The Secret fitness Workout for Strong and Fast Hill Running

Chris Shah

Founder, Fitness Coach 

You know it’s coming, it’s the hill you love and hate.

The struggle and ultimately triumph that makes it all worth it.

What if you didn’t have to struggle up the hill? What if you could keep up relatively the same flat land running pace?

If you understand what’s going on behind the scenes in your body we can dodge fatigue bullets and keep that pace. This is a great reason to have a personal trainer. Someone who spends hours a week learning about the bodies matrix.

There are a few coins that explain why we fatigue, but here we will only include one. Future articles will tackle and link the other coins.  

 One side of the coin is the oxygen you produce (energy production).

This is largely the function of the following systems:

• Heart size and pumping action

• Vascular network

•  Respiratory system

The other side of the coin we ignore or simple don’t know about is energy and oxygen utilization.

This is largely the function of the following systems:

•   The number and size of slow twitch (endurance) endurance muscles

•    Oxidative abilities of fast (high threshold) muscles

•  Aerobic enzymes

A lot of runners are great at the energy production part with great resting heart rates as proof, but they are ignoring the red headed step child of Energy Utilization. (Specifically, aerobic energy).

One of the reasons you fatigue or slow down running up hills, is because you are tapping into Fast Twitch High Threshold Fibers (type2). When these type 2 muscles switch from aerobic (mostly oxygen) to anaerobic (limited oxygen supply) you fatigue faster.

The secret is to delay this switch or threshold. Welcome to the secret workout method we have been using with our runners and athletes with great success.

We use 2 exercises for this method the SLED and BOX STEP DOWNS.

You can also use a spin bike that allows increased resistance.

This method is characterized by high resistance and slow tempo.  Because the slow tempo keeps your heart rate in an aerobic zone but high resistance stimulates your fast twitch fibers, you are increasing your ability to utilize aerobic abilities of your Hill Running muscles.

This means you will become more efficient at running hills from a strength and conditioning standard.

To Summarize.

What: Run hills faster

Goal: Increase your hill running muscles (fast twitch) ability to utilize aerobic energy production

How: Use secret method of combined high resistance and slow tempo at a high volume or time.

Specifics:

Exercise: Sled, box step downs, spin bike

Equipment: Weight vest, sled, kettlebells, dumbbells

Resistance: High

Work: 7-12 minutes phase one, 12-20 min phase two (each phase 3-4 weeks)

Rest: 7-12 minutes

Frequency: 1-2 times per week

Heart rate: 140-160 beats

Dedicated to your Success, 

Chris Shah  

Reference: Joel jamieson and Book "Super training" 

The Secrets revealed of being a great runner

Chris Shah

Founder, Fitness Coach 

The best runners and coaches in the world view and speak about their training very differently than recreational runners who see little or no improvement.

Most recreational runners do not classify their workouts, methods and exercises as anything. They simple brag about the OUTPUT (I did 50 squats and 8 miles)

The world class talk more of OUTCOME! (Fast twitch aerobic adaptations) A fancy way to say the ability to run up hills better. Improved running time ect.

“Runners who constantly improve running times acquire physical assets. The runners who are stuck in plateaus acquire physical liabilities that they think are assets.” – Terra Nova Fitness.

Take home message

See diagram for a list

We need to classify and know the difference between physical assets and physical liabilities, and invest in physical assets to constantly run better, faster and pain free.

Still confused?! Check out the following financial analogy diagram of how Terra Nova Fitness classifies things and continues to improve the runners we coach. 

The left part of the diagram is your physical profit and loss statement. The right part of the diagram is your physical balance sheet of assets and liabilities.

   This is an abbreviated list that could go on forever (a running skill coach would add 10 or more to each box)


  Allot of runners and coaches do NOT understand the relationship between the physical income statement (left) and the physical assets and liabilities balance sheet (right)

The numbers/workouts (10 snatches, swings and 13 miles) by themselves mean very little. When someone is struggling physically it’s because they don’t understand the physical cash flow of their body.

It’s the story that counts the most. The arrows in the diagram represent the physical resource cash flow of your body.

Where is your bodies’ physical cash flow?

 Knowing this very simple yet mostly misunderstood principle will be your competitive advantage pointing you in the constantly improving direction.

