Tag Archives: speed clinic

Elevator Up? The Mindset Behind a Champion

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A few weeks ago, I got to present along side Dr. Joe Vigil at a USA Track and Field conference in LA. For those of you who have to ask “who is Joe Vigil?”…..this man is to coaches as Rolex is to watches: the best.

Dr Vigil always has the uncanny ability to break down complex tasks and ask you the “right” introspective questions to help you reach your next milestone. We don’t just train the body in isolation. We’ve always heard that the body can handle more than the mind wants to give. So with that, I’m going to leave you with the following picture. Is it time to take the elevator up the “achievement triangle?” – What’s holding you back from reaching your goals? Change all starts with the desire to change.

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In fact, lets move beyond kumbaya and start this process in motion right now. Turn the computer off. Get out a sheet of paper and make 3 columns. Write down your goals in column 1. Then write down the obstacles that stand in the way of each of your goals. Then make a 3rd column of exactly what you are going to do to beat each of those obstacles.  Stick it on your fridge and remember your passion. When one of those obstacles seems like its standing in your way, make your tiger face and beat it down. Mental Tough = Body Tough.

And if you need help with your plan, give me a ring – I’ll help you find your tiger face.

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Podcast with Jay Dicharry: A discussion with Healthynomics

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I did an audio podcast with Mark Kennedy of Healthnomics.com yesterday. Check out the link, and you’ll get to hear some great discussion on runners as athletes, running form, and footwear. You can even listen to it while you run!

Reminder: webinar on running form, mobility, and strength -Feb 26th!

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Hey gang – Just got back from speaking at a great USATF Level 3 conference in Costa Mesa, CA, this weekend. I’ll have some highlights to post from that event later on. But for today, I  wanted to send out a reminder about the USA Triathlon webinar I’ll be conducting tomorrow, Tuesday Feb 26th.

If you’d like to register, please see this link. And yes, we’ll have some Q and A time.

Hope to see you on the web!

Looking ahead to 2013

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20130102-135706.jpgSo it’s the New Year. As a reader, you’ve seen every blog out there flaunt their “top posts for 2012!”   Well, since there are less than 50 posts on this blog, making a “top 10 posts” post is a little ridiculous.

For writers, wordpress sends us these snazzy year end reports to see how you are fairing in the e-world. And one thing is interesting in my summary. While the reader base is still growing, the most popular posts on this blog aren’t new. In fact some of the most popular content on here is from last year. This means that people are coming to this site as a reference for quality information. Or it could mean that the “tight pants” video I linked from Jimmy Fallon turned everyone off…..

In any case, I’m not going to discuss the past, because there’s a search engine for that. But looking forward, what’s planned for 2013? More help for you.

  • Expanded Focus on Athletic skill: My book has been embraced by runners, but its also been embraced by non-runners. Every athlete needs to know how to keep their chassis in tune as they train their engine. Well rounded athletes recover faster from training stress, better prevent injury, and slow the effects of aging on your body. Better foundation = better performance. And a lot of it is just plain fun!
  • More content on other sports: Guess what? No one knows everything. Looking at other sports can help you learn more about other training strategies and tricks that may help you. And if you are a cyclist or swimmer, you’re really going to be happy looking forward. And we are even going to discuss weights, strength, speed, and power. We are going to make you better.
  • Current information: I’m speaking at 10 different conferences between now and August. I believe that knowledge shouldn’t stay in the hands of the teacher. I’ll be looking to post relevant new findings being spread around the conference circuit to help us all enrich our exchange of information.

Video: A word is a word. A picture is apparently worth a thousand. Well, sometimes words and pictures still aren;t worth as much as seeing something in realtime. Expect to see more video content on here.

So it’s the New Year. As a reader, you’ve seen every blog out there flaunt their “top posts for 2012!” Well, since there are less than 50 posts on this blog, making a “top 10 posts” post is a little ridiculous. But wordpress sends out these snazzy year end reports to authors letting them know how they are doing. And one thing is interesting in my summary. The most popular posts on this blog aren’t new. In fact some of the most popular content on here is from last year. This means that people are coming to this site as a reference for quality information. Or it could mean that the “tight pants” video I linked from Jimmy Fallon recently turned everyone off…..

In any case, I’m not going to discuss the past, because there’s a search engine for that. But looking forward, what’s planned for 2013? More help for you.

