UESCA Running Coach Course

Table of Contents
(Use the left-side bookmark menu to jump to modules)

Welcome and Introduction

Module 1: Run Coaching 101

Module 2: Skeletal System
Module 3: Muscular System
Module 4: Energy and Cardiopulmonary Systems
Module 5: Environmental Physiology
Module 6: Performance Assessments and Metrics
Module 7: Running Mechanics and Drills
Module 8: Injury and Illness
Module 9: Resistance Training
Module 10: Resistance Training Exercises (not included in PDF)
Module 11: Running Recovery
Module 12: Athlete Intake
Module 13: Goal Setting
Module 14: Female Physiology and Programming
Module 15: Periodization and Program Development
Module 16: Pacing
Module 17: Mental Training
Module 18: Sports Nutrition
Module 19: Safety
Module 20: Running Shoes and Apparel
Module 21: Race Preparation and Execution
Module 22: Keeping It Legal
Welcome to the UESCA Running Course

The Unit ed En du rance S ports Co aching

Acade my’s ( UES CA) running c erti fication i s a c omprehensi ve
certificati on that will provi de you with everything y ou nee d to k now
to be a n effective running coac h. T his is the sec ond edition of the
UESCA r unni ng c oach certificati on, with many updat es from t he
first versi on. A s a certified runni ng coach, y our a thle tes will e xpect
you to know up-t o-date i nfo rm ation on ev erythi ng fr om carbon -
soled s hoes t o ho w to create a nd i mplement trai ning progr ams fro m
5K thro ugh m arat hon dist ances. T his certifi cation discusses all
these th ings and more.

After ob tainin g th is certific ation, y ou will b e a c omp rehensi ve

resourc e for an athlete w ho wants to train f or a r unn ing race even t
… even if you have no pr evious knowledge of t he sport. As s uch,
this certif icatio n will prep are y ou t o answ er alm ost any qu estion or
concern an athlet e may have.

This certification aims to crea te a well -rounded running coach w ho

underst ands the f undam entals of exercise s cienc e and can apply
this infor matio n. I n additi on, th is c ertificati on goes beyond the
physiol ogical and biomec hanic al aspects of training . We beli eve
that if a n athl ete has a q uesti on regarding any aspe ct of the sport ,
the coa ch should be knowledgeabl e in that area, ev en if that
means k nowi ng w hen to r efer an at hlete to a special ist. T his
certific ation w as develo ped in co njunction with a team of
expert advis ors and cont ributor s a cross man y di sciplines to
ensure t hat th e quality o f the c ertificatio n is s econd to no ne.

Just like a succe ssful athlete, a s uccessful coach must be

confide nt in t heir knowledge base and the resul ts they can deliver
to an athlete. Unl ess you have all t he tools and resources to do
this, you r coa chin g will no t be o pti mal, whi ch will be evident to a n
athlete.

This certification will give you the tools necessary to become a

knowle dgeable, c onfident, and all - encompassing resource.

Certification Structure

The UE SCA runni ng coac h certi fication is not designed to functio n

like a Paint-By - N umbers pictur e, nor is it designed t o offer v ariou s
coachin g tem plat es from which to choose. This cert ification aims t o
educat e and infor m an individual on all as pects of w hat is require d
to be a succe ssfu l runnin g coa ch. Athletes will c om e to coa ches
with a wide array of goals and issues. Ther efore, the focus of this
certificati on is not to teach exactly how to coach XYZ athlete or
what pr ogram to assign t o AB C at hlete b ecaus e ev ery athl ete’s
program is diff erent due t o the many factors invol ved in progr am
creation.

An anal ogy t o illustrate thi s would be an ic e cream shop wit h 20

different flavors of ice cream and 30 different toppings. Ther e
would b e hundreds of other ice cream and toppi ng c ombinat ions.
This is analogous to how many potential running -training pr ogram s
would b e out ther e if one were to f actor in all the various options
availabl e. Th e only difference is th at inste ad of hundreds of
different ice cr e am possi bilities, there would be thousands of
training progr ams . At UES CA, w e c ertainly do not ha ve the ti me to
create this ma ny programs, and w e are also quite sure that you
would n ot have the time to read thr ough th em all to select the be st
one for your athlete! How ever, t his certificati on pr ovi des all t he
requisit e theory, i nformati on, a nd t ools for you t o m eet your
athletes ’ indiv idu al need s.

Staying curre nt w ith what is ha ppe ning wit hin th e sp ort of ru nning
and sp orts sci enc e is critic al to bei ng an ef fectiv e c oach. D ue to
the rapi d evol utio n of the sport, ma ny traini ng pr acti ces and
concept s may not exist in established research t o determine t heir
validity. Howe ver , by researchi ng the theory behind the training
practice, you will likely be able to dedu ce whet her t he traini ng
practice is vali d and appl icabl e to y our athl etes.

UESCA r arely t ak es a def initive st andpoi nt on traini ng pract ices,

with a fe w exceptions. Why is this? We believe that what works
well for one at hlete might not work so well for anot her. In ot her
words, p eople respond dif ferent l y to the same tr aining
stimuli. Theref or e, it is short -si ght ed to ex pect t hat one trai ning
method ology adheres to t he “one s ize fits al l” theory . This
certificati on provi des a coach with the science and trainin g t heori es
to advis e athl etes . Theref ore, it i s t he coac h’s re spo nsibility, not
UESCA, to decide what tr aining pr actice is in th e best inter est of
an athl ete.

The certification is comprised of text, images, and videos. At the

end of each of the modul es ar e pr actice quizzes .

No Tiers

UESCA does not produc e tiered coaching certific ati ons, whi ch
means t his cer tifi cation is not a beginner -l evel c ertif ication where
there ar e still one or two m ore a dv anced r unnin g ce rtificatio n level s
above it . As st ated earlier , if you are a certi fied r unning coach,
your athlete will expect you to know everything fro m how to taper
for a mar atho n to what th e Rec tus Femoris i s. At UE SCA, we
believe a certi fic ation pr ogram sh ould pr ovide you with all t he
information to ensure you ar e a w ell -educ ated and up -to-date
running coac h.

UESCA Certification Principles

• One must underst and trai ning t heor y before it can be applie d
• Training must be grounded in scie nce
• Coachi ng must take plac e withi n y our scope of prac tice
• Random traini ng = random res ults
• Challenge the status quo: do not a ccept long -standi ng traini ng
practices at face value.
• You are regressi ng if you are not constan tly learning and
applying this knowledge.
• Educat ed at hletes are engaged at hletes.
• Coachi ng suc ces s is pred icated m ainly on thorough
training feedback from ath letes.
• The coaching process is dynami c and not static .
• All coac hing deci sions m ust be ba sed on t he in divid ual.

Certification Content

As note d previously, this i s the second edition of the UESC A

running coac h certification. One of the significant di fferences
betwee n the two editions is that w e sought out even more
specialis t advisor s to contribute to this certificatio n. The main
contributor is Ben Rosario, form er head coach and current
executiv e dire cto r of th e Hoka Nor thern Ari zona Elit e Runni ng
Team, o ne of the top prof essional r unning teams in t he US.

Some of our other contributors i ncl ude:

• Bob Seebohar – Nutrition

• Dr. Justin Ross – Psychol ogy
• Corrine Malcolm – Environmental Physiol ogy
• Alexandra Coates – Physi ology
• Dr. Leah Roberts – Femal e Physiology
• Dr. Nick Studhol me – Running Mechanics

Many w ell -est abli shed training principles and “rul es” exist sol ely in
folklore or thro ug h casua l and coin cidental relati ons hips.

This is not to say that all current, well -established t raining

practice s are i nc orrect or ineff ecti ve, as t his is not the cas e. Tha t
said, the development of this c ertif ication program d id not take any
training theor y or practice at fa ce value. E ach tr aini ng meth odol ogy
describ ed in t his certificati on has been thoroughly vetted t o ens ure
its basis in science and application. We have examined the validity
of everyt hing from the 10% increase volume ‘rul e’ t o the pr opos ed
benefits of ca rbo n fiber s oled s hoes.

If nothin g els e, th e goal of this cert ification is to c hallenge t hose

obtaini ng it never to accept est abli shed n orms just becaus e they
have b een ar oun d for a l ong ti me. In the words of Nobel L aureate
Sir Harol d Krot o, “We need everyone to know ho w to thin k
rather th an a ccept unque stionin gly what we are told. It is
amazing to m e w hat peop le will b elieve without any
proof” (303).

It is esse ntial t o r ecogniz e tha t acc urate tra ining inf ormatio n is a
moving t arget . As new res earch results become available, c urrent
training meth odol ogies ar e vali dat ed, debunked, or modified to
reflect the new fi ndings. It is y our professi onal r esponsibility as
well as UESCA to stay abr east of the lates t training information.
Module 1: Run Coaching 101

To be a succ essf ul runni ng coach, you must be ver satile,

knowle dgeable, and dependable. T he area s not ed in this module
represe nt the diff erent fu nctions that a suc cessf ul running c oach
performs . As a coach, inv olvem ent in your athlet es’ t raining and
racing c an range from relatively basic to hi ghly c om plex and
involve d.

In the f ollowin g vi deo, Ben Ro sario discuss es wh at he view s as hi s

main go al as a coach.

[There is a Vi deo here. Vi deos can not be v iewe d fro m this P DF. To
View Vi deo C ontent, please ref er t o the online Cour se]
So, wha t exactly do coa c hes do, and what are t heir
respons ibilities? To some degr ee, a coach’s role depends on wh at
an athl ete is aski ng for. H owev er, a coach must be well -rounded,
as it is an all -enc ompassi ng rol e.

Upon c omplet ion of this m odule, y ou should have an under stand in g

of the f ollowin g areas:

• Roles of a coach
• Physiol ogist
• Psychol ogist
• Leader
• Motivator
• Disciplinarian
• Operati ons m anager
• Instructo r and ed ucator
• What constitut es being a professional coach
• How to communicate effectively
• Value of being a comprehensiv e resource
• Fallacies of being a coach

Traits of a Coach
A runni ng coach must be part exer cise phy siologist, psychol ogist,
leader, motivator, disciplinarian, operations manager, and, last but
not leas t, an i nstr uctor and educat or. All of thes e things are
essenti al to being a successful coach, as y our at hlet es will expect
you to be a resource in all areas. While yo u will not serve as a
psychol ogist or exercise physiologist after compl eti ng this
certificati on, you will have enough education to dev elop hi gh -lev el
program s for y ou r athlete s an d als o have t he k nowl edge b ase t o
identify when to refer the m to som eone m ore specialized, if
neede d.

How ath letes r es pond to you will li kely vary signif ic antly from on e
to anot her. A s a coach, you wi ll need t o f igure o ut how e ach
athlete l earn s b est and how to motivat e each o ne. For examp le,
some p eople tend to be m ore vi sual than auditor y learners. If this
is the ca se and you are discussing cornering, drawi ng a di agram,
and ex plaini ng the concept might prove best.

Concer ning m otiv ation, y ou might have at hlete s who respond be st

to bein g yelled at (i.e., boot camp) , while other a thl etes might fe el
as thou gh they ar e being scold ed. Therefor e, the way you m otivat e
an athl ete is extr emely im portant. As a suc c essf ul c oach, y ou mu st
discern t he best way to m otivat e e ach athl ete. It is i mportant to
modify y our tone, body language, and ver biage to s uit each athl ete.
Leader

Above everyt hing else, a successf ul leader gar ners respect f rom
those th e per son leads. A n athlete must be confident that you are
the total pack age . So, wh at is t he “total pa ckag e?”

• Organiz ed and st ructured

• Educat ed
• Experienced
• Puts saf ety firs t
• Attuned to an ath lete’s ps ychol ogi cal needs
• A resour ce
• Flexible
• Dependable and account able
• Consist ent in the quality deliver ed
• Honest and tr ust worthy

Perhap s the most critical a spect of being a leader is underst andi ng

what yo u are and are not . First an d forem ost, you a re their c oach .
This is not to say you cannot be friends with your athletes.
However , this should not be t he intent or f ocus of y our relat ionsh ip.

Motivator

In order to ge t th e most o ut of an athlete, you will n eed to be a

source of moti vat ion. It is understood that some athl etes will
require more moti vation t han other s, but all w ill require
encour agem ent t o some degree. When taking i nto account all th e
other thi ngs t hat a runner must bal ance wit h trai ning (i.e., family,
job, soci al life, etc.), it is often difficult to m aintain an athl ete’s
motivati on at t he necess ary lev el. T he methods u sed to mot ivate
an athlet e will v ary by t he indi vi dual as not all athletes will
respond the s am e way to a pa rtic ular met hod of motivati on.

It is equ ally im po rtant to know whe n to bac k off. Thi s is wher e the
listening component com es into play. For example, if an ath lete
experie nces a de ath in the fam ily i t is advis able to give them all
the spa ce and ti me needed prior t o resumi ng traini ng. Oth er thin gs
in peop le’s liv es are far m ore im portant t han tr aini ng for running
events, and t his big -pict ure app roach alw ays is bes t kept in mind
when w orking wit h athlet es.

Disciplinarian

What co mes t o m ind when you hear the wor d disc ipl inarian ? Most
likely it is associ ated with something neg ative. Pert aining to
coachin g, discip line sho uld not be view ed as a n egati ve thing,
but rather somet hing positive. B eing a discipli nari an ties i n
closely with bein g a motivator. Wh ile it is im portant to be flexible
with athl etes about their tr aining programs, it is equally important
to make sure t he y stay o n track to elicit th e resul ts they are looki ng
for.

The disciplinarian role of a coach is less a function of being a

relentle ss task master than it is of holding athletes account able.
The training programs you develop for your athletes are useful only
if they p erform them the wa y they were int ended. T herefor e, you r
expect ations mu st be cl early stated to yo ur athl etes.

Some at hletes wil l need t o be held more ac count able than ot hers i n
regard t o sticki ng to their progr am. Howev er, oversi ght of al l
athletes ’ prog ram s is nec essary to ensure t he pr oper training
progres sion is ac complished.

Operations Manager

Depen ding on your level of inv olv ement, y ou m ay f ind your self
thrust int o the rol e of an oper ation s and lo gistics m anager. Som e
of the a spect s of this role might in clude:
 • Travel plans
• Equipm ent or deri ng/man agem ent
• Event pl anni ng
• Contingency plan ning
• Route s couting

It goes witho ut sa ying tha t succ ess ful coac hing r equ ires stro ng
organiz ation al ski lls, and t he m ore involved you are as a coach,
the mor e things y ou will need t o juggle. L et’s say that you r un a
successful online coaching busine ss with 50 athletes whose goals
and trai ning plan s vary. Fir st and f oremost, you need to rem ember
when y ou need to contact your athl etes via either e mail or phone .
Each at hlete should feel a s though he or she is your only athlet e
instead of one out of 50.

Keeping track of your athletes’ communication a nd progress

require s organiz ation an d stru ct ure. Whil e this mi ght not soun d
like a bi g deal … it is. When an athlete is paying a fee for y our
services and y ou promise to em ail a weekl y program on Sunday
and foll ow up wit h a call each Tue sday at 6 p.m. , a nd you f orget to
do both , you can assume that y ou will not have t his athlete f or
much lo nger.

It is also your r es ponsibili ty to hav e full aw aren ess of the r ules of

the spor t and , mo re specif ically, th e rules of any ev ent your
athletes are parti cipating in.

Instructor And Educator

As an in struct or a nd edu cator, it is your job to e nsur e your a thlet es

underst and preci sely what they should do and the r easoni ng behind
it. It is your resp onsibility to convey infor mation to your ath letes in
an effec tive m anner.

Part of an eff ecti ve mess age is co ntinuity. T his means sen ding n o
mixed s ignal s to athletes relative to their traini n g progra m. For
exampl e, if you st ate that Monday i s always a res t day no m atter
what, a nd then a few wee ks int o the progr am, you have the athle te
do a ha rd wor kout on Monday, this sends a mixed m essage and
erodes t rust and confidence over t ime bet ween you and your
athlete.
Not all athletes w ill want i nstruct ion the same w ay; however, som e
basic pri ncipl es s hould u nderli e how you in struct yo ur athlet es.
Some of thes e ar e:

• Encour age y our athlete

• Provide expla nati ons of y our pr ogr am desi gn
• Be as cl ear a nd c oncise as pos sibl e
• Provide feed back and ho nest assessments
• Perform goal-s ett ing exer cises
• Be posit ive
• Be reali stic in yo ur expe ctatio ns o f the at hlete
• Continuity

It is help ful to t e ach you r athl ete s the rat ional e b ehind th eir
program . Whil e s ome athletes will want to know mor e than others ,
they mu st unders tand th e program’ s basic r easoning . The more yo u
educat e your athl etes, the bett er t hey will under stand the r eason
behind their program and become active participant s in its design
and de velopment, leading to a mor e effecti ve pr ogra m.

An anal ogy w ould be the relati onship betw een a rac e car dri ver an d
their pit crew. Un less the driver un derstan ds ho w th e car ha ndles
based on its i nne r workings, the dr iver will not be able to
communicate effe ctively wi th the pi t crew on how to adjust t he car
to make it fast er. Sharing your t rai ning str ategy with your at hletes
is critical to ensuring that you are both on the same page.

T he coach/ath let e relatio nship is a two -w ay str ee t. T he athlete

is learn ing fro m you, and you are continu ally le ar ning from the
athlete.

Application of Information

It is not enough t o under stand trai ning th eory a nd t he phys iolog y of

the bod y. To be an effecti ve coach, you must unders tand how to
apply th is info rm ation o n an i ndivi dual ba sis to get the best
possibl e resul ts f or your athlet es.

Professional

It is esse ntial t o convey t o yo ur at hlete w hat yo u kn ow and do n ot

know. T he guid in g princip le al ways shou ld be yo ur athlet es’
best interests. F or exam ple, just becaus e you know why a n
athlete’ s kne e is hurting unles s yo u ar e a docto r or physical
therapis t (or si mil ar speci alist), y o u are n ot qu alifie d to dia gnos e
this. The corre ct decisio n is al way s to refer the per son to a
specialis t. Likewi se, if an athlete asks you somethin g you do not
know, it is corr ec t to tell them that you will get back to them with
the ans wer or ref er them t o someone who will have the ans wer. B y
trying to be ever ything to your at hlete, you are d oing a
disserv ice to th em, and in so me cases, your acti ons coul d be
illegal a nd pot e ntially in juriou s.

Honesty

A key c ompo nen t of profession al ism is h onest y. While thi s

seems si mple, it i s often the most difficult rule to fol low. For
exampl e, you sta rt coachi ng an at hlete w ho, despit e having resu lts
in the b ottom half of most races, the runne r’s goal is to win a
prestigi ous half maratho n. Whi le goals ar e nec ess ary and stretc h
goals ar e a g ood idea, a n athl ete’s goal m ust be wit hin the r ealm of
possibility. Th ere fore, in t his sit uation, it is your pro fession al
respons ibility t o i nform th e athl ete t hat the pers on’s expectations
are most likely too high given their current l evel of c onditioning a nd
the com petition at the ev ent. T his i s not al ways an easy
convers ation, but to progr ess t he athlete pr operl y, it is a nec essar y
one. Thi s is a n example of t reating an at hlete honestly, with
integrity, and wit h respect. There are ways to make this
convers ation as painless as possible, but at the end of the day, it
is of cruc ial importance t hat you convey an accurate message to
the athl ete.

Part of being hon est also involv es knowing when to say you do n ot
underst and s omething. C oaches of ten feel they mus t know
everythi ng because an at hlete has hired them and t herefor e must
be an a ll -knowing resourc e. First , you will never know ever ything
there is t o kn ow about t he sport of running. Sec ond, and as note d
previou sly, it is okay to s ay, “I don’t know,” to your athlete. It is
much b etter t o say, “I’m not sure, l et me get bac k to you,” than to
guess, li e, or bluf f your w ay thr ough an an swer. Not only is t his
disinge nuo us, but it could lead athl etes off track wit h their tr ainin g
or, wors e, to i njur y.
Verbal and Physical Actions

Being p rofess ional also r elates to your ver bal a nd physical action s.
If you ar e wor kin g with a n athl ete one-on- one, you should aim to
arrive at t he m eet ing location fi ve minutes ahead of the des ignat ed
time. Dur ing yo u r sessi on, yo ur athlete i s the on ly perso n that
matters and must have 100 p ercent of your focu s. For example,
if your session takes place at a gym, you should not be wat ching
TV, checking your email (t urn your phone off or vibr ate), talk ing t o
other st aff or members, or taki ng t he focus off y our athlete. To th at
same e nd, your body language and attire sa y a lot a bout you as a
professi onal, especially wi th ne w athletes who do no t know y ou
well. During your session, you should always stand or kneel if you
need to watc h their form fr om a lower level . You should never sit,
lie dow n, or lean against a wall . W hen this occur s, t he perc eptio n
from an athlet e’s point of view i s of ten that of laz iness and a lack
of profe ssionalis m. Rega rding atti re, your attire should no t be
sloppy, nor shoul d it have potentially offensive v erbi age or images.

Lastly, t he ver bia ge that you u se w ith your athlet e r eflects o n yo u.

If you sw ear, t ell off-color jokes, a nd use poor gram mar or sl ang,
this pai nts a pict ure of s omeo ne w ho is un profe ssio nal and does
not take the occu pation s eriou sly.

Stay Current

A profes siona l in any fiel d must re main cur rent o n a ll the lat est
develo pment s. This is the only w ay to stay r elev ant. For a coach,
this me ans st ayi ng up to d ate o n training and co aching
methodol ogies a nd equip ment. A coach’s credi bilit y is not li mited
to areas that i nvo lve the actual trai ning pr ocess but the spor t as a
whole.
Effective Communicator

This is perhaps t he most critical aspect of developi ng an effectiv e

training progr am. Without effectiv e comm unicatio n between you
and the athlet e, it is alm ost cert ain that t he resu lting prog ram
will be in effect iv e. As noted, c om municati on between you and
your athlete is a t wo-way street. Ini tially, at hletes need to
communicate t hei r goals, t heir heal th and athleti c background,
their ba ndwid th r egardin g trai ning capacity , and per ceived
strengths and weaknesses. Once training begins, athletes must
communicate t hei r feelings and per ception s of the pr ogram’s
effective ness. Yo u need to sh are y our coa ching phil osophy alon g
with your expectations. Throughout the trai ning process, you need
to listen to th e at hlete’s f eedback and co mmuni cate effectiv ely
regardi ng modific ations t o t he t rain ing program a nd t he reas ons
behind them.

Most co aching pr ogram f ailures ar e the result of poor

communication. T o a large degree, the eff ectiveness of
communication is based on honest y. If an athlet e w as supposed to
run 10 miles but only ran 4 and r eports do ing 1 0, this will become
an issu e bec ause you will progr ess the athl ete based on 10 miles.
This may result i n overtraining, injury, or both. If an athlete has
never run mor e t han 4 m iles at a t ime but signed up for a m arath on
taking p lace i n tw o months and wants you to hel p in prepar ation f or
it, it is yo ur responsibility to advise them th at this is not pos sible,
and the pers on s hould r evise t he goal. A s a co ach , you need to
learn ho w to m a nage yo ur athl et es’ exp ectati ons , which
someti mes m ean s hav in g hard co nversat ions abo ut what i s or
is not po ssibl e.

Typically, losing an athlete is considered a bad thing, although

sometim es it is fo r the best. Lik e al l relationships , there will be
difficulti es, an d s ometime s relat io nships do not wor k out. T his is
not goo d or bad, but simply a reali ty. Relati onshi ps between
coache s and athl etes do not w ork out for v arious reasons. Some of
the mor e com mon ones ar e:

• Personality confli cts

• Coachi ng phi losophy dis agreement s
• Lack of percei ved results on th e part of the a thlet e
• Inflexibili ty of ti m e by eit her p arty
• Lack of profe ssio nalism b y eith er party

While it i s the hope that some or all these i ssues could be

mitigate d earl y in the relations hip t hrough proper and honest
communication, it is a real ity of coaching t hat not al l athletes will
work out for one reason or another. A profe ssional coach does not
take the se thi ngs person ally a nd k nows w hen to rec ommen d
terminati ng a coa ching re lation ship with an athle te.

Professi onalis m needs t o be evid ent in al l areas of the

coachin g/athl ete relation ship. Below are some of the areas:

Email

Your em ails s hou ld be pr oper and professi onal. What does this
mean? I t means no emot icons, slang, texti ng -sty le abbrevi ations ,
spelling errors , al l CAPS, unneces sary excl amati on points, or
improperly constructed s entences.

In short, your em ails sho uld b e co nstructe d like a t hank-you lett er

for an in tervie w. They sh ould be t o the point a nd w ith a cle ar an d
concise mess age. While this sounds trivial, the abil ity to compos e
a profes s ional email is of utmost importance. It tell s the at hlete
that you are prof essiona l and you care. Be sure to r eread a ll
emails before sending t hem.

Using a different email account for your coaching business is

strongly advis ed. Make sure that your email ad dres s is also
professi onal.

Phone

Do not use sl ang words a nd speak clearly a nd pr ofessionally at all

times. E mail a nd phone are si milar in that you d o no t have t he
advant age of seeing the other pers on’s faci al ex pres sions or body
langua ge. Theref ore, your words and tone can easil y be
misconst rued. Because o f this, you want to ensure t hat you alway s
present yours elf professi onally to minimize the c hance of
misinter pretati on.

Text

It is impo rtant t o note that text s ar e a diffe rent beas t than email.
As texts have lar gely replaced em ail and phone call s, it should b e
noted t hat the way an individual us es text is differ ent from em ail.
For exa mple, t he use of a bbreviati ons is st andar d i n text v ersus
email (e x: ‘u’ i nst ead of ‘ you’). Additionally, while a t ex t is easy to
fire off, unless a coach l ets an athl ete kno w that the y are
accessi ble aft er work hours, a coach should not be expec ted t o
reply to t exts out side of t he designated ti meframe. Also, the text
exchan ges s houl d be reasonable – meani ng, if a text e xchange i s
longer t han two or three t exts, it is best to move the conversation
to a ph one c all.

Timeliness

As note d previously, if you tell an athlete you wi ll c all or send an

email at a par ticular time, you m us t do so. If you ag ree to m eet
your athlete at a design ated l ocati on and set ti me, you should
arrive at least fiv e minut es bef ore the specified time. It is
immaterial whether your athlete gets there l ate or not. Your
athletes are payi ng you t o pro vide them wit h a s ervi ce and deser ve
a coach who r espec ts thei r time.
Assuming your at hlete’s tr aining s ession has a pre - determi ned
duratio n, you must struct ure the s ession t o acc omplish what you
need to withi n the establ ished tim e. Your athlet e m ight not be
wearing a wat ch and might need t o leave right at the session’s e nd.
Also, if y ou ex ce ed the ti me lim it, you risk cuttin g i nto your next
athlete’ s app oint ment tim e. Yo u are respo nsibl e for runnin g the
session effectivel y and paying attention to the sessi on duration.

Sensitivity

Being s ensitiv e t o your athlet e’s emotions and c urr ent issues is
importa nt. Many of these areas you will learn about only during t he
training proce ss. For exa mple, per haps yo u ha ve at hletes w ho ar e
very sensitive about their weig ht. If this is the case, you will need
to devis e a c omm unication strat egy regarding c om municati ng
effective ly with th em while not offe nding t hem.

As note d previously, you shoul d avoid dis cussing areas of t heir

person al life s uch as fina nces, r eli gion, human r ight s, politic s, an d
any topi c of a sex ual nat ure. Y ou are hired to be a running coach
‒ no mor e, no less. Of c ourse, you will venture i nt o areas of sm all
talk with your ath letes bu t try to ke ep the c onve rsati on light. If yo ur
athlete asks f or y our opi nion o n any of the issue s ab ove, res pond
by sayin g tha t yo u would rathe r not discuss it.

Boundaries

This is an import ant issue for all coaches. Many coaches become
“friends” with t hei r athletes, es peci ally if they have worked with
them for a lon g ti me. To s ome deg ree, this is nor ma l and
accepta ble. What you do wi th y our athlete deter mines what is
accepta ble or not .

Some things not t o do ar e:

• Meet for activit ies other t han c oac hing or r unni ng -r elated
events
• Emails a nd p hon e calls a bout anyt hing ot her th an c oachin g
• Discussing your personal lives beyond what may be percei ved
as comf ortabl e (e.g., talki ng about your athlete’s kids’ soccer
game is okay, but talking about their messy divorc e i s not
okay)
• Date your athl ete
 • Assume that bas ed on t he length of your c oachi ng
relationship, y ou are free to as k your athlet e qu e stions abo ut
their per sonal life

If you m ove o utsi de prof ession al b oundari es, yo u ar e diminis hing

your professional relationship and risk losin g athlet es altogether.
In summ ation, it i s your responsibil ity as a profes sional coach to
use sou nd judgm ent rega rding wh at is acc epta ble t o discus s or d o
with your athletes.

In the vi deo belo w, Nell R ojas s ha res abo ut vari ous traits a good
coach p osses ses, as well as trai ts that a good c oac h shoul d not
possess .

[There is a Vi deo here. Vi deos can not be v iewe d fro m this P DF. To
View Vi deo C ontent, please ref er t o the online Cour se]

Areas of Study a Coach Must

Understand
While th ere ar e many ar eas t hat a coach must be knowledgeable
in, the areas of physiology and psychology are paramount to a
coach b eing able to under stand their athlet es.

Physiology

The go al of t his c ertificati on is t o provide y ou wit h e nough

information so you will have a thorough k nowledge of basic human
anatom y and phy siology as it appli es to ex ercise and, more
specific ally, the s port of running. H aving this knowledge base is
critical to underst anding how to develop and im plem ent programs.
While it i s not necessary t o pass t his infor mation al ong to athlet es,
it is important that you kn ow it. If you were to put this in the
context of a visit with your doct or, while the phy sici an most likely
communicates wit h you in laym an’s terms instead of using m edical
terminol ogy, y ou fully exp ect th at t he medi cal pr ofe ssional has th e
medical traini ng and knowledge to underst and and diagnose your
illness.

One wa y to think of the s cienc e of exercise is as the founda tion of

a pyrami d. Wit ho ut this br oad k n owledge base th ere can be no
applicat ion an d, therefor e, no so lid progr ammi ng for an
athlete. This is not to say that you cannot develop a progr am
without an understa nding of a natomy and physi olog y. However, a
program developed without thi s knowledge would m ost likely be
based s olely on t he coac h’s personal experienc es and/or thr oug h
reviewing other c oaching plans. W hile this meth od of coac hing m ay
or may not de vel op a successf ul plan, the bottom li ne is that you
will not have the ability to explain why the program is laid out a
certain way or kn ow how to adjust it if it does not w ork for an
athlete.

Psychology

It is of p aramo unt importa nce t o lis ten and relat e to your athletes.
If you ar e un able to listen to th em and tak e wh at th ey say i nto
conside ration, you will most likel y not hav e muc h success as a
coach. What y our athletes tell y ou might not alw ays directly r elate
to runni ng or trai ning. Fo r exa mpl e, they might be having
difficulti es with w ork, pers onal r ela tionship s, or fi nances. Th ey m ay
or may not ver bal ly express what else is going on in their life, but,
as their coach , it is important to notice cha nges i n th eir motiv ation,
energy, and attitude. The longer you w ork w ith an at hlete, the
easier it will be f or you t o identify changes in t heir behavi or.
General ly, the longer an athlete w orks with a coach, the mor e op en
the indi vidual bec omes a bout other areas a ffecti ng h im or her .

While it i s not your place as a runn ing coach t o adv ise athl etes o n
matters outside of the sport (i.e. , fi nances, relati ons hips, etc .), yo u
do nee d to be aw are that for some athletes, hav ing somebody to
speak t o about things is an import ant aspect of the coach/athlet e
relation ship. It is str ongly advis ed t hat you do not off er advic e on
areas o utside of r unning. If an athl ete asks you f or your advice in
these m atters, it i s in your best int erest to say that i t is not y our
area of exper tise and the pers on w ould be bett er ser ved speaking
to some one i n that subject or i ndu stry.

It is not enough o nly to n otice c han ges in y our at hlet es. You also
must kn ow ho w t o modify their programs a ccordi ngl y. For ex ampl e,
if an ind ividual is going through a divorce that is demanding a lot of
time an d ener gy, you might need t o adjust their program to
somethi ng that is more tim e and e nergy ef ficient while still k eepin g
the ultim ate g oal in mind.

Coaching Fallacies
While th ere ar e li kely quit e a f ew c oaching fallacies, this
certificati on wil l d iscuss three that are unf ortunately quite
commonplace in t he coac hing i ndustry.
You Must Be Fast!

Questio n : Do y ou think Patrick Sa ng, coach of mar athon w orld

record holder Eli ud Kipc hoge, could beat Eliud i n a race? N ot a
chance!

It is not unco mm on for ru nnin g coaches t o promote their busines s

by usin g their per sonal records or t he num ber of rac es run. While
person al run ning experience is hel pful to t he coachi ng proc ess, t he
ability to run “f as t,” have a set number of r aces under one ’s belt , or
be a fas ter ru nne r than one’s athletes is no t a pr erequisite t o bei ng
a qualit y coac h. Convers ely, o ne could m ake th e argument that
being a talented and fast runn er m ay result in coaches being less
effective , as t hey cannot relat e to slower r unner s. T he botto m line
is that th ere i s n o correl ation b et ween being a f ast runner and
being a great co ach. It is much m ore important for a coach to b e
inquisitive, constantly learning, and humbl e. Also, note that what
constitutes “bein g fast” is very mu ch subjective.

This do es not mea n that potential athletes won’t be impress ed by

fast pers onal rec ords an d see k ou t like co aches . Th erefore, it is
importa nt to understand t hat if t his topic comes up when s peaki ng
to prosp ective at hletes, y ou n eed to educ ate th em on what
constitutes real v alue when hir ing a runni ng coach.

Many “fast” coac hes rely on their personal race rés umé as a
marketing tool an d also derive t hei r coachi ng pr acti ces bas ed on
their ow n train ing . This is misgui de d and akin to a re search s tudy
with on e parti cipant. While on e could argue that this is evide nce -
based, i t is h ardl y statistic ally si gnificant! Reme mb er, a trai ning
method ology that works gr eat f or one pers on may not work great
for anot her. T his is the g enesi s of this cer tificat io n – put your
trust in scien ce and st ati stica lly significant evi dence -based
findings and yo u will become a professi onal and effecti ve
coach.

Holding Out Information

A theory amo ng s ome sp orts a nd fi tness pr ofessi ona ls holds that if

they giv e athl etes too muc h inf orm ation, th ey will fir e them as the y
now kn ow to coac h thems elves. Fir st, let’s address t his issue by
rememb ering why you want to become a coach. As a profess ional
running coach, i t is your resp on sibility t o act i n the best
interest of you r athletes to hel p them re ach th eir goals. T his
typically involv es explain ing th e tr aining proces s an d the sci ence
behind it – at least in an abbr eviat ed fashi on – when applic able
and war ranted. T o hold back tr aini ng infor mation from athlet es for
fear tha t they will leave y ou is unp rofessio nal at be st and unethi cal
at worst. If this is your desired future coac hing direc tion, stop
reading and cont act UES CA, and we will refund your money, as
this is n ot the typ e of coa ch w e wa nt to be affilia ted with.

It speak s volu me s of your over all coachin g pra ctice if you f eel th at
acquirin g information in t he short t erm is the only reason an athl ete
hires yo u. As not ed previ ously in t his module, the r ole of a
professi onal r unning coach is m ulti faceted. You are there to
provide moral support, tw eak a pr ogram based on near-limit less
variables, devise a realistic and m anageable race strategy, and
recomm end and/or help facilitat e third -party interv entions such as
physical thera pist s and p hysici ans when n eeded.

Your ab ility and willingness to ex plain th e science behind you r

training progr ams should legiti mize you an d you r co aching practic e
and incr ease the value of your ser vices, n ot the other way a roun d.

An Extensive Race Resume’

Sure, it’s adv anta geous t o hav e ru nning e xperi ence and id eally t o
have ru n som e races but i t’s not a prerequisite t o being a good or
for that matter, a great co ach. That said, th ere is a myth tha t in
order to “quali fy” to be a runni ng c oach, y ou must have a lot of
races u nder y our belt. Whi le ‘a l ot’ is subjective, many runners th at
think th at unl ess they have an ext ensive personal r ace res ume’,
they are n’t q ualifi ed to co ach other s.

To be clear, havi ng run a lot of races is not a prerequisite to be a

coach. As not ed above, i t’s alw ay s a good thing to have race
experie nce s o that you under stand the ex periences and nuanc es
that you r athl etes will be dealin g w ith on ra ce d ay b ut there is no
magic n umber of races th at makes you a cr edibl e c oach.

The mos t importa nt thing is to be a student of the sport and each

and ev ery trai ning run or race t hat you do, try to tak e somet hing
away from it that you can learn from.

Everyone Responds the Same Way to a Training Stimuli

As allud ed to pre viously, many co aches c oach their athlete s the

way the y coa ch t hemselv es. W hile there ar e likel y many reasons
for this, one of the more li kely r easons is t hat the c oach as sume s
that if a partic ula r trainin g meth od works for them , it will work for
everyon e. Thi s is incorrec t.

For exa mple, i f this theory were correct, ev eryone w ould res pond
the sam e way to diets and ex ercis e; thus , weight loss woul d be
easy to figure out and im pleme nt. Of cours e. we kn ow that this is
not true .

Therefore, if a coach prescribes the same workouts to their

athletes that t hey person ally d o and/or pre scribe s th e same activit y
(s) to all of their athletes – it is safe to say that the y are a bad
coach t hat does not und erstand h ow the body work s.

