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:

Paying Attention to Running Form

Form is crucial to longevity in any kind of sport.  It become more obvious when you consider running.

Running is often viewed as an activity that everyone just "knows" how to do.  Depending on how you define it, that statement is true.  The key to running longer distances however is to stay healthy and injury-free.  If your form isn't dialed in, you WILL run into problems.

The run yesterday was a simple attempt to get a hill-run in while working on form.  My preferred form to emulate is POSE.  After taking the CrossFit Running Cert in 2009, and practicing Evolution running since 2005, the mid-forefoot strike while actively pulling the foot upward and practicing a forward fall works best for me.

This year however I changed shoes to the Altra Olympus and got sucked into the cushy.  While I can't definitely say that the shoes have caused my recent Achilles woes, they do suspiciously coincide as the more I ran with the Olympus, the more sore my calf muscles were.

The run yesterday was with more traditional shoes, not a zero drop, and not super cushy.  While my Achilles was still mildly sore, I was able to run POSE without the calf pain.  Quick strides, lean forward, practice falling.

As a result, I set several PR's on the run, at a lower heartrate, and still with a mild calf issue.  Not bad.  Also earlier in the day I got in a strength training session with deadlifts and kettlebell clean and presses.

Today my calf was pretty sore, so it was ice time and more deadlifts and kettlebells.

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:

Stay the Course - Boring Be Damned

Tonight's strength workout is the same as it's been for the last 10 workouts:

Deadlift:

• 10 x bar
• 5 x 135lbs
• 5 x heavy
• 5 x less than heavy

Shoulder Press:

• 10 x bar
• 5 x 75 lbs
• 5 x heavy
• 5 x less than heavy

GHD situps with a 15 lb slam ball on the neck

GHD back extensions with a 15 lb slam ball to the chest.

Why the monotony?  Get  the book "Easy Strength" if you really want to know.  But long story short: it works.

Of course, the definition of success is up to you, but here's the deal:

• I'm deadlifting twice a week without pain
• I'm shoulder pressing twice a week and making progress.
• My core(back and abdominals are stronger than ever.
• I can run and continue to add 10% mileage per week for the last 5 weeks and I am NOT INJURED.

As for running, my goal is still the same:  get a sub-10 on the American River 50 miler.  Then.  Finish a 100 miler in the fall.

So far my sights are set on the Kodiak 100.  Granted, it's an extremely tough course and I will be trashed by the end, but I know I can train for it.  Keeping the joints and tendons strong via garage training will be crucial to finishing this thing.  Running the longer weekends will be part and parcel.  Back to backs, carb-fasted, hills, you name it, the strength training I am doing now (PTP-based) is not too heavy to recover from, yet heavy enough to elicit tissue change over time that will contribute to the overall success that will be 2015.  Yeah I said it.  2015 is going to be awesome.

Seeing Improvement in Running Economy

There are definitely good days and bad days.  As we age, the number of 'good' days seem like they happen less frequently, and it all appears on face value to be an effort in futility to retain and to ever excel at something we were once good at.

Not today.  Last year I began an experiment to follow Dr. Phil Maffetone's advice on running a low heart rate run.  At the time, it was to balance my pursuits in powerlifting and developing strength.  Because of the amount of strength training I was doing, I only saw a modicum of success and improvement in running.

Now, because the strength is only in maintenance, the ability to improve running is becoming a reality.

Today was the first time I've been able to run a particular hill without stopping while running at my "Maffetone limit".  What is that?  It's fairly straight forward.  It's your heart rate at 180 minus your age.  That's your upper limit.  For me I've been keeping it as my average.  It's harder than you think to keep yourself to that pace.  Especially in the beginning.

Going slow was the right choice, it just took over a year to see the long-term effects:

How Much Strength Training Do You Need For Running?

As a runner we're told we need more strength training.  Great.  Thanks.  And what type of strength training would that be?

I've spent the last 28 years trying to figure out the best approach to developing strength relevant to endurance training.  My first attempt at figuring it out was following Dave Scott's triathlon book (circa 1986).

Dave is a fantastic resource (and an accomplished athlete) and I'm sure he's changed his approach since writing his original book.

Over the years I went from bodyweight only, to rubber band resistance, to machine-based isolation, to kettlebells and bootcamp workouts, to CrossFit, and now, back to basic barbell training (with a few kettlebell movements).

What I've learned is that there are bodybuilding approaches (hypertrophy training), there is a degree of sport-specific movements you can do, and there is such a thing as pure strength building as it applies to tendon and ligament strength.

Christopher Sommer, from Gymnastics Bodies shared a great piece of info in a Barbell Shrugged podcast recently.  The average human can build new muscle tissue in 90 days, and new tendon/ligament strength in about 200 days.  What does this mean?  If you're doing strength training, you can develop enough strength to injure yourself.  If your quad can generate 200lbs of strength in a sprint but your knee tendon can only handle 150, you have a problem.  Continuous development of strength without some level of back-off and de-load will soon be an issue for you.  Strength as a practice becomes more important.

One group who has figured out the side of self-preservation along with safe and consistent strength building (in addition to Coach Sommer) is the RKC group.  One book in particular which has made tendon and ligament strength a priority is "Convict Conditioning".  Stressing that a movement needs to be repeated at a frequent and sustainable volume prior to moving on to something more advanced.  The book outlines basic body movements (pull-ups, push-ups, trunk, etc) that span beginner to expert level progressions.

Another text I really connected with is "Easy Strength" by Dan John and Pavel.  It's a fresh approach to focusing on what's important as an athlete rather than someone who is simply trying to reveal their abs or out perform their neighbor in pull-ups (either of which are noble pursuits).  I tried the 40-workout plan and got substantially stronger in each of the lifts I focused on.

Which is the best approach for Running?

Well after 28 years, I have to go with the style of Convict conditioning and Easy Strength and use my own filter for what I deem critical to surviving runs that span the 10 to 30 hour range.

Here are my goals are as they relate to strength training for running:

1. Zero injuries doing strength training (it's not always possible, but let's try)
• Balanced strength building (push, pull, hinge, squat, carry...)
2. Quick recovery (i.e. a kettlebell session should not prevent me from being able to run 3 hours later)
• minimal soreness
• low impact to central nervous system
3. Strength ability progresses over time.
• the weight is not too light, but weights that once felt heavy will feel light eventually.

Here are the exercises that will support the three goals above:

• Deadlifts
• Kettlebell swings
• Pistols
• Turkish Getups
• Sled drags (forward and back)

There's no need to pursue strength PR's in these movements.  Your sport, if you are a runner, is to get better at running.  Strength will improve as a by-product of the practice.  I've actively chased strength goals and discovered that at some point the strength was more of a priority than the running.  What I learned was that strength focus needs it's own corner and can't compete with other goals.  My ability to squat 315 (a very modest number in lifting circles) had just as much impact on my running as my ability to squat 225.  Deadlifts on the other hand... whenever I worked the deadlift, my runs got easier.  However the more I ran, the less effective my strength training became because I couldn't recover quickly enough to make progress.  Now, the goal is to use strength training for my originally intended purpose: get better at the long stuff.

Here's my recommendation:

Do the following routine for 40 workouts (two to three times a week):

• deadlift
• 2 sets of 5 reps - medium weight
• kettlebell swings
• 5 sets of 10 reps
• Pistols
• 2 sets of 5 reps (use assistance if needed)
• Turkish Getups
• 5 reps each side
• Sled drags
• Medium heavy weight 50 yards forward, 50 yards backward - six times

Do this for 40 workouts, add weight when you feel stronger, go light when you feel sluggish.  You will be amazed.

Good luck!