Sun, cactus and Olympic track and field athletes

Happy Christmas!

I just returned from a trip to the World Athletic Centre (WAC) in Phoenix, Arizona for a coaching apprenticeship program (Link below). Under it's umbrella are some of the world's best track and field coaches and athletes. Resident coaches include Dan Pfaff, Stuart McMillan, Andreas Behm and Nick Sheuerman.   It attracts the highest of high calibre of athlete in the sprints, hurdles, jumping and throwing disciplines. Aries Merritt trains here, the 110m hurdler who took Gold in the 2012 Olympics. So, please excuse me if I sound a little star struck but I felt the luckiest of lucky to be mixed in with such a great group of really hard working individuals. I was also humbled once again as I decided to join in the warm-up one day. God forbid those photos NEVER surface!

It was a fantastic week and I'm still processing the huge volume of information I acquired, although jet-lag is making even writing my name difficult. Below is a few learning's from the experience. 

Beauty is in the simplicity

WAC operates from the track at the Paradise Valley Community College, which is a state university. The athletes then go to Athletes Performance (owned by Mark Verstegen), about 1 mile away to do a Weights room session straight after the track session. The Community college had it's own fitness facility, average age was about 65. I used this gym daily and loved it. I had to put this picture in because it was so inspirational. This chap was 79 and using battling ropes much better than I was!

A 79 year giving it some!

But lets not get distracted by OAP fitness, back to high-level Sport.......

What I really noticed was there was a distinct lack of high tech equipment, force plates, timing gates and every other conceivable electronic gadget for the week I was there. There was a track, athletes, coaches and massage coaches. That was about it.

But what there was, was plenty of high quality training and coaching. Everything was about precision and technical mastery, subtlety of movement. The knowledge behind every simple cue or instruction was vast. There was also a LOT of track side physical therapy. I think this was one of the biggest learning's for me; the high priority that is given to a good dynamic drills based warm-up and mobility. 

Supple like a Leopard by Kelly Starrett is a good starting point for some really good mobility exercises. I rate it.

The 45 min warm-up included at least 20 minutes of myofascial stretches. There is another good book called The permanent pain cure by Ming Chew. These exercises are based on Guy Voyers work, a renowned doctor and therapist. This is something I have been playing around with over the last year and was really encouraged to see it in practice at WAC. 

Track side therapy at WAC

Know when to outsource a problem 

No one can be a master of all trades but it is relatively less effort to identify and befriend those that are truly excellent in their fields. The more autistic and on the spectrum generally the better. One of the interesting things about Dan Pfaff as a coach is he has a really good network of; Biomechanists, Endocrinologists, Biochemists, Molecular Biologists, Exercise Scientists and every other "ist" and "ologist" out there. Not least because they know better what research is credible and what isn't and how to analyse data.

My network is growing but I outsource all my mathematical, IT and data analysis problems to my brother, an Actuary, who is truly excellent. I discovered this was probably best after realising my limit was a quadratic equation.

This brings me onto the next point

Fascia

Following on from mobility and myofascial stretching, we can get more specific with the lumbodorsal fascia. 

My previous understanding of the role of Fascia was in force transmission, however reading Serge Gracovetsky's work on Spinal Engine Theory reinforces just how important it is for human movement and hence the high priority the coaches at WAC place on myofascial stretching and mobility. There are some good and quite funny YouTube videos of his lectures. I have added this on at the end of this post. 

The functional role of the lumbodorsal fascia was elucidated only relatively recently. Classic works on the myofascial system were carried out by Harry Farfan (1970’s), Bogduk (1980’s) and Vleeming (1990’s). As a consequence of this research, the gradual evolution of a mathematical model came about to explain the problem of redundancy of the spinal muscles. The model persuasively explains why the lumbodorsal fascia can help a human lift loads as heavy as 250kg, despite the fact that the erector spinae in an isolated context can only lift 50kg. Even factoring in intra-abdominal pressure to stabilize the trunk, such pressure would have to be over 20 times human blood pressure, hence an impossibility for only this to account for the reality of what is possible.

The role of the lumbodorsal fascia is to minimise stress on the spine by offloading force to other structures in the musculoskeletal system. Its role is therefore not only to offload force but is essential to the survivability of the spine. The properties of fascia will also explain why “instability” is so important in human design and the fact that instability is a benefit to movement and mobility.

Collagen which makes up fascia is visco-elastic in property, with 1/3s time constant. The implication of this is any static holding of position will result in loss of function. Effective use of fascia therefore relies on cycling or “oscillating” loading and unloading of collagen and muscle. This allows tissues to rest and recover to maintain spinal stability.

Gracovetsky proposed through his model that lordosis was the single most important factor to control distribution and transfer of forces between fascia and muscles, followed closely by trunk flexion.
This is supported by the human gait model proposed by Frans Bosch, whereby he postulates the importance of pelvic oscillation to efficient loading and unloading of leg and hip musculature.
Different degrees of trunk flexion affect the distribution of load through fascia and tissue and this has huge implications for teaching Olympic lifting or weight training and running, since pelvic position and trunk position will determine to what degree muscles over fascia do the lions share of the work. This not only has implications for injury management but energy costs, as work done by fascia has a low metabolic energy cost. 

Trunk flexion and pelvic tilt modifies the distribution of forces through the fascia and erectors spinae. The oscillation occurs at each step and delays the onset of fatigue.