Factors of Athlete Success

As a co ach, it is i mportant to understand k ey fac tor s that wil l mak e
your athletes suc cessful. In the fol lowing vi deo, Ben Rosario
discuss es the thr ee facto rs that he believes to be the most
importa nt for athl ete succ ess.

[There is a Vi deo here. Vi deos can not be v iewe d fro m this P DF. To
View Vi deo C ontent, please ref er t o the online Cour se]
Most Common Running Mistakes
Like fact ors of success, it i s als o i mportant as a coach to be aw are
of comm on runni ng mistakes s o that you c an be aw are of t hem a nd
identify them when they occur… or better y et, avoid them in t he
first plac e with yo ur athlet es. In th e followi ng vi deo, Ben Ro sario
discuss es his t op three mi stake s t he runn ers m ake.

[There is a Vi deo here. Vi deos can not be v iewe d fro m this P DF. To
View Vi deo C ontent, please ref er t o the online Cour se]
Summary
• To be a succ essf ul runni ng coach, you must be ver satile,
knowledgeable, and depen dable.
• A runni ng coach must be part exer cise phy siologist,
psychol ogist, l eader, moti vator, di sciplinari an, oper ations
manager, instr uct or, and educ ator.
• As a coach, y ou will nee d to fi gur e out how each athlete
learns best and how to motivate each one.
• Effective com munication i s critic al to the s ucces s of a runni ng
coach
• A runni ng coach must underst and physiol ogy a nd the
psychol ogy of their athlet es to be t ruly effective.
• A runni ng coach does n ot ne ed to be ‘fast’ or ha ve an
extensiv e per son al race r esum e’.
• It is impo rtant t o underst and t hat e veryone will re sp ond
different ly to t he same training sti muli.
Module 2: Skeletal System

This section disc usses the skeletal system as it rel ates to

directio nal ref erences, identific ation of bo nes, s pinal injury, an d
the foot/ankl e co mplex.

• Directional and landmark terminology

• Skeletal syste m
• Herniat ed dis k
• Regions of th e spine
• UESCA definit ion of neut ral spi ne
• Spinal i njuries
• Landm arks of pel vis
• Types of joints
• Joints of the foot/ankle and their functions
Directional Terminology

Within this certi fi cation program w ill be ref erenc es t o the pl anes of
the bod y and directional t erminology. Ther e are thr ee prim ary
anatomi cal ref erence planes of the body:

A: Sagit tal

Divides the body into right and left halves ( e.g., t he legs move in
the sagi ttal pl ane when p edali ng)

B: Trans verse
Divides the body into lower and top halves (e.g., rotating the upper
body fro m left to right)

C: Frontal (Coronal)

Divides the body into fron t and back halves (e.g., si de -to-si de or
lateral m otions s uch as s ide st eps )

When d escribi ng the relat ionship between body part s, movement of

body p arts, or the location of an ex ternal o bject t o the body, the
use of d irectio nal terms is nece ssa ry. Directi onal t er ms are p aired,
which represent opposi ng acti ons or locati ons. Som e of the most
common direct ional terms are:

Anterior: towar d the front of the b ody (e.g ., toes ar e anteri or to

the hee l)

Posterio r: Towar d the b ack of the body (e. g., the spine
is poster ior to the collarbone ‒ or c lavicle)

Medial: t owar d th e midline of the b ody (e.g., the ar m swing of a

baseba ll play er hi tting a ball moves medially through the first half
of the r ange of m otion)

Lateral: away from the mi dline of t he body (e.g. , a backhan d ten nis
return m oves t he arm later ally away from the body)

Superfic ial: toward the s urface of the bod y (e.g., sk in

is superf icial t o s ubcutaneous fat)

Deep: inside t he body, away fr om the surf ace (e.g., the intestine s
are dee p relative to the s kin)

Adduction (mov ement): t owar d t he midli ne of t he body (e. g.,

lowering arms to the legs from a starting position of the arms being
extend ed out to t he side)

Abduction (mov ement): away f rom the mi dline of t he body (e.g. ,

raising arms to horizontal from a s tarting position by the side of t he
legs)

Flexion: a mov ement that dec reases the angl e bet ween body parts
(e.g., b ending for ward at t he w aist flexes the abdomi nal mus cles)
Extensi on: a movement t hat i ncreases the angle between body
parts (e. g., going from a s eated position to a standi ng
position extends t he knees)

Plantar Flexio n: increas e angl e between lower leg and foot (e.g. ,
women who w ear high -heeled shoes are in a con sta nt state
of plant ar flexi on)

Dorsi Flexion: decrease the angl e between lower l eg and foot

(e.g., walking on the hee ls of t he f eet results in t he feet
being d orsiflexed)

Elevatio n: movement in t he s uper ior direct ion (e.g. , when

shruggi ng your s houlder s, the shoulder bl ades ‒ or scapulas
‒ elevat e)

Depres sion: m ov ement i n the i nfer ior direct ion (e.g. , when
lowering your shoulders, t he sc apulas depr ess)

Medial R otatio n (internal rotati o n): rotati on towar d the mi dline of

the bod y (e.g., someone who is “knock -kneed” has m edial
rotation of the upper leg ‒ or f emu r)

Lateral Rotati on (external rotati on): rotati on away from the

midline of the body (e.g., the l eg i s externally rot at ed if the feet are
turned outwar d fr om the body’s mi dline)

Unilateral: movement oc curring on one si de of the body (e. g.,

lifting just the rig ht arm)

Bilateral: mov em ent occ urring on both sides of the body (e. g.,
raising both arms )

Ipsilater al: on the same side a s another s tructure ( e.g., when

lifting th e right arm, it is ipsilater al to the ri ght le g)

Contralateral: on the opposit e si de of anothe r str ucture ( e.g.,

when lifting the right arm, it is c ont ralat eral to the left leg)

Varus: outwar d a ngle of bone or jo int (e.g., bowl egged)

Valgus: i nwar d angle of bone or joint (e.g., knoc k -k need)

– Varus and valgus often refer to substantial bi omechanical
abnorm alities. However, t hese t er ms can also desc ribe nor mal
biomec hanic al an gles, such as the forefoot .

Protract ion (a nt eriorly): moves f orward ( e.g., s houlders t hat ar e

rounde d to t he fr ont of t he body ar e in a st ate of pr otraction)

Retraction (post eriorly): moves backward (e.g., squeezing the

should er bla des t ogether result s in retraction of t he shoulder
blades)

Proxim al: poi nt of attachment, closer to the center of the b ody

(e.g., th e fem ur i s proxim al to t he tibia)

Distal: away fr om the point of att achmen t, fart her from the cent er
of the b ody ( e.g., the tibi a is di stal to the f emur)

Prone: f acing downward (e.g., when people lie on t heir stomach,

they are in th e pr one body position )

Supine: f acing upward ( e.g., w hen peopl e lie on their back, they
are in a supine position)

Inversio n: tur ning inwar d (e.g. , w hen the sole of the foot is facin g
medially, the f oot is invert ed)

Eversio n: tur ning outward (e. g., when the sol e of the foot is faci ng
laterally, the foot is evert ed)

Rotation: circul ar motion around a fixed point (e.g., turning ‒ or

rotating ‒ the tor so in the tran sver se plane whil e in an upri ght,
standin g posi tion )

Circumd uction : t he com binati on of abduct ion, adduction, flexion,

and ext ension (e. g., movi ng a li mb in a circ ular m oti on)

Superior : clos er to the head ( e.g., the tors o is s uperior to the leg s)

Inferior: farther away from the head (e.g. , the f eet are infer ior to
the kne es)

ROM: Range Of Motion

Skeletal System
The ad ult human body compris es 206 bones th at constitute the
skeletal syste m. At birth, the body has more than 206 bo nes.
However , som e bones fuse to create the adult s keletal system
(212).

Anterior View

A. Clavicl e
B. Stern um
C. Humerous
D. Radi us
E. Ulna
F. Femur
G. Patell a
H. Tibia
I. Fibula
J. Rib
K. Verte brae
L. Great er Troc hanter (top of t he f emur)
M. Later al Femor al Epicondyle

Posterior View

A. Clavicl e
B. Acrom ion Pr oc ess
C. Humerous
D. Rib
E. Pelvic Crest
F. Posterior S uperior Iliac Spine (P SIS)
G. Sacrum
H. Femur
I. Coccyx
J. Anteri or Superi or Iliac S pine ( AS IS)
K. Verte brae
L. Scap ula
The skeletal s yst em serv es as t he structur al fram e work and leve rs
of the b ody. T he skeletal syste m c an be b roken into two disti nct
regions: axial and appendicul ar .

Axial Skeleton

It forms t he ce ntr al axis t hat is r es ponsibl e for p rovi ding su pport to

the app endic ular skeleto n. Com pri ses the skull, spi ne, ribs, and
sternum (brea stb one).

Appendicular Skeleton

Repres ented by t he bod y’s lim bs and the bones that attach t he
limbs to the axial skeleton. Compri ses the bones of the legs , arms,
scapula s, clav icles, hands, feet , an d pelvis.

Landmark Terminology

This section defines skeletal points of the body that are often used
for land marks.
A: Acro mion P ro cess: B ony aspect of the shou lder blade
(scapul a) that ext ends a bove t he s houlder joint. It is joined t o the
collarbone (cl avic le) via the acr omi oclavicul ar joi nt ( AC joint) .

B: Greater Trochanter: Lateral pr otrusion at the top of the femur

C: Anterior Superior Iliac Spine (ASIS): N oted l ate r in the s ectio n

regardi ng the pel vis, the ASIS i s t he anterior or fo r ward-most part
of the p elvis. The ASIS is locat ed by runni ng th e fin gers do wn th e
side of the body until the top of the pelvic bone is f elt. Then, trace
the pelv ic bo ne in feriorly u ntil th e f arthest anteri or p oint of t he
ilium (pelvis) is f elt.

D: Lateral Femor al Epico ndyle: A small, lateral, pr otruding asp ect

at the in ferior as pect of t he fe mur. Often u sed a s a landmar k, it is
located on the lateral side of th e knee. Thi s landmark is often
referenc ed as a s ource of pain from iliotibial band syndrome (IT
band sy ndrome).
Spine
The spi ne is t he critical el ement t o the m ovem ent and stabilizati on
of the b ody. T he spine c ompris es 33 secti ons ‒ or vertebra e ‒ a nd
betwee n eac h ver tebra is an int erv ertebral disk m ade of
fibrocarti lage. Int erverteb ral dis ks are wha t allow th e spine to mo ve
and ab sorb c ompression. There ar e five di stinct spi ne regi ons, a nd
each sp inal r egion assigns a number to individual v ertebrae. The
letter(s) in front of the number corr esponds to the section o f the
spine (ex: T=thor acic). Th e numbers corres pond to specific
vertebrae, wit h the lowest number (i.e., 1) being the superior
vertebrae in the section.

Cervic al : (C1‒C7 ) ‒ Red

T horacic: (T1‒T1 2) ‒ Blue
Lumbar: (L1‒L5) ‒ Yellow
Sacral: (S1‒S5) ‒ Green
Coccyx : (Co1‒C o4) ‒ P urple

There are two pri mary types of cur ves in the spi ne:

1. Kypho tic: refers to an anteri or curve of the s pin e

2. Lordot ic: ref er s to a posteri or c urve of t he spine

These t erms are often us ed to denote extr eme s pinal curvat ures.
More sp ecifically, these c onditi ons are te rm ed:

1. Kypho sis: an extreme anteri or curve in the s pine (i.e.,

hunchb ack)
2. Lordo sis: an extreme p osteri or curve in the s pin e (i.e., s way
back)

Below a re the loc ations of the f our spinal c urvat ures along with
their res pectiv e c urve typ e:

Cervic al Cur v atu re (Lordotic)

T horacic Cur vat ure (Kyphotic)

Lumbar Curvatu re (Lordotic)

Sacral Curvatur e (Kyphotic)

Neutral Spine Position

Neutral spine is a concept that has existed for a long time, and
like other areas of exercise science, it has acquired multiple
definitio ns. W hile many p eople ref er to ne utral s pin e as the perf ect
alignme nt of t he spine, t he reality is that neutral spi ne is diff erent
for every one and is mainly gen etic and acti vity-based. For
exampl e, som eone who sl ouches at a desk all day w ill have a very
different neut ral spine position than a prof essional r unner.

For this certification, the definition of neutr al spine will be based

on a ne urom uscul ar appr oach:

Neutral spine is the position of the spine in which minimal

neuromu scul ar activ ity i s requ ired to mai ntain a standing ,
relaxed postu re.

The phr ase “fi nd your neutral s pine” generally r efer s to the actio n
taken to esta blish the ide al spi nal position relati ve t o the sp ine’s
natural curves . T his typic ally invol ves a pr edet ermi ned ali gnm ent
based on a l ateral perspe ctive fr om the head t o the toes. Y our
athlete may o r m ay not b e abl e to establis h or m ain tain this
position .

Regardi ng neutral spine, t he g oal of a coach is t o w ork with

athletes to h elp t hem est ablish and maint ain a s pin al pos iti on th at
improve s post ure, stability , and m ovement patt erns , as well as
maintai ns proper muscle l ength -tension relationships. As noted in
the defi nition , the goal is f or th e at hlete to be a ble t o maint ain
these p ositions w ith minim al neuromuscular activi ty.

Lumbar Spine

Often re ferred to as the l ow back , t his secti on of the spine is

emphas ized because of t he im port ant role it play s i n stabili zation
and is t he re gion of the s pine wher e pain and in jury are most ofte n
localized. While the cervical spine supp ort s the weight of the hea d
and the thor acic spine gains ri gidi ty from t he rib cage, the l umbar
spine largely depends on muscular support to provid e stabilization
and mo bility both superiorly and inferiorly. T he lumbar spine is
located between two stabl e s tructures, the r ibs a nd the pelv is.
Inefficie nt mu scul ar stabili zatio n of the lum bar s pine is assoc iated
with lower back pain.

Accordi ng to t he National Academ y of Sp orts Medic ine, over $8 5

billion is spent annually to alleviate back pain (predominately
lower b ack pain) i n the U S. Over 80 percent of Americans wil l
experie nce b ack pain wit hin their l ifetime ( 213).

Spinal Abnormalities

While it i s natural to have spinal curvatures as descr ibed above,

they are consi der ed abnormal i f th e curves are exc essive. Any
factors s uch a s o steopor osis, d ise ase, acc ident s, o besity,
pregna ncy, or poor posture for ext ended periods can cause
abnorm al spi nal c urvature.
There are three classifications of spinal abnormaliti es:

1. Lordo sis: exc essive l umbar spi nal curv ature ( hy perexte nsion)
2. Kypho sis: exc essive t horaci c s pinal curvatur e (h yperflexi on)
3. Scoli osis : spi nal curv ature i n t he front al plane ( lateral
curvature)

The two classi fic ations of scoliosi s are structural and functional.
Functio nal sc oliosis orig inates els ewhere in the body, such as a
leg len gth dis crepancy, whereas s tructural scoliosis originat es
becaus e of a growth abnormali ty i n the spine. Struc tural scoliosis
often pr esent s wi th rotati on or t wis ting of t he spi ne and lat eral
curvature. Visible signs of scoli osi s are uneven hips and shoulders.

If you s uspect yo ur athlet e ha s an y of the se thr ee s pinal

abnorm alities, you shoul d refer the person to a phys ical ther apist
or physi cian f or an evaluation.

Injury

A comm on spi nal injury is a hern iated disk , also known as a

rupture d disk, which occurs when an inter vertebral disk is injured.
Each di sk is m ade up of two m ain components. The cartilage
aspect of the disk is circul ar and is called t he annul us fibros us.
The disk’s center is composed of a gelatinou s s ubst ance called t he
nucleus pulposus . A herni ated disk is caus ed when excessiv e
stress placed on a disk causes the annulus fibrosis to crack, and
some of the nucl eus pulposus leaks out (119). The leaked nucleus
pulpos us can put pressur e on t he s pinal co rd or s pinal nerves. This
pressur e caus es pain. P hysical therapy and/or surgery are often
prescrib ed to i ndi viduals with a her niated disk.

In the im age belo w, the di sk on the left is n ormal, an d the di sk on

the right exhi bits a herni ation as it shows t he nucleus pulposus
leaking out and putting pr essure on the spinal nerve.
 A. Spi nal C anal
B. Nucleus Pul posus
C. Annulus Fibrosis
D. Spi nal N erv e
E. Her niation of Disk

A herni ated disk i s commonly ref er red to a s a “sli pped disk.”

Technic ally, th is i s incorrect, as int ervertebral dis ks cannot slip
becaus e they are attached to v ertebrae (4).

Following are other causes of pain that involve the spine:

Spondyl olisthesis

A slippe d vert ebr a in rela tion t o th e one a djace nt to it. Most

commonly, the vertebra m oves ant eriorly. H owev er, it can m ove
laterally and posteriorly (355).

Spinal Stenosis

Narrowing of the spinal canal because of degeneration, inst ability,

or a lesi on. T he s pinal canal is a v ertical hole wit hin the vert ebra e
that allo ws the spinal cor d to p ass through it (354).

Radiculopathy

Pain in t he e xtre mities (ar ms, h an d, feet) origin ate s from sp inal
nerve c ompression.

• Sciatica: A ty pe of radic ular p ain. Present s with pai n down

the leg’ s post erio r and/or latera l a spect. T his is more of a
general term t han a specif ic conditi on. Sciatica c an manifest
 becaus e of c ompr ession (i .e., herni ated dis k),
spondyl olisthesis , or musc le contr action.

If an at hlete expe rience p ain in eit her the back or e xtremitie s that
is not si mply resolved by a change in body positi on or rest, they
must be referr ed to a phy sician or physical therapist .

Pelvis
The pel vis is a fundamental str uct ure in the human body. T he
pelvis is comm only referre d to as t he hips and sepa rates th e lowe r
body fro m the tor so. Bec ause of it s location, movement of the
pelvis af fects both the u pper and l ower bo dy. Fr om a skelet al
perspec tive, t he pelvis represents the spi ne’s base and the
location where the femurs insert.

Mechan ically speaking, t he pri mar y purpo se of t he pe lvis is to

support the upper body and transfer the energy fr om the legs to the
spine a nd upper body. T he pelvis protects the r epr oductiv e and
digestiv e org ans of the lo wer t orso .

Areas of the Pelvis

Iliac Cr est

The mos t sup erior aspect of the ili um is ca l led the il iac crest, whic h
is comm only used as an anat omic al landmark.

Ilium

Locate d on either side of the s acrum, the p elvis’s m ost prom inent
bone(s) is the ilium. The primary purpose of the ilium is to pr otect
internal organs.

Ischium

Often referred to as the si ts bones , the ischium bones are loc ated
where o ne’s body weight i s distri buted in a seat ed position.

Coccyx

Commo nly ref err ed to as the t ailbone, the cocc yx i s the lowest p art
of the v ertebr al c olumn.

Pubic S ymph ysi s

Connec ts the two s ides of the l ower pelvis. This joint is a semi -
movabl e joint and is connected by l igament s and car tilage. T he
pubic sy mphy sis expand s as t he di stance betwe en t he legs
expand s. Pai n in the pubic sym phy sis can occur when the j oint
does n ot return t o the n orm al posi tion (i.e., it is m is aligned) .

Acetabu lum

The loc ation of the pelvis that t he head of the f emur sits in.

Anterior Superior Iliac Spine ( AS IS)

The ASI S is the f orward -m ost part of the pelvis. The ASIS is
located by running the fingers down the si de o f t he body until th e
top of t he pel vic bone is felt. T hen , trace t he pel vic bone in feriorl y
until the farth est anterior point of t he ilium i s felt.

Sacroili ac Jo int

Often te rmed t he SI joint. The S I joint is the connect ion bet ween
the sacr um a nd t he ilium, locat ed on both sides of t he spine.
Strong li game nts stabilize the S I jo int. The purp ose of the jo int is
to absor b sh ock. The join t “lock s” during walkin g an d runni ng to
provide a soli d base of s uppo rt during the foot push -off aspect of
the gait cycle (245). Inflammati on of the S I joint can be caused by
too muc h or t oo li ttle moti on and ty pically pr esents with pai n in th e
SI joint and l ow b ack regi on (2 44).

Sacrum

It compri ses th e base of the s pine and is made up of five f used

vertebrae and is l ocated betw een t he lowest lum bar vertebrae (L5)
and the cocc yx.

Joints
There are three primary cl assifications of joints withi n the body:

1. Fibrou s (e.g., joints of the s kull )

2. Cartil aginou s (e.g., int ervert ebr al disks)
3. Syno vial (e.g., shoulder joint)

Joints can be furt her clas sified by the amount of movement. The
three fu nctio nal c lassificat ions of j oint mov emen t ar e:

1. Immo veabl e: f ibrous j oints

2. Slightl y Mo veable: car tilagi nou s joints
3. Freel y Moveable: synovial j oints

Synovia l joint s ar e by far the m ost prevalent in t he body of t hese

three cl assific atio ns of joi nts.

Synovia l joint s ar e made up of the following com ponents:

1. Syno vial fl uid : a colla gen-li ke substance that surrounds a join t

2. Syno vial m em brane or syno vial cavity : the i nne r layer of a
joint capsule that secretes synovial fluid ‒ a lubricating liqui d
3. Cartil age : pads the ends of the bones
4. Joint capsu le : fibrous sac that contains the synovial
membra ne/flui d
A. Bone
B. Liga ment
C. Syno vial Fl uid
D. Syno vial M em brane
E. Cartil age
F. Joint Caps ule

‘Cracking’ Joints

Most ass ociat ed with the knuc kles , joints c an m ake a cracki ng or
poppin g nois e when mov ed int o particular positions. This iss ue is
noted b ecause at hletes often ask i f cracking joint s mean they ar e
injured or if there is somet hing wrong with t hem. Thi s noise does
not sign ify th at a n injury has o ccu rred. As noted pr eviously , a
synovial joint consists of a fluid- fill ed cavit y. When t he bones of a
joint are pulled away from each other (e.g. , knuckles cracking), the
synovial cavity space incr eases in size.

Old Theory

It was pr eviou sly thought that t he c racking was c aus ed by

decreas ed sy novi al fluid pressure within the cavi ty. This dec rease
in fluid pressure was thought to cause bubbles to form within the
cavity through a process called cavitation. Ther efor e, if the bone s
of the jo int co ntin ued to be pulled away fro m eac h other, th e
pressur e in the c avity would dr op l ow enough t hat t he bubbles p op,
thus ca using the audible cracki ng noise (246).
Current Theory

Researc h by Kaw chuk et al. fo und that the cracki ng noise emitted
by joints was not due to a bubble p opping within the joint but rath er
the rapi d crea tion of a te mporar y c avity wit hin th e jo int
(termed t ribonucl eation), thus debunking t he pri or t heory (770).
This ne w theory wa s disc overed by viewing a real -t ime Cine MRI of
the joint sep arati ng and cracki ng. Regardl ess of the actual c ause ,
there se ems t o b e no danger i n cr acking j oints.

Foot and Ankle Complex

The foo t and ankl e compl ex is a very busy area. Thi s compl ex has
26 bon es, 33 joints, and over 1 00 muscles, tendons , and ligamen ts.

Skeletal Structure

– Leg B ones: ti bia, fibula

– Ankle Bone: t alus
– Heel Bone: calcaneus
– Midfoo t Bones (foot ar ch): c uboid, navicul ar, c uneifor m (3)
– Forefo ot Bon es: metat arsals , phalanges (toes)
The foo t and ankl e compl ex plays a major r ole in running. I n spit e
of this, it is oft en an overl ooke d and misun dersto od part of t he
body, s pecific ally in regar d to it s mechanics.

While n ot not ed i n the im age abov e, there are ty pic ally two small,
pea-siz ed bo nes (sesamoid) loc at ed undernea th the first metatars al
bone (b ehind the big toe). Thes e bones ar e embedded into a
tendon and f uncti onally are us ed t o provide lev erage when walki ng
and run ning. Bec ause of the st res s placed on t hese bones when
running , they can break and/or the surrounding t endon can beco me
irritated, called sesamoi ditis . Ses amoiditis is dis cussed in great er
detail in the I njur y and Ill ness module.

Foot / Ankle Joints

Two primary joints function within the an kl e.

Talocrural Joint

Connec ts the tibi a and fi bula with the talus bone in the foot . This i s
a hinge joint and provide s dorsi flexion and plantar f lexion.

Subtalar Joint

It conne cts th e talus bon e and calc aneus bone. This is a gliding
joint and allows i nversion and eversion of t he ankle to occur .
The Ach illes t endon covers the subtalar joint when viewing the le g
from a p osteri or aspect.
Two primary joints in the foot affect gait and foot stability.

Midtarsal (Transverse Tarsal and Talocalcaneonavicular)

This joint spans the arch of the foot and pri marily co ntrols
inversion and eversion of the foot (see bel ow image). This joi nt
ranges f rom fl exi ble to ri gid based on what aspect of the support
and driv e phase t he foot i s in. As t he foot moves unde r the body’ s
center of gravity and prepares to push off, the joint l ocks up and
become s rigid to provide a stable base of support t o push off fro m
(214).

Tarsometatarsal

Like the midta rsa l joint, this join t a lso spa ns acr oss the widt h of
the foot arch. However, it is loc ated poster ior to the metatar sals,
effective ly at t he junction betw een the midf oot a nd f orefoot. This
joint has more stability and less r ange of mobility than the
midtarsal joint. T he below image il lustrates the bott om of the foot
concern ing the m idtarsal and t arsometatars al joi nts.
The foo t and ankl e joints act toget her to al low and r estrict m otion
so that proper me chanics can occu r.

Genetic Factors
It is com mon k no wledge that w eig ht-beari ng act iviti es such as
running and weight lifting are beneficial for increasing bone density.
The mor e stress put on a bone(s), the stronger i t wi ll becom e.
However , bon e st rength has al so been found to hav e a genetic
compon ent. A 2010 study by Libby Cowgill found that differ ences in
bone str ength are evident as early as one year of age (491). So,
while bo ne ca n become dens er t hrough tr aining , there is also a
large ge netic fa ctor.

In the book T he Sports G ene , the author c ites r esearch by Franci s

Holway that compares the human skeleton to that of a bookc ase
(466). T he str ong er and heavi er a bookcase is, t he more books it
can carry. How ev er, Holw ay’s re se arch found that there is a limit to
how mu ch muscle weight a skel eton can c arry. S pec ifically, 2.2
pounds of bone c an support a max imum of 11 p ounds of muscle, or
a five-to- one r ati o of mus cle to bo ne. Onc e this rati o is reac hed,
any ad ditional weight gai n is ty pically fat ver sus m us cle (466).

Summary
• The body is di vided into t hree plan es: sagit tal,
frontal, and tr ans verse.
• The spi ne is m ad e up of five
sections: cervi cal , thoraci c, lum bar , sacral, and c occ yx.
• The skeletal syst em can be broken down into two distinct
regions: axial and appendicul ar .
• The spi ne is m ad e up of 33 verteb rae.
• “Cracking joint s” is not indicativ e of injury.
• Kyphosi s refer s t o an anterior curv e of the spine.
• Lordosi s refer s to a posterior c urve of the s pine.
• Neutral spine is t he posit ion of the spine i n whic h m inimal
neurom uscul ar ac tivity is required t o maint ain a s tanding,
relaxed posture.
• The low er bac k (i .e., lumbar spi ne) i s the area of the spine
most commonl y a ssociated with pain.
• Synovial joint s ar e the m ost comm on type of joi nt in the bo dy.
• A herni ated disk causes t he nucleus pulposus t o leak out a nd
results i n pres sur e on the spinal nerve.
• Sciatica typica lly causes pain t o radiate down t he leg.
• The primary purpose of the pelvis is to support the upper
body and to t rans fer the energy from the legs to t he spine a nd
upper body.
• Weight- bearing a ctivities i ncrease bone density .
• There is a genetic component to bone strength.
• The three prim ar y classifi cations of joints are:
• Fibrous
• Cartilaginous
• Synovial (most pr evalent joint t ype )
• Four major joints in the foot/ankle affect gait and foot
stability:
• Talocrural (ankle)
• Subtalar (ankl e)
• Midtarsal (foot)
• Tarsometatars al ( foot)
Module 3: Muscular System
This mo dule disc usses m uscle phy siology. As anatomy and
physiol ogy is a v ery broa d, all - enc ompassi ng subject, it is
sometim es diffi cult to know where t o start, especi all y when
discussi ng ru nnin g -specifi c training methodologies.

Without a basic underst anding o f muscl e physiology, ther e is

no found ation on which to build a solid training program. To
coach a thlet es of any sport, the ability to apply s por ts scienc e to
form an appro pri ate train ing re gim en is an abs olute require ment. It
is not enough to rely on o ne’s past sport -specific experience to
coach a thlet es.

Experie nce is a great ass et. However, inte gration w ith a wor king
knowle dge of sports science is r equired to be a genuinely effectiv e
and res ourcef ul c oach.

Upon c omplet ion o f this m odule , y ou sho uld un ders tand the
followin g areas:

• Skeletal muscl e structur e, function, and t erminology

• Contract ile pr op erties of a muscl e
• Muscle origin and inser tion
• Muscle fi ber ty pes
• Muscle fi ber r ec ruitment
• Muscle hypert rophy
• Nerve innervati on of m uscles
• Types of conne ctive tiss ue
• Role of fascia
• Primary muscles and th eir ac tions (as not ed in body images)
• Inner and outer core musculat ure
• Kinetic li nking
• “Warming up” m uscles
• Delayed Ons et Muscle Soreness (DOMS)/ Muscle B u rn

Muscle Physiology
Terminology

Concent ric m uscle cont ractio n: shortening of a m uscle

– Flexin g the elbow conc entric ally contracts the bic ep muscle.

Eccentr ic mu scl e contraction: lengtheni ng of a m uscle

– Exten ding t he elbow ec centric all y contracts th e bi cep mus cle.

Isometri c mu scl e contra ction: A muscle c ontraction occurs , but

no cha nge in mus cle length res ults .
– Holdi ng a w eight in your hand w ith your elbow at 90 degr ees w ith
no moti on is an is ometric c ontracti on.

Isotonic muscle contract ion: W hen an is otoni c muscle

contraction occur s, the muscle tension rem ains the same, but the
length of the mus cle cha nges. An i sotonic contraction can be eith er
concent ric or ecc entric.
– A pus h-up r esul ts from is otoni c c hest mu scle ( pect oralis m ajor)
contractions.

Hypertr ophy ( hi- per-tro-f ee): in cr ease in muscl e si ze.

– A bod ybuil der’s muscles are t he result of hype rtrophy.

Atrophy: decrease in muscle si ze.

– Indivi duals on b ed rest f or long periods often experience m uscle
atrophy.
Agonist: muscl e or muscl es pri marily responsibl e f or movement
around a joint; al so called a pri me mover.
– The quadri ceps muscles are the agonist muscl es during l eg
extensi on.

Antagonist: mus cle or m uscles that act in oppositi on to the

agonist’ s mus cle s.
– The tri ceps are the ant agoni st to the biceps.

The three types of muscle tissue in the body are:

1. Cardiac muscle: located only i n t he hear t and is s olely

respons ible f or c ontracti ng/rel axing the heart to pump bloo d
to the lu ngs and t he rest of the bod y.
2. Smooth muscl e: involuntary muscles that surround organs t o
protect against o utside f orces.
3. Skeletal muscle: any muscle t hat i s neither cardi ac nor
smooth. These m uscles provid e m ovement of the body and
account for 35‒45 percent of a human’s body w eight (5) .
There are approximately 640 skeletal muscles in the body,
most of which are groupe d in pairs.

There are two types of muscle

contractions: vol untary and in vol untary .

1. Voluntar y Mus cl e Contra ction s: These are muscle

contractions controlled by the central ne rv ous sy ste m (CNS),
and the origi n of the cont raction is a consc ious t hought by t he
brain. A n exampl e of this is a bicep curl.
2. Involunt ary Mu s cle Cont ractio n: This muscle c ont raction i s
controlled by the autonomic ne rvou s system (ANS) a nd occurs
without consci ous thoug ht. An example of t his is the
contraction of the heart.
Skeletal Muscle Structure

The skeletal mus cle structure can be considered a thick cable on a

suspen sion b ridg e. If you exam ined the cable t hat s uspend s a
bridge, you w ould find that the l arge cable is made up of many
smaller c ables that, in turn, are m ade up of even smaller c ables. At
the smal lest le vel , each w ire str an d is wov en to ma ke up a singl e
cable that might be less than a mil limeter t hick. H o wever, after
bundlin g these wi res toget her t o cr eate a c able, bun dling those
cables together to create a larger cable, and repeating this process
many tim es, the r esulting cabl e can support the roa d and t he
traffic.

Likewise , skel etal muscle i s not a s ingular “ cable ” bu t a serie s of

smaller c ables that make up the w hole muscle.

Below is an im ag e that d enot es th e layers that mak e up a muscle ,

starting at the mu scle fiber layer (1 7).

Contractile Properties

To und erstand how a mus cle contr acts, it is helpf ul to break dow n
the com positi on of a muscl e fiber (i .e., mus cle cel l) via a hi erarch y.

• A muscl e fiber is made up of myofi brils

• Myofibrils are made up of sar com eres
• Sarcom eres ar e made up of actin and m yosin

Myofibril: Cont ractile fibers that r un along the length of a muscle

fiber. The ability of a myofibril to contract i s due to the sarcomere.
When m yofibril s contract, the mus cle contr acts.
Researc h in m us cle fatigue suggests that t he capacity of a
myofibril to produce force may be affected by fatigu e (556, 557).

Sarcom ere: A sarcomere is a unit within the myofibr il responsible

for muscl e con tra ction. In esse nce, it is the functi on al unit o f the
muscle fi ber. A s arcomer e cont ains three protei n ty pes that hav e
different roles . T hese rol es and associated prot eins are :

1. Contractile: A cti n (thin fil ament) and my osin (t hick filament )

produc e a contraction and shorten the sarc omer e.
2. Regulatory: M ade up of tropomyo sin and troponin t hat allo w
or disall ow the contractile process to take place.
3. Structur al: Made up of tit in and m yomesin that keep the
contractile fila me nts (acti n and my osin) ali gned (18) .
The sho rtening of the sarc omer e, and ther efore t he muscle
contraction, is ca used by the slidi ng filam ent mo d el (14). This
model st ates t hat within t he sar comere, ac tin a nd myosin are
alternat ely lay ered on to p of one another. Myosi n ratchets al ong
the acti n and cau ses the actin t o s horten.

This compression causes the sarcomere to shorten. Each

sarcomere is c onnected t o the nex t sarcom ere by a Z line, or Z-
disk. When a mus cle fiber contr act s, all of t he sarcomeres c ontrac t
at the s ame ti me. This sim ultan eous contra ction pro duces f orce a t
each e nd of t he muscle fi ber, c ausing a m uscle contraction.

The spe ed and force of a muscl e c ontracti on rel ate to how much
power is expended by a m uscle. T he great er th e rate of a m uscl e
contract ion an d/ or the m ore m uscle cont ractio ns, the greater
the amo unt of A T P is used. T his correlat es to an i ncrease in
power b eing produced (705).

If the ac tin an d m yosin ar e too far apart or too cl ose together, the
contractile proper ties of the muscle will be s ignific antly dimini shed.
This is termed the muscl e len gth/ tension r elatio n ship and is
describ ed lat er in this module.

Myonuclei And Satellite Cells

The nuc leus of a muscle fi ber is called the myonuclei (481). T here
are multi ple m yonuclei per muscle fiber. It i s theori zed that the
gain an d loss of myonucl ei wit hin a muscl e fiber ar e directl y relat ed
to muscl e fiber h ypertrop hy an d at rophy, r espec tive ly (482). This
directly r elates to the theory that m yon uclei are r esponsible for
regulati ng pr otein synthes is in t he surroun ding area (482, 483).

Satellite cells, or myosate llite c ells , are fo und in mu scle. Th ese

cells typi cally li e dormant in the m uscle until needed. T he primar y
role of s atellit e cells is to assist in muscle hyper trophy,
recove ry fro m an injured muscle, or mai ntenan ce of musc le
mass ( 484, 485). When a ctivat ed, these c ells pr olif erate and att ach
to existi ng mu scl e fibers or ev en f use to cr eate ne w muscl e fiber s
(486).

Simply p ut, ex erc ise that overload s a musc le (ev en stretching)

causes muscl e damage. As a r esult, satellit e cell s are activ ated to
assist m uscle r egenerati on (48 1).
Muscle: Origin and Insertion

Muscles are anchored to bones in t wo plac es by tendons. T hese

attachm ents t o bone have t w o dist inct con nections. The orig in is
where t he tendon anchor s to a non -moving bone. The other
attachm ent point is called the i nsertion , where the t endon attac hes
to the bone t hat moves.

Let us t ake, f or e xample, the pect oralis m ajor (below image ). The
origin is the cl avi cle (collarbone) and sternum (br eastbone), and
the inse rtion i s th e superi or as pect of the humer us ( top of t he arm
bone cl osest to t he sho ulder).
A = Origi n
B = Ins ertion

So, wha t does thi s tell us ? When l ooking at the direction of the
muscle fi bers and the loc ation of th e inserti on and or igin, it tells us
that the muscl e a cts to a dduct t he humeru s towa rd t he midli ne of
the bod y. Therefore, an exercis e s uch as bringi ng t he arms
togethe r in fr ont of the c hest (c hest fly) wor ks the pectoral is maj or
in the ra nge of motion sp ecific to the direc tion of the muscle fibers
and ori gin/ins erti on.

