Category Archives: Endurance Training
Prevention and Treatment of Running Injuries
Whether you are a seasoned runner or new to the sport, every time you run the tissues in your lower body, pelvis, trunk and even your shoulders and neck, are subject to a stress load that will either make you stronger or break you down, depending on your running technique, training adjuncts and recovery efforts.
No one ever got stronger during a workout; it is only after hard work that your fitness and injury prevention capacity evolves. The stress placed on your body during running stimulates a healing reaction from the body that will result in a “shoring” up of the tissue as your body attempts to get stronger and better able to tolerate the load. If you help your body adapt to the stress by following the science of warm up and recovery you become stronger and more resilient to injury.
Before workouts
Hydration and Nutrition: Recovery efforts need to begin before your run even starts. Be sure you are well hydrated and nourished going into all workouts. You must have taken in calories in the form of a meal or snack within two hours of the start of your run and be sure your are drinking regularly throughout the day.
Stretching: is an essential part of your warm up. Stretching muscles and connective tissue structures (tendons ligaments and fascia) to their normal resting length will allow for proper running mechanics and makes them less susceptible to the stress involved with running.
Warm Up: Always begin with a slow pace and take five minutes to build up to your training pace. The slow increase in tissue temperature makes your tissues less susceptible to injury and improves the lubrication of the joints to avoid excess wear and tear to joint surfaces.
During Workouts
Form: Maintain good form throughout your workout by focusing in the three aspects of good mechanics:
- Arm swing: swing the arm as one unit with all movement from the shoulder. Keep your arms tracking at your sides.
- Knee lift: focus on leading your leg swing by lifting the knees in front
- Turn over: keep your feet moving! Cadence is defined at the number of steps you take per minute. A higher step count prevents over striding which is the number one cause of running injuries.
Hydration and Calories: Towards the end of a workout it is important to stay well hydrated and maintain energy stores with adequate calorie intake. This way you are not subjecting yourself to unnecessary stress that will only add to your recovery needs.
Don’t Sprint: Never sprint or pick up your pace at the end of a training run when you are fatigued and most susceptible to muscle and tendon strains. In addition it makes no sense loading your muscles up with lactic acid and before shutting down your circulatory system.
After Workouts
Cool Down: All workouts must end with a “cool down” to flush the waste products from your muscles. This can be as simple as a five minute jog or walk to allow the “muscle pump” to rid the muscles of waste products and assist your recovery.
Nutrition and Hydration: There exists a 15 minute window after your workout that your body is best equipped to take in calories and begin the recovery process. Immediately after runs is when you should begin replenishing the fuel you have spent. Add some protein to the mix and it will jump start the repair of the muscle damage suffered in that workout.
Stretching: Stretching not only helps “wring” the waste products out of your muscles but helps the muscle and tendons “heal” with a functional scarring as they adapt to the stress placed on them in the workout. This is how to toughen your body against injury
Foam Roller: This is the biggest advance in recovery techniques and injury prevention since stretching became a scientific training adjunct. The foam roller flattens the muscles and tendons and breaks adhesions that form as the body attempts to heal and recover from the stress of training. The foam roller also further assists the removal of waste products from the muscle. Tip: after workouts stretch and roll when the tissues temperatures are still elevated. This helps elongate the connective tissues and will make the foam roller experience less painful.
Ice: The “frozen miracle” is great for recovery and limits the inflammation that results when tissues are strained during workouts. Don’t wait for pain to ice! Ice tight and tired muscles and joints to avoid injury and the time you will need to recover when injury occurs.
When Injury Occurs: There is a sport medicine idiom that states that it takes two days of active recovery for every day you run in pain. If you feel pain in the same area of your body twice in any 7 day period, consider yourself uninjured and start immediately to address the problem before it gets worse. Rest alone does not fix running injuries. All rehabilitation efforts must be active, not passive to be effective.
Can you Run with an Injury? If you are having pain in your daily activities you cannot run. If you cannot run pain free, you cannot run (It is not good enough that the pain subsides after you warm up) However, you need to find a cross- training modality that is pain free to maintain your fitness. If your injury is only bothersome with speed work, hills and longer distances you might be able to continue to run as you seek active rehabilitation. First you must check to see if your shoes have broken down, and if so, replace them. Cut your weekly mileage in half, and avoid all higher intensity workouts, i.e. speed work, hills and longer distances. Stretch three times a day, followed by icing with ice cubes and water in a bag (not a gel pack) for twenty minutes each application. If the pain persists, seek immediate evaluation by a qualified clinician with experience treating runners.