Observation of teaching cues at WAC, it was very apparent the high level of technical instruction. The volume was kept low but the emphasis was in the detail, the “how”- technical mastery. Subtleties of movement were emphasised and the all too well known debate of what to do about a pelvic position that is hyper-lordotic was revisited with the opinion from Dan Pfaff that is should ALWAYS be retrained to a neutral position. The rational can be explained through the above, whereby oscillations from a starting “neutral” position allows more mechanical work to be done by fascia compared to muscle. 

It did make me rethink this notion that the pelvic "tuck under or tail tuck" that occurs during deep flexion in a squat is poor form. Another opinion and it is only opinion! is the actual "tuck under" is an automatic safety response to lifting heavy and protecting the spine, as it is a way of "tensioning" the posterior chain. The angle of trunk flexion would make sense to optimise fascial use. It is what precedes it that is the problem. The hyper-lordosis or over curving of the lumbar spine places a big emphasis on the lower back musculature. It is likely that the hyper-lordosis magnifies the "tuck under" as there is then a bigger angular magnitude of change. Just a thought.


Preserving spinal health by minimising forces will be of high priority and this is likely controlled subconsciously to a large degree by the central nervous system. Whatever position that looks like will be the “best” position for that athlete, so there is no anatomical perfect position. It all comes down to function for that specific task. Loss of lordotic control or loss of integrity of the fascia should be of huge importance when considering the management of the athlete and hence the time and priority given to physical therapy at the WAC. 

References

GRACOVETSKY, S. 2008. Is the lumbodorsal fascia necessary? J Bodyw Mov Ther, 12, 194-7.

http://worldathleticscenter.com/

YouTube clip part 1 of 3 lectures on Fascia by Serge Gracovetsky. 

Overcoming fear....just as important as a maximum strength squat.

This blog for me is essentially about understanding limits; both physical and mental limits. It is my passion. For me, the enjoyment comes from the learning process associated with putting myself through discomfort. I hate to say it but I would probably do all these things behind closed doors with nobody watching. I'm certainly not devoid of ego but doing something for a sense of curiosity creates a very different sense of fulfilment.

Climbing is one such skill that I have been learning....slowly (a work in progress) that by far pushes those mental limits because it forces you to face fear! and I have oodles of this. In fact it makes me re-write the whole book of "self" as I have discovered things about myself, which only come out when you are truly "gripped"! One thing is for sure, you can't predict how you will react in an"epic" until you are in it.

You can climb with strength up to a certain grade, but beyond that it is very difficult to advance without a whole new arsenal of techniques and mental reserves to battle against the inevitable fear of heights and falling.
The skills learnt from embracing and facing fear are so valuable it makes me question the whole ideal of limiting Strength and Conditioning practices to just weight room stuff.
When you are writing Strength and Conditioning programs for Sport, the idea is to optimise transference of strength into the chosen Sport. It requires careful consideration and justification of why you are incorporating certain exercises. For example: How well do the strength gains from doing deep overhead squats translate into Sprinting? Is it necessary or relevant for that particular athlete? and why?
The skills learnt from climbing and facing fears for me have been monumental and transfer to a multitude of disciplines. The book "The Rock Warriors Way: Mental Training for Climbers" by Arno Ilgner elaborates on this.

Climbing helps you understand movement

To climb well (I definitely do not), a good understanding of the basic principles of physics and movement need to be understood. Centre of mass (COM) placement, gravity, etc. Pretty much all good climbers understand these principles of movement. Keeping your COM over your toes is going to give you stability and balance. A subtle shift of hip position can make all the difference to the success or ease of a move. I talk about this is my earlier post "subtlety of movement".
Creating "tension" in the body and co-ordinating body parts helps create a powerful move, like how power lifters use "pre-tension" to facilitate lifting.


Commitment

I also learnt about Commitment - Commitment to a move. This is quite different from a "sort of" ambivalent affair. What I'm talking about is 100%, absolute commitment and intention to making a move. I understood the difference between 80% commitment and 100%, half way up a route in North Wales where all my choices had run out. I was leading a route, it was only a bolt clipping Sport climb route and relatively safe, but to me that was enough fear. The next bolt upwards was closer than the one below. Down climbing wasn't an option and falling off wasn't a great option either as the run out was about 10m, because I had gone off route and missed a bolt. My modus operandi is normally to cling, scream, swear, shout, cry and then repeat all of the above until I have exhausted myself of angst and I can just about summon enough strength through fight or flight to move. Unfortunately that strategy has worked remarkably well because I'm strong, but there comes a point where you move up in grades and pure muscle ups just don't work. You need more than just brute force and testicles - a place I'm very unfamiliar and very uncomfortable in.

So.....forced to try something new, I decided to re-focus, pay attention and work out how I was going to make this "crux" move possible. Recalling my GCSE physics, I knew I had to get my COM over my foot  in a move called a "rock over" and I had to do it quick and do it with intent. What I experienced in this particular moment was peace in the face of adversity! When all the adrenaline and tears had run out, focus remained which I used to really work out what I had to do in that moment. I made the move. I haven't climbed since (JOKE!).

Happy and smiling in the comfort zone, being "hauled" up granite

Sulking and feeling "gripped"

Not good for morale, seeing this before a climb!
A true test of peace in the face of adversity!

There was a sincere lesson learnt here. In an ideal world, you can't always get the "appropriate" level of fear delivered to you. Fear in climbing  and fear of heights is very normal, so all you can do is change your approach to that challenge. Be responsible for controlling anxiety levels so you can function calmly through the chaos. It is a lesson that I have found absolutely invaluable to life. When you need to and you pay attention to calming down and focusing on the task at hand and how you are going to do it, it is truly incredible what you can do.