By understan din g the insertion and origin of mu scles, you will

underst and wh at specifi c acti on the muscles perf orm and what
exerci ses w ould be most effecti ve for targetin g a particular
muscle or mu scl es.

Muscle Fiber Types

Not all muscle fibers are created equal, or it might be more

accurat e to s ay t hat not all muscle fibers ar e created the same.
One do es not hav e to be overly observant t o realize that the bod y
type an d, therefore, the m uscle siz e of a c ompet itiv e body builde r
does n ot look like that of a runner. Why is this the c ase?
Obvious ly, the training m ethodology of a bodybuilder versus t hat o f
a runne r is quite different , but i s t hat enough t o mak e such a
profoun d diff erence in body ty pe? Many reasons could play into t he
differen ce in phy sical appearance between these tw o athlet es.
Some of thes e reasons are:

• Diet
• Strengt h traini ng program
• Cardiov ascul ar tr aining program

While th e athl etic perform an ce and muscle size of a n indivi dual a re

certainly affected by the previously cited variable s, t he absolute
perform ance and muscle s ize of an individ ual ar e pri marily dic tated
by gen etics.

There are two pri mary classificatio ns of muscle fibers in the

body, fa st-twit ch (Type II - A and II - B) and s low-tw itc h (Type I )
(118).
T ype I (Oxidati ve)

Type I fibers are characterized by their ability to fir e repeatedly

with minimal fatigue. They fire mor e slowly and with less forc e than
Type II fibers and, as a result, are better geared tow ard end uranc e
events, such as r unning races.

T ype II-A (Fast Oxidative Gly col ytic)

Type II- A is an intermedi ate fast -t witch fiber. Thi s f iber type is a
hybrid b etween T ype I and Type II, meaning its c ont ractile
properti es are f as ter than Type I but not q uite as fast as Ty pe II -B .
Becaus e of t his, Type II - A fiber s have midr ange enduranc e
capabilities. As s uch, this musc le f iber type could also be
termed I nterm edi ate Twit ch .

T ype II-B (Fast Glycolyt ic)

Type II- B fiber s are the cl assic f as t -twitch fi bers, w hich me ans
their co ntractil e p ropertie s are t he fastest of all fi ber types. Still,
they ca nnot fi re r epeatedly wit hout fatiguing. As a r esult, Ty pe II - B
fibers ar e bes t su ited for s hort, ex plosive efforts .

The cha rt bel ow demons t rates the charact eristics of the muscle
fiber typ es acr os s a wide rang e of criteria ( 118).

While m uscle s iz e can be incr eas ed with strength t raining, the

degree of hy pertr ophy is primari ly determi ned by the fiber ty pe.

Some m uscl es w ithin the body ar e co mpo sed o f t he sam e fibe r

type, re gardl ess of genet ics. T hi s is mainly depen dent on the
function of th e m uscle or muscl es. For exa mple, the soleus ( calf
muscle) i s predominately made up of slow -t witch fibers (19). The
reason f or thi s is that the soleus is r esponsible f or t he ankl e’s
stability; therefor e, it is constantly active and must have
excepti onal endurance pr operti es.

Fast-twitc h muscl es prod uce m ore lactate t han s low - twitch

muscles. Ther efore, the i ntensi ty of exercis e and the fiber ty pe
ratio of an individual influence thei r lactate thres hol d (583)

Myostatin

While th e type of muscle fi ber pl ay s a signi ficant rol e in

determi ning t he s ize of the fiber, a protein in the body
called myost atin regulat es ho w large a m uscle fi ber can be come .
This occurs by the myost atin regul ating the number of resources
the mus cles c ons ume to grow i n si ze (417) . Indi vidu als or a nimals
with mutations to the myostatin protein hav e abnormally large
muscles due t o the lack of musc le size regulation (417).

Muscle Fiber Recruitment

To und erstand how muscl es res po nd to their demands, it is

essenti al to k now how muscle fi ber s are rec ruited ‒ or engaged.
Muscle fi ber recr uitment r esults fr om a ne urom uscular reacti on in
which the central nervous system s ends an elec troc hemical
impulse to a particular muscle or muscles, at which point a
contraction occur s. As noted previ ously, there are t hree types of
muscle fi ber ty pes: T ype I (oxidati ve), T ype II -A (f ast oxidat ive
glycolyti c), an d T ype II -B ( fast gly colytic).

When the int ensit y of an activity pr ogresses from low or moderate

to high, there is a hierarc hy as t o which ty pes o f m uscle fib ers ar e
recruite d. This is referred to as Henneman’ s Siz e P rinciple (356).
First, Type I fiber s are recruited, and as the intensi t y level ri ses,
Type II- A and then Type I I -B ar e recruited. Supp ose the intensity i s
increas ed ov er a very short peri od and to a very high level (i .e.,
explosiv e-type m ovements). In that case, t he central nervous
system w ill recr ui t all three muscle types at the s am e time.
A muscl e fiber cannot partially con tract, or more s pecifically , a
muscle fi ber c annot contr act wit h v arying f orce depending on the
effort re quired. A muscle fiber co ntracts either 100 perce nt or
not at all . Ther ef ore, the degr ee of muscle contr acti on is based on
the num ber of muscle fibers recr uit ed to perform an action, not th e
degree of contrac tion per muscl e fi ber.

Can Muscles Change Their Type?

Whether or not m uscle fibers can c hange t heir t ype has long bee n
debate d, an d to t his day, the debate has not been s ettled. I n rare
cases, muscle s h ave demonstr ated the ability t o convert from Typ e
I to Typ e II wh en the mus cle wa s s ubjecte d to s ubst antial
decond itioni ng, in the cas e of i njur y, for ex ample (21). T here has
not been much evidence to su pp ort the th eory t h at muscles
can change fr om T ype I to T ype I I through chang es in training
routines (289) . H owever, the lack of verific ation mi ght be due t o
insufficient research in thi s area.

While n ot attri but able to a change in muscl e fiber ty pe, som e

researc h has shown that through s pecific ty pes of tr aining, t he
contract ion sp eed of T ype I fib ers can i ncrease (290, 291).

Regardl ess of a muscle fi ber’s abi lity to change type, people can
continu ally im prove their perfor mance even if it i s at od ds w ith th eir
genetic muscl e fi ber type com posi tion. For exam ple , let us s ay an
athlete has f ast-t witch muscle fi bers predominat ely and wa nts to
compet e in a n enduranc e event such as a 100 - mile (161 km) .
Throug h the development and appl ication of the prope r training
regimen , they can become ver y pr oficient despit e t heir genetic
makeup to the ex tent that the i ndiv idual can perf orm quite w ell in
distanc e running events.

Muscle Hyperplasia vs. Muscular Hypertrophy

Hypertrophy refers to the increase in the si ze of a m uscle fiber,

wherea s hyperplasia refer s to the i ncrease in the number of muscl e
fibers. W hile m us cle hyp ertrop hy h as long been est ablishe d as t he
method by which muscles increase in size, skelet al muscle
hyperpl asia is a much -debated topic. Skel etal m us cle hyperplasi a
has be en shown t o exist i n mam mals and human car diac muscle
(415).
However, evi den ce of skeletal m uscle h yperpl asi a in hum ans i s
still larg ely in co nclusive. A t heor ized reason f or this is that the
existenc e of s kel etal mus cle hy per plasi a is impossi ble to d etect via
a stand ard m uscl e biops y (416). T herefor e, mor e research i s
require d to d eter mine whether human skeletal mus cle hyperplasi a
exists.

No Pain, No Gain?

It is wide ly acc ep ted that muscl es are dam aged duri ng inte nse
exercise bout s and are rebuilt (i. e., remodeled, r estr uctured) durin g
the reco very pha se, thus allowi ng for stren gth g ains . Howev er,
detecta ble damage (i.e., pl asma levels, pai n, muscl e soreness) t o
muscles is not required f or strengt h gains. In ot her words, ju st
because an exer cise do es not ca use pai n does n ot mean that
positive results aren’t realized r egarding
strength/ perfor mance.

A 2010 study by Flann et al. put t wo groups (trained/untrai ned)

through traini ng p rograms that elici ted mus cle damage in one
group ( untrai ned) but not in the ot her (trai ned) ( 683). It was f ound
that both gro ups experie nced simil ar incre ases i n m uscle
rebuildi ng, str ength gains , and muscle hypertrophy.
Therefore, mu scl e damage is not required for m uscle rebu ilding
and strength in creases.

Relationship Between Muscle Fiber Type and Fat Metabolism

Metabol ism, or m etabolic rate, i s t ypically associ ated with how

efficient one’s me tabolism is. Wh ile many v ariabl es li kely
determi ne one’s metabol ism, s everal studi es have demons trated a
link between mus cle fiber type and fat met abolis m ( 489, 490). N ot
surprisin gly, the studies found that individuals w ith a high
percent age of slow -twitch muscl e f ibers were mor e efficient at
burning fat th an t hose wit h high pe rcentages of f ast - twitch fib ers.

As fat is the pr im ary fuel f or slow -t witch fibers, the greater t he ra tio
of slow-t witch t o f ast -twitc h fiber s, the greater the c apacity t o bur n
fat is (48 9, 49 0). Therefor e, indi vi duals wi th a hi g h percentage
of fast-tw itch fi b ers ma y find l osing fat m ore dif f icult
than som eone wi th a high per cent age of s low -tw itc h fibers.
Skeletal Muscle Function and
Characteristics

Muscle has four primary c harac ter istics (16):

• Excitabi lity: r es ponds t o stim uli ( e.g., nervous impulses)

• Contractibility: shortens in lengt h
• Extensi bility: str etches when pull ed
• Elasticit y: ret urns to origi nal s hape and l ength after
contraction

The three primar y functions of mu scle are:

1. Heat Pr oducti on (up to 70 per cent of bod y hea t is generat ed

via musc le tiss ue) (8)
 2. Maintain Postu r e
3. Movem ent

Underst anding that muscle tissue generat es up to 70 per cent of

a human ’s bod y heat and how it r elates t o an athlete’s
perform ance and recovery is impor tant, es peciall y r egarding
training and c om peting i n cold an d hot w eather.

The con tracti on a nd r elax ation of muscles profoundly affect

physiol ogical changes in the body. When exercisi ng at an intensit y
of 4 liter s of o xyg en/minu te, a mus cle’s oxy gen c onsumptio n
increas es approxi mately 70 times over the r esting level (9)!
Increas ed blood f low is chann eled to the w orking m uscles t o mee t
this dem and. Wh en the workin g m uscles c ontrac t, t he bloo d flow to
those m uscles de creases, and when the m uscles ar e relaxi ng, th e
blood fl ow inc rea ses. This pum pin g action help s to facilitate bloo d
flow thro ugh t he muscles and bac k to the heart. Capillaries,
dormant under normal con ditions, are utiliz ed so that up to 4,000
deliver blood to each square mi llim eter of m uscle (cr oss -secti on)
during high -i ntensity exert ion (10).

When a muscl e is contract ed to approximat ely 6 0 percent o f its

maximu m contr ac tile capacity, blood flow is occluded because of
intramuscular pressure (10, 11).

Muscle Memory
Muscle memo ry i s often used t o d enote an indi vidual rememberin g
how to perfor m a task or t he body’ s ability t o rapi dl y regain
muscula r strengt h.

To be clear, mus cles do not have a brain and thus do not have a
memory. The abil ity of an indivi dual to per form phy sical tas ks by
memory i s the r esult of perform ing enough repetitions of a
particul ar task that the m otor s kill s requir ed are memorized (277).

It is beli eved t hat learnin g a n ew s kill (e.g., motor l earning ) occu rs

in the m otor cortex of the frontal lobe of the brain. Once the skill
has be en memori zed, the brai n pri marily util izes t he cerebel lum to
execute the s kill (277).

Muscle memor y i s not a muscl e’s f unction but t he br ain’s.

Nerve Innervation

Nerves are the p athways that deli ver elect rical i mpulses from the
brain to the m usc les, ther eby el icit ing a m uscle c ont raction.
1 – Moto r Neu ro n (nerve)
2– Syn apse ( connection from nerv e to mus cle)
Stimulat e the mu scle to c ontra ct. The con necti on p oint of m uscle
fiber an d syn aps e is the neuro mu scular j unctio n.
3 – Mus cle Fi ber
4 – Myof ibril

Of the t hree t ype s of mus cle tis su es, only skele tal muscles have
voluntary contrac tions. This means the brai n sends signals t hrou gh
the cent ral n ervo us syste m (CN S) to the m otor n eur ons that
innervate muscle fibers and produce muscle contr actions (6). This
process is term ed neural signaling. As individuals become bett er
trained, their neu ral sign aling c an be impr oved ( 520).

A motor unit is a motor n euron and all the muscl e f ibers it

innervates (above image).

Cardiac and s mooth mus cles rely upon the aut ono mic ner vous
system (ANS) to provide contr acti ons. Thi s means that car diac a nd
smooth muscl e have inv oluntary c ontracti ons and t herefor e do not
require t he C NS t o elicit a muscl e contracti on. M ore to the point,
the cont ractio ns occur wit hout con scious t hought. T he ANS is par t
of the p eriph eral nervous syste m a nd has t wo pri ma ry areas of
function :

1. Sensor y (afferen t): an exampl e of this w ould be physical

pain ex perienced when y ou touch a hot surface
2. Motor (efferent): an example of this is hea rt contractions

The AN S is br oken into th e sympathetic

(SNS) a nd par asympath etic n ervous systems (PN S ). The action s
of the S NS a nd P NS typic ally o ppose each othe r. Fo r exampl e, th e
SNS incr ease s ca rdiac ou tput (t he amount of bl ood pumpe d out of
the hea rt in o ne minute), wher eas the PN S decr eas es cardi ac
output ( 7). Th eref ore, the ANS aim s to kee p the body in a st ate of
equilibri um (h om eostasis ) by s elf - regulati ng its elf v ia const ant
physiol ogical adj ustment s.

As the nervous s ystem is t he c atal yst for m uscle contractions, an

injury to a part of the ner vous system may affect the ability of the
related muscl e s t o functi on pr operl y. A com mon ner ve issue
is sciatic a. Sci ati ca occur s when c ompress ion on the sciatic nerve
causes pain and/ or weak ness i n the leg to which the compressed
sciatic nerve connects. This lin k d emonstrates the relationship
betwee n the nerv e s and muscl es.

Connective Tissue

Connec tive tis sue is responsible f or provi ding s upport and

protecti on to t he body and support ing the musculos keletal s ystem’ s
movement.

T endons: connec t skeletal mus cle to bone (e.g., the Achilles

tendon connects the cal f muscl es t o the heel ‒ or calcaneus )

Ligamen ts: connect bone to bone (e.g., the pat ellar

ligamen t connect s the knee ‒ or patella ‒ to the lower leg ‒
or tibia)

Cartilage: There are three types of cartilag e: hyaline (articul ar),

fibrocarti lage, and elastic . Relativ e to mov ement, hyaline c artilag e
is the most important type to be aware of. Hyaline cartilage is
found o n the surf aces of most j oint s and pr otect s the joints while
acting a s a b arrie r betwe en bones. Cartilage prim ari ly compri ses
collage n and wat er .
Labrum: Found around t he edge of the shoulder and hip joints. Its
primary purpose i s to keep the ball aspect of the humerus and
femur wit hin th e should er and hip socket, r espe ctiv ely. It
compris es fibr ocartilage. I njury t o t he labr um is c alled a labr al t ear .

Fascia

When m ost peopl e learn anatomy and how it a pplies to spor ts, th e
focus is t ypical ly on bones, m uscle s, and t endons/li gament s. This
learning approach leaves out an important part of the pictu re ‒
fascia. F ascia infl uences post ure a nd facilit ates bod y movem ent. If
tension on th e fa scia is to o hig h, i t can ca use p ain and postural
abnorm alities bec ause of restric ted movem ent (270). Thomas
Myers, author of Anatom y Trains, states, “ Fascia is the miss ing
element in the m ovement/stabi lity equ ation” (330).

Fascia is a soft-ti ssue component of connective tiss ue (coll agen

fibers) th at co ver s, conn ects, a nd separat es all mus cles, org ans,
bones, and nerves (331). I nteresti ngly, while th e fascia surr ound s
each of the a reas above, it is o ne l arge, co ntinuous tissue (330).
Fascia compris es multiple layers, from superficial (j ust below the
skin’s su rface) to deep (covers int ernal organs). W hile thin, it is
very stro ng and fibrous. If you have ever pulled the skin off raw
chicken, you have encountered fa scia. The fascia i s the thin, near -
white translucent membrane above the muscle and below the skin
of the c hicke n. P erhaps t he best way to t hink o f fascia is a
weblike structur e that permeates the whol e bod y.

Fascia provides support to the mus culoskeletal s yst em. Acc ording
to the I nternational Fasci a Res ear ch Congress (I FR C), while the
basics o f fasci a are unde rstoo d, m ost of th e info rma tion ab out
fascia is broa dly not rese arche d (1 87). The IFRC th eorizes t hat
one of t he re ason s for the lack of u ndersta nding of t he fasci a is
that, becaus e of i ts immen se sc op e, resea rchers ar e often unable
to divid e it up int o distinc t area s o n which to cla ssif y and fo cus.
Additio nally, t he general population and even t hose who have
taken a natomy cl asses di sregard t he fasci a b ec aus e most
anatomi cal di agr ams/images s how the body wit h the fascia
remove d (187 ).

Under n ormal conditions, f ascia is pliable and fl exibl e. However,

when fa scia is under stres s bec ause of trauma, deh ydration, and
biomec hanic al/ne uromusc ular is sues, it bec omes inf lamed, which
causes it to constrict and become l ess pliable and slippery. T his
leads to tightn e ss, pain , and a r educed range of motion. I f the
tightnes s is s ubst antial e nough, it can alte r prop er body
mechan ics. Ov erl y tight f ascia c an produc e tens ion up to 2, 000
pounds per s quar e inch ( 269)!

Like the body, fa scia wor ks bet ter when it i s hydr ated. The f ascia i s
wet and slippery i n prope rly hy drat ed indiv idual s (330). This allows
the fasci al sur fac es to mo ve u nres tricted. H owev er, when a n
individual is dehy drated, the fascia can become tight and “sti cky,”
thus red ucing an d alterin g nor mal moveme nt pa tter ns and r anges
of motio n.

Diagno stic tes ts such as MRIs, CT scans, and X -ray s do not sho w
restricte d fasci a ( 332). As a res ult, individuals w hos e sympt oms
are cau sed pr imarily by restricted f ascia oft en g o undiagnosed or
are inco rrectly di agnosed (269). F ascia can contrac t with or
indepe ndent ly of muscles (330).

The IFR C claim s that fas cia pl ays a signifi cant r ole in joint
stability, biom echanical issues, chr onic stress, respi ratory
dysfunct ion, and l ower ba ck pai n ( 187). Th is is f urt her corr oborat ed
by a 20 12 st udy by Willar d et al . i n which the f asci a of the lumbar
and tho racic areas of the spine is discuss ed in r elat ion to the
stabilization of the spine and pelvi s (188).

For all of the reasons just listed, it is clear that fas cia is not a
passive wrap ping but rat her a dyn amic an d vital co mpone nt in t he
body’s s upport a nd mov ement str ucture.
Muscles of the Body
Muscle View – Anterior

A ‒ Pec toralis Mi nor

B ‒ Delt oid
C ‒ Serratus Anterior
D ‒ Biceps Brachii
E ‒ Brac hiora dial is
F ‒ Pectineus
G ‒ Ad ductor Longus
H ‒ Rectus Femo ris
I ‒ Vast us Me dial is
J ‒ Vastus Lateralis
K ‒ Gas trocnemi us
L ‒ Sol eus
M ‒ Pect oralis M ajor
N ‒ External Oblique
O ‒ Inte rnal O bli que
P ‒ Rect us A bdo minis
Q ‒ Tran svers e A bdomini s
R ‒ Ten sor Fasci ae Latae
S ‒ Sart orius
T ‒ Gracilis
U ‒ Per oneal s
V ‒ Tibi alis An ter ior

Muscle View – Posterior

A ‒ Trap ezius
B ‒ Rho mboi d Mi nor
C ‒ Rho mboi d Major
D ‒ Triceps
E ‒ Lati ssimus D orsi
F ‒ External Obli que
G ‒ Sem imem branosus
H ‒ Achilles Tendon
I ‒ Leva tor Sc apu lae
J ‒ Supraspinatus
K ‒ Infr aspin atus
L ‒ Teres Maj or
M ‒ Teres Minor
N ‒ Erector Spinae
O ‒ Inte rnal O bli que
P ‒ Glut eus M edi us
Q ‒ Glut eus M axi mus
R ‒ Sem itendi nos us
S ‒ Bice ps Fe mor is
T ‒ Gastrocnemiu s
U ‒ Sol eus

Muscle Classification

Some of the mus cles listed nex t c ould be classi fied into mul tiple
categories, such as the hamstri ngs (core and lower body).
However , for our purpos es, the cat egory in whic h a muscle i s liste d
here is based on its signifi canc e w ithin that area. F or exam ple,
while the hamstri ngs could be listed as “lower -body” muscles , they
are liste d as “c or e” muscl es because they stabili ze t he lumbar
spine/p elvic/hip r egion. Additi onall y, not a ll musc les of the body
are not ed in t he c ertificati on.

Core Musculature

The cor e is perhaps the m ost over - hyped, over -m ark eted, and le ast
underst ood body area. W hen m ost people refer t o the core, t hey
think of six-pack abs and that the more “ripped” one’s abs are, t he
stronger the core is. This could not be further from t he truth.

Like oth er are as of exerci se sci ence, one of th e pri mary iss ues in
definin g the core is that t here are multiple defini tions, many of
which are driven by product marketing and a la ck of knowledge.

Within this certi fi cation, when the term “inn er cor e ” is used in
relation to abdom inal, obl ique, and back m uscles , it refers to dee p
muscles, meaning muscl es that ar e at least one lay er below the
surface muscl es that most people r efer to a s the cor e. In ot her
words, if you can see a m uscle (i.e., superfi cial), it is not a primary
core mu scle.

The cor e area is also call ed the lu mbo-pel vic-hip

comple x (LPH C). This term is m or e appropriate than simply “core,”
as it spe cificall y address es th e a r ea that stabili zes the upper and
lower b ody. T her efore, m uscles that act to stabil ize this com plex
can be viewed as core musculat ur e. The LPHC enc ompass es the
inner (primary) a nd outer unit core muscles.

The primary core muscles are:

• Multifidus (lumbar)
• Pelvic Floor M uscles
• T ransverse Abd ominis (T VA)
• Internal Obliqu e
• Diaphragm

A good visual cue for th e core (pri mary) muscles i s to imagi ne a

box (14 7). All sides must provide s tability f or a box t o be str ong.
As a poi nt of r efe rence, t he mu scl e that m ost peopl e consi der th e
core is the rectu s abdom inis. The rectus abdominis is the “ six -
pack” m uscle. Thi s is a superfici al muscle, and w hil e it does
provide some stability to t he LPHC , its prim ary job i s anteri or
spinal flexion.

T he primary p ur pose of t he co re muscul ature is to provid e

stability and ri gi dity to th e area of the sp ine an d pelvic
region. T he for ce product ion o f the core muscles i s not great, as
their pri mary fu nc tion is to creat e s tability, not gr oss movem ent.
The syn ergy betw een the core mus culature and liga ments allows
for subst antial st ability.

Given th e co nfusi on over what mus cle or m uscles co nstitute the

core, it is advise d to separate the core int o two areas: the
inner a nd out er u nit .

The inn er unit comprises t he m usc les just descri bed a s prim ary
core mu scles . T he oute r unit is m ade up of the foll owing m uscle s:

• Rectus Abdom in is
• External Obliq ues
• Erector Spina e
• Quadrat us Lu mb orum
• Iliopsoa s (ma de up of Ilic us an d Psoas)
• Rectus Femor is
• Hip Adductors
• Glute Ma ximu s
• Hamstri ngs

While th e out er unit muscl es pr ovi de stabi lization t o the LPHC,

they are not as s pecializ ed for thi s task as the i nne r unit. As note d
earlier, t he pri mary functi on of t he outer u nit muscles is to pr ovide
movement, not st abilizati on. Therefore, when the outer unit
muscles become overacti ve, they s hut off t he inner unit
muscula ture. Thi s dramat ically r educes t he am ount of LPH C
stabilization. The inner unit is the primary LPHC sta bilizer, and the
outer u nit is t he s econdary stabiliz er.
Inner Unit Core Musculature – Lateral View

A – Multif idus
– Exten ds from the sacrum to the c ervical s pine
B – Diap hrag m
C – Inter nal O bli que
D – T ransver se Abdomini s
E – Pel vic Fl oor Muscle s
As most peop le v iew the outer unit as the core, it is common for
people to ov erwork their outer unit muscles , whic h, as just noted,
can shu t dow n the inner unit c ore musculature. I ndi viduals who
perform countl es s abdominal c run ches and leg rais es believe they
are stre ngthe ning their cor e muscl es and t hus i ncreasing their
lumbar support when, in f act, t he opposite is oft en t he case.

The inn er unit , specifically the T VA , stabiliz es the lumbar spi ne to

allow b oth up per and low er body m otion by contr acti ng 90
milliseconds before uppe r - body m otion and 120 mil lisecon ds
before l ower - body motion (146) . T his illustr ates t he importance o f
the TVA in pr oviding stab ility to the lumbar spine.

Inner Unit Core Musculature

Internal Oblique

This muscle c an be cons idered the interm ediat e m uscle of the

core be cause of i ts placement, as i t lies bet ween the transver se
abdomi nis an d the external obl ique. In addition to providing spin al
stability, it has tw o additional functions.

Function One:

The con tracti on a nd relax ation of t he inter nal oblique results in

movement of t he diaphragm, w hich is responsibl e for i nhalat ion a nd
exhalati on.

Function Two:

The internal oblique is responsible for the upper body’s rotation

and lat eral flexion (side -t o-side bending).
Transverse Abdominis (TVA)

This is the deepest of all the abdominal muscles, and its primary
action is to pr ovi de lumbar sta bilit y. The T VA ac ts as the body’s
natural weight be lt by providing hoop tensi on ar ound an
individual’s midsection.

Diaphragm

The dia phragm is a ‘dom e -like’ sheet of muscle b etw een the
thoracic and abd ominal c avitie s. It is respo nsibl e for increas ing
and de creasi ng l ung siz e when inhaling ( contraction of the
diaphra gm) a nd exhaling (relax ation of the diaphrag m),
respecti vely. T he diaphr agm al so provides lumbar stability by
working with the other inner unit core muscles.
Pelvic Floor Muscles (PF)

Comprising the levator an i , coccygeus , and connective tiss ue, th e

pelvic fl oor mu scl es esse ntially for m a “ha mmock” t hat sup ports
pelvic or gans (e. g., blad der).

The PF muscl es also ass ist in bladder and bowel f unction.

Specific ally, in re lation to core mu sculatur e, the PF muscles assist
in the st abilization of the spine and pelvis.

A: Pelvic Floor Muscles

Multifidus (Lumbar)

The multifidus (m ull-tiff-a- duss) i s a series of sm all muscles that

attach l aterall y to both s i des of the spinal c olum n and is deep to
the erec tor sp ina e. The m ultifid us is broke n dow n in to segm ents
with the insertion point s everal vertebrae higher than the ori gin.
This segmental construction means that each multifidus segment is
respons ible f or c o ntrolling a s mall section of the spine.

The multifidus ca n be broken down into superficial and deep

muscles. The superficial m ultifidus is responsibl e for lumbar back
extensi on, rot ation, and l ateral flex ion, whil e the dee p multifi dus is
respons ible f or s p inal st abilization .

The correlation between the multifidus’s strength (s pinal stability)

and low er back pain was documented in a 2002 study by D anneels
et al. pu blish ed i n the E uropean S pine Journal. In t his study, a
group o f indiv idu als with healt hy backs was com par ed with a gro up
suffering from lo wer back pain. It was demonstr ated via EMG
testing of the mul tifidus th at th e gr oup wit h lowe r ba ck pain show ed
much lo wer m ultif idus acti vation than the healt hy gr oup.
Additio nally, t he l ower back pai n group had a r educ ed abilit y to
voluntarily co ntract their multifid us over the healthy group (145).

T he multifidus co -contracts wi th the T VA to pro vide spin al

stability . Like the TVA, t he multifi dus contracts bef ore most bod y
movements as a protectiv e mec hanism for t he s pine.

Outer Core Musculature

The primary purpose of the outer core musculature i s to move and,

second arily, t o as sist in pr oviding s tabilizati on to the LPHC.

Rectus Abdominis

This muscle group comprises two muscles that run parallel to each
other a n d ar e sep arated by connec tive tissue (linea alba). T he
rectus a bdomi nis is primaril y res ponsible f or flexi on of the lumbar
spine. Secondaril y, the rectus abdominis assists i n stabilizin g the
lumbar spine.
External Oblique

This muscle is lo cated on either si de of the rect us abdomini s. It is

respons ible f or the spine’ s flexi on and rot ational and lateral flexio n
(bendin g side to side). Li ke the rectus abdomini s, it secondarily
assists i n stabi liz ing the l umba r sp ine.
Erector Spinae

Also call ed exten sor spi n ae, this group of mus cles runs pa rallel t o
the vert ebral colu mn from i ts ba se (lumbar) throu gh the top
(cervical) secti on. The thr ee gr oups of mus cles are:

A – Spi nalis (M edial)

B – Long issim us (Center)
C – Iliocostali s ( Lateral)

The primary funct ion is ex tensi on and later al flexi on of the s pine.
Second arily, it pr ovides s tabiliz ati on to the spi ne.
Quadratus Lumborum (QL)

Originat es at t he iliac cres t and ins erts into the l owe st rib an d side
of the lu mbar vert ebrae. T he Q L ac ts to sta bilize t he pelvis a nd
laterally flex the lumbar spine. If the glute medius is underactive,
the QL can initiat e hip abducti on, often leading to t he QL becomi ng
overacti ve.

Rotatio n of th e pelvis als o can res ult in the QL bec oming

overacti ve.

Hip Flexors

The pso as (s o -as ) and ili acus (il l -e -ack-us) compri s e a group of
muscles comm onl y termed hip fl ex ors due to their p rimary rol e of
hip flexi on.

1. Psoas
2. Iliacus
 Psoas

Iliacus
Hip Adductors

Below a re the muscles res ponsi ble for hip adduction:

A – Addu ctor Magnus

B – Addu ctor B r evis
C – Gra cilis
D – Addu ctor L o ngus
E – Pec tineu s
F – Iliacus
G – Pso as M ajor
Hamstrings

The ha mstrings c omprise three muscles (posterior v iew):

A – Bi ceps Femoris
B – Se mitendi no sus
C – Se mimembranosus

These m uscles st abilize t he LP HC, flex the lower leg, and exten d
(posteri or) the femur.
Rectus Femoris

The rectus femori s is one of four m uscles that make up the

quadric eps a nd is visually the c ent er muscl e of t he f our whe n
viewing the musc le in the frontal plane. The prim ary role of the
rectus femoris i s knee ex tensi on and hip fl exion. However, it also
plays a r ole in st abilizing the LPH C and t he kn ee.

A – Rectus Fem oris (cut)

Gluteus Maximus

The gluteus maxi mus (GM ax) is t he most s uperfi cial of the t hree
gluteal muscl es ( gluteus medi us, g luteus m inimu s). Its primar y
function is su ppo rt of the LPHC an d exten sion/ exter nal rotat ion o f
the hip.

Due to it s role in hip exte nsion, the GMax is one of the most
importa nt m us cles for runners.
Lower Body Musculature

Quadriceps

The “qu ads,” as t his musc le group is often called , c onsist of four
different muscl es on the uppe r leg’ s anteri or side.

A – Rectus Fem oris (cut)

B – Vas tus M edi alis
C – Vas tus L ater alis
D – Vas tus Int er medius

These m uscles ar e used t o ext end the low er leg and stabiliz e the
knee. T he rec tus femoris also acts to flex t he hip, as noted
previou sly in t he Outer C ore Musc ulature section.
Foot Extensors and Flexors

Tibialis Anterior

Location: Front of the ti bia

Action: D orsiflexi on and foot i nver sion
Tibialis Posterior

Location: Deep muscle l ocated b ehind t he tibi a.

Action: P lantar fl exion, f oot invers ion, and stabilization
Soleus

Location: Deep muscle l ocated b ehind t he tibi a and under neat h

the gast rocn emiu s.
Action: P lantar fl exion a nd st abiliz ation
Gastrocnemius

Location : Superf icial, loc ated on t op of soleus.

Action: Plantar fl exion and st abiliz ation

The term triceps surae (t hree heads) is oft en us ed to refer t o the

gastroc nem ius and the soleus.
Peroneus Longus

Location: Lateral aspect of the low er leg

Action: Plantar fl exion and foot ev ersion
Peroneus Brevis

Location: Lateral aspect of the low er leg

Action: Plantar fl exion and foot ev ersion
Gluteals

Gluteus Maximus

Location : The m ost superficial of the three glut eal muscles

(gluteus medi us, gluteus minim us).
Action: It s prim ary functi on is s upport of t he LP HC and
extensi on/ext ernal rotati on of t he hip.
Gluteus Medius

Respon sible f or abduction and ext ension, as well as internal

rotation (when th e hip is extended) and ex ternal rot ation (w hen t he
hip is flexed) of t he hip.

These m uscles al so stabil ize the pelvis.

Gluteus Minimus

Respon sible f or abduction and ext ension, as well as internal

rotation (when th e h ip is exten ded) and ex ternal rot ation (w hen t he
hip is flexed) of t he hip.

These m uscles al so stabil ize the pelvis.

Glute Medius Weakness

When the glute m edius is weak, the quadr atus l umborum on the
opposi ng side oft en bec omes over active to stabi lize the pel vis
since the glute m edius isn’t assisti ng in pelvic st abil ization. This
often ca uses low back pa in.

The glute medius is responsible for external hip rotation when the
hip is flexed, as occurs u pon f ootstrike. Th erefo re, if there i s
internal rotati on of the hi p and fe mur upon footstri ke, this may
indicate an underactive gl ute medius.

Tensor Fasciae Latae

In additi on to the gluteals , the t ens or fasciae latae ( commonly

referred to as the TFL) als o acts to abduct the hip. T he TFL also
extends and externally rot ates t he hips. The TFL is l ocated at the
side of the hip.

Piriformis

Abducts the f emur when t he hi p is flexed. F or many individuals, th e

sciatic nerve pas ses through the piriformis. When th e pirifor mis
tightens , the scia tic nerve may bec ome compress ed and ind uce
sciatica ( pain that originates at the gluteals and often travels down
the leg via th e sc iatic ner ve). T his is also c alled piri formis
syndro me.
Popliteus

This is a relativel y small muscle lo cated behind the knee. The

primary action is knee flexion; mor e specifi cally, i t i s responsible
for ‘unlo cking’ th e knee f rom a str aighten ed p ositio n. It als o assis ts
with internal rotation of the tibia.
Sartorius

This is the longest muscle in the body and begins (originates)

below t he AS IS and ends (insertion) on the superior and m edial
aspect of the tibi a. This m uscle ac ts to flex , abduct, and ext ernall y
rotate t he hip. It also aids in k nee flexion.
Upper Body Musculature

Pectoralis Major

Chest m uscle r es ponsibl e for adduction and int ernal rotation of th e

humeru s.
Pectoralis Minor

Chest m uscle that moves the sc apula forw ard and d ownwar d.

It is locat ed u nde rneath t he p ector alis majo r.

Latissimus Dorsi

The largest muscle in the back and primarily responsible for

adducti on, extens ion, hori zontal abduction, and inter nal rotat ion o f
the sho ulder j oint .

It also a ssists i n stabilizin g the LP HC.

Trapezius

The large, diamo nd-shaped m uscl e is on either side of the mid -

upper s pine. The primary action of the trapezius i s t o move t he
scapula and provi de support to the upper arm.

The trapezius stabilizes, elevates, rotates, depresses, and retracts

the sca pula. The upper tr apezi us produces cervic al extensi on,
lateral fl exion, and rotatio n.
Serratus Anterior

It origin ates a t the ribs and att aches to the medial side of t he
scapula . Its funct ion is to protr act, stabiliz e, and pr ovide upward
rotation of the sc apula.

This muscle is often termed the boxer’s muscle as it pulls the

scapula forward, which occurs when throwi ng a punch .
Rhomboids

Rhomboid Major

It origin ates o n th e spine and attac hes to t he sc apul a. Stabilizes,

retracts, and r otates the scapula.
Rhomboid Minor

It origin ates o n th e spine and attac hes to t he sc apul a. Stabilizes,

retracts, and r otates the scapula.
Levator Scapulae

Elevate s the scapula —assists i n s capular retract ion, lateral f lexio n,

and ne ck ext ensi on.
Deltoids (Shoulder)

Many m uscles ac t on the shoulder (glenohumer al) joint. For t his

certificati on, we will focu s on the deltoid muscl es ( anterior,
posterio r, and lat eral) and the rotator cuff m uscles, which
compris e the s upraspinat us, inf ras pinatus, teres
minor, a nd subsc apularis .

The deltoid muscl e consists of three main heads:

Anterior (shoulder flexion, internally rotate hum erus), Later al (ar m
abducti on), a nd P osterior (shoulde r extensi on).

The rotator cuff muscles provide static and dynamic support to the
glenoh umeral joi nt (159). The acti ons of t he four rotator cuf f
muscles are noted in the follow ing image.
Rotator Cuff

The rotator cuff muscles provide mobility and stability to the

glenoh umeral joi nt. The r homboids and tr apezi us provide m obility
and sta bility t o the scapula.

