Your “Conditioning” is Ruining Your Speed
With the fall sport season right around the corner, many parents and athletes are thinking about ways to prepare for the season. This preparation can take many forms and iterations, especially if not using the guidance of a trained Sports Performance Coach.
One of the most popular statements that I hear in regards to this preparation is athletes who have decided to begin running miles in order to improve their conditioning. Unless you are a cross-country athlete, this should not be your starting point. In a previous post I discussed why conditioning should look different from a physiological level. Today I want to discuss the impact at a mechanical level.
As discussed in the link above, running miles actually targets a completely different energy system than most agility-based sports rely on. However, the larger issue at hand is the fact that these miles are detrimental to your ability to sprint.
Running Form
As you adjust your speed throughout your run you will notice a change in your form/ technique. This is primarily due to the fact that faster speeds require more force application and less stance time. (The stance position refers to the point when the foot is on the ground providing balance and stability in the middle of the stride.)
Let’s break that down…
At slower speeds (jogging) the foot swings forward in front of the center of mass for foot contact. This occurs because the foot will spend more time on the ground, compared to sprinting, in order to give the opposing leg enough time to swing forward for the next step.
This foot contact, in front of the center of mass, causes two major issues.
· Improper ground contact of foot (heel strike)
· Improper relationship between foot contact and center of mass.
Improper Ground Contact of Foot
When the heel strikes the ground first, the intrinsic muscles of the foot are used in a completely different way as compared to when striking with the front of the foot first as we do in sprinting and agility drills. The heel strike of jogging requires far less engagement of the musculature in the foot and ankle.
Improper Relationship Between Foot Contact and Center of Mass
This style of running (jogging) also teaches and ingrains, within the athlete, the habit of placing the foot out in front of the body. If this is carried over into speed and agility training it can become detrimental to the athlete’s health and safety. When this type of stride is placed under load (i.e. sprinting) it will increase the strain on the hamstring which will make it more susceptible to strains and tears.
These two acts, in tandem (Heel Strike & foot in front of Center of Mass), also create a mechanical braking system. By landing on the heel the body is not able to accelerate until the weight is shifted to the front of the foot. Likewise, when the foot touches the ground it is not able to propel the body forward until the body crosses over the top of the foot so that the foot is then behind the body.
As you can see, the habits learned and instilled by jogging long, slow miles are the exact opposite of the habits that we want to ingrain in speed and power based athletes.
For athletes that are trying to prepare for their athletic season, training with miles would be like a 16 year old preparing for their driving test using a boat on the water. There just isn’t a lot of carryover.
Keep it simple, if you want to run fast, practice running fast!