Athleticism Part II: Get More & Make it Better

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In the last post I discussed the big, powerful idea of athleticism and what it looks and smells like. Here are what I believe to be the essential pillars of athleticism and a few ideas on how to expand your own athletic base. In no way have I covered every angle of this vast concept, but I hope I’ve touched on a few useful ideas.

  • Full, pain-free range in the joints:
    • Full movement of our joints is a prerequisite for overall healthy movement. Improperly rehabbed injuries–an old ankle sprain for instance–can contribute to diminished athleticism. Our modern lifestyle (hunched sitting) is also an enemy of athleticism. Our time in cars, at desks and in front of TVs helps destroy hip mobility, thoracic spine mobility, shoulder mobility and the like.
  • Mobility in 3 planes of motion (sagittal, frontal, transverse):
    • This is related to the point above but it goes beyond single-joint movement. This pertains to large movement patterns like squatting, lunging and reaching which are conducted through several joints.
    • A lot of us are very good at moving in the sagittal (forward/backward) plane. Many of our gym exercises (especially machine-based exercises) are sagittal plane dominant.  Endurance athletes are particular specialists in moving  forward only. Start looking for competence in the frontal (side-to-side) plane and transverse (twisting) plane and you’ll often see problems. Ankles, hips and thoracic spine are frequently limited in the frontal and transverse planes.
  • Stability in 3 planes of motion (same 3 planes as above):
    • Mobility and stability are two sides of the same coin. Too much or not enough of either is a problem. Focusing your efforts on improving only one of them will lead to problems. A lack of mobility is a detriment to stability. Here are a few ways to check your tri-plane stability.
    • Watch the video below on half-kneeling and see if you can follow along. (Can you get into the position?  If not, there’s something worth working on.) What do you notice? Are you stable or not? Half-kneeling is a very useful window into 3-plane stability.

    • One leg balance is extremely important. Whether you consider yourself an athlete or not, you spend a lot of time on one leg (walking, running, stair climbing, getting out of a car).
    • Try standing on one leg. Can you do it? If so, for how long? How about a squat?  What happens when you try a one-leg squat? Can you perform a controlled squat or do things start to collapse?
  • Ability to manage forces through the core:
    • The core is everything from your skull to your pelvis.  Your arms and legs attach to your core through your shoulders and your hips. The core is analogous to the foundation of a house. If it’s strong then you’ve got great potential to operate from that foundation. If it’s weak, then everything you try and do from that base will be compromised.
    • If the core doesn’t function correctly then your spine is unstable–and that’s a bad thing.  Spinal stability is critical for both your health and your performance. If you can’t stabilize the spine against external forces (a suitcase, a bag over your shoulder, a shovel full of snow, a lawn mower, heavy door, an opponent and gravity at all times) then you will have many ongoing problems. By expanding your core stability skills in three planes then you’ll be much safer in general.  You’ll be stronger and potentially more powerful.  (BTW, don’t bother with crunches.  They do little and less for core strength.)
    • Dr. Stuart McGill’s work is a good place to start for core competency. His “Big 3” exercises address core stability in three planes.  Here’s a video

 

  • Adequate strength for the task:
    • I compare strength to money in that rarely do we find ourselves having too much. A lot of people come to the gym but they never get stronger. Endurance athletes are classic examples. These good people often spend their time lifting very light weights for very high reps.
    • Many of us would benefit from training in the 1-5 rep range, using weight that is actually difficult to lift. Heavy lifting enables runners to put more force into the ground, helps cyclists put more force into the pedals and helps everyone perform their daily tasks in a safer, more effective fashion. Beyond making stronger muscles, heavy lifting enables us to recruit more muscle fiber plus makes the bones and connective tissue stronger.
    • Now, clearly the power lifter has different strength requirements than a triathlete. So beyond a certain point, training for more strength doesn’t yield more athleticism. For the endurance athlete, there is a point where very heavy lifting may impede endurance training. No need to go there! Just recognize that most of us will benefit from getting stronger.
  • Speed:
    • Lots of grown-ups left speed behind a long time ago.  We quit sprinting and jumping. We started plodding. Go to the “cardio” section of any gym today and you’ll see a zombie-like scenario in which the walking dead sort of lope and limp yet never go anywhere. This is the opposite of speed.
    • But why did anyone ever run in the first place?   To go fast of course!  Humans have had a need and a desire to move across the earth rapidly. We needed to evade predators like the evil older sibling and we needed to chase down prey like the annoying younger sibling. It’s in us and it needs to be done!
    • Many endurance enthusiasts believe they don’t need speed. Nonsense! All good endurance athletes work on speed. The vast majority of athletic endeavors are based on getting somewhere faster than an opponent, so speed is valuable to very nearly every athlete.
    • “But I’m not an athlete,”  you say. So? Ever have to catch a subway or bus or plane and you’re running late? Suddenly there’s no substitute for speed is there? How about in an emergency situation? Can you get yourself out of trouble quickly? How about getting a child out of trouble? Your being able to move fast could help save a life!
    • Speed work can do wonders for the physique. Moving a top speed can be a superb and possibly superior way to remove fat. You can sprint on your feet, on a bike (stationary or real) or a rower.
    • Research (here and here) suggests that high-intensity sprint-type work can is superior for improving the health of cardiovascular patients and it protects against cardiovascular disease.
    • HUGE MAJOR POINT: NEVER LET YOUR QUEST FOR SPEED OVERRIDE YOUR TECHNIQUE! Move perfectly first, then speed up. Don’t get sloppy or at some point you’ll probably get hurt.
  • Coordination/dexterity:
    • This piece is closely tied to the stability and mobility in three planes. Can you change directions quickly? Can you turn and run? Can you jump and land without destroying yourself? Can you catch and throw an object? Can you run, throw, catch, jump and land all in one fell swoop?
    • If you haven’t done this type of thing in a while it can be a lot of fun and can certainly provide a mental break from the same old routine.
    • This isn’t just for “athletes” by the way. Let’s say you’re stepping off a curb and–Whoa! Here comes a cyclist/bus/skateboarder/escaped zoo animal–you need to hop back on to the side walk. Can you get the job done? How about navigating an icy parking lot? Or nabbing your pet before it escapes out the front door? Better dexterity and an ability to move in unpredictable situations is a safety issue for sure.
    • How about getting down on to and up off of the ground? If you fall, can you get up? That’s a highly coordinated activity that demands core strength, mobility and stability. Again, as adults, we spend a lot of time avoiding the ground. It might be a good idea to get down there and so some stuff.
    • Appropriate exercises include: speed ladder drills, three dimensional hopping on one or two legs, throwing medicine balls, juggling kettlebells, battling ropes, shuttle runs, rolling, crawling, the Turkish get-up and tree or rock climbing.
    • Here’s a great video of several speed ladder drills.  Play around with some of them.

