Deloading time is here! Our speed is really coming along. This week we concentrate on running form. We’ll back off slightly to let our tissues catch up this week as we work a little general conditioning. Still focusing on track for a few more weeks. I’m getting some feedback that you like having one key session to try and repeat twice in a week, then the rest is easy flex/fill with loslocardiomojo.
LOCATIONS AND TIMES FOR LOCAL TRAINING THIS WEEK:
MONDAY (7/26): Belgrade High Track 6pm
THURSDAY (7/29): On Your Own…Daddy Lightning is on Vacation!
SATURDAY (7/31): On Your Own…Daddy Lightning is on Vacation!
WEEK OF: 07-26-2021 (5th week of month 1, SPEED block)
| WOW | PREP | PRIMARY | ACCESSORY | TIPS |
| A TRACK X2 | Walk 10’ Jog 5’ Tubing 20 each Thrusters Pullover/leg raise | Tempo Work 5-10 x 150m @70-80% w/250 walks Focus on form | MB Complexes 3 x 4 + 4 each MB Jump Squat + BW Jump Squat MB Split Jump + BW Split Jump 5’ stadium or hill walk (or bench steps) | Film your gait and send me a video. |
| B TRAIL X1-3 | Mental Prep View this sesh as an unstructured celebration of movement! | Lo-slo Cardiomojo 30-60’ of any activity such as walk, jog, hike, bike, etc. | Soak, splash, swim, rinse…any refreshing water exposure | Get your movement in… don’t skip! |
Key Workout Considerations
Workout A: We are toning down just a little bit, but as I always say…what looks simple in the document is still a fairly zesty workout. Begin with a slow warmup that is basically a 10 minute walk followed by a 5 minute super-easy jog. Then enjoy 20 reps each of the tubing movements. Stand on your band with one or two feet and hold the handles at shoulder height. Do a full squat and finish with an overhead press as you ascend. You’ll have to do this explosively to overcome the resistance at the top. Then anchor your band at ground level, lay on your back with arms overhead and tension on the band. Pull your straight arms up and over to the hips as you simultaneously do a full bent leg raise. Lower under control and repeat.
Tempo running is rhythm work. Go fast but comfortable and controlled. Make it look good but concentrate on “relaxed effort.” 150m is half a turn and a straightaway. Then walk around the remaining 250m for the next rep. 5-10 times at tempo 70-80% max effort. Quit when you can’t maintain perfection. Read this article and then snap some video footage of your running. Send it to me and I’ll analyze it for free.
The Medicine Ball Complex Training is tasty. Holding your med ball, do 4 powerful squat jumps. Then take a few breaths, and do 4 more squat jumps for MAX height with no weight. Rest a full minute. Then do 2 more rounds. Next up, it’s the same thing with the reversing (in air) split stance jump. Stay toit and focus on quality. If you rush it and schleppschlop it, you won’t get that max power stimulus which we seek. Then head to the nearest stadium, hill, bench, rock, or log. Work on uphill walking (or alternating stepping) for 5 whole minutes. Delightful!
No MasterClass this week since I’ll be gone. I’m open to changing the time as needed to accommodate group participation. We’ll discuss this as we progress.
Now I have a few things to say about the gait video you’ll be viewing below. You guys are awesome and thank you for being subjects. As you know, I’ll be doing a 3-parter on this topic as part of our Running Performance Series. In Part 1, we showcase some of our local TribeBeasts as the tips and instructions are provided. It’s set to music so you don’t have to listen to me talk, and quite frankly, your poetic, magical running speaks for itself. This is your first chance to see yourself in action, so just enjoy it with an open mind. In Part 2 I’ll go over each person’s mechanics and see if there are any low hanging fruit/big rocks to discuss. Then in Part 3 we’ll look at the corrective interventions to 10x your running gait. No matter where you are, if you follow the instructions in the video (and associated article), you can capture and send me footage for use here and I’ll gladly give you an analysis.
Since this is a private document, I can provide a little insight into what you are seeing when you watch yourself and others run. First of all, quite honestly, everybody looks great and no one exhibits major flaws and asymmetries which would be a concern. Probably has something to do with good coaching and excellent participation on your part. Really what we see is a unique group of athletes, all with different bodies, who self-organize their running gait into an economical, efficient, and effective presentation. This is based on my proprietary system of classification, which I developed for my book AnimalFIT. You see, in terms of muscle contraction preference (and how this relates to running form), there are 3 types of beasts (runners). Actually, the first article in the Running Performance Series goes over this if you’d like to dive more deeply.
Concentric runners are muscle-dominant, strength-driven creatures who generate energy into each stride cycle. They are power defined. HayDawg, Atomic Fireball, and Ice Ninja all exhibit this characteristic. These are generally your best accelerators.
Isometric runners are elastic, tendon-reliant critters who transfer energy into the ground with each footstrike. This is that whole snappy, poppy, springy, bouncy thing we talk about often. El Jefe, Ivan the Great, Viper, Daddy Lightning, and Dr. Hook (formerly known as Griz) display this trait. These runners have a strong max velocity gear.
Eccentric runners are energy maintainers. They get their bodies rolling and then maintain flow by adding small inputs and steering force. They are highly rhythmic with minimal energy leakage and once in their groove, they are extremely fatigue resistant. Mighty Buck, Predator, The Scorpion Queen, and Sparky shine here.
As we’ve discussed previously, every athlete does all 3 of these things, but you almost always have one dominant characteristic. Whether it’s a workout or a 100m dash, these movement gifts show up fairly clearly. Concentric accelerators come out strong. Isometric runners rise up as velocity begins to peak. And then, towards the end of a run or workout, the eccentric athletes pull away. It’s cool stuff and I’ll relate how these body types often play into the running form you use, and why we don’t always need or want to try and “fix” that. We’ll take the general principles in gait biomechanics and apply them to your unique needs. So fun.