It does make me wonder whether addressing the "fear" factor through climbing or whatever skill you choose maybe just as valuable as any S&C weight room session. Clarence Callender, Head Coach to the young Sprinters I work with always talks about them having "fear". Powerful block acceleration starts if done correctly elicit the "stumble" reflex in running, but it produces a very strong feeling you are going to fall flat on your face. Most don't like it. Fear of lactate is another, for strength endurance track sessions. One of the sprinters has by no means optimal sprint mechanics, by that I mean poor, yet he is fearless in mind and runs times just as good as the others.

This is where I believe "numbers"  and "statistics" in training are important. It creates belief. I am the last person to be number crunching anything but numbers are facts and therefore proof of ability. The body likes proof. It can get this through timed results if that is your sport or the execution of a "move" etc. Once that proof has been provided, the belief system gets strengthened and ability to commit becomes easier.
You also see it when other people carry out seemingly impossible physical feats that previously had not been done, like Roger Bannisters breaking of the 4 min mile in 1954. Actually that is a bad example because the commonly believed myth that hundreds broke that record within the same year is not true. Within 2 years, only 4 people had broken that record; Landy, Tabori, Chataway and Hewson. (This statistic is still argued). Not quite the explosion of records but still, the point stands!

Can I justify packing off seven adolescent boys to the climbing wall so they can sprint better? Possibly not in terms of strength gains transferring to sprinting, but understanding movement and facing fear to me are a hugely important part of succeeding in life and Sport and part of the process of being "consciously competent". It doesn't need to be climbing, but thinking outside the box in terms of activities that can transfer fundamental skills like these is not to be underestimated.

Project 1: Glamour on the Fan Dance

"Glamour" on this particular occasion can be translated as yet another undignified moment on the Fan.
Training for this event has certainly created many of these moments, thankfully not all have been witnessed by people, but unfortunately there seems to always be some herd of Welsh wildlife to look over the mishaps.

My theory is that spending a good proportion of training time at slightly above or as close to goal pace is the way forward for this event, adhering to the laws of specificity.
On this particular training run I decided to run (yes run) with 5kg of weight (less than a half of the 11.4kg weight target) from the turn around point back to the storey Arms. So half of the event, but I think the worse half.
I had pre-decided that this was going to be a balls out maximum effort so heart rate, sweat rate and breathing rate was to be at an all time high.
Every time I train here, I learn a new thing about myself and this time, I was amazed at how appalling I sound when I'm exerting myself. It was a sort of sound half way between being strangled and hyperventilating and seemed to get some very sympathetic looks.
I'm also amazed at when you are truly motivated to do something, the effort level seems to drop significantly despite working really hard physiologically. I discussed this in "fighting fatigue with fatigue". 3 hours of sleep, a 4 hour car journey and a bag of Haribo was my preparation, so
in theory, not particularly conducive to feeling good. Despite this, morale was high and lassitude was diminished by the sudden sharp gale of icy cold air into my eyeballs. In the end I clocked 1hr 34mins. It was hard but I was pleased with that. Training is paying off.

Part of the reason for my unwavering motivation for this event is a huge admiration and love of the Beacons. I have been coming here for years and can potter the hills on my own quite happily for hours and days. It provides a mental respite for me even in the most atrocious of weather. Time spent here has solved many a problem and brought me back to life when nothing else could. In terms of a test of physicality I really think it has it all; requirement for strength, fortitude, grit, resilience and so much more. But I have choice to retain the love of these hills. I would have laid down a long time ago cursing the gradients and terrain if I had to do the full SAS selection. Sleep deprivation, cold, hunger, proper load bearing, night nav..... tough.

Lessons learnt

When I mentioned an "undignified moment" I was referring to a "knicker chafing" situation which occurred because of my maverick attitude of ignoring proper advice about wearing appropriate clothing and underwear. Ah.....the glamour of a fitness model. I did endure the chafe but after I had done the training run I thought to hide in a shrub and take care of this delicate situation, only to fall down a hill and into a river. Great.
The thing about certain "faux pas" moments is there is no possible way of recovering your dignity. This was one of them. Even the sheep and horses looked shocked.
The lesson learnt here: WEAR APPROPRIATE CHAFE FREE CLOTHING, but when you can't do this, nappy rash cream works a treat!

A horse with "post traumatic stress" from witnessing a "faux pas"

Learn to count
In the previous post I talked about training to overcome mental fatigue and skills to learn to "tolerate" effort. I was always told to count "sheep" when I was little to get to sleep. It failed miserably when I was small but strangely works rather well now. It is a way to focus the mind on something "neutral" that is neither good or bad. It also helps keep rhythm. I'm also just learning what a commonly used tool it is. People say "oh I've been doing that for years". The variations might be counting, or doing maths problems or word problems. Anything to focus and distract the mind from "discomfort!".
I like counting to 100 and repeating. Any more than this I lose count and anything more complicated like doing quadratic equations I just quite frankly can't do. When I get tired, even 2 + 2 seems like a monstrous task.

Osprey Backpacks and Dachstein Gloves. 
Need I say more..... A good packback is invaluable for comfort. Comfort = good.
These gloves are fantastic for warmth. Traditionally used for mountaineering, made from oversized wool which was then boiled to shrink to a thick felt. Similar to wearing two adult sheep on your hands but not so good for waterproofing unfortunately. Perhaps a Tesco plastic bag over the top might help.

