Variety = Injury Prevention

Weekly Training Tip:

Variety is the spice of life and the key to preventing injuries. Jen Rhines, 3-Time US Olympian Runner, agrees with this philosophy - in the June 2012 issue of Competitor Magazine, she answered the following question:

What advice would you give to age-group runners? "I always encourage recreational runners to do some extra things instead of doing the exact same thing every day. Doing more stretching, drills or work in the weight room can make you a better runner and prevent overuse injuries and burnout."

For the recreational runner, your week should involve 3-4 "key" workouts, at least 1 day of active rest and at least 1 day of total rest.  Below is an example:

Monday: Rest
Tuesday (Key): Speed/Interval Run (emphasis on form and threshold running)
Wednesday: Strength Training
Thursday (Key): Tempo Run (emphasis on quality, sub-threshold running)
Friday: Active Rest
Saturday (Key): Long Run (emphasis on distance, not speed)
Sunday: Active Rest or Cross-Training

Yes - you can train for a race of any distance (even a marathon) with only 3-4 days of running per week.  Proper rest and quality workouts are each far more important than the volume (quantity) of your workouts.  If you would like to put this philosophy into practice, CEC offers year-round Group Classes and group or individual Training Programs.

Train hard, but have fun!

Catalyst Endurance Coaching

Raceday Preparation for Runners

Recover: Training for any event can drain the mind, body and spirit.  The weeks and days prior to raceday are meant for tapering, not cramming; you can not get in shape in one or two weeks, but you can get hurt.  You have likely spent the last 12-18 weeks in “perma-soreness,” so you deserve to run with fresh legs on raceday!  Proper recovery includes decreased duration and intensity of exercise, one or two extra days of rest, increased mobility exercises and increased hydration.  All of this (as apposes to a week of complete rest) will allow the healing and refreshing needed to make raceday enjoyable.

Prepare: Make a checklist before packing your raceday bag – include even the obvious items such as shoes, socks, race bib and timing chip/strap.  Raceday is already hectic enough: finding parking (or riding a shuttle that takes forever), checking in your bag (which can be a half mile from the start), waiting in line for the port-o-potty (maybe even twice), wading your way through the crowd to your starting corral . . . after all of this, you have very little energy to focus on anything else.  Do all you can in advance to limit raceday anxiety.

Fuel: With a wake-up call sometime around 4:30, travel to the race, and the aforementioned “hectic” events on raceday, it is easy to neglect proper fueling.  The only “perfect” raceday breakfast is the one your body is used to consuming.  Eat a larger meal (300-500 Calories) about two hours before the start of the race and then a “jumpstart” snack 15-30 minutes before the start (50-100 Calories, mostly carbohydrate).  It is okay to have some caffeine on raceday – but once again, make sure you know how your body responds.

Hydrate: Similarly to fueling, it is easy to start your race under-hydrated.  Between breakfast and your warm-up, drink at least 20 ounces of fluid (a standard water bottle).  Between your warm-up and the start of your race, drink at least another 12 ounces (half of another water bottle).  Since your body needs a combination of water, carbohydrate and electrolytes – have a sports drink OR water along with carbs and sodium.  The body can load (store) muscles with both energy and water – so your fueling and hydration program begins days before your race, not in the morning.

Warm-up: The #1 way to prevent injury is a proper warm-up – the #1 task people skip on raceday is the warm-up (a few stretches while waiting for the port-o-potty do not count).  As with your nutrition and hydration, you should complete a warm-up routine you have done before.  The ideal warm-up includes exercises that: increase heart rate, increase muscle temperature, take your joints through a greater-than-normal range of motion and involve dynamic movements (as running is dynamic, not static).  Equally important, the warm-up preps the mind for the upcoming 3.1 to 26.2 miles.  Always finish your warm-up with a smile, applause, and/or high-5’s – your friends can use the encouragement as much as you!

Mantra: Never try anything new on raceday!

The "Core Connection"

Introduction

So what exactly is the connection?  Think of your body as one long chain with each muscle group representing a link.  The core muscles (rectus abdominus, obliques, transverse abdominus, latissiumus dorsi, hip flexors, and a few others) connect the upper and lower extremities and serve as an energy transfer segment from the one end of the “chain” to the other.During activity, a muscle lengthens before it contracts (shortens), which is called a transformational zone (TZ).

During athletic movements TZ are necessary for locomotion.  In the core, TZ are at the end range of torso extension, lateral flexion and/or rotation and it is very important to train through these TZ to minimize injury risk and maximize strength.

Practical Application

Envision a baseball pitcher – the legs and hips generate a great deal of force during the wind up which is transferred through the core to the shoulders and finally to the hand where the ball is released at high velocity. A pitcher further relies on the core to decelerate the arm and body during follow through.  Pitchers, therefore, must go through several TZ in one pitch, all involving the core to either enhance loading (lengthening) or unloading (shortening) of muscles in all three planes of motion. A strong core will maintain proper posture and maximize energy transmission, whereas a weak core is a poor energy conductor that compromises technique which further decreases pitch velocity or increases injury risk.  Also consider how often a pitcher stops moving all other muscles and performs an abdominal crunch motion.  This crunch, or any isolated muscle movement, does not occur in sport. Obviously, throwing a baseball greatly differs from running a marathon, but the concept of sports-specific training applies to all athletic movements.  During running, energy transfer works from the top of the chain down, i.e. the arms, shoulders, and chest generate force that is transferred through the core to the legs and finally to the ground.  Likewise a weak core, or a core with poor endurance, can decrease performance by compromising form.

When selecting core exercises, make sure at least 75% are ground-based (standing on your feet) and performed at speeds mimicking the sport (e.g. baseball and football players should perform core exercises explosively).  Also understand that numerous exercises will engage the core without isolating it – push ups, squats, lunges, standing shoulder press, and nearly any other ground-based, free-weight exercise requires core stability.

Yoga, Pilates, and Mat Exercises

Yoga has been around, well longer than you and me and maintains its popularity through improving mind, body, and spirit.  Similarly, Pilates improves core strength, flexibility, and mental focus but neither practice alone improves running-specific strength.  Has a running coach ever encouraged you to move as slow as possible as a Pilates instructor might?  Have you ever run while lying on your back?

Yoga, Pilates, and traditional “abs” exercises should account for the other 20-25% of your core training and are best performed on active recovery days or at the end of a workout.  They complement training well, but lack sport-specific adaptations.

Summary

Training the core involves a lot more than just working the abs. Crunches will increase abdominal strength and may help you get a six-pack, but as an athlete (elite or recreational) sport-specific strength should be the priority. To achieve this sport-specific core strength, perform the majority of your exercises:

1) While standing on the ground

2) In all three planes of motion (sagittal, frontal, transverse)

3) Through the full range of motion (into each TZ)

Mat-based exercises have their place in training, but alone are not effective in improving athletic movement.

Click Here for Exercise Examples (and print version of this article)

Justin Robinson, MA,RD,CSSD,CSCS,FAFS

Coach - Catalyst Endurance Coaching

Director of Strength & Conditioning - RU Sports Performance Center