Looking for further ways to torture myself, I did some new stair exercises today in addition to the stair sprints.
Today I did double leg hops... not on the stairs or the bleachers, no that would be too easy, I jumped over the bleachers landing each time in between. That motion engages the hip flexors and core much more than running, requiring explosive high knee movement. I estimate that one flight of the stadium doing this is 4x as hard as running the stairs. The first time I tried it, I couldn't make it to the top without a taking slight pause after every 3rd jump. So then, I did what I will call 'half and halves' ... halfway up with jumps, and sprint the rest of the way. After about 15 runs, some 'half and halves', some all jumps and some all runs, I was finished. I felt tightness in the hip flexors and the tensor fascia latae, so I called it a day.
Now cutting out the crap from my diet, have been waking up over 140 lbs - which is heavy for competition season. Past two weeks, been eating more sweets, fat and carbs, can't keep doing that. 139.8 after workout. Back to greens and fish, protein shakes, etc...
I will do the usual resistance tonight and hopefully some starting blocks tomorrow.
For what it's worth ....I think that the kind of exhausting work out you challenged yourself with today suggests a period of "rest and repair" or you run the risk of injury.
ReplyDeletemisapplied use of valuable training and joint "budget"
DeleteThis is called 'strength endurance,' which I do only 2 or 3 times a month. Prior to this, I ran 2 days in a row and I needed to change it up. Either this or day off. BTW... doing double leg hops in training shoes is much easier on the knees/joints than sprinting turns on the track in spikes. It's a soft landing with no torque or twisting, although it is challenging for the hips.
ReplyDeleteThis Sat. I run the 55 and 200. After one or two days rest, I have maybe one day to train hard next week before the Fri 3/2 meet where I will run 3 or 4 events - last meet before Nationals. That will require 2 days rest and give time for one more training cycle for the indoor season.
My high rep resistance I'll do tonight is the best injury prevention I have. I am NOT sore from today's plyo-stairs, which is a good sign I didn't do too many.
Your ability to find new workouts is always fascinating and inspiring.
ReplyDeleteI was curious about whether you ever do hill sprints -- uphill to boost the difficulty, downhill to develop a faster cadence. (These can be done on grass to reduce the soreness factor.)
Some people think hills are useful because they use the regular sprinting technique, as opposed to steps or hops.
I enjoy your blog and look forward to the progress reports; thanks for doing it.
-- Steve Ballinger (N.Y.)
Yea, hill sprints are great, but there are no hills within a few miles of my house that can compare with the steepness of stadium stairs. Actually, good sprint form can be used when running the stairs. Downhill running is something I wish I had access to, but it is a very risky business regarding injury. Masters athletes almost never train at 100% and to fully utilize downhill sprinting to increase turnover, it really should be done at 100%. Your idea of doing it on grass is excellent. I think I may give it a try if I can find a suitable piece of land, but only for short bursts.
ReplyDelete