By Robert Forster, PT
Phase IV Run Lab Analysis clinic
Wednesday, January 30th, 7:00pm – 9:00pm
> Run Gait Check and Shoe Check
> Flexibility & Posture Screening
> Training Plan Review &
> Nutrition Optimization Class
Strength Training Improves Performance in Endurance Athletes
Journal of Sports Physiology & Performance Article Response :
Weight training for endurance sports remains controversial in spite of a significant body of research that clearly shows its benefits. Many endurance coaches and athletes still believe that weight training will not aide performance in long distance efforts with most of the argument stemming around energy management and the belief that weight training programs leave athletes too fatigued to be able to complete their workouts. At Phase IV we disagree. Our observation is that the most successful coaches in the world find that weight training, when conducted in accordance with sound scientific principles, actually allow athletes to perform much more work in training throughout the season. If coaches would simply allow for the increased time needed to recover from gym workouts in the early season, they will have athletes who can train harder and remain injury free later in the season, when it counts most. These coaches have learned that any training time lost due to recovery from strength work is well worth it. Once athletes adapt to the rigors of weight training their ability to perform work is elevated and they suffer less injury.
The following study expressly describes how resistance training in the gym actually enhances aerobic performance, using cycling as the tested example. Researchers found that cyclists were able to become more efficient at pedaling by adding strength training targeted at the muscles used in the cycling rotation. While endurance training alone does increase performance, supplementing with weight training results in larger gains than endurance training alone.
Int J Sports Physiol Perform. 2012 Dec;7(4):313-21. Cyclists’ improvement of pedaling efficacy and performance after heavy strength training. Hansen EA, Rønnestad BR, Vegge G, Raastad T.
Abstract
The authors tested whether heavy strength training, including hip-flexion exercise, would reduce the extent of the phase in the crank revolution where negative or retarding crank torque occurs. Negative torque normally occurs in the upstroke phase when the leg is lifted by flexing the hip. Eighteen well-trained cyclists either performed 12 wk of heavy strength training in addition to their usual endurance training (E+S; n = 10) or merely continued their usual endurance training during the intervention period (E; n = 8). The strength training consisted of 4 lower body exercises (3 � 4-10 repetition maximum) performed twice a week. E+S enhanced cycling performance by 7%, which was more than in E (P = .02). Performance was determined as average power output in a 5-min all-out trial performed subsequent to 185 min of submaximal cycling. The performance enhancement, which has been reported previously, was here shown to be accompanied by improved pedaling efficacy during the all-out cycling. Thus, E+S shortened the phase where negative crank torque occurs by ~16°, corresponding to ~14%, which was more than in E (P = .002). In conclusion, adding heavy strength training to usual endurance training in well-trained cyclists improves pedaling efficacy during 5-min all-out cycling performed after 185 min of cycling.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23197584?dopt=Abstract
Ready to add resistance training into your exercise program? Phase IV’s expert staff of Physical Therapists and Exercise Physiologists are ready to help you achieve your goals quickly and injury-free! Call 310.582.8212 today for a free Sports Performance Consultation!
Strength Training For Cyclists
Cycling performance comes down to your Power to Body Weight Ratio. The stronger you become, the more power you can generate on your bicycle which translates to increased speed and climbing prowess. The fastest way to increase your Cycling Power is with a scientific strength training program. Strength training allows you to climb at a higher wattage and lower heart rates, making you a more efficient cyclist able to tackle even the most daunting hills.
Cycling and strength training can radically change your life by improving body composition, reducing health risk factors and increasing vitality. Proper strength and flexibility training best facilitates these benefits and is a short cut to achieving these goals!
Learn the science used by pros and successful beginners alike and discover how to increase your Cycling Power. It’s never too late to update your program and start on the proper path to success and enjoyment!
This Lecture Will Teach You:
- How weight training will increase power and make you a better hill climber
- How a personalized strength training program that will make you a better overall cyclist
- The Periodization Strength Training Principles used to train elite athletes to make every workout 100% efficient
- Why your strength training program gets stale after 8 weeks and how to avoid plateaus
- How to increase power & avoid getting big bulky muscles [unless you want to get big]
- Why stretching is critical for performance, injury prevention and recovery
- The dangerous exercises that are common in every gym in America but will hurt and not help
- The approach to strength training that makes it sustainable
Presented by Robert Forster, Physical Therapist, Author, National Spokesperson and Performance Specialist who has helped athletes win 43 Olympic Medals, NBA and Ironman Championships and Grand Slam Titles. He is an avid cyclist and has completed seven of the toughest multi-day cycling events in the world , including the TransAlp Challenge, La Ruta de los Conquistadores in Costa Rica and the B.C. Bike Race.
WHEN: Wednesday, November 28th at 7:00pm
WHERE: Cynergy Cycles – 2300 Santa Monica Blvd., Santa Monica
