Two Reasons Why Runners Need the Turkish Getup

There are few movements as useful and as comprehensive as the get-up.  For runners, trail, or road, the getup needs to be part of your strength and mobility work.

There are multiple reasons why the getup should be considered.  I'm only going to cover two.

The first is the hip bridge.  For many runners, hip flexibility is non-existant.  Getting the hips to open up and 'unlock' will help release the internal brakes many of us have on constantly.

If your day job has you desk bound, chances are you don't open your hips much, and that sitting around can atrophy the hip flexors, making full opening of the hips problematic.  (check out Bret Contreras' site for more glute training) Doing the getup will help bring your hip strength back.

The second reason is ankle and foot health.  There's one movement that isn't highlighted much, but as a runner it's critical to do this movement frequently.  It's called dorsiflexion.

Dorsiflexion is where the toes are stretched toward the shin.  I currently have TERRIBLE flexibility this way, but after doing getups, I've noticed an improvement in the calf muscle soreness post run.  It's almost where I will need to do getup training as long as I want that ankle and foot flexibility.  Age is not in your favor on this one.  If you run and are getting farther away from your 20's, the ankles will take longer to recover from runs.  Especially if you run in a way that puts stress on your soleus and gastroc muscles.

So.

Do the Turkish Getup.

But first watch this:

PTP Strength Training - Getting Stronger While Building Running Capacity

The deadlift is my favorite lift.  It's also one that I really suck at.  Numerous attempts at video analysis, peers checking form, and trying every kind of deadlift routine I could google, beg, borrow and steal, left me with a lot of information, but none that crystallized quite like Pavel's PTP program.

It's ridiculously simple, and has zero bedazzlement.  If you're looking for muscle confusion, this is not your program.

The idea is that you work on two movements, a press and a pull, and you keep the number of sets and reps low.  Reover, Repeat.

This first cycle I set at 5 lbs of increase every workout with a 2.5lb deload every 4th workout.  It worked, but I think it might have been slightly aggressive as I was dealing with Achilles issues as well as a head cold that lasted for a couple weeks.

This next cycle will be set at 2.5lbs of increase and will keep the same deload pattern.  Hopefully this will be the right level to focus on building ligament, tendon and running strength.

For the press (not pictured in the video clip) I'll be switching to kettlebells for pressing and will work toward pressing the big bell.

The great thing about PTP is that it builds strength without the bulk.  As a runner, this appeals to me as I know lugging around extra weight is slightly detrimental to finishing some of these longer races.   It's not that I'm overly concerned with getting heavier, it's that I want to make sure that if I do, it's weight that has purpose, not necessarily aesthetics.  Although looking better never hurt anyone...

Achilles Pain - Taking Breaks - Getting Faster at the Same Effort

Ever had achilles pain? The kind where you wake up in the morning and limp for an hour and it kind of goes away?

Yeah me too. Then last Monday night happened. It was a track workout with my friend Jerry. He and I have put a few miles in together and sometimes we push each other on the speed days. I was having a fantastic interval workout and while he has me on the short bursts (the guy has some serious quad speed!) I can usually get him on the longer sprints.

I paid the price for that speed workout. Tuesday morning I was WRECKED.  Limped around for an hour, then the next hour, then the next.  I wasn't walking right until 3 days later, and even then the pain was just dumb.

So...  I took a week off.  No running or deadlifting, just mobility work and kettlebell swings.

Yesterday I ran Rancho for the first time in a while.  Decided to stick to Maffetone for as long as I could.

As long as I kept my stride length short (i.e. POSE-like), I could run without achilles pain.  The moment I opened up my stride, shooting pain in the heel cord.

So.  Low heart rate (180-age).  Quick step POSE running, and I get a PR on a half mile segment in Strava at the SAME heart rate as I did in August of this year.  Also I am battling a head cold.  Odds were NOT in my favor for a decent run.

Here's the therapy I've been doing on the calve muscles:

• foam rolling the upper calves
• 2 minute stretch on each side with toe flexion
• 45 reps each side of heel eccentrics (my legs are a little sore from this actually)

Here's the Strava run: