I don't need to lift weights, I'm a runner. Right?

Nearly every running magazine contains some kind of resistance training routine. Whether it be a perfunctory core routine consisting of planks and side planks or a more comprehensive leg routine of lunges, single leg squats, and even plyometrics; every month it is part of the content.

But do most runners actually do any of these routines? Is resistance training in any form part of their training program? And does it have to be?

With limited time the first thing most recreational runners drop is a weight training program, then if they are doing any speed intervals or track work that is the next thing to go if time is short. Most runners training for half marathons and marathons will have a long slow run normally at a weekend, they are loathed to drop this, but if they have to this will be the next thing to go. Until all they are left with is the standard 4-5 mile moderate run, which is relatively easy to fit in, but out of all the training sessions achieves the least amount. This should be the first thing that is dropped.

So with limited time is it worth integrating resistance training into your program. To be part of your training it needs to achieve three things:

1. Help prevent injuries and bulletproof your body
2. Help you run faster and possibly further
3. Not injure you (many strength coaches seem to miss this point, if the strength program injures the athlete they are definitely never going to do it again)

But Kenyans Don't Lift Weights?

It is well documented that Kenyan runners generally don't lift weights (Tanser 2008, Finn 2012). They do intervals, fartlek, track work, they run up hills and they live at altitude but they don't lift weights.

In the USA half of all Olympic Marathon Trial qualifiers were found not to do any strength training and the other half averaged 1 to 1.5 strength training sessions per week (Karp, 2010)

So if someone of the best long distance runners in the world don't lift weights why should you?

Isn't Running Hills Like Strength Training?

Some running coaches like Brad Hudson don't believe in strength training for runners. Hudson thinks hill sprints are all the strength training that runners need. Much like strength training, Hudson thinks hill sprints will strengthen muscle and connective tissue, hence prevent injury. In addition he calls them 'muscle training', they help neuromuscular adaption and should make your running more efficient and improve running economy. Hudson outlines how to do them here.

In essence you do short 8-10 second sprints up a hill with a gradient of at least 6% (or if you're like most people just find a hill that looks steep). You build up to 10 sprints. They key is these are not hill repeats, they are all out efforts, so recovery time is long, 1 minute or more, or an easy walk back to the start between reps. You would do this session twice a week.

For most distance runners this is a great session to incorporate into your training. It will add much needed speed and strength and it is a relatively short session. Most distance runners ( and by this I mean 10k, half marathon, marathon and ultra) do no speed work or sprint work, and even if you do no resistance training these hill sprint sessions would be a great addition to your training.

But Hang On, Mo Farah & Scott Jurek Lift Weights

Steve Magness, the former scientific advisor to Mo Farahs training group coached by Alberto Salazar, states that Farah was put on a strength and conditioning programme when he arrived in Oregon (Halford, Athletics Weekly, 2012).

"Salazar has said that Farah was the 'weakest athlete I'd ever trained' when it came to doing press ups, sit-ups and single leg squats, so that was put right with three or four hours a week in the gym." (Halford, 2012:61)

Although Farahs actual program isn't outlined, we can get a hint of it from the quote above, I have also seen TV footage of him doing front squats and single leg work. Also, the amount of time devoted to strength training shows that Farah wasn't just doing one session a week. The results of his program are there for all to see, no one else could live with him on the final lap of the 5,000m or 10,000m in the London Olympics.

The one at the front lifts weights

In his book Eat & Run Scott Jurek recommends doing supplemental strength training and core work. This is interesting, as the distances he is running are 50 or 100 miles plus, so the concept of having to have a powerful sprint finish as Farah would need in the 5,000m is not the main rationale.

Interestingly in another article Jurek outlines something he calls 'super reps' ( see here )

"Leg strength workouts can vastly improve fatigue resistance without running a step. Low resistance super-reps are the best type of strength workout for runners. Super-reps are completed with low resistance for two to five sets of 50 to 100 repetitions or more. Get off the machines and perform functional exercises, such as one leg mini squats, lunges, step-ups and step-downs, to get the most benefits" (Jurek, 2012)

 This is an interesting idea, it would go against what most strength coaches would consider strength training, and there appear to be no studies investigating very high rep training. However, the concept does makes sense to me if you are training to run 50 miles and more, these type of exercises would help to build up connective tissue, and maybe we could even surmise some extra capillaries, and mitochondrial development.

Scott Jurek - one of the greatest ultrarunners of all time recommends you do resistance training

Interestingly, this has something in common with an idea  that JB Morin has, a professor and researcher in sprint biomechanics and speed development. In an interview with Bret Contreras (see here ) Morin recommends that sprinters train the ankles for endurance

"take a 20lb barbell on the shoulders and jump from right foot to left foot while on the balls of your feet, or jump with a high frequency on one foot only for 20 reps, then on the other, and so on, or from right to left over a lane line, etc…. Do this for 3 minutes – they’ll burn like crazy. This will build tremendous ankle endurance. In addition, these muscles are involved in our overall balance while standing, so they have a high endurance, don’t hesitate to “burn” them until you can not stand on your feet, they recover very fast." (Contreras, 2012)

 In my opinion this would be an excellent drill for endurance runners, as in long distance running the amplitude of the movement is much smaller than sprinting and much more reliant on ankles and calves. I would start with no weight and do simple bounces on both legs, focusing on ankle springiness, with minimal knee bend (like you are skipping), several of these drills are outlined by Bosch & Klomp in their DVD Hardlopen - BK Method (I think hardlopen just means running in Dutch, but hey hardlopen sounds way cooler).

