4 Pillars of Holistic Training:Functional Strength

Last week we discussed sport-specific, or endurance training, and the many factors that go into swimming, biking, and/or running (see below if you missed it). This week, we turn to the second pillar of performance (endurance, functional strength, nutrition, recovery). By definition, functional strength is 1. Ensuring an athlete has the strength (and flexibility) to perform the movements his/her sport demands in the best and most efficient way possible, 2. Without becoming injured. While these two facets of functional strength almost always go together, I will examine them separately for the sake of structure in this post. And while what's left to say will be pretty short, do not be fooled. Functional strength may be one of the easiest things to comprehend and explain, yet it is one of the hardest things to actually make time for and do.

1. Strong/flexible enough to excel at sport(s): Push-off on the run, power on the pedal down-stroke, and pull on the swim. Stride length, lower-back reach in the aero-position, streamlined horizontal posture in the pool. These are just a few examples of things that make an enormous difference in your performance that cannot be achieved solely by sport-specific endurance training. As a matter of fact, sport-specific endurance training often works against these aspects of solid performance, as your body tends to default to "what is most normal/comfortable" and hard-wiring current muscle memory, even though it likely isn't optimal. Rather, a much more efficient and accurate way to target the muscles and joints needed for sport is through functional-strength training. Since this is not an area of my expertise, I will not recommend specific exercises, but will say, this generally does not mean power-lifting and heavy weights, but rather, very controlled and refined movements that often use one's own body weight for resistance. The best exercises bake in strength, flexibility, and balance. If you read on and commit to getting serious about functional strength training, purplepatch has some great resources, such as their functional strength for runner's program (click and scroll down).

2. Without becoming injured: Being able to complete high volume sport-specific training requires incredible structural (muscular-skeletal) support. Think of strength and flexibility as an enabler to your high-volume training; lay the foundation by building good functional strength, and your body will better tolerate and adapt to the endurance training. The most simple reason for this is that toward the end of long days, weeks, monthly cycles, when you are most prone to lose proper form, you won't. Losing proper form means muscle imbalance and compensation patterns, which are probably the largest culprit of injuries in our sport(s). There is research showing that even some bone injuries (e.g., stress fractures) result just as much from torque on the bone (e.g., tight muscles, ligaments pulling the bone at attachments points) as they do from sheer impact.

Earlier I said this is one of the hardest things to actually do...and I will just tell it like it is. Most endurance athletes always default to using that last 15 minutes to get in another few miles or lengths of the pool. Stop. The marginal benefit from using that time to stretch or perform functional strength exercises is literally 10x more than those last few miles. This *does not* mean start cutting your workouts short. It does mean designing a training program that includes and makes the time for this, and if that means shortening some of your workouts, then so be it.

I'll end my post with a great quote from a yoga teacher. "Strength without flexibility leads to rigidity, and flexibility without strength leads to instability." For endurance athletes, I will add one last part..."and having neither leads to total meltdown and injury."

For more detail on functional strength (and all the pillars of performance for that matter) check out the purplepatch knowledge+ page. For runners, check out the purplepatch running plans.

Like I said before, there are other options out there, but I have started working with purplepatch because I truly believe in the approach and philosophy, and have seen how well it works first-hand, and in some of the athletes that I work with.

4 Pillars of Holistic Training: Sport-Specific Training

I’ll start by saying I am intentionally keeping these pillar-specific posts on the short side. They are simply meant to serve as a primer on each component of a holistic approach to training. If you want more detail, I highly recommend that you visit the purplepatch fitness knowledge page where there is an extensive amount of excellent material.

Sport-specific training, or endurance training, is obviously fundamental to an endurance athlete’s progress in the sport(s). I hate to say it, but anyone who says that you can become a better runner without running is wrong. So, while a large part of your training should be running (I use running as an example from here on out, but for triathletes, the same goes for swimming, biking, and running), the type and timing of your runs matter more than most think.

Type: Without being overly long winded, simply “running” is not enough. In order to improve as a runner, you need a good mix of endurance runs, pace-particular runs, long runs, hill-repeats, speed sessions, and recovery runs. The key here is that every run should have a purpose: from building strength and form (hill repeats) to building muscular endurance (long runs) to building speed (speed-sessions) to building feel and confidence (pace-particular runs). Making sizeable gains (especially for those already more advanced in their training) requires a shift in thinking from “going out for a run,” to “doing hard hill-repeats to build strength followed by two recovery run days to trigger physiological adaptations from the hill-repeats.” To enable this shift in thinking, it’s critical that the athlete has an understanding of what different runs accomplish, or is confident in a coach/program that does.

Timing: Once an athlete has mapped out all the different types of sport-specific workouts (e.g., the running examples listed above) the timing of when to complete these workouts becomes critical. Timing can and should be designed on a micro and macro level: For a triathlete doing a 2-a-day, should the bike or run come in the morning? What days of the week should my hardest workouts be on, and what days should my active recovery be on? At what point of my season should I be doing hill-repeats vs. speed sessions? Much like I mentioned above regarding the type of run, it takes both a thorough knowledge of sport-specific training, as well as a 30,000 foot view of an entire season to be able to time workouts properly. And one more additional note here; timing should not only consider the other sport-specific workouts, but also fit and align with all the pillars (functional strength, nutrition, recovery) of performance.

