Jessi Stensland - Adventures in Endurance Performance

Q + A // Thoughts on Running Barefoot

An "Ask Jessi" email exchange:

Lisa P writes...

I see on the MovementU videos that you do many of your drills and training barefoot. What are your thoughts on barefoot running?

PERFORMANCE POV answer...

Thanks for the inquiry!  Great question.

I don’t work within the confines of a label such as barefoot running.  What I like to focus on is making  sure that the foot, specifically the muscles of the foot/ankle, are trained properly, allowing them to do the job they are designed to do.  I do all of my movement sessions and as much of my running drills as possible without shoes (given ground temps and other inhibitors), so I can have a better feel for my contact with the ground, and be more in tune to the movement/strength of my foot contact to the ground.  I want to be confident in my body, including my foot/ankle which is part of the total body movement that is running.  Our muscles and movement, have so much more power than any shoe.  Therefore, for about 7 years now, after being the athlete that thought there was only one shoe that worked for my feet, it hasn’t mattered what minimal shoe I put on, I am confident in my mechanics as my full body hits the ground.  As for actually running barefoot, if the surface is natural enough, awesome.  If I haven’t spent enough time running around on rocks like the Tarahumara in Born to Run and my own footbed can’t handle it, I’m not going to suffer, I’m going to wear a shoe, but a minimal one that I’m confident won’t inhibit my mechanics at all.  Thoughts?

THE REPLY...

Makes sense. Great advice that I will incorporate into my training. Unfortunately some bad choices in my barefoot running experience may or may not have contributed to a 2nd metatarsal fracture that I am currently recovering from.  Lesson learned and train smarter is all I can do.
 

I do however want to thank you for your inspiration and much needed voice in the world of endurance sports (aka LIFE!).  Focusing on form, technique and the body as a whole is key and from the other side of the fence for the first time in my life I am learning the wisdom of the old song:   "the shin bones connected to the leg bone the leg bones connected to the hip bone..."

After "finding you" via TRX (which I LOVE!) I explored MovementU and Core Performance to see whats up with this?  All I can say is thank you, thank you, thank you.  After cancelling my last two events of the year I plan to spend the fall/winter TAKING CARE OF MY BODY VIA TRAINING INSTEAD OF BEATING IT UP!   Already 2 weeks into core performance and focusing on what I can do I feel like I finally found what my body needs and will benefit from so that I can enjoy training, racing and most important living. Thanks again!

MY REPLY...

YOU GO GIRL!!!  Smile on...

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NOTE:  It seems a blog on just how to prepare the body to run confidently is in order.  Keep an eye out for it.

PERFORMANCE POV // Three Conversations

Three conversations...as they happened last Thursday at the track. 

#1: A hop, skip, and a jump to...a better transition??

During my movement preparation before the workout, I was integrating a couple of reps of lateral bounds with a mind-band around my knees.  The starting position for this movement is: balanced on one leg in a slightly squatted position. From there I jump off of that leg and land as quiet and controlled as I can on my opposite leg, finishing the movement in a slightly squatted position, then holding that end position for a moment.  A gentleman was watching and after a couple reps said, "What are you training for?"  I said, as I usually do, "Life...and running." "Really?  Running?  I've never seen that before."  [No surprise...I've been hearing that for seven years now.]  "Seems like that would be good for transitions." "Transitions?" I said, not sure if I'd heard it right." "Yeah, transitions.  Like when you have to balance and pull off the wetsuit or put your shoes on one at a time. I have to hold on to something when I do that."  "But what about in running?" I said, and pointed to a runner running around the track, and then said something along the lines about the very definition of running (vs walking) means that only one foot is on the ground at a time."  He wasn't phased.  "Well I ran 2:16," he said. "In the marathon?" He continued, "Yeah.  Didn't seem to hurt me much [then.]  Well, that was a long time ago."  We then said goodbyes and he gingerly took off for his jogging cool down and I put the finishing touches on my warm-up before joining the group for some intervals.

Performance POV // At some instant in your running stride you are on one foot.  What happens in the next instant?  You can, and should be in control of that.  The ability to balance on one leg strongly, sturdily, relaxed, is PARAMOUNT to injury-resistant and powerful running.  The ability to hop, or bound, on one leg strongly, sturdily, with confidence and coordination is also PARAMOUNT to injury-resistant and powerful running.