Osprey Talon 44 - Good for the job

Dachstein Mitts

I love this ridge

So there we are, a practical no frills guide to how to survive the Fan. Count sheep (literally!), wear sensible knickers and work as hard as you possibly can. Easy!!

If Arnold Schwarzenegger can do Ballet so can I.

Actually Arnold was also on a huge amount of steroids, so the application of "if he can do it, so can I" may not apply in this case!

Ballet; Why, how, what.... and every other permutation of the question of why I would do this to myself is probably relevant. The last time I did ballet I was 5, but I was inspired by Arnold rocking his poses in his 1980's documentary "Pumping Iron."

I wanted to undertake a couple of ballet classes i) for posing skills for my fitness/figure contest (project 2) and ii) for application of skills to the young sprinters I work with.

Let me explain. Training adolescents can be a bit tricky because text book strength and conditioning guidelines doesn't always work. They get bored. The idea of using dance moves to "trick" them into doing stabilization training seems like quite a good idea. So I was thinking ballet and krumping.....think body popping and locking. The South Koreans b-boys have nailed this. I however have not, and my attempt at break dancing was more like watching a stag beetle that has unfortunately landed on its back and can't get up.

Ballet and other dance training teaches movement skills, body awareness, strength, coordination and all manner of other skills and is basically quite fun. Foot strength in ballet is also something that I had overseen and became very obvious after doing this class. This is important for sprinters as the precision of foot contact is essential to speed and power. Running at maximal velocity relies on applying maximum vertical force into the ground. The rate of force development (RFD) refers to the amount of force that can occur with each foot strike, bearing in mind for an elite sprinter that can be less than 0.1s. A lot of force in a short amount of time. The greater the RFD the faster the athlete and this correlates with a foot that is both strong and "stiff" as less energy will dissipate. It facilitates the stretch-shortening cycle, hence why 100m sprinters wear spikes with a hard plate on the mid-foot.

Sprinting mechanics and maximum velocity is based around creating vertical height to move forward, similar to skimming stones on water. Recent advances in sprint mechanics were in fact inspired by the physics of creating the bomb in the classic film "Dambusters", based on the stone skimming principle.
Vertical height to create horizontal velocity.

So that is the rationale for putting myself through this experience on a Friday.
Let me elaborate.

Friday 3pm at Pineapple Studios.
On arrival I'm told this is not a beginners class - Rrrrrright. Ok. Next hurdle. Walking into a room of very "ballet" looking ladies, think a lot of pastel pink nylon skirts and leg warmers. I'm wearing a black Helly Hanson and black tracksuit bottoms but yes I do have my pink ballet shoes, so I guess that's ok. I was very happy to see the chap playing the piano was also sporting a Helly Hanson and I did spot another lady wearing a pair of "umbro" football shorts and an arsenal top so I didn't feel completely out of place.

Bar work at Pineapple

Trying to "freestyle" some ballet flexibility on my kitchen stove

My ability to learn choreography is not good, suffice to say when everybody moves left I go right, so for the safety of others, I sat the last "free style" bit out.
The warm up drills and bar work (as in "bar" in photo above, not as in pub) was excellent and put me in positions I only experience when basically falling down the stairs. The emphasis was on control, flexibility, posture, elongation, isometric contractions to name just a few things that became apparent.
Definitely food for thought for training ideas.

Krumping next......

Fighting fatigue with fatigue

Ah yes Fatigue.......the need to basically just lie down....anywhere, oftentimes striking at the most inappropriate of moments. A word that describes a multitude of very undignified states, many of which I have found myself in.

This post is about "perceived fatigue" which just like pain is about personal perception. What is now termed the psychobiological model of fatigue suggests that perception of effort is the ultimate determinant of performance, because this state is reached far earlier than actual physiological fatigue. Hence, the ability to sprint for the finish line after being seemingly at deaths door for the most part of the race.
This phenomenon has been shown time again to affect performance by experiments which have tricked people's perception of reality, such as rigging false room thermometers and giving incorrect time or distance feedback.

Central Fatigue Theory

This disparity between perceived fatigue and real physiological limits was coined "the central fatigue theory" by Tim Noakes, which he described in his book "The lore of Running".

The theory suggests that physiological parameters such as lactate accumulation and oxygen shortages are not the limiting factors to slowing you down but rather the brain's perception of these signals. In other words, fatigue is a psychological construct and the goal of feeling fatigued is a protective mechanism to make sure you don't actually reach those physiological limits and then literally kill youself.

Mental Fatigue

Mental fatigue which can occur from concentrating, studying, lack of sleep or working long hours is one such contributor to perceived effort. I think I may have experienced this trying to read Stephen Hawkins "A brief history of Time". I then ordered the children's version, which made no difference at all!

Samuele Marcora, an Italian exercise scientist primarily works on perception of effort and performance in endurance athletes. There is an interesting article in Runners World based around his research.

http://www.runnersworld.com/race-training/how-to-build-mental-muscle?page=single

He has shown repeatedly that mental fatigue affects physical performance. In one study, subjects spent 90 minutes either i) watching a film or ii) performing a cognitively challenging task. When both groups performed an exhaustive cycling test, those performing the task found the exercise harder and reached exhaustion 15% quicker.

Most of us will be suffering some form of mental fatigue at any one time, so what to do about it and can it be used as a training advantage?

As is the case for physiological systems, you overload (stress) and then get adaptation (compensation), the same applies for the brain. By becoming more resistant to mental fatigue, this should lower perceived effort. The classic book "The Stress of life"  by Hans Selye elaborates on this really well.