  • And here’s a helluva multi-directional jump matrix.  Think I’ll try this soon.

  • Here’s some more athleticism in the form of the Turkish Get-Up. This is a very good breakdown of an exercise that combines strength, mobility and stability in what may be the most complete exercise you can find:

  • Adequate endurance for the task:
    • Greetings very-strong people. Can you walk up a flight of stairs without turning purple? Can you go on a short hike without buzzards circling overhead the whole time? Can you walk 18 holes of golf? Can you go skiing and not spend 10 minutes at the end of every run getting your breath back?
    • A lot of us are endurance specialists but some of us are far from it. Various activities can be a lot more enjoyable if we have the heart and lung capacity to get through them. Being a tourist in Washington, DC during the summer is definitely an endurance activity. Any significant amount of gardening probably requires some endurance as does any sort of house work.
    • I remember in my scuba certification we were required to swim like 2-4 laps across a pool. This was by no means a full-length swim workout. One lady had to stop about halfway through. She was exhausted. She couldn’t complete the swim and she couldn’t muster any energy to complete the class. Her young daughter was OK to keep going. So in her case, a potential fun family activity was curtailed by a conspicuous lack of endurance.
    • Strong, skillful athletic teams are often limited by endurance. If an athlete doesn’t have the stamina to last an entire contest, then they will very likely be beaten by an opponent who can continue to execute their game plan to the end of the game.
  • AWARENESS!
    • None of the above are possible without it! Do you know if your pelvis is tilted? Do you know where your shoulder blades are? Is your neck protruding?
    • Do you have any idea how well you balance or how coordinated you are? When was the last time you tried to move fast? Are you conscious of how you lift heavy things off of the ground?
    • In other words, are you aware of any weaknesses or where along the athletic spectrum you may be lacking? Do you make an effort to try new things in your workout or have you been doing the same thing forever?
    • I often tell clients, “We’re going to find what you’re bad at and then do a lot of it!” We often discover something (or several somethings) that is particularly challenging–not painful–but difficult. (By using exercise, we expose a weakness.) Then we want to find a way to bring up this capacity whatever it may be. But first we must become aware of this weakness.
    • Sit and think for a moment. What do you NOT do? What’s always been difficult? What have you NOT done in a long time? In contrast, what do you do a lot of? What’s easy for you? See if you can turn this paradigm inside out. Can you think of a way to expand your athletic base?

Athleticism Part I: What is it?

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The concept of athleticism is much on my mind, largely because of what I heard at the NSCA Endurance conference several weeks ago.  (Look here, here, here and here for my rundown of the conference.)  Coaches Jay Johnson and Tim Crowley specifically made statements to the effect that good endurance athletes are first good athletes.  Whatever type of training that’s needed is then added on top of that athletic foundation.

I’m a cyclist and I’ve taught Spin so I am in no way telling people that they shouldn’t ride bikes, but….  something I notice when I’m near a Spin studio is a lot of people exhibiting a stark lack of athleticism: hunched shoulders, protruding neck, externally rotated feet… I often also notice a hobbling gait, a general sense of stiff immobility and I often hear complains of back pain, knee pain and the like. Pedaling a bike for 45 minutes is maybe the one and only thing a lot of people in this scene can do.

When I go by the yoga studio I notice something similar but in this case, I see people who may be quite mobile (maybe too mobile) but they certainly don’t all look particularly strong or powerful. Go to the weight room and you can observe people moving in very restricted ranges of motion. Are they strong? Maybe but that strength is typically limited to the range of a poorly executed bicep curl, 1/2 squat, or hunched/shrugged lat pulldown. Mobility? Absent. Agility? Ha! Balance? Who needs it when you’re sitting on a weight machine? Rampant aches and pains? You bet!

The point here is for most of us, the slice of athletic pie we’ve cut for ourselves is very narrow, very limited, repetitious and does nothing to expand our general abilities as humans to navigate an unpredictable three-dimensional world. In other words, we lack athleticism. (BTW, I have been this person. Until lately, I specialized probably too much and haven’t spent a lot of time expanding my athletic abilities.  That is changing!)

But, what is athleticism?

This definition mentions physical skills or capabilities, as strength, agility, or stamina. Coach Vern Gambetta discusses athleticism here. I’ve thought about it and here’s my list of what comprises athleticism:

  • Full, pain-free range in the joints

  • Mobility in 3 planes of motion (sagital, frontal, transverse)

  • Stability in 3 planes of motion (same 3 planes as above)

  • Ability to manage forces through the core

  • Adequate strength for the task

  • Speed

  • Coordination/dexterity

  • Adequate endurance for the task.

  • AWARENESS!  None of the above are possible without it.

In the next post I’ll discuss my strategies at increasing my and my clients’ athleticism.