So often its the number of minutes or miles that are considered milestones in running, but ultimately it is muscles that make up movements and multiple movements make up running.  Can you balance on one leg?  Effortlessly? How about squat jump from one leg to the next?   Coordinated?  Stable?  Strong? Powerfully?  Let me ask you one more question.  Do you want to have control over whether you get injured or not?  How about eliminate chronic pain?   Insure yourself.  Train to achieve milestones that matter most, not with more time, but as a priority within the time you've already got.

#2:  Learn how to run?  I can't, I have 80 miles to ride.

Just after finishing the final interval, another gentleman came by me and said, "I could watch you run all day long.  I wish I could run like you." After thanking him I said, "What are you doing on Feb 13th?" "I'm running the half-marathon on the 14th," he said.  I mentioned that I'll be teaching a workshop about running and performance that day. "I have to ride 80 miles that day.  I'm training for California 70.3." He said as he jogged away.

Performance POV // I don't think he believed he COULD, ever, run like me and so he didn't entertain the thought or the impact that learning how to run, could have.  I know he could.  I've seen it 100 times now at MovementU and so have the participants. I'm not the fastest, or the most graceful runner, like those I love to watch:  Haile Gebrselassie and Deena Kastor, for example.  But I know what makes them run that efficiently and fast and I work toward that, piece by piece.  What I believe he saw was my symmetry, coordination, strength and power. THAT'S what makes up my running. I don't run a lot to run the way I do, I use my time to work on many things that add up to running.  I work on symmetry, coordination, stability and strength in order to HAVE symmetry, coordination, stability and strength.   I want him and others to know that I learned how to run in 2004 and since then I continue to take actionable steps to achieve proper, efficient running form. EVERY day.  I'm not the fastest, but I'm fast for the amount of time I have to spend on it, and  I've been free of chronic pain and injury for seven years because of it.  Sure there was a time when I ran very fast and efficiently without knowing much about running or the body, but as time went on little asymmetries got bigger, muscle weaknesses got weaker and I got injured.  If I hadn't learned how the body, or more precisely, the muscles of the body, were "born to run," I would've been one of those defeated 27 year-olds going around saying, "No, I can't run anymore...my knees."  I want everyone to know that it is possible to learn and create the change you wish to see in YOU.  

#3: Of course I'm OK! [But thanks for asking...]

After the workout I went back to my area where my towel was still laid out with my gear.  I laid down, grabbed my stretch rope with a smile, and I heard, "Are you ok?" I think I heard him right, but I just wanted to make sure. I asked, "Sorry, what?" He repeated, "Everything ok?" and then gestured to my rope wrapped around my foot as I was doing my usual AIS stretching on my legs.  "Yes, thanks."

Performance POV // I'm not sure if I said the next bit out loud or not but I was thinking, "I do this so I'm NEVER not ok!!" I'm on a mission to get more people understanding the body and being proactive with their time and achieving their best performances, instead of reactive once injuries occur.

If you'd like to learn more about you and your body's role in your running efficiency and injury resistance, come join us at MovementU!!

Performance POV // Coincidence? I think not.

For a while now I've been seeing asymmetries and imbalances in my own body and everyone elses as well, both on a macro and micro scale, almost to a point where I wish I could shut it off at times.  It has come with the body awareness I've been honing and training with since 2004.  The photos below show the change I've seen in my body as a result of my functional performance training I began in 2004.  Since then I have not had a single chronic injury and my times have dropped significantly.  Coincidence, I think not.  The photo on the left is from the 1999 ITU World Championships in Montreal, Canada.  I ran a 39:30 10K, won the silver medal in my age-group and was 5th amateur overall.  The photo on the right is from a triathlon in 2005.  I ran 37:00 for my 10K off the bike.

I've also been, from time to time, looking at elite running race photos and putting "bets" on who won the race based solely on the degree of asymmetry.  My guesses have been right 100% of the time. 

Here is a photo from one of the most riveting and memorable race finishes from the sport of triathlon this year.  You may have seen it already.  Six of the best runners on the planet in the sport of triathlon vying for one of the world's largest prize purses in the sport this past June. 