Enter the era of brain training in Sport......

Endurance events require a submaximal effort for a (long!) sustained period of time. Tolerating fatigue and sustaining effort are therefore a huge part of this. Like most things physical which can be trained, this "grit" state can also be trained. I really do believe this although motivation plays a big part!

Training the brain to override these signals is essentially the essence of what is required to narrow the gap between perceived effort level and real physiological fatigue and like most things revolves around focus.

There are two ideas here:

1. To actually increase the threshold to fatigue, so it takes more before you feel it.
2. To learn to tolerate fatigue

Marcora is investigating the use of computer based cognitive skill games to facilitate brain training, to basically help grow neural networks through focused attention. Results of his first study, after 6 weeks of brain-endurance training, subjects had improved performance on a time-exhaustion cycling test by 23%.
The scientific hypothesis for this is mental exertion produces adenosine which gives us that tired feeling. By producing more adenosine, the bodies neural networks adapt and compensate, therefore increasing resistance. Caffeine is thought to work because it blocks adenosine.

The science bit

I am certainly not going to profess my competence in neuroscience and I do know the whole is greater than the sum of the parts! but the part of your brain needed for learning and memory is mainly in the hippocampus and is only active during uninterrupted focus. This interruption interferes with learning because focused attention is needed to grow neural connections in the hippocampus and build grey matter.
Neurophysiologists from Germany's Ruhr University Bochum (RUB) used MRI scans to look at the brains of 26 high performance athletes; half competed in judo or karate and half competed in marathon or triathlete. It was found there was more grey matter in the supplementary motor area (SMA) and the hippocampus in the athletes compared to non-athletes. You can't deduce cause or effect, i.e whether they started with that level or acquired it through training but it would seem to be important for performance.


What to do about it

Marcora advocates running once a week when you don't want to i.e when you are tired or after a gruelling work day. Because absolute speed are not so important to endurance running, the gains you make from training fatigue resistance are really relevant and done occasionally may outweigh the potential dangers of training tired.

Endurance athletes have often toyed with training in a fasted state or on tired legs to replicate this.
If you know why you are doing it and embrace that it will feel harder then perhaps the goal is appropriate, but I do feel it is one sure way to hate training - so to be done in small doses!
I have experienced often times a broken spirit doing this!! Not good for morale. I feel a better way of training "effort" is to learn to apply that focus whilst training.

Tolerance of fatigue

The ability to focus on the task at hand, without attachment to the "emotion" of fatigue is what I am talking about here. So this is where you are definitely are up there on the scale of perceived effort but you can learn to manage the sensation. Call it what you will, mindfulness, meditation, concentration etc.

Meditation and mindfulness are excellent ways of focusing the mind, but telling a complete beginner to sit cross legged and "try" to still the mind is a recipe for disaster and mental angst. Thoughts are of course inevitable and it is not the suppression of thoughts but the management that is the key. Allowing thoughts to happen but also to pass without trying to infer meaning to them is part of the skill of learning how to tolerate the discomfort of high effort. Thoughts are not facts in other words.

Usually concentrating on the physical senses is a good way of pacifying the mind. Senses such as breathing, sight, hearing, taste or sensation are examples and just choosing one to focus on in 5 minute blocks, I have found as a huge help to not engaging too much with pain/effort. It seems to be weather dependent though. In the rain and cold, the only pacifying thing for me will be stopping and a cup of tea....just saying.

Other things that have shown to improve tolerance of effort is motivational self talking and self hypnosis. One such study referenced below, involved a 2 week motivational self talk intervention in 24 subjects, this showed a significant decrease in rate of perceived exertion for the test subjects compared to those you didn't do it.

So there you go... although you can't argue with genetics and what you were given, so much of physiology can be trained. Our environment and behaviour can make a huge difference to how those genes are expressed. Practice, practice, practice not just physical skills but mental skills is essentially what it is all about, to grow and establish new neural connections. It's never easy is it!
Or just have a giant cup of coffee.

References:

Blanchfield, A.W., Hardy, J., de Moree, H.M., Staiano, W. Marcora, S.M. (2013). Talking yourself out of Exhaustion: The effects of self-talk on Endurance Performance. Med Sci Sports Exercise. Epub ahead of print.

Marcora, S.M., Staiano, W. (2010). The limit to exercise tolerance in humans: mind over muscle?
European Journal of Applied Physiology. 109 (4): 763-70.

A stiff upper lip

Very rarely do I read a book and get quite a dramatic shift in opinion but it is very nice when you do.
I just finished reading "The Gold Mine" effect by Rasmus Ankerson. It is yet another book about talent, what constitutes talent, how to identify it and how you get there but there was a couple of very interesting ways to look at things.

Creating the right training environment and the illusion that you have to enjoy what you do. It helps but it is not necessary. 

I am a big fan of Stephen Francis, creator of the "MVP" track club in Kingston and coach to the Jamaican elite. I have posted the link of a interview where he talks about training environment but essentially the following quotes sum it up nicely.

http://mvptrackclub.com/gallery_Highlights.html

"The road to success is largely uncomfortable, if you are enjoying yourself too much, you probably are not going to reach where you want to go. 80% of the time you must be wishing you were somewhere else"
backed up by Muhammad Ali's famous quote " I hated every minute of training"

Of course, these statements are based around the very small % that will become the world's best athletes. For most people who can't and don't want to compete at that level, the rules can be loosened a tad but it is interesting to understand the process of what and how talent is created.