Okay, But What Does The Research Show?

Coaching is a blend of art and science, and we can learn from what individual elites do, but what does the research show? What is the evidence?

The first thing to note is there isn't that much research (Sargent, 2007), and most of it involves distances of 5k or less, so we can try to extrapolate to longer distance as most recreation runners are probably entering events of 10k or more and probably aren't entering 1,500m or 3,000m races.

Johnston et al (1997) studied strength training in female distance runners. They did a 10 week strength training program in addition to their normal running mileage, in comparison to a control group the strength group had a significant increase in running economy. This basically means they were using less energy at any given speed than they were before, this reduced oxygen demand

"may allow one to run longer at the same speed or faster with the same relative effort" (Johnston et al 1997:224)

The strength training regime they followed was nothing fancy, it consisted of squat, seated press, hammer curl, weighted sit up, lunge, bent-leg heel raise (calf raise I guess), bench press, latpulldown, knee extension and knee curl. Reps ranged from 20 for the calf raises to 8 for the leg curl & leg extension and 6RM for squat, press, curl & lunge. I know that some strength coaches are crying at this programme right now, Leg extension - heresy! But it worked. They did this three times a week and it improved running economy. Also importantly for paranoid females and runners, they didn't increase body mass or body circumference measure, they didn't 'bulk up' but they did get stronger. Also they didn't improve their VO2 Max but they did improve time to exhaustion. Improvements in running economy can make you faster with no increase in VO2 Max. The strength may have improved their running style, therefore making them more efficient with less energy leaks or wasted energy.

Paula Radcliffe - the fastest female marathon runner of all time - doing back squats and not bulking up

In another study Paavolainen et ak (1999) studied elite male cross country runners. They gave the runners an explosive training program consisting of plyometric exercises like jumps, 1 leg jumps, hurdle jumps ( with and without weight)  as well as leg press and knee extensor-flexor exercises (whatever this means), reps were between 5-20 with less than 40% 1RM. After 9 weeks they improved their 5k time and running economy by 8.1 and 3.1 respectively. To put this in context there is typically less than 2% difference between times of the 1st place person and the 5th placed person in every Olympic distance up to and including the marathon (Sargent, 2007). This means a 3% improvement in time is the difference between winning and coming 5th.

In the Paavolainen study again there was no increase in body mass which many runners are so afeared of. This could be because plyometric & explosive muscle contractions are too short too induce hypertrophy.

Spurs et al (2003) improved running economy using only plyometric exercises like squat jumps, double leg bounds, single leg bounds, depth jumps. They improved running economy in just 6 weeks, and the subjects were running 60-80km per week. This running volume is more typical of good level club runners and those training for marathons and more.

Millet et al (2002) gave elite level triathletes a pretty basic strength program consisting of Leg Press, Leg Curl, Leg Extension & Squat in the 3-5 rep range for 3-5 sets. These elite triathletes improved running economy by up to 6.9%, which is pretty big if you're already elite.

So it seems both basic strength training & plyometrics improve running economy and 5k times. Though plyometrics seem to work quicker and appear to be more sports specific as running is essentially a sport that happens on one leg at a time.

Well trained athletes seem to hit a ceiling in VO2 max and endurance performance. Noakes suggests that performance may be limited not only by oxygen uptake but by muscle power (Paavolainen, 1999).

But does this work for recreational athletes?

Ferrauti et al (2010) did an 8 week strength program intevention on recreational marathon runners and it made no difference in performance. This is one of the few studies I could find that looked at any distance over 5k. Kelly et al (2008) did a 10 week strength program study on female recreational runners and 3k performance. Again it made no difference to  running economy or run time. It should be noted that it didn't make them worse, it just didn't improve. The important take home message here is that if you are a new runner or haven't hit a ceiling yet, the old adage of to improve running you need to run more still applies. And if you are running for recreational purposes you can add in a strength program and it wont hinder your performance, plus you get all the benefits of a strength program and a rounded fitness regime.

How About Injury?

What we don't know from the studies above is if the strength training and plyometrics prevented injury and more importantly if they increase the rate of injury.

Runners get a lot of injuries, and most runners have appalling movement screens (and I include myself in this). If you start loading this population in squats and explosive plyometric exercises what happens? This is where appropriate coaching and exercise selection come in. Some runners just wont have the mobility or motor control to do a loaded squat, and many will have appalling plyometric technique with valgus collapse and poor spinal position. However, there is an irony here that a runner may be afraid of plyometrics but  is doing well over 1000 plyometric foot strikes per mile. This leads to another question, could we improve running economy and reduce injury just by improving technique? The answer is probably yes.

Could it be that strength training & plyometrics that are properly coached will improve running technique and improve resilience of the body.

