Dr. Yessis Sports Training Blog

To increase turnover (stride frequency), sprinters use downhill running. They correctly believe that maximum stride length and frequency are controlled by your neuromuscular system, as with any other skill. It is believed that downhill running teaches your nervous system to let you run faster.

These comments although accurate, are somewhat misleading. The statement that downhill training trains your nervous system to let you run faster is accurate when you do over-speed training. In this the nervous system goes beyond what it does when running on level ground. Read more… »

It is often recommended that runners do strength training in order to do more effective hill training. This is great and will help the runners greatly when it comes to hills. But is it most effective for improving overall running speed?

The answer here is maybe but most often it appears to be no. The reason for this is twofold. First you develop some of the same muscles as are used in running, but not in the same manner. In other words they are not specific to running. Read more… »

In studying stride rate (frequency) in runners, researchers have come up with the “ideal” stride frequency for all runners. It is based mainly on the frequency seen in the best runners but with no consideration of stride length.

Should all runners strive to achieve this magical number so that their stride frequency will match the best runners? Common sense will tell you that this would be silly. But yet, this is what we see happening.
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I continue to see and read about the need to land on the heel for long-distance and to an increasing extent, for athletes who must run in their sport such as baseball and football players as well as track sprinters . But is this an efficient method for effective running?

Although not as often, you can also find many coaches saying that the heel hit is natural in running. Can these comments however, be substantiated? The answer here is no and there is no scientific or even logical explanation for landing on the heel first. Read more… »

To improve overall running speed many coaches now recommend speed training for 5K, 10 K, and marathon runners. There is no doubt that doing speed work can improve your overall running speed, especially in the shorter distances.

However, is speed running or doing repetitions of 100, 200, 300 or 400m one of the best ways to improve speed for long distances?
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According to various coaches, even high level runners have flailing arms and slumping shoulders in a race. Because of this they wonder if form is that important when even the world’s best runners do not always possess the best form.

There is no questioning the fact that form is important on all levels of running. All runners can be better if they would improve their running form. As I have stated many times in the past everyone, regardless of level, can be better. Read more… »

Stride length and stride frequency are the two variables that determine running speed. Stride length is determined by the amount of ground that you cover in one step while stride frequency is measured by how many strides you take per unit of time.

In general these two factors have an inverse relationship. If you increase stride frequency, stride length will decrease and vice versa.
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One of the most popular suggestions given to runners is that they should keep the thumb and index finger lightly touching one another. Some coaches maintain that you should feel like you’re letting handfuls of sand run through your fingers.

Still others say that you should pretend that you’re holding a potato chip in each hand without breaking it. But are these suggestions sound ? Read more… »

Most coaches use hills for strengthening the muscles and/or to develop greater anaerobic capabilities. However, according to Tom McGlynn, who trains Jim Sorensen, masters world record holder for the 1500m, “Hills are aerobically intense without too much strain on the muscles and joints”.

This statement seems to contradict what seems to be common knowledge in the running community. Running up moderately steep inclined hills at a faster and faster pace as recommended is definitely anaerobic — not aerobic — although the aerobic system will come into play during recovery. Read more… »

Many recommendations for improving your run relate to improving your posture. In this regard we hear coaches tell a runner to be more upright. But how does one get more upright?

You are often told to straighten up and to maintain your head and shoulders in alignment. This typically means that the head should be directly above the shoulders which should be directly above the hips. However, this alignment is only seen momentarily in certain phases of the running stride. Read more… »

In the off-season it is typically recommended that you work on your sports weaknesses. This is a great suggestion but how it is implemented often leaves much to be desired.

For example some experts have stated that working on weaknesses are much tougher on you than when you work on your strengths. Because of this they recommend working on weaknesses in small doses with several days rest in between. Read more… »

In a recent article an elite 1500m runner stated that she does a lot of core body and flexibility work in the gym. She does this with yoga.

When you look at her running form you can see almost 70 to 80° of shoulder rotation. This is excessive and slows her down greatly. She could be a much better runner by simply improving her ability to hold her shoulders basically in place during the running stride. Read more… »

An article in a fitness magazine described and illustrated a few drills that were designed to improve sprinting form and get you faster. As is well known, if the drill duplicates what occurs in execution of the sprint stride it will have a definite positive effect on your running speed.

Once you understand what occurs in the running stride, i.e., have a good understanding of running and especially sprinting technique, you will be able to evaluate any drills that are recommended for use. For example in the article one of the drills was pumping the arms while in a seated position. Read more… »

There are two ways to increase running speed: 1) increase stride length and 2) increase stride frequency. According to the research, you get the greatest increase in running speed from increasing stride length. Once you establish the optimal stride length and can maintain it, then focus should be on improving stride frequency.

