I've had several clients over the years who've sought my help because they were prone to these types of muscle cramps and I've noticed a few patterns I thought I'd share with you.
Middle Back Mobility: Why You Need It and How To Get It
Restriction in the upper/middle back, or thoracic spine (T-Spine), is one of the most common areas of the body to tighten up. And it's insidious, too. That is, the tightness evolves slowly month by month and yet you may not even realize you're tight there. Instead, you'll feel your shoulders get cranky, your neck get stiff, your elbows become prone to tendonitis, and even your wrists can pay a price. Carpal tunnel anyone? And we didn't even talk about the lower body yet!
3 Tips To Fuel Your Best Marathon
If there's one thing people love, it's being told what to do. They want the guesswork removed, they want to skip the trial and error, and to just know what they should do. As a coach, it's very easy to fall into the trap of thinking I know best and therefore I know what's best for YOU, too.
In my experience, however, a better approach is to encourage you to continue to experiment. I'll gladly share some strategies that have worked with others, but remind you that you are an “experiment of one”. Let's figure out what works for you.
Half Marathon Workout Progression
3 Recent Articles Worth Reading
Kettlebell Swing Tips and Video Analysis
I wanted to go a bit in-depth here and breakdown my swing so you can see what respectable form looks like. Since I spend LOTS of hours in a gym I see all sorts of attempts to swing a kettlebell and it just isn't very pretty much of the time. Additionally, instruction can sometimes be spotty at best. Again, fantastic exercise, maybe even the best single exercise you can do, but please own your technique
Don't Race Like An 8 Year Old (no offense, kids!)
Control Your Hips To Improve Your Knees
This week I want to introduce you to a simple move that “should be easy”... if you have good motor control over your hip muscles. Many folks who end up with knee pain have lousy hip mechanics and thus, their knee pays the price. Those of you dealing with knee pain or who are interested in preventing knee pain, this is for you!
Low On Motivation? Get Outside Of Yourself.
The Pervasive Myth of Variety
Why I Will Ask You To Roll Around On The Floor Like A Baby When We First Meet
Base Training: More Than Just Running
Shut Your Mouth: Endurance The Easy Way
Random Bits Of Awesome
Don't Run On Crack!
I think we can all agree that generally the goal in racing is to get from point A to point B as quickly as possible. To that end, the less sideways movement, the better. With crossover gait, you've got a bit of lateral motion in not only the feet, but also the entire center of mass. This is NOT GOOD!
Sprinting Rules Pt.4
When we talk bang for the buck, sprints have to rank near the top of the list of things you can do that will noticeably improve your distance running in a short time period. From improving your coordination to developing stride power, just a small amount of sprinting can take your running to the next level in only a few weeks. They can be magical, but they can also be disastrous, however. The range of motion required and your body's ability to tolerate huge amounts of force determine if you should even try sprinting in the first place.
Sprinting Rules pt.3
Once you've addressed your tissue quality and joint mobility and, at a bare minimum, woken up your sleepy butt muscles, you are ready to incorporate a highly effective form of speed training into your routine: Strides! The thing I love about strides is that they don't carry the same injury risk as all out sprinting, but give nearly the same benefits.
Sprinting Rules pt.2
Sprinting Rules pt.1
STOP Guessing About Your Training Paces
Here’s the bottom line. Training smart trumps training stupid. Obviously. Yet, the biggest mistake made over and over again is training at the wrong pace given one’s current fitness.
A perfect example is someone who races a 5K at 8 minutes/mile and trains at a nearly similar pace all week. No wonder they a) probably hate running and b) aren’t making any progress.
Proper training means training at a wide variety of paces, but mostly easy.
If you’re running a few seconds per mile slower than your 5K pace, that’s NOT easy. 1:30-2:00min/mile slower than 5K pace is more like it.
There are a few ways to determine your correct training paces, but one of the best (and simplest) is an all-out effort over a measured course or track.
For the motivation alone it’s hard to beat the atmosphere of a race, but let’s face it, sometimes races are just inconvenient and expensive.
Enter the time trial – a low key, inexpensive way to assess your current fitness accurately.
Remember, to get to Point B, you must establish Point A.
Attempting to just wing it and train ‘intuitively’ doesn’t work – unless you’ve got years and years of experience. Why waste your time and effort?
Join Us!
Oh hey – this Thursday night (3/14) at Run Club we will run a 1 mile time trial. Either meet at lululemon at 6pm sharp or at Penn Park at 6:15pm.
You get all the benefits of a time trial – establishing your point A and learning how to pace yourself – plus a positive group atmosphere which will help your motivation to push yourself. And let me re-iterate that you MUST push yourself hard for this to work.
Best part is that everyone who shows up will have they’re unique training paces emailed to them after the run. NO MORE GUESSING!
See you there?