Can you guess who won the race below, if you don't already know? 

It's been said before, I'll say it again.  Find cause and effect where others find coincidence.

Look closer. 

 

The athlete running in the straightest line (linearly and laterally), Simon Whitfield of Canada, won.  Coincidence?  I think not.  Nor do I believe it is a coincidence that Kahlefeldt (AUS) was second.

Kris Gemmell (NZL) made a comment on the photo about that being the last time he loses by a bird's pecker (or some similar kiwi colloquialism.)  Kris - I'm curious to know what you're working on to close that gap...I know you can!

It is, of course, one thing to point out what is wrong and another thing to point out why its wrong and offer solid solutions to correct it.  Dr. Joe Torg has been considered a top authority on running injuries as the co-author of the book, The Running Athlete, the definitive radiographic analysis of every conceivable running injury.  He can tell you, with utmost precision what part of the body is injured.  He is also quoted as telling Christopher McDougall, author of Born to Run, who wanted to run longer than 2-3 miles at a time without pain that, "The body is not designed for that kind of abuse." [Excerpts from Born To Run by McDougall.]

Times are changing.  Be a part of it!!  Form and function are taking the spotlight.  Injuries are not something to cope with but to avoid with specific actionable steps.   There are elements to performance that many athletes have yet to take into consideration in their efforts, greatly minimizing their ability to tap into their true performance potential.

Whether for injury resistance or performance, the same principles apply. But you've gotta understand them and apply them day to day for yourself.  Eliminate the guess work and implement a strategic, time efficient, performance maximizing plan and you'll be able to replace unnecessary injuries and unnecessary pain with fun long lasting memories for a really long time.

MovementU was created for this purpose...change is in the air : ) 

Move well!!

Performance POV // DON'T 'BRACE' YOURSELF

Yesterday I joined a local training group for a hard core boot-camp style workout on the beach.  We were pinching ourselves that this workout venue is minutes away from our home and work places.  Such an amazing way to start the day!

One of the drills we were given was 50 yards of bear crawls.  Bear crawls are when you bend forward at the waist, put both hands and both feet on the ground, keep your hips high and walk forward on all fours.  While doing my first set, I noticed my wrists were not happy.  They were definitley irritated from being in that position and being worked as they were.  My thoughts when that was happening: "Wow, that's right, I haven't been using my wrists this way for a while!  This is great that they're getting worked!"  Although it wasn't comfortable, I knew why, and since I was aware that they were not getting 'injured' with what I was doing with them I embraced the discomfort and told myself I'd better get back to doing my pillar bridges, push-ups and handwalks ASAP!

That said, upon finishing that part of the workout, I overheard another athlete mention to the coach that his wrists hurt doing the bear crawls.  The coach's advice? "Make a fist. Keep your wrists straight.  Do them that way. It won't hurt." A moment later I caught this athlete's eye and asked simply, "Have you put your wrist in that position at all lately?"  Immediately a smile came on his face and he knowingly said, "No." I didn't even have to say another word.  He said, "I get it."  I told him I'd felt the same in my wrists and what my thought process was.  

The cause of this very healthy, young person's pain was some immobility in his wrist.  The advice he was given was to immobilize it further, practically like putting a cast or a brace on it.  If you've ever had a cast on you know how stiff joints become.  When the cast is taken off it's not that the muscles or joints are injured, they simply ache because they haven't been moved in a while.  They WANT to move and little by little will move well again, IF you make them move. 

This is a perfect example of why its important to continue to actively move your body, with purpose, and understand all the ways it needs to be challenged regularly, so that it can move however you want and need it to all life long!

Think of ways in which you might 'brace' yourself, when what you might really need to do is to move (with understanding, purpose and precision of course.)  Spend a moment finding a reason and a solution for your pain instead of taking the easy way out and compensating for it, which only leads to confusion down the road as to what the heart of the problem was in the first place.  Choice of running shoes and/or orthodics, as well as decisions about bike position are some of the major ways in which endurance athletes tend to make decisions around what their body CAN'T do at the moment, and 'brace' themselves in those positions, instead of finding more sustainable, injury resistant, efficient and biomechanically correct solutions within the body itself, for their best performance.

