How to strength train as a masters athlete

When you run especially as your speed increases, more power needs to come from the muscles which extend the hips.

Most runners overstride because the reality is most are out of balance. Dr Vladimir Janda who was a pioneer in muscular therapy coined the term “lower cross syndrome” to describe the imbalance which occurs when the hip flexors, quads and lower back muscles are tight and overused, and the glute max and core musculature are not doing their job.

3 problems with being quad dependent

1/ It wrecks your knees – Patella Femoral Pain - PFP is the #1 injury in runners – when you overstride the load on the knees is greater, this creates shear force across the patella which places undue stress on the knee joint.

2/ Your quads have a greater number of fast twitch fibres. This means your quads are working closer to peak capacity and become fatigued much sooner. When the muscle gets too acidic you end up hitting the wall. The good news is the glutes are predominantly slow twitch which means they last a lot longer!

3/ Your quads simply can’t match the total body control your glutes are capable of.

So, here’s 3 reasons to become hip dominant

1/ The glute max is incredibly powerful, fatigue resistant, extensor of the hip joint. The extensors are the muscles we need to drive our hips from the front side to the backside of our body.

Your quads do the opposite. They work as flexors moving the hip from back to front.

2/ Because we are running forward, we need the extensors to generate the push to drive us past our foot plant on the ground. The hamstrings help out here too, however, the glute max does two important things to stabilise us which the hamstrings don’t, the first is the glute max will keep your leg from twisting inward and second it will keep it tracking correctly.

3/ Your glutes play a big part in postural control, when they are firing correctly, they help upright the spine.

The goal is to break this lower cross syndrome and to do this we need a solid plan to develop our core and glute max. Remember this, “we don’t train muscles to achieve this skill; we train movements and you need to own this movement”.

A useful cue is “Drive from the hips, keep the spine stable”.

The outcome we want to achieve is to wire our body to move with precision from the foot to the head so we can tolerate the stress of running and become more durable. We can do this using a combination of strength work and explosive movements to train our body to develop speed.

Know this; strength in distance runners declines with age. Running lots will not develop all the skills you need to be able to run well into the future. Failing to include strength work will eventually lead to a loss of athleticism and injury.

Targeted strength training will improve our running economy not only this, but research shows strength training reduced sports injuries by 33%! And cut overuse injuries in half.

Deliberate strength training is well worth your time.

My Top 12 Reasons To Strength Train As A Masters Athlete

1/ When I started adding heavy lifting, I noticed a strong correlation with staying injury free.

2/ It’s worth remembering this; “It’s not the load that breaks you, it’s the load that you are not prepared for” - more running doesn’t prepare you for the load. Heavy lifting does.

3/ This meant I could avoid “rehab purgatory” as a result I’ve become a more resilient, robust runner and human being. If you're time constrained. It’s better to add a couple of strength sessions and run less if you want to run for a long time.

4/ Greater strength allows me to run with greater economy because I’m now using less energy. Strength without mass is my goal.

5/ Typically I do Deadlifts because I think it’s the most efficient and effective exercise there is, particularly if you’re time constrained and you want more ‘bang for your buck’.

6/ Since I can’t use a gym at the moment I bought Kettlebells for home and do;

Snatches

Cleans

Squats

Swings

O/head Press

Carries Lunges and SL work.

7/ Before I started lifting heavy, I made sure to fix any weak links because stability precedes strength - it’s best to correct the key fault, you don’t want to load dysfunction. One of the best tools for this is the Mobo board. 

8/ I also want to protect my tendons and build stiffer springs because the predominant factor in faster running is the ability to generate and transmit muscular force to the ground whilst offsetting the effect of gravity.

9/ When lifting heavy I adhere to the concept of low sets, low reps, high weight and adequate rest because it’s the fastest way to expand the number of myofibrils in our muscle fibres which directly increases our ability to produce force.

10/ I’m looking after my future self because I’m increasing bone density, lean muscle mass and maintaining my ability to function well into my later years. I’m building a body to last, not to break.

11/ Yes, I do “core” work. I seek to avoid repetitive patterns because they don’t build resilience. I’ve got better results by applying a variety of stresses. In sport no two movements will ever be the same which includes running.

12/

Strength = speed.

Strength = power.

Strength = durability.

Strength is the secret sauce to faster running.

Here's two other things I think you'll find interesting...

Australian sports psychologist Andrea Furst played an integral part of the England Rugby Team World cup preparations and before that she worked with GB Hockey and supported the Australian kayak team in addition to being highly sort out by business leaders.

In this podcast she talks about;

How we cope with change.

Dealing with uncertainty.

How investment in self-awareness and self-reflection nurtures the person and performance.

There's no doubt, sports psychology now plays an integral part in an athlete's ability to perform. Using some simple affirmations and visualisation techniques were two of the key factors in helping me break 3 hours the first time in a marathon.

And the second thing...

Ever wondered what’s the best running shoe?

A good question;  see this link for a useful infographic on how to approach shoe selection and what you should do. Worth noting is, if you want to improve performance it states “select a lighter shoe model” in addition to including specific strength training and working to improve running technique.

In the running world, the subject of shoe design has become divisive and political, with an abundance of claims and counterclaims.

We need to move beyond the arguments and ask “what kind of shoes enhance the natural biomechanics of the foot and help protect and strengthen the kinetic chain.

No single shoe is perfect for everyone, and no single shoe may be perfect for one person. Each of us is an experiment of one, and we should expect some trial and error in the shoe selection process.

Recent research indicates trying to slow impact forces by wearing shoes with a lifted heel isn’t a smart idea. A study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine suggested prescribing stability or motion control shoes based on foot type is overly simplistic and likely injurious.

Putting runners into comprehensive training programmes doesn’t reduce the rate of running-related injuries. Neither does this mean cushioned and overly supportive running shoes are the sole culprit. More likely a combination of several factors such as footwear, fitness, strength and mechanics, a deficiency in one or all lead to higher injury risk.

The key to running injury free is to focus on your form first, be strong and stable and get shoes to allow this. Then you can build volume and develop speed. To be a healthy runner you really have to run naturally with less impact.