Check Out Physioblogger.com

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Physioblogger.com is a fantastic blog with all sorts of detailed and concise information on movement, injury rehab and all such things. I actually cannot figure out the name of the person who puts it together but whoever he or she is, they’ve done a great job.

The Physioblogger holds degrees in both sports science and physiotherapy. He or she is the Director of Functional therapy for FASTER, and holds certifications from FASTER and Gary Gray’s Gray Institute.  Look here for a full list of credentials.  His or her methods and writings are clearly highly influenced by Gray’s work and the work from FASTER which is to some degree an offshoot of the Gary Gray’s work.

I found the site because I’ve been battling on and off bouts of plantar fasciits and/or Achilles tendon trouble. (I’ve mentioned this stuff in prior posts but my site was hacked and those posts aren’t available right now.)

The Physioblogger holds degrees in both sports science and physiotherapy. He or she is the Director of Functional therapy for FASTER, and holds certifications from FASTER and Gary Gray’s Gray Institute. Look here for a full list of credentials.  His or her methods and writings are clearly highly influenced by Gray’s work and the work from FASTER which is to some degree an offshoot of the Gary Gray’s work.

I found the site because I’ve been battling on and off bouts of something like plantar fasciits and/or Achilles tendon trouble. (I’ve mentioned this stuff in prior posts but my site was hacked and those posts aren’t available right now.) Physioblogger’s series on plantar fasciitis starts with Understanding the Root Cause of Plantar Fasciitis. It follows with Plantar Fasciitis: Treatment Strategies – Part I and Part II.  The treatment strategies are very comprehensive, covering everything from the toes to the ankles, hips, thoracic spine. Two other articles (Mid-Tarsal Joint Treatment Strategies and 5 Ways to Increase Dorsiflexion) are interesting and may prove helpful in addressing plantar fasciitis.

There’s a lot to look through here and I’m just started. Some of the strategies are beyond my skill set as I’m not a manual therapist.  But, I’m getting a lot of good ideas along the way.

NSCA Endurance Clinic Summary: Day 3

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David Barr: Nutritional Supplements & Ergogenic Aids

  • NSCA CSCS, USA Track & Field, Precision Nutrition Certified, participated in research with NASA
  • High Return On Investment Supplements
    • Caffeine
      • blocks adenosine which results in
      • less fatigue and
      • lower feeling of exertion during activity
      • concerns include GI distress and diuresis (exessive urination)
    • Carbs
      • type: glucose, fructose, maltodextrin
      • timing: during exercise
      • beneficial in events lasting >2.5 hrs
      • dosing by duration: 60g/hr for 2-3 hrs, 30g/hr if <2 hrs
    • Fish oil
      • effects
        • increased muscle anabolism
        • may enhance recovery
      • Don’t look at total Omega 3s
        • You want EPA = 180 and
        • DHA = 120
      • If eating a high-fat diet (me) then up the Omega 3s.
      • potential synergy with Vitamin E
    • Protein (He seems to be a big protein guy.)
      • Don’t use during exercise (but what about Accelerade?  No good?  Didn’t get a chance to ask.)
      • Consume up to 2 g per kg of body weight or 1 g per lb.
      • Whey post workout: 20-25 g is the limit
    • Nutrient timing:
      • Protein pulse feeding
        • multiple protein feedings per day of 20-30 g
        • ups protein storage
        • Seems the effect of this is separate from the training effects from the workout.
      • Take about 40 g of casein before sleep to help blunt catabolism
      • Carb timing:
      • If you need rapid glycogen replenishment then consume carbs soon.
      • If you have 24 hrs before the next workout then it’s not an issue.
      • Protein and the workout
        • If you’ve eaten soon before a workout then don’t worry.
        • If you haven’t eaten in a while then eat protein pre-workout.
    • Keys to hydration
      • specific prescription better than ad libitum or drinking at will.
      • (Dr. Tim Noakes disagrees and I side with Noakes.)
      • flavor enhances consumption
      • cold increases palatability
      • drink early/often
    • Building the optimal endurance drink
      • 200 ml water/15 minutes
      • sodium: 450 mg/L
      • Carbs: 8-10%, 90 g/hr: glucose and fructose
      • Protein (potentially): 7%
      • You must “train the gut” or use this stuff while training in order to condition the digestive system to put up with it.
    • Antioxidants
      • mitigate free radical damage and aid recovery
      • Don’t take directly after workouts.
      • May be a case for taking antioxidants during activity
    • Lactate
      • Lactate is used as energy.
      • Doesn’t cause burn/fatigue
      • Cytomax makes some sort of drink w/lactate in it.
    • Buffers
      • bicarbonate
        • 300 mg/kg
        • potential GI trouble
      • Beta alanine
      • Theoretically: use both for a systemic effect
    • Nitrates
      • may help power output
      • may mitigate effects of altitude
      • Improved time trial performance in cyclists
    • Immunity
      • CHO
      • Vit C
      • Vit D
      • Zinc
    • Common deficiencies
      • Vit D
        • No toxicity
        • 6000-10,000 IU/day
      • Iron: Test for it.
      • Magnesium
    • Experimental considerations
      • hyperhydration
      • “train low” (carbs): unclear if this benefits performance
      • echinacea: increases EPO
      • ketones: novel energy source
    • Future prospects
      • cobalt chloride
      • guanidinopropionic acid
    • Other resources