Some simple exercises can help to prevent the most common injuries. For example, Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome (PFPS) is the most common run injury and can be caused by heel striking, overstriding and internal rotation of the hips (Tucker & Dugas, 2009). Irene Davis at the University of Delaware gave a small group of runners  a gait retraining program for 4 weeks,  teaching them to strengthen and activate the external rotators of the hips. All participants rated their pain at zero by the end of the study, it was 5-7 out of 10 at the start (quoted in Tucker & Dugas). It seems logical that exercises to strengthen the external rotators like clamshells, and side lying abductors would help. And then progress to squats and one leg strength exercises, emphasizing external rotation. The same exercises could also help prevent or treat ITB syndrome.

Achilles issues like tendinosis are common in runners, especially those increasing volume or going faster. This type of injury is not inflammation, the Achilles needs to be remodelled and strengthened. Swedish researcher Alfredson found that eccentric calf raises are one of the best treatments for this. It would seem prevention is always better, so adding in some eccentric calf work and then adding load to it, should be part of an distance runners strength/prehab/bulletprooofing program.

And The Core

Running magazines love a core training program. Planks and side planks are staples. Though it makes sense that there is a connection between a strong core and running technique, posture and increased injury rate, I'm not aware of anyone making a concrete connection. Michael Fredericson of Stanford University has done a fair amount of work in this area ( you can get a free download core program here ). There are some good things in this program. Personally I would avoid the crunch and wobble board work (unless you have a history of ankle sprain) and focus on dead bugs, pallof presses and I would say loaded carrys should be done by runners as well. To do a loaded carry put a weight in one hand (kettlebell, dumbbell, sandbag) and walk up and down (simple, thanks Dan John) while keeping symmetrical. If you think about it, this is like a standing side plank, a more functional side plank if you will. McGills work on this exercise has been with strong men, but thinking logically I like this for endurance athletes too.

This is one of the first pictures that came up when I put kettlebell carry into google. Apparently this person is famous too. I prefer doing this with one kettlebell - like a vertical side plank but more functional. And doing it on a ledge will help prepare you for trail running

Meanwhile In The Soviet Union

As you would expect the East Europeans tried strength training and explosive plyometrics with their middle distance runners way before anyone in the West. In his book The Block Training System in Endurance Running Verkhoshansky (2007) outlines a whole program. In typical Soviet style it is a very complicated and long winded way of telling you to use essentially 2 exercises - the squat jump and scissor jump. (He does also mention using a kettlbell jump & fast hip flexor movement with a cable attached). The Soviets  tracked their athletes for a long time, three years of data not just 6 weeks. The training program they employed using these 2 exercises plus the usual fartleks, hill repeats show an improvement in the runners doing it compared to a control group. Though the distances concerned are what I would consider middle distance, 1500m and 3000m, distances rarely done by anyone whose not a track athlete.

Also, on the front of the book Verkhoshanky has a picture of Ovett & Coe. This is somewhat bizarre, as these two athletes regularly beat all the East European runners and didn't use any of these methods! It is well documented that Seb Coe was ahead of his time in using strength training, and this would have been back in the day of the old school multi-gym. It seems unlikely that either Coe or Ovett or any Kenyan were following a complicated block training system approach. Of course, this doesn't mean it doesn't work, the research shows plyometricsd are effective.

Coe & Ovett didn't follow a block training system, but apparently they were still pretty good at running. And Coe did lift weights

What I like about the Verkhoshansky program, is the purity, just 2 exercises. Any runner should have time to fit these in.

A few other lessons can be learned from the East Europeans. Bondarhcuk was one of the top throwing coaches but his principles can be applied to any sport (Bingisser, 2010). A few principles to consider

1. athletes have limited time & energy
2. general strength often isn't the answer
3. special strength often is the answer
4. pay attention to individuality
5. discover the role of regularity
6. always remember technique

1. We have seen already that many runners don't have much spare time and coaches are often reluctant try and add in strength training. Remember it doesn't have to be a long session, Verkhoshansky used 2 exercises.
2. There is a concept of redundant strength. There is a point where having any more upper body strength will not make you any better at running, in fact, too much muscle mass could make you worse. But don't forget that in the studies outlined above, many runners benefited from general strength training to begin with, as many of them had no background experience in resistance training, the initial neural adaptions helped them.
3. The exercises should be specific to improving endurance running. Many strength coaches miss this point, they write exactly the same training programs for endurance runners as they do for sprinters and explosive sports, this is probably because it is what they are comfortable with and what they know. Running is a single leg sport, and endurance running doesn't have much hip flexion or knee bend, remember that.
4. Individuality in strength training for runners is important. If they don't have the technique for plyometrics or they have injuries or weaknesses, you need to address those first. If you are training yourself, be very honest about what you need to work on.
5. Bondarchuk & Verkhoshansky have very simple programs in terms of exercise selection for sports, and they didn't change that much. The exercise programme should help you run further or faster and prevent injury. Its not about getting better at Olympic lifting, or Squats or entering a powerlifting meet or how high you can box jump, its about getting better at running. You get better at something by doing it repeatedly not by changing it too often.
6. Technique is especially important if the runner is a novice at resistance training. Also think about your running technique, what will improve it.

