MASTERING YOUR RUNNING ERA

They say that it takes 10,000 hours of practice to master a skill.  If you want to be a good runner, then you need to run.  Unfortunately, when it comes to training for endurance, it’s very easy to get caught up in an endless cycle of “chronic repetitive motion” while neglecting all the other stuff that actually keeps your body road worthy.  Strength training plays a vital role in preparing your body to pound the pavement.

If you’re in your running era, here’s what you need to know

You can use weight training to address structural & strength imbalances and prevent injury, to improve power to weight ratio, to reinforce optimal posture and breathing and to develop athletic potential and speed.

Injury Prevention

Addressing the most common structural and strength imbalances is key when it comes to bulletproofing the body against injury. 

1. Anterior versus Posterior Chain. 

If you’ve ever been injured and spent time at physio, you’re probably familiar with the old chestnut that “your glutes just aren’t firing”. Whilst this is a super simplistic way of looking at things, there is in fact some truth to it.  If you spend a bunch of time sitting down hunched over a desk, your hip flexors will get short, tight and weak, and your glutes will have a hard time switching on when it comes time to do the hard yards. Strengthening the lower links in your posterior chain - your calves,  hamstrings and glutes - will not only help support your ankles, knees, and lower back, but it will also give you the power to conquer heartbreak hill or win that 1 on 1 sprint to the finish.

Top Tip: Hip flexors are important for improving stride length, and therefore speed, but they are often neglected in training in favor of booty building. An easy way to add insome direct work is by including seated straight leg lifts and banded mountain climber variations. 

2. Side to Side Imbalances.

Given that running is essentially a unilateral sport, if you have a weakness on one side, you will compensate on the other side setting yourself up for injury.  Single leg work should make up the bulk of your training foundation. That goes for both mobility and strength & stability.  If you’re tighter on one side, then stretch on a 2:1 to 3:1 ratio.  If you’re weaker on one side, add an extra set.

Top Tip: Always work to the weakest link.  Start your reps on the weaker side, and whatever number you fail on, you repeat that number on the stronger side.  That will work to even out the imbalances over time. 

3. Lateral versus Medial Imbalances. 

Often knee injuries can be attributed to an imbalance between the outside of the leg being too tight, and the inside of the leg being too weak.  This causes incorrect tracking of the knee, leading to friction, inflammation and pain.  Foam roll the outside of the leg first for myofascial release – go directly on the side of your legs for the IT bands and then shift your weight slightly forward to get the TFL (it’s in between the ITB and the quads) - and then add in direct work VMO (vastus medialis) and adductor/groin work.

Top Tip: Given the importance of obliques in pelvic stability, the Copenhagen Side Plank is a phenomenal way of integrating the core with some direct inner thigh strength work.

4. Work from the ground up.

The foot/ankle/calf complex is incredibly important in all aspects of training, given that your feet are your proprioceptive HQ. The better the feet and ankles are functioning, the better the innervation all the way up the kinetic chain.  Not to mention, if your ankles and calves are tight, they will impede your movement quality and your ability to achieve optimal range of motion.

Top Tip: I often train in bare feet so I can better “feel” the floor. If it’s not possible to do this in your current training environment, then try to get flat shoes to work out in.

Improving power to weight ratio

Muscle mass is not necessarily synonymous with strength.  Having an optimal power to weight ratio means that you have the right amount of muscle to carry your engine for the duration of your task. It comes down to picking the right exercises in the right rep range. For maximal strength and power gains without adding unwanted mass, pick big compound “task-specific” movements like front squats, back squats, deadlifts and Nordic Raises and perform them in sets of 2-5 reps at 70-80% of your 1 rep maximum.  These movements are relatively easy to learn, pack a muscular punch on the legs and posterior chain, and emphasize core stability and posture.

Top Tip:  Staying in the lower “strength based” rep ranges means that you’ll also most likely avoid the DOMs (delayed onset muscle soreness) that often goes hand in hand with hypertrophy work. If you’re an athlete, your work in the gym should complement your sport, NOT make you so sore that you can’t perform.

Improve posture and breathing.