Something like Core Performance's Movement Prep or incorporating yoga movements into your weekly regimen are great ways to make sure you maintain mobility, strength and stability in your bod.

Move well!

PERFORMANCE POV // Running Efficiently Downhill

The first time I remember flying by people while running downhill in a race was at the 2008 Wildflower Triathlon Festival during that infamous two kilometer downhill to the finish. It wasn’t until a second experience, during the XTERRA Boney Mountain Xduro 21k earlier this year when the same thing happened on multiple steep, long downhills throughout the race, that I started wondering why I was able to go so much faster downhill relative to everyone else on the course and consequently started questioning: what makes a good downhill runner?  Immediately, of course, my mind started to wonder about the body’s involvement.  What was it that was allowing me this ‘free speed’ and what were other athletes doing that caused them to be unable to take advantage of it and even find themselves having to fight gravity, instead of using it?

Running downhill wasn't always a strength of mine.  Interestingly enough, looking back on my races against other pro triathletes, I remember one athlete in particular, who blew by me one day on a downhill on the LA Triathlon run course. I remember thinking something like “Wow. How is she doing that?” and I’m pretty sure my mind probably stopped at something like: “She’s just better at it,” without giving a second thought as to why. That was before I had started to understand the body’s role in my performance.  Now I understand that there are specific movement efficiency related reasons to all performance outcomes.

The foundations of efficient downhill running are not unlike running on flat ground.  In running, the foot hits the ground with a certain amount of force and the better the body is at scooping that energy back up as the foot leaves the ground and not letting it ‘leak out’, the more efficient, fast and powerful running can be. 

In efficient downhill running, gravity is your friend.  More often than not however the body is unable to handle the momentum, and in many cases, is forced to put on the brakes to maintain control down the hill. Double whammy!  This means a runner will miss out on the advantage of gravity, and will actually have to use some of their energy to fight the force that’s could be helping them downhill!

There are a few factors I believe that come into play during efficient downhill running. It’s not about a different style of running than when on flat ground.  Think about it as maintaining your running mechanics and “keeping your legs under you” as long as you can at the highest speed you can handle. To do so you need proper running mechanics, key muscles activated, stability through your joints and strong, elastic muscles.

1.    PROPER RUNNING MECHANICS 

As in all running, the foundation of running efficiently downhill relies upon maintain tall posture and a strong circular motion of the legs underneath the body which means, in its simplest terms, lifting the knees out in front, footstriking directly beneath the body and then pulling the heel back around to start again.  In general, I see many people running lower-leg dominant instead of from their hips, with minimal knee raise. This alone would greatly reduce the ability to keep up with momentum while running downhill and certainly make it necessary to ‘put on the brakes’ very early on.

2.    ABS AND GLUTES ACTIVATING

In any type of movement, including running, the abdominals and the glutes are so important to both force production and overall control of the body.  Activating and utilizing them properly throughout running mechanics gives the body much greater control over the legs.  It also minimizes the impact on the quadriceps and knees that so often take most of the beating on downhill running.  Having that control is pivotal in taking advantage of gravity and keeping control over the momentum, especially while having to avoid obstacles if on the trail.  Be sure to integrate core strength and stability work along with glute activation exercises in your training.

3.    JOINT STABILITY

Your ability to maintain stability through your spine, hips, knees and ankles during each step will be key to controlling you body’s direction and forward speed as you hit the ground.  Having strong muscles surrounding the joints that can coordinate efficient movements between the hips, knees and ankles is key.  To increase your joint stability, combine single and double leg strength and balance exercises that challenge both linear and lateral movements.  Especially for extreme trail running, being able to be stable during those quick changes in direction is not only great for preventing injury, but helps with quickness and agility.