Infraspinatus

Action: Extern al s houlder rotati on

Teres Minor

Action: Extern al s houlder rotation

Subscapularis

Action: I ntern al s houlder rotati on

Supraspinatus

Action: Shoul der abducti on

Arms

The arm muscl es mentioned in the certification are the Biceps

Brachii, T riceps Brachii , and t he Brachio radial is .

In additi on to the se are o ver 2 0 m uscles t hat m ake up the f orear m

that act to mo ve t he wrist, forea rm, and di gits (fin ger s). While not
all the f orearm m uscles w ill be me ntioned in thi s ce rtificatio n, it is
importa nt to k now that t hey ar e responsible for f orearm rotat ion
and wris t and digi t extensi on/fl exio n.
Biceps Brachii

Action: Elbow fle xion

Triceps Brachii

Action: Elbow ext ension

Brachioradialis

Action: Wrist e xte nsion

Intramuscular Performance Factors
This section disc usses warm -ups/ cool-downs, delayed ons et
muscle s oreness (DOMS), ‘ muscl e burn,’ m uscle synergy, and
muscle i mbalanc es.

Warm-Up

For shorter distance events such criterium s, a proper warm - up is a

necessit y bec aus e of the short dist ance a nd int ensit y of the race.
The primary purpose of a warm -up is to in cr ease on e’s core
tempera ture ( 625). Increased c ore body temperature may als o
decreas e the chance of i njury s uch as musc le str ains (625, 626).

Below a re sev eral areas t hat a proper war m -up enhances:

• Increas ed for ce c apacity of a m usc le (627)

• Decreas ed chanc e for inj ury (626)
• Increas ed range of motion (628)
Physiology of the Warm-Up

Competi tive and r ecreational at hlet es typic ally pe rform a war m -up
to prep are for moderate t o strenuous exerc ise. Doi ng so has be en
found t o enhance perform ance and prevent injury . The primary
mechan ism of the warm -up is to i ncrease t he body t emperat ure,
which h as a c orrespondi ng physiol ogical r esponse t hat has show n
to do the foll owin g accor ding t o F G Shell ock, W E P rentice Sport
Med Jo urnal.

• Increas e in m uscl e blood flow

• Reducti on in mus cle viscosity
• Activatio n of met abolic c hemic al r eaction s
• Increas e in speed of ner vous i mpulses

There are three main warm -up tec hniques that whe n used t oget her,
can bes t prepare the body for i ntense physi cal ac tivi ty.

1. Passive warm - up: increasi ng b ody temperature by an extern al

source.
2. General ized war m -up: non-sport- specific body mo vement to
increas e bod y temperature
3. Specific warm- up: increas es temperature and ci rcul ation to
sport-specific bo dy parts associat ed with t he m ost activate d
systems for a giv en activity.

Note: O f the t hree strategies, t he specific warm - up has shown to

significantly im pact performanc e as it activates dire ct muscl e
groups used duri ng a giv en activit y. A war m -up str ategy is
particul ar to each athl ete, their phy sical preparati on, and
environ menta l conditions that may require adaptations to warm -up
strategies.

While littl e liter at ure exist s around the ideal war m -up protoc ol for
endura nce at hlet es, research has found t hat st atic stretching,
followe d b y 5 minutes post -war m-up, peak pow er, ti me to p eak
power, and im proved perf ormance was present w hen compared t o a
control group that had just perform ed a moderate 5 minute on the
bike cycl ing w ar m -up. The res ults of this s tudy by DM O’Connor,
MJ Crow e, WL Spinks, Journal of S ports Medicine, and Phys ical
Fitness are show n below.
Stretchi ng is t ypi cally inc orpor ate d into a warm- up, but res earch
has sho wn contradictory evidence of its eff ect on
perform ance. Research has show n it decr eases inj ury, but there
are differing c onc lusions r egar ding perform ance gai ns. Mai ntaini ng
good fl exibilit y ai ds in pr eventi ng i njury to t he m usc uloskel etal
system by incr easing the range of motion and muscl e elasticity,
meanin g higher t ension can be ac hieved on a musc le befor e
damag e occurs.

Stretching vs. Warm-Up: Are They the Same?

It is typic al for str etching and warm ing up t o be l ump ed into t he

same categor y. T his is oft en the c ase as athlet es are comm only
instructed to war m up their muscl e(s) before stretching to r educ e
the cha nce of inj ury while stretc hi ng. In t his scenar io, both can be
conside red p art o f the war m -up. H owever, as the n ame suggests , a
warm-up prima ril y relates to w arm ing the body, incl uding
increasing muscl e temperature.

When researc hed in isolat io n, a warm -up reduce d the incidence o f

lower-lim b injur y, whereas stret chi ng alone did not ( 629). The
primary r eason for stretchi ng is t o i ncrease the r ange of moti on
around a joint. This is perti nent as researc h has shown that
stretching a musc le before a bout of exercis e can reduce the
contractile force of a muscle (6 08) .

In other word s, st retching can be p art of a warm- up routine, but it

is not advised in isolation.

A c t i v e v s. P a s s i v e W a r m - U p

An activ e war m-up occurs when the chan ges in body temper ature
are due to m uscl e activity (i.e., r unning). I n contras t, a pas sive
warm-up is due t o an ext ernal source (i.e., a heating pad). It is
advised to perfor m an act ive w arm -up rather than a passive warm -
up.

A Relat ed Warm - Up is a s ubset of an activ e war m -up and d enot es

warming up (vi a active w arm -up) t he sam e musc les used in the
activity being per formed and, i deal ly, in the sam e ra nge of motio n.
This is the advise d type of warm -up.

Warm-Up Guidelines

A prope r activ e w arm -up aims to fi nd the s weet spot between the
muscles becoming suffici ently w ar m but not phy sically taxing the
individual. As a result, a proper active warm -up c an be diffic ult to
prescrib e and per form.

General ly speaki ng, the more conditioned an i ndivi dual is fr om a

cardiov ascular st andpoi nt, the lon ger the warm - up will be.
Researc h by Stewart and Sleiv ert found t hat an act ive war m -up o f
15 minut es and at an int ensity o f approximate ly 65 perc ent of
one’s V O2 m ax was mo st ben efi cial reg arding anaerobi c
activities (631). Another study by Tomares et al. found that
regardi ng spri nt t rack cycli ng, s hor ter and l ower -i ntensity war m -ups
elicited better per formanc e tha n lo nger wa rm -ups (>20 min of
cycling at varying intensities) (6 32) . While these stu dies primarily
examin ed a w arm -up’s eff ect o n anaerobic activ it y, i t seems to
demons trate t hat a long warm -up ( >20 minutes) may have
detrime ntal ef fect s on an indivi dual ’s energy and power out put.

Try out different warm-up protocol s in training to de termine which

protocol elicits th e best r esult f or y our athl ete(s).
Perhap s the most critical fi nding regarding warmi ng up is not the
exact int ensit y or duratio n of t he w arm -up but rat her the time
duratio n betw een the ces sation of the war m -up and the start of th e
competition. T he benefits gained via incr eased m uscle
temper ature are lost appr oxim at ely 15 minutes after the warm -
up period ends. Therefore, the time between the end of the warm -
up and the st art o f the co mpetiti on should be no longer than 15
minutes (633). W hile not discussed, it stands to reason that the
environ mental te mperature would impact t he desired windo w
betwee n war m -up and ev ent st art ( i.e., cold weat her = short er
period t han 1 5 mi nutes). T his infor mation i s especially pertinent to
races th at will r equire a hard effor t right from the beginning, suc h
as a tim e trial.

Regardl ess of the warm -up duration and activity, muscles work
better w hen t hey are war m vers us cold. Muscles work optim ally
when th e body core temperatur e is approxi matel y 100.4 ° F and a
muscle t emper ature of 101.3°F. However, li ke most aspects of
human perfor mance, the t empe rature at whi ch muscl es work
optimally exist s on a bell curve. For exampl e, the contractile force
of a mus cle decr eases once t he m uscle temperatur e goes abov e
103.3°F (760).

More dis cussi on and revi ew of running studies r egar ding w arm -up s
are not ed in l ess on 21 – Rac e Pre paration and Execution.

Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS)

While th ere m ay be musc le sor eness and weakness directly after a

workout or a bit the next morning, the most severe pain, or DOMS,
usually occurs wi thin 24‒ 48 hours following strenuo us activit y.

For many year s D OMS was a my st ery and not f ully underst ood.
Many st udies hav e been publi shed on this subject, yet most do n ot
fully exp lain w hat DOMS is . In 1 98 1, Jan Fr iede n pu blished his
findings based on taking muscle bi opsies fr om subjects who
repeate dly w alked down flights of stairs. This was t he first
objectiv e evid enc e of wh at DO MS i s and w hat it i s n ot (23).

Jan Frieden disc overed that D OM S primarily r esul ts from

eccentr ic co ntra ctions of musc les (23). A n ecc ent ric contr action
is when a muscle contract s to decelerate a limb wit h a load.
Essenti ally, an ec centricall y con tracting muscle acts as a br ake.
For exa mple, after perform ing a bic ep curl, t he bi cep muscle must
contract to decel erate the wei ght on the way b ack down to the
starting positi on (arm extended downward) . Duri ng an eccentric
contraction, the muscle fi bers get pulled lengthwis e to the point
where d amage oc curs at a subc ellular level. This damage induce s
an infla mmato ry r espons e in a mus cle (260 ). The am azing thing
about t he body is that, gi ven the proper amount of r est, the
damag ed muscles rebuil d stronger than before.

Additio nally, eccentric contractions involve fewer motor units than

concent ric contractions to elicit the same f orce production.
Therefore, during an eccentric contraction, there is more significant
stress per mus cle fiber than during a concentric mus cle
contraction. This added stress per muscle fi ber m ay contribute to
DOMS becaus e of disrupti on of the myofibrill ar str u c tures of the
muscle ( 634).

While m any peopl e view D OMS as bad, it is a good t hing in some

respects . The pai n that peopl e feel with DO MS is, i n fact, m uscl e
rebuildin g rath e r than br eaking down. O ne way t o look at DOM S
is to relate it to the flu. W hile mos t peopl e view the side eff ects of
the flu a s ne gativ e beca use th ey f eel horri ble b eca use of h igh b ody
tempera ture, chill s, and aches, the side eff ects r epr esent the
recovery phas e. The high tem perature is the bo dy’s protecti ve
respons e to i nfec tion and inj ur y. J ust as one w ould not be active
when h aving a temperature, one s hould also n ot str ess the same
muscles affect ed by DOM S whil e s ore. As t he soreness is
represe ntativ e of the healing phas e, stressi ng the muscles affect ed
by DOM S will i nhi bit heali ng and further break down the mus cle
fibers. M any a thl etes an d coa ches subscri be to t he “no pai n, no
gain”’ p hilosophy. Howev er, when i t comes to DO MS , if you tr y to
push through D OMS by exercising the affected muscles, you
will end up doin g more h arm t ha n good.

DOMS is not li mi ted to str ength t raining. Any ti me a muscl e is

stressed to a lev el to which it is n ot adapted, damage can occur.
DOMS is often the resulting aftereffect. Ru nners who increase their
mileage too m uch on a p articul ar day will of ten f eel the e ffects of
DOMS.
Potential Role of Estrogen on DOMS

From a biochemic al standpoint, a marker for muscl e damage (i.e.,

DOMS) is the enzyme creatine kinase (CK) in the blood. Research
has sho wn that estrogen may affect muscl e enz ym es, lowering
blood C K lev els. Therefore, it can be theorized that women may
have le ss sev ere bouts of DOM S than men.

Cause of Muscle Soreness and Weakness

The pre vailing thought is that DO MS -relat ed muscl e weak ness is

due to s ub-c ellul ar muscl e dam age. However, research has
discover ed th at u ndama ged m uscl e fibers can e xhi bit muscl e
weakne ss (635). Therefor e, muscl e weak ness is lik ely due to a
muscle’s inabil ity to activ ate contr actile str uctures due to t he ov er -
stretching of sarc omeres ( 636).

As the ti me co urs e of infl ammati on is typically the s ame as f or

muscle s oreness, the sor eness that is felt during D OMS is li kely
attributable t o th e inflam mation response (637). As noted above ,
the over-stretc hing of the sarcomer es likely creat es a loss of
cellular c alciu m h omeostasis, w hic h is the r eason for the muscle
sorenes s (638).

Is a Cool Down Necessary?

A cool d own i s ch aracteriz ed by a significa nt red uct ion in in tensit y

after an exerc ise session is over. T he pop ular purported benefit o f
cooling down is b ringing down the heart rate steadil y while allowin g
the mus cles t o return to normal tension levels gradually. Is all this
necess ary?

It is the orized tha t warmin g up bef ore exer cise c an slightly r educ e
DOMS, w hile a c ool dow n does not reduce DOM S ( 335). Ac cordi ng
to Dr. Hir ofumi T anaka, an ex ercis e physi ology prof essor at the
University of Texas, the cool do w n is larg ely a myth that lik e
most myt hs in t he fitness and exer cise real ms, keeps getting
passed along wit hout much thought given to its val idity (336).

The on e subj ect all physi ologis ts seem to agree on is that after
abruptly ceasi ng i ntense exerci se s uch as r unning, t he blood
vessels i n the legs are dilated, and therefore, blood can pool
quickly i n the l egs and fe et. Th is c an mak e an i ndivi dual fe el dizz y
and pot ential ly p ass ou t because of a lack of bl ood flow to t he
brain (3 36).

One co uld deduc e that lyi ng down with the legs elev ated to reduc e
or eliminate bl ood pooli ng would b e just as , if not m ore, eff ective
than a s hort c ool down af ter int ens e exerci se.

Muscle Burn

For runners, one of the m ost fe ared byproducts of exertion i s the

dreade d bur n they feel in their l egs as the intensity and/or dista nce
increas es. So, w hat exactly causes this burn?

For many year s ( and still to thi s day for some people), the t houg ht
was that an i ncrease in b lood l actate within the body was the caus e
of the b urnin g se nsation. The prim ary reas on for thi s belief was a
study d one i n the 1920s by Dr. Ott o Meyer hof. U sing electri c
stimulati on to a deceased frog’s le g muscl es, Dr. M eyerhof
observe d that the leg mus cles of the frog tw itched initially when
subject ed to t he electric s timulation.

However , after a while, the twitc hi ng ceas ed. T he c essation of

muscle activati on correlat ed wit h high levels of bloo d lactat e. Thu s,
Dr. Meyerhof concluded t hat an i ncrease i n lact ate causes
muscula r fatigue (24). Thi s theory was cha llenged a nd ultim ately
put to b ed by the researc h of Dr . G eorge B rooks, wh o while
studyin g for hi s P h.D. diss ertati on, found t he opposi te of what Dr.
Meyerh of had proposed was true.

Dr. Brooks disc ov ered that blood lactate is an im po rtant mu scle

fuel, not a was te byprodu ct that causes the b urn , as earli er
thought (25). Pyr uvate c an be oxidized and used as fuel for t he
Krebs cy cle, o r it can be conv erted to lacta te, wh ich , in turn, is
convert ed int o gl ycogen in the liver via the Cori c ycl e. This
increas e in gl ycogen means t hat t he glyc ogen stor es are l arger and
last longer.

When a person begins to exerc ise, the oxy gen c ons umption of th e
individual increases; how ever, at a certain point, an ox ygen
consum ption plat eau is r eached. T his plat eau is oft en referr ed to
as stea dy-stat e o r steady rate. Thi s means that t her e is a balanc e
betwee n the ener gy used by the m uscles doing t he work and the
energy being created aerobic ally ( more on this t opi c in the next
module) . Duri ng t his steady -state c ondition, pyruvat e accum ulatio n
is minimal. This i s because any pyruvate ( an acidic byproduct of
glycolysi s) bei ng produc ed is e ithe r oxidized or c onverted t o
lactate, which is converted to glycogen, as previousl y menti oned
(27).

Intramus cular l ac tate lev els ca n el evate ra pidly i f th e intens ity of

exercise is extr emely high. Gai tanos et al. foun d that intram uscul ar
lactate l evels can increase by seven mM (a substantial increase) in
just six seconds when performing high-int ensity cyc le efforts (559 ).
Blood l actate lev els increase t o approxim ately 40 t imes their
resting l evel fr om rest to maxim al exercise intensity (566).

So, wha t causes the bur n? T he bu rn result s fro m a buildup of

acidity i n the m uscle cells. Mor e specifi cally, t hi s acidity is
caused by th e rel ease of hydr ogen ions during t he f ast turnover o f
ATP (26) . This re lease of hydr oge n ions w ithin t he muscle c ells
causes an int erference wi th the ability of the mus cle fibers to
contract properly. Unless the in tensity of th e exerci se decr eases,
the hig h level of burn (ac idosis ) wi ll event ually c aus e cessat ion o f
the exer cise ( 28). The rol e of la cta te is to help b uffe r and
neutrali ze the hy drogen ions, ther eby del aying the burn (26).

While m ost at hlet es view t he burni ng sens ation as bad, it is t he

body’s way of sel f -regulat ion s o that it does not pus h itself t oo far
and ca use damage. The burning sensation is aki n to a gover nor in
a car motor that l imits how fast t he car can go. T he t heory of a
govern or is di scusse d in t he P acing modul e.

• Lactate thres hold is discussed i n a future m odul e

Training to Delay Onset of Blood Lactate Accumulation

In endu rance sports, a key mark er for athletic pe rfor mance i s

lactate threshold. Lactate threshold is the l imit to w hich the bod y
starts to produce more lac tate than it can remove . T his is where
the “mus cle b urn” sets in. As bl ood lactate accu mula tes, over all
muscle work c apacity decreas es until an e ffort f alls below t he
lactate threshold or the a ctivity is stopped. At r est, th e body can
eliminat e or buffer lactate via rel ease into urine, used as fuel by
other or gans l ike the brai n, heart, and oth er muscles, or processe d
in the liv er back to glucose.

The athlete that can delay this Onset of Blood Lactate

Accumul ation (O BLA) the longest usually corres ponds with a bett er
athletic perfor ma nce. Del aying OB LA is ac hieve d pr imarily th roug h
training, speci fic ally traini ng la cta te thres hold. The idea is t o train
just bel ow the lactate thr eshold for extend ed intervals and
complet e rest be t ween in terval s. B y intenti onally foc using tr aining
session s on l actate thres hold development , an athlete can s ustai n
a more s trenuous effort for a longer duration bef ore OBLA occurs.

Below is a sa mpl e progr ession of l actate t hresh old efforts t o

graduall y incr eas e power output at threshold.

Lactate Threshold Training Examples

• 10-minute war m - up with a tota l of 20 -30 m inute s at an
endurance pace
• 3 X 10 minut es at 95% of thres hold heart rate or power out put
with 8 minutes of rest
 • 3 X 15 minut es at 95% of LT he art rate or power out put with
10 minutes of res t
• 2 X 20 minut es at 95% of LT heart rate or power wit h 15
minutes of res t

Exercise-Associated Muscle Cramps

Previou sly thoug ht to be the r esul t of a lack of hydr ation and/or

electroly tes, th e most recent r ese arch seem s to i ndicate t hat
exerci se-associ ated mu scle cramps (EA MC) are primaril y the
result of a mu sc le or mu scles be ing over work ed (i.e.,
fatigue). If a m us cle has a sub stantially greater l oad applied to it
that req uires a fa ster or str ong er c ontracti on than it is used t o, or i f
a muscl e is ac tiv ated for longer durations of tim e without r est th an
it is used to, cr a mping is often the result.

For exa mple, i f y ou nev er do squa ts as an exerc ise and you

procee d to do so with a heavy wei ght, cra mps m ay likely res ult.
Were you dehydr ated? Likely no. Were your electr olyte lev els lo w?
Probabl y not.

Accordi ng to Dr. Martin S chwell nus of the Universit y of Cape To wn,

EAMC results f rom an ab norm ality of neur omus cular control in
respons e to musc le fatigue – not a deple ti on of elect rolytes ( 758).

In a 20 11 study by Schwellnus et al., 210 tri athletes were recruite d

to exami ne ris k f actors fo r EAM C (759). Of the 210 triathlet es, 4 3
reporte d suff ering from E AMC whi le 166 did not ex perienc e EAM C.
Those w ho suffer ed from EAMC pr edicted faster rac e times and
had fast er tim es t han tho se w ho di d not su ffer fr om EAMC. T his is
importa nt bec aus e the tw o groups (EAMC and non - EAMC) had
similar pr e-race t raining preparation and perform anc e histori es.
Lastly, t he pr e and post -r ace bl ood serum electrol yt e
concent rations a nd bod y weight w ere the same in both
groups. T hese fi ndings suggest that deh ydrati on and
electrol yte b alance are not a cause of E AMC, w hereas exer cise
intensity is a ma jor contr ibuting factor.

Muscle Synergy
Even th e sim p les t muscle movement requir es sy ner gy betw een
muscles for movement to occur. Fr om a macro point of view, the
human body i s m ade up of many opposing musc les. Let us use th e
elbow a s an example. The bic ep muscle i s respon sible for flexin g
the elb ow, whereas the tri ceps muscle is responsibl e for ext endi ng
the elb ow. W hen one muscle s hort ens, the opposing muscl e
lengthe ns, and vi ce versa. Whil e t his example ill ust rates only on e
movement of one joint, w hen an ac tion requires a m ulti -joint, multi -
planar movem ent , the muscle s ynergy is substantiall y more
complex .

For a runner to be as effi cient as possible, the relationships

betwee n work ing muscles need to be as sy nergi stic as
possibl e. When t his syn ergy b reaks down for an y reason,
perform ance i s diminish ed, and th e poten tial fo r injury
dramati cally increases.

Kinetic Linking

The term kinet ic l inking ( also refer red to as the kinetic chain)
corresp onds t o the order i n whi ch muscles activate and wor k
togethe r to al low the bod y to m ove. From a perfor m ance -based
standp oint, it als o pertai ns to how muscles work t o give an
individual a biom echanical advantage.

Kinetic li nking is all abo ut opti mizi ng perf orman ce. T he goal is to
have th e body m ove in th e cor rect patter n to off er a
biomech anical advantag e. Thi s r equires the m uscl es to fire in th e
proper s equence so movement can occur s eamlessl y and in the
correct positio n(s ).

Muscle s and bo dy parts do not work in i solati o n in funct ional

body mo vem ent. Consequentl y, incorrect m ovem ent patter ns in
one are a of t he body may be c aus ed by dysfunction in anot her ar ea
of the b ody.

Length / Tension Relationship

A signifi cant d ete rminant of a m us cle’s forc e pro du ction is it s

length. When the word length is us ed in thi s sect ion , it has t o do
with the amount a muscl e can stretch, not the actual length of a
muscle.

• Short Mu scle: M uscle is not el ongated enough ‒ or is too

tight ‒ t o prov ide adequate for ce pr oductio n
• Long Mu scle: M uscle is t oo el ongated ‒ or stret ched too lo ng
‒ to provide adequate f or ce pr oduc tion. Thi s is oft en termed
an “inhi bited” muscle.

If a mus cle is s ho rtened or len gthe ned too muc h, for ce prod uction
of the m uscle will diminish to th e point wh ere mi nim al or no force
producti on is pos sible (22). The relationship bet ween a mus cle ’s
length and t he ability to pr oduc e force resembles a bell curv e.

This is an import ant relationship as it works hand in hand with

biomec hanics . N o matter how g r eat a tr aining pr ogram may b e,
if a runn er is n o t biomec hanic all y efficie nt eno u gh to ma ximiz e
force pr oducti on , the per son w ill not perfo rm op t imally.
Reduced Muscle Activation

When a muscl e is too sho rt or t oo l ong, im pulses from the nervou s

system to the mu scle are decreas ed. This decr ease also affects the
ability of the opposing (a ntagonist ) m uscle to contr act properly. As
you can see, this relates directly back to t he muscle length/t ensi on
relation ship ( 22).

For exa mple, l et us say t he gastrocnemius muscl e of a runner is

excepti onally tight (i.e., short). T hi s tightness will al so inhibit the
optimal stretch of the sol eus. T his might m ean t hat t he runner
cannot extend their hip t o the degree that it needs to due t o limit ed
dorsiflexi on of the ankle.

Fatigue is also a factor in reduced muscle activation. Muscle unit

recruit ment and firing rat e de crease with fatigu e (562, 563).

Additio nally, mus cle co -activati on decreas es the muscular force of

agonist and antagonist m uscle s s urround ing a joint (564). It is
theorize d tha t a b enefit of musc le c o-activat ion is to stabilize a
joint, as the opposing mus cle forces of the anta goni st and agoni sts
effective ly ca ncel each ot her o ut ( 565).

“Shut Down” Muscles

The term shut do wn is oft en us ed to denote muscles that c ontract

minimally or not at all. Us ing t he downstr oke of the pedal strok e as
an exa mple, t he glu tes and hamst rings should fi re. For athl etes
whose glutes are shut do wn, the gl ute mus cles ar e not recr uited t o
the deg ree t hey s hould b e. Therefore, the hamstri ngs are for ced t o
take ov er the role of the glutes. In essenc e, the ham strings are
performi ng t w o jobs at once. T his can lead to m uscl e strains and
tendoni tis of t he hamstrings. If your athlet e cannot activate
muscles through training or oft en i ncurs hamstring i njuries, i t is
advised to ref er t he pers on to a physical th erapis t.

Muscular Compensation

This go es ha nd i n hand with r educed mus cle ac tiv ation. M uscul ar

compen sation is t ypically caused by reduc ed muscle activati on an d
results fr om a muscle (e.g., prim e mover m uscle) un able to
produc e the r equi red forc e. Theref ore, a sy nergi st or suppor t
muscle t akes over the pri mary m us cle’s res ponsi bilit y.
As note d earli er, muscle activati on of the gluteal muscles is
reduce d for m any endurance athlet es, and the hams trings as sume
force pr oducti on. This lea ds to pre mature f atigu e of the ham string s
and pot entia l overuse inj uries of the hamstr ings as t hey are
suppos ed to be s ynergist muscl es to the gl utes, not the prim ary
movers. Nobody l ikes to do two job s while getting pa id for only on e
‒ muscl es are no different!

Workplace Postural Issues

The typ e of job y our athl ete h as is often r eflected in what ar eas o f
the bod y are imbalanced. Many of your at hletes lik ely hav e desk
jobs. Thi s means that for eight or more hours a day, they ar e in a
seated positi on. I f you look at t he t ypical s eated pos ition, you will
often se e the foll owing p ostur al is sues:

– Ham strings: s hortened

– Hip Fl exors : s hortened
– Spine: excessi ve spinal flexi on i n the lumbar and thoracic
regions, whic h oft en resul ts in excessive cer vical s pi nal extension
– Shoul ders: i nt ernally r otated an d elevat ed
– Core: weak inner unit core mus culature

As you c an im agi ne, no matter wh at you d o dur ing your on e-on- one
session s with your athlete, unl ess you hav e them st retch/str ength
train on their own and ch ange their workpla ce po stur e, these
issues will not im prove. T heref ore, your at hlete nee ds to have an
ergono mically cor rect work station.
Ergonom ics is the scienc e of adap ting pos tural and equipm ent
change s at a wor kstation. For c om panies, the r esult of empl oyees
with po or work station configurations is o ften decr eased productivi ty
due to l ower back , neck, and wr ist/ forearm pain. For these
reasons , man y companies empl oy certified ergonom ic speci alists
who en sure t he w orkforce is set up at works tations c orrectly.

Summary
• Muscles do not h ave thei r own “m emor y.”
• A concentric mus cle contr action relates to the s hort ening o f a
muscle
• An eccentric mus cle contr action relates to the lengt hening of
a muscl e
• Hypertrophy is an increase in muscle size
• Atrophy is a d ecr ease in muscl e si ze
• There are two types of muscle
contracti ons: voluntary and inv oluntary
• Up to 70 perc ent of body heat is generated by t he muscles
• The structure of skeletal muscle can be viewed as a thick
cable that is mad e up of many sma ller cabl es
• Actin and my osin allow th e sarc om ere to c ontrac t
• The slidi ng fil ament model dem onst rates how sarc om eres an d
thus how a m uscl e contracts
• Underst anding a muscle’s origi n and inser tion is im portant i n
determi ning t he muscle’s effec t on the body
• Type I muscle fibers are oxidative and are the musc le fiber
primarily u sed by runners
• Hypertrophy refers to the increase in size of a muscle fiber
whereas hyperplasia refer s to the i ncrease in the number of
muscle fi bers
• Nerve innervation (electric stimulation) of m uscles is what
makes a muscl e contract.
• A muscl e fiber cannot partially contract
• Tendons connect muscle t o bone
• Ligaments connect bone to bone
• Fascia perme ates the enti re body, and based on the tension
of the f ascia, i t c an caus e pai n and postur al ab nor malities
• Core musculat ure is divided int o an inner unit and outer unit .
• Muscle burn is the result of a buildup of ac idity i n the muscl e
cells. Mo re specif ically, thi s acidity is caused by the release
of hydrogen i ons during t he fast turnover of ATP
• DOMS largely r es ults from eccentri c muscle contr act ions
• There s houl d be no more than 15 minutes from t he end of a
warm-up period t o the beginni ng o f a runni ng s essi on
• As a coach, y ou are not allow ed t o advis e or pr esc ribe any
medicati ons t o your athlet e – i ncluding NS AID’s
• Muscles work t ogether in a set pat tern to elicit body
movement in what is called the kinetic chai n.
• Exercise -induced muscle cramps a re the result of m uscle
fatigue, not d ehy dration or low ele ctrolyte l evels
• Poor workplac e p osture often c reat es and magni fies muscle
imbalances
• If a mus cle is t oo long or too s hort , the muscle’s for ce
producti on wil l be greatly dimini shed.
• If a mus cle’s f orc e produ ction i s gr eatly di minish ed, this
often requires another m uscle(s ) t o assist i n forc e
producti on. T his i s termed musc ular compensation.
Module 4: Energy and Cardiopulmonary
Systems
This mo dule disc usses the circ ulat ory and cardi ovascular sy stems,
energy system s, measur ement s of intensit y, and the physi ologic al
effects on the body due t o int ense exercis e.

Upon c omplet ion of this m odule, y ou should have an und er stand ing
of the f ollowin g areas:

• Energy system t erminology

• Circulat ory syst em

• Function of lungs

• Role of cells i n energy production

• Cori Cycl e

• Three energy sy stems

• Blood glucos e r egulati on

• Physiol ogical response to aerobi c training

• Effect of hyp oxi c trainin g

• Physiol ogical ef fects of i ntens e exercise

• Glycogen deplet ion

Terminology

Anaerob ic: Thi s term means wit hout oxygen . This is a slight
misnom er, as bei ng in an anaerobi c state t ypicall y has more to do
with a lack of utilizati on of oxy gen rather th an an absence of
oxygen.

Adenosi ne T riph osphate (AT P): A molec ule respo nsible f or

storing and relea sing energy i n the body. Biologist s have coined
ATP the “currenc y of life.”

ATP is g ener ated in the m itoch ond ria of cel ls an d c an be p roduc ed

both ae robic ally and an aerobically .

The bo dy stor es only a s mall amount of A TP at any given ti me.

Therefore, ATP m ust be continually regenerated on a cellular level.

When A TP is broken down for energy, one of the phosphat es

breaks away fr om the mol e cule. Si nce ther e are onl y two
phosph ates, the molecul e is now adenos ine di phos phate ( ADP).
Throug h a pr oces s called phos phor ylation , a phosph ate is added to
the ADP molecul e to create AT P. Phosphorylati on can occ ur
aerobic ally or anaerobic ally.

Mitochon dr ia: A n organelle t hat i s the power pl ant of cells;

converts potential energy from f ood molecules i nto ATP

Glucose: A si mpl e sugar in th e blood

Glycogen: The m ain form of car bohydrate storage i n the body

(muscles /liver) and can be conver ted to gl ucos e

Glycoly sis: M etabolism o f gluc ose.

Pyruvat e: An aci d that is the r esul t of glyc olysis.

Krebs C ycle: A c ycle of c omplex c hemical reacti ons that cell s go
through in the pr esence of ox ygen to creat e energy (cellular
respirati on). T hey are als o referr ed to as the citric acid cycle .

Lactate: A subst ance found i n bo dy tissue and a b yproduc t of

pyruvat e. Duri ng high -int ensity exertion, when ox ygen suppl y is
limited, pyruvate produces lactate, which allows for the breakdown
of gluco se for energy. At l ower int ensities, lactate i s used as fue l
by the m itoch ondria. Lact ate al so helps to buff er ce llular
acidosis (refer to “Muscle Burn” i n the prev ious module for m ore
information on buffering c ellular acidosis). Lactat e i s produced a t
all times.

Lactate Thresho ld: Repr esent a tiv e of the level at which bl ood
lactate accumulates in the bloodstream. This occurs when lactate
producti on ex ceeds lactat e clearing.

Maximu m Lactat e Stead y Stat e ( MLSS): T he hi ghest intensity

level at which blood lacta te concentrations are maintained a t a
steady-s tate ( equ ilibrium) l evel dur ing exer cise bout s of
approxi mately 60 minutes .

Onset of Blood Lactate Accu mul ation (OB LA): R epresented

when bl ood l actat e levels reach four millimoles p er liter (mm ol/l)
during exercis e bouts (12 5). Si nce this can be ascertained only b y
using a bloo d lact ate ana lyzer, this assess ment w ill not be used i n
this certif icatio n.

Acetyl- CoA: A m olecule that r esul ts from t he oxi dat ion of fatty
acid, am ino a cids , and py ruvat e. A cetyl -CoA is br ok en dow n and
used for ener gy p r oduction in t he K rebs cycl e.

Creatin e Pho sph ate (CP) : A hi gh - energy phos phat e compound

that aid s in th e re synthesi s or re ge neratio n of A TP.

Ventilato ry T hre shold (VT ): The point at which the ventilati on

(breathi ng) rat e i ncreases fast er t han the workl oad. Until the VT is
reache d, the wor kload and res piration rate increase linearly.

Note – You wi ll not be te sted on formulas or spec ific energy syste m

process es (ex: N ADH + P yruvate). Howev er, they ar e noted to
enhanc e your understan ding of energy syst ems.
Circulatory System

There are two ma in circulatory syst ems within the body

1. Pulmonary: T his system i nvolves t he hear t and the l ungs.

Deoxygenated bl ood leaves t he h eart and goes to t he lungs,
where it is reoxygenated and returned to the heart.
2. System ic: Thi s s ystem rel ates to circulatio n throughout the
body ex cept f or t he lungs. Oxy genated bl ood leaves the he art
via arteri es to su pply the body, and the deoxygenated blood
comes back t o th e heart via the veins.

Muscles rely on a steady oxygen s upply to perf orm ae robic activit y.

Oxygen is transported to and f rom muscles via bl ood vessel s.
There are three primary cl assifications of blood vessels in the
body:

1. Arteries: Carr y oxygenat ed bl ood away from the heart to th e

rest of t he body.
 2. Veins: C arry deoxygenat ed (wi th out oxygen) bl ood to the
heart.
3. Capillari es: T he smallest blood vessels in t he body. They
increas e in densit y based on how much bl ood s uppl y is
needed in a parti cular ar ea. They are found in t he h uman
body’s ti ssues and transp ort bl ood from the arteri es to the
veins. Because of the thinness of the walls of capill aries, O2,
CO2, waste pr oducts, and nutr ient s can pass thr ough the
walls. The process through which this occurs is
called diffusio n ( 301).

In additio n to pr oviding core mu scle st ability,

the diap hragm p lays a signifi can t role in t he cir culatory
system . This sheet -like m uscle contracts and relax es to facilitate
breathi ng. When the diaphrag m contracts, oxyge n is pulled i nto t he
lungs, a nd when the diap hragm is relaxing, carbon dioxide (CO2) is
expelle d from the lungs.

The car diovas cul ar system is a “ cl osed” sy stem, meaning blood

does n ot leave the vessel s at any point. A s not ed in the precedin g
descripti on of capillaries, diffus ion allows oxygen and nut rients to
pass thr ough the vessel w alls a nd i nto cells . Conver sely, waste
product s and CO 2 can pass fr om t he cells through t he vess el wall s.
The spa ce between blood ves sels and cell s is oc cupied by a flui d
substan ce cal led interstitial fluid (i .e., tissue flui d) ( 302).

There are three types of blood cell s: red, w hite, and platelet s.
Below a re the ir p rimary functions:

• Red: carr ies ox y gen to t he body

• White: helps t he body fight off infe ction
• Platelet s: clot s blood

Hemoglo bin is a protein t hat is found in red blood c ells. Its

function is to t ransfer oxy gen fr om the blood to t he
muscles. Myog lo bin is a protei n f ound in muscl e that receiv es
oxygen from t he blood (r ed bl ood cells) an d transports it to the
mitocho ndria of t he musc le cell s ( 726).

Blood (i. e., re d bl ood cell s) go es w here it is most needed. A s a

result, the legs ar e the pri mary r eci pients of blood v olume w hen
running . At rest, 15‒20 percent of one’s to tal bl ood volume goes t o
muscles, wher eas during exerc ise, 85‒90 perc ent of blood volum e
goes to muscl es ( 727). Th e pro ces s by whi ch t his occurs is
called bl ood shu nting . Thi s proc ess dilates and constricts t he
arteries t o det er mine what per cen tage of blood is r eceived by
working muscles.

Heart

This organ is the pump that supplies the body with blood and,
therefor e, oxy gen . The h eart is divi ded int o four chambers.