Tim Crowley: Program Design: Strength Training for Endurance Athletes

  • CSCS, NASM-PES, USA Cycling Elite Level Coach, 2008 US Olympic Triathlon Coaching Staff, USAT Elite Coach of the Year and Development Coach of the Year, Owner TC2 Coaching, Head Strength Coach at Montverde Academy
  • Huge need for endurance strength & conditioning coach
  • “Great swimmers are great athletes that swim fast and great athletes are strong.” – Richard Shoulberg, Germantown Academy
  • STRENGTH MUST BE THERE FOR SPEED!
  • Program Goals
    • Reduce injury incidence
    • Reduce injury severity
    • Increase athletic performance
    • Improve athleticism
  • If you can read/learn 1 hr per day then you’re way ahead of the crowd.
  • Try stuff out before we give it to athletes: workouts, tools, food
  • Book: Endurance Training Science & Practice, Mujika
  • He covered various research evidence showing that strength training aids runners, cyclists and other endurance athletes
    • Reasons strength training works for endurance athletes:
      • conversion of type IIX fibers into fatigue resistant type IIA fibers
      • improves strength (like money in the bank)
      • rapid force production
      • improved neuromuscular function
      • tendon stiffness (essential for running)
      • improved max speed for fast starts or finishes
    • Common myths
      • Heavy weights make you big
      • Weight training hurts young athletes
      • Endurance athletes need light weight/high reps
      • Heavy weight training reduces ROM
      • Lifting equals bodybuilding
      • Squats hurt knees
      • Only for use in off-season
      • Endurance training will build strength
    • Important considerations
      • Strength work often isn’t to improve the engines of endurance (legs for running for example) but rather to address weaknesses, increase overall athleticism, and avoid injury
      • As pressure mounts on an athlete, find ways to coach less and simply get them to perform at their ability.
      • Time:
        • an obstacle for endurance athletes
        • goal is 30-40 min 2x per week
        • Try high-intensity/low-volume workout to increase muscle activation prior to a track workout
      • Energy
        • finite amount of energy for training
        • can’t interrupt endurance sport training
        • DOMS can be a problem
        • physical effects of high-vs low-volume
        • psychological effects
      • Reciprocal Inhibition
        • Reduced neural drive to opposing muscles
        • Areas of concern
          • scapula/thoracic spine
          • hip flexors/glutes
          • hip adductors/glute medius
          • anterior core/low back
      • Pattern Overload
        • Endurance sports are cyclical
        • high incidence of overuse injury
        • lots of “itises”
      • Force Couplings
        • Key body regions for multisport athletes
          • internal vs. external shoulder rotators
          • hips in saggital plane (flexors vs. extensors)
          • hips in frontal plane (glute medius and quadratus lumborum)
        • Eliminate power leaks
        • Improve movement economy = free speed
      • Masters athletes
        • strength development/maintenance is vital to success
        • loss of power declines faster than strength
        • mobility is crucial
        • compensation patterns
        • slower recovery from injuries
      • Program design
        • foam rolling/movement prep
        • mobility
        • corrective exercise
        • strength
        • keep it simple
        • less is more
        • quality over quantity
        • develop power
      • Self-myofacial release (SMR)
        • foam rollers
        • tennis/LAX balls
        • golf balls
        • the Stick
      • Mobility
        • May be the most important component in the beginning
        • a must for masters athletes
        • Vital concerns:
          • hip mobility
          • thoracic spine
          • ankles
          • 1-leg squat
          • split squat every workout
          • His ACL injury rate is almost 0.
      • Overuse injuries
        • Be proactive
        • shoulders
        • low back
        • glutes/glute medius
        • lower leg/ankle
      • His go-to exercises
        • inverted/TRX rowing
        • anterior core
        • core dynamic stabilization
        • single-leg squatting (priority goes to 1-leg over 2-leg work)
        • glute/hamstring and glutes
        • trap bar deadlifts
        • ankle band walking
        • eccentric calf raises
      • Mobility and Stability
        • Mobility is the combination of muscle flexibility, joint ROM, and the body segment’s freedom of movement
        • 2 types of stability
          • static 1-leg stance
          • dynamic core stabilization during athletic movement
        • Example: Hips are stiff so lumbar spine becomes too mobile/unstable and injury is incurred.
      • 10 exercises to include
        • Cook hip lift

      • Hip flexor stretch
        •  X Lat pull (couldn’t find a video)
        • Reverse cable fly

        • single-leg squat

        • single-leg deadlift

        • stability ball pushup or TRX pushup (unstable surface)

        • lawnmower row

        • cable and tubing lifts and chops (and other similar exercises)

      • single-leg heel raise
  • Resources

Nick Clayton, Power Training for Endurance Athletes

  • Objectives
    • Explain how training with explosive movements benefits endurance performance
    • Correctly perform variations of the Olympic lifts and plyometrics specific to performance in endurance activities
    • Lecture
    • Practical
      • dynamic warm-up
      • Olympic lift variations
      • Plyometrics
    • Why train for power?
      • Rate of force development
      • eccentric strength
    • Non-barbell Olympic lifting
      • Clean, snatch, jerk variations
        • kettlebells
        • dumbbells
        • medicine balls
      • Plyometrics: various 1 and 2 leg jumps, hops, skips
      • Nick said he would create videos of all the exercises and post them.  When/if they’re available I plan to post them here.
      • This was a fantastic session from warm-up to all exercises.
      • It was very much in line with the idea of creating athleticism.
      • These drills exposed a lot of weaknesses and lack of athleticism in a lot of the participants.
      • Exposing these weaknesses could be a huge opportunity to improve athletic performance.

Conclusion:

This clinic was just excellent!  It far surpassed my high expectations and that’s a rare thing.  The combination of theoretical/academic/”sciencey-type” stuff, practical application of the science, and physical participation kept the whole thing extremely interesting.  I came away with my mind overflowing with ideas.