One of the simplest and fastest ways that I have found to increase stride length is to stretch the hip flexors and then strengthen them in the new found a range of motion. The greater hip joint flexibility allows you to have longer stride and a greater range of motion over which to drive the knee (thigh) forward. Read more… »

There is an increasing number of articles dealing with the need to run hills for developing greater strength and power in the legs. These articles are appearing not only in running magazines, but also in triathlon and athletic magazines. As a result there has been a great increase in the number of running athletes who now do hills; and as a result, an increasing number of calf (gastrocnemius) muscle injuries.

There is no questioning the fact that up-hill running can improve leg strength and power. However, there are also negative consequences to up-hill running (besides injuries). If you are a serious, high-level or moderate to high-level runner, the uphill running can modify your running technique, usually to the negative side. Read more… »

Many running specialists are now advocating taking a shorter stride and increasing turnover. How they arrive at these conclusions, however, is not brought out. The impression is given that most runners have a tendency to overstride and thus, they should work on decreasing their stride length.

But the only way you can truly overstride is to land on your heel with your leg well out in front of the body or leap on every push-off. If you do not do this, you most likely are not overstriding.
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In the ideal cross country season, all the runners should be ready for long distance running. However, this is not always the case.

Because of this, regardless of each runners individual abilities, it is important that they all do some preparation prior to the first meet to not only enhance their performance but to prevent injury. The training at this time should be very individualized so that each runner can pick up with a stage most suited to his or her abilities. Read more… »

The answer to the above question is yes, but it is based on several assumptions. First is that you have an adequate strength base and second, that you do true plyometrics, not simple jump exercises that have come to be called plyometrics. Jump exercises by great for long-distance runners and are used as a lead in to true plyometric exercises

Doing true plyometric drills for most runners would cause injury because they are not ready for such explosive work. They require much strength preparation and a gradual build up. Thus, how and when you use plyometrics becomes very important. Read more… »

To lose fat, it is most often recommended that you run at a slow speed for at least 20 to 30 or more minutes. Is this, however, the most effective? Recent research and practical experience shows that this is only partially effective.

It is now known that the faster you run, the more calories you burn. The longer you run at a faster pace the closer you get to burning the maximum amount of calories possible and in less time. In addition, you still get the aerobic development from faster running even if it is partially anaerobic. Read more… »

In an article discussing elderly runners it was stated that you should cut down stride length, increase frequency and decrease the distance and time that you run. The reason for this is that some trainers believe that running is hard on the knees and ankles.

Even the medical profession is now seeing a big increase in hip and knee arthritis in the vanguard of the running boom. Because of this, these are good recommendations for the average runner who does nothing but run, but this is not the smartest way to run. Read more… »

A recent study showed that the vertical jump best predicted an athlete’s ability in sports that required running. As a result, plyometrics were recommended for the players to improve jump height. Butt kicks was one of the plyometric exercises recommended. In this exercise you leap up and bring the heels to the buttocks. Upon landing, you immediately go into another jump and repeat the butt kick.

When doing the butt kick you must concentrate on quickly bending the knees to have enough time to bring the heels to the buttocks and then straighten the legs for the next landing. Because of this, you often do not get complete extension of the lower extremity joints, especially the ankle joint, on take off, which in turn does not develop the ability to jump higher.
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Excerpted from Explosive Running

For an exercise to be specific it must fulfill one or more of the following criteria:
1. The exercise must duplicate the exact movement witnessed in certain actions of the running stride, such as an exercise duplicating the exact ankle, knee, hip, or shoulder action.
2. The exercise must involve the same type of muscular contraction used in the actual run. For example, in the sprinting push-off, the muscles undergo an explosive shortening contraction (after being pre-tensed) to produce maximum force and resultant running speed. After the initial contraction the limb continues on its own momentum until the antagonist muscles undergo a strong lengthening (eccentric) contraction to slow down and stop the limb before an injury can occur. Thus the special exercise must include an explosive muscular contraction as occurs in the joint action. Read more… »

According to an article in Runners World, “…weak abdominal muscles don’t support the back well. This strains the hip muscles and puts tension on the lower back which can cause painful back muscle spasms.”