Putting It All Together

At last, if you read all that, well done. In summary

1. Any basic strength training program should improve your running economy
2. Plyometrics seem to work quicker and are more specific, and you wont 'bulk up'
3. If you are a beginner, to get better at running you need to run more but strength training wont make you worse and has many additional benefits
4. If you really don't want to do strength training do hill sprints,but you really should lift weights
5. It doesn't have to be complicated, 2 to 4 exercises, 2-3 times a week will have an effect

Based on this, a simple program could look like

Day 1

Mobility work to begin with: Clamshells, side lying abductors, glute bridge, 1 leg glute bridge, hip flexor stretch, cat camel

Strength - I like single leg work, but squats and machines all worked in the studies outlined

A1 Single leg RDL 3-4 x 6
A2 Bulgarian split squat (rear elevated split squat) 3-4 x 6

B1 Press Up 3 x 10
B2 TRX Row 3 x 10

C1 Core: Pallof Press, loaded carries to finish.
C2 Eccentric calf raise

Single leg RDL with kettlebell. If you're lucky enough, you can do this on a beach. I don't know who the person in the picture is

Day 2 - or a progression from day 1

Dynamic warm up - leg swings etc

Squat Jumps 3 x 10
Box Jump  3 x 10 - keep knee angle the same when landing as when jumping
Single Leg Bounds 3x5 each leg
Double leg bounces - stay springy - use the ankles - minimal knee bend like skipping

Single leg hops JB Morin Style with or without weight - 3 mins on each leg

Scott Jurek Hi rep finishers:
Single leg mini squat x 50/ side

Core: dead bug variation

Add in some flexibility work and away you go. Of course the above is generic, but it shows you what can be done. The options and progressions are limitless, but keep it simple people.

Conclusion

The research shows that resistance training does improve running economy in distances up to 5k. No one knows the optimal dosage or exercises or the best ones to do, that's where the art comes in. There is very limited research in this area, and research relating to Olympic lifts and running and ultra running and any type of strength training is non existent (if anyone wants to fund my PhD on this, let me know).

Run coaches have been reluctant to add in resistance training due to lack of time, lack of knowledge and if it ain't broke don't fix it attitude. But we have seen that Mo Farah and some of the best runners in the world do lift weights.

Strength coaches have more or less based their long distance running programs off of traditional sprint programs, making runners faster at sprinting. Which is okay if you are elite and are sprinting at the end of the race to be top 3 but are much less applicable to the average 10k runner who wants to improve their PB, and avoid injury.

Resistance training in any form, just twice a week is a worthwhile addition to nearly every training schedule. It can improve your running economy, help prevent injury, make you faster, improve your posture and doesn't have to be complicated.

So go out and run (and lift some weights too).

References

Bingisser M (2010) Simplifying Bondarhcuk. Modern Athlete & Coach. 48(2) 27-31
Ferrauti et al (2010) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21854344
Kelly et al (2008) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18550953
Finn A (2012) Running With The Kenyans
Halford P (2012) The Appliance of Science. Athletics Weekly. October 4. 60-61
Johnston R E et al (1997) Strength Training in Female Distance Runners: Impact on Running Economy. Journal of strength & conditioning research. 11(4) 224-229
Jurek S (2012) Eat & Run
Karp JR (2010) Strength Training for Distance Running: A Scientific Perspective. Strength & Conditioning Journal, 32(3) 83-86
Millet GP, Jaouen B, Borrani F, Candau R (2002) Effects of concurrent endurance and strength training on running economy and VO2 kinetics. Med Sci Sports Exerc 34 (8): 1351-1359.
Paavolainen L, Hakkinen K, Hamalainen I, Nummela A, Rusko H (1999) Explosive strength training
improves 5-km running time by improving running economy and muscle power. J Appl Physiol 86 (5):1527-1533.
Sargent D (2007) The Effects of Resistance Training On Running Economy - A Review. UKSCA, Journal of strength & conditioning (no number or vol)
Tanser T (2008) More Fire. How To Run The Kenyan Way
Tucker R & Dugas J (2009) The Runners Body
Verkhoshansky Y (2007) The Block Training System in Endurance Running.

Links

http://runningtimes.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=15737&PageNum=1
http://bretcontreras.com/2012/05/21-questions-for-jb-morin-on-the-topic-of-speed/
http://running.competitor.com/2012/05/training/the-long-run-high-quality-runs_52285

Train Like An Olympian. Think Like An Olympian.

Over the last week we've witnessed some amazing performances in the Olympics. I was lucky enough to be in the Olympic stadium on day one of the athletics, where I saw Jess Ennis break the British record in the 100m hurdles on her way to heptathlon gold. Elsewhere, Britain continues to dominate in the velodrome, seemingly breaking world records every time we hit the wooden track. In the rowing more gold medals, and athletes pushing themselves so hard they had to be lifted out of the boat at the end by Steve Redgrave. (Yes, I'm British, so I am somewhat bias in all the events I have mentioned, to redress the balance in the weightlifting seeing a guy lift triple his bodyweight overhead and another guy squat jerk 204kg at a bodyweight of 77kg is enough to fire anyone up).