When you think of running, the last thing you think of is training the upper body.  However, your posture dictates the efficiency of your breathing, and if you’re hunched over, you’ll be compressing your diaphragm.  This is very inefficient,  and will cause you to tire much more quickly. Add corrective upper body “pull movements” into your program to strengthen your back and allow you to remain much more open and upright for the duration. Bent Over Rows, seated rows, banded pull aparts, facepulls and bent over reverse flyes are all good for improving posture.

Here is a simple run focused unilateral strength based workout for you to try:

Warmup:

20 x Banded Dead Bugs (band around feet)

20 x Banded Mountain Climbers (band around feet, pause with knees under chest)

12 x Banded Single Leg Glute Bridges e/s (band around thighs)

2 rounds

Main Strength Circuit:

6 x Staggered Stance Romanian Deadlift e/s

6 x Bulgarian Split Squat e/s

30 secs Bent Leg Copenhagen Side Plank each side

60-90 secs rest. 3-4 rounds.

Supplementals:

15-25 Wall Supported Calf Raises

15-25 Wall Supported Tibialis Anterior Raises (back against the wall, hinge forward slightly and pull the toes up towards the shins)

2 rounds.

Cooldown:

30-60 secs Couch Stretch (quads & hip flexors)

30-60 secs Pigeon Stretch (glutes)

30-60 secs Straddle Stretch - seated or standing (hamstrings & adductors)

If you enjoyed this session, you might want to consider coming to train with me.

THE HIPS DON’T LIE

“You’re too young to have anything wrong with your bones, but get the x-ray anyway because it’s free” was what my doctor said to me as I walked out the door with an MRI referral for a suspected torn labrum. How wrong he was. I mean, I did have a torn labrum too BUT turns out my “tight & sore hip flexor and lazy glutes” was actually symptomatic of me having the hip of a 65 year old.

At the ripe old age of 37, I was diagnosed with osteoarthrtiis in my left hip.  In the space of 8 months, I went from being an athlete to someone who could barely walk across a room without assistance.  I couldn’t sleep at night because of the referred pain.  I couldn’t train. I couldn’t even put my pants on after the shower because I couldn’t stand on one leg. And when I needed to take clients in the gym, I sat on a stool in the corner and yelled instructions. I was left with no alternative but to get a full hip replacement if I wanted to walk again.  So that’s what I did. 

It still amazes me how much we take for granted when it comes to our bodies and what they can do, until all those skills and abilities and movements that we’re granted, are taken away from us.  BUT on the flip side, having to work through such a significant injury forced me to reevaluate the way in which I was training.  It made me a better coach, a better athlete and a better human. I learnt empathy, I got more educated and I realised that there’s something inherently satisfying about to completely break down and rebuild yourself.  Especially when you exceed everyone’s expectations, including your own.

Now, I have zero pain and zero restrictions. Here is some of the helpful sh*t I learnt along the way.

The What

The hips are quite literally the drivers of ALL powerful movement. They don’t just allow you to walk, sit, sprint, squat and deadlift but they also stabilize, connect and co-ordinate movement between the lower and upper body through the “core”. And let me tell you, Shakira had it absolutely right when she said “the hips don’t lie.” From personal experience, I can tell you that if the hips aren’t happy then neither are you!

Sadly - with the amount of booty building programs currently on the gram - when most people think about the hips, it’s really just about perky posteriors and meaty hamstrings. But they are so much more than that, and if YOU want healthy hips for years to come, then it’s time to get acquainted with the importance of training a few other incredibly influential muscle groups.

The Hip Flexors

These run from your lower back through to the front of your hip and help keep your pelvis aligned. They bend your hip and bring your knees towards your chest, and play a key role in squatting (pulling you down into the bottom position) and in deadlifting (achieving full hip extension at the top). Because they are attached at the front and the back, ANY tightness or weakness will create an imbalance all over the body. And what most people don’t know is that tight hip flexors usually also mean WEAK hip flexors, so they need both direct stretching AND strengthening work.

