Revolution, not evolution. The latest innovation for your feet is not from the behemoth with swoosh. Its not from the company who brought you “those funny toe shoes.” Instead, this latest venture was announced last night on prime time television.
Its innovative “dual-purpose outsole” has a unique feature to help you out of a certain situation that always seems to come on about 1 mile into your run. Run prepared! If you’d like learn more, check out the video below.
There’s no “one look” for every woman, and no “one body” for every athlete
Ladies – tonight its all about you!
Sports Illustrated ran a photo series years ago that is one of the most powerful collection athleticism. Athletes come in all shapes and sizes, and one of them is YOUR size. And that’s the point of tonight’s talk. As the kick off to the REP Lecture series tonight in Bend, we are going to discuss “the unique needs of a woman.”
We’ll take a look beyond the marketing drivel and discuss what really is unique about your needs in pursuit of your goals. Come grab a seat and a beer, and find some tips that take you to the next level. Hope to see you 7:00 tonight at Rebound Westside!
I won’t keep you in suspense, here it is:
Instead of getting caught up in the latest fads, always make sure each workout is contributing to your long term goals.
I was in the airport yesterday and starring at the news stand. Every single issue has some variation of “the 5 workouts you must do this month” plastered across the cover. There are lots of great workouts out there, but only you can identify who you want to be.
Its pretty easy to work backwards. Define your goal, and ensure that each day’s heart beats, muscle contractions, nutrition intake, and rest schedules are target focused on that goal. Because we both want the same thing: for you to be able to cross your next challenge off your list.
The media likes to spin things to make headlines. I’m not too big on spinning, I’d rather just help educate. If you’d like to clear the air and see what we know, what we don’t know, and what’s been spun, you can check out this webinar I’m doing for USA Track and Field next week on Mar 26th. Coaches will get CEU’s from their couch.
The make of running shoes have historically gone from one side (thin and flexible) to the other (stiff and bulky) and are now moving toward the middle of the road. Which is best? And how do you match running shoes to an individual runner? In this webinar presentation, Jay Dicharry will comb through relevant research and clinical experience to help you approach your running retailer with the knowledge of selecting the right tool for the job. Learn how to ensure that you are running in your shoes rather than your shoes running you! By the end of this webinar you’ll be able to understand:
Got some amazing local press this week from The Source here in Bend. While I chose the use the sub-title as the heading for this post, the writer’s main title was pretty witty “Jay and his fancy treadmill”
Granted, I’ve been doing this stuff for quite a while, but I honestly think its pretty simple, and the “right” way to do things ,really. In comes the writer. His body has some issues that need to be cleared up. Why? well, we’ve always heard “(running) form follows function.” Improve the function of your body so you can further improve – and maintain – your form. We identified things for him to work on and established a plan of attack. As I’ve said over and over again, there are things you can do outside of running that will improve your running.
Next we used some fancy tools and some custom software I developed to identify where things broke down in his gait style. Then we used the toys in the lab to give him some biofeedback to improve specific aspects of his running form while he’s actually running. We worked with this for a bit, and then captured more baseline data. End result, The writer improved his economy by 11% and decreased the stress to his body (called “loading rate”) by just over 33%. Running easier, with less stress to the body? I call that a win. Give the office a call if you are interested in seeing yourself improve as well.
OK. Gut check time. a few weeks ago, I asked you to take a look at your past, and identify your performance limiters. While both “Type A” and “Type B” training plans can be incredibly successful, even the most open minded Type B person takes a step back to look at their needs. After all, you’ll never reach your goal without a road map to guide you along the way.
To help you organize your road map, I’d like you to keep in mind a general plan: “from general to specific.” What does this mean? Well, if you are a cyclist, the best, most specific way to train leading up to your competition season is to pedal your bike…..often! But if you are 4 months out from your season, there are about a million other things you could be doing besides biking, that will still help you pedal well come competition season.
There’s no substitute for working hard, but there’s also no reason to work hard at the same thing. I know some of you say, “sure – I do this. I lift weights in the offseason.” Well, if you know anything about modern training theory, weights, plyometrics, and drills aren’t just for the off season (another topic for another time). When I say general, I’m not talking about all this kind of stuff. I’m talking about other kinds of stuff.
When you are 4 months out from race day, your body doesn’t really care if you did 2 hours on the trainer, or 2 hours XC skiing out in the woods. But your brain just might be a whole lot happier shushing though the snow covered trees instead of watching another 15 yr old Spinervals video. If you feel like going to a rock gym – go for it. The balance, coordination, and muscle stabilization you gain from rock climbing will improve areas of your body you never existed. And so what if you aren’t good at it? You aren’t a professional rock climber, its just something fun to do while you’ve got time, and all-cycling-all-the-time isn’t the sole focus of your day.