Perseverance and struggle creates competence, enjoyment and motivation, not the other way round

The author of this book talks about motivation and enjoyment being the outcome rather than the facilitator to train. Children and adults generally like to be good at something and being good at something creates confidence. If you think of flipping the scenario on its head, the starting point is perseverance and struggle then competence, enjoyment and motivation in some sort of continuum but where complacency is never obtained.
So..guiding athletes through that phase of perseverance and perhaps even non-enjoyment is really important to fuelling enjoyment. Most of the time, sports are self selecting and children/adults will take up sports they have a natural flair for but competence can also be created from nothing, if a coach or parent has the foresight to see how to navigate through it.

I do remember up until secondary school being terrible at academic work. I used to have a friend who I would copy off and somehow managed to get my homework and exams done but credit must be passed onto her! In the end the fear of my teachers and being found out however was such a driving force to work. It was a major battle and graft to understand pretty much all subjects, but eventually the work paid off, understanding and grades came and then motivation and confidence, so actually I believe there is some truth to that.
Which leads to the next point he mentions that "not pushing your kids is irresponsible" which follows on from this idea of you learn to love what you are good at. Possibly true, possibly not.
The success of tennis players from Russia has been attributed to the pushy parenting and example upon example can be shown where this is the case but would that formula work in a western environment where we have so much more choice? Andy Murray's mum is an example of a pushy tennis parent but she has used a bit more cunning and guise in creating direction. She says there is a difference between "pushing your kids" and "pushing to make things happen for your kids". There has to be some sort of harmony where the child does see some benefit to the system. I am however not an authority on this, but we all have our unique childhood experience and lessons learnt from friends and their parents so it is purely observation.

Eliminate Choice

I'm going to refrain from getting into British Politics! but we are lucky in that we have a good health and welfare system in place, where people are on the whole looked after. This system therefore creates much more choice compared to other societies. In Kenya for example, the prize money from winning running competitions is such a strong motivator for escape from poverty and being able to support a family. Psychology textbooks will refer to "intrinsic" and "extrinsic" motivation. Intrinsic motivation is fuelled by a personal enjoyment of the task and extrinsic motivation is more about a desire for reward e.g prize money. It was thought motivation which lies on the spectrum more toward an intrinsic nature is more sustainable and better than extrinsic but if we look at the Kenyan runners and Russian Tennis players money is a huge driving force. When I spoke to some Kenyan athletes, there were certainly some who said they wouldn't train unless they felt they had to and didn't have another option.

When training gets hard, that motivation whether it is extrinsic or intrinsic - the "why" needs to be absolutely solid in your head and in some respects it becomes easier  to answer the more desperate the alternative of not doing it is. If life is comfortable, perseverance, grit and complete commitment to a choice and the sacrifice that comes with it may not be such an easy choice. In other environments, that choice maybe easier to make.

Just a thought.

Project 1: Prancing up the Fan Dance

"Prance" - To walk or move about spiritedly; strut.

This is a fairly apt description as movement up Pen Y Fan at pace is most definitely not a run and it is most definitely not a walk. Tab, jog, prance whatever you want to call it, it's a good one for the Heart rate.

I decided to put the "kenyan" marathon training concept from my last post into practice for this event, as duration wise they are not completely dissimilar.

The goal was to "prance" as much of the route at goal pace or slightly above. In this case, I was going to do half of the route, 12km just to the turn around with 10kg of weight.

I have to say it was hard but I did like this as a training run. I did half of the route in 1hr 41 and finished it with a certainty that I was not going to go back up the hill again.... so what to do in this instance, but BREW up some coffee and walk on to the nearest YHA for a Guinness and a sleep. Unfortunately night nav got the better of me and turned my "short" recovery amble into another 30km.

Bergen weight allowance: espresso maker

LOST AGAIN

A collection of brecon moments (top left, clockwise). Clag, happy, sun and bog!

I find when training for any running endurance event, lots of slow long distance running becomes very injuring. Walking is a mechanical action which relies more on muscular action, whereas fast running/sprinting at the other end of the spectrum becomes more reactive and plyometric where a larger contribution comes from stored energy in the tendons. Depending on where your running speed falls on this spectrum, tendon vs muscle action will be used to varying degrees. 

This very simplistic explanation may help explain why slow running where you are spending a relatively long amount of time on foot, can make muscles sore, especially quadriceps and hip muscles. 

You can't get away from the fact that load bearing marches therefore require a huge amount of strength, because not only is the pace relatively slower to running but you are carrying (+kg) of weight. 

Training I have found useful

Weight training

I have found weight training 4-5 times a week (4 sets of 12-15 reps), with whole body compound movements and a simulation of the Fan Dance (various distance and weight) every couple of weeks has helped enormously. The strength built in my VMO (vastus medialis obliquus) has also prevented any knee issues occurring.... so hooray to bodybuilding training. 

Below is a short snippet of examples of exercises I might do. 

Don't train the event distance

Clarence Callender, the sprint coach who trains the 7 elite boys at Track Academy, where I do my work placement never trains the distance the boys will compete in. He will train them in anything up to and over 100m but never 100m. I quite like this idea, as that distance then becomes something special, reserved only for race day. They need to have that hunger for that distance and not be bored of it. I think the same applies with this event. It's important to keep the motivation and drive to do that distance and event. 

Train at goal race pace

Try and maintain the pace you want to obtain for a set distance and try and maintain that. If you fall off the pace, walk for a few minutes and go again. Jeff Galloway, a running coach was a proponent of walking in running training. For most runners it is the cardinal sin, but actually it makes perfect sense and allows you to maintain goal pace for much longer. 

