Core Strength and Overall Fitness

Why would anyone focus so much attention on one part of the musculoskeletal system. It seems short sighted and superficial. While great toe strength is important, I think there is more than "one key muscle system" needed for running.

So why such an emphasis on core stregnth training? How does one even define core strength training? So I googled "core strength training" and "running" and the first hit was Core Strength Training Exercises at the site, Running Planet. Sounded promising. It listed eight exercises that worked "the core": seven crunches and one stabilization exercise that emphasized the tucking the pelvis with the abs. So am I to take this to mean that core = abs? To be a better runner, the key is ab strength?























This concept of core strength is absurd. The abs are the key to running as much as the big toe, your left hamstring, your right shoulder, etc. The key to good running is well balanced strength and coordination.

Working the abs alone creates an imbalance. Abs flex your torso forward (and rotate but that is for another discussion). Overworking your abs while ignoring all the rest of your core creates and reinforces a bent forward and slouched posture. Your core really consists of the abs, back muscles, pelvic floor muscles, and the nearly always forgotten psoas muscle (pronounced so-az). You need not only to be strong, but be able to coordinate all these seemingly opposing muscles to create balanced, stable, yet flexible torso.

A New Way to Look at Running Efficiency

People use the word running efficiency instead of correct running form because there is the belief that there is really is no "correct" way to run. However, there are some factors that are associated with faster running. In fact, there are many people in the US and the world who spend their lives researching precisely what makes up running economy.

Running economy is a term used to describe how efficiently a runner can use their body to generate speed. The more efficient your body converts oxygen that you breath in into speed, the higher your running economy. Sports scientists at the Research Institute for Olympic Sports in Finland measured many factors related to speed and their correlation with running economy including:

VO2max
Stride Length
Stride Frequency
Speed Range (the difference between the lowest and highest speed an athlete runs during a given distance)
Maximal Running Speed
Ground contact time (the amount of time your feet spend on the ground with each step)

The authors found that the ONLY FACTOR THAT CORRELATED WITH SPEED WAS GROUND CONTACT TIME. VO2 max, stride length, speed range, etc did not correlate with speed. The more time runners spent in the air (i.e. the less time they spent on the ground), the faster they went.

So what does this mean? As Dr. Romanov of Pose-Tech running stresses: Pick up your feet!! Run lightly and gracefully. Clunking on the ground is not associated with faster speeds so concentrate on the upward movement and not the actual steps you take.

June 23, 2009 Group Run

We had a great 6.9 mile run today which began with a quick interview of our runners for an article which will feature The Runs Club in Connecticut Life and ended with ice cream for all! Some of us even got a little wet by jumping into the the Farmington River!! We had everything today! Hope to see you out next time! (Tuesdays at 6PM; www.therunsclub.com)

Group Run on June 9, 2009

Though the thunder crashed earlier in the day, the rain held up for a couple of hours in the afternoon and 5 dedicated runners ran a 5 mile trail run. Hope to see you there next week, Tuesday at 6pm. (www.therunsclub.com)

Save Energy and Money Running Barefoot

Many years ago shoe companies began a strong marketing campaign to sell shoes to a large growing population of recreational runners. Interestingly, these companies now contribute to a greater than 20 billion dollar industry.

Now, there is another effort to convince runners that barefoot running is best. However, marketing has continued from Born to Run by Christopher Mcdougall to Vibram-5-Fingers (about $70.00) to Barefoot Ted selling sandals made of twine and rubber for $70.00 (BarefootTED) (FYI not too long ago they were selling for $20, before the Born to Run "marketing" book came out).

If you want to try running barefoot, run barefoot. You do not need to spend $70.00 and pay for someone else's yacht! Minimally, you can wear aqua socks which you can buy from CVS for $3.00-$5.00.

Running barefoot is biomechanically different from running with shoes. Increasing evidence shows that the biomechanical adaptions associated with barefoot running (compared to runners with shoes) lead to fewer injuries and a lower energy cost (Barefoot Reference). (Yeah you read that correctly, you will spend less energy running when you run barefoot.) Why (you ask)? In short, more studies need to be done. However, I would guess that barefoot runners would have developed more awareness and perception of when their feet hit the ground. This improved coordination would minimize pounding and pushing on the ground, both of which waste energy and cause injuries. Thus, barefoot runners most likely spend most of the time in the air (feet off the ground).