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Conventional
Wisdom is Wrong.
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By Jason Gootman and Will Kirousis
As featured in the December 2002 issue of Running Times
Magazine
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It is well known that the use of resistance training can
improve performance and reduce the occurrence of injuries to runners. But what type of resistance training? Conventional wisdom
points the runner to a weight machine: Bench press is a great exercise for the
chest muscles, leg extensions are great for the quadriceps muscles, etc.
Conventional wisdom is wrong.
If your goal is too improve your running and become
stronger and healthier, it is time to look at conditioning from a new
perspective. In life and in sports, your goal is to MOVE. Running is the purest
example of this: your job is to move from point A to point B as effectively as
possible via muscular movement. If this is your objective, your conditioning
should reflect this goal.
The problem with the bench press, leg extensions and what
has been the resistance training norm for decades, is that the emphasis is on
training the muscles. The goal is either to increase the size of the muscles or
improve their shape (i.e. "toning" and "sculpting").
Increased muscle size alone, however, will not improve performance and
toning/sculpting is not a physiological reality.
In order to improve your health and your running
performance, your training should be geared towards increasing your ability to
move. In other words, do not train muscles, train motion patterns. Let’s take a
look at a few of the important characteristics of the motion patterns we
perform in life and in sports, and see how they differ from the motion patterns
of traditional weight training:
Relatively fast motion speeds.
The old norm is "slow and controlled," "work
the muscle," "feel the burn"—all intended to instruct you to
move very slowly to work on the development of one isolated muscle group. Real
life motion, however, involves relatively fast speeds of motion. In running,
the period of time from heel strike to toe off takes less than one second,
requiring very rapid muscular contractions.
Integrated, not isolated motion.
Consider the biceps curl. Its purpose is to
"isolate" and "work" the biceps muscle. When running a 10K,
kayaking through rapids, or mountain biking up a hill, do you ever stop,
isolate one muscle and do a slow contraction for it? That’s a rhetorical
question—YOU DON’T.
In sports and in life, you NEVER isolate one muscle or
muscle group to perform motion. Activity is performed using the entire body, or
most of it, in one integrated, not isolated, fashion.
Single-leg dominance.
In life and in sports, we are almost always either
decelerating or accelerating off of one leg only. Never is this more clear than
in running. NEVER are both feet on the ground when a runner is moving.
Traditional exercises, however, often utilize both legs or both arms in a
combined effort.
Free standing and unsupported.
Motion in life and in sports occurs only through the
integrated functioning of your skeleton, your muscles, and your nervous system.
The old norm is the use of fancy machines that support your body while you push
or pull with your arms or legs on some sort of a pulley system. The problem with
this is that it allows the muscles that help to stabilize the body to
completely rest, and therefore not develop. In contrast, free standing
exercises require you to complete motion using your entire body in synergy just
as you do in real life and in sports.
Real life activities and sport activities require much more
than muscular strength. They require the ability to apply varying degrees of
force while completing complex activities like running down a rocky trail, rock
climbing a tricky face, etc. There are no machines or benches to support you
during running and other activities. Exercises that require you to balance your
body and move in complex patterns better prepare you for the demands of sports.
Rely on a strong core.
We define the core as everything from the bottom of your
pelvis to the top of your shoulders. Basically it is your middle. All motion in
real life and sports depends on a strong core. The norm in resistance training
is to focus primarily on the arms and legs. Your arms and legs will get you
nowhere if your core is weak. Exercises that meet the characteristics described
thus far all stimulate development of a strong core.
Exercise Selection
To improve stability, power and coordination while
optimizing the transfer of these skills to running, your movement training
should NOT be centered on the amount of weight lifted or individual muscles
trained. Instead, you should structure your movement training around exercises
that do not involve support from machines, seats or benches, and require you to
generate power while challenging coordination at sport specific speeds.
Making activities more complex and performing them at
"real world" or faster speeds allows you to condition your body to
function as a single, strong unit. The core or trunk of your body will develop
in concert with your limbs, and your movement skill will tremendously improve,
resulting in significantly more economical running.
Your resistance training should follow the same rationale
as your sport specific training. Do the least amount of training that elicits
positive change. Resistance training workouts should never be longer than 50
minutes. If they are, you are doing TOO MUCH volume.
There are literally hundreds of great exercises that fit
into the category of movement-based resistance training that will help your
running. Here we offer five great ones to get you started:
1) Gymball Pushup
This is a modification of the classic pushup using a
Gymball. If used correctly, balls are great tools because they are UNSTABLE,
creating the opposite effect than a machine does. A ball requires your body to
work very hard to stabilize itself while performing motion—just like in real
life.
Place both feet on the Gymball and position yourself in the
standard pushup position. Lower your chest and head to the floor, contracting
the muscles in your torso so that your your belly button doesn’t sag to the
floor. Press your hands into the floor and extend back up to the starting
position. Repeat for 8-10 repetitions. A more challenging version of this
exercise can be performed by using only one leg on the Gymball, as in the third
picture.
2) Bertha
This is one of the best exercises for all athletes,
requiring considerable strength in the core as well as a high amount of
coordination.
Start from a standing position with a medicine ball or
dumbbell at waist level. Diagonally swing (at a speed and through a range of
motion you are comfortable with) the medicine ball to the outside of your
ankle, across your midline, and upward, by extending the knees, hip, trunk and
shoulder, while rotating. Finally, the ball should be over the shoulder
opposite the ankle it started next to. Lower the weight and perform the next
repetition to the opposite side of your body. Repeat for 8-10 repetitions on
each side.
3) Single Leg Squat
This is another of the best exercises for all athletes. The
single leg squat develops power, balance and coordination. This will be much
more challenging for you than a two-legged squat, and much more closely mimics
the demands of running.
Stand on one leg. Flex opposite hip to about 90 degrees as
shown in the picture (thigh is parallel to the floor). By bending at the hip,
knee and ankle, squat down to the floor. Try to bring your upper foot to the
floor. Extend back to the start position. Repeat for 8-10 repetitions with each
leg.
4) Gymball Bridge Extension
This is a great exercise to strengthen the legs in a way
that has direct transfer to running, requiring considerable help from
stabilizing musculature—especially when performed with one leg.
Lay on your back and place both feet on the Gymball. Press
your feet downward into the Gymball until your hips are in line with your
torso. Lower your hips to the floor and repeat. Continue for 8-10 repetitions.
A more challenging version of this exercise can be performed by using only one
leg on the Gymball as in the third picture.
5) Single Leg Row
This exercise is very challenging. You are performing a
pulling, rowing type motion while balancing on one leg. This is a great way to
train power, balance and coordination.
Standing on one leg, 3-4 feet from a handle attached to a
weighted cable or flexible tubing, bend at the hips keeping the torso flat, but
slightly rotated. Grasp the handle with the same arm as the foot you are
standing on. Bring the cable/tubing to tension by slightly extending the
hip—keep your knee bent at all times during the exercise. By extending at the
hips, rotating the trunk, and pulling the elbow back (similar to starting a
lawnmower) pull the cable/tubing at a steady realistic speed. When you have
brought the cable/tubing through the longest comfortable range of motion,
reverse the motion and return to your starting point. Repeat for 8-10
repetitions with each arm/leg combination. For variation, you can perform this
exercise while standing on one leg and rowing with the opposite arm (not
shown).
Jason Gootman, MS, CSCS and Will Kirousis, BS, CSCS operate
Tri-Hard Sports Conditioning Systems (www.tri-hard.com) and are authors of the
book, Movement Training—The Manual. They are certified by the National Strength
and Conditioning Association (NSCA).
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