• Right Atr ium

• Right V entricl e
• Left Atri um
• Left Ventricle

The four chamber s of the heart are illustrated in the above image
(right and left atri um/ventr icle). T he blue areas denote
deoxyg enated blood (veins) and the red regions denote oxy genat ed
blood ( arteries). The circ ulatory s ystem pr ocess :
 1. The right atrium r eceives deoxygenated blood via the superior
and inf erior v ena cava (veins).
2. Blood passes from the right atri um through the t ricuspid val ve
into the right ventricle, which is pumped to the l ungs to be
reoxygenated.
3. Reoxygenated bl ood ret urns fr om the lungs to t he heart (left
atrium).
4. Blood passes from the lef t atrium, throug h the mitr al valve,
and int o the l eft v entricle.
5. Oxygenated blood in the left v entr icle is pumped ou t of the
aortic valve and s upplies the body with oxy gen.

Heart contractions are caused by electrical impulses at the

heart’s sinoat rial node (S A node). This is the heart’ s natural
pacema ker. T he SA node sends an electri c sign al across t he atri a
(i.e., left and ri gh t atriums) that causes a c ontraction. This e lectric
signal also influe nces the Pur kinj e fibers , whic h st imulates the
ventricles to contract. The Purki nj e fibers are repre sented in the
figure b elow by t he blue bran ches in the m iddle to l ower pa rts of
the hea rt (358).

1 – SA node
2 – AV node
If the S A node fai ls, the at rioventr icular n ode (A V node) takes
over the pac emak ing responsibility. Lastly, t he P urki nje fiber s can
act as a weak pacemaker if the A V node fails. The AV nod e
primarily acts t o r egulate the s ignal from the SA node (357). The
heart’s r ate of contraction is a f unction of the autonomic ner vous
system ( ANS). This demonstrat es t he hear t’s bui lt -in contingency
system i n case the SA or AV nodes fail.

Blood flow alloc ation within the body is based o n need. For
exampl e, a runner would have greater blood flow to the legs tha n
the arms bec ause of the greate r de mand fo r oxy gen in that r egion .
This is most notable in individuals exposed to extreme cold for an
extend ed per iod. To keep th e body functioning, bloo d flow is
concent rated to li fe -sustai ning organs and diver ted away from the
extremiti es.

When e xercisi ng, heart rate is i nfl uenced by one’s aerobic

conditioning level and moveme nt intensity. T he gr ea ter one’ s
aerobic capa city , the m or e bloo d is ejec ted wit h each heart
contract ion, w hi ch translates to a lower heart rat e than
someon e not as aerobically cond itioned. An incr e ase in heart
rate corr elates wi th increased phys ical activ ity because of t he
body’s i ncrea sed deman d for o xyg en.

Blood Pressure

A stan dard m eas ure of h ealth, blood pres sure r epr esents t he
amount of pr essure agai nst the blood vess el wall s. A blood
pressur e reading has two numbers, a top and bottom number .
Normal blood pressure is 120/8 0. The top num ber i s called
the syst olic pr ess ure and repre sents the amount of pressur e
against vesse l w alls whe n the heart is contr actin g. The bot tom
number is call ed the dias tolic p res sure and repr esents the press ure
against the v esse l walls w hen t he heart is r elaxi ng.

The nu mbers r epr e sent mi llimet ers of mercury (mm H g), the unit
used to meas ure blood p ressur e. When ta king one’ s blood
pressur e, the sys tolic number is the first beat heard, and the
diastolic is the la st one h eard.

Under r esting conditions , high blood pres sure is considered 140 /90
or high er. Howev er, during exercis e, it is normal f or blood pressu re
to incre ase su bst antially. Thos e wi th high blood pre ssure ar e ofte n
termed h ypert en sive . If your athl ete is hy pertensiv e, the person
should be under a physic ian’s car e and guida nc e. Hypertension is
typically mana ge d by die t, exe rcis e, and medic atio n.

Lungs

The lun gs are loc ated on either side of the heart . Deoxygenated
blood is pum ped from the heart to the lun gs via the pulmon ary
artery. In the l un gs, oxygen is diff used int o the blood, and carbon
dioxide is tran spo rted out of th e bl ood, wh ere it i s e xhaled. This
exchan ge of oxygen and carbon di oxide occurs i n th e alveol i, tiny
air sacs i n the lungs. Air ( oxygen) is inhal ed thr ough the tr achea
(windpipe) and ends up i n the alv eoli, where it i s used to
reoxyge nate the blood. T he reoxy genated blood is returne d to th e
heart vi a the pul monary veins, where it is t hen pum ped out of th e
heart a nd int o the systemic circul at ory system.

The dia phragm’s contracti on and r elaxation is th e p rimar y w ay the

lungs inflate and deflate. As noted previously, when the diaphragm
contracts, the dia phragm move s downward, allowi ng the lungs to
fill with a ir. Co nv ersely, r elaxati on of the diaphr agm causes the a ir
to flow o ut of t he lungs (t hink: ball oon def la ting and losing it s air).

Diaphragmatic Breathing

This type of breathing also referred to as b elly or ab dominal

breathing, is the most effi cient way to breathe and relies on takin g
a full br eath t o m ake the diap hrag m move down war d and u pwar d
through its full range. Di aphragmat ic breat hing is characteriz ed by
the abd ominal section of the body rising as the breath is inhaled.
This is in contras t to chest breathi ng in w hich the lungs expand
and ma ke the chest rise.

The primary reas on why diaphragmatic breath ing i s more benefi cial
over ch est br eath ing (especiall y to athletes) is because mor e
oxygen is inhaled, and m ore carbo n dioxide is exhal ed with each
breath. This equa tes to m ore ox ygen for t he wor king muscl es
(440).

Introduction to Energy Systems

The en erg y s ystem classifi cation u sed by t he body during exercis e
is deter mined by exercise intensity, duratio n, and fuel availability.
The bo dy’s e nergy system s largely function as a res ult of chemical
reaction s. Knowi ng all the specific chemic al reac tions that oc cur i s
not nec essary for this certi ficati on . Howev er, it is i m portant to
know a nd underst and the resul ts of the chemical r eactions on a
macro level.

Underst anding how the energy syst ems wor k in the body is
paramo unt to bei ng a successf ul c oach. B y underst a nding these
systems, you will be better able to design effective programs
related t o int ensit y.

While e ndurance sports focus p rim arily on t he aerob ic (oxidative)

aspect of trai ning, anaer obic and neuromuscular aspects als o
contribute to an endurance athlete’ s perfor mance (589‒591).

The bo dy utili zes three cl assific ations of energy syst ems duri ng
exercise:

• Anaerob ic Al acti c: AT P-PC (pho sphocreatine) system –

Provides ATP for ~10sec of maxim al effort ( 913)
 • Anaerob ic Lacti c: Glyco lysis – Provide s ATP for ~60 -90sec
of inten se eff ort ( 914)
• Aerobic: Oxidative phosphorylat ion – The Krebs cycle an d
electron trans port chang e – pr ovides ATP f or prolonged su b -
maximal efforts ( 914)

While all ener gy systems start si m ultaneously, only one syst em

typically provi des most of the e ner gy at any giv en ti me. Ther efore ,
when th is certi fic ation denotes the first, sec ond, and third energy
systems, it refers to the energy sy stem performin g the majority of
work.

The terms ‘aerobic’ and ‘anaerobic’ are often thrown aroun d

concern ing w hen one stops (aerobi c) and a nother st arts
(anaero bic). T her e is no s witch i n t he body that does this. A s note d
above, while one energy system for a partic ular i ntensity lev el of
exercise provi des the maj ority o f the energy, tha t does not m ea n
that the other en ergy syst ems are ‘shut of f.’ The ref ore, focu sing
on an intensity t o target a part icular energy syst em will
improve other s, just to a less er degree.

At the m ost b asic level, e nergy sys tems rep resen t th e body’ s
ability to conv ert chemical ener gy stored i n food int o mechanical
work. Wh en discussing energ y s ystems, we are t alking about
how and in what manner AT P is produced. This i s because for a
muscle c ontraction to occ ur, AT P i s requir ed. The greater the
amount of AT P s upplied to working m uscl es, the longer the
muscles can w ork . Conver sely, t he less ATP , the sho rter the
exercise sessi on will be.

This relates to the two primary wa ys ATP is produc ed. If oxygen is

not utilized, then AT P will be p r oduced anaerobi cally, and if
oxygen is utili zed , then AT P wil l be produ ced a er obically . Whe n
ATP is pr oduc ed anaero bically , it does n ot elicit a high nu mber of
ATP mol ecules fo r the wor king muscles to use a s e nergy. H owev er,
it can pr oduce a lot of energy for a short period. Wh en ATP i s
produc ed aer obi c ally, many mor e ATP mol ecules ar e produced
compar ed wit h th e amount produc ed anaerobic ally. This all ows
exercise to continue for m uch l onger befor e fati gue occurs.
Endura nce s ports such as runni ng are prim arily aerobic activi ties.

While AT P lev els fluctua t e bas ed o n the int ensit y of exercise, the
levels of ATP never get t o levels that would be considered
danger ously l ow ( 561). W hile it i s t heorized that muscle can matc h
ATP pro ducti on and cons umpti on, ATP lev els are not stabl e duri ng
exercise, especially d uring high -int ensity b outs ( 560).

Cells

The bo dy’s cells t ake in r aw mat eri al (nutri ents fr om food) and
convert them i nto energy. The mac ro view of how thi s process
occurs is as follows (509) :

1. Nutrients are broken down within cells

2. ATP is f ormed
3. When neede d, AT P is brok en down. This br eakdown, or
catabolism of AT P, creates usable energy for the cell.

Bioenergetics

Adenos ine tri phosphate ( ATP) i s c reated by combining adenosin e

diphos phate (AD P) and i norga nic phosphate (Pi). This
process consum es ener gy. T he process of addi ng a phos phate
group is called “ phosphor ylatio n .”

The che mical bond between A DP and Pi st ores e ner gy, and whe n
the enz yme A TPase breaks this bond, energy is released for
muscula r contr ac tion.

In the m uscle cell s, only e nou gh A TP is stor ed fo r about 15sec o f

moderat e exercis e or under 2s ec of maximal exer cis e (913).
Furthermore, AT P is highly protected – w hich m eans that o ur bo dy
aims to maintain ATP concentr ations, even duri ng s trenuous
exercise. As s uch, the continuous creation of A T P during ex ercise
is critical (914).
Anaerobic Lactic: ATP-PC System

The fastest way to create ATP is through the Phosphocreatine

system. This is b ecause it’s a one -step pr ocess, where the
phosph ate of pho sphocreatine (PC r) is donated t o A DP to cr eate
ATP an d creatine.

The ph osphorylat ion of A DP wit h phosphocreati ne ( PCr) through

creatine kinase provides r apid AT P upon initiati on of exer cise and
up to 1 0 sec onds of maxi mal ex erc ise intensity (913). This sy stem
is comm only referred to as the Phosphagen sy stem .

Anaerobic Lactic: Glycolysis

The sec ond ener gy system, gly col ysis, is al so an anaerobi c

process. While it’ s not as quick as the breakdow n of
phosph ocreatine, it is still a reas onably quick pr ocess compared t o
aerobic metabolis m. As such, gl ycolysis w ill be the s econd s ystem
that will kick in w hen ex ercise i s in itiated a nd wil l pr ovide e nough
energy f or 60 - 90s ec of ver y intens e exerci se bef ore exhaus tion
(914). Gl ycolys is involves either the break down of glucose fr om th e
blood o r glyc ogen from the musc l es (term ed gly cogenolys is), an d it
ends wit h the for mation of pyr uvat e and 2 -3 AT P. P yruvate will
enter th e mitochondria a nd contribute to oxidati ve phosphorylatio n
if oxygen is present or will be converted to lactate in the absence
of oxyg en. This s ystem is comm only referred to as t he Glyc olytic
system.

Glycolysi s invo lv es 8 rea ctions an d glyco genol ysis involves 9

reaction s, but the simplified form ul as are:

Glycoge n + 3ADP +2NAD + ⟶ 2 pyruvate + 3ATP +2N ADH

Glucose + 2 ADP + 2NAD + ⟶ 2 py ruvate + 2AT P + 2NA DH

The con version o f pyruvat e to l act ate is a very si mple reacti on

catalyzed by lact ate dehydrogenase that looks like this:
The formation of lactate is extreme ly important as it frees up the
electron acceptor NAD + , whic h is r equired for fur ther glycoly si s an d
allows A TP to co ntinue t o be f orm ed des pite th e la ck of oxy gen.
Lactate can be c onverte d to p yruv ate and then tran sformed back
into glucose in the liver. This recy cling of l actate is called t he Cori
cycle.

The formation of lactate (step 6 – below di a gram) do es not

necess arily oc cur becaus e of an absence of ox ygen but rat her
without a substantial utilization of it. This is an important
distincti on becau se the l ack of oxy gen is n ot re quire d to form
lactate ( 139).

1. Glycogen is c onv erted int o glucos e via a proces s

called glycogenol ysis (33).
2. Through the proc ess of gl ycolys is, glucos e is converted into
pyruvat e.
3. Lactate is for med from pyr uvate and hydro gen i ons i f aerobi c
respirati on cannot keep up wit h py ruvate produc tion.
4. Lactate is co nver ted to pyruvat e and then to gl ucos e in the
liver. The glucose is then shuttled back to the muscles via the
blood t o be used for ener gy.
5. The glucose i n th e muscl es is c onverted back t o py ruvate,
then lac tate.

Steps 3 , 4, and 5 in the proces s noted below ar e cy clic al and

called the Cor i C ycle.
The bel ow di agram repres ents t he Cori Cycl e an d is representativ e
of steps 3, 4, and 5 in the diag ram above.

The vid eo bel ow by physi ologi st Al exandr a Coat es discusses

energy system s.

[There is a Vi deo here. Vi deos cannot be v iewed fro m this P DF. To

View Vi deo C ontent, please ref er t o the online Cour se]

Aerobic: Oxidative Phosphorylation

Aerobic prod uctio n of AT P occu rs i nside th e mito cho ndria. It

involves the Krebs cycle and the electron tr ansport chain to
produc e ~32 ATP molecul es per one molecule of gl ucose or ~13 0
ATP mol ecules per one molec ule of the f atty aci d palmitate. As y ou
can see , aer obic metabol ism cr eat es a lot of AT P. S till, as m any
reaction s are i nv olved, it takes some time f or the a erobic energ y
system to take ov er when exercise is initiat ed. This i s why it takes
about 1 -3 minutes before oxygen consum ption will reach a steady
state when exerci se is initi ated at a given load. In the meantime,
the ana erobi c sys tems mentioned previously will cr eate the ATP
require d to p erfor m that exercis e. This syst em is commonly
referred to as the aerobic , aerobic pathway, or o xida tive syst em.
To begi n, the Krebs cycle (also ter med citri c acid cy cle or
tricarbox ylic ac id cycle) is i nitiat ed by a mo lecul e of acetyl-C oA,
which will come from either a) pyr uvate w hich breaks down to for m
acetyl-C oA and C O 2 b) bet a-oxi dati on whic h transfor ms fatty acids
from fat cells o r muscle f at stor es to acet yl-CoA or c) the
transfor mation of protein ( amin o ac ids) into acetyl -C oA (only 2 -15 %
of ener gy duri ng exercise comes fr om prot ein) (3) .

The Krebs Cycle

Once ac etyl -C oA is available, t he Krebs cy cle wil l b egin. The

primary mecha nis m of energy production i n the Krebs cycle is
through the r elease of hy drogen ions whic h are acc ept ed by the
electron acceptor s NAD + and FAD t o create NAD H and FAD H. As
seen b elow, with each tur n of t he Krebs cy cle, t hree molec ules o f
NADH a nd tw o m olecules of F ADH will be f ormed. T hese el ectron
accepto r molecul es will then m ove to the electron tr ansport chain
to relea se th eir h ydroge n ions and power f urther AT P produ ction.
For every pair of electrons passed through the electron transport
chain from NA DH , enough energy i s available to for m 2.5 ATP
molecul es. For every electron pas sed through t he electron
transpor t chai n fr om FAD H, 1.5 AT P molec ules a re f ormed. I n
additio n to th e pr oduction of N AD H and F ADH, t he Krebs cy cle al so
directly produ ces one GT P mol ecule, whic h is us ed to creat e ATP,
resultin g in one A TP molecule per cycle. O ne gl ucose mol ecule w ill
be brok en int o tw o pyruv ate m olec ules, he nce t wo a cetyl -CoA
molecul es. Therefore, one glucose molecul e will alw ays turn the
Krebs cy cle twi ce (915).
The Electron Transport Chain: Oxidative Phosphorylation

This final step in aerobic metabolism is most rewar di ng.

Essenti ally, th e electron c arriers N ADH and FAD H p roduced from
glycolysi s, an d th e Krebs cycle will release their ele ctrons to a
series of electron carriers called c ytochromes. As t he electrons are
passed down the cytochrome chain, energy is rel eas ed to
phosph orylat e AD P to AT P. At t he end of t he el ectron transport
chain, oxygen accepts the electro ns and combi nes with hydrogen
to form w ater. As such, if oxyg en wasn’t t here t o a ccept th e
electron s, the electron transpor t chain would stop w or king – whic h
occurs during high -intens ity ex erci se whe n the dem and for ATP
exceed s the speed at whi ch ox ygen can b e deli vered and accept
the elec trons (91 5).

As menti oned ab ove, ~3 2 ATP mo lecules are for me d per o ne

molecul e of gl ucose and ~130 ATP molec ul es per one molecule of
the fatty acid pal mitate (9 15). As such, it would se em as th oug h
fatty aci ds are th e ideal f uel s ourc e for cre ating a l ot of AT P! Thi s
is undo ubtedly tr ue. How ever, the metabol ism of fat ty acids also
requires more ox ygen (23 O 2 m olecules for one pal mitate) t han t he
breakd own of glucose (6 O 2 mol ec ules for one gluc ose). Thi s
explain s why we cannot conti nue t o burn f at at high intensiti es of
exercise, as w e c annot deliver that much oxygen at those
intensiti es (915).
Duration of Energy Systems

The following graph depi cts the three ener gy system s and their
contribution of total energy-related to the duration of exertion. As
noted p reviously, while all three sy stems st art sim ult aneous ly,
typically, only on e predo mina nt sy stem pro vides en ergy at any
given ti me (39 ). F or exam ple, re gar dless of how i ntense an
exercise level is, some amount s of ATP are alway s g enerated
aerobic ally (oxida tive phosphor ylati on) (53 8).

The Wingate t est (WAT) is a specif ic exam ple of how the dif feren t
energy system s c ontribut e to a n ex ercise bout. T he WAT is a 30 -
second maxim al effort cy cling ass essment desi gned to ass ess a n
individual’s anaerobic fitness capacity. At l east 20 -30 percent of
the ene rgy ut ilized during the WAT comes fr om aerobic sour ces
(558). T his sh ow s that a seemi ngl y purely anaerobi c activity such
as the W AT h as a n aerob ic com ponent.

Below is a ch art t hat den otes t he c ontributi on fro m t he vario us

energy system s f rom a w ork tim e perspec tive.

An anal ogy t hat describes how energy systems beha ve seq uential ly
is a car with an automatic transmis sion. For this analogy, the car
has thre e gears.

• First Gear (Phos phagen): quick accelerati on b ut to ps out

quickly
• Second Gear (Gl ycolytic): medium -range gear; can be dri ven
at high spee ds b ut can o nly g o so fast bef ore it bur ns out
 • T hird Gear (O xid ative): l ong-range gear where the car is
most effi cient; sl ow to ac celer ate but is b uilt to l ast for long
hauls.

While a naerobic energy sourc es are used quickl y, t hey can pow er
far great er ma xim al efforts than th e aerobic energy system. I n a
VO2max test, an individu al might t op out at 35 0W – the max imum
power t hey can achieve aerobi call y. However, that same individu al
(with the same m uscles) c an hit a peak power of ov er 1000 W in a
30s Win gate. Thi s implies that t he anaerobic energy system s are
highly e ffectiv e f or a sho rt peri od.

Fuel Sources

Glucose in the bl oodstream (pl as ma gluc ose) c an be used for

immediate en ergy or stored in t he l iver and muscl es as glycogen.
When the gly cogen stores are call ed upon to provide energy, the
glycoge n is c onv erted to gluc ose ( 29). Plasma (blood) glucose
typically stores 2 0 kcal of gluc ose or less. Comp are this with liver
glycoge n stor es, which range fr om 350‒650* kc al, a nd leg muscle
glycoge n stor es, which v ary from 1,250‒2, 270* kc al (based on
70kg b ody w eight ), and it i s eas y t o see that pl asm a glucose, wh ile
technic ally a c arbohydrat e reservoi r, is largely negli gible (705).

Glucose

Like mo st aspect s of phy siology, r egulati ng blood glucose

(additio nally t erm ed: plas ma gl ucose, bloo d sugar) i s a series of
checks and balan ces that looks to maintai n hom eost asis.

The primary play ers involved in m aintaining blood glucose

homeos tasis are insulin and gl ucagon . Insulin i s a hormon e tha t
is produced in the pancr eas. When blood g luc ose l evels g et too
high, in sulin r educes blo od glu cos e conce ntrati on by facilitat ing t he
uptake of blood glucose i nto sk elet al muscl e and fat . As a result,
fat is no t use d as an energy s ourc e.

Convers ely, w hen blood glucos e levels fall t oo low, glucagon , a

hormon e also produced i n the pancreas, facilitat es the incr ease i n
blood g lucos e lev el by converti ng glycogen in t he li ver to gl ucose ,
which is then released int o the bloodstream. Blood glucose levels
are also increased by ingesting carbohydr ates.
Below is a mor e detailed illustr ati on of the relationship bet ween
insulin and gl ucagon.
Implications For Runners

Maintai ning s ome degree of bl ood glucose/glycogen is requir ed to

not run out of energy (i.e. , hit t he wall). While bl ood glucose is n ot
viewed as a s ubs tantial energy res ervoir, ingesti ng carbohy drate s
while running can increase endurance by i ncreasing the per centage
of fuel c ontrib uted by blo od gl ucos e as op pose d to stored g lycog en
(707, 7 08). T his of cours e is cri tic al to runners. Due to the du rat ion
of many runni ng r aces, ingesting c arbohy drates consistently while
running is a necessity if running o ver 90 m inutes.

Carbohydrates must be ingested well b efore on e’s suspected

point of f atigue due to glycogen depletion (appro ximately 30
minutes) . Inter es tingly, s o long as the car bohy drates are
consum ed at l eas t 30 minutes prior to fatigue set ting in, the exact
time the y are i ng ested mi d-rac e has little i nfluence on their
effective ness (70 9).

Being in “good ” aerobic conditio n correlates with the body’ s

ability to utiliz e fat as an energy source more eff iciently. This
reduces an indivi dual’s r elianc e on carbohydrates as a fuel sourc e,
thus pre servin g more car bohy drat es to us e as f uel at a late r time
and/or at greater exercise intensiti es.

Muscle Glycogen Storage

As note d previously, glyc ogen i s primarily st ored i n the liver and

the mus cles. Bet ween the two, more glyco gen is st ored in t he
muscle s ver sus the liver .

While th e liver si ze of individuals i s typicall y the same

(approxi matel y 2. 5 percent of t ot al body m ass) ( 714), the leg
muscle mass o f i ndividuals var ies substantially ( 18‒22.5 percent in
women, 14‒27.5 percent in men) ( 711‒713). A s a r esult, m uscle
glycoge n stor age capacit y bet wee n indivi duals will vary
significantly based on their leg mu scle m as s (705, 706).

Glycolytic and Oxidative Relationship

While th e afor em entioned aut omat ic transm ission analogy i dentif ies
glycolyti c and oxi dative e nergy sys tems as two s eparately
occurrin g phases , they c o -occur, a s noted in the foll owing c hart.
While m ost of t he energy sourc e is based on the int ensity of the
exercise, even at low intensities, glycogen is still an energy
source.

As much more AT P is generated fr om fat t han fr om carbohy drate s,

it would be great if fat co uld be the sole en ergy source and save
the carb ohydr ate (glycog en) sto res for whe n the y ar e needed.
However , varyi ng amount s of glycogen are always ut ilized for
energy ( 705).

I n t e n s i t y - B a s e d F u el S o u r c e s

The following chart demonstrates the fuel source (fat,

carbohy drate) based on t he intens ity of ex ercise in relation to
one’s V O2 m ax. This illus trates that at all aerobic exercise
intensity levels, both fat and carbohydrates are energy sources in
varying percentages based on the intensity level (7 05).

Fatty Acids

An impo rtant aspect of the body’s energy produ ction is the use o f
fat for e nergy. The primar y locat ion for fat storage i s adipose
tissue (i. e., b ody fat) withi n the body. Most adipose tissue used f or
energy i s call ed s ubcutaneous fat ( below t he ski n). This is not to
be conf used with visceral f at, w hic h is fat l ocated in the intr a -
abdomi nal cavity, also known as abdominal fat.

Adipos e tissue is compos ed of adi pocytes or fat cells. Adipocytes

are whe re trigl yc erides are stor ed and synthesiz ed. Triglyceri des
are com pounds c ontaini ng gly cerol and fre e fatty aci ds. Glyc erol is
a chemi cal compound that is t he primary chemical s upport
structure of trigly cerides ( 37). Gly cerol and free fatty acids are the
element s cataboli zed (broken down) by the body for energy.
Glycerol is bro ke n down anaerobic ally thro ugh glyco lysis, wh ereas
fatty aci ds are catabolized through beta-oxi dation . During beta -
oxidatio n, fatt y a cid is converte d i nto acet yl-CoA and then enters
the Kre bs cycl e t o be oxi dized.

Interesti ngly, ske letal mu scle al so stores fa t (call ed intramus cular

triglyceri des), an d highly -trained a t hletes have mor e of these fat
stores than untrai ned individu als. Intramuscular fat stores provide
faster e nergy tha n releas ing fa t fr om adip ose ti ssu e.

Physiological Response to Aerobic Training

As a run ning coa ch, it is i mport ant to und erstan d th e physi ologic al
effects of aer obic training on a n in dividual . Belo w a re physi ologic al
adaptat ions t hat occur as a res ult of aerobic ex erci se (36):

• Decreas e in r esti ng hear t rate

• Increas e in str ok e volum e
• Greater capa city to use f at as f uel
• Less reli ance upon blood gluc ose f or fuel
• Increas e in capill ary density
• Increas e in mit oc hondrial density
The first two adaptations are cycli cal, as an increase in stroke
volume decreases resting hear t rate. An i ncreas e in stroke v olume
means t he heart i s pumpi ng more blood per stroke, thereby
increasing its efficiency. Because more blood is pumped per
stroke, the absol ute number of str okes is reduced, lowering the
resting heart r ate.

Capillari es can increase in numb er and size in areas where

addition al bloo d supply ( i. e., o xygen) is n eeded. Becaus e of t he
oxygen requir em ents of endur anc e athlet es, w ell -tr ained a thlete s
have a much greater capillary density than non - acti ve indivi duals .
Capillaries grouped toge ther are called a capill ary bed (38).

The gre ater t he c apillar ies, the lar ger and dens er th e capill ary be d
is. As th e capi llary bed b ecom es larger, t he oxyg en suppl y to
muscle s incr eases because of th e increased bloo d flow. A s
noted p reviously, a runner would have a m uch g reat er capill ary
density i n the leg s versus t he arm s. For most runners, the ar ms
would h ave a sim ilar capill ary density to a non - endurance athlet e.

Another adaptati on of aerobic trai ning tak es pl ace on a cel lular

level and is represented by an increase in mitocho ndrial
density. Mitocho ndria ar e the s tructures wi thin c ell s that
produc e aden osi ne tripho sphat e ( ATP). B ecaus e of increas ed
mitocho ndria, wel l -trained skeletal muscle ( such as r unners) has
an incre ased cap acity to gener ate ATP aer obical ly r elative t o no n -
trained skelet al muscle.

Signs of Being Aerobically Deconditioned

Decond itione d individual s typic all y prese nt with some or all of th e

followin g phy siol ogical e ffects, as compar ed wit h t hose w ho are
aerobic ally condit ioned:

• Higher heart r ate at rest and w hile exercising at l ow to

moderat e i ntensit ies
• Until VT/LT is reached, o ne’s RPE is often l ow in relation
to the heart r ate. Once VT /LT is re ached, t he R PE
typically eleva tes rapidly.
• Heart rate at moderate int ensity is at a similar level to
someone who is aerobic ally condit ioned at a hi gh
intensity .
• Slow heart rat e r ecovery
Effects of Intense Exercise

Runner s who strenuously exert themselves for long periods risk

encoun tering one or all thr ee of the followi ng iss ues: glycogen
depleti on , ox ygen debt, and becom ing “out of br eath .” The commo n
theme a mong the se three things is that th ey are all the result of
intense exercise. Additionally, all of these things relate to being
fatigue d. Mus cle fatigue i s a gener al term t hat regar ding running
equate s to a reduction in t he force that a r unner generates.

Glycogen Depletion

Glycogen depl et ion is a t echni cal term for hitting t he

wall, bo nking, or blowing up … get the pict ure? I f you are an
endura nce at hlet e, you have probably ex perienced glycogen
depleti on at som e point, and i f so, you als o know w hy it is
termed h itting t h e wall . T his is because g lycogen depletion feels
like you ran into a wall and are stopped dead in your tracks.

Glycogen depl et ion occu rs wh en the muscles an d liver are

empty of all gl ycogen, an d the b ody must rely so lely on f at f or
energy. While individual s can continue, they m ust do so at a mu ch
lower intensity rate. The r eason for this is that converting fa t to
use as an energy source r equir es a subst antial amount of oxyge n
and thu s occ urs at a relatively l ow -intensity level.
Rapop ort’s 2010 study (running -specific) noted t hat many ex ercise
physiol ogy resour ces infer that bec ause of insuff icient glycogen
stores, hitting the wall duri ng a ma rathon is inevi table unless a
runner’s glycogen stores are f ull b ecause of car boh ydrate l oa din g
(705). H owev er, what Rapoport found was that many factors play
into on e’s abi lity to compl ete a marathon r egarding glycogen
reserves , such as :

1. Muscle mass d ist ribution

2. Liver and mus cle glycogen density
3. Running speed

While ev en the leanest runners have enough non -essential fat to

run nea r -endl ess distanc es, the pr imary p erfor man ce limit er is
carbohydrates ( glycogen) and, more sp ecifi call y, their
relatively small reserves compar ed with f at (70 5) . This is an
issue as runners utilize substantia l carboh ydrate res erves.

General ly speaki ng, the more aer obically condi ti oned run ners
are, the more eff icient th ey ar e at utilizing fat in stead of
glycogen for en ergy. C onvers ely , less ae robic ally conditioned
athletes are more reliant on gly cog en. The aver age male has abo ut
90,000 ‒110, 000 kcal of energy from fat res erves (1 gram of f at ha s
9 kcal of ener gy). In contr ast, t he c arbohy drate ener gy (glyc ogen)
reserve i s less than 2,000 kcal in a non -c arbohydrate -loaded sta te
(302). T his demonstrates that untr ai ned i ndividuals who rely on
glycoge n as an energy s ource will find that they cannot exer cise
for very l ong at a medium to hi gh i ntensity befor e ru nning o ut of
energy. As a n analogy, t hink of burning a piece of paper ver sus a
wood lo g. The pi ece of paper ca tc hes fire i mmediat ely but burns
out quic kly. T he l og, how ever, bur ns for q uite a whi le. In thi s
analog y, the piec e of paper is glyc ogen, a nd the wood is fat .

As menti oned ear lier, the l iver a nd muscles are t he two prim ary
locations where glycogen is store d. While the glyc ogen
concent ration in t he liver i s higher than in muscl es, the abso lute
amount o f glyc o gen stor ed in t h e muscl es is 75 percent vers us
25 perc ent in th e liver ( 41). If gl ycogen were utili zed as t he sole
energy sourc e, a n athlet e would be ab le t o rac e for approxi matel y
two hou rs bef ore total gly coge n depletion occurs , dependi ng on the
intensity level. H owever, if a runner started with low glycogen
levels, the time to deple tion would be less.
Using fat as the primary energy source instead of g l ycogen is
importa nt bec aus e an en durance a thlete needs an energy reserve.
This reserve is gl ycogen, and if it is used up due to an athlete’s
inefficiency in using fat as fuel, the athlete’ s perform ance will
decreas e sub stantially.

As glyco gen depl etion re quires a r unner t o slow do wn or st op, thi s

is often viewed as catastr ophic from a performance standpoint. As
a result, proper pacing d uring a long eve nt, suc h as a 20 -mil e run,
is critical to mini mizing the chance of hitti ng the w all .

Many fa ctors are invo lved in human perfor manc e concerning not
ending up in a gl ycogen - depl eted state. T hese f act ors are nutritio n
(carboh ydrate loading and pre - race fueling) , paci ng, and other
related r isk fac tor s. These areas ar e discus sed i n the Sports
Nutrition and Pac ing modules, r es pectivel y.

Approxi mately tw o in five runners report hi tting t he wall duri ng a

maratho n and 1 -2 percent drop out before finishi ng ( 705).

Glycogen Depletion Training (GDT)

Low gly cogen is t ypically viewed as a bad thing in endurance

sports, as it repr esents r unning low on energy and moving closer to
the dre aded bonk . Howev er, a tr ai ning pr actice call ed glyc ogen
depleti on trai ning (GDT) has indi vi duals perform ph ysical training
session s in a gly cogen - deplet ed s tate (no glycogen before or
during activity) .

The pur ported benefit of GDT is to reduce the b ody’ s relianc e on

glycoge n by maki ng it mor e effi cient at utili zing f at as a fuel
source.

While th ere is not much researc h i n this ar ea, a study by V an

Proeye n et al . found that indi viduals w ho perfor med GDT had
increas ed fat utili zation o ver a group that i nges ted a carbohydrat e -
rich bre akfast. Additionall y, the GD T group had i ncreased enzyme s
associat ed wit h f at meta bolism, w hile the non - GDT group did no t
(643). It shoul d be noted that t he no n-GDT group di d not show
increas ed per for mance over t he G DT group.

T raining in a gl ycogen -d epleted state st ress es t he body. As a

result, G DT shoul d not be undertak en regularly as it is likely t hat
the rep eated stress will decreas e overall energy an d perfor manc e.
GDT should b e used spa ringly and solely during trai ning, not in
competition.

Lastly, a s the pur ported benefi t of GDT is to incre as e the b ody’s

efficienc y of u tiliz ing oxy gen as an energy sourc e, G DT is mor e
applica ble to long -distanc e races. For sho rt er ev ent s such as
criterium s, it can be theorized that GDT wo uld not have a
substan tial benefi t, as glyc ogen plays a mor e signific ant role in
providin g en ergy for thes e races (644).

GDT is m ost oft e n imple mente d by athlete s with a h istory of

bonkin g late i n a race.

It is advi sed t hat when p erformi ng GDT, run ners t rai n on a

relatively short c ourse s o that if and whe n they bonk, they are no t
too far fr om h om e or clos e to a so urce (i.e. , a re sta urant) w here
they ca n refu el. Carrying emer gency glyc ogen suc h a s a gel or
carbohy drate drink is strongly recommended.

The Science / Reasoning Behind GDT

The stress of GD T increases the activity and amount of a pr otein

(PGC-1á) resp onsible for increasi ng fat oxidati on and production of
mitocho ndria ( 64 5).

Oxygen Debt
Anyone who has exercised at a hi gh degr ee of intensity has
experie nced oxygen debt . Oxy gen debt is most often characterize d
by heav y breathi ng after an in tens e exerci se bo ut ends.

T he definition o f oxygen debt i s the differ ence b etween oxyg en

consum ption at rest and an el evated oxygen con sumption rate
following an exercise bout. When an exer cise s ess ion ends, the
level of oxygen consumption does not immediately r eturn to a
resting baseli ne. There is a slow r eturn to this b aseline lev el.
Oxygen debt is ind icative of this return to a baseline.

Perhap s the best way to t hink o f ox ygen debt is i n terms of a credit

card. If you use y our credit card to purchase an ite m, you have
accrued debt and owe thi s amount to the cr edit c ard company. Yo u
have a zero balance onc e you hav e paid t he cr edit card in f ull. Thi s
is analogous to oxygen debt because one must repay the ox ygen
used u ntil th e body retur ns to a zero basel ine.

The rep ayment of oxygen is ter med exces s post -ex ercise oxygen
consum ption , commonly r eferred t o as EP OC. E PO C repres ents t he
intake o f oxygen after ex ercise ceases. EPOC aims to redu ce and
eliminat e the oxy gen debt, thus ret urning t he body t o normal (non -
exercisin g) ox ygen levels. EPO C occurs wit h bot h aerobic and
anaero bic ex ercis e. The higher the intensity level of exercise is,
the gre ater th e oxygen d ebt and E POC (42).

The rea son w hy high -intensity tr aining that is prim ari ly anaer obic
also trai ns the aerobic energy s yst em is due to EPO C. The
oxidativ e energy system ( aerobi c) works very har d t o bri ng an
individual back to baseline after intense anaerobic work. This is
primarily why hi gh -intens ity, int erv al -based training increas es bot h
anaero bic and aerobic fitness level s.

Studies have sho wn that while the oxygen level con sumed at rest
(i.e., the ba seline) is similar betw een trained and untrained
individuals, aero bically t rained i ndividuals ret ur n to baseline
faster th an unt r ained in dividu al s. This is bec aus e untrai ned
individuals rely m ore on anaerobic energy systems during
strenuo us ex ercis e than t rained individuals, and t her efore the
resultin g oxygen debt is higher .