  • Expanded Focus on Athletic skill: My book has been embraced by runners, but its also been embraced by non-runners. Every athlete needs to know how to keep their chassis in tune as they train their engine. Well rounded athletes recover faster from training stress, better prevent injury, and slow the effects of aging on your body. Better foundation = better performance. And a lot of it is just plain fun!
  • More content on other sports: Guess what? No one knows everything. Looking at other sports can help you learn more about other training strategies and tricks that may help you. And if you are a cyclist or swimmer, you’re really going to be happy looking forward. We are even going to discuss weights, strength, speed, and power. We are going to make you better.
  • Current information: I’m speaking at 10 different conferences between now and August. I believe that knowledge shouldn’t stay in the hands of the teacher. I’ll be looking to post relevant new findings being spread around the conference circuit to help us all enrich our exchange of information.
  • Video: A word is a word. A picture is apparently worth a thousand. Well, sometimes words and pictures still aren;t worth as much as seeing something in realtime. Expect to see more video content on here. Warning: hair and make-up budget is zero dollars.

Here’s to getting out of your rut, and exploring your world – Happy New Year!!!

How should your foot land when you run?

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Foot strike: your cross country coach from 1972 told you to always roll through from heel to toe. the barefoot zealots tell us we should always land on the forefoot. And several other schools of though tell us something else: to land on our midfoot.

Measuring all this stuff in the biomechanics lab has taught me a lot. Foot strike is but one of many variables that are worth looking at, but not the only one worth looking at. Additionally, people often strike different than they think they do. Lastly, Pete Larson found that there isn’t much of a difference in foot strike patterns and running times.

Foot strike is more of an effect of many things related to your form, rather than the overiding factor that governs your form. And if you’d like to see more, check out what Pete Larson and I said to Competitor Magazine.

Class in session! Upcoming Talks for Runners, Coaches, and Clinicians

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20121129-171808.jpgOne of my favorite things is teaching. Sure I like the human body and what its capable of, but more importantly, I like the challenge of trying to teach average-Joe runner, their college coach, and their physicians and therapists. Each of these groups has a different education, different background, and different expectations, but they all want to learn to be better. Its my hope that I can offer some specific help to all of them.

I went to a class on teaching once, and learned a thing or 5000 about how we absorb and interpret information. To really enable someone to learn, you had to challenge the student to the point that their previous thought process is shattered. By poking holes in what we think, and replacing them with what we know, your and frame of understanding is shifted forever. Its my job to get you to think critically, so that you can think for yourself.

Since I get lots of people asking when my next talk is, I thought I’d share a few upcoming events in case folks were interested. Always good to cram more stuff in you brain.

Wed Dec 5th, 2013: The Running Event in Austin, TX – the annual conference for the Independent Running Retailer Association. Saucony is gracious enough to bring me in to discuss the mechanics of running. The more your local running retail staff knows about running the more they’ll be able to help you. I’ll also be doing book signings if anyone needs stocking stuffer.

Jan 20-21st, 2013: The Speed Summit in Morristown, NJ, an official USATF Level 3 Coaching Education Seminar. Want to save a few bucks? During checkout, type in “Dicharry” in the code box and you’ll save $10. Also if you print out the form and mail it in, you’ll also save an extra $9 dollar processing fee. I’ll be giving two talks: “How to prepare the body for optimal speed and strength training” and “How to screen for zebras in a field of horses.” But enough about me though….there are some major heavy hitters speaking. I’m really looking forward to this event.

Feb 23rd-24th, 2013: The Running Summit in Costa Mesa, CA, an official USATF Level 3 Coaching Education Seminar. And if you decide to attend, type in “Jay” in the code box during your checkout and you’ll save $10 dollars. An impressive weekend of discussion from some of the country’s most prominent coaches. As for me, I’ll be giving two talks: “Stretching, Strengthening, and Screening: Answers to questions to help your runners run” and “How shoes impact your form and how your form impact your shoes”

March 8-9th, 2013: The 10th Annual UVA Running Medicine Conference: From the Lab to the Clinic. This one really is near and dear to me. This started as a vision a decade ago when Founding-board members Dr. Robert Wilder, Eric Magrum, and myself came together to see what would happen if we had the first running-only medical education conference. Well, what began with 50 people mushroomed to over 240 of the most passionate running-specific healthcare providers in North America gathering to discuss better care for their patients. Its our 10th year! Thanks to all of you for your support over the years as we aim to give you the best experience possible. I’ll present “What to expect when you’re expecting: how clinical lab measures translate to gait.” But don’t come just for my talk! We’ve got a host of talented presenters, including the one and only Dr. Rodger Kram from CU-Boulder. Whenever I get some great brainwave creep into my head that I think is new, I’ll research it and sure enough, Dr Kram already found it out years ago. He’s brilliant and an amazing presenter that we are luck to have. And yes -there is a lab session yet again on Saturday and space is limited. Check out the link for full content.

April 19th and 20th: Care for the Injured Cyclist in Ann Arbor, MI. Yes, time to switch gears – literally. We’ll delve into the finer points of bike fit from both the performance and injury aspect, discuss how cycling contributes to chronic problems, and cover novel ways to improve on-the-bike stabilization and technique drills for efficiency. Don’t have the reg link for this one yet, but I’ll post it when I do.