Me? I’m tackling my nemesis…..trying to ride my unicycle. Previously, its been successful at tacking me instead. But this is all supposed to be fun right? We do this stuff for a challenge. Repeat after me: “It’s January.” You know your friend who is putting in 20 hr training weeks right about now? He’s in for a massive blow-up come about June, and will be spending the peak of race season burt out and destroyed. So expand your skills and expand your mind. This winter, what are you doing to work on your “general?”
So we are officially past one of the coolest days ever (12-12-12) and now 11 days away from when the man in the red suit flops down your chimney to bring joy to all the good little boys and girls. Those of you much better than I are likely done your Christmas shopping. But if you are like me, and still haven’t picked out any presents for your wife (or other person you care about), I’d like to offer a few suggestions. If someone you love is looking for an edge, wants to improve their skills, and is looking to blow their inner athlete wide open – then look no further……
#1 – Rocker Board.
You’ll notice a common theme here. All of the tools (toys) listed here are designed to help you improve balance and proprioception. These skills carry over in spades to all your athletic persuits: running, cycling, skiing, surfing, climbing, kiteboarding, football, basketball, tennis, and possibly even bowling. Rocker boards are a great tool to teach you how to stabilize your foot and ankle. Hard unstable surfaces provide an optimal training environment to improve you. You should look for a board that only rocks in one direction (thus the name rocker board). Many folks also make boards that wobble and spin in all directions (called wobble boards). Both have their place, but when it comes to training the foot and lower leg, I’m a big fan of the former. These are sold in many places. If you are looking for suggestions, I typically direct people over to sportssmith.net because they have the cheapest one I’ve found: $29.99.
#2: Surfing in your living room – meet the Si-Board.
So you’ve mastered basic balance skills, and are looking to quite possibly have as much fun as possible while under your roof? Look no further than the Si-Board. Sure the Indo Board is cool, but this thing is in a class by itself. I have one and absolutely love it. Its so much fun! Its not one of those things you’ll say “oh I have to make time to work on my balance……” Its so engaging that you may find yourself taking time away from other things! Your feet and hip stabilizers will get a workout like nothing else. They are pretty $$$$. I bought the DIY creator kit for cheap, and in 45 min was “surfing” in my living room. In my mind, if you are an athlete, you should have one of these. Period.
#3: Surfing down the pavement –> Longboard.
Presents are all about fun right? Buying a long board was one of the best decisions I made. Its not like hucking off the loading docks like we all did when we were 12. This is all about the flow. It’s great to carve slalom turns down the hill – almost as much fun as skiing or snowboarding. And once you learn to “pump it” you can fly. I can roll miles down the road without pushing at all. I guess some people might say its a great workout, but its so much fun I’d do it even if balance skills didn’t translate into other sports. What board to get? wow – there are hundreds of options out there. Personally, I’ve got a Original Pintail 40. I bought it because it has springs instead of bushings. This makes it easy to rail turns at low speed and a bit tougher to control at high speeds, but lets’ face it: Most of us aren’t looking to hit 50 mph down a mountain while slamming a RedBull. Only warning I’d offer is this: you may find yourself longboarding more and doing your typical sport a bit less!
#4: a book? Maybe a book called Anatomy for Runners! Its by far the cheapest thing on this list, and quite possibly the most valuable. I’ve spent many years of my life teaching. I’ve taught at UVA and continue to teach around the US. You’ll be surprised what people are capable of when you give them the knowledge to succeed. That was the goal behind my book. Its a way to give you information to help you hit your goals this season and beyond. Sure its slanted towards runners, but about 80% of the information in there applies to other endurance and strength and power sports as well.
If you are looking at the equipment above and thinking “that’s a bit high level for me- no way”……let’s put something out there. Blowing past your comfort zone is the only way you’ll ever make jumps to the next level in your performance. And yes, I’ve put “old folks” on these with tons of success. Sure you should be careful when you are learning, but I will caution you that liberal use of #2 and 3 above just might result in fun!
Disclaimer for the people who think I’m funding my retirement with these recommendations. I personally bought the Si-board starter kit and my Original Longboard (in fact I bought a second one too!), and my clinic purchased the rocker board form Sports Smith. These folks have no idea that I am writing this, and I’m getting absolutely nothing in return.
Well, with the legal mumbo jumbo out of the way, Happy Shopping, and Happy Holidaze!!!
And if you’d like to re-live a little Christmas story from last year, check out how Climate change is impacting reindeer training.
One of my former clients paid me a visit today for a check-up. While talking to him, he offered music to my ears.
