“Movement prep and how it applies to your training”

I hope you find this breakdown from Jessi Stensland on how to connect the dots from your movement prep to your cycling and running beneficial.

ABDOMINALS and RUNNING:

Simply stated, strong abdominals serve to stabilize the pelvis and the spine in a neutral, healthy position allowing one to maintain a strong stable base of support from the hips to the head.  Without this, the ability to control the movement of the arms and legs is minimized, and so is one's ability to produce power in movements.  Running with abdominals that are not only strong, but able to stay engaged throughout the entire running motion every stride, over the entire race distance is paramount to pain-free powerful running.  Yet amazingly it is still a distant thought, if its thought of at all, as a component of endurance performance.  It is rarely noted, let alone maximized, in most endurance performance training programs. 

GLUTE MUSCLES AND RUNNING:

The glutes are our strongest movers due to their proximity to our core (short lever arm.) They are built to be the driving force behind purposeful, powerful human movement like that which a proper running stride requires.  They are designed to engage and co-contract with other muscles such as the abdominals and hamstrings in coordiated movements.  In running, it is imperative that the glutes fully engage when in full weight bearing underneath the body, and then co-contract with the hamstring as the leg extends backward in order to propel the body forward powerfully.  Powerful foot placement on the ground followed by powerful hip, knee and ankle extension, is what seems to be sorely, no pun intended, missing from running form amongst the masses these days and especially from the end of the race.  Heel striking, shuffling and minimal hip flexion and extension are still the norm. 

Here are a couple great examples of a powerful stride, not coincidentally two of the fastest runners at the Ironman distance:(And our resident badass Ashish!)

The new question that should be asked is not about proper running form, but how to replicate it and do so for a long period of time. And…why are most people unable to do this, certainly by the end of the run? 

My question to runners of any distance or speed would be: when have you trained your leg to extend fully?  Powerfully?  Often their answer is – they haven't.  

There are many options to incorporate this into training in order that it may be accomplished on the run.  None of these options are new – but few are understood as to their relevance to healthy movement, running in particular.

ABDOMINAL STRENGTH

But not independent of movement.  Meaning, not only "ab/core" work but within coordinated movements, like a glute bridge, squat patterns, lunges, and deadlift patterns in which you must train the abs to keep the hips in neutral(not stressing the lower back) as you flex and extend the hips/knees/ankles in a strong, coordinated pattern, just like you need them to work within your running stride and cycling.  Connect the dots. Everything we do has a purpose and reason how it relates back.  If you are ever in question on how it relates do not hesitate to ask for more explanation.

GLUTE STRENGTH

As mentioned earlier – Glutes are our most powerful movers.  They are the drivers of the extension of the hip, but they have other functions, one of which is to control the rotation of the femur at the hip.  The ability to eliminate that rotation, and keep the hip/knee/ankle in alignment like a piston, instead of flopping around all over the place (often seen at the end of ironman – most noticeably – jiggle legs) is paramount to injury resistance and powerful strides in running.   Activate, strengthen, stabilize with and use…your GLUTES.  Examples of movements are, lucky for us (and not coincidentally,) the same as listed above – glute bridge, single and double leg squats, lunges, dead-lifts (Tuesdays and Fridays that's why we do these) – where the focus is always proper form.  Few reps done right.  The purpose is again not because I think you are going to run on one leg but you do have to independently activate them.  It takes reaching outside the norm and your comfort zone to make progress.

RUNNING DRILLS

It's one thing to do drills its another to do them with focus, precision, and purpose. If you've ever done running drills/movement prep exercises while chit chatting or not understanding the exact reason you're doing them as it will relate to your run/cycling performance – you probably haven't been doing them as purposefully or efficiently as possible. Do them, and do them right.  Why wake up at 5am just to go through the motions?  

DYNAMIC MOVEMENTS + ELASTICITY

Once you've got abdominal and glute strength – it's important to use them to coordinate your movements: parts of the whole which make up great running form.  Incorporating movements like jumps, hops and bounds serve to enhance the elastic qualities of your muscles, help maximize neuromuscular control and coordinate the action of hip/knee/ankle flexion and extension(do those exercises look familiar?). Especially with the goal of maximizing the extension in the leg drive portion of the running stride as mentioned above.  There are any number of options and progressions in elastic movements – and once again the focus should be on form and few reps done right.

Real world - 

The last example I will use is how we have taken Nicole from an 11+ min mile easy run to a 9 min per mile easy run.  This took over a year to make happen and she still works on her form and flexibility/Strength every week to keep increasing her efficiencies. The less time spent on your feet the more time you have to recover and the more recovery you have the faster you will see your gains.  So really think about it next time before you walk into a workout and ask yourself are you ready to give 100%.  If the answer is yes, then complete the workout with laser like accuracy and focus. If the answer is no, then ask yourself why you are standing there.  Surround yourself with people that share the same visions and you will find that it makes for a great training day. 

Realizing that running is a power sport and that its possible to do it pain-free is a great first step in accomplishing it.

Side note - 

Starting March 1st I will be holding our Movement prep workouts outside of the gym. Pure has made it very clear that Moxie is a threat to their business, so therefor will be here at the TC Club and at the Murchison track.  Tuesday AM will be at the Track and Friday will be here.  By using the club here we can incorporate swimming, biking, and running into the mix after the movement prep sessions.  I will update the Google Calendar to reflect this and will post on the Moxie workout page.  Feel free to invite friends that you think could benefit from these types of workouts.  

Mox