Did I mention I was in the Olympic stadium on day 1 of the athletics when Jess Ennis broke the British 100m hurdle record

But can mere mortals take anything from the way these athletes train and think, and apply it to their own training? I think they can. You may not have the luxury of being a full time athlete, and your goal might be to lose half a stone or run 10k in less than 60 minutes, but you can take certain principles and start using them straight away.

The basics

The first thing to note is that most athletes training consist of basic exercises and drills that anyone can do. Yes, there are a few secrets that they are not going to tell anyone, and in the case of British Cycling they really did have the Secret Squirrel Club working on these type of developments. However, the basics remain fundamental. The Chinese, Turkish, South American and North Korean weighlifters do essentially the same exercises as everyone else. They have to practice the clean and jerk and the snatch, and do some accessory lifts, but to get good at lifting weights you have to lift weights. It's the same with running, to be good at running you have to run, you have to put the time in. Whether you're Kenyan or Mo Farah or looking to run 10k, there are really three basic things you have to do

1. Sometimes run long
2. Run some hills
3. Sometimes run fast, using intervals

This applies to fat loss, too often people search for the magic holy grail, obsessing about the details when they haven't even covered the basics (that green tea supplement ain't doing nothing if you're troffing a big mac and fries everyday). This article here by Nia Shanks covers the basics of fat loss and also contains this great quote from Dan John

"I think many of us think this way: If it’s free or simple or easy to understand, it can’t be as good as something that’s expensive, complicated and difficult to figure out on your own"

Consistency again, No one wants to hear about the hard work

After winning the 10,000m Mo Farah said this in his post race interview

"120 miles, week in, week out, long distance is a lonely event, what you put in is what you get out"

You can see the full interview here.

Mo Farah and his training partner, Galen Rupp, beat the East Africans, but they had to put the work in, they were still running 120 miles a week. It doesn't matter if you have the best coach in the world you still have to put the work in, no one is going to do it for you.

Geraint Thomas (member of Britain's winning Team Pursuit Squad in London 2012, that also happened to break the world record) said a very similar thing. The hours in the velodrome, sometimes from 7am to 10pm at night, the endless repetitions and hard work and grind.

So the question is how much do you want to achieve your goal, what are you willing to sacrifice? You could have a full time job and other family responsibilities, but if you want to lose that weight, if you want to run that distance, what are you going to do differently. How much time can you give to it? And on those dark winter days when no one cares about your goals, what's going to drag you out of bed to go for that walk or prepare those meals for the day? How about never missing a workout for a year or two years.

Decide how much time and effort you are willing to give to your goal, and then stick to it. And have a contingency plan, you know what barriers you have, you know when you might waiver and fail, you know when your busy times at work are. At some point you might get ill, then what? Have a plan.

At some point something or someone will attempt to derail you, be ready for it.

"The Aggregation of  Marginal Gains"

The above quote is by Dave Brailsford, Performance director of British Cycling. To quote from the team sky website

"We've got this saying, 'performance by the aggregation of marginal gains,'" Brailsford continued. "It means taking the 1% from everything you do; finding a 1% margin for improvement in everything you do."

In elite sport, 1% can be the difference between winning gold and being at the back of the field.

The problem with many amateurs is they start looking for the 1% gain when they haven't covered the 99% first. For example, the bicep curl is a 1% exercise. There is no point in doing it if you haven't got the basics covered; squat, deadlift, pressing movement and pulling movements. But a lot of young guys, especially, get it the wrong way around, they do tons of bicep curl variations and ask you how they are going to hit the outer head of their bicep when they can't do a chin up or a deadlift. I'm pleased to say I do see this gradually changing, where I work the squat racks and platforms are always busy with people doing squats and deadlifts and presses, and much of that can be put down to the coaches on the gym floor.

Don't chase the 1% until you've got the basics squared away.

But then look at EVERYTHING you do. The time in the gym, is it efficient? What you eat, what you do at work, your sleep patterns, the people you spend the most time with. Are all these things conducive to you achieving your goals. If not, how can you change them, will a 1% change be enough to reap rewards.

For more on the British Cycling approach see here, here and here

1% Flip it

However, there is another way of looking at the 1% if you are not on a pro cycling team and don't spend all your time in wind tunnels wearing lycra.

Jamie Staff, former member gold medal winning member of the British Cycling team, knew before the Beijing Olympics that to win he needed to improve his time by 2.78%, so he went about improving everything by 2.78%, improving his squat in the gym by this amount, dropping his bodyfat by this amount and so forth. In a NY Times article he states

 “When you break it down, it’s actually really small gains in all those small things that when added together make a huge difference”

You can apply this to your own goals. Say you want to lose one stone in weight, and for ease of calculation lets say you currently weigh 150Ibs. If you focus on losing just 1% of bodyweight per month (1.5Ibs) you would have lost the stone in 10 months, losing a mere 0.375Ibs per week, which is hardly noticeable, but over 10 months adds up. Of course, if you're in Biggest Loser territory you can lose way more than this just by doing the basics.

Setting PBs in the gym can be the same, squat is 150kg, increase by 1.5kg per month, and you've got an 18kg increase in 12 months. Of course, in reality, progress is rarely linear, and as a beginner you can make big jumps by improving technique alone.