                                                          

  

In the coming weeks, months and year, I will go over in great detail all the assets and liabilities listed in the physical diagram to constantly help you run better, faster and pain free.

Schedule your free “success session assessment” to see where your physical story is.

Mention this article and receive an extra 2 weeks free on any membership.  (for new members only)

Contact

Dedicated to your Success,

Chris Shah

Note: I used a financial analogy that I learned from Robert T. Kiyosaki to illustrate the mindset change.

Want Fitness Super Powers? Ask The Right Questions

Want Super Powers?

Ask The Right Questions

Chris Shah

Founder, Fitness Coach

If advanced Aliens landed on planet Earth I feel the first thing they would say is “Experience is not what happens to you, but how you react to what happens is real experience” Aldous Huxley.

At the gym we will encounter many people who wish to achieve health, fitness and weight loss goals, and along the path, they might lose momentum for any number of reasons.

This is natural but the difference between successful people and people who constantly fail is the way they speak to themselves and the questions they ask.

 

The secret lies in the questions you ask yourself

I once attended a seminar by peak performance coach Anthony Robbins and like a Hollywood Movie my life was never the same. Anthony taught me something I want to share with you.

The habitual questions we ask ourselves everyday shape our emotions and the results we get.

Could something as simple as the language we use and the questions we ask be the key to willpower super powers? I say YES!

Our brain works very similar to Google search engine. Ask it “Why I’m I overweight?” and it will respond with an image and caption “Because you’re lazy and have no will power.” Ouch!

Ask Google (your brain) “How can I lose weight?” “How can I improve my diet”? “How do I fit into these jeans by my birthday”?

Guess what happens? You ask a question and your brain searches for answers.

Ask bad disempowering questions you get bad disempowering answers and emotions.

Ask good empowering questions and you get good empowering answers and emotions.

Here are some examples to empower yourself with.

Example 1:

Bad question or statement: “I’m in terrible shape”

I heard this from a new client on her FIRST training session with me.

Google the word “terrible” you get terrible images and emotions.

Example 1:

Good question or statement: “How much have you exercised in the past few months? I ask “I have not worked out in months.”.  “So, you are exercising 100% more than you have in the past few months?”

It’s like being broke then earning 100% more money. The choice is yours to dwell on past misfortune or to celebrate your new windfall.

One choice makes your brain work against you and the other makes your brain work for you.

Example 2: Bad question or statement

“I’m too tired to work out after work”

Google the word “tired” and get images played of being tired in your head and body.

Example 2: Good question or statement

“How do I get more energy after work?”

Ask your brain and it will search out answers to work for you:

• Turn the TV off earlier to get more sleep.

•  Have better nutrition choices and food timing to increase energy.

•  Meditate to help bring stress down.”

People who fail to achieve their goals complain and blame.

People who achieve their goals will analyze and ask empowering questions.

“What can I learn from this? What good can come of this?”

 As Always I’m dedicated to your Success,

Chris Shah

Use this arm exercise to run faster

Chris Shah

Founder, Fitness Coach

Running is a completely integrated human movement system. Your arm action helps dictate how fast your legs and hips go as you run. That’s simply how the brain works.

Take a snap shot of any top level runner either sprinting or running long distance and you will see very similar piston like arm movement.

Try this, see how long it takes to run a mile with your arms crossed hugging yourself.

I know no one will actually do this but if you compared times running without your arms contributing to movement it would be dramatically slower.

Think of your arm driving as a motor boat propeller.

 In this video you can clearly see that my arm drive action drives increased locomotion movement in my hips when I’m sitting.

When you’re upright running optimal arm drive adds to stride locomotion. Lets develop your running propeller to power you to quicker running times.

 Long Sitting Arm Drives

Purpose:

·    To improve arm drive power

·    Improve running speed

Setup:

·   Sit with your legs strait

·   With your arms by your side

·   Bend both arms to 90 degrees (aka L shape)

·   One arm next to cheek

·   One arm by your hip

Performance: 

Rapidly move hands from cheek to cheek for 15 sec 
Be sure to drive movement from your shoulders

NO hammering or bending at the elbows

You should end up sitting in a different spot from where you started. 
Rest 15-30 sec, repeat 3-5 times

  

The extra velocity and horse power from your arm drives may be the difference in beating your friends run time by seconds.