So, to summarize, with sport-specific training, the type and timing of workouts are very important, and always work together. Once an athlete understands that every training session has a purpose, the key becomes to balance those sessions and time them correctly to allow for the best physiological and psychological gains. Well this seems complicated enough for the running example I follow above, it becomes exponentially harder for multisport athletes, who must balance and integrate the 2-3 sports (love to Duathletes out there!) that comprise "sport-specific" training.

To that end, I think it takes one of two things to make all this work. 1) A lot of time and passion about the sport(s) to do the research and develop one’s own training plan...and also, a lot of discipline to stick to it and evaluate the results objectively, something I personally find impossible to do... or 2) A good coach or program, and a lot of trust and confidence in that good coach or program.

Personally, I take the later route (I have a pretty good knowledge of this stuff, but lack the ability to evaluate my own results objectively) and recommend it for almost everyone that is serious about improving as an endurance athlete. If you think this is some kind of “sales pitch,” re-read the above, remember that there are subsequent posts coming on functional strength, nutrition, and recovery, and then try to honestly tell me that you can integrate all of this on your own, and stick to (and also adjust at times) what you come up with. I would be hard pressed to find anyone that can do that.

So, with all of that in mind, I urge you to evaluate your current sport-specific training. If you are considering incorporating/using outside resources to enhance your training, for runners, check out the newly released purplepatch running plans , which I can personally vouge for. Furthermore, if you want more information on additional programs and coaching options, just reach out to me - I am familiar with many.

Next week’s post will focus on the second pillar: functional strength. In the mean-time, if you like what you are reading and want more in the form of very short blurbs, follow me on twitter.

Until next time, live hard, train hard!

Holistic View to Endurance Sports Training

The very nature of endurance sport(s) is one that demands a lot of effort spent in preparation. In the simplest of terms, racing at long distances requires training at long distances, and training at long distances takes consistent time and energy. Because almost all of us have a day job and numerous other commitments, there is a tendency to focus what is generally limited time and energy on improvement at our sport(s), by doing our sport(s): for this audience, running; or, swimming, biking, and running. This [I'll call sport-specific training from here on out] is extremely important. Generally speaking, particularly for those newer to the sport(s), if you want to run faster or further, you have got to run more! And for beginners, thinking of training for a 10K as running (or training for a shorter triathlon as swimming, biking and running) is probably OK, and a serviceable way to tackle your first event.

Here’s the catch…As an athlete becomes more advanced and serious [e.g., training harder/longer and racing more frequently] a much greater amount of stress is placed on the body, and often times, on the mind too. At this point, a one dimensional sport-specific approach to training not only no longer makes sense, but can actually be extremely dangerous, leading to overtraining, burn-out, and even worst, detriments to general health. Now it’s not like all of a sudden a one-dimensional athlete will get hit by a train, but more often than not, cues kick in that it might be time for a shift in paradigm: Stagnant performance, constant minor injuries, a stress fracture, frequent cold, trouble sleeping at night, lethargy during the day, etc, etc...More (in terms of sport-specific training) is better to a point, and even then, only if that “more” is done in the context of a much broader overall training environment.

Enter a more holistic

view of training that will drive performance and ensure good health. Matt Dixon, arguably the most visionary coach/mentor in endurance sports today (just look at the crazy

roster of pros under his guidance) has characterized [and made pragmatic] this holistic philosophy as taking a 4-pillar approach to training: 1. Sport-specific training, 2. Functional strength, 3. Nutrition and 4. Recovery. Much like a building, if one of these pillars is relatively (to the others) weak, the athlete will begin to crumble, and if a pillar is missing altogether, the athlete is likely to fall.

This approach by no means equates to more total hours spent on our sport(s). What it does mean is often a re-balancing of the current hours (e.g., a few less hours running, a few more working on strength and flexibility) and a much broader view of training (including what I eat, when I eat it, and how much I am sleeping). All too often athletes sabotage phenomenal sport-specific training by neglecting functional strength (this can manifest in the all-too-common achilles injury 2 weeks out from your marathon) ignoring nutrition (which involves fueling, or what you eat before, during, and right after exercise as well as general nutrition, which means what you eat during the rest of the day) or short-changing recovery (spending hundreds on the latest shoes, but not $50 on a monthly massage). Making this holistic approach work requires considering all 4 pillars in the greater context of your life. For example, if your current physical training load requires 8 hours of sleep per night for recovery, but your job and kids mean that the most you are ever going to get is 6.5, the answer might not be sleeping more, but it might be re-configuring the physical load. Hence, the 4-pillars can apply to everyone, but often times, in a very individualized way.