Whew. that’s a lot for now. And somewhere in here, I need to fit in a ski trip!

Hope to see you in class.

Is Poor Posture Stealing Your Power?

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Are your shoulders slumped? Both Mom and your favorite drill sergeant don’t take kindly to poor posture. Outside of looks and respect, posture has a huge effect on your running form. If you ‘d like to know how it impacts you as a runner, and how you can fix it,  check out my article in this month’s October edition of Running Times – on news stands, or click here to view it now. Now stand up straight!

any pearls for the aging runner?

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Runner’s World asked for some key points to think about as we edge-up in years. It happens to all of us at some point right?

Check it out here

Disclaimer: the advice mentioned in this article is not meant to replace Botox

Do runners with a ball “get it” more than runners?

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The media at large has done a dis-service to you, the consumer. They love polarizing images. They love the battle between overly built-up clodd-hopper motion control shoes vs. naked feet. They try to instantly declare one “better” than the other. The reality is that the barefooot buzz has been incredible for ALL athletes. No matter which side of this polarizing topic you stand on, it has directed attention on form. And that’s one of the main things really.

Let’s clear out the sewer lines folks. Barefoot is very DIFFERENT from running in shoes. Sure a good number of folks switch their contact style from rearfoot to forefoot when going barefoot, but a lot DON’T. And while the media loves to harp on this one single factor, its like saying only one tree in the entire forrest is important. And that’s just not true.

Its not so much forefooot vs rearfoot here, its more about where the foot is in relation to the body that counts. Striding too far in front of the body results in bad things. Your feet were meant to be beneath you – not flying out in front. Imagine running over ice. Anyone feel safe over-striding on ice? Didn’t think so……But its not just “runners” who are beginning to take notice. Other “running athletes” are asking question too.

Recently, I had a conversation with basketball journalist Steve McPherson. He was asking me about the apparent rise of injuries in basketball, and wanted to know if anything from all this barefoot hoopla translates over to the hoop. Steve did an excellent job with this piece, “What can the NBA learn from barefoot running?” I recommend you take a look, whether you run with barefeet, wrapped feet, or a ball.

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What can you learn from a frustrated bird?

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Here at UVA, I teach a course called Neuro-muscular Basis of Human Movement, and today we are speaking of all things running mechanics. One of my students made an analogy that actually tells us a lot about running. Well, the analogy doesn’t really tell us that much, but a host of really angry and pissed off birds will….. Yes–> those angry birds!

Angry Birds is a simple game ( if it’s so simple, why has our country’s gross national product dropped since its launch????) that forces us to abide by the laws physics. Your goal, of course, is to knock out those smirky smiling pigs at various locations. You learn very quickly that aiming too high blasts your bird up to the clouds, at the expense of sacrificing distance. Aiming too low also compromises distance. Aiming just right produces the greatest distance covered with a pull of the slingshot….. The fancy name for this would be the optimum trajectory

While you don’t have to land on a pig when running, you do try to cover a given amount of distance per stride. In fact, the definition of running economy would be to cover a given distance with as little energy as possible. Too much up and down motion while running wastes a lot of energy. Actually about 80% of the energy required to run comes from raising and lowering the body against gravity. So “aiming too high”- too much vertical rise an fall- is not a smart move.

A lot of people get this. The problem is that they take it to the opposite extreme. They tell us that we need to minimize the rise and fall of our body. Does this play out? Go play angry birds again, and aim your bird dead flat. Pull back all the way and watch your bird take flight….. It won’t go very far. Limiting the up and down motion of the body when running not only ensures you won’t go far with each stride, it also costs a lot of energy! Go for a run and try to keep your head as still as possible- you won’t be able to do this for long- its tough!

So what is best? If you try to get maximum distance per fire on angry birds, you’ll find that about 45 degrees gives you the greatest distance. So does this mean that you should aim for this when running? Well, not exactly. The body isn’t a bird, a cannon ball, or any other type of projectile. It’s an actively controlled spring that actually stores and releases elastic energy to help you move forward. Some amount of vertical rise and fall is actually beneficial to “load the slingshot” and store and release this elastic energy. Exactly how much depends on your body weight, your leg length, and your pace, and your contact time. A sort of nice number is around 4-6 cm of vertical rise and fall of the body typically produces optimal results. In labs like ours at UVA, we study this kind of stuff to tweak your economy.

The take home message is that some rise and fall is necessary, even advantageous, when running.* So when someone tells you that a runner is efficient because their head stays perfectly still when running, maybe you should hand them your smartphone and tell them to play a little game.

* note- excessive rise and fall of your phone, as in when you throw it against the wall after not beating a level for the 37th time, isn’t recommended.

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