Several things are prominent in my mind right now:

  1. I was re-introduced to some of Gary Gray’s concepts.  I’ve returned to doing the 3D lunge matrix with much greater understanding of hip, spine and knee position, plus how to tweak the lunge matrix in all sorts of ways.  I’m doing it again and all my clients are doing it now.
  2. The concept of athleticism as a necessary foundation is a HUGE concept to me.  We tend to specialize too much.  We devote ourselves to endurance sports which go one direction (saggital plane) and we neglect 3D movement.  We avoid crawling, climbing, rolling, hopping, jumping and engaging in unpredictable movement situations.  Check out the people going into and out of Spinning classes and you’ll see a lot of broke-down people who can barely hobble.  They aren’t athletic.  And I have been one of those people–but not anymore! Every one of my workouts now has a dedicated 3D movement component, power component and I try to do something that I don’t typically do.  Athleticism deserves a blog post of its own.
  3. I’m going to contact Jay Johnson for some coaching.  He did such a fantastic job of distilling academic information into practical application.  I can only coach myself so far.  I need someone who’s been through the process both as a runner and a running coach.

NSCA Endurance Clinic Summary: Day 2 (I forgot to summarize the final presentation.)

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Maybe I was in a rush to post the Day 2 summary, I’m not sure.  I forgot to summarize the final presentation of the day.

Dr. Jeff Matthews: Running Injuries – The Big Picture

  •  DC, CCSP, CCEP, 1996 USAT National Team, high school track coach
  • Primary shock absorber of the body: FOOT PRONATION
    • Pronation isn’t a bad thing–it’s supposed to happen.
    • Posterior tibialis controls pronation via eccentric contraction
  • Secondary shock absorber: knee flexion
  • Aches & pains of the leg, foot and toes
    • Metatarsalgia
      • Pain at the metatarsal phalangeal joint as the heel leaves the ground too early.
        • Causes
        • limited ankle dorsiflexion
        • tight gastrocnemius
        • weak digital plantar flexors
      • Treatment
        • stretch gastroc with straight leg
        • increase distal plantar flexor strength
        • rigid forefoot in shoes
        • decrease stride length & employ heel strike
      • I have off and on metatarsalgia.  I’m going to work the toe flexors, particularly the flexor hallucis brevis.  I’ll use a band.
    • Hallux limitus and rigidus (aka Turf Toe)
      • Dancers and defensive backs get this as a result of doing a lot of stuff on their toes.
      • Loaded dorsiflexion of the big toe should be 42 degrees at toe off.
      • To check: Sit with knees bent at 90 degrees.  Lift toe with finger while foot is flat on the ground.  If it’s less than 30 degrees then you’ve got a problem.
      • Stretch toe flexors: Pull toe back 20-30x/day.
      • Restore joint motion to big toe.  I’ve been playing with this stuff quite a bit lately.  I’ve got a constantly tight left calf.  I’m wondering if restricted toe dorsiflexion is part of the problem.
      • I’m not only working to stretch the FHB, but also to strengthen it so my big toe can grip the ground.
      • Here’s a good big-toe mobility video:

    • Insertional Achilles tendonitis
      • occurs near the base of the AI
      • common in high-arched, stiff feet
      • common with Haglund’s Deformity.
      • Seems I have a bit of this; more along the lines of a bursitis from what I cant tell.
      • Strengthen with eccentrics.
      • He says “Work on the front of the tendon,” as that’s where the blood flow comes from.
    • Achilles Paratendonitis
      • He describes this as occurring with an audible squeak or creak–I’ve had that!
      • An inflammation of the sheath around the tendon
      • Work on the front of the tendon to increase blood flow.
    • Achilles non-insertional tendonosis
      • degenerative non-inflammatory condition from repeated trauma
      • treatment
        • rest
        • muscle work to stimulate fibrolasts to remodel
        • when appropriate, strengthen posterior tibialis and flexor digitorum longus
        • How do we strengthen the FDL?  Here’s one way:

    • Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome aka runner’s knee
      • comes from abnormal femoral movement
      • hip muscle weakness is the cause; increases with fatigue
      • Testing for PFS: 1-leg squat & check for 3 things:
        • leaning toward stance leg to maintain balance
        • knee caving in
        • falling
      • Treatment
        • retro patellar pain: recruit/strengthen the vastus medialis oblique (VMO)
        • stretch hips, foam roll quads, increase hip flexor strength
    • IT Band Syndrome (ITBS)
      • strengthen hip abductors
      • decrease tension on the tendon with soft tissue therapies
      • stretch glute max and TFL
      • may take 6 weeks (Didn’t take me that long to overcome mine.)
      • Check out my post on IT Band issues for more help.
    • Popliteus tendonitis
      • The popliteous unlocks the knee from the extended position.
      • inserts under the IT band and can cause lateral knee pain
      • if weak then knee may stay locked and send shock to the back
    • Treatment
      • Strengthen the popliteous
      • soft tissue therapy
      • control pronation (probably with foot strengthening drills and more importantly, HIP ABDUCTOR exercises)
      • Here’s a video on recruiting and strengthening the popliteous

  • Hamstrings
    • Hamstring strains have the highest recurrence rate and can take 4 months to resolve
    • Semimembranosus protects the medial meniscus during knee flexion
    • long head of biceps femoris helps stabilize SI joint and is most frequently injured in runners because of the long lever arm decelerates knee extension
    • more proximal the injury the harder to treat
    • Treatment
      • increase length, strength and flexibility
      • evaluate pelvis
      • strengthening abs/stabilizing pelvis can position pelvis correctly thus putting hamstrings at proper length
  • Low back pain
    • Pain causes weakness/looseness
    • Internal or external femoral rotation may become problematic.
    • Treat hips
    • A TFL problem = a glute medius problem.  This is huuuuge to me!
    • Seems to me that sitting too much is maybe the main problem here.

