of what you have done in the past and what you can change. Our brains are remarkable organs and are capable of making great calculations based on previous experience. You can probably look at a week in a log that is an anomaly and explain exactly what happened to make it different (you got sick, you had final exams, work was in the way). A detailed log, however, allows you to not only know what was different (less mileage, more mileage, extra day off) but also allows you to monitor pace, effort, injury, etc.
Matt Fitzgerald has published a great log called the Runner's Diary. It allows a lot of information to be logged easily every day. Otherwise, there are several online logs that allow similar information to be logged a couple are trainingpeaks.com, flotrack.org, active.com
Know yourself and know what you have done, in order to know what you are capable of doing in the future.
3k-5k:
5 mile easy run + (6 x 150m strides)
Strength Training
5k-10k
6-7 mile easy run + (10 x 100 m strides)
Strength training
10k-21k
6-9 mile easy run with 5 x 1 minute pick ups
Strength Training
21k+
6-12 mile easy run + (3 x 300m Strides)
Strength Training for the day:
A1. Bent over Dumbbell row 4-6 reps per arm x 5; 20 second rest
A2. Push Ups AMRAP; 4 min rest
B. Pull Ups 4 sets of 8-12; 3 min rest
C. Sit ups 4 sets of 25; 90 second rest
D. Lunges; 200 as fast as possible with perfect form
Post weights, reps, times and thoughts to comments
A training log is your own personal method of keeping track of what you have done in the past and what you can change. Our brains are remarkable organs and are capable of making great calculations based on previous experience. You can probably look at a week in a log that is an anomaly and explain exactly what happened to make it different (you got sick, you had final exams, work was in the way). A detailed log, however, allows you to not only know what was different (less mileage, more mileage, extra day off) but also allows you to monitor pace, effort, injury, etc.
Matt Fitzgerald has published a great log called the Runner's Diary. It allows a lot of information to be logged easily every day. Otherwise, there are several online logs that allow similar information to be logged a couple are trainingpeaks.com, flotrack.org, active.com
Know yourself and know what you have done, in order to know what you are capable of doing in the future.
3k-5k:
5 mile easy run + (6 x 150m strides)
Strength Training
5k-10k
6-7 mile easy run + (10 x 100 m strides)
Strength training
10k-21k
6-9 mile easy run with 5 x 1 minute pick ups
Strength Training
21k+
6-12 mile easy run + (3 x 300m Strides)
Strength Training for the day:
A1. Bent over Dumbbell row 4-6 reps per arm x 5; 20 second rest
A2. Push Ups AMRAP; 4 min rest
B. Pull Ups 4 sets of 8-12; 3 min rest
C. Sit ups 4 sets of 25; 90 second rest
D. Lunges; 200 as fast as possible with perfect form
Post weights, reps, times and thoughts to comments
31 May, 2011
Building a Strong Base
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!
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!
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