You can also apply this principle to nutrition, change one thing at a time. One less chocolate bar per week, one less glass of wine, one more serving of vegetables per week, over a year these things add up. Exercise volume, its the same, 10 minute walk one week, increase by 1 minute per week over a year and you've got 60 minutes exercise per day.

But don't forget the basics.

And these things take time. You have to be patient. Increasing numbers of young guys are taking performance enhancing drugs, these are recreational lifters, with no desire to compete anywhere, but with anabolics easily available on the internet and an instant gratification culture, they will go for the easy route before looking at the basics, and then all the other 1% they can improve on. A clean rider won the tour de france (Bradley Wiggins), therefore this marginal gains stuff works.

Coach

What do Victoria Pendleton, Mo Farah, Bradley Wiggins, Jess Ennis and Lu Xiaojun all have in common. They all have a coach. And all of them have mentioned their coaches and support team in post event interviews (well, I don't know about Lu Xiaojun, but I'm sure he mentioned it when the Chinese state media interviewed him).

Jess Ennis has a coach - but maybe she wants a new strength & conditioning coach - I am available

And most of them have a whole team behind them, including physiotherapists, sports scientists, biomechanical analysis, chiropractors, psychologists and nutritionists.

The athlete also has to have total faith in their coach, their support team and their program.

But for some reason, the average gym-goer seems to think they can train themselves, write their own program or get their program from a magazine (or in most cases don't really have a plan or program, 'I think I'll do some chest and biceps today', 'I think I'll go for a 20 minute run today'). The only problem is, its very hard to assess your own weaknesses and strengths, what you need to work on, when you should back off and when you should push it and when you need to go back to the drawing board.

Coaches come in all different guises, some were world class athletes in their own right, for example, Mo Farahs coach Alberto Salazar,  Jess Ennis's coach Toni Minichiello seems to have always been a coach and was never an elite athlete  (I could be wrong, as there is surprisingly little information about him that I could find) and  it seems to be law that nearly all Olympic weightlifting coaches are an old fella in a tracksuit who will slap his lifters on the shoulders and if they are a female lifter on the ass as well!

The lesson here, is firstly a coach can really help. Secondly, don't be fooled by the appearance of the coach. Too often, in the gym environment the trainer who looks like a bodybuilder get the guys who want to bulk up (and the women sometimes who want to lose weight). I doubt Lu Xiaojuns coach has ever jerked 204kg and Toni Minichiello has probably never run a 12.54 100m hurdles, but they know how to coach and get the best from their athletes. Look for the coach who has got results and can prove it. Of course, athletes at the top of many sports are genetically gifted (save the genetics vs training argument for another day), so find a coach who has also got results with ordinary folk as well.

Kenyan coaching - a lesson

You might be thinking, this is all very well, but I don't have access to the facilities and support team that these pro athletes do, and you may be thinking that there is a 'special secret' training technique or drug that you don't know about.

Over to Kenya, the antithesis of British Cycling, in as much there is really no system or scientific high performance strategy. Of course, being born at altitude and spending your formative years running to school helps, and you can't change that, but this is true of many countries who don't win any long distance event.

If you want to go and train in Kenya, you can, there is no secret training camp. Adharanand Finn's fantastic book Running With The Kenyans outlines his time training there, and Toby Tansers book More Fire has several training programs of the elite Kenyan runners listed. And before going to the USA Mo Farah also trained in Kenya.

The most successful distance running coach in history is Brother Colm O'Connell, an Irish missionary with no background in coaching before moving to Kenya. So don't be fooled by appearances. With nothing more than a stopwatch and a track of rubble, they have dominated until recently all long distance events.

The secret is there are no secrets, do the basics every day, run, get up at 5am and run, run in a group, eat and run and rest, run long hills, do punishing hill sessions and go easy and back off when you need to. If anyone has taken to basics and turned them into an artform, it's the Kenyans.

Personal Training or Coaching

What is the difference between a personal trainer and a coach. This is my take on it. People employ a personal trainer because they need extrinsic motivation, they want someone to make them come to the gym, they want someone to count the reps. Sometimes there is balance of power issue with a personal trainer and client. Its not unusual for clients to tell their trainer that they don't want to do this or that, and they want a new program after two weeks because the current one isn't working. There can be a fair amount of second guessing the trainer, especially if the trainer is newly qualified or is trying to build up a client base, they are financially dependent on the client and sometimes do things to please the client rather than get results.

The coach is different. Yes, there is a dialogue, but the athlete must have complete faith in their coach. The British Cycling team and Rowing team have complete faith that they have the best coaches and system, there is no second guessing.

A few days ago Dave Brailsford was interviewed on BBC Breakfast news, yes he said you need talent and commitment, but without commitment talent was no good and he also stated

'fundamentally it's all about coaching'

Intrinsically motivate yourself

In a study by Connaughton et al (2008) they interviewed elite, world champion  and Olympic athletes to find out what type of mindset they have. They found athletes had three attributes regardless of the stage of their career

1. Having an unshakable self-belief in your ability to achieve your competition goals
2. Having an unshakable self-belief that you possess unique qualities and abilities that make you better than your opponents
3. Having an insatiable desire and internalized motives to succeed

In short, all the motivation quotes and pictures in the world aren't going to help if you can't motivate yourself

And two underlying mechanisms were cited again and again

1. Coaches' leadership
2. Social support

 Find a support team, a coach if you can, who will show you what you need to work on and what you can ignore.