The Adductors

Outside of moving limbs towards to the midline of the body, these have important roles in helping to flex and extend the hip, and can help make you a better  squatter, deadlifter and sprinter. Sadly, unless you’re a horserider or breast stroker, the adductors receive very little work in everyday movement. BUT weaknesses/imbalances here lead to faulty biomechanics at the hip joint, which can transfer down the chain and contribute to knee issues that arise from incorrect alignment/tracking. If you’re going to do a bunch of booty band work that’s abduction focused (moving away from the midline), then you NEED to include direct adduction work in the opposite direction (towards the midline).

The Obliques

Whilst having a strong and stable core that’s able to brace and support the spine during loaded movement is incredibly important, there’s often not enough emphasis placed on the obliques which play an integral role in working with the gluteus medius to stabilize the hips and pelvis when you walk, run or move in any direction. I tend to favor “anti-movements” and offset loading to challenge this part of the core musculature, and side plank variations feature heavily in my training, where you get the added benefit of improving the stability of your shoulder girdle, and consequently the connection between your ribs and hips.

Top Tip: Specific exercise selection can allow you to improve strength/length relationships and train strength through length.  For example, Lateral Lunges or Cossack Squats strengthen the glutes/hamstrings whilst lengthening the adductors.

The How

The lists below gives you an idea of some of the exercises that directly work the “weak links”.  At the most basic level, you could just pick one exercise from each column to make a tri-set that could serve as a warmup or accessories/supplementals on a lower body focused day.

The Hip Flexors: Banded Mountain Climber, Seated Straight Leg Lifts, Banded Reverse Squats, Glute/Hamstring Bridge Psoas March

The Adductors: Lateral Lunges/Cossack Squats, Copenhagen Side Plank variations, Sumo Stance & Seated Good Mornings, Hip Adductor Machine, Sidelying Straight Leg Adduction

The Obliques: Side Plank variations, Single Arm Carries, Pallof Press variations, Russian Twists, Cable/Band Woodchops

“HIP-CENTRIC” SAMPLE SESSION

This simple yet effective workout addresses both Strength & Length through exercise selection.  The best part – you can do all the exercises at the gym AND at home #noexcuses.

A1. 12 x Seated Straight Leg Lift Overs e/s

A2. 12 x Half Kneeling Hamstring Flex e/s

2 sets

B1. 8 x Single Leg Hip Thrust e/s

B2. 8 x Lateral Lunge/Cossack Squat e/s

B3. 30 secs Modified Copenhagen Side Plank e/s

3 sets

C1. 10 x Hand Resisted Dead Bugs e/s

C2. 20 x Banded Mountain Climber

2 sets

D1. 60 secs Couch Stretch e/s

Top Tip:

The foot/ankle/calf complex is incredibly important given that your feet are your proprioceptive HQ. The better the feet and ankles are functioning, the better the innervation all the way up the kinetic chain. Single leg work indirectly strengthens the feet and ankles through the balance aspect, and I often train in bare feet so I can better “feel” the floor.

If you feel like you could benefit from more sessions like this, then come WORK WITH ME on my exclusive online training platform.

CORE CONFUSION: TO CRUNCH OR NOT TO CRUNCH, THAT IS THE QUESTION

Contrary to popular belief, your abs and your core are not one and the same. Your abs are that sculpted set of superficial muscles that, when bodyfat is low enough, typically grants you the elusive six-pack. Your core on the other hand, while encompassing your abs, is the term that refers to the 360 degrees of stability around your spine including your hips and lower back.

Sadly, having great abs doesn’t mean you have a strong core.  And on the flip side, having a strong core won’t guarantee that you’ll be able to see it. But it is possible to have both - a six-pack to make you look like a Superhero, and a strong core to make you perform like one.

 Here’s what you need to know

The reason a lot of people fail to develop abs can often be down to a lack of understanding of basic anatomy.

Starting with the outer muscles, we have the Rectus Abdominus which is primarily responsible for Spinal Flexion or moving your ribs towards your hips (and the six pack look), and the External Obliques whose main jobs are rotation and lateral flexion ie bending your torso towards one side or the other.  The deep inner unit is made up of the Internal Obliques aiding their external brethren from underneath, the Transverse Abdominus (TA) which is responsible for stabilizing your spine and works to pull your midsection in, and the lumbar multifidus (kind of like the TA of the lower back.)