Three areas that oxygen debt addresses when “repaying” debt is

(120):

1. Oxidizin g lact ate

2. Supplyi ng the demands of an i ncr eased metab olic rate
3. Repleni shing high -energy phosphate stor es
1. Refer to First E nergy Sys tem: Phosphage n

‘Out Of Breath’

From a postural standpoi nt, positions can decrease or increase the

lungs’ ability to get a full breath. However, it is interesting t hat
studies have shown little differenc e between sedentary and tra ine d
individuals’ pulm onary fu nction (43). Two areas of pulmonary
function are t otal lung capacity ( T LC) and forced vital
capacit y (FVC ). TLC represents the largest volum e of air the lungs
can hol d, and the FVC represen ts t he largest am ount of air t hat
can be expell ed a fter taking a deep breath. So, if pul monary
function is no t su bstantia lly incr ea sed with traini ng, why do peo ple
who are de conditi oned becom e “out of breath” faster than those
who are aerobically well tr ained?

The maj or limiti ng factor i n ex erci se is car diac outp ut (44). Cardia c
output pertai ns to the vol ume of bl ood pu mped out of the heart i n
one min ute. T her e are tw o way s th at cardi ac out put can be
increas ed:

1. Increas e in heart rate

2. Increas e in str ok e volum e (the am ount of blood pumped out of
the heart with each strok e).

Aerobic ally condi tioned i ndividuals have a high er cardiac output

than ae robic ally deconditioned individuals and are t herefor e able to
supply more oxygen to their working muscl es than those who are
aerobic ally deconditione d. T herefo re, the p rimar y r eason a
deconditioned i ndividual gets o ut of breath fast er than
someon e who is aerobically cond itioned i s that t h eir body does
not utilize oxyge n for energy effi ciently (43).

Being o ut of breath usual ly coi ncides with i ncreased and rel atively
shallow breathing. Untrained indivi duals who exerci se often do not
have o ptimal oxy gen del ivery t o the muscl es bec ause of
inadeq uate c ardi ac outp ut. The body natur ally looks to compensa te
for this l ack of ox ygen by incre asin g the number of b reaths t aken
to impro ve th e ox ygen sa turati on o f the blo od. T his i ncrease in
respirati on rat e is what m ost peopl e rela te to being out of
breath. T he po in t where a per son becom es out of breath i s also
called t he ventil atory thr eshol d (VT ). It is import a nt to note tha t
anyone who exer cises at high i ntensity can experience bei ng ou t of
breath, r egar dles s of their conditionin g lev el. Howev er, aerobically
conditioned indivi duals wil l reac h this level much lat er than those
who are aerobically deconditioned.

Summary
• The body produc es subst antial ly more AT P aer obi cally than
anaerobically .
• The Cori cycle is the proc ess by w hich the body produces
ATP anaerobi call y.
• The three energy systems
are phosphagen , glycolyti c, and ox idative .
• The body stor es only a s mall amount of A TP at any given
time. Th erefor e, ATP mus t be c ont inually r egenerat ed on a
cellular l evel.
• Aerobic traini ng r esults in both inc reased mitochond rial and
capillary density.
• Fat yields mor e ATP generation than glucose.
• Lactate thres hold (LT) is represent ative of the level at which
blood l actate acc umulates in the bloodstream. T his occurs
when lactate production exceeds l a ctate clearing.
• Therefore, other measures (i.e., lactate thr eshold) are often
used to infer AnT .
• The two main circ ulatory systems i n the body are:
• Pulmonary
• Systemic
• Red blood cells c arry oxy gen t o the body
• The sinoatrial node (SA node) is t he body’s na tur al
pacemaker
• Diaphragmati c br eathing is benefic ial over chest breathing
• Insulin and gl uca gon wor k tog ethe r to main tain hom eostasis
• Glycogen depleti on occurs when t he musc les a nd li ver are
empty of all gl ycogen.
• The definition of oxygen debt is the difference betw een
oxygen cons umpt ion at rest and an elevated rat e of oxygen
consum ption after an exercise bout
• Hypoxic training i s done t o incr eas e one’s red bl ood cells.
This results in the body being able to deli ver m ore oxygen to
working muscles
• An aerobicall y trained individual wi ll reduc e oxygen debt
faster th an so me one wh o is a erobi cally de condit ion ed
• Cardiac output is the prim ary factor in an individual’s being
“out of breath,” n ot pulm onary function
• Aerobic ally deconditioned individuals often hav e el evated
heart rat es and sl ow hear t rate rec overy tim es
• An anaerobic stat e does not m ean a lack of oxygen but rath er
the lack of ox yge n utilizat ion
Module 5: Environmental Physiology

Many of the a thletes that you w ill work wit h train and race i n a
variety of environmental conditions such as extreme heat, cold and
high alti tude. Und erstandi ng how t hese co nditio ns a ffect
individuals will help you prepare your athl etes as best as p ossible
in both training and racing scenarios.

Altitude
History of Altitude Acclimation

Altitude traini ng became a ho t top ic after t he 19 68 Olympics in

Mexico City, M exi co. Most enduran ce events had subpar
perform ances, an d most s print and other a naer obic events had
record-breaki ng ti mes (50, 52).

Mexico City sits at 7,350 f eet abov e sea level (450). High -alti tude
training is defi ne d as trai ning at al titudes of 5,0 00 f eet or a bove.
When researc hing the 1 968 G ames was that be cause of
the decr ease in p artial pr essure of oxygen, it’s a lot harder t o get
the oxy gen both i nto the l ungs and from the lung s in to the
circulatory syst e m – whic h limit ed perform ance i n endurance
events. While par ticipants of a naer obic ev ents (e .g., sprints) were
subject ed to t he same decreas e in partial pressure of oxygen, it did
not imp act th em as much s ince their reliance on ox ygen w as
minimal given the anaerobic nature of their event (s).

It was d etermi ne d that anaer obic athletes brok e so many re cords

becaus e the air w as less dense at a higher altitude t han at s ea
level, and therefore, there was l es s air resi stanc e, l eading to fas ter
times. Th e 19 68 Games were t he catalyst i n det er mining w hat
physiol ogicall y oc curs in t he body at altitude and how it can be
exploite d to enhance hu man p erfor mance ( 50).

Physiology of Altitude Acclimation

If you h aven’t sai d it, you’ ve pr oba bly hear d it, “T here’s no air up
here!” B ut is t hat really th e cas e? I t turns out that even as y ou g o
up in el evatio n, s ay from s ea le vel to the t op of Pik es Peak (14, 115
feet), th e gases t hat make up t he air arou nd you r emain th e
same, 20.93% ox ygen (O 2), 0. 03% carbon dioxi de ( CO2), and
79.04% nitrogen) . So, why do y ou feel so t errible if there is n’t “les s
oxygen” ? Well , it turns out that as you go up in elev ation, there is a
decreas e in parti al press ure of ox ygen, and your lungs rely on th at
partial p ressur e gradient f or inhalation and exhalati on. Additiona lly,
that pre ssure gra dient al so infl uen ces gas exch ang e betwe en y our
alveoli and c apill ary bed s (873 ). S o, while t here is not less
oxygen, it’s a lo t harder to get t he ox yg en bot h i nto your lungs
and from your lu ngs into your cir culatory syst em (and to your
working musc le s, brain, etc.).

So how does your body adapt to not only s urvive but thrive at
different elev ations? When you arr ive at hi gher elev ations, y our
body m ust under go a ser ies of ad aptations incr edi bly quic kly to
counter your sudden decreas ed ability to transport oxygen
efficientl y (rem ember th e pres sur e gradi ent fro m a bove?). Some of
these a dapt ations take pl ace v ery quickly, within the first 24 hour s
at altitu de, w hile others m ay take as long as several weeks t o fully
develo p. So what are these changes?

Immediately y our body tri es to arti ficially boost t he density of yo ur

red blo od cell s through a proc ess known as haemo concent ration .
This temporarily boosts your hematocrit to t ransport oxygen more
effective ly unt il y our bod y can pro duce m ore re d bl ood cell s to h elp
(874, 8 75). T his process, how ever , decreases y our blood plasma
volume by 10 - 25%. T his is wh y your hear t rate is general ly
elevate d when you initiall y travel to altitu de. Thi nk abo ut it,
cardiac output (Q ) = heart rate x st roke volume – and if your bloo d
volume decreases (stroke volum e) , your heart rate has to i ncreas e
to keep cardi ac o utput st able. T his is generally wh y athlet es
common ly feel w orst bet ween 24 to 72 ho urs aft er arriving at
altitude.

From the respiratory side, something occurs call ed a Hypox ic

Ventilat or Res po nse. At altitude, becaus e ther e is a decrease in O2
coming into your bloodstream ( again, remember t he issue wit h the
pressur e gradi ent above ?), your ventilation rate and depth of
breathi ng incr eas e. This u ltimat ely shifts your pH balance, and if
we kno w anyt hing about t he human body, it’ s that it l ikes to
operate in pr etty finite wi ndows . T his shift i n blood pH caus es yo ur
kidneys to get inv olved, primaril y v ia fluid balance fr om increased
urinatio n, to bring you back into equilibrium. Thi s hypoxia -i nduc ed
pH shift does one more im porta nt t hing; it tr igger s t he rele ase of
more ery thropoiet in (EPO) (876) . Y ou might be t hink ing, EP O like
the illicit drug ? W ell, yes, howe ver, EPO is also n atu rally pro duce d
to help stimul ate the pro ductio n of red blo od cell s. T his proc ess,
called e rythropoi esis , tak es at l ea st one w eek but as many as two
to three week s to allow re d blo od c ells to m ature an d become full y
function al. T hese long -ter m cha n ges ulti matel y lead to an
expand ed bloo d plasma volu me and increased hematocrit and
hemoglo bin. T he ability t o carry m ore oxy gen is the primary
physiol ogical goal of altitude exposure.

Source: D. (2017, July 17) . Acut e Mountai n Sick nes s Explai ned –
South A frica Adv entures. Retri eved
from http://ww w.s outhafri caadv ent ures.com/acut e - mountai n -
sickness -ams/

Altitude Acclimation Considerations

There’s a distinction to be made when thinking about altitude; ar e

you tryin g to u se altitud e to im p rove general en durance
perform ance, or are you specific ally tryi ng to p er form in an
event at altitu de? For most at hl et es, outsi de of elit es with means
for exte nded train ing cam ps (21 -28 days in lengt h), our prim ary
concern is per for ming at altitude (i .e., your athlete f rom Wisc onsin
competi ng at Leadville). Fr om ther e, you need t o consider s everal
factors. These in clude: at wha t elevation d oes t he athlete liv e, at
what el evation does the athlet e trai n, at what elevati on is their
event, a nd does t he athl ete h ave t he mea ns to arriv e at the even t
early?

Based o n what we kno w, the mo st basic reco mm endation for

racing at altitu d e is to arrive at l east on e week b efore race
day. Thi s is because the likelihood is that y ou:

1) Are p ast the ‘w orst of it’ in the fi rst 24 -72 hour s a t altitud e
2) Have already s tarted t o posit ivel y adapt to the higher elev ation

This is also why i t’s often recomm ended t hat if you cannot arriv e
at altitud e ear ly (at least one we ek), you are b ett er off ar riving
the night befor e or on the morni n g of the event. O nce again,
you are missin g the ‘worst of it’ wi ndow before your body starts to
work through i ncr edibly t axing cha nges.

There are two pri mary types of alti tude acclimati on: hypobaric
hypoxia expo sure (normal altitu de exposur e) an d no rmobari c
hypoxia expo sur e (simul ated altit ude ex posur e, thi nk altitude
tent). B oth have been s hown to w ork, but the k ey differenc e is a
questio n of dosage and potentiall y practic ality. F or hypobaric
hypoxia , i.e., goi ng to alt itude, it appear s the critic al value for
adaptat ion is havi ng chronic ex pos ure to el evati ons between 5,9 05
feet (18 00 m eters ) to 9,8 42 feet (3 000 met ers) f or i deally a t least
two wee ks an d up to four weeks t o reap maxim um benefits (red
blood c ell produc tion/mat uration) ( 877). It shoul d be noted t hat
going a bove 9,842 feet is not i nher ently negativ e. H owever, there
appear s to be no added benef it from an adaptat ion standpoint.

But wha t if your a thlete d oes not have the luxury to get away to
altitude for th at l ong? E nter n orm obaric h ypoxi a ex posure, or
rather, t he util ization of an altit ude tent. It appears t hat the time
course for adaptation remains about the s ame 3 -4 weeks of
accumul ative t im e… but there’ s the catch, accumul ative tim e.
When ut ilizing an altitude tent or r oom, you are not spendi ng 3 -4
weeks i n ther e. A t most, y ou ar e only getti ng 8 - 10 hours a day.
Spendi ng longer t han tha t in bed v eers da n gerously towards bed
rest, whi ch can negativel y impact blood plasma vol ume. These
things c ombin ed make th e utiliz ati on of an altit ude t ent less
straightforwar d. Given the sheer volume of time that may be
necess ary in an altitude t ent or room to produce ada ptations , you
need to weigh all the fact ors. Thes e include the foll owing:

• Can the athl ete afford th e tent ?

• Does it decrease the qua lity of their training by impacting
their sle ep qualit y?
• What el evation do they c urrent ly li ve at (th ere ar e more
positive indic ations for alt itude tents for those livi ng closer t o
the mini mum r eq uired alt itude) ?
• Is it poss ible t he athlete can m ake it out to their r ac e more
than 72 hour s pri or to th eir event?

Use of Heat to Acclimate to Altitude

As havi ng acc ess to an al titude tent or spending tim e at high

altitude week s in advanc e of a rac e are lik ely im pra ctical du e to
cost an d cost/ tim e perspectives, r espectiv ely, it makes sense th at
other m ethods (cr oss -accli mation) t o acclim ate to alt itude w ould b e
investigated and utilized.

Training in the heat may also simul ate training at altitude. Because
of the b ody’s need to coo l itself , bl ood is s hunted away from the
working muscles and tow ard the skin. This reduction in blood flow
equate s to less oxygen t o the activ e muscl es duri ng exercise –
similar to the effects of training at altitude. This i s w hy exercising
in the h eat is mor e difficul t than at lower temperatures. The
physiol ogical adaptation f rom tr aining in the heat increases bloo d
plasma volum e (580, 581). Incr eas ed b lood plasma may incr ease
stroke volume and thus lower exer cise heart rates ( 582).

This practice is getting at tention due to some of the purported

benefits . In other words, utilizing heat trai ning stress to induce
adaptat ions t hat are pres ent at alt itude. O f the mai n purported
benefits , hea t ac climation may r educe phy siolo gical strain at rest
and dur ing m oder ate -intensity exer cise at altitude – primarily via
adaptat ions associated w ith im proved oxy gen deliv ery, incr eases in
plasma volum e, and reductions in body temperature (888).

However , as t his is an ar ea of emerging researc h an d due t o the

potenti al for s tres s on the kidneys, it is not advis ed at present.
However , this cross -acclim ation ar ea should be pai d attenti on to as
more res earch an d findings em erge .
Airflow Restriction Devices (ARD)

Airflow R estricti o n Devic es (AR D) are prec isely what they s ound
like. They are ma sks that restrict/r educe t he amount of air an
individual can breathe in – think: br eathing in thr ough a straw. This
certificati on wil l n ot spend muc h ti me on t his topic other than to
state that ARDs d o not help in altit ude acclimati on, as none of the
physiol ogical res ponses present w ith altitude ac clim ation oc cur
with an ARD. This has been noted by several studies and s ources
(896, 8 97, 898).

Altitude Sickness

Altitude sickn ess has vari ous sy mp toms de pendi ng o n the el evati on
travelin g from an d to. The greater the spr ead b etw een elevations,
the gre ater th e s everity of sym ptoms. Sym ptoms usually begin 12
– 48 ho urs of exposure a nd range f rom m ild to sev er e.

Mild Sy mptom s

• Dizziness
• Fatigue and loss of energy
• Shortness of breath
• Loss of appetite
• Sleep disturbanc e

Moderat e Sympt oms

• Worseni ng fati gue, weak ness, and shortness of breath

• Difficulty with act ivity
• Severe headache, nausea, and vomiting
• Chest tightness

Severe Sym ptom s

• Shortness of breath at r est

• Inability to wal k
• Confusi on
• Fluid buildup in the lungs and/or brain

The cau se of altit ude sick ness i s p rimarily due to th e change in air
pressur e, whic h r educes the oxygen exchange betw een the lun g s
and blo od. F itness level does not seem to chan ge an athlet e’s
susceptibility t o altitude sickness. It is not r ecom me nded that an
athlete t raveli ng t o altitud e fro m a l ower el evatio n do strenuo us
exercise or trai ni ng for a few d ays to allow the body to adapt
without additional stress optimally. As not ed pr eviously, because
symptom s usually manifes t withi n 12 – 48 hours, it is sometim es
recomm ended that an athl ete arriv e at an event either as close to
the race as p ossi ble (24 hours or l ess) or w ith en ou gh days to
acclimat e prior to competi ng. T his method can som etimes r equire
arriving 4-6 days prior. This shoul d be address ed o n a cas e -by-
case ba sis depending on how an athlete ty pically responds to
altitude expo sure .

Interven tion

There are a variety of int erventi on s to mini mize altit ude sick ness,
depen ding on the severity. For m il d sickness, some over -the-
counter medic ati on can reduce the severity of sym ptoms, but tim e
is the most effective medicine. It must be done under the gui dance
of a run ner’s phy si cian. Within 3- 4 days, the b ody naturall y
creates more r ed blood cells, al low ing for a greater oxygen -
carrying capacity in the blood. Whe n this adaptation takes place,
symptom s tend to subside correspondingl y. Moderate sympt oms
can als o be i mpr oved wit h m edication or, if poss ibl e, going to a
place th at ma y b e 1,000 to 2, 000 f t lower e levati on than wh ere
symptom s began. In severe cases , immed iately tr aveling below
4,000ft i s re com mended, along with a h ealthcar e provid er
consultation.

The mos t effe ctiv e way to prev ent altitude sickness is through
acclimati zation or a slow progressi ve exposure t o increasing
altitude s for in cre asing a mount s of time. S ometi me s this is not
possibl e geo graphically or financially. Athl etes prim arily sea level -
based and, if econom icall y feas ibl e, can purchase altitude tents
that allo w for exp osure to a hy poxi c room i n their ho me. T his
option is expens ive and creates an unnatural sleeping
environ ment t hat should be ad dr essed o n a case -by-case bas is
with an athlete . I n all inst ances of treatment or prevention,
medicati on is available th rough a healthcar e provider. Howev er, for
US-bas ed athletes that ar e in a n anti -dopi ng tes ting pool or at an
event w here anti - doping testing m ay occur , any prescribed
medicati on shoul d be cross -ref erenced wit h the US Anti -doping
Agency’ s in and out of c ompet ition drug r eference databa se. For
runners outsi de of the US , refer en cing the ir nati onal anti -doping
agency’ s drug ref erence database or that of the Wor ld Anti -D opin g
Associat ion (W A DA) is re comm en ded.

Hypoxic Training

The oxy gen s atur ation levels at which your athlet e’s train has
profoun d phy siol ogical e ffects on their bodies and t heir
perform ance c apabilities.

• Hypoxic T rainin g: Traini ng occ ur s in an environm ent

substantially depl eted of oxygen (e.g., traini ng at a high
altitude) . It ca n be done in eit her n atural (a ltitud e tr aining) or
simulated environ ments (altitude tent).

When a n indi vidual is at altitude, t he prim ary ph ysi ological effect is

a decre ase in oxy gen hemoglobin s aturation
(49). Hemoglo bi n transp orts o xygen in th e bloo d from the
lungs to t he bo d y’s mus cles. T he body’ s resp on se to thi s
decrea se in hem oglobin i s to in crease t he pro du ction
of erythr opoiet i n (EPO), a hor m one secreted by the kidn eys
that stim ulate red blood c ell pr o duction ( 51) . T hi s is the primary
reason why at hlet es train at altit ude. The t houg ht pr ocess is that
by traini ng at altit ude, at hletes will increas e their red blood c ell
count a nd therefore can deliver more oxyg en to wor king muscles.
This increase in oxygen to muscle s enabl es the ath lete to perfor m
at a hig her le vel.

T he effects of al titude training h ave been sho wn to last fo r up

to 15 days aft er athletes retur n t o sea l evel ( 48). Therefor e,
many at hletes sc hedule their altitude traini ng to hav e the benefit s
of altitu de trai ning when competing at low er altit udes. It is
importa nt to note that EP O secr etion can be incr eas ed with altitud e
training, but only by a finit e am oun t. If too much EP O were t o be
secrete d by t he k idneys, t oo m any red blood cell s w ould be
produc ed, w hich could h ave h armf ul side effects . T his is an
exampl e of how t he body regu lates itself.

Hemato crit ref er s to the volum e ( percent) of red bl ood cell s in th e

blood. T hrou gh hypoxic tr ainin g, t he goal is to r ais e one’s
hemato crit lev el, thereby increasing the amount of o xygen
delivere d to w orki ng musc les. A male’s hem atocrit level is
approxi mately 45 percent , whereas a female’s is ty pically 40
percent (381).
There is no refuting that altitude training stimulates red blood cell
producti on, b ut an indivi dual c annot train as har d i n that
environ ment because of decreased oxygen level s. T herefor e, the
questio n is if i ncr eased r ed bl ood cell production benefits are
cancele d out whil e training at altit ude. Becaus e of t his, a theory
emerge d. This theory is t ermed Sl eep High , Trai n Low (53) . Som e
of you m ight be t hinking that t his seems a bit o dd and wo nder, how
can you slee p at altitude, then trai n at sea level ? Y ou are c orrect
that this is hig hly impracti cal.

The logic behind this concept is that by sleeping at altitude, you

will gain all the benefits of high -alt itude training (inc rease in red
blood c ells) but w ill be able to tr ain at sea l evel, where you c an
train at normal in tensity. This ty pe of traini ng is pos sible on ly by
using al titude ten ts, which decr eas e the ox ygen level that you
breathe in. T his practice has pr oved to provide t he best of both
worlds. Some of these te nts can replicate altitudes as high as 12K
feet (27 5).

Altitude tents are also he lpful if an individ ual is hea ding to a hig h
altitude and must acclimate bef ore the trip. If an athlete is pl anni ng
on utilizi ng an alt itude te nt or goin g to altit ude t o tr ain, it is
advised for them to cons ult wit h their doct or bef ore performi ng thi s
type of t rainin g.

It is impo rtant t o note that indi viduals will adapt t o a ltitude at

different rates .

Heat

Contrib utor: C orri ne Malc olm

Physiology of Heat Acclimation

Althoug h humans are uni quely suit ed for m any c om plicated tasks , it
turns ou t we are also inh erentl y in efficient. For e xa mple, w hen it
comes t o ‘doi ng work’ like propelli ng your self up a hill (and all th e
metabol ic proces ses that make that happen), most of that work
simply g enerates heat without havi ng anywhere to go. To manage
this, the body h as its ow n ther mo stat, the hypot h alamus , the
thermor egulat ion center of the brai n. It utiliz es a negative f eedb ack
loop; w hen y our s kin and core t em peratur e drops, y ou experienc e
vasoco nstricti on and shi vering to keep w arm bl ood near your cor e
and pro duce heat . Conver sely, when you heat up, y ou vasodil ate –
sendin g blood out towards the skin surface, allow ing heat to
dissipat e into the environ ment whil e activat ing s wea t glands to
utilize e vapor ativ e coolin g.

As you r un, tw o s ignifica nt fact ors contribu te to you heating up: t he

metabol ic he at you are pr o duci ng i nternall y and the heat the
environ ment appl ies to you ext ernally. When it c om es to
environ menta l factors, you will be impacted differently dependin g
on wher e you are riding. F or ex am ple, am bient air t emperat ure is
greatly i nfluenced by the surface you are on, direct vs. indirect
sunlight, and even the direction of the wind.

These i mpact the four cat egori es of heat tr ansfer ; c onducti on

(direct tr ansfer of energy) , convect ion (air or wat er moving over
your ski n), radiati on (direct or indir ect transfer of sunlight), and
evapor ation ( conversion of liquid t o gas) ( 878).

All of th ese th ing s work to geth er t o either heat you up or co ol yo u

off, but t heir e ffe ct largel y dep ends on the temp erat ure gra dient
betwee n you and the surr oundi ng environm ent becau se ev en heat
moves along a gr adient ( high t o low concentrati on). A temperatur e
gradien t desc ribes what d irection and at w hat rat e temperature
change s for a par ticular location.
Heat Acclimation Considerations

The hu man body is incredi bly s mar t, and wi th chr on i c, daily heat
exposur e, your body can make changes t hat al low you to t hrive and
survive i n hot environments (and even benefit us in cooler
environ ments) . T hese adaptations include:

• Increas e in sw eat rate an d a c orrespondi ng decreas e in swe at

concent ration
• Lower s kin and c ore tem perature t hat com es wit h bl ood
plasma volum e e xpansion
• Lower heart r ate during exercis e ( back to norm al heart rate )
• Increas ed flui d a nd cardi ovasc ular stability
• Decreas e in t he metabol ic cost of exercise (879, 880).

When y ou add up all thes e fact ors, you have the most import ant
adaptat ion: t he ability to t olerat e and feel more com fortable in th e
heat on race day. What’s r eally qui te striking, compared to altitu de
acclimati on, h eat acclim ation h ap pens fai rly rapid ly, with t he
bulk of adaptat i on occur ring in 6 -7 days and is complet e by
~14 da ys of h eat exposu re (880).

The bo dy has approximat ely 2 mill ion to 4 million s weat gl ands

(595). S weat secr eted by the glands is cool ed via ev aporati on. Th e
purpos e of c ooling the ski n is t o c ool the blood shunted to the sk in
from de eper a spects of the bod y (organs, m uscles) ( 595). H oweve r,
if exercising in humid conditions, the degr ee of evaporation is
substan tially l ess ened. T hus, exer cising in hot a n d humid
condition s can p rove dangero us becaus e of a lack of
evapor ative cool ing. As s uch, w iping away sweat before it has
had a c hanc e to evapor ate gr eatly reduces the cool ing ben efit of
sweatin g.

Source: Périar d, J. D., Racinais , S ., & Saw ka, M. N. (2015).

Adaptat ions and mechan isms of human heat acclim ation:
Applicat ions f or c ompetiti ve ath let es and sports . Sc andinavian
Journal of Medici ne & Science in Sports,25 , 20 -38.
doi:10. 1111/ sms. 12408

Pre-Ra ce

When m anagi ng heat, it i s adv ant ageous to br eak i t up into two

main pe riods, pre -race and dur ing -race cooling . T he pre -r ace
period i s the mos t effectiv e way an athlete can prepare for heat
exposur e. Thi s h appens natur ally as an at hlete is exposed to
warmer temps during spring and summer, but that’s not alw ays
conveni ent (l argely due t o one’s tr aining potent ially not ha ppeni ng
in warm enough temps based on location a nd time of year).

There are many physiological benefits of heat accli mation. Some of

these b enefit s ar e as sim ple as jump -starti ng your preparation f or
warmer temps, w hile others come from the positi ve effects of
things li ke blo od plasma volum e e xpansio n etc. So how does one
heat ac climate?

It’s impor tant ri gh t off the bat t o ge t on board wit h o ne thin g, an d

that is, as a c oac h, you n eed t o as k yourse lf, “ho w do I elici t the
adaptati on I w an t with the lowe st possibl e dose? ” This is of
utmost i mport anc e because anythi ng you add t o trai ning is s tress,
and the re will alw ays be possible tr adeoffs whenever you ad d
additio nal str ess (i.e., what do we have to remove t o make r oom f or
the add iti onal str ess we are adding). From the lit er ature, it i s cle ar
that dail y increases in core b ody temper ature t hr ough ex ercis e
in warm temp s, environ mental stress, p assi ve h eat
interven tions ( s auna or hot wa te r immer sion), or a comb ination
of the above will induce a meani ngful physiolog i cal change
that will ultimat ely incr ease thermal tol erance ( 881). H oweve r,
when it comes to what is best for your athl ete, it boils down to what
you hav e at y our disposal and what your at hlete can tolerate.

The met hods that ath letes most commonly use include:

• Natural heat acclimatization (exercising in a naturally warm

environment)
• Controlled hyperthermia (overdressing)
• Controlled intensity (via exercise i n a climatic cham ber)
• Passive heati ng ( post-ex ercise he ating vi a sau na or hot wat er
immersion) (882).

As menti oned ab ove, all these m ethods work, b u t they al l

require differ ent doses t o elicit c hange. T his is because t he
physiol ogical tipp ing poi nt requires your cor e body t emperat ure to
reach ~ 101F (38. 5C) for approx im ately 90 m inut es. It shoul d be
noted t hat m ore i s not be tter; m or e time in a session is not better ,
twice a day is not better, and w eek s on en d is n ot b etter. S o wher e
does th at leave us?
Of the m etho ds m entione d, yo u ha ve to as k your self which o ne
maintain s you r a thletes’ ability t o maintain the h ighest quality
training and ad d the least am oun t of additi onal
workload? Met hods like overdr essi ng or training in a climati c
chambe r often m ean sac rificing the qualit y of the individual
workout s by c utti ng dow n the volume o r int ensity . T raditional time
in a dry sauna, steam room, or hot tub req uires a lot of additional
time ad ded t o your day, 60 -90 minutes on top o f nor mal training,
which might not be manageable for your athlete. So in considering
your athlete’s needs, not impai ring their tr aining, and the dose
neede d, passive heating, which combines heat exposure
immedi ately post -exerci se, ri ses to the to p of thi s pile . W hy is
that? B ecaus e you allow t he at hlet e to mai ntain the quality of their
workout s by tr aini ng in their natural environment, and also s pend
less time in the actual he at because you g o into the heat ex posure
‘pre-war med’ fr om exerci sing. T hi s means suddenl y an athlete only
has to s pend 20- 30 minutes in the sauna i nstead of 60 -90 minute s,
which is both easier on the body and also easie r for athletes to
time ma nage.

Source: Daanen, H. A., R acinai s, S., & Pé riard, J. D. (2017). He at

Acclimati on D eca y and R e-Induction: A Sys temati c Review and
Meta-Analysis. S ports Medicine,48 (2), 409 -430.
doi:10. 1007/ s40279 -017- 0808 -x
Cooling During a Race

We’ve di scuss ed prepping pre - rac e from an accli m ation st andpoint,

but wha t about the other pieces of this puz zle? Y ou’ ve done the
work, and your athlete is fit and as ready as they can be, so what
other str ategi es c an they em pl oy t o mitigat e heat -related iss ues o n
race da y?

In short er rac es, there ar e som e p re-race c ooling st rategies you

can utilize – t hes e gener ally includ e preem ptivel y lowering c ore
body te mperature to allow for extra heat st orage cap acity.
However , ultras a re generally c ons idered t oo long for something
like this t o be effective. T his leads us to d uring -r ace cooling
strategies. These strategies aim to help rapidly r em ove excess
heat fro m the body. Unlike pre - co oling, the purpo se of dur ing -
race co oling i s not so m uch abo ut actual ly low er ing core body
temper ature b ut to keep skin t em peratur e low en ough to allow
a temperatur e gr adient to be pr e sent, wh ich help s to move he at
out into th e envi ronment by pro moting vasodilat ion.

Sugges ted st rategies to employ ar e:

• Packing ice on your torso, icing your neck and head (via ice
bandanas, ic e col lars, an d spec ial ice hats)
• Icing yo ur peri ph eral arte ries (p utt ing ice down arm sleeves)
• Wearing loos e and light -c olored cl othing
• Limit conducti ve heat (av oid d ark colors)
• Increasi ng ev apo rative co oling (ge tting wet )
• Drinking cool flui ds (883, 884).

Other H eat Accli mation I nform ati on and C onsid er ations

1. Individu als will di ffer grea tly in t he ir ability t o de al with he at

and humidity.
2. The mor e body fat an indi vidua l has, the l ess effi cient they
will be at dissipating bod y heat.
3. General ly, the lar ger the r unner, the more energy is require d
to reduc e bo dy h eat. This is be ca use the small er t he
individual, the larger the skin surface compared with body
volume. This enables sm all indi viduals to dissipate heat be tter
than lar ge in divid uals (48 7).
4. Wind speed, hum idity, and shade all affect the r unn er. Swe at
must ev aporate t o cool t he body. Therefor e, the chance for
 overheating i ncreases in humid conditions wher e s weat does
not evapora t e as well as i n non -humid conditions.
5. After te n days of heat ac climati zati on, the capa city f or
sweating nearly doubles ( 596).
6. Novice endur anc e athlet es and deconditioned i ndivi duals ar e
often th e mos t ne gatively affect ed by hot w eather.
7. The phy siological benefit s of h eat acclimati zation ar e lost
between two and three w eeks post -acclimati on tr aining(594 ).
8. Individu als w ho a re heat acclim atiz ed can sweat up t o 4
liters/hour, while those w ho are not acclimatized wil l sweat
approxi mately 1. 5 liters/hour (732). This demonstrates the
increas ed effi ciency regar ding t her moregul ation due to heat
acclimati zation tr aining.

Humidity

But wha t about h umidity? As anyone who has exper ienced humid ity
can tell you, it m akes everythi ng feel harder, and there is some
truth to t hat. T his is beca use it ha mpers y our pri ma ry mode of
getting r id of heat via eva porati ve cooling. Rem emb er heat and
moisture, among other thi ngs, want to mov e along a gradient from
areas of high con centrati on to areas of low er concentration. J ust
as this is true f or heat (it’ s easi er to cool off wh en t he temp eratur e
is lower than cor e and s kin temperature), it is also true for s weat
(or any moistur e) . For evaporat ive cooling to wor k, t here needs t o
be ‘roo m’ for t hat to happen; ‘r oom ’ for that moi st ur e to mov e fro m
your ski n and int o the air, taking heat from your body. When the
humidity increases, your ability t o utilize evapor ativ e cooling from
sweat or other w ater (such as mel ted ice or water y ou’ve drank)
decreas es.

So, hum idity doesn’t only ma ke ev erything feel harder; it mak es

everythi ng harder . This has led some to believe that it’s important
to acclim ate t o th e type o f hea t yo u might be ex pos ed to on eve nt
day (hu mid vs. dr y heat). However, there is conc ern that adaptati on
to humi d heat (vi a steam rooms , etc.) might actuall y blunt y our
sweat response as it is not as usef ul in those enviro nments.
Becaus e of t his, we woul d suggest sticking with a tr aditional dry
heat ac climati on with the option to add in some supplement ary
session s in a humid e nvi ronm ent primarily to bui ld a tolerance t o it.

There is presently a lot of researc h being done on this topic, and

there will likely b e updates to this field.
Heat Illness Overview

Despite how much preparation an athlete undertakes or how much

they kn ow about hydration or c ooli ng, heat illness c an sneak up on
even th e mos t ex perienc ed at hletes in training or competition.
There are two categories of heat illness:

1. Classic
2. Exertion al

Classic heat illness is a di rect result of the environment; hi gh

tempera ture and humidity , strong direct sun exposure, and still air.
Exertion al he at ill ness, h oweve r, r esults fr om an at hlete’s own h eat
producti on, w hich can happen in al l types of weather.

Heat-rel ated il lnesses can rang e fr om mildly unc omf ortable t o life -
threate ning and i nclude: heat edema (swell ing), heat rash, heat
syncop e, heat cr amps, heat exhaustion, and he at st roke (885).
Below is a ch art t hat not es the vari ous illn esses, as sociate d
symptom s, and si gns.

There are many risk factors for developing more serious heat -
related i llness es of both the environmental and phys iological
nature. Thes e fac tors incl ude how hard an athlete is working,
clothing choices, lack of shade/dir ect sunlight, dehydration, high
air temp eratur e a nd humi dity, age (people under the age of 15 or
over the age of 65 are m ore su sceptible to heat illness), rec ent
alcohol cons umpt ion, cert ain m edi cation o r sup ple ment
interacti ons, recent illness, recent head in jury, sunburn, a hi story
of heat-r elated ill ness, or insuff ici ent heat accli mat i on (885).
So how can an at hlete treat heat il lness? Like m any other m edical
emerge ncies, tim e is per haps t he most imp ortan t factor in pr operl y
treating heat-r elated illnesses. The primary goal i s t o rapidl y
decreas e cor e body temperatur e ( below 100.4F or 38C); thi s
protects the athlete’s brai n and vit al organs. To do t his, get the
athlete i nto a sha ded, co oler e nvir onment and use whatev er you
have av ailabl e to cool the athl ete off – dousing with a hose,
shower, wrap ping in cold towels , applying ice packs , ingesti ng col d
fluids, or best yet , immersi on in an ice bat h.

There are three main categories of heat -r elated ill nesses t hat
relate to elev ated core temperatur e:

1. Heat Cr amps
2. Heat Ex hausti on
3. Heat Str oke

Heat Cr amps

Charact erized by muscle c ramps and sweatin g, heat cramps ( not

exercise -based) are often treated with ces sation of activity, movin g
to a coo l, sha ded area, a nd dri nkin g an el ectrolyt e-based
bevera ge. Str etc hing an d mas sagi ng the c ramped area can also
help to allevi ate acute p ain.

Heat Ex hausti on

This occ urs when the bo dy’s natur al temperatur e regulation syste m
begins t o bre ak d own. Be caus e of a lack of hydr atio n and m ineral s,
the capi llaries of the body red uce i n size, t hereb y re ducing t he
body’s effecti veness in c ooling its elf. Com mon s ym ptoms incl ude
(297):

• Dizziness
• Heavy s weati ng
• Confusi on
• Nausea
• Weak, rapid puls e
• Low blood pr essure
• Excessiv e thirs t
• Hyperventilati on
• Loss of appetite
• Anxiety
The athlete must stop activity and move to a shady, cool location.
The individual should be given an electroly te dri nk and cooled w ith
a fan a nd/or wet cloths. A dditional ly, the person should be
position ed in the supine positi on w ith legs elevat ed. Medical
person nel should be call ed to chec k and m onitor the athlete.