What are the implications of this? As a first step, when you design your training (or find a coach to help you do so), be aware of and consider how all 4-pillars fit in. Give each pillar equal weight so you don’t risk crumbling; this may mean learning more about nutrition and making hard behavior changes, cutting out an hour of running to attend a yoga class, and actually planning and building into training sound recovery from the physical work. And in an ideal world, make this equal importance tangible; if are the type that is crazy about tracking weekly mileage and pace, start tracking the calories you burn during a workout and your replacement of them in the glycogen window (more to come on these details in future posts). Keep a sleep diary for a week. Etc, etc.

While at first glance this may seem like a radical approach, once you learn more about the 4-pillars and how they fit together, it turns out that traditional one-dimensional program that only focus on sport-specific training is probably the most radical thing out there. A more holistic and comprehensive approach requires an enormous shift in orientation, and this isn’t just a challenge for age-groupers, but for many pros too.

If this makes at least some sense to you, please stay abreast of the blog over the next month. I will be profiling each individual pillar, and then writing a post showing how they all fit together. If you don’t have the patience and want to learn more now, visit purplepatch fitness and start exploring the wonderful resources Matt Dixon has put together. This week’s articles of the week are also themed around the purplepatch approach and 4 pillars.

As a disclaimer, I am starting to get more and more involved with purplepatch, simply because I really believe in what they are trying to do, and have seen it work in my own training (and no, I am not coached by Matt Dixon, but am lucky to be coached by someone who generally echoes his philosophy, and I’ve seen it work in huge ways). This also means that I will be continuously learning more about the 4 pillars, and to the extent that I can, sharing it with you! To that end, I just joined Twitter, and will use it solely as a vehicle to pass on this type of information, but in much shorter (pretty sure the limit is 140 words) and succinct blurbs (I may join Twitter, but I’ll never say tweet). If you are interested in daily tips and even an inside look at what some of the top pros are up to, follow me at: http://twitter.com/#!/Bstulberg

Until next time, Train Hard, Live Harder!!

Focus on What You Can Control, and Don't Waste Energy on the Things You Cannot

While reading an interview with a Kona bound age-grouper, Adrian Rishworth, one particular insight really stood out to me. Worrying about whether or not his qualifying race (IM Lake Placid) would be wetsuit eligible, Adrian’s friend told him, “Focus on what you can control, and don’t waste energy on the things that you cannot.” With the second half of the race season fast approaching, this is some of the simplest yet most powerful advice we [as endurance athletes] should keep at the forefront of our minds. I’ll even go an enormous step further, suggesting that this is a pretty good way to approach nearly all elements of life. Since the wisdom largely speaks for itself, my subsequent examination of it will be brief. And in order to avoid overstepping the purpose and reach of this blog, I’ll keep things in the context of endurance sports.

The first part, focus on what you can control, gives us a lot to focus on! Prior to a race, there is a laundry list of things (big and little) to do that we have full control over. And while these tasks often have the power to make or break a race, it is common to hear stories of athletes (and often really good ones too) getting lazy here, and then paying the price. There is no shortage of examples.

The right in-race nutrition, and in the right format to easily take it down; having your 3 Powerbars will do you no good if you can’t get the wrapper off while biking or running. Foam rolling; It’s a pain in the ass (literally), but the 2 minutes it takes in the morning can save you 40 minutes of meltdown causing pain in the later stages of a race. Blister control and other minor bodyshop care; it stinks to spend time duct-taping your big toe, especially at 4AM (when even the smallest things are hard to do), but the one time you don’t do it will be the time the blister grows to performance deteriorating levels. Pre-race fueling; you train so hard and for so long, often scrutinizing a lot of what you eat, so it makes zero sense to mess up your carb-load, yet this seems to happen far too often. Call the hotel and check out the local options in advance, and if they don’t have what you need, pack it! Getting to the race on time; leave early! Again, you put so much time into this, so what’s an extra 10 minutes on race morning to minimize stress? While I could go on forever, the theme should be clear by now; there is a lot that we can control and should focus on in the days leading up to a race.

The second part, don’t waste energy on the things you cannot control, is equally as important! All the things we can control (see above) can really place a sizeable stress-load on us, all in addition to the usual pre-race anxiety, and the extreme physiological stress that racing places on the body. Long story short, there is a lot to do pre-race [within our power] that will demand a ton of energy, and then all the energy that is left over should be expired on the course! So, with that in mind, it makes absolutely no sense to devote a single calorie of energy (mental or physical) to things that are out of our control. For example, wasting energy worrying about what the temperature will be on race morning is pointless; you are not going to change it. But…the lost sleep, raised HR, physical tenseness, and forgetting to do other things (that you can control) because your mind is consumed by worries about the temperature is likely to cost you in a big way.

To summarize, in the lead-up to races (or in training, or really anything in life) the worst thing you can do is worry about the things that you cannot control at the expense of doing the things that you can. Unfortunately, this seems to be a vicious cycle that too many people fall into. The best thing you can do is the opposite. Focus on what is within your control and knock all that stuff out, and believe me, there isn’t likely to be a shortage of it. And for the things that are out of your control, don’t waste energy on them; you simply can’t afford to. It’s OK to be prepared to react to a handful of variable situations, but it’s not OK to worry endlessly about which of those situations might occur.

Good luck to all as we head into the second half of race season!!!