Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 114, January 2019 | Page 50

COACHING
TRAINING
Build for the Big
Ones
Rating Men (seconds) Woman (seconds)
Excellent >100 >60
Good 75-100 45-60
Average 50-75 35-45
Below Average 20-25 20-35
Poor <25 <20
Most non-elite endurance athletes will find themselves somewhere between Poor
and Below Average, which is strange when you consider that this test only lasts
about two minutes, while an ultra lasts anything from five hours and up!
TARGETING THE MUSCLES
J
oin me in a quick experiment: Start with a short warm-up, then with
stopwatch in hand, stand with your back against a wall, feet shoulder-width
apart, and then slowly slide down the wall into a seated position, with your
knees bent at a 90-degree angle. Now lift and hold your right foot up and start the
stopwatch, hold for as long as possible and make a note of the time, then reset
and repeat the process with the left leg.
In most cases, you will notice that you were able to hold one leg up longer than the
other. This indicates a muscle imbalance between your left and right side. Ideally,
you want your muscles balanced, so that you’re working both sides equally and
don’t have one side over-compensating for the weaker side, which often results in
an injury or strain on the stronger side. More importantly, however, is looking at the
number of seconds that you were able to hold this position. Compare your times
with the table below:
Athletes who have not done enough strength training may start a race with good
form and posture, but by the end may find themselves bent over at the hips,
leaning to one side or struggling to lift their legs. These are all indications that
their muscles have not been trained to go the distance. Furthermore, as your form
breaks down, so your speed decreases, and you find that certain muscles go into
spasm because they’re being overworked.
START SLOW
When introducing strength training, start with light weights and focus on doing
the exercise correctly, slowly and controlled – that’s far more important than how
much you can lift. In the first three to four weeks, use the lightest weight possible
and perform two to three sets of 15 repetitions each per exercise. After the initial
three to four weeks, you can start increasing the weight slowly while decreasing the
number of repetitions.
About the Author:
Ray is a USA Track & Field and NAASFP certified coach. Find him at www.runetics.com.
BODY SCIENCE
Quick Fixes
Most athletes will look for a quick
fix to whatever ailments they may
have, but the solution is hardly
ever as quick as they wish. More
often than not it means weeks
of rest and months of corrective
exercise, in order to ensure the
most holistic long term solution,
but there may be ways to lessen a
problem in a hurry.
– BY ERNEST HOBBES
50
1 Warm-up and Cool-down
Although corrective exercise is not considered a quick fix, by consistently and intently implementing a well-
structured warm-up and cool-down, a runner may be able to significantly improve flexibility and mobility, and
consequently enhance movement quality in a week or two. This will particularly benefit runners who are already
restricted in flexibility and mobility, and they may find additional benefit in consulting a physiotherapist to guide
them in releasing stubborn muscles. Any enhancement in movement quality may also result in slight improvements
to running technique.
2 Running Shoes
Novice runners often lace up shoes which just don’t suit them or their new activity, or are just too old and worn out
to train in safely. Additionally, inexperienced runners may continue to train in the same pair of shoes well after the
shoes have reached their “expiry date,” which may lead to injuries. It is difficult to determine when a shoe needs to be
replaced, since it depends on various factors, including the runner’s weight, running style, and how the shoes have
been maintained. The simplest way to determine whether running shoes are due for retirement is by considering other
elements of a runner’s training: If there have been no significant changes to pacing, mileage, terrain, weather and a
runner’s physical condition, an injury may indicate that the running shoes need to be inspected.
ISSUE 114 JANUARY 2019 / www.modernathlete.co.za
If you’re planning to run a long race in the near future,
make sure you get yourself to a gym, because long-distance
runners need to prioritise strength training to minimise
overuse injuries. – BY RAY ORCHISON
An ultra is nothing more than conditioning the calves, hamstrings, glutes, quads
and hip flexors to repeat the same movements over and over, but to avoid strain,
it’s crucial that you strengthen these muscles, because when they are weak, they
no longer perform their task in moving the body forward, which results in smaller,
less-trained muscles doing more work then they’re designed to do. That’s when
niggles turn into full-blown injuries, and most often this points back to a weaker
bigger muscle, such as the glutes.