Heat Stroke

This is the most serious of the t hree categories of heat sick ness
and ca n be f atal. While an indiv idual may have experienced heat
cramps and exhaustion prior to heat stroke, it is not always t he
case. H eat str oke is caus ed by the body’s l ack of water and
electroly tes. E ffectively, t he body i s shutting do wn. Symptoms
include (297).

• Rapid heart r ate

• No sweating
• High body temper ature (>103)
• Red, dry skin
• Confusi on
• Vomiting
• Nausea
• Erratic b ehavi or
• Difficulty breathing
• Constricted pupils

The mos t importa nt thing to do is l ower the indiv idual’s body

tempera ture i mm ediately and get emergency personnel on -site.
Call 91 1.

Prevent ion

By stayi ng pr oper ly hydrat ed, a ccli mating t o he at gr adually, takin g

breaks, weari ng proper c lothing (e.g., light color s, wicking), and
being a ware of the bo dy’ s respons e to the heat, the chance of
develo ping a seri ous heat -relat ed i njury can be greatly mitigated.
Pre-hydr ating wit h cold fl uids before traini ng or r aci ng in the heat
has be en shown t o reduc e one’s c ore tem perature ( 592).

Cold Weather
Athletes are always interested i n c old, part icularl y a fter think ing
about h ow human s adapt to both heat and altitude, but the truth i s
it isn’t as glamor ous. Thi s isn’t because humans cannot ad apt to
the cold , but r ath er the p hysiol ogic al chan ges t hat o ccur from cold
exposur e do not produc e the sam e degree of perfo rmance benef it
as the a daptation s to hea t or al titu de. The key t ake away fro m col d
adaptat ion is that with tim e, from c hronic e xpos ure ( this can be
season al), you m ake minor changes that all ow y ou t o shiver less
and vas oconstrict more pr ecisel y. You become, pri marily,
habitua ted t o the cold. Bu t are t her e any s pecial considerati ons for
runners bravi ng t he cold?

With any sort of l ong -ter m exp osur e to extr eme c old, there is a risk
of sustai ning a co ld injury. Thes e are most li kely t o happen duri ng
long wi nter runs. These i nclude fr ostnip (fr eezing t he top l ayers of
skin tiss ue), frost bite (deeper freezing of tissues), and trench foot
(prolon ged c old, wet exposure) . A dditionally, you c an suffer from
eye inju ries s uch as frozen cor neas and s now bl indness (sunbur n
of the e yes). T he best wa y to pr otect yours elf or y our athlete s?
Practice logic. Dr ess app ropria tely for the weath er c onditio ns whil e
maximizi ng loose (loft/allows for w armed air poc ket s), heat -
insulating lay ers and av oiding con striction of body parts (can
promote vasoconstriction), opt f or mittens over gl ov es if you get
cold ea sily, st ay dry by ut ilizing wi cking m aterial s li ke wool as
oppose d to c otton to mov e moi sture away from t he skin, and
maintai n ad equat e hydrat ion a nd nutrition t o mai ntai n normal fluid
and ele ctrolyt e balances .

Hypothermia

Hypoth ermia i s the opposite of hea t -related illnes ses. Hypot hermi a
is the body’s inability to maintain normal metabol ic functioni ng and
is repres entati ve of a bo dy tem per ature of 95 d egrees F or l ess
(normal body t em peratur e = 9 8.6 degrees F).

If an at hlete i s tr aining or raci ng i n cold t emper atur es witho ut

proper c lothing, hypother mia can also set i n.

Physiol ogicall y, t he body look s to prese rv e heat in t he most vital

areas. T heref ore, the body moves blood away fr om the extr emities
to more vital, li fe-sustaining organs. Muscl e contrac tions can
increas e heat production two t o four times ( 299). T his is why the
body sh ivers ‒ to produc e heat.

Water increas es heat los s. Theref ore, wearing wick ing clot hing is
very imp ortant w hen running in cold weather. W hen clothing
become s wet with sweat, body heat loss is a cceler at ed.

Like he at -related illnesses , ther e are sever al sta ges of

hypoth ermia ( 451):

Mild Hyp other mi a

The mos t com mon visible sympt om is shiv ering an d cold o r num b
extremiti es due t o the constrict ion of blood ves sels
(vasoco nstricti on). Moving to a warm area, taking of f wet clot hes,
and put ting on dr y and adequ ate amounts of clot hing are the mos t
common soluti ons to elimi nate mil d hypot hermi a.

Moderat e Hyp ot hermia

The mos t com mon visible sympt oms are excessi ve shivering, a l oss
of musc ular coor dination, and extr emities ‒ including the lips an d
ears ‒ t urning blue because of a lack of blood fl o w t o these area s.
An indiv idual mus t be imm ediat ely moved t o a w arm area an d
change d into dry clothing . A warm hat is al so suggested. Medical
attentio n is re quir ed.
Severe Hypot her mia

At this p oint, t he body b egins to sh ut down and is re present ed by

the hea rt rate, bl ood pressure, an d respir ation r ate, all decl ining
substan tially. Indi viduals will als o l ikely have diffi cul ty walking an d
talking, and t heir cognitiv e abili ty i s typicall y com pr omised. Heart
and res piration rates conti nue t o fall in relati on to m oderate
hypoth ermia ( 300). Unless an indiv idual is moved to a warm area
and me dical attention is provided, the organs of the body wi ll shut
down, a nd death will result . Medic al attent ion m ust be provi ded.

Prevent ion

First and foremos t, athletes must be a ware of their environm ent

and the weat her f orecast f or their t raining and r acing area. Prop er
clothing selection is critical to avoi ding hypothermia . They should
wear sw eat -wi cki ng fabri cs and dr ess in layers. Additionall y,
extremiti es and normally expos ed body parts (e. g., ears, nose)
must be cover ed in extremely c old conditions. W hen training in
cold con dition s, athlete s mus t al ways h ave a par tner to tr ain
with in c ase of a n emerg ency . It i s a good idea to ensure t hey are
training in an are a near c ivilizat ion in case of an em ergency , and
they mu st alw ays tell som eone of t heir planned rout e. If at all
possibl e, it is adv ised to tr ain in a concent rated area near t heir
residen ce inst ead of cover ing a lar ge geo graph ic ar ea. If at hletes
get too cold, t hey must know they are not far from home. It i s also
a good idea to carry a cell phone i n case of an emergency.

Regardl ess of the planned trai ning for the day, at hletes must be
attentiv e to th eir body’s r espo nse t o the co ld, a nd if they fee l they
are getti ng to o cold, they must head for ho me or seek shelter in a
warm environmen t.

Environmental Impact on the Gut

One of t he m ost challen ging t hing s about perfo rmin g at hig h
elevatio ns or i n t he heat is th e toll it takes on yo ur gut, spe cificall y
on the gut’s abilit y to function as it should. This i s due to
splanch nic hy pop erfusion , or the d ecrease d blood s upply to the
tissues of the org ans of t he GI trac t. During exerc ise , blood f low t o
your GI tract nor mally re duces by up to 80% compa red to when at
rest (93 0). Thi s i s becau se th at bl ood is s hunt ed towards active
muscles and t he skin inst ead o f the gut. T his is l ogi cal, your
muscle s need m ore oxygen to b e delivered d uri ng exer cise,
and your body b enefits g reatl y if you ca n diss ipa te heat b y
sending warm bl ood to th e s urf ace of the skin.

As such, you can imagin e that this process beco me s more e xtrem e
in hot w eather and at altitude, pulling more and mor e blood away
from the tissu es of the G I tract. T his can, in so me circumst ances,
lead to a ‘gut injury.’ These gut inj ur ies can cause c hanges to th e
permea bility and function of the s mall intestine; the most c ommo n
symptom s can include nausea, vomiting, abdom inal pain, di arrhe a,
and los s of iron t hrough micros copic GI bleeding (930). These
symptom s can be short -liv ed, g ener ally as blood sup ply is res tored
during r est. H owever, som etimes t hese can incl ude prolonged
symptom s like i nf lammati on whi ch can cause longer term gut
permea bility is sues.
Hyponatremia

This is a metabolic condition that occurs when there is not enough

sodium ( salt) i n t he body fluids outside the cells . Low sodi um
levels in the blood can c ause cerebral edema (brain swelling).
Hypona tremia is primarily caus ed by excessive drinking behavior ,
four or m ore h our s of con sisten t ex ercise, l ow bo dy weight, being
of the f emale sex , slow p ace, r ace inexperi ence, hig h availa bility of
drinking fluids , and extremely hot environ menta l conditions .
Hypona tremia can be life -threatening.

Drinking in excess of hou rly sweat losses may result in

hypona tremia.

Sympto ms: bl oat in g, nausea and vomiting, headac he, conf usion,
disorien tation, agitation, s eizur es, respirat ory dist ress, and
unresp onsivenes s.

In the event of hy ponatre mia, a n at hlete sh ould be tr ansferre d

immediately to a medical facility .

Preventi on of hyp onatrem ia ca n be achiev ed by dete rmining an

athlete’ s hour ly s weat rat e and the person drinki ng only en ough
liquid to match the fluid l oss from sweating. Athl etes can add extra
sodium to their di et in the days leading up to a race and avoid
over-drinking day s or hou rs be f ore a race t o prevent lowering blo od
sodium levels.

Sports d rinks con taining sodiu m ca n help t o mai ntai n plasm a

sodium levels and may reduce the risk of hyponatremia. Ho wever,
if an athlete drinks excessively, sodium -rich sport s drinks wil l not
prevent hy ponatr emia. This is bec ause ty pically the main cause o f
hypona tremia is over -hy dratio n, not undercons ump tion of s odium
(395).

Dehydration

Dehydr ation occurs when the body loses excessi ve amount s of

fluids. T he body t hen ca nnot c arry out its n ormal fun ctions and
become s over heated. Severe dehy dration can lead t o overheatin g
and he at stroke. Consumi ng flui d s during exer cis e decreases
the risk of heat - related i llnes s, maintain s phy si ological
function, and i m proves athleti c perform ance. The sympt oms of
dehydr ation may not be obvious until severe dehydration o ccurs
(411). S ymptoms of dehy dration include dark uri ne, a small v olum e
of urine, elev ated heart rate, and headache.

There is debate regarding what percent dehydration causes a

decreas e in perfo rmance and, m or e import antly, presents a healt h
risk to a n indiv idual. Traditionally, it has been t hought that a 2
percent dehy drati on level negativel y affect ed per for mance, as th e
chart below d enotes. This determi nation is based on a paper by
the American Col lege of S port s Medicine ( Sawka et al.) (771).
Based on thi s gui deline, pre -hy drat ing bef ore ex erci sing and
drinking at set int ervals w as advis ed.

Resear ch by Dr. Noakes found th at a deh ydrati on level of 2

percent does no t necessarily decrease performance. His theor y
is that a safe level of de hydration is individually based. He notes
that for some i ndi viduals, this m ay be 1 percent, wh ereas, f or
others, it may be 12 perc ent (397). Regardless of the exact
percent age, Dr. Noakes’ s dehydr ation theory is that one’s thirs t
respons e will det ermine what is appropriat e and saf e regar ding a
hydratio n strateg y.
Urine Color Cha rt

Preventi on of deh ydration requi res an indiv iduali zed hydratio n pla n
and co nsumi ng fl uid to mi nimiz e loss of body weight without
overhyd rating. R ememb er to avoi d drinki ng too much or too little
fluid, as both can be dangero us. W eigh im mediat ely before and
after acti vity to determine the aver age sw eat rat e. E ach pound lo st
(throug h sweat) a fter a workout equals 16 ounc es of water lost.
Knowin g an athlete ’s sweat rat e can help with cr eati ng a hy dratio n
strategy.

A runne r will li kel y sweat more t han the individu al c an repl ace vi a
fluid int ake. T his is espec ially tr ue for long- distance events s uch as
maratho ns and ul tramarat hons.

Determi ning S w eat Rat e

The calculation for sweat rate is as follows:

Pre-wei ght – p o st-weight + flui d intake during activity =

athlete’ s indiv id ual sweat rat e

Following is an example of this calculation:

 • Pre-wor kout w ei ght: 140 lbs
• Post-wor kout weight: 139 lbs
• Fluid intake: 16 oz
• Exerci se dur atio n: 1 hour

140‒1 39 lbs = 1 l b lost (16 oz) + 16 oz of f luid c ons umed = 32 o z

(2 lbs) of sweat l oss/hour.

Based on tw o years’ worth of data collected by D r. Noakes, the

averag e sweat range of r unners and rowers was 23. 7 to 44 fl oz/h r
(397). A ssumi ng t he aver age i ntak e of flui ds per hour is 16 f luid
ounces during a r unning race, an i ndividual will li kely become
dehydr ated, whic h equat es to a decrease i n body w eight. T he
importa nt issue is what level of dehydration will negatively aff ect
perform ance.

Clothin g selection also affects sw eat rate. If an individual w ears

too man y layers, clothes t hat do not “breat he,” or dark color s,
sweat rate will be higher than it should be.

Environmental Conditions and Lung

Health

Freque nt seasonal quest ions have to do wi th when i t is or isn’t a

good id ea to run outside. This coul d be in t he wi nter months as
tempera tures plummet or during fi re seas on, reduci ng air quality
for days to we eks . These condi tion s affect every one differen tly,
and mo st of us wi ll have our ow n p ersonal thres hold for
tempera ture o r ai r quality. Still, t he likelihood is we’ve all gone f or
a run at some poi nt in conditions w e shoul dn’t have. Be it col d or
dry air, or air hi gh in part iculat e m atter (from diesel exhaus t or
wildfire smoke), b oth are taxing on your lungs and c an lead to a
breathi ng conditi on like exercis e -i nduced bronchos pasm (EI B),
formerly called b oth exer cise-i nduced ast hma and hyper -reactive
airway.

EIB is n ot an acu te condi tion i n th at it’s ge nerall y n ot a on e-off

event b u t one that is caus ed by chr onic ex posur e to somethi ng. In
many re spects , it could b e ref erred to as an ov erus e injury. The
cells that mak e up the lining of your airwa ys are in credible in that
they ca n repair themselves quic kly. Howev er, with repeated injur y
and rep air, they c an also become maladapted, becoming more
reactive over ti m e. While at res t, your ventilation r ate is o nly 12 - 20
breaths per mi nut e, but w hile runni ng, you may be breathing at a
rate of 50 breaths per mi nute or m ore. This increas e in ven tilatio n
combin ed wit h an irritant (i. e., cold, dry, or pollut ed air) exposes
athletes to m ore r isk. So, while you are bre athin g, a nd brea thing
hard, yo u cause water to evaporat e from the air way liquid s urface
that line s your br onchiol es at a rat e you c annot keep up wit h. Thi s
drying t hen c aus es a shif t in the osmotic gr adient ( again a
gradien t) in the c ells that make up the airw ay, sti mulating the
release of infl am matory m ediat ors . These i nflam matory mediators ,
such as histamin e, act on the smo oth muscles of the bronc hioles ,
causing const ricti on, muc us bui ldup, and edem a (sw elling) of the
bronchi oles.

As menti oned ab ove, this is no t a n acute probl em but a sl ow an d

progres sive one t hat wors ens over time. O ne day of training in
extreme cold or s moky ski es wil l not guar antee you a lifetim e of
breathi ng iss ues. Howev er, continued trai ning i n them does
heighte n your ris k. So, w hat can y ou do t o prot ect y ourself and
your lungs?

• You don’t los e fit ness ov ernight. F itness decay t akes two
weeks of zero ex ercise to set i n. S o, take a day off, or two, o r
three, a nd su ppor t your at hlete in t hat. Th eir lon g-term healt h
is always more i mportant.
• You can alter the plan. M ove t he i ntervals inside or cut the
intensity when air quality or temperature dr ops. Rem em ber,
as ventil ation inc reases, expos ure also inc rease s.
• Shorten the t otal duration. Not onl y is it how har d y ou are
working but how long you are working. If y ou stay outside,
consider cutti ng t he work out durati on to lim it exposure.
• Be flexi ble. T here are generally tim es of day bett er t han
others f or air quality or temperatur e. Air quality t ends to be
worse midday and better early in the morning and later in t he
evening. Air t emperature t ends to warm as the day goes on.
Try to get interva ls in during warm er afternoon peri ods duri ng
cold months.
• Know y our thr eshold. There is not one thr eshol d for everyon e,
but with healt h in mind, er r on t he side of c autio n. F or cold
temperatures, you can use the int ernational ski federation cut -
off of -4F (-20C). To be f air, this cut -off is m ore a bout
exposur e (col d injury risk) and l es s about the l ungs , and as a
precauti on, m ost athletes should m ove intervals i nsi de whe n
temperatures fall below 10F. If you are coughing aft er a har d
workout, that i s generally a side effect of drying of t hat airw ay
surface. For ai r q uality, it’ s best to avoid i nterval s if AQI is
above 75 (unless you ha ve a history of ast hma, t hen the
threshol d is lo wer ), cut th e dura tio n of wor kout if air quality i s
between 100 -150, and av oid outsi de exer cise if air quality i s
above 150.
Summary
• There is not less oxygen at high altitudes, but a change in the
pressur e gradient
• An athl ete is advi sed to arrive at al titude ei ther at least one
week in advance, or the night before/day of the r ace.
• It is not advis ed t o use heat to cross acclim ate t o the altitud e
• The hypothal amus is the body’ s thermoregulator
• Heat ac climati on occurs f aster t han altitude accl imation
• The use of a dry sauna i s the most practical way to acclimat e
to heat while still maintai ning one’ s training load.
• Humidity increases one’ s effort level via reduced evaporati ve
cooling.
• Environmenta l conditions can affec t both t he GI t rac t and th e
lungs
Module 6: Performance Assessments
and Metrics
Various meth ods are use d to b enc hmark a runner’s physical
condition and performance. These methods are often correl ated to
assess an at hlete’s level of con diti oning accurat ely.

The are as dis cus sed in t his modul e are:

• Anaerob ic T hreshold
• Lactate Thresho ld
• Heart R ate
• Rate of Perceived Exertion ( RP E)
• VO2 Max

Rate of Perceived Exertion

An athl ete’s r ate of perceived exer tion is the measure of how
physicall y an d m entally difficult an indivi dual f eels an exer cise or
activity is .

The rat e of perceived exertio n ( RPE) scale is a s ubjectiv e

method to as sess one’s p hysic al exertion or pai n level. This scale
was cre ated i n th e 1960 s by Dr . G unnar B org, a Sw edish
psychol ogist. Dr. Borg cre ated two RPE scales, t he 6‒ 20 s cale
and the CR10 sc ale (79). The 6‒20 scale i s bas ed on a s c ale fro m
6 to 20, with 6 re presenti ng th e lo west ex ertion/ pai n level and 20
being t he highest level. T he CR 10 scale is similar to the 6‒20
scale.

However , it ranges from 0‒10, with 0 bein g no exerti on and 10

being t he highest . The RP E scale i s used i n bot h sports and
medical settings.

UESCA advis es i ts coaches to use the Bo rg CR 10 scale , as th e

0‒10 sc ale is typi cally per ceived as more i ntuitiv e t han the 6‒20
scale. The figure above shows a m odified Borg CR1 0 RPE Scale.

Regardl ess of the RPE sc ale us ed, the scal e is b ased on the
athlete’ s perc epti on of ex ertio n or pain an d ther efor e is hig hly
subjective. For e xample, some one with a high pain tolerance mig ht
rate run ning at 95 percent of t heir lactate thres hold as a 6 on the
RPE scale (Borg CR10), wh ereas someon e with a l ower pain
toleranc e mig ht r ate that effort lev el as a 9.

One of t he ke y a dvanta ges of usin g RPE v ersus oth er metric s such

as heart rate i s t hat RPE is not aff ected by any other variable su ch
as envir onme ntal factors. Additi onally, it gi ves an athlete a real -
time ass essme nt of their exerti on l evel at any p oint.
Heart Rate
Heart rate training has lo ng been the stan dard when analyzing and
assessi ng car diovascular effort . A heart rate monit or (HRM) i s a
relatively inex pensive and benefici a l way t o ass ess effort lev els.

Most he art rat e m onitors c onsist of two pieces, a watch, and a

chest strap. Som e activity track er s pick up heart ra te at the wrist.
The be nefits of using an HRM are:

1 – Athl etes c an t ell whe n they are not rec overed. Withou t an HR M,
this is h ard to det ermine and force s athlet es to r ely on how they
feel, whi ch is not always t he best measur e. Bel ow are thre e metri cs
that typi cally c orr elate to not b eing recover ed and re sted:

• Heart rate is slow to retur n to baseline afte r an ef for t

• Abnorm ally hi gh/l ow resti ng heart r ate. An abnormall y low
heart rat e is t he most common
 • Heart rate does not reach normal peak levels when putting out
a corres pondi ng effort

2 – It is espec iall y useful during pr eseason training when at hlete s

work on their bas e fitness level . U sing an HRM, athletes can
monitor t heir h eart rate th roughout the exercise ses sion to ensur e
they do not p ush too har d. This is very imp ortant be cause, as a
general rule of thumb, the mor e de -conditi oned athl etes are, the
higher t h eir heart rate will be and t he faster their heart rate will
elevate with i ncre ased eff ort. T his elevatio n in h eart rate do es no t
always c orres pond to the athle te f eeling ti red or ex erting
excessiv ely. If you do not use an HRM wit h athl etes to measure
heart rat e duri ng base fit ness tr aining, it is very eas y for them to
exercise too hard and not get t he most out of the tr aining proces s.

3 – Trai ning w ith an HRM allow s at hletes t o set hear t rate trai ning
zones. By sett ing these z ones, an athlete can accur ately foc us o n
varying intensitie s.

4 – Det ermine running pace

Estimated Maximum Heart Rate

A long- establi shed stand ard for determining an i ndi vidual’s

maximu m hear t r ate has been the formula:

220 – A ge = Maximum H eart R ate

Based on the res ult of thi s form ula, heart r ate zones could b e set
to deter mine vary ing inte nsity w ork loads. T here i s ju st one p roble m
with this formula … it’s a formula! A formula is not practical in
determi ning an i ndividual’s m axi mum heart rat e , as there is to o
much of a range as to what o ne’s maximum hear t r ate coul d be.
This ne eds to be assessed indi vidually, not bas ed on a set form ula.
Regardl ess, t her e is no s cienti fic validity t o the for mula.

The 22 0‒Age for mula was dev eloped in t he lat e 1960s by

cardiologist Sam Fox and physiolo gist W illiam Hask ell (350) . The
formula was d eriv ed to es timat e m aximum heart r at e for ind ividu als
underg oing s tres s testing . The for mula was dev eloped usi ng a
small sa mple of i ndividuals. Intere stingly, even Has kell noted that
the form ula w as not inte nded to d etermine athl etes ’ maximum he art
rates (3 49).
Conclusion

Since th is for mul a was d evelo ped, there h ave b een attempts to
identify a more accurate and scientific way to predict and estimate
maximu m hear t r ate. However, UE SCA rec ommends using l actate
threshol d as t he starting place via the Fu nction al T hreshol d Hea rt
Rate as sessm ent (FTHR) noted l at er in this module. After thi s is
establis hed, tr ain ing zon es ca n be determi ned base d on LT - base d
heart rat e.

Cardiac Drift (CD)

This is a phenom enon that rel ates to a nat ural i ncrease or upwar d
“drift” in heart r at e while t he ov eral l intensit y (e.g., r espirati on rat e,
effort lev el, calori c burn) r emains t he sam e (359). T here ar e two
primary r easons f or cardi ac drift (359):

1. Increas e in body t emperature r aises heart r ate

2. Decreas e in m us cular effi cienc y due to fatigue

CD has implications when designing a hea rt rate -based trai ning

program . If an at hlete ex perie nces cardi ac drif t d uring training
session s based on heart rate, th ere is a stron g li ke lihood that
the individual wi ll be und erperf o rming du ring th e training
session s.

For exa mple, l et us say an athlete is supposed to tr ain bet ween a

heart rat e of 155 and 165 bea ts per minute (BPM) . For the fi rst
half-ho ur, the athlete can run at thi s pace easily whil e maint aining
a 7:30 min/mil e pace. However, approximat ely 3 5 mi nutes into th e
run, car diac dr ift brings t he heart r ate up t o 168. At this poi nt, the
athlete slows down to st ay in t he appropr iate h eart rate trai ning
zone. T hey ar e reducing t hei r w orkl oad by decreasing the ef fort
level to accommo date for CD. In contrast, if they remained at the
same effort level (even though the heart rate would r ise past the
prescrib ed heart rate zone), they would perform at the appropria te
level.

Therefore, it i s i mportant to info rm the athlete about CD and to

judge eff ort not just on h eart r at e but al so on p e rceived
exertion . If you k now that your athlete experiences CD and how
many h eartbeats the indi vidual drif ts upwar d, you m ay consi der
assigni ng them a high er heart r ate zone to factor in CD.

In a 20 00 study of 10 highly condit ioned c yclists per forming an

MLSS test, CD w as note d from the beginning to the end of t he te st
(140).

Environmental Factors

While h eart rat e can be an eff ecti ve way t o ass ess intensit y/ effor t,
one maj or drawback is th e effect t hat envi ronm ental factors have
on it. For exa mpl e, heat and altitu de typic ally in cre ase on e’s
resting and s ub - maximal heart rat es (901) . Addi tionally, a 2016
study by Che et al. found that relative humidity incre as es one’s
heart rat e (902). Exercisi ng in t he cold will also li kely raise one’s
heart rat e as t he cold weather can cause t he bl ood v essels a nd
arteries t o narr ow , which f orces the heart t o work har der to pump
blood t hroughout the bod y.

Resting Heart Rate

This ass essment is perfor med by t aking one’s heart rate upon
waking and b efor e getting out of bed. This gives a good b ase
measur ement in t erms of y our athl ete bec oming more aerobically fit
and wh en the per son is recover ed. Generally sp eak ing, the l ower
the resti ng heart rate, th e mor e aerobical ly fit so meone
is. Indivi duals naturally have v aryi ng resti ng heart r ate levels, so
the valu e of t his t est is no t the i niti al restin g heart r ate but rather
the reas sessm ent s. Restin g he art r ate is af fecte d by many th ings,
so to obtain the most accurate baseline measurem ent, your athlete
will want to tak e their resting heart rate on three or four
consec utive days and av erage the results. Your athl ete should s ee
the aver age r esti ng hear t rate decl ine thro ughout th e trainin g
process, especial ly throughout the base training pha se.

A decre ase in res ting heart rat e corresponds to an i ncrease in

stroke volume (a mount of blood ejected with each heart stroke).
When str oke v olume increases, th e heart beats les s to sup ply th e
same a mount of blood t o the body as it would at a l ower str oke
volume. This phy siologic al adaptation indicates the cardiovascular
system is becomi ng more effici ent, and the heart does not have to
work as hard to supply th e body with blood. Typically, the gr eater
one’s a ge, the lower the person’s resting heart r ate.

A significantly low or high resti ng heart rate can indicate

fatigue and po ssibly, overtrain in g syndro me ( 900 ).

Recovery Heart Rate

In additi on to the resting heart r ate test, th e reco ver y heart r ate
assessm ent m eas ures car diovascul ar fitnes s and, m ore important,
improve ment. An athlete’ s recover y heart r ate is as sessed by
having t he in divid ual get t heir hear t rate u p to a pre determi ned
level, then ceasing activity . T he recovery heart rat e is
repres ented b y t he numb er of b eats the h eart rat e drops in one
minute a fter c es sation of exerci se.

The gre ater t he heart rate drop, the more aerobi call y conditi oned
an athl ete is. The speed at whi ch t he hear t rate drops can also b e
attributed to t he f atigue l e vel of an athlete. If an athlete is n ot
recover ed from a previous work out or is sick, the he art rate will not
drop as fast as it would o therwi se. Therefor e, the same test shoul d
be don e on differ ent day s, an d the average calc ulat ed to ac curat ely
represe nt the cor rect heart rate dr op. As y our at hlet e becomes
more ae robic ally fit, the person’s average heart r ate recover y time
should decrease.
Heart Rate Variability

Heart R ate V ariability (HR V), whil e previously appli ed to pr edict

sudden cardi ac death an d di abetic abnorm alities , has been found
to have a pro foun d applic ation in it s ability t o hel p g uide co aches
and ath letes in tr aining, r ecov ery, and predictiv e pe rformanc e
capabilities.

In basic terms, H RV mea sures vari ation in time b etw een each
heartbe at. The autonomi c nerv ous system ( the pr im itive part of th e
nervous system) works behind the scenes t o regulat e heart r ate,
blood p ressur e, b reathing, and digestion. Originally measur ed via
electroc ardiogram, companies are now launchi ng w earable
technol ogy li nked with sm artphone or tablet apps to measur e HRV
during physic al activity, sl eep, and rest. HR V measured via
wearabl e tec hnol ogy is a non -i nvasive way to identi fy imbal ances
in the a utonomic nervous system. HRV is affected by the dif ferent
experie nces we have in a day, suc h as physical stress, diet,
emotion al stress, sleep, and t he environm ent.

Accordi ng to a H arvard H ealth report, ther e are still questions

about t he ac curacy and r eliabil ity of tracki ng HR V and its us e wit h
athlete t rainin g and phys ical activi ty. Tracki ng HR V has proven
benefici al but sho uld be c onsid ere d as on e pie ce of health data
along w ith ot her markers i ndicating an at hlete’ s res t, recovery, an d
physical prep are dness.
VO2 Max
The term maximu m effort heart rate or VO 2 max is used a lot
among endur ance athlete s and relates to m aximal ox ygen
consum ption or, more specifically, an indi vidual ’s m aximal c apacit y
to trans port a nd use oxy gen durin g exerci se. Th e V stands
for volu me, O 2 st ands for oxygen, and max refer s to maximum .

VO2 ma x also commonly r efers t o the test to determ ine a subject’ s

maximal oxygen consum ption. So what does V O2 r eally represent?
A VO2 max test c an be done on any appar atus ( e.g., bike,
treadmill , rowe r, etc.); ho wever , th e gener al tes ting method is the
same. A subj ect’s oxygen consump tion is measured while the
intensity of the effort increases.

As the i ntensi ty o f the eff ort incr ea ses, oxy gen c ons umption
increas es, initi all y as a li near r elat ionship. VO2 max is represente d
when a subject’s oxygen cons umpt ion plat eaus, even if the subje ct
can con tinue incr easing effort. It i s import ant to not e that w hen
performi ng a VO2 max tes t, som e i ndividuals cannot determi ne
their VO 2 max because t hey fatigue befor e their oxy gen
consum ption hits a plate au.

Additio nally, whil e it is normal t o i ncrease one’ s VO 2 max throug h

exercise, the absolute lim it of on e’s potential V O 2 max i s
largely deter min ed by g enetic s. As note d bel ow, some individu als
do not r each a pl ateau.

Accordi ng to t he American Coll ege of Spor ts M edici ne (ACS M),

an individual’ s V O2 max decli nes 5 -15 percent per decad e pas t
the age of 30 ( 45). The good news is that older adul ts respo nd to
aerobic exerci se equally as well a s younger adults in terms of
increasing VO2 max. This means that older adults c an impr ove
their VO 2 max by 10-30 perce nt through aerobi c ex ercise (45).

Regardi ng increa sing one’s VO 2 m ax, studi es have f ound that

increas es in V O2 are mos tly limit ed to recr eational athletes versu s
well-trained (el ite) athletes (597, 598). Therefor e, p erformance
increas es in wel l -trained athlet es are li kely d ue t o increa ses i n
running econo m y versus inc reases in VO2 max.
An indiv idual’ s V O2 max i s typi cal ly expre ssed as milliliters of
oxygen per kil ogr am of b ody w eight per minute ( ml/k g/min). F or
individu als wh o either should not or cannot do t he V O2 max test,
there ar e esti mat ed tests that do n ot take t he in divi dual to t heir
absolut e maxi mum. Thes e tests ar e called subm axi mal tests and
use eq uations to estimate VO2 max. While t he V O2 test det ermin es
aerobic fitnes s, t his test in isol at ion has often b een found to be
a poor d eterm ini ng factor of su ccess in endur an ce athle tes a s
many ot her fact ors influ ence at hletic p erform an ce (46).
Therefore, deter mining one’s VO2 max is a great w ay to benchmark
fitness and use f or reass essment purpos es, but reg arding
perform ance i n th e real w orld, it is only one pot ential factor.

Exercise Economy

The primary reas on VO2 max is often viewed as a poor

perform ance i ndi cator is because of exerci se ec onomy . Exercise
econom y rel ates to how efficien t an athl ete is. M any fact ors,
such as aerobic fi tness, biomec hanics, and musc ular endurance,
influenc e one’s exercise economy. Let’s look at two hypoth etical
athletes to d emo nstrate how e xer cise eco nomy fits into ov erall
perform ance. B ot h athlet es (at hlet e A and athl ete B ) have a VO2
max of 70. However, athl ete B is much m ore bi omechanically
efficient than athl ete A. If one wer e to loo k at ju st V O2 max, they
would b e identical regardi ng potent ial. How ever, l ooking at t he bi g
picture ( ex erci se econom y), it bec omes cl ear that athlete B will
outperf orm at hlet e A. In other wor ds, athl ete B has greater
exercise econom y than athlet e A.

When a ssessi ng athletes regar ding their potent ial as well as their
current level, you must take exerci se econ omy i nto account .

To drive home this point, take Paula Radcliffe, holder of the

women’s marathon record (2:15:25). When tested (V O2 max)
initially as an 18- year-old, and 11 years lat er, h er V O2 max did n ot
change despite her vast i mprov em ent. Therefor e it i s easy t o see in
this cas e that her improve ment wa s largely due t o a n increa se in
running economy, not an i ncrease i n VO2 m ax (494).

Sport – Specific Fitness?

How ca n an i ndivi dual run a 2: 30 m arathon but barel y make it one

lap in a pool without hyp ervent ilati ng and exper ienc ing a
skyrocke ting hear t rate? Is the per son out of shape? Not likely if
the indi vidual can run a 2 :30 m arat hon. Ho wever , th ey are
inefficient swimm ing, and the wasted ener gy equates to rapi d
fatigue and eleva ted heart rate . Th is individual’s per formanc e in
the poo l does not correlat e whatsoever to aerobi c fit ness lev el. It i s
just a question of what sport the person is most efficient at.

While cardiov asc ular fitness is not sport -specific, a n indivi dual’s
overall efficiency is, which di rect ly impacts t he demand on t he
cardiov ascular sy stem.

Running Economy

While m any variables infl uenc e running econo my, l eg girth and,
more sp ecifically, the girt h of the l ower leg can sign ificantly affect
a runne r’s effi ciency. The heavier the leg, the m o re energy i t take s
to swing it. Th e c loser to t he fo ot t he weig ht is, t he truer this
become s. For ex ample, a runner would have great er exerci se
econom y if they h ad large qua driceps and small c alv es versus
large calves and small quadriceps.

A study by My ers et al. lo oked to r eplicate this s cen ario usi ng

weights applied to differe nt body parts while running (492). When 8
pounds were plac ed at w aist level, it requir ed 4 perc ent mor e
energy t han r unni ng without any ex tra weight. However, a 4 - poun d
weight attach ed t o each ankle required the runner t o exert 24
percent more ene rgy to run at t he same pace.

Another study compared two gr oups of boys from different

countries. The average volume/thi ckness of one group’s calves was
15‒17 percent less than the ot her group . When running, thi s
equate s to energy saving s of 8 percent per kilom et er (493)!

Of cours e, leg gir th is not the o nly factor of effici enc y, which has a
significant genetic component. Th e area of running economy mos t
often di scuss ed i s that of runni ng form and musc le/ connect ive
tissue sti ffnes s. While th ese ar ea s are dis cusse d i n the R unning
Mechan ics modul e, the areas f ocused on are str ide rate, stri de
length, spine/hip rotation, vertical oscillation, and overall running
form.
Relating VO2 Max to Burning Fat / Calories

If you w ere to as k ten pe ople what the corr ect w ork out inte nsity i s
to lose weight , bu rn calori es, an d “ get in s hape,” yo u would most
likely get ten different answers. One reas on for this is that y ou are
asking t hree diffe rent qu esti ons.

Many p eople ass ociate a great workout wit h high intensity.

However , given t he phys iologi cal r espons e to aerobic training, this
is not necessarily the cas e and largely depends on a person’s
fitness g oals. Mo st cardio vascu lar machin es (e.g ., tr eadmills) hav e
a chart depicti ng heart rat e zones optimal f or bur ning fat or
calories and getting into aerobic s hape. It is tru e that the lower t he
intensity at which an indi vidual trains, the greater the percentage
of ener gy that comes from fat. H owever, one m ust l ook at it from
the pers pectiv e o f the tot al en ergy expen ded. T his was
demons trated by Johann es Romijn et al. in a 1993 r esearch pap er
titled Regulati on of endogenous fat and carbohydrat e metab olism
in relation to exercise intensity and duration (47).

