Better running

Jogging. Scurrying. Shuffling. Sprinting.

By whatever name it's applied, running is one of the most basic activities at URBAN Boot Camp and many of our more athletically-based fitness designs.

As little kids, we never gave any thought to our running. No worry about foot placement, body alignment or trunk carriage. We just chose a direction and moved towards it as fast as our little legs would go. When you watch little kids run, however, they usually have pretty good form. Children typically don't overstride, they swing their arms, they lean forward slightly and don't strike with their heels. Unfortunately, now as adults many people find that they have trouble with this simple, yet at the same time very complex activity.

During the month of July, we'll focus on running mechanics, resources for training, and any questions you may have here on the UBC blog, so feel free to comment or send us an email with your questions.

To get us started here's a quick list of basic running dos and don'ts:

1. Don't slouch. Hold your body tall and erect, but with a slight forward lean. Keep in mind that running (and walking) is actually a controlled fall forward.

2. Do keep your head level. Point your gaze out ahead of you, not up at the sky or down towards the ground. Also, think of lifting your head up off your shoulders so that you aren't shrugging.

3. Don't slap the ground as you run. This creates way more force on your joints than necessary. Your steps should be quiet and springy.

4. Do keep your arms compact at about a 90 degree angle. Avoid crossing your arms over your body or tensing your shoulders. Allow the joints to move freely.

5. Don't clench your toes. While your foot should transfer the force of your footstrike from behind your little toe towards your big toe for slight pronation, avoid maintaining your toes in a clenched position as you run.

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Happy training.
To your fitness success!

High Five on "The Hill"

Between the playground obstacle course on Monday and The Hill on Wednesday, the gang is due a public high five this week!

WOOT!

This week's URBAN Boot Camp highlights include progressive plyometric work as well as "The Hill". Both are great for building strength and power, as well as the anaerobic component of the cardiovascular system. Squats, deadlifts, leg presses, and the like are great for making us stronger, but doing hill work can directly translate to your running and walking ability by quickening your stride, increasing your leg strength, and lengthening your stride, and increasing your aerobic capacity. Your muscles have no choice but to work synergistically as your entire body is supported while you perform. Participants may have joked that I "had it in for them" but they were greatly astonished at their performance so much so that by the end they were all still smiling...even Leesha!

Why? Accomplishment! The gang discovered that the so-called "impossible" was not impossible and everyone was able to go longer, farther, and perform stronger than they thought they could. The progressive nature of our program means that everything goes together and has a purpose (see guys... there IS a method to the madness. Muahahaha!)

Give your body controlled amounts of stressors and it will adapt.

Here's a great article on hill running: Everything You Need To Know About Hill Training

Now, your turn.

Here's a plyo workout:

Squat reaches
Pushups

Split squat
Plank reaches

Squat jumps
Side hover

Split jumps
Plank walks

Ice skaters
Reverse plank w/hip dips

Exercise 45 seconds on/15 seconds off, down the list 2-3 times. Remember quality over quantity. Stay focused and land properly EVERYtime. Of course, sandwich this between a proper warm up and cool down.

As for The Hill ...Portland has tons of hills. Find one and do shuttle runs (or fast walk): go up one block, then back down to the beginning, up two blocks, then down to the beginning. Shoot for 4-5 shuttle trips, then cool down.

Have fun!

Jump, Jump

Plyometrics!

That's a fancy name for jumping. Adding it to your training program is a great way to burn calories and increase your overall strength, power, and endurance. The problem is, while many people can get off the ground (accelerate), they don't land so well (decelerate) resulting in injuries. In UBC this week, we've begun working on jumping and will work more next week on developing proper form when landing so participants can get more fat-burning bang for their fitness buck.

So, how do you stop yourself after jumping off the ground? You decelerate the speed and thereby decrease the force on your joints by:

•Landing on the ball of your foot and sinking into your heel.
•Flexing at the hips, knees and ankles.
•Maintaining a straight back/neutral spine position.
•Maintaining your chest over knees and knees over second toe

This means you need the ability to properly load the muscles eccentrically while maintaining proper form.

We'll continue more on this next week with action!

Until then, here's an excerpt from NSCA's Performance Training Journal with a fantastic article: "Landing Mechanics: What, Why, When".

Make it a great weekend!
Jump, jump!