To fix the problem it is recommended that you build strong abs. The exercise that is recommended is to lie face up with the hands under your lower back with the knees bent 90 degrees. Then contract your abs and slowly extend one leg so that the foot comes close to the ground and then hold for three seconds. Do three sets of ten with each leg. Is this, however, a good exercise for strengthening the abs and is this recommendation based on a sound information? Read more… »

In a fairly recent article in Triathlete magazine the author discussed two workouts designed to boost aerobic capacity. Each workout had the same objective but the training was different depending upon the athlete’s degree of technical aptitude and the training sources available. Since the workouts were quite different it makes one wonder if the results could be the same.

For example in the warm up, according to the old school of training, the athlete did 10 minutes of static stretching after a 2 mile jog followed by 6X100 m strides at 85%. In the high-tech training the athlete did 15 minutes of jogging with a gradual increase in intensity followed by five minutes of dynamic flexibility which was then followed by 5-10 minutes of running drills followed by 4×100 m maintaining a cadence of 90 plus. Read more… »

According to well-known running experts, you should try to keep your stride and form as natural as possible. They say that because runners have different leg lengths, treadmill runners should adjust their form for better balance. One of the key technique elements that they recommend is to minimize foot falls. This is done by keeping your feet low to the surface and using a quick turnover. Is this a good recommendation? Read more… »

It is not uncommon to find articles dealing with strength training for runners. What is surprising, is that many of them advocate strengthening only the upper body since, in the authors opinions, the lower body is already sufficiently strong from the running. This, however, is a fallacy. Read more… »

According to many sources you get an imbalance between the gluteals and hamstring muscles (hip joint extensors) and the hip flexor muscles (iliopsoas, pectineus and rectus femoris of the quadriceps group ) from running. According to these running specialists, weak gluteals do not allow you to “swing through” your stride. The hip flexors are then recruited to pick up the slack. They pull the pelvis down making the lower back arch excessively.

If you study these statements carefully they are difficult to understand. How can weak gluteals prevent you from “swinging through”? If anything they should enhance it! Emg’s of the muscle activity show that the swing-through of the thigh is made possible by contraction of the hip flexors with concurrent relaxation of the gluteal and hamstring muscles. These latter muscles only contract at the end of the movement to stop the thigh when it is well in front of the body.
Read more… »

A very informative picture appeared in a recent issue of a popular running magazine. The picture showed nine members of the Asics Aggies tethered together at the waist in their run. This is an effective way to make sure that the slowest runner keeps up with the rest of the pack.

What is especially telling about the picture is that you can see five of the runners landing or about to land on the heel with the foot angled up anywhere from 30 to 45 or more degrees. The other runners were in a support or other phase of the stride and how they landed could not be determined. Read more… »

Explosive football offensive and defensive backs (and often basketball, baseball, football, lacrosse and soccer players) do considerable training to increase running speed, which is very important for playing well. However, close examination of the movements of high-level football players during game play reveals that the number of runs over 20 or 30 yards is relatively low.

Most often the players use a quick burst of speed, i.e., accelerate to be the first one to get to the ball or to evade an opponent. This burst of speed is usually exhibited for no more than 10-15 yards and is one of the main characteristics of a quick and explosive player on both offense and defense. It and the ablity to execute quick cuts, is the key to getting away from your defender to be free to receive a pass, run for a touchdown or to keep up with or get to an opponent.
Read more… »

There are many articles that are touted as being specific to a particular sport. For example in a recent issue of Triathlete magazine it was stated that, “the following 11 exercises represent a full-body, triathlon specific strength session…” However, there was only one exercise that duplicated the technique involved in a particular event.

For an exercise to be truly specific, it must not only duplicate the same motor pathway as seen in execution of the motor skill but it must also develop strength in the same range of motion and have the same type of muscular contraction. The exercises described, even though most of them involved the same muscles, did not fulfill the criteria.

For example, the bend-knee dead lift is executed with a slightly rounded back for backache. The back is kept in a static position which does not strengthen muscles through the full range. This would be a good general exercise for the hip extensors and holding the back in position. Read more… »

According to many sources you get an imbalance between the gluteals and hamstring muscles (hip joint extensors) and the hip flexor muscles (iliopsoas, pectineus and rectus femoris of the quadriceps) from running. According to these running specialists, weak gluteals and hamstrings do not allow you to “swing through” your stride. The hip flexors are then recruited to pick up the slack. They pull the pelvis down making the lower back arch excessively.

If you study these statements carefully they are difficult to understand. How can weak gluteals and hamstrings prevent you from “swinging through”? If anything they should enhance it! Emg’s of the muscle activity show that the swing-through of the thigh is made possible by contraction of the hip flexors with concurrent relaxation of the gluteal and hamstring muscles that contract at the end of the movement to stop the thigh when it is well in front of the body. Read more… »