“I did all those glut max exercises you told me about, and now my pants don’t fit!”
When muscles get stronger, the muscle fibers actually increase in size. Bigger muscle fibers can produce more force…..A positive thing for you as an athlete. This is a good way to “outgrow your clothes.”
Drinking too much egg nogg at your holiday party this week is a less preferable way to outgrow your clothes.
This video is only partially disturbing
You can run quarters on the track in 80 seconds. Maybe you can even do them in 60 seconds. Maybe you hit a PR for sustained power on the bike. You can drive your golf ball 250 yards down the fairway. Does this mean you are really performing at your potential?
Every time we practice a movement, we are reinforcing a particular movement in our brain. This is commonly referred to as “muscle memory”. Training technique is an often overlooked aspect in endurance world. Each joint in your body has an axis around which it moves, with muscles controlling the movement. These tissues are engineered to move a specific way. If we learn good muscle memory, we continually re-enforce good habits – and come competition day – we perform at our potential.
Competition to you might be a round of golf with friends on Sunday or qualifying for the 10,000 meter at the Olympics. At every level, focusing on your form can improve your performance. Our body and mind strive to get the job done – at all costs. Often, this can mean we learn an incorrect strategy to get the job done. And even if your form is better than most, we all suffer form alterations when we fatigue. When these form changes occur, we have a decrease in efficiency. Since we are performing “different” than we normally do, we put more strain through our body’s tissues and are more likely to become injured. Understanding the stages of motor learning will shed some light on why we need to work on our form in the first place:
Unconscious Incompetence – this means we have no idea that we are doing something with incorrect form. Most of us fall in this category. Look at the picture of the woman landing from a jump. The joints of the lower body are designed so that the knee tracks over the second toe when we land from a jump. The goal is to preserve proper alignment when we move. This athlete has no idea that her knees crashing to the inside are a problem. She doesn’t know that it significantly increases her risk for an ACL tear, patellofemoral syndrome, hip impingement, or a host of other issues. She doesn’t know that this landing technique will hurt her running, jumping, and cutting performance.
Conscious Competence – The athlete understands that there was an issue, knows correct technique, and now is able to perform correctly without thinking about it. She has removed the stresses from a flawed technique, and can perform correctly in sports-specific drills and in competition. The is the stage we want to be at! Think about some of the best performances you’ve ever done. What were you thinking about? Most successful athletes can’t even remember what they were focusing on. They were in “the zone” and just let their bodies perform using the skills they learned through a lot of practice.In our quest to improve, we often focus on adding intensity or training volume thinking it to be the magic fix to take us to the next level. We’ve often heard the phrase “train smarter, not harder.” Adding time and focus to alter your technique pays off in spades. So let’s expand that saying to “move smarter, not harder”. The focus of the biomechanical analysis done in the SPEED Clinic @ the UVA Center for Endurance Sport is identify your unique compensations and make those muscles smarter!
Should I stretch? Should I stretch before or after? Will stretching make me a better athlete? Will stretching make me a more confident public speaker? We get these questions a lot. Don’t worry, we are happy to help and the confusion is not your fault. Seems every media outlet out there wants the BIG STORY. The headlines read “best new stretch”, “best way to stretch”, or maybe even “stretching is killing you” –they really want you to by their magazine! So should you stretch or not? Is it OK to be tight? Is it a benefit? Is it possible to be too flexible?
Muscles, tendons, and ligaments shorten and lengthen as our joints move. Therefore, the amount of mobility you need in these tissues is pretty simple to define. You need enough for the tasks and sports you do, and nothing more. Is it really that simple? Yes – and let’s look at what happens when structures around our joints are too tight.
So now that we know the problems associated with tight tissues, all of us should stretch right?…. because the magazines say that stretching causes you to be more agile, stronger, recover faster, and warm up the tissues? Not a single one of these claims has ever been substantiated. You need “enough” mobility around a joint for the sports you perform. A runner and a gymnast have entirely different needs for mobility. Having more flexibility than needed for your sport has never been proven to be an advantage. In fact, we see just as many injuries to people that are hyper-mobile (have tissues that are too loose) as people who are tight.
Stretching a muscle is tearing tissue. Do I advocate stretching? Breaking down the structural integrity of our body is not something we should do unless its needed. Would you tear holes in your clothes for the fun of it? When an individual needs to stretch areas of their body that compromise their ability to perform, stretching is 100% part of their plan. But if there is no restriction on soft tissue mobility, there is no evidence that stretching will provide any benefit at all. In our next post, we’ll tackle the different types of stretching. For now, “enough” is enough.
Jay Dicharry's Website, An Athlete's Body 