 

 

Summary of the NSCA Endurance Clinic: Day 2

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Day 2:

  • Dr. Carwyn Sharp – Role of Strength Training & the Endurance Athlete
    • Factors determining successful endurance performance
      • VO2Max – Not nearly as important as we’ve thought for years
      • Lactate/Anaerobic Threshold
      • Economy of Movement
      • Velocity at onset of blood lactate accumulation (vOBLA) – This may be the most important.
      • We need to think of ways to increase performance, not just measurements like VO2Max.
    • Improving Running Economy (RE)/Economy of Movement (EM):
      • strength
      • speed
      • power
      • More force into the ground/pedals/water = speed
      • More force comes from more strength
      • Heavy strength training and plyometrics are best
      • Both are shown to improve vOBLA
      • Plyometrics need to look like running: 1-leg hops, bounds, skipping.  This is SPORT SPECIFIC TRAINING.
    • Good idea to cut strength training during a taper.
    • Strength training guidelines
      • heavy weight training:
      • 3-5 sets of 3-6 RM
      • with 3-5 minutes rest between sets
    • Plyometrics: most convincing performance results.
      • varies depending on training status, mode and intensity
      • work: rest of 1:5 to 1:10
      • 80-140 foot contacts per session; fewer for beginners
        • 2-foot landing counts as 2 contacts
        • 1-foot landing is 1 contact
      • FIRST THERE MUST BE A SOLID STRENGTH BASE!
      • Donald Chu, Jumping Into Plyometrics
  • Coach Jay Johnson, MS – The Strength & Conditioning Coach Meets the Running Coach
    • former collegiate runner and running coach at CU Boulder
    • coached 3 U.S. Track & Field champions
    • 6 main points
      • Athleticism
      • Runners (and everyone else) need to first have a base of athleticism
      • good movement in 3 planes of movement
      • full ROM at the joints
      • strength
      • He builds aerobic metabolism on top of this foundation of athleticism.
      • The idea of athleticism is massively important!
    • Why did your athlete/client get better?
      • Did they simply go from being sedentary to being active?
      • Or did they get better because of the program you designed?
    • Understand the role of glycogen
      • The body must be trained to use lipids as fuel
      • This syncs with Seebohar’s discussion on glycogen.
    • Development of the aerobic metabolism is the most important factor for peak running performance.
    • Runners must  do non-running work to stay healthy.
      • GSM (General Strength & Mobility Work)
      • Gary Gray’s 3D lunge matrix.  I’ve played with this in the past.  I’ve returned to it.  Here’s a video

  • Keep the easy days easy and the hard days hard.
    • Do the intense strength/plyometric work on the hard running days.
    • Take it easy on the off days.
    • This is a key part of the periodized plan
    • His discussion on periodization was very helpful to me
    • Macrocycle
      • When it’s time to progress the runs, do so on the hard days.
      • Run easy or rest on the easy days.  Never up the intensity of easy days.
      • A complete day off every 14 days is a good idea
      • Take an active rest week after every 5k, 10k, and half-marathon
      • He takes three weeks after a marathon.
    • Microcycle
      • 4 days/week running
      • Monday – recovery day: Do strides on Monday; 4-5 x 20-30 seconds at 5k pace with 1 minute easy jogging between reps.
      • Tuesday – workout: High level aerobic workout or race pace workout.  Can include:
        • Threshold/tempo run or
        • Fartlek run or
        • Progression run or
        • Long repetitions or
        • Alternate the above with race pace workouts week to week
      • Wednesday – aerobic cross-training
      • Thursday – off or cross-training
      • Friday – easy run day w/strides
      • Saturday – long run
      • Sunday – brisk walk
    • The lunge matrix is done before every run
    • Runs follow with general strength and mobility work and Active Isolated Stretching
    • Here’s a link to Johnson’s 8-week strength progression.
    • This may have been my favorite lecture.  Johnson did a fantastic job of taking academic information (physiology, periodization, race pace training) and telling us in simple terms how he implements these things.  His point on athleticism was HUGE to me. I plan to contact him for coaching this coming season.
  • Nick Clayton, MS, MBA, CSCS,*D, RSCC – Functional Training for the Endurance Athlete
    • This was an active demonstration in the performance center, not a lecture.
    • Sport specific movement that mimics body position, speed of contraction contraction type of said sport
    • trains the body as an integrated unit
    • Primal movement patterns
      • squat
      • lunge
      • lift
      • push
      • pull
      • twist
      • Squat progression
        • 1-leg balance
        • 1-leg squat
        • 1-leg squat in multiple planes and with other body movement
        • 1-leg squat jump to deceleration
      • Lunge progression
        • stationary with narrow base
        • multi-planar
        • multi-planar with reaching
        • split squat jumps with focus on quiet deceleration
      • Lift (deadlift related movements)
        • hip hinge and balance progression
        • 1-leg Romanian deadlift/deadlift
        • kettlebell swings
      • Push/Press: Discussed mainly addressing the postural and scapular considerations of safe and effective pushing in sport training
      • Pull:
        • Shoulder stability patterns:
        • Y, T, I, W, stability ball roll-out
        • I liked these patterns.  I’m using them now as part of the warm-up or as correctives as needed.
      • split stance dumbbell row
      • cable “lawnmower”
        • It’s a single-leg cable row with a hip hinge.
        • This is a running pattern. Here’s a demo

Prior to the strength and plyo demos, we went through a really cool walking/lunging mobility process. Nick said he was going to email out videos of the warm-up and when/if he does, I’ll post them here.  I may video it myself.

Getting out on the floor to play with these exercises was a lot of fun.  I really liked the 1-leg plyo work.  I definitely got some valuable ideas that I’ll implement in my own training and with my clients. I also liked the shoulder patterns a lot.  I’ve seen the Y, T, I, W patterns before but I understand them better now.  I think it’s key to KEEP THE SHOULDERS AWAY FROM THE EARS WHILE YOU DO THESE.