Ultimately, you have to have no doubt at all that you will succeed in your goals.

Time for another Dave Brailsford quote, this time from an interview in The Independent newspaper

"You have to work out, is this athlete intrinsically driven? Is there that burning desire inside them, to continue to compete, to continue to improve, to continue to go through all the pain and the hard work, the nutrition, the lifestyle, the sacrifices you have to make. If you look at all the great champions … it's not to do with anyone outside, it's what's inside them, they're special in that respect. And if you haven't got that, it doesn't matter how much talent you've got, you're never going to get sustained success."

A good coach gives you belief and confidence. But you must have an internal drive, and as we will see at the end of this article, it is possible to cultivate that.

Over training

Many beginners are fearful of over training. Somewhere along the line, someone told them that if they did weights two days in a row or went for a run for two consecutive days they would explode, their muscles wouldn't recover and they would get injured.

Olympic athletes show you how much you can train and how much you need to train. Now, I don't expect you to run 120 miles a week or weightlift for 3 sessions a day, but lets face it, those 5 hours a week you're doing probably aren't going to lead to over training. The average Kenyan school kid is doing more.

But build up gradually, and you'll be surprised how resilient your body is.

At the other end of the extreme are clients who want to smash it every session. They do hours on end. As the old adage goes (I think it was Charles Staley who said it first, but I could be wrong) - stop chasing fatigue, chase performance. If the fatigue doesn't make you faster or stronger or lose weight, then why are you doing it?

The classic example, is when people start using plyometric drills as metabolic conditioning. They start jumping around with awful technique and not really creating any plyometric effect. This is where the coaching part becomes relevant, if they can't do it properly there is no point in doing it. Its also making the client aware that elite athletes rest 2,3,4,5 minutes between plyometric exercises. Its about maximum power and explosiveness, always know why you are doing something.

Even Kenyans take it easy...sometimes

In the excellent documentary 'Born to Run - The Secret of Kenyan Athletics', the presenter Eamonn Coghlan travels to Kenya to see how they train. In one scene, David Rudisha (edit: now Olympic champion, 800m world record holder, first man to run under 1.41) goes back to train with Colm O'Connell at his old school. Not only, does one of the greatest middles distance athletes of all time train with school kids, he does exactly what his coach says. The session is surprisingly easy, they practice running with tempo and rhythm and being completely relaxed, they do a long easy warm up and then do a few laps around the school yard and that's it. The presenter Eamonn can't believe how easy the session is. As Colm points out, not all sessions have to be hard, yes, they will have some very hard sessions, but other session have different goals which in the long term make the athlete better. In another scene the athletes do yoga and stretching. I highly recommend watching this documentary if you can.

The take home message is, training can undulate, when you train hard, train very hard, but when you need to recover, then do so.

Even Chinese lifters warm up with the bar

While watching the weightlifting at the ExCel live and also on TV, I noticed that before the clean and jerk even the top lifters warm up with the bar. That's right Lu Xiajun and Lin Qingfeng, gold medal winning lifters still warm up with the bar. Then I saw one of them put just 40kg on the bar to continue the warm up. The reason they are so technically good is they practice the moves over and over again. If the top lifters in the world still do a warm up with the bar and practice the movement then you probably need to as well.

Lu Xiaojun squat jerks 204kg at 77kg bodyweight. Unless you were born on Krypton and now live on a planet with a yellow sun then I wouldn't attempt this. Oh, and he still does bar work to warm up.

Under training

The opposite of training all the time and never undulating or varying your approach is not training enough. Some people seem to think that the once a week gym session is going to help them lose that weight or transform their bodyweight. Please don't ask me why you haven't lost weight when you do Pilates once a week, go on the treadmill for 10 mins and don't modify your eating habits.

Put some effort in. If you can't commit time to your goal then you will fail. A few sets of bicep curls with a 5 minute chat in between aren't going to cut it. In Olympic weightlifting, if you follow yourself you only get 2 minutes rest between maximal efforts. Get the job done. Focus.


Fail

While I was watching the heptathlon high jump in the Olympic stadium (did I mention I was in the Olympic stadium?!) it struck me that all the athletes keep jumping until they fail, they end on failure. You have to be willing to push out of your comfort zone, find failure and then learn from it, what could you have done differently. Learn to fail and use it to drive you on.


It was the same watching the weightlifting, lifters fail all the time, they go out, fail a lift and then compose themselves and go again. It was surprising to me how many lifters failed an attempt and then came out and got it the second time, or even put the weight up and then got the new weight. Even those who had already won the event, would often come out for their third attempt and try for a PB or world record when they had no need to. Push yourself, compete against yourself.

Train with people who are stronger than you or faster than you can help, as can having a coach, pushing you past levels that you previously thought were your limits.

As Dave Brailsford said 'you will lose more than you win', but you have to keep trying.

