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The Science of Performance |
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Power Runningsm Part 3: Strength Author Chris Lear, in his book Sub 4:00, Alan Webb and the Quest for the Fastest Mile, describes one of the first post injury workouts conducted by University of Michigan runner Nate Brannen. Nate, with a 3:59 PR in the mile, had suffered a stress facture and had been unable to run for 7 weeks while waiting for his injury to heal. His workouts had been limited to pool running and weight training. A week and half after getting his doctor’s okay to start running again, Nate stepped onto the track at Michigan and ran his fastest 600 meter ever – a blazing 1:18.5. Imagine for a moment that you took 7 weeks off from running. What kind of shape would you be in? Even with cross training, would you be in better running shape or worse? Assuming cross training helped you maintain fitness, could you resume running after a 7 week layoff and run your’ fastest ever, like Nate did? I think it’s safe to say that most of us would not expect to set a PR after an extended layoff. Yet that is exactly what Nate Brannen did. How is this possible? The answer is found in the strength and power Nate gained from weight training. Interestingly, during his 7 week forced layoff Nate began weight training for the first time. Author Lear noted that Nate had never seriously lifted weights before and that the strength gains from his new weight lifting program were noticeable in increased mass in his legs and arms. Lear attributed Nate’s 600 meter performance to natural ability, but I submit that the increased leg strength he gained from weight training translated directly into an increase in power, leading to improved performance on the track. The pool workouts maintained Nate’s metabolic fitness, but the weight training is what enabled him to run his fastest ever. Remember our formula for increasing power. Power = strength + contraction speed + muscular fatigue resistance + metabolic fitness An increase in strength leads to an increase in power, assuming the other factors stay the same. Nate increased his strength via weight training and maintained his fatigue resistance and metabolic fitness via pool work. The end result was his fastest 600 ever. Nate’s experiences are not unique. Studies have demonstrated improvements in performance when weight training is added to an athlete’s training program. Since weight training increases strength (and can also improve fatigue resistance and metabolic fitness), it produces an increase in power and, therefore, performance. This explains why weight training has essentially been universally accepted as a viable way to improve performance. General and Specific Strength Strength can be divided into 2 categories – general and specific. General strength refers to the strength available for any activity. If you increase the general strength of a muscle, then that increase in strength is available for any activity. For example, if you improve your general bicep strength, you will be able to use that increase in bicep strength for any activity, such as carrying grocery bags, lifting furniture, etc. Specific strength is the strength available for a specific activity and that activity only. For example, you can easily increase your specific strength for performing bicep curls, but not experience an increase in strength in any other bicep exercise. Specific strength increases as a result of an improvement in neuromuscular efficiency. Basically your muscles get more efficient when an activity is performed repetitively, resulting in an increase in specific strength. It is important to note that specific strength is absolutely specific to the activity being performed. It does NOT cause an improvement in other activities. Getting Stronger The question we must ask is how do you improve both general and specific strength? Luckily, weight lifters have known for years how to improve both. It’s called overload training and the principle of specificity. All we have to do is apply these principles of strength training to the activity of running. General strength increases when muscles are trained at or very near to their maximum capability. This is known as overload; i.e. subjecting the muscles to a maximum or near maximum work load. Let’s use a simple weight training example to illustrate. Let’s say you are capable of bench pressing 200 lbs for a maximum of 10 repetitions, but during a workout you stop at 5 repetitions. Since you were capable of performing 10 reps but stopped at 5 reps you have not pushed your muscles to their limit. As a result, your muscles will not get stronger. However, if you were to press 200 lbs for 10 all out repetitions, you would have exercised your muscles to their limit and would be rewarded with an increase in strength. It works the same way with running. If you run at a moderate pace for all your training runs, you will not improve your performance, even if you continually increase your weekly mileage. On the other hand, if you add some speed work to your running program (speed work is the running equivalent of lifting heavy weights), your muscles will get stronger and you will run faster. Muscles grow when they are trained hard (not long, not often, just hard). The increase in strength you experience from speed work translates into improved running performance. This explains why virtually every running program ever invented includes speed work. Until now improvements from speed work have been attributed to positive changes in VO2max, lactate threshold, and running economy. Now you know that it is really an increase in strength that explains why speed work makes you faster. Specific strength is improved in only one way - by performing the activity you will be participating in. This is the principle of specificity. The only way to improve running specific strength is by running. You can’t improve it by doing weight training exercises that “simulate the running motion”, by running backwards, by bounding, by butt kickers, or by any of the other exercises and drills that runners do that are similar to running but are not running. Those exercises only improve your ability to perform those exercises. Only running improves running specific strength. The bottom line is that you must improve both general and specific strength in order to make the most improvements in your running. Select exercises based on their ability to increase one or both types of strength. How to train General running strength is best improved with weight training and speed work. Specific running strength is only improved by running. Your training program should include both weight training and speed work in order to maximize both general strength and running specific strength. I recommend one weekly session of weight training and one weekly session of speed work. For a balanced program, weight training would consist of exercises for all the major muscle groups of your body, using the heaviest weights possible for a maximum of 8 – 12 repetitions. A running specific weight training program would focus on the muscles of the legs and buttocks. Speed work should consist of sprints of 200 - 1600 meters, run at or close to your maximum pace. Incorporate these two strength building exercises in your training program and watch your performance soar. Till next time keep on running.
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