  • Randall Wilber – Training and Competing in a Hot and Humid Environment
    • Dr. Wilber discussed in great detail how he helped Deena Castor (bronze) and Meb Keflezighi (silver)  prepare for the Athens Olympic marathons in 2004.
    • While not terribly important to my goals, some of this information was new and very interesting.
    • 2 ways to prepare for heat/humidity:
      • Natural acclimatization
      • Arrive 10 days to two weeks out
      • Gradually adjust timing of high-intensity and low-intensity workouts (two-a-days)
      • Gradually creep the workouts towards the heat of the day such that the final day has a HI workout near noon and a LI intensity workout in the evening.
      • Pre-acclimatization (Deena and Meb both did this prior to Athens.)
        • Very simple: Train in more clothing to make the body hot and thus approximate the hot conditions in which you’re to compete.
        • Arrive a few days ahead of the event and do your final workouts.
      • Cooling strategies
      • clothing
        • no cotton
        • lightweight and light color
      • sunscreen: avoid it as much as possible as it clogs pores and inhibits sweating
      • ice packs/towels
      • ice vest
      • Apply cold/ice to hands and feet: I’ve noticed on my own how  in cold weather, I can put on gloves or take off gloves and experience a significant change in my overall temperature.
      • whole body immersion: showers, tubs
      • ice drinks (like Slurpees)
      • Stay as cool as possible right up to the event.
      • Consume more sodium while training in the heat.
  • David Bertrand – Managing the Endurance Athlete
    • MS, USA Triathlon Level II Coach, lectures at SMU in the Applied Physiology Dept, head of DFI Tri Club, Dallas
    • Athlete selection:
      • Very important to coach people with whom you mesh
      • You may not be the best coach for everyone
      • Curiosity: He needs to feel curious about his clients and their goals.
      • “Training with David” document: This was very insightful
        • What does training with David bring…
        • coaching philosophy
        • requirements
        • rates
        • weekly training availability
        • how training is delivered
        • training jargon and abbreviations
        • I need to develop a document like this w/my name in place of David’s
    • Coaching styles and methodologies
      • autocratic: best for groups with both high and low cohesion
      • democratic: best for groups with moderate cohesion
      • Display a vision.  Express belief in the athlete
      • Buy-in: “Here’s how were going to do it.”
    • Communication
      • How am I most effective?  1-on-1?  Small groups?  Big groups?  Ask my clients.
      • LISTENING IS VITAL!
    • Training intensities
      • Most people go too hard.
      • This is in sync with Wilber’s advice that a little undertrained is far better than a little overtrained.
      • HR monitor can help keep athletes in check.
    • Writing and adjusting the plan
      • Adjusting the plan: This is your greatest value to them.  This separates you from the cookie cutter programs.
      • Most people need MORE RECOVERY, not more work.
    • Best practices
      • Don’t over-coach: Take 1 or 2 things and ask, “What did we focus on today?”  Less is more
      • Strive to learn.  Stay curious.  He told a great story about Jon Wooden.
      • Select days of the week for specific tasks.  Get organized.
      • Help athletes with something beyond just training.  Can you inspire them?
    • David gave a really superb lecture on what I call “filling in the cracks.”  That is, he spoke to issues beyond just physiology, heart rate, strength programs and other science. He talked about his time in the trade and how to actually work with human beings. I got a lot out of the lecture even though I’m not a tri coach nor do I plan on becoming one.

 

Summary of the NSCA Endurance Clinic: Day 1

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Part of what I love about the Denver area is that it’s home to numerous very good athletes and coaches–particularly of the endurance variety. We’re also not far from Colorado Springs which is home to both the Olympic Training Center and the headquarters for the National Strength & Conditioning Association (NSCA), one of the top certification bodies in the world of health, fitness and sports conditioning.

I was at the NSCA from last Friday to Sunday attending an endurance clinic. It was SUPERB! It far exceeded my already high expectations. All the speakers had volumes of valuable information. Not only did they present valuable academic information, they also told us how they applied this information in the trenches with their athletes. These guys weren’t just born as successful coaches. They’ve gone through a lot of trial, error and very hard work to get where they are. It’s very helpful to hear that type of information.

We didn’t just sit and listen though. Saturday and Sunday had us getting out on the field and into the performance center to learn about strength exercises, mobility drills, and plyometric drills. I got to meet a lot of my very capable peers and I got to work out in what is likely one of the top lifting facilities on earth. It was a fantastic weekend.

I’m going to give a rundown of some of the pearls of wisdom I collected on Day 1. I can’t do each presentation thorough justice, but I’ll try to highlight some of the most important things that I heard.  I’ll follow up with days 2 and 3 as soon as I can.

Day 1:
Dr. Carwyn Sharp – Intro to Endurance Training

  • Exercise scientist, triathlete and ultra-runner who’s worked with NASA and has 14 years coaching experience.
  • Endurance athletes are often averse to resistance training thinking it will bulk them up.
  • He presented several studies which demonstrate that strength training enhances speed and endurance performance.
  • Sand, snow, wind, and hills can all contribute to the athlete’s resistance training.
  • On recovery from intervals: if you feel the effects of previous interval → you didn’t recover sufficiently.
  • The basis of speed is strength. Several studies demonstrate that heavy resistance training and explosive training improves performance.
  • 1-leg training is very important.
  • Progression
    • Move well on 2 legs (squat, deadlift) and get strong.
    • transition to split squat
    • then to 1 leg stability
    • 1 leg squat and deadlift
    • 2 leg plyos
    • 1 leg plyos

Bob Seebohar: – Nutrition for the Endurance Athlete

  • Registered Dietitian and USAT coach who has coached and advised Olympic triathletes
  • Metabolic efficiency – use more lipids/less carb/preserve glycogen
  • Nutrition periodization – “Eat to train. Don’t train to eat.”
  • Food First – Don’t use supplements to make up for poor eating.
  • moderate supplement use; only part of the season
  • prevent weight gain in off-season – no sport supplements during
  • He supports the lower-carb/higher-fat approach. I was very happy to see that.
  • Food log
    • Doesn’t as about amount of food eaten but rather…
    • What?
    • When?
    • Why? I love that he asks “why” someone ate something.