Lin Qingfeng. The look of a man who will win at all costs. He doesn't use the door, he just walks through the wall, unstoppable.

Excuses

Okay, maybe you're still thinking, that's all very well, but I have a full time job, I can't afford a coach and I'm not moving to Kenya. Well here's a non Olympic example for you. Scott Jurek, American ultrarunner, won the Western States 100 mile run, Badwater 135 mile run, Hardrock 100, Spartathlon 152 mile run. He had no coach, for most of his early career he was working in a running shop or as a Physical Therapist, and was in a sport with no prize money and in the early years of his career no sponsorship. He would train by running to and from work, and at weekends, with no money and in debt before he became the face of ultrarunning. I highly recommend you read his book Eat & Run.


If you want it enough, you'll do it.

As If

I recently finished reading a book called Rip It Up by Professor of Psychology Richard Wiseman. I highly recommend it.

It is based on a principle first explained by philosopher William James over a hundred years ago

'If you want a quality, act as if you already have it'

 Common sense tells you that your emotions cause behaviour, for example, you are happy so you smile, or you are an extrovert therefore you have outgoing behaviour. In fact, research has show over and over again that the reverse is true. Behaviour causes emotion, if you smile you will feel happier, if you adopt a 'power posture' you feel more confident, and if you tense your fist hard for a minute your testosterone levels will go up. This is the opposite of positive thinking in many ways.

If act like you are an elite athlete, train like an athlete, look at every aspect of your life like an elite athlete, then you will take on some of their attributes (now this doesn't mean your are going to run a 9.63sec 100m but it does mean you will attack your own personal goals in a more professional manner and are more likely to achieve them).

Elite athletes have a coach, get one if you can, or even just get someone to write your training program for you. As one of the athletes in the study by Connaughton said

"When we got into the elite standard of training we were very structured in our training. My coach and I would plan out the training month by month."

In summary to train like an Olympian and think like one

1. Work on the basics, practice, put the time in
2. Once you've got the basics, think about everything else you can improve, the 1%
3. Get a coach or a support network
4. Internalise your motivation. When its dark and cold and you need to get up and train, only you can motivate yourself
5. Act as if you are already elite in the way you approach your training and goals.

Final thoughts - slaying the dragon

One of my favourite athletes (and commentators) of all time is actually a sprinter - Michael Johnson. If you don't know who Michael Johnson is, you probably live in a cave somewhere, but in short Olympic 200m and 400m champion in Atlanta and the most insightful commentator on athletics with a no nonsense approach; not sugar coating and not dumbing down for the audience. His approach to training and attitude always really appealed to me, the results spoke for themselves.

In his book Slaying The Dragon (now out of print, but you can pick up a second copy for a couple of quid) he covers many of the techniques that helped him become a champion, one of these areas is crafting self discipline. If you have set yourself the target of doing 50 press ups or 10 intervals, then do 50 not 49, do all 10 intervals not 9; apply this principle to all aspects of your life and not just your training. Also, importantly remember that the journey can be hard, yes you should enjoy your life, but cutting calories is hard, pushing away that cake is hard when everyone around you is eating it,turning off the TV and putting in another training session when you feel fatigued is hard. As Johnson says

"Ask yourself: 'Why am I doing this?'....when it comes to practicing self discipline, don't fool yourself; go ahead and admit that fat free cheese doesn't taste as good. It only works if the end is something you really want. Remember, this is a decision you consciously made. Remind yourself why."

(Of course he wrote this before everyone went high fat and low carb and then intermittent fasting crazy, because what is the point of low fat cheese - hello taste?!).  Remind yourself on a daily basis why you are doing what you are doing.

Michael Johnson - 'Do the 50th push up' and check out that satorius muscle on his leg!

"after you have stared long enough into the dragon's eyes, there is nothing left to do but slay the dragon. For each of us, that dragon is the thing closest to the center of our lives. It is our core, our ambition, and our joy." - Michael Johnson

Afterward

In an interview on BBC Breakfast Dave Brailsford mentioned 2 other things, get a decent pillow so you sleep properly and use handwash so you have less chance of picking up infection and then not being able to train. If Brailsford says it, I'd probably do it!

British Cycling - they use round wheels, decent pillows amd hand wash

Further Reading

Connaughton D et al (2008) The development and maintenance of mental toughness: Perception of elite performers. Journal of sports sciences. 26:1, 83-95
Finn A (2012) Running With The Kenyans
Jurek S (2012) Eat & Run
Johnson M (1996) Slaying the Dragon (out of print)
Tanser T (2008) More Fire. How To Run The Kenyan Way
Wiseman R (2012) Rip It Up

Links

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/dave-brailsford-cycling-coach-reveals-secrets-to-gbs-success-8005870.html
http://www.teamsky.com/article/0,27290,17547_5792058,00.html
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/marginal-gains-bear-fruit-for-great-britain-in-olympics
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/23/sports/olympics/2012-olympics-how-britain-conquered-the-cycling-world.html?_r=2&smid=tw-share


Further watching

Kenyan running doc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BknGrh7mJ6Y

for those who can't access BBC website, here is Lu Xiaojun lifting 204kg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQRk8kK-GxM

Julia Rohde - just because