Running with Kenyans vs Running with the Welsh

My nocturnal reading of a book called "The Sports Gene" by David Epstein, prompted this post. I recommend it, a good read. The particular chapter was called - The world's greatest accidental (Altitudinous) talent sieve, which talks about the number of elite runners that come from the Kalenjin tribe in the African Rift Valley. 

I was lucky enough in the lead up to the London Olympics 2012 to have spent two 6 week blocks at the High Altitude Training Centre (HATC) in Iten, Kenya, training for my own Belize marathon qualification. Team: 1 person. Coach: 0. 
I am however probably the only person to have gone out there, trained intensively and gotten slower.
I used to do my track session at night, so 1) I wouldn't get run over by 100 kenyans which was similar to running alongside a stampede of buffalo and 2) to avoid the indignity of being so appallingly slow. My fellow nocturnal companions consisted of 3 drunk policeman cheering me on, 5 cows and several sheep that weren't going to move. I felt better after reading they didn't move for Mo either, so I don't take that personally. 

Kamariny Stadium and the local track

Two years later I can finally immerse from the trauma, breathe the oxygen and reflect! 

In this small rural village, based at an altitude of 2400m, the standard of running is phenomenal, home to the best Kenyan elite marathoners and attracting the best international distance runners. My room at the training facility neighboured Mo Farah and Paula Radcliffe and so many an evening was spent washing spandex in a bucket next to Mo. All quite surreal. Had I not have been so hypoxic, I might have been really star struck. 

Mo Farah and Paula Radcliffe

The children all ran faster than I did!

Some sources quote the number of sub 2:10 marathon runners in Iten around 150. In reality this may well be more, as many of these runners don't have enough money to go to races at sea level to actually log a time. This phenomenon where talent emerges from small global pockets is not unusual and you see it time and time again, where a number of very good athletes come from a very small demographic. I wonder if this is another example of the pareto principle commonly known as the 80/20 or law of the vital few states that 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes. 

The theories of why the high altitude Kenyan runners are so good are vast and is a much debated issue. I can't answer that, but I expect it is a combination of socio-economic factors contributing to motivation, physiology, training environment, the fact that the pool of elite runners is so big and a million other reasons. Some will say "ugali".....hmmmmm that was not a treat. Boiled maize, which makes the staple of their diet. The belief system amongst the Kenyan runners is also second to none. 
They believe unequivocally that if you are from the high altitude kalenjin tribe (close to 5 million people), you are or can be a good runner. The proof is all around them. If person A can do it, then absolutely they can. 

In terms of marathon training what struck me is the training is hard. Long runs are not steady conversational paced affairs, they are fast! The terrain is also very hilly which is another onslaught to the senses. I think it's almost fair to say there is NO flat terrain in Iten and the surrounding area and I never had an easy run. Hills in 15% oxygen, even walking feels like hard work!
On the opposite side of the spectrum, when a kenyan runs slow, they run REALLY slow. This is their recovery runs. 

One coach who I feel huge respect for having seen him in action is the Italian Coach Renato Canova, renowned for his application of sports science and making the good athlete, really good. Speaking in an almost incomprehensibly thick Italian accent and wearing shellsuit track-side fashion, he is passionate, knowledgeable and intuitive. He will say things like "when you stop learning, you are dead".  

Canova lives and trains a small group of elite runners in Iten, but they come to him already seasoned. These are the best of the best elite Kenyan runners but the Canova methodology is to be feared. 
There is a great quote by him where he says "the coach like the athlete needs to have the mentality of an explorer. He needs to be able to go into a dark area, just a little bit, so if he's wrong you can come back immediately" He is taking about intensity. "when you prepare an athlete for top shape, you are always on the border, if you don't go to 99% border of what you can do, it is not enough for winning but if you make a small mistake and go at 101% you are no longer able to continue for 6 months". 
His take on the dark area, is the blackest of black of intensity. A place I am always curious about but somewhere to go with caution. 

Below are the principles by which he trains the elite:


Pace is more important than distance

Canova advocates the importance of Intensity and Extension. Increasing the distance you can run at goal pace. He believes in the western training systems, too much emphasis is spent on building the aerobic system and that there is not enough development from this. The aerobic base is essential, but the % of higher intensity training is too low from traditional US/UK training systems. I expect probably about 30% of pre-season training is high intensity under his system. 

"when you move to the marathon, the base of everything is mileage, but the base is the base - it is the basic situation for developing what will happen after. Instead (in the US) there is not development. The base remains the base. This is the mentality for an amateur"

He believes long runs much slower than marathon pace don't have the specificity to the race for the elite runner.

"What does a 2 hour easy run have to do with the marathon? -nothing. You must practice running at or around goal race place for long periods of time"

Traditional Periodization vs Canova's take on it 

Pre-season training or the Global period

Traditionally the annual training plan, revolved around a long "base building phase" favoured by the New Zealand coach Arthur Lydiard. A period of several months of high volume, low intensity mileage.

A different "Canova" approach is to focus on short speed and strength, then gradually increase the distance and decrease the speed through the training program. The three main components being:

• Hills - To develop Strength, power and recruitment of muscle fibers.

• Circuits - For explosiveness. Mixing plyometrics with moderately paced intervals. An example session could be 5 * 400m (half marathon pace), with 20-30s of jumping exercises performed in between each lap. 3-5 sets with long rest intervals in between each set. 

• Short intervals e.g 25* 400m at 10k pace or 6 *1000m at 5K pace. 