Fun Fact: The number of bands within the Rectus Abdominus can vary with genetics, so not everyone has a six pack of three upper bands on each side.

Below is a 4 pronged approach and surefire way to tick all the boxes and build a strong core, supercharge performance and turn heads. So whether you’re Camp Crunch or Camp Core, I’ve got you covered.

1.      WARM UP “THE CORE” WITH ANTI-MOVEMENTS

From a “functional” perspective, the goal of core training is to prevent unnecessary movement through the spine, and therefore lower your risk of injury.  Your mid section must be able to safely and efficiently transfer force between your lower and upper body.  If it can’t do that, your lower back will cop it.  Pick 2-3 exercises from the following categories to include in each warmup, and perform 2-3 sets.

• Anti-Rotation: Pallof Press Variations, Cable Chops/Lifts

• Anti-Lateral Flexion: Side Plank Variations, Single Arm Carries

• Anti-Extension: Plank Variations, Rollouts/Walkouts, Bear Crawls, Dead Bugs

•  Anti- Flexion: Bird-Dogs, Back Extensions, Reverse Hyperextensions

2.     BRACE YOURSELF FOR SOME STRENGTH SETS

The meat of most workouts, and the way in which you build total body strength and power – including that of your core - is through your big compound movements.   Think Squats, Deadlifts, Bench, Rows and Pullups.   And It’s the deep Tranverse Abdominus (TA) that is the one that has to do most of the heavy lifting while lifting heavy.  This is like the spanx of your abs and the muscle that acts like a natural weight belt for your spine, with the activation enhanced by your breathing. Lock in the ribcage, take a deep breath before you move and then use that breath to expand your stomach into your sides like you’re prepping to take a punch.

Top Tip: You can recruit more core through changing the way you load your hinge, squat and lunge movements with goblet, dual rack, zercher and front loaded variations being incredibly effective. I’m yet to experience a day after I’ve done Front Squats where my obliques don’t complain every time I laugh.

3.     OFFSET YOUR ACCESSORIES

Uneven loaded carries and lifts (ie weight held on only one side) are excellent accessory movements for any training program, with the offset loading forcing your core to resist moving to the side to compensate. Whilst you can perform squats and deadlifts in this way, my favorites are the Single Arm Floor Press (have the legs straight and together for the biggest challenge), the Renegade Row,  the Bird Dog Row and a heavy Suitcase Carry (carry one DB/KB down by your side).  Pop them all together in a circuit for an indirect but incredibly effective and comprehensive core workout in itself.

Top Tip: For an even bigger challenge, you could perform your floor press in a hollow rock position with your chest lifted and legs off the ground.

4.    END IN ISOLATION

Remember your abs are still muscles, and if you want them to pop,  they need to be built using the same tried and tested rules of hypertrophy that you would use for any other muscle group. 10-20 sets of loaded direct ab training a week is a solid start.   Pop 3-5 exercises at the end of each workout and complete 3-5 sets circuit style, trying to make sure you hit ALL the things - the lower abs, the upper abs and the obliques. Ab rollouts, Bicycles, body saws, reverse crunches, Turkish get ups, hanging leg raises, landmine twists, rope/cable crunches and weighted swissball crunches all came up trumps in the EMG (electromyography) tests for peak ab activation.

SAMPLE SESSIONS

Session 1: Lower Body Focus

1.      Warmup:

20 x Dead Bugs

10 x Side Plank Hip Taps

5 x Bird Dog each side

2 rounds total

2.     Main Strength Set:

5 x 5 Deadlifts. 90 secs rest between.

3.     Accessories:

8 x Single Rack Hold Reverse Lunge each side (whatever side you’re holding the weight on, step back with the opposite side).

50m Suitcase Carry each side

3-4 rounds

4.     Isolation:

20 x Bicycles

15 x Hanging Leg Raises

10 x Roll Outs

3-5 rounds, minimal rest.

