Runners - how you can benefit from our training
NOTE - This post was originally written for our 'weekly warble' segment in a few Facebook groups for the community local to our gym.
Welcome to the weekly warble here at Ideanthro Movement!
This week I'm going to talk about how our style of natural movement training might benefit a runner (as supplemental work supporting their running).
The first thing that we should understand when starting out on this warble is that when you have a specific physical goal such as become a better or more resilient runner (or rock climber, weightlifter, bushwalker etc) then the most important thing for you to do is to practice your specific sport/ activity. A runner needs to run. A rock climber must climb.
This is because of something called the SAID Principle. SAID stands for Specific Adaptations to Imposed Demands. In a nutshell what this principle says is that you get better at the things you do, and not at the things that you don't. And more than that, it's doing the specific activity itself (e.g. running) that will give you the most improvements at that activity. It's actually a little bit more detailed than that but we'll leave it at that for this discussion.
But in short, the best thing to improve your running is running.
So what that all means is that when we ask ourselves "how might training with us at Ideanthro Movement benefit a runner?" we need to be looking at ways that our training could supplement their primary training of running itself.
The thing about any specialised physical pursuit, whether it's running, rock climbing (a favourite of mine) or anything else specialised is that there are some aspects of our physicality that each pursuit develops well,or others that it neglects. For example, a long distance runner is probably more likely than the average person to have great leg endurance and to know how to efficiently use energy while running, both of which are positive attributes. At the same time however they probably have tighter than desirable hamstrings and TFL's and generally lack hip mobility.
The primary way that a program like ours will benefit a specialist such as a runner will be by filling in the gaps that running doesn't address well.
You can think of it like a pyramid, where your running is the top of the pyramid and we are helping you to develop a really solid foundation. We're helping you build the broad base that supports the rest of the pyramid.
To give some specific examples, if you're a runner who comes to train with us you're likely to see your:
* mobility improve (from the specific mobility work we do in each warm up)
* hip stability improve (from the balance work that we do)
* leg power increase (from the jumping and landing that we do)
* upper body strength increase (from the climbing and crawling work that we do)
* core strength and stability increase (from pretty much everything we do)
And to sum up, all of this will help your running, but most importantly it will give you a good, solid, all round physical foundation upon which to build that primary goal of running well and with resilience to injury.
Ideanthro Movement (ABN 13 608 875 690) is located at 126 Oxley Station Road, Oxley. We have programs for both adults and children. You can find us online at www.ideanthromovement.com
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