4.    ELASTICITY

Elasticity is one of the most overlooked elements of endurance performance and I would consider it like icing on the cake for downhill running. “Think of your body as a pogo stick.  The metal framework is analogous to your pillar and the springs are like your muscles.  We want our bodies to be able to store and release energy powerfully, just like that pogo stick.  [Elasticity] is like your body’s shocks and springs.” writes Mark Verstegen in the book Core Performance.  You can also think of elasticity as how fast your body is capable of changing the direction of force.  In tennis it might be a lateral move to get back across the court.  In running it would be how quickly you can get your foot off the ground once it hits, ideally while scooping up all the force you hit with and bringing it all with you into your next stride.  It is pivotal to being able to “keep your legs under you” as mentioned earlier.  You can train the body to be elastic with explosive exercises, like jumps and bounds, and specific running drills.  Opt for fewer reps and make perfect form a priority.

The following video of Chris McCormack enroute to his win at the 2008 Wildflower Long Course Triathlon exemplifies great downhill running.  Chris and Eneko Llanos were shoulder to shoulder, both with incredible running form as they approached the final 2km downhill to the finish line.   On the downhill Chris easily pulls away from Eneko to win.  If you watch closely (pausing the video from time to time helps) you'll see Chris continue to keep his running form intact.  He keeps his knees high which allow him to maintain his long running stride down the hill while Eneko's stride shortens.  Eneko's knees are not getting as high, so as he extends his leg in his stride, his foot hits the ground sooner than it expects to and there's a bit of a braking effect and definite loss of momentum every stride.  What's interesting is that  in the video Chris describes his mindset as he's running down the hill in that race and he mentions "forgetting about his technique." Yet you can see that doesn't mean "let the technique go".  It's called being "unconsciously competent" and I'd imagine in this case it's due to not to luck but perfect practice making perfect...

Practice smart.  Here’s to free speed!  Enjoy. 

Performance POV // Misconceptions about running

Here are three statements I've heard over the years, from all levels of athletes, that have made me cringe.  I've been thankful to have known differently and have always wanted others to know the same, whether they are looking to set a personal best, dealing with injury, or just believe they "can't run anymore."  There's a good chance I would not be running today, certainly to this level, let alone racing, if the following were true.

 

1. Injuries are inevitable and/or unavoidable and/or just a part of the sport.
2. If you want to run faster, run more and run faster.
3. Running is basically a technique-free sport.

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1.  Injuries are inevitable?

 

Change that to:  Injuries are avoidable.  By taking responsibility for your actions, your body and your movements and committing some of your training time to creating injury resistance within your body, you can avoid chronic injury 100% and minimize your chances of acute injuries as well with increased body awareness, coordination and quickness of movement.

 

2.  If you want to run faster run faster?

If you want to run faster, more often than not you'll benefit most from learning how you can be more efficient with your efforts every stride. Less efficiency = more energy leaking.  Running farther = even more energy leaking, more pounding on the body, and greater chance of injury.  Running faster can force the body into somewhat better running mechanics naturally, however it is not the cure all for inefficiencies in your running and will only get you so much faster and who knows for how long. 

 

3.  Running is technique-free?

I've updated this answer since first posting it in 2009. Previously I mentioned that running is highly technical.  Well yes, if we breakdown the physiology there's a lot going on there.  However, it is true: the body was born to run. It's true: those runners like the Tarahumara in Mexico who've had to 'run for their lives' all their life probably have near perfect form and haven't had to think twice about it. They've reinforced that movement pattern daily since they could walk. On the flip side, in our modern society, we've done everything but run for our lives.  Sitting is rampant, as is wearing shoes, all day long, that act like casts, and wearing orthodics that in all but a few instances have only served to weaken the foot.    It's at this point that the body is often incapable of running the way it was born to run.  So now what?  You have a couple options depending on how you learn and what motivates you.  You may enjoy learning what proper running technique requires and learning where your body is currently limited in motion, strength, elasticity and implement a complete, movement-based training program that works on your weaknesses and your movement as well as your conditioning so that your body becomes more capable of a natural movement.  Ideally, when your brain commands your body to run, it will be able to accomplish the hardwired task.  Others may just want to jump into a great movement routine, see their body get longer, stronger, leaner, more elastic and simply watch their running form change as they do so, because it will.  I believe that most people in this information age would be empowered by knowing the basics about running technique so that they may continue to implement stratagies to maintain that standard as movement quality in life may fluctuate for one reason or another and need to be revitalized at times.