Session 2: Upper Body Focus 

1.      Warmup:

30 secs Pallof Hold into 10 x Press each side

10 x Side Plank Rotations each side

30 secs Plank Hold

2 rounds

2.     Main Strength Set:

3 x 6-8 Pullups (eccentric pullups). 60 -90 secs rest between.

 3.     Accessories:

8 x Single Arm Floor Press each side

        50m Single Arm Rack Hold Carry each side

        3 rounds

4.     Isolation:

15 x Reverse Crunches

15 x Weighted Cable/Rope Crunches

12 x Landmine Rotations

3-5 rounds, minimal rest between.

If you like this style of training, you might like to check out the programs on my exclusive online training platform TRACTION.

How to get your sh*t together and change your life.

“I want to make some big changes in my life, but I struggle to start.  How do you take that first step?”

So you want to change your life hey?  Well, the good news is that you’ve already accomplished STEP ONE purely by acknowledging that there are changes to be made. This is arguably the hardest part since it can often be confronting and uncomfortable in itself. 

STEP TWO: Just DO Something.  Anything.

By taking one small, actionable step, you will elicit feelings of accomplishment that will gather momentum and ultimately inspire you to keep going. As Mark Manson says in his book The Subtle Art Of Not Giving A Fuck, “Action isn’t just the effect of motivation; it’s also the cause of it.”  Not motivated to train? Just pop your active wear on and commit to 5 minutes of stretching.  Chances are you’ll keep going.  Got writers block?  Open a new word document and just write a title or some random thoughts.  Chances are those thoughts will inspire new ones.  Avoiding cleaning your house? Just do one chore.  Chances are you’ll think, “F*ck it, I’ve started now – I may as well keep going.” Want a new job? Start updating your CV. Put a profile up on LinkedIn.  You never know what or who is just around the corner. Nike really hit the nail on the head when they said “Just Do It”, because one thing’s for sure – if you don’t start, you’ll never finish. And some of my biggest opportunities for change have come about purely because I became open to seeing them.

STEP THREE: Invest in an Expert

Take the stress out of the situation and invest in advice from someone who has achieved success in your field, and who understands what is required for you to reach your goal. Being overwhelmed by information (paralysis by analysis) can kill a goal before it’s even got off the ground. It will also give you accountability, and the confidence to execute your plan. “Great coaches have great coaches.”

STEP FOUR: Goals are great but habits are better

What’s the point of chasing an outcome if you absolutely hate the process? You might want a competition ready physique, but chances are you won’t end up with one unless you really learn to somewhat enjoy going to the gym or calculating your macros.  Instead of focusing on the goal itself, focus on creating and implementing some of the healthy habits - that you enjoy and will consequently adhere to - that will inevitably lead you to the goal and beyond.  I achieved sobriety, not by focusing on cutting out alcohol, but by choosing to commit to Half Ironman training, and gaining a passion for it in the process.

STEP FIVE: Create an environment of inevitability

All this means is that you consciously make it more difficult for yourself not to do something than to do it. If getting fit is the goal, invest in a personal training package and pay up front – the pain of wasting all that money will most likely outweigh the pain of getting off your ass and going to the gym. And if food is your achilles heel, not buying that packet of salted caramel Tim Tams will mean they’re not in the house for you to try not to eat.

STEP SIX: It’s their shit not your shit

Change isn’t just confronting for the person changing.  It can be uncomfortable for the people witnessing the change, especially if they feel like you’re indirectly challenging their own lifestyle choices.  When I quit drinking, I lost “friends” overnight because I had eliminated one of the biggest things that had connected us in the first place.  The friends I have now love #UberAlexa and are at the bar getting me a drink of water before I’ve even had to ask. If your circle isn’t celebrating and supporting you to be your best self, get a new circle.

STEP SEVEN: Repeat after me.

“I am a f*cking unstoppable force of nature. I have everything I need for success. Procrastination can kiss my awesome ass.”

STEP EIGHT: Pre-register your interest in my EXCLUSIVE ONLINE TRAINING PLATFORM coming soon. GET TRACTION WITH ACTION ALEXA.