Specific Competition phase


The emphasis on:

• Fast Long runs e.g 17-24 mile runs at 95% goal marathon pace

• Marathon pace intervals with moderate rest. 3k-7k run at slightly above marathon pace but the recovery is perhaps only 1k at 30s per km slower than the intervals. 

• High volume intervals. These intervals need to have benefits that are transferrable to the marathon so total distance is almost always 16K or above at 110% of marathon pace (10-15k pace). E.g (10 x 1600m @ 15K pace) or continuous intervals (20K of 1K at 15K pace/1K moderate)

High intensity training has the goal of improving Lactic Capacity and Lactic resistance

What really seemed apparent was when the session is hard it is REALLY hard, but the recovery periods are also long, so these sessions may only occur every 5-6 days. 
This block of intensity however, is built on a very solid aerobic base and he only trains very experienced runners who can tolerate that kind of intensity and can motivate themselves to go into the "dark area".

These are the blocks/phases that will feature in the annual plan 

General resistance
Aerobic resistance
Basic aerobic endurance
Special aerobic endurance
Aerobic power
Lactic resistance
Lactic capacity
Lactic power
Speed

Lactic resistance and capacity often quoted in physiology text books as being the same, are however different because the final physiological goal is different. With lactic capacity, the goal is to stimulate a lot of lactic acid in a short time. With lactic resistance, the goal is to teach the body how to work with high accumulation. 20% of lactic acid can be used as an energy substrate, so if you produce more but you can also remove more, what remains can be used like energy. 

Transferable learning and application to the non-kenyan load bearing athlete in the Brecon Beacons. 

Whilst the average person would probably have an MI (heart attack), after attempting Canova's training there are some principles that can be applied for the non-elite kenyan in us.  
Remember these kenyan runners have more than likely had a lifetime of building an endurance base before they get anywhere near Canova. 

One of the take home messages I like about training for distance events is to stay as true as possible to the laws of specificity. In terms of the Fan Dance training, my particular goal is 3hr 45 for this 24km route so the value of doing high mileage at slower than goal pace is probably minimal. The trick is finding out how much high intensity training a person can tolerate and recover from and to truly ask if it is high intensity. 

Looks like a balls out effort into the dark area then!!

References:

TANSER, T. (2008). More Fire: How to run the Kenyan Way. Yardley: Westholme Publishing. 

WIRZ, J. (2006). Run to Win: The training secret of the kenyan runners. Oxford: Meyer and Meyer Sport. 

Project 2: Bodybuilding goes glam

My saturday night was spent watching half naked men and women on stage at the WBFF (World Beauty Fitness and Fashion) show at the 02 in greenwich, part for research for my show and part support for Tirell, my trainer who was competing (Top 5 finish, amazing!).
This is bodybuilding at it's most glamorous. The categories for women include; Diva bikini model, Diva fitness model and figure. The categories for men include; fitness model, muscle model and bodybuilding.

The words I can probably think of to describe the stage actions go way beyond just posing. There was definitely some jostling going on and so by the end of the night I think my new opinion of this activity is it is most certainly a sport.....a blood sport and these men and women are most definitely athletes.

My plan is to compete in one of these shows next year in the category - figure. I have to admit my knowledge is still fairly poor but I think the fitness model category have to perform a gymnastic act.....er no. I can already hear the sound of my hamstrings snapping. Posing half naked in diamante will be enough of a humbling experience for me.

I'm slightly annoyed because all my preconceptions and prejudices about bodybuilding are wearing thin and don't really stand up to rigorous testing now. Of course, this comes from lack of understanding or perhaps lack of will to understand. Training for aesthetics has never really occurred to me so it puts me in a whole new different frame of mind. There are many layers to people and so you can choose what you want to, but when you really try to see it all, actually there are some very very impressive things about the men and women that compete in these shows.

• Firstly, you have to "strut" in very little and be open to a huge amount of scrutiny about your body. So confidence is a most or perhaps should I say resilience. You can run but you can't hide! I won't be running anywhere in those shoes....

• Obtaining the body is one thing and then you need to be able to show it off, so walking well, learning to pose (a lot of isometric muscle action going on) and the fake tan! I was very happy to see the 2013 version of this is a lot more natural and acceptable than what I remember of watching Arnie in pumping iron. 

• It's evident that you can't cheat being on that stage. Physically or mentally it is totally unforgiving. You can't fake being in great shape and you can't fake the confidence required to be up there. There is NO escape from just plain graft in the gym and the kitchen. 

Andreia Brazier: Pro fitness model. Do I get sympathy about the heels now!

Me: The same but different! I'll get there. 

I'm lucky enough to work and train around some really good fitness models in the industry and actually they are just really nice, confident, not arrogant, with a good work ethic and approach to training and people. Anyone that gets up on a stage or in a boxing ring or equivalent, you lose that arrogance because as soon as you step in, you are about to get an onslaught of judgement and yes possibly hurt, both in ego and physically. I think the "punch" equivalent in a show is a face plant wearing a themed outfit.
So, I am the one that eats humble pie... and I swallow my words and judgement! Actually for the next 6 months I don't think I'll be eating any pie!

I was really impressed by the number of amazing looking men and women that had worked really really hard. WBFF is quite a glamorous show, think bling, bling bling. The women I thought looked strong, fit, sexy and feminine. I think that is a great advert for women's fitness so on that note I shall get onboard. Work outfit now to include, spandex and clear plastic 6" heels and not trainers  "Strong"!!