Much like swimming, running is heavily driven by body position, mechanics, technique and efficient power production along the ground.  Just as simply moving your arms and your legs around in the water does not constitute swimming (as it pertains to the sport,) the same goes for running.  Understanding even the most basic running mechanics, being deliberate with movements during running, and ultimately getting back to being unconsciously competent is key to more efficient, injury resistant and, i'll say it again, FUN, running. 

Think about it...then spread the word!  : )

Performance POV // Four Fundamental Movements

Here are four movements that I consider fundamental to injury resistance and performance that I have recently witnessed athletes unable to do. Can you?

1. Back bend
2. Single leg balance
3. Squat jump
4. 90/90 stretch

THE BACK BEND

I ran with a local running group not too long ago. After the run I was taking them through some functional stretching. One thing I’ve come to like to throw into my routine, which I’ve borrowed from the sun salutation in Ashtanga Yoga, is the back bend. The sun salutation starts standing and the first movement is to put your arms straight overhead and reach backward, creating a fluid bend in your back, your whole back that is: upper (cervical), middle (thoracic) and/or lower (lumbar) in order to lenthen the entire front side of the body including the abdominals, the lats, the hip flexors and more.

Watching the runners attempt a back bend was painful to watch. The majority of them were standing, with hands on their hips and their back bend was barely anything more than a simple tilt back of the head at the neck though it looked like they were really trying, and possibly even feeling, like they were doing a back bend.

Tightness in muscles like the pecs, abs and hip flexors on the front side of the body is often the problem.  Dehydration, poor posture during the day along with long periods of sitting can make movement a challenge unless specific effort is put toward maintaining the the quality, length and strength of your tissues. Proper hydration, some self-massage as well as incorporating movements throughout the day such back flexion and extension while on the floor on all fours or lying face up on a physioball allowing your body to fully extend.  Yoga's cobra pose and downward dog are also great options.

SINGLE LEG BALANCE

One day a friend of mine, 2:13 marathoner, finally gave in to my continuous chatter about “core stuff” as he called it, and let me take him through a couple basic principles and movements. We didn’t get far.

I asked him to balance on one leg: standing with one foot on the floor and the other raised at the hip with the knee bent at 90 degrees and ankle dorsiflexed (pulled up toward the shin) as in running.

He couldn’t. He tried and tried.

Finally he gave up and said, “What does it matter? I can run a 2:20 marathon out the door, right now.” He did not end up finishing his key race that year due to a related injury.

Simple answer. Number one: You have no guarantee that you’ll stay injury free to even get to the start line or finish the race. That’s no fun! Balance, stability, and all the rest are a big part of an injury resistant body. It’s completely possible to achieve that for yourself. The bonus is, the training that helps with injury resistance is the same training that makes you more efficient and therefore more powerful as an athlete. They go hand in hand. So answer number two is: You could be running 2:20 with less effort OR running faster with the same effort.

Win-win-win situation!

Can you?  Not only balance, but keep an eye on your posture and alignment of your shoulders, hips, knees and ankles.  Are they symmetrical? Tilted? Aligned?

As importantly, the next step necessary for efficient performance, would be doing a proper one-leg balance squat. One that is functional, in control, and with your body weight properly dispersed from your head to your toes.

Finally, mastering efficient and stable one leg elastic exercises, like the single-leg linear box hop is key to overall injury resistance and performance, especially in ground-reaction type sports like running.

SQUAT JUMP

The other day my cousin, just prior to shipping out to start his Air Force Special Tactics Officer training for the next two years, took me through my very first full kettle bell workout. He was a great instructor. He taught me the moves and the principles behind them. It was a great workout. Just after we finished, I was thinking about how, if I was to think about this workout from a Performance POV it was obvious that the major thing that was missing to make this a complete workout was some elasticity. We had incorporated some flexibility, mobility, strength, stability and even some cardio, but nothing elastic. I mentioned this to him and he was game for doing some. Squat jumps are a great way to get a quick set of elastic movement into a workout and keep that system fired up for you.

