I know I am going to get a lot of crap for this blog...guess what I don't really care. I said this in the past and for people that know me they know that I am not a huge fan of endurance and marathon training. In the training world we are so far beyond this roller coaster of a training method. Not very efficient. Not very safe. Also, who wants to waste their time for hours on end each week trying to break a plateau in your workouts. I am more convinced then ever before that if you want to become a better runner I would advise you to STOP running.
Here's my most recent story...
Dr. Dhillon, a client of mine for a little over 2 months shared some news with me yesterday evening prior to our training session. Prior to working with me Dr. D had informed me that he had done a lot of running and biking for his workouts. When he was in his his phases of running for pleasure he would run 3 miles in an average of 35-36 minutes. Not too shabby. During times of Dr. D trying to pick up the pace for a races and some other training he would be able to get down to about a 31 minute 3 mile pace. That was with him "panting" and him getting what he calls his "altitude sickness." He loves using the altitude sickness phrase because he knows that the brain does not receive the oxygen it should for you to be able to function when you are in the mountains or when you put your body through demanding exercise. Kind of an inside joke.
Anyway, no matter how hard he pushed and trained for running he could never break the 31 minute 3 mile pace. I don't know if he was really frustrated with this, but I think he started to think outside the box a little bit. That's when began our relationship.
Now, the information that I have just stated above, I knew none of it even before we started working together. I only knew that Dr. D biked occasionally and lifted some weights for his workouts. I had no idea that he tried this roller coaster method of training. As our training program started I assessed him and his wife (Rubal) with a movement screen that I use to determine their progressive training program. The main focus our training program was to work on mobility, total body strength, and metabolic conditioning because they were both looking to lose a few pounds. There was not peep from either of us about stepping foot on a treadmill, going for a run, or a bike, ride, or using an elliptical...not one peep.
For the past 2 months our training sessions look something like this..
10 Minutes of Movement Prep
5 Minutes of Core Activation
15-25 Minutes of Total Body Strength- Push,Pull, Lift, Squat, Twist, Lunge, Single Leg Stance
3-6 Minutes of Metabolic Conditioning/Metabolic Finishers
As I said earlier, Dr. D shared some information with me yesterday about something he had done over the weekend because he had some time to kill. Prior to this past weekend he had not stepped foot a treadmill for an endurance run. He had not even attempted to run at all. He had completely eliminated it for over 2 months. I actually think it was longer than that, but I am going to go on the safe side and say that it he had no attempted running for at least 2 months. On Sunday he decided to go for a run. He opted to run barefoot also because his running shoes flared up his plantar fasciitis. The result of his run was pretty remarkable. He finished his normal 3 mile run that he been doing previously to working with me in 27 minutes. Not only did he beat his 31 minute best time, but he shattered it by 4 minutes....barefoot!. The best part of it was that he said he could have kept going and was not getting his normal "altitude sickness." Opting to run barefoot he knew that he could not perform this kind of exercise wrong. Running barefoot his body would also auto correct the movements in the terms of self limiting exercise. Making him use his natural senses to adjust his running form to avoid any sort of unnatural pattern.
In the end Dr. D shaved 9 minutes off his 3 mile run WITHOUT running. But why? Here's why. When running in a straight line to nowhere you could be fingering a playlist on your ipod or watching tv. There is ZERO nervous system activation required in running forward . That right there should tell you that it is not demanding enough on your body. Because your nervous system isn't engaged in the movement the demand on body is not great enough to keep getting better as a runner. What we did is changed his programming by adding movement prep to clean up his movement patterns. This segment alone without the strength training would have made him a more efficient runner. With good body function and alignment his running pattern would be more efficient allowing him to run more smoothly and at ease. What really puts everything into overdrive is the demand we put on his body through total body strength and metabolic conditioning. We have been performing conventional and non conventional lifts and movements in a metabolic fashion. Basically, we do these lifts and movements with incomplete rest. Because these movements and exercises require engagement of the nervous system where you have to engage your mind with your body it automatically creates that greater demand for your body to work. Giving you more bang for your buck in your workouts with the energy that is being demanding to use everything at once.
This is real life stuff. If you want to make a change in the way you move, think, and look you have to create a disturbance. If you are comfortable doing something you will not make anymore changes. Because the nervous system is not being activated you will not see anymore results. I know that people will say back to me that running has gotten them to lose weight before of whatever it is that you did. My response to you is...just imagine how much time and energy was spent that you could have avoided if you did things differently in a more logical manner.
So face it...running, long aerobic workouts, walking, biking are mindless activities that do not take a lot of engagement to perform.. Fat people run marathons...tells us again that it's not going to change the way you look or the way you move.Run because you enjoy running. Not because you are trying to get into shape or lose weight. Bike because you enjoy biking. Do these leisure activities if you have extra time to kill in your week after you have gotten your 3-4 full body strength and metabolic workouts in like Dr. D did. He became a BETTER runner without even running! So awesome. Put your priorities in line!
Shoot me your non justifiable response!
JP
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