Believe it or not, not every athlete wants to build massive muscles. Think about wrestlers, MMA fighters, gymnists or athletes who use their own body weight as their primary resistance, they need the strength, but the additional bulk can be a hindering than helpful. What’s important to consider is that strength is not solely a
A brand new study in the European Journal of Applied Physiology looked at the neuromuscular adaptations during combined strength and endurance training in endurance runners (Taipale, Mikkola, Vesterinen, Nummela & Hakkinen, 2012). This study is out of the University of Jyvaskyla in Finland. This study compared the effects of 1) mixed maximal strength training &
I’m tired of biting my tongue. I’ve seen pictures like this pop up everywhere on the internet and honestly, I find it quite offensive. Here you have a wickedly lean and built sprinter/football running back compared to a frail distance runner, in this case, marathon-great Ryan Hall (and of course they choose the least flattering
The review paper by Aagaard and Andersen titled Effects of strength training on endurance capacity in top-level endurance athletes, discusses concurrent strength and endurance training in highly trained endurance athletes. Previous research in this area is equivocal. Some studies show improvement in endurance performance while others have found an attenuated cardiovascular response. This paper reviews
A few weeks back, I posted Posterior Chain Part I. Here is Part Two – the exercises. Remember, posterior chain exercises focus on strengthening the muscles we can’t see, typically the hamstrings, gluteals and low back extensors. Thanks to computers modern life, our posterior chain, particularly our glutes become weak and in some cases dormant.
Just because you’re a runner doesn’t mean you need to shy away from strength and power training exercises. Being stronger and more powerful will increase the reactive strength and contractile capacity of each of your muscle fibres. You’ll have better neuromuscular communication and be able to produce more force at a faster rate. Your stronger
Plyometric training combines strength, speed and neuromuscular efficiency to produce power. Marching drills and jumping exercises make up the majority of this type of training, during which a muscle is loaded and contracted rapidly in a sequence known as the stretch-shortening cycle. This mechanism, along with the stretch reflex, forms the basis of all plyometric