My cousin is incredibly strong, smart and athletic. We had just done upwards of 100 kettle bell two-arm swings and yet he could not coordinate a squat jump. I was surprised, but not really. Nothing surprises me anymore! The movement, although seemingly simple, requires triple extension of the hips, knees and ankles. When done properly, the power and coordination comes primarily from the hips and glutes not from the legs. It should be initiated through the hips and followed through by coordinating the extension of the knees and ankles to do the movement properly with the least amount of effort and the most power. Typically people think of their legs when they go to perform a movement like this, however it’s much harder and less powerful trying to control the entire body with the legs than it is the legs with the body.

90/90 STRETCH

This came up because I had overheard a triathlete asking a local triathlon coach about how to rotate better in the water while swimming. After she got some advice on drills to do in the water, I asked her to come over and do a 90/90 stretch which is a great way to see how much rotation you have in the spine under a bit of a load (similar to rotating from the hips and then pulling in the water.) She had none. No kidding. Yes, the spine could rotate, so she had mobility, but when asked to maintain some pressure at her knees and shoulders, there was zero rotational stability and strength.

Remember it’s the body that is doing the sport. Proper technique can only be achieved with a body that’s capable of performing the proper technique and this, more often than not can and should be achieved on land regardless of sport. You may feel what you think is rotation, but rotating your whole body from side to side is not what you’re looking for. Rotating through the spine will help you swim more efficiently.

Go move well!!

PERFORMANCE POV // AT THE TRACK

I observe things all the time in endurance sports workouts, at the gym or elsewhere, that either completely miss the boat of performance efficiency or make a really good effort, but maybe miss a simple principle that takes away from the rest of the effort in a major way.  Best performance comes from understanding and implementing all of the elements together to make one injury resistant, efficient, powerful body that's capable of doing work.  I'm going to call these blogs:  Performance POVs.  In other words: observations on day to day happenings from the point of view of true performance and movement efficiency.

This Performance POV is based on observations from two track workouts I did recently with two different triathlon teams. 

Doing running drills as part of the workout = GREAT
Doing them mediocre or wrong = A WASTE OF TIME
DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME

1.  Hurdle drills are great for joint mobility and muscle elasticity when done correctly.  What I saw was athletes crunching at the waist, hunching their back over, neglecting their posture and any power through their pillar just to get their leg over the hurdle in a somewhat sloppy sing-songy kind of cadence.  Posture should be the number one priority in any exercise if you want to maximize your efforts.  In this case you could lower the hurdles or do skipping drills that allow you to maintain great posture.

2.  Running form drills are great when done correctly.  What I saw was athletes sent out for 2 loops of the track, doing a drill on the straights and jogging through the curves.  Coaches weren't coaching and athletes (on the whole) were chit chatting away not focused on their body or the drill. Here's my thoughts: drills should be purposeful, coached, and run over shorter distances so attention can stay focused on the drill at hand.  It gets hard to maintain good form with drills over long distances.  It's a coaches job to understand how to coach the drills given to athletes and coach them through it. Athletes if you want to make the most of your time, focus on your body and the running drill, don't chit chat. 

Defining "WARM-UP"

Picture a group of athletes, having been doing running drills for at least 30 minutes, sweating, hearts racing, looking at each other like, "I'm WORKED! And we haven't even gotten to the track workout yet!"  I was stoked to see the running drills not only incorporated but actually taught, and taught well.  Then there came what I've come to call a "so close and yet so far" moment. The coach asks: "How many of you warmed-up [meaning jogged] for 30 minutes? 20 minutes? 10 minutes or less?" Most people raised their hands for 10 min or less.  At this point the group was scolded for not having warmed-up enough.  I thought, oh geez, really?  These athletes are not "warmed-up" enough? Ha!

Is warm-up defined as simply jog for 20 minutes?  Maybe its to "get your heart rate up."

If you understand running, you understand that there's a whole lot more to your performance than higher than average heart rate.  Posture, glute activation, joint mobility, stability, elasticity, strength and proper running mechanics all go into every running step you take.  Those athletes in that track workout had done all of that and yet were being told they hadn't warmed up enough.

The term warm-up is a bit one-dimensional.  I prefer to "prepare my body to move" and give some physiological purpose to my preparation.  My movement preparation involves little running.  I prefer spending my 10-20 minutes with functional exercises, running drills, and a few strides.  Even 5 minutes of it does a body good.

I"ll follow up with a blog on movement preparation later this week.

More PERFORMANCE POVs to come.