Dr. Randall Wilber – Overtraining: Causes, Recognition, Prevention & Illness

  • Physiologist to the US Olympic team.
  • Overtraining–or “underperformance” as he calls it–often isn’t due to too much training.
  • nutrition
  • blood work
    • Iron is often low in women.
    • Vitamin D deficiency is common
  • endocrine panel
  • urinalysis
  • Physiological and psychological metrics for tracking fatigue/recovery
    • overnight heart rate
    • blood chemistry
    • sleep quality
    • Salimetrics – He said look for the price to come down on this.
  • Take the athlete back to active recovery. Progress very gradually back to regular workouts.
  • If they perform well and feel good at their first LT workout then they’re on the right road back.
  • Coach Bobby McGee: “More performances are spoiled by slight overtraining than by slight lack of fitness. An athlete who is 90% conditioned for an event will do better than an athlete who is 0.5% overtrained.”

Mirror Neurons: Improve Your Skills By Watching Others

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If you don’t know what mirror neurons are then here’s your chance to learn. In short, they’re a major part of why you or I ever decided to stand up and walk–and do all sorts of other things. These neurons in our brain fire up whenever we watch someone else engage in action. Our brain and nervous system actually behaves as if we are doing what we’re observing. Our brain is mirroring the action we’re watching. That may be a big part of why so many of us enjoy watching sports, ballet, Cirque du Soleil, etc. Here’s a video from PBS’s Nova on mirror neurons:

In the case of an infant, no one gives the child a book or a lecture on the benefits of walking or how to do it. The child simply observes the world and sees his or her fellow humans moving about on two feet. He or she then gives it a shot and promptly fails. (Walking probably starts simply with moving the limbs, rolling around, crawling, and attempting to stand.) Another try and another fail follows. Along the way, we discard the ineffective movement patterns and we keep the ones that work. Eventually we are walking. This whole process is based on imitation of others. It’s pretty effective, no?

Guess what. There’s no age limit on using mirror neurons to obtain and improve skills. We can use our eyes to learn movement in a couple of ways. Coaches commonly use video technology to record the movement of their athletes. The athlete can then watch themselves and make correction to their form. I frequently use this process with my clients. It often works far better than a verbal explanation of how to correct a technique.

The other way we can use our mirror neurons to get better at something is to simply watch excellent technique. Youtube is chock full of videos that can help with this. The following are a few videos that have helped me with weightlifting, running, mountain biking and skiing. I watch this stuff and visualize doing what the athletes are doing. I think it helps and the research supports the idea.

Good Information: Flexion Inspection (Sitting Is The New Smoking), When to Stop Strength Training (Part of Tapering for a Race), Running Technique

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There are so many knowledgable people out there putting out good information. Here’s a little bit that I’ve found recently.

Kinetic Revolution: Better hip flexion for better running plus overcoming our sitting habit

If you’re a runner or triathlete then you should definitely check out Kinetic Revolution. The author is James Dunne and he’s a rehab and biomechanics expert. His recent post is Flexion Inspection: How Long Do You Sit Down Each Day? He discusses the perils of setting, namely tight hip flexors that inhibit the glutes and thus limit your hip extension. He makes two suggestions:

1. Record Your Time Spent Sitting For 1 Week

This is Claire’s brilliant idea… I had to share it!

Keep a simple diary. Much like a food diary, but recording the time you spend sitting down every day. Every single form of seated activity, from working at a desk to cycling.

If you’re anything like me, the results will be ALARMING.

2. Offset Time Spent In Flexion With Specific Extension Exercises

I’m a realist. I get that much of 21st century living requires sitting – not to mention the leisure activities we engage in. Cycling for instance.

I usually suggest for every two hours spent in a flexion pattern, athletes should get up, and spend 5mins working on extension exercises such as hip flexor stretches and glute activations.

And he explains a hip flexor stretch progression here

I can’t really resist posting this video so we’ll meander away from running technique for a moment. Nilofer Merchant gives a TED talk on this dreadful sitting habit we have. She even suggests that perhaps walking while talking may drive creative thinking:

Sweat Science: When is the ideal time to cease strength training?

If you’re a runner who strength trains (And if you’re a runner, you should strength train.) then this piece from Alex Hutchinson’s Sweat Science column at Runner’s World is very much up your alley. It’s titled When to Stop Strength Training. He discusses research from the Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, Here’s the big rock you should know (emphasis is mine):

What you’re looking at is the change in muscular power after resistance training was halted, based on meta-analysis of 103 studies. Note that power is different from absolute strength — power is your ability to deliver large amounts of force in a short period of time, which is often more relevant to athletic performance than plain strength is. And the interesting thing to note is that, 8 to 14 days after stopping, power appears to be a little higher than it was during training, though it’s not statistically significant. (The graph for strength, which I didn’t show, starts declining immediately.)

Speculation aside, if you’re an endurance athlete who includes resistance training in your regimen, you have to eliminate or reduce it at some point before race day. The graph above suggests that one to two weeks in advance might be an interesting time to stop.

 Running technique & mirror neurons: Watch and learn

Humans are visually-oritented people. We primarily learn by watching and imitating others around us. (Why did you ever decide to walk?  Did someone propose the idea to you? Did you come upon the idea of walking from a book you read? No. You decided to give walking a shot because you looked around and saw a bunch of other people doing it.) Mirror neurons are the specialized structures in our nervous system that enable our learn-by-watching process.

The cool thing is that we can improve our skills by watching other people do things. I’ve watched skiing videos to improve my turns and I’ve watched mountain biking videos to improve my switchback riding. We can improve our running technique the same way.

There are a lot of youtube videos out there on running technique and I’ve found a couple that are fairly informative and somewhat entertaining. These videos are a slightly funny compliation of 80s instructional video, current running analysis and in one clip we see vintage black & white footage of the great Roger Bannister, the man who first broke the 4-minute-mile barrier.