Chris Shah
Owner, Fitness Coach
I coach allot of runners and frankly most of you are CRAZY! (I mean that as a compliment) Steve
jobs was crazy. You will wake up at UN Godley hours to run up monster hills. ….
Are you really doing everything you
can to become a better runner?
Imagine you’re a high performance sports car and you boast
of your running times. This is called your PERFORMANCE.
But there is another neglected or not understood world of
the systems that support your sports car (body) or enhance your ability to
perform optimally. This is called your DURABILITY. Think as
Durability as resistance to wear, tear, breakdown and inefficiency.
You want to run a half marathon, do your first pro MMA
fight, tuff muddle obstacle course or simply lose weight.
First things first is to push on the gas pedal speeding to
your goal right? On the surface it seems like the right plan of action.
Image the excitement of planning a cross country road trip
with your friends or family. Everyone wants to hurry up and get on the road.
But not so fast!
Will your car make the trip without breaking down?
Do we have enough money for the trip?
How much gas will we need?
What if a mechanic did a diagnostic test and found that your
high performance sports car has misaligned tires, worn down brake pads, sub
optimal power steering and its leaking oil? Would you ignore it?
That translates to misaligned knees, ankles, poor shock absorption,
breakdown, pain, aches, poor running mechanics, poor gas mileage and SLOWER RUNNING TIMES.
We seem to be very logical with replaceable cars but
completely missing the boat when it comes to something non replaceable “our
bodies”
We have DECREASED RUNNING
TIMES by paying attention to and increasing durability.
When we have poor durability and continue to run or perform
a fitness program Physical therapist and strength coach Gray Cook calls this PUTTING FITNESS ON TOP OF DYSFUNCTION
What limitation break do
you have that needs to be released in order to maximize your training program?
Muscle tone
Flexibility
Mobility
Stability
Coordination
Strength
Power
Endurance
Skill (running, swinging, throwing ect.)
Any limitation of the first group will limit your ability to
efficiently steer and control the second group. Also lots of research clearly
shows us the possibility of injury or breakdown increases with such
limitations. (Put reference)
NOT
ALL WORKOUT ROUTINES ARE CREATED EQUAL
To better illustrate this point and why one workout routine
will not produce the same results with another person I introduce you to the Optimum
performance pyramids. – Grey Cook
The Optimum pyramid the
athlete has a nice wide base of functional movement.
This athlete has optimum mobility and stability to control and
steer their power, endurance and skill.
The over-powered pyramid the
athlete does not have adequate Functional movement (mobility and stability) to
optimal control and steer their power, endurance and skill. They have breaks
on.
Who cares?
If you care about longevity, injury and optimum performance you will. If you
care about quicker running times you
should. Without a nice wide base of mobility and stability your
injury or breakdown potential greatly increases.
When you have a narrow base of functional movement you have
to exert more energy as well as waste more energy. This means you Fatigue faster.
One fitness program will not get the same results with two
different people who exhibit different performance pyramids and needs.
When someone has breaks on it’s like those old school light
bulbs. They light up your room but waste energy that translates into poor efficiency.
In running efficiency is the name of the game.
BUT! …………………………
When you release
the Breaks you are like the new more efficient light bulbs that do the
job even better and are far more energy and money efficient.
Our bodies operate in very much the same manner. It’s what
separates a good runner from an elite runner.
The best runners are very energy efficient with few or no breaks.
The runners with breaks on (limitations in mobility, stability) are leaking energy
like a water hose with a hole.
That means less energy or force being pushed into the ground
along with slower run times and more
physical exertion.
“ Some runners assume
their mechanics are not bad, but perhaps they’re only looking at specific
running mechanics with little consideration of the fundamental mobility and stability
… that’s supports running mechanics. “ Grey cook- Movement
Congrats to Jessica Stone who improved her durability and recently
finished FIRST overall in the Pacifica Education 5k fun run.
TAKE HOME MESSAGE
Combine pushing on the gas peddle and finding and releasing
the breaks of performance.
In
part 2- Of the series I will go over specific assessments to see if you
have any breaks holding back ultimate performance.
About the author: Chris Shah is the founder and head Fitness Coach of Terra Nova Fitness in Pacifica. He received his mentorship through Legendary Strength and conditioning Coach Mike Boyle of the Boston Red sox and US Olympic Woman’s 2013 world hockey champions.
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