Romijn demonstr ated that whil e at 25 perc ent of an individual’s

VO2 ma x, the per cent en ergy fr om fat was 85 percent. At 6 5
percent of an indi vidual’s VO2 max , the percent energy from f at
decreas ed to 60 percent. How ever , due to the i ncreased energy
expend iture at 65 percent of V O2 max, the 60 perc ent of energy
from fat accou nte d for mor e (ab out 40 perc ent m ore! ) than t he
energy f rom f at at 25 per cent VO2 max. An indivi dual at 85 perc ent
of their VO2 m ax uses on ly 30 perc ent of e nergy fro m fat. Ev en
though this percentage is low, i t st ill repres ents mor e total e nerg y
from fat t han s om eone at 25 p erce nt VO2 max, b ut l ess tha n
someon e at 65 percent V O2 m ax ( 47). The following chart
graphic ally illustr ates this (CHO = Carbohydrates).
Therefore, when discussi ng wh ich intensity is mor e optimal f or
burning fat, t here are two answ ers: at 25 percent VO 2 max, y ou will
have th e greatest percent age of energy coming fr om fat.
However , the i nt ensity w here yo u will bur n the most fat is at
approxi matel y 65 percen t VO 2 m ax . To address the calori e issu e,
this one is pre tty easy. Th e gre ater the inte nsity, the greater the
caloric expenditure will be .

The ab ove c hart i s also a graphic r epresentation of how ex ercise

intensity correlates with exercise sustainability. Th e great er the
intensity , the greater the reliance upon c arbohydrates; ther efore,
the less susta ina ble the exerci se i s for lon g dur atio ns of tim e.

Should You Assess VO2 Max?

The VO 2 max tes t is consi dered the gold s tandard i n deter mining
aerobic capacity. T his test requi res speciali zed e qui pment a nd
training to ad mini ster. Su bmaxi mal tests ar e use d to estimat e the
VO2 ma x for i ndi viduals f or whom a true V O2 test w ould be unsa fe
or for th ose w ho do not have access to a VO2 m ax test or si mply
do not want t he f ull test. As a si de note, a VO2 max test typi cally
costs $100‒$300 and is often done with a blood lact ate threshold
test.

As note d previously, VO2 max is often a p oor per formance

indicator , as it d oes not consid e r exerc ise e cono my. This is
where c orrelat in g blood l actat e is valuabl e to k now. For example,
two athl etes c oul d have t he e xact same V O2 ma x b ut differ ent
blood l actate levels. VO2 max relat es to aerobic cap acity, but
lactate threshold (LT) determines the perc entage of VO2 they can
perform and f or h ow long. This was demonstrat ed i n a 1982 study
by Bertil Sjodi n ( 499). In this st ud y, runne rs per for med trai ning
session s at lactat e threshold f or 14 weeks. At the end of the 14
weeks, the subjects decreased their average mile time from
5:43/mil e to 5:29/ m ile. Interestingl y, the V O2 max of the ru nners
did not i ncrea se at all!

A 2008 study by Tim Noakes found that d uring a V O2 max test,

only 47 percent of subjects reached a plateau (728). Whil e this
finding sugg ests t hat the l imit of a VO2 ma x test ma y not sol ely
depen d on o xyge n, it is cl ear that the defi ning point of a VO 2 max
test (plat eau) is li kely unr eliabl e.

Several asses sm ents/tes ts are us ed to es timat e (s ubmaxi mal) V O2

max. Th e Bruc e protocol t est (70) and the YMC A cy cle ergo meter
test are two of th e more widely us ed assessments. Concer ning a
true VO 2 max as sessment, esti mated VO 2 max ass essment s are
relatively easy to adminis ter an d do not require exte nsive
equipm ent or trai ning.

While it might be interesti ng to know one’s VO2 max , from a

training perspecti ve, you shoul d be more focused on the heart rat e
‒ specifi cally t he final he art rat e w hen the athl ete c an no l onger
continu e. This is becaus e VO 2 max expres sed as m l/kg/min cann ot
be correlated directly to ot her aerobic fitness benchmarks, w herea s
heart rat e can.

When c ompar ed t o a true VO2 max test, many of the estimat ed

VO2 ma x tests underestim ated one’s VO2 m ax (454, 455).
Specific ally, th e Bruce pr otoco l te st and t he YM CA cycle er gomet er
test und eresti mat ed VO2 max by an average of 14 p ercent ( 45 5).
This certification will not include an estimated VO2 max
assessm ent f or t he prec eding rea sons.

Anaerobic Threshold
The term anaero bic threshold ( A nT ) is used extensively in the
world of endurance sports and is most commonly used to describe
the work ing upper limit of one’s aerobic capacity. A nT is difficult
to define as it is more of a con ce pt than an est ab lished
metric. I t should be noted that some indivi dual s do not beli eve t hat
AnT exis ts (13 1). Becaus e of t his, there ar e man y di fferent
interpretations regarding what AnT is. In addition to confusi on
about t he definiti on of A nT, it m ak es sens e that there is equal
confusi on ov er how to as sess and estimat e it (441) . Some of the
most co mmon benchmark s used to interpret AnT are:

Lactate Thresho ld (LT )

Repres entativ e of the lev el at w hic h blood lacta te accumulates in

the blo odstream. This occ urs when lactate production exceeds
lactate c learing.

Onset of Blood Lactate Accu mul ation (OB LA)

OBLA is often us ed syno nymo usly with LT. How eve r, OBLA occur s
at a slig htly hi gher level t han LT ( 71, 125). Tec hnic ally speaking,
OBLA is reac hed when th e blo od la ctate ac cumul ate s to a c ertain
level in t he blood (4mmol) (382).

Maximu m Lactat e Stead y Stat e ( MLSS)

The hig hest i ntensity level at whic h blood lactate c oncentr ations
are mai ntained at a steady -stat e (e quilibrium) lev el during exercis e
bouts of at le ast 60 minu tes (4 41). This ma y or m ay not be high er
than O BLA.

Ventilato ry T hre shold (VT )

The poi nt at whic h the ve ntilati on r ate incr eases fas ter than the
workloa d. Unti l the VT is r eached, the work load and respirati on
rate incr ease l inearly. It is often correlated with LT.

A primar y reas on for the i ncrea se i n popul arity o f qu antifyin g AnT

in sports is the poo r corr elation be tween V O2 m ax and athl etic
perform ance ( 137, 138). As a resul t, finding a subm aximal
threshol d tha t ca n be ma intain ed over lon g peri ods has gai ned
traction within th e endur ance spor ts comm unity ( 13 8).

While th e AnT int erpretati ons j ust note d have v alue to runners
when g auging int ensity, th ey sho uld not b e used to infer
AnT (127) directl y . This is prima ril y becau se of a la ck of
correlati on betwe en assessme nt m ethods. For e xam ple, a 1993
study o ut of t he Universit y of Br iti sh Columbia f ound th at m any o f
the corr elatio ns a ppeare d to b e coi ncident al wh en u sing VT and LT
to estim ate A nT ( 123).

The the ory th at a coincidental corr elation exists bet ween A nT, VT ,
and LT i s furt her support ed by a 1 982 stu dy th at lo oked at
hyperve ntilati on r ates in peop l e wit h glucose stor age disea se -typ e
5 (comm only c all ed McAr dle sy ndr ome ) (141, 142). Individuals wit h
McArdle syndr om e cannot break down gly cogen in t he musc les.
As blood lactat e results from glycogen br eakd ow n
(cataboli sm) , t hese indivi duals do not produ ce l acta te abov e
resting l evels wit h exerci se. In thi s study, the parti cipants’ VT
increas es at t he point at which their proposed A nT would be. Thi s
demons trates that VT is n ot caused by an increase in LT.

Therefore, the assessments noted above and others should be

used as stand -al one ass essm ents but not for inf erri ng AnT.

A propo sed AnT i mplies t hat once i ndividuals ex ceed it, they no
longer use ox yge n for energy but i nstead r ely on gl ycogen
exclusiv ely for energy. Thi s is err oneous as the re is no evid ence
that the body “sw itches” fr om usi n g oxyge n to not u sing oxy gen at
a partic ular int ensity level . Oxygen is present at all level s of
intensity , albe it in varyi ng am ou nts. At one’s proposed AnT, t he
anaero bic energy systems do not t ake over for t he aerobic e nergy
system but suppl ement it to meet the increased energy demand
(126).

Conconi Test

A popul ar esti mat ed anaerobic threshold (A nT) test i s the Co nconi

Test. The Conconi test w as devel oped in 1982 by Frances co
Concon i, an I talian sports doct or (259). This test c an be
administ ered on either a treadmill or bike. This t est determi nes
AnT by plotting a subject’ s hear t rate and l ooking for a plateau.
This plateau is known as the d eflection poi nt and r epresents th e
AnT. Th e theory behind the C onconi test is that one’s heart r ate
increas es line arly with the increase in workl oad. When the li near
relation ship ends becaus e of t he deflection point, it represents th e
AnT.

Individu als ca n c ontinue exerc isin g past t heir A nT, and their hea rt
rate will continue to rise. Ho wever, the indi vidua l wil l probably not
be able to continue for m uch l onger. Several st udies have
challen ged t he validity of t he C onc oni test, stating t hat not all
subjects have sh own deflectio n points on the test, meaning the
results are not consistentl y repli cat ed (73). Also, studies show a
lack of c orrelatio n between the Conconi te st and true LT tes ts. The
lack of c orrelatio n demonstrates that the Conco ni test likely
overest imates L T (74). While U E SCA will not use the Conconi t est
for the r easo ns a bove, it i s import ant to be aw are of this tes t
regardi ng its i ntended use and the challenges t o its validity.

Origin Of Anaerobic Threshold

Wasserm an a nd McIlroy c oined th e term anaerobic threshol d in

1964 to identify an intens ity that w as chall enging an d safe f or
cardiac patients ( 136). The goal of anaerobic threshold was to
identify a reliable, submaximal effort level so that cardiac patients
were no t subj ecte d to max imal c ar diovasc ular te sts. The premise of
their an aerob ic th reshold theor y w as that blood lact ate
accumul ation is t he resul t of poor oxygen levels (127).

Lactate Threshold
Lactate threshol d is the level at which blood lact ate
accumu lates in t he blood stream. This occurs w hen lactate
producti on ex ceeds lactat e clearing.

While la ctate i s always pr oduc ed a t rest or at low to moderate

exercise intensiti es, the l actat e is “cleared” withi n t he musc le. S o,
what ex actly doe s “cleared” mean, and how does thi s influence LT ?
Regardi ng LT , when you see t he te rm “clear ed,” th ink “used f or
energy.” Lact ate i s clear ed int ra - muscul arly by ox idizing t he
lactate and converting it b ack to pyruvate ( oxidative fuel) within the
muscle i n whic h l actate w as for med (319).

Lactate is us ed f or fuel i n the mito chondri a. Lac tate permea tes th e

mitocho ndrial wal l via a s pecia l transporter protein
called monocarb oxylate transpor ters (MCT s) (512). MCTs c an b e
increas ed via trai ning, thus fac ilitating incr eased lac tate clearanc e
(76).

This clearing met hod prevents the intra -muscular lactate lev els
from incr easin g t oo fast t o the poi nt wher e lacta te l evels reach th e
intra-mu scular thr eshold and s pill out into t he bl oods tream.
Therefore, intra- muscular lacta te l evels can incr eas e subst antiall y
(up to fiv e tim es r esting l evels) wit hout any incr eas e in blood
lactate l evels (513). Howe ver, w he n the int ra -muscular lactat e
threshol d is br ea ched, s ome la ctat e exits t he mu scl e and enters
the circu latory sy stem, th us incr ea sing blo od la ctate levels. T his is
represe ntativ e of the lact ate thr eshold.

Once bl ood l actat e enters the c irculatory sy stem, i t i s shuttled to

areas of the body that can use it for fuel (i.e., brai n, heart, and
other sk eletal muscle). Bl ood lactate that i s not utili zed is s ent to
the liver, wher e it is conv erted t o p yruvate and t hen to gluco se.
The glu cose i s sent (via bl o od) to t he musc les to be used as fuel.
This is representative of the C ori Cycle ( 515).

When e xercisi ng at MLSS , most lactate is oxidiz ed f or fuel by

converting lactate to pyruvate and back to lactate. When the
intensity increases much beyond MLSS, th e lact ate enters t he
circulatory syst e m.

The pro cess by w hich lact ate m oves intra -m uscul arl y and
through out t he cir culatory system i s termed the l act ate
shuttle ( 319, 511).
As lactat e ca n be added and r emo ved from the bloo d, the a moun t
of bloo d lact ate a t any gi v en point is repres entati ve of blood
lactate accumulation, not production.

An anal ogy t o LT would be to equate a mus cle fi ber to a drinking

glass, th e wat er within th e gla ss t o lactat e, an d any area o utsid e
the glas s to t he c irculator y syste m. Levels of wat er ( i.e., lact ate)
can increase and decrease, but so long as the level s do not breach
the top of the gla ss (i.e., l actate th reshold) , bloo d la ctate lev els
will not increase.

However , onc e the water spills over the top of th e gl ass, the bloo d
lactate l evels i ncr ease as ther e is an incre ase i n lac tate with in th e
circulatory syst e m.

Historical Reference

In additi on to Dr. Meyerh of’s fro g s tudy (ref erenc ed i n Modul e 3 ),

in which he concluded that high lactate lev els caused muscular
fatigue ( 24), t wo other st udies hav e profoundly i mpacted the
erroneo us perception of l actate.

In 1857 , bioc hem ist Louis Past eur deduced that lact ic acid
formatio n was po ssible o nly in t he absenc e of o xyge n (anae robic).
This is called the Pasteur effec t (509).
Second ly, in 1923, research by physiologis t A.V. Hi ll theoriz ed a
correlati on betwe en high work l evels and high blood lactate levels .
More sp ecifically, he theorized that the aer obic s yst em was
inadeq uate t o provide fuel to th e body at high i nten sities. Therefo re
the ana erobi c/lac tic acid s ystem w ould “swi tch o n” and tak e over
from the oxid ativ e system (510 ).

In the y ears si nc e then, the fo llow ing has been fou nd to be true:

• Lactic a cid do es not exist withi n th e huma n body

• Lactate is a f uel
• Lactate is pro duc ed at all ti mes
• The proposed anaerobic system does not “switc h o n” after t he
oxidativ e syst em is exha usted
• Lactate is not res ponsibl e for m usc le burn

Despite these findings, t here is still a large consensus that

believe s that l act ate is a waste pr oduct and responsible for a
reductio n in hum an athl etic perfor mance.

Is Lactic Acid and Lactate the Same?

Lactic a cid do es not reall y exist in the bo dy – t his i s because th e

blood’s pH is t oo neutral, and acid s requir e a ver y l ow pH.
Therefore, imm ediately after lactic acid is produc ed i n the body, it
splits into lactate and hydrogen (908). So while so me migh t think of
it as sem antics, when people use the term ‘lactic acid,’ they are
really ref erring to lactate.

Benchmarking Lactate Threshold

LT has become a common benchm ark fo r gauging intensity during

training and r acin g in en duran ce s ports. Li ke an aer obic thr eshol d,
the met hod by which LT is assessed and quanti fied i s confus ing.
LT benc hmark s s uch as OBLA, MLSS, and LT its elf are often
viewed as synony mous. A s not ed previousl y , LT, OB LA, and MLS S
occur at slightl y different intensity levels.

For this certification, we will provid e a few ways to determine LT

and corr espo nding heart r ate z ones to prov ide intensity zones for
your athletes effectively.
Lactate threshol d typically co rresponds t o appr o ximatel y 85
percent of one ’s maximum heart rate (737). UE SC A recom mend s
using th e Fu nctio nal Thre shold He art Rate Asse ssm ent (FTH R) to
estimate one’ s LT. This assess ment is disc ussed below.

Blood Lactate Clearance

Lactate clear anc e was di scuss ed earlier in terms of being cleare d

intra-mu scularl y. However , onc e lactate thr eshol d is reached and
lactate enters the circulatory syste m, lactate becom es blood
lactate and is cleared in one of two ways (29):

1. Lactate is sh uttle d to are as of t he bo dy that can us e it for f uel

(i.e., brai n, heart, other sk eletal m uscle).
2. Blood l actate that is not utilized is sent to t he liv er, where it is
first conv erted to pyruvat e, the n to glucose . This i s
representativ e of the Cori Cycle.

When blo od lact ate levels in crease past what can be cleared,
blood lactate accumulates.

In a 19 89 study by McMast er et al. , swimmers wer e assessed to

determi ne the best intens ity lev el to clear l actat e af ter a maximal
effort. M cMast er et al. found t hat when s wimmer s s wam at 65
percent of th eir m aximum effort, they clear ed th e m ost lactate
(320). T his stu dy was perf ormed us ing swim mers be cause d uring
meets, s wimmers often have t o compete i n multi ple events, thus
necessit ating pro per reco very fr om one ev ent to the next.

Another study fou nd that exerci sing near one’s LT c leared t he mo st

lactate. This study also fo und that lactate was clea red fast er via
active r est th an at rest ( 506).

While th e first stu dy noted is s pecif ic to swi mming, t he science

likely holds true for that of ru nning. It is applicable f rom bot h a
perspec tive of recovering duri ng c ompetiti on and tr aining when
performi ng int erv al -type s essions.

The pos itive effe cts of ac tive recovery reg arding cl earing l actate
seem to be lim ite d to 20 minut es or less (5 07).
Training Implication

While p hysical tr aining has no impact on t he body r egarding lact ate

producti on, it does influence the ability of an indivi dual to clear
lactate. Interval - based training i s the most efficient way to
increas e one’s ability to clear bl ood lact ate.

Why Not Directly Test for Lactate Threshold?

LT can be as sess ed direc tly by tak ing blood samples for analysis
and run ning t hem throug h a lactate blood analyz er. However ,
unless y ou ar e tr ained o n how to administ er an d analyze an LT
test, it is recom m ended t hat y ou outsourc e this t est to a qualifie d
professi onal. I f y ou are qualifi ed t o administer t he t est, you must
use all proper blo od handling/ dispo sal proc edure s a nd must chec k
with local laws to ensure you are complying with current health
regulati ons. F or most coaches thi s is not an option; theref ore, an
estimated ass ess ment of LT (M LS S) is the best course of ac tion
(72). An estim ated LT ass essm ent such as MLS S is an accurate,
safe, and legal w ay to assess an individual’s LT .

Functional Threshold Heart Rate Assessment (FTHR)

FTHR represents the maxi mum effort that c an be sus tained at a

steady rate for one hour (77). FTH R typical ly corr el ates to LT (77).
Using FTHR as a benchmark, you can esta blish training zones for
your athlete. FTH R can be esti mat ed by a 20 -30 mi nute
assessm ent rathe r than a full hour.
As FTHR pertai ns to the avera ge h eart rate an i ndivi dual ca n likel y
sustain for 1 hour, races shorter or longer than 1 hour will res ult in
different hear t rat e target s.

FTHR Assessment

The FTH R ass ess ment is a great w ay to determi ne an athlet e’s

specific trainin g needs and race preparation. Heart rate response
over tar get d urati ons can help gain insight i nto ar eas of an
athlete’ s relati ve strength s an d we akness es.

Adapte d from the Functional T hre s hold Power (F TP) assess ment
originall y dev eloped by Al len & Coggan, it is a popular system
upon w hich m any cyclists and c oaches base their i ntensity contr ol.
It is the highe st p ower th at a ri der can mai ntain i n a quasi-st eady
state for approxi mately an ho ur.

Concer ning t he 20 -minut e FTHR test, it is cri tical t o perform an

effective warm - up. While the exac t warm -up struc ture will var y
betwee n athl etes, the mai n com ponent of a solid war m -up is easy
running with s everal short (10 -20 s econd) hard effor ts about two-
thirds to three-quarters of the w ay through the warm -up.

While a n FTHR a ssessment aim s t o maint ain a maxi mum eff ort for
20-minu tes, it i s i mportant to not under or overs hoot this eff ort.
Therefore, it is cr itical not to start too hard and not be able to
finish th e test or drasticall y red uce one’s i ntensit y.

20-Minut e T est

This test can be done on a treadmill or outdoors. T he most

importa nt thing is that the runner’s pace is unint errupted (i.e.,
stoplights). Fo r t his reason, many individuals find a trea dmil l or
running track to be the m ost optim al envir onments. The intensity
should be at the maximum level they can s ustai n for 20 minutes.
Therefore, running substantially faster or slower than this desired
pace will resul t in an inac curat e te st result. Sin c e heart rate is
being a ssess ed, having a heart rat e monit or that can average he art
rate ove r a set w orkout is necessary.

The dur ation of t he FTHR assess ment is a total of 30 minutes, wi th

the first 10 mi nut es bein g the war m-up. At the 10 - minute point, the
runner i ncreases their eff ort to what they believ e they can s ustai n
for the next 2 0 mi nutes. At this poi nt, the athlet e starts their heart
rate mo nitor t o record their heart r ate so t hey c an t ake the aver age
of the 2 0 min utes at the end of the assess ment.

It is sug geste d th at this t est be us ed for tr aining int ensity

prescript ion a nd r egular monitoring , as the 20 -mi nut e time -tri al
perform ance i s reliable and is s ens itive to tr aining adaptati ons a nd
running abilit y. R epeating test ing i s benefi cial to get appropriate
pacing strategy and effor t ben chm arks. One’s FT H R is 95% of th eir
averag e hear t rat e for the 20 -m inute test.

Training Zone Integration Of FTHR

Once a n athl ete has thei r FTHR , t hey can establish their trai ning
zones. Below are the zones and associated inte nsit ies, as w ell as a
hypoth etical athlete’s zon es. It i s i mportan t to n ote and reit erate
that the body ’s e nergy sy stems do not function as z ones – one
does n ot ‘tur n off ,’ and the next zone ‘turns on’ as i ntensity
increas es. The z ones ar e not ed as gener al inte nsit ies and
guidelin es to trai n at to s timula te and imp rove parti cular
physiol ogical adaptations to im prove r unni ng perfor mance.
Therefore, while a particular adaption might be noted in the
‘Primary Training Application’ section, that adaption is likely being
develo ped in another zone(s) as w ell, albeit to a les ser degr ee.

After per formi ng a 20-mi nute F TH R test , our hy pot hetical s ubjec t,
Brian, c alculat ed his FTHR to b e 1 65. Bas ed o n this informat ion,
below a re Bri an’s heart rate zones as it relates to th e abov e zon e
percent ages.
Training Zones

Zone 1: Recovery

This intensity zone is representative of acti ve r ec ov ery. Reg ardin g

intensity , it should feel e xtremely easy.

Zone 2: Endur an ce

Base tra ining and any typ e of l ong workout to bui ld or maint ain
endura nce fall int o this categor y.

• T raining Applications: Long run

Zone 3: Steady State

This is a slightly more int ense ver sion of Z one 2. D uring thi s
phase, l actat e pr oductio n incr ease s but ca n still be cleared
effective ly.

• T raining Application: Runs at a sl ight incr ease i n i ntensity

from an endur anc e run.

Zone 4: Lactate T hreshold

During this phase, lactate accumul ation co ntinu es t o increa se to

the poi nt where it is around one’s l actate t hreshold.

• T raining Application: tem po

Zone 5: VO2 Max

At this p oint, l act ate acc umulat es f aster th an it c an be clear ed a nd
represe nts the hi gh end of one’s aerobic c apacit y.

• T raining Applications: int ervals , r epeats

Zone 6: Anaerob ic Power

During this zone, an indiv idual wor ks above their VO2 Max, which
is not su stainable for long periods.

• T raining Applications: All- out s pr ints.

Programming and Pacing

In additi on to stat ing exact heart rate ranges, you can direct
athletes usin g th e zones .

By usin g traini ng zones w ith res pect to the primary energy system
they tar get, y ou c an utiliz e this i nf ormatio n for p aci ng guid eline s
for vario us rac e/t raining distan ces and types. Ot her metrics s uch
as rate of per ceiv ed exert ion (R PE ) and pace per mi le can also b e
integrat ed into pacing gui delines.

If using heart rat e to bas e pa cing off of, e nviron me ntal fact ors su ch
as heat and cardi ac drift s hould be consid ered a s th ey may
influenc e an athlete’s he art rate.

Specificity of Sport Disciplines

The gre ater a n at hlete’s profici enc y in a particul ar s ports

discipline, the lo wer the heart rat e respo nse. T his is a func tion of
one’s ef ficien cy.

Preferred Analysis Tools

In the vi deo below, Ben Rosari o di scusses two prim ary anal ysis
tools he favor s fo r athlete s.

[There is a Vi deo here. Vi deos can not be v iewe d fro m this P DF. To
View Vi deo C ontent, please ref er t o the online Cour se]
Emerging Technology

Like an y field or i ndustry, sport s s cience i s always evolving, and

with it, th e means to asse ss and track athl ete data. While there are
a lot of areas of emergin g tec hnol ogy in t he re alm of endu rance
sports, two of the most significa nt areas currentl y ar e blood
biomark ers – s pecifically, t he as sessment of one’s blood for the
purpos es of healt h and perform anc e and t he ot her being constan t
glucose monit ors for performanc e.

Blood Analysis / Markers

Blood a nalysi s pr ovides a unique window i nto an at hlete’s health

and per formance . Certain biom ark ers like v itamin D and ferr itin c an
directly i mpact at hletic perform anc e, while other s lik e cortisol and
creatine kinase c an provide insigh ts into overtrai nin g and injury
preventi on. A thlet es can now utiliz e blood testi ng to pinpoi nt are as
of focus and i mpl ement e ffectiv e c hanges to im prov e perfor manc e.

Of cours e, it is o utside t he sc ope of practi ce an d k nowled ge of an

athlete or co ach t o perfor m blo od draws. An d ev en if an athl ete or
coach c ould, they likely w ould not be able to analyz e th e data and
make m eaningful and acti onable changes t o a tr aining progr am
based on the information. Compani es such as InsideTracker are
focused on analy zing blood bi omarkers specific t o endurance
athletes , not j ust overall health , as with ph ysicia n -referral bl ood
tests.
Constant Glucose Monitoring (CGM)

Glucose , or bl ood sugar, i s a crit ic al elem ent to an endurance

athlete’ s perf orm ance a nd to o littl e results in a dec rease in athle tic
perform ance – oft en referr ed to as the dreaded ‘ bonk.’ CGM
technol ogy is no t new. Those wi th diabetes hav e us ed it to monit or
their glu cose l eve ls. Howe ver, t his technol ogy is no w being used to
track on e’s gl uco se level s in re al-t ime to reduce the chance that an
athlete will no t ru n out of gluc ose/ glycoge n. In other words, i t is a
means t o inform an athl ete w hen t hey ne ed to i nge st fuel.

The tec hnology w orks via a pat ch/s ensor wi th a ti ny needle, and i n
the cas e of S uper sapiens (a CG M company), th e sensor is paired
to an a pp that reads the sens or’s data. A ccordi ng t o Super sapie ns,
the CGM has benefits bot h whil e exercising and not exercisi ng. Th e
advant age w hile exercising is t hat an athl ete c an fuel in the prop er
amount (i.e., not over or under fuel). While not exer cising, t he
CGM ca n infor m an athl ete of the right am ount of fuel to ingest to
optimize muscl e glycogen repl enis hment ( 1015).

Other

Some ot her areas to be aware of ar e sweat sens or m onitors and

core bo dy temper ature sensors .

Summary
• A heart r ate m oni tor is an impor tan t tool to asses s i ntensity
as well as rec ove ry
• Using a heart rat e monit or to assess one’s resting and
recovery heart rate helps to as ses s recovery as wel l as
increas es in aerobic fitness lev el
• Rate of perceived exertion (RPE ) s cale is a subj ecti ve test
that measures physical ex ertion or pain
• Heart rate variabi lity (HRV) meas ures variation i n ti me
between eac h he artbeat
• VO2 max in is olat ion is oft en a poor determi ning f act or of
perform ance
• It is not advis ed t o use o ne’s estim ated ma ximum he art rate
to base exerci se i ntensiti es off of
• The greatest amount of f at “bur n” occurs at appr oxi mately 6 5
percent of VO 2 M ax
• Functional Thr es hold Heart Rate ( FTHR) co rrelat es to lacta te
threshol d
• The Conconi t est has been shown t o often overestim ate
lactate threshold
• The talk test c an be used in is olati on or to establish a
benchm ark for training
• Anaerobic thr eshold (AnT ) is dif fic ult to define as it is more of
a concept than an establ ished met ric
• Of all th e AnT an d LT be nchm arks , FTHR h as th e hi ghest
correlati on to trai ning for and com peting in distance running
events and e ndur ance sports a s a whole
• It is advi sed t o cr eate trai ning i nte nsity ch arts b ase d off th e
FTHR.
• Cardiac drift relat es to a natur al increase or upw ard “drift” in
heart rat e whil e t he over all int ensi ty remai ns the same
• Constant gluc ose monitori ng and blood bi ometric m arkers ar e
considered e mer ging tec hnol ogy t hat prov ides an athlete wi th
more data poi nts to help guide thei r training and rac ing
Module 7: Running Mechanics and Drills
Runnin g is a n im pact sport and therefore t ends to have a r elativ ely
high inj ury rat e c ompared to other endurance s port s. Because of
this, a ru nner’ s fo rm and, more spe cifically, t he ru nn ing gait is
often a nalyz ed to improve effici enc y and pr event inj ury.

It is impo rtant t o reiterate that unl ess you are a ph ysical therapis t,
chiropractor, phy sician, nurse, physician assista nt, etc., you cannot
diagno se or tr eat a suspected i njur y. You m ust al ways practi ce
within your scope of know ledge and training. Dealing with an injury
is not within your scope of practice, and as ide from telling an
athlete t o ice a s ore are a, the advi ce shou ld alw ays be to s eek a
qualifie d med ical opinion .

Biomec hanic al as sessments are the first pl ace to st art when

evaluati ng yo ur a thlete. T his will t ell you a lot a bout areas t hat ar e
potenti ally susceptible to injury or , at the very least , ineffici ent.
The nex t phase i s to ass ess at hlet es while they are running.

The mec hanic s, a nd ther efore t he r unner’s form, i s often

termed r unning economy . Many fa ctors infl uenc e running
econom y, suc h as calf mus cle girt h, bone length, running f orm, a nd
stride rate. Some factors are genetic, while others a re
not. Run ning economy r elates t o how eff icient a runner i s. A
study found that the variation in efficiency between well -trained
runners with goo d runni ng ec ono my and untrai ned runners with
poor ru nning economy is between 5 and 7 perc ent ( 715). It i s likel y
that on an in divid ual basi s, the diff erence i s eve n m ore sign ificant
(705).

Just because an individual runs doesn’t mean the person is

efficient at it. Proper running f orm does not just happen. Runnin g is
a learn ed skill , just like ot her s port s (731).

Powerp oint vi deos and assess ment videos in thi s lesson ar e

provide d by U ES CA contr ibutor and runni ng biomec hanist D r. Nick
Studhol me D C.

Terminology

Pronatio n: Inw ar d (medi al) rota tion of the foot. It is normal durin g
a prope r gait patt ern for t he foot to pronat e. Foot pr onation help s
the bod y abs orb stress from the i mpact of running and wal king

– Over pronat io n: Exces sive pr onation

Supinati on (und er prona tion): O ccurs when the foot “rolls”

laterally. This places the majority of the w eight on the outsi de
aspect of the foot . Essenti ally, s upination i s a lack of pronati on.
During supination, the subtalar joint does not flex.

Heel-to-T oe Dr o p: Difference i n heigh t between the heel and

forefoot of a s hoe

Ground R eacti o n Force ( GRF): B ased on Newt on’s third law, GRF
is the for ce exerted by the ground on a bo dy in contact with i t
(665).

Spinal E ngine: D eveloped by Dr. Serge G racov ets ky, this m odel
states that counter-rotati on of t he spine results i n tr ansvers e
hip/pelv ic rota tio n and is a maj or i nfluenc e on t he gait cycle. More
specific ally, Dr. Gracovetsky t heorized that upon foot strike while
running , ener gy was not absor bed by the ground but rather utilize d
up the body’ s kinetic chai n to assi st with locomotion.

Coupled Motion: This relates to a sequence of mov ements by

different bod y par ts to create an ef ficient and power ful movement.
Dorsiflexion: Poi nting of the f oot upward (flexion of ankle j oint)

Plantar Flexio n: Pointing of th e foot downward ( ext ension of an kle

joint)

Passiv e Energy: This relates to energy being stored (potential

energy) via the st retch of a mus cle and connect ive ti ssue. By
utilizing this fr ee energy, the a ctiv e muscl e requ ire ment is r educ ed
while still producing the r equired amount of force.

Stretch- Shorteni ng Cycl e (SS C): Repres entativ e of an ecc entric

contraction of a muscle follow ed by a rapid concentric contraction
of the s ame m usc le. Conc ernin g ru nning, t he quadri ceps, o blique s,
and cal ves represent the musc les most infl uenc ed by the S SC.

Passiv e Movement: Repr esent ativ e of body movem ent that is not
the resu lt of a ctiv e muscl e contr act ions. Sp ecific to r unning, lower
leg (tibia/fibula) swing and hip flexion are s everal body movements
influenc ed ex clus ively by passiv e movement.

Pedestr ian G ait Model: T he legs are the primar y aspect of the
body re spons ible for locomotion, and the upper body is largely
passive.

Windlass Mec hanism: B efore t he foot landing when running, the

toes are dorsi flex ed, causing t he plantar fascia t o ti ghten, t hus
creating a stiff foot arch.

Vertical Osci llati on: Vertic al moti on of a runner. W hile som e

vertical movem ent is norm al and necessary duri ng the running gait
cycle, excessiv e vertical oscillat io n reduces a runner’s effici ency.

T orsion: Twisti ng of an objec t, es pecially from one end of an

object r elative to the oth er en d.

Aponeur osis: Tendon that is t ypic ally flat and br oad (i.e., s heet -
like). The plantar fascia is an example of aponeurosis.

In this m odule , th ere will be sev eral videos by our bi omechanics

contributor, Dr . N ick Studholme. In some of these vi deos, Dr.
Studhol me wil l reference slides that will be sequent ially bel ow th e
video. Therefore, as a video is pla ying, please scrol l down to
referenc e the slide Dr. Studhol me i s referring to.
Gait Phases
Runnin g gait (cyc le) has t hree phases:

1. Recovery (S wing ): Any tim e a f oot is in the air

2. Drive: T he dri ve phase s tarts when the leg is sli ght ly behin d
the runner’s hips and continues until right b efore the foot
leaves the ground
3. Support/ Stanc e: The support ( stance ph ase ) st arts when t he
foot hits the g rou nd until the l eg is directly under ne ath the
hips. Wit h a c orrect midfoot strik e, the support phas e is
eliminat ed or substantiall y mini miz ed as the foot hit s the
ground under or j ust in front of the hips, thus beginning the
drive phase.

These p hases ar e illustrated below.

Ground Reaction Force

Ground r eacti on force (G RF) is i mportan t as it rel ates to a

runner’s effici enc y and the pot enti al for inj ury. G RF relat es t o
Newton’ s third law:

For eve ry act ion , there i s an equ al and o pposit e reaction .

Regardi ng running, this m eans that an equal for ce acted upon th e

body in relati on t o the fo rce of the foot stri ke on the ground . On
averag e, eac h foot strike exerts a forc e 2. 5 times o ne’s
bodywe ight. T his force is tr ansmi tt ed through y our f oot and up t he
leg. A ru nner’s form in relation to the pers on’s biom echanics will
influenc e the distribution of force on the musculoskeletal sy stem
(668).

Ground r eacti on forces chang e b ased on the g ait of an

individu al. In a s tudy by Keller et al., vertic al GR F was evaluate d
during walking, sl ow jogging, and r unning (666). The study found
that verti cal G RF was 50 perce nt hi gher du ring sl ow jogging than
walking or running. This i ncreas e i n GRF w as as soc iated wit h
greater vertical oscillation.

T he higher the G RF, the g reater t he chan ce for in jury (667).

More sp ecifically, an indi vidual ’s s pecific b iomec hanics will li kely
influenc e the location and type of injury sustained (668).
Pronation and Supination
There are three common designations of foot movement throughout
the gait cycle.

1. Pro nation ( mild)

2. Overpro nation

3. Su pinatio n (i.e., und er pr o nation)

These f oot patter ns are c ommonly evaluat ed st atical ly in a

standin g posi tion and dy namic ally during r unning. S ince there is n o
contest in runnin g events for how long one can stand statically, t his
is not an important benc hmark. More specifically, it has be en
shown t hat fo ot and ankl e mec hani cs vary greatly b etween
standin g and running (421, 422, 423).

A comm on ass es sment of pronation in a st atic posit ion is the wet

test. Thi s assess ment is perfor med by having an individual wet t he
bottom of the feet and then stand on somet hing t hat absorbs water
(i.e., a br own paper bag). The t est er can t hen deter mine if t he fo ot
or feet are neutral, pronat e slightly , overpr onate , or supinat e by
assessi ng the foo tprint left by the watermarks. As noted pr evious ly,
the issu e with thi s assess ment is t hat foot and ankl e mechanics are
not the same whe n standi ng and ru nning. Additi onall y, studies by
the U.S. military demonstrated t hat assi gning f o otwear b ased
on one’s footpri nt did little to re duce injury (432, 433).

Role of the Big Toe

Within the worl d of runni ng, there is a lot o f informa tion about
biomec hanics – primarily wi th res pect to the knees, hips, and
ankles. The t oes and, mo re sp ecifi cally, th e big t oe is often l eft
out. Th e body is one big kineti c chain, meaning that no body part
function s in is olat ion whe n running. Regar ding t he big toe, it s
function will af fec t the ar eas a bove , such a s the hips , knees, and
ankles.

During running, the big toe (first metatarsophalangeal joi nt) plays a
key role in the fol lowing:

• Stabiliz e the f oot

• Regulat e the degree of f oot pr o nat ion
• Forward propulsi on

The big toe, in relation to the other toes, is responsible for a much
more significant percent age of foot and body st abili zation and
forward propu lsio n.
Credit: https:// ww w.docpods.com/f oot -pai n-info/t he- windlass -
mechan ism -in- the -foot-and-foot -pai n/

The win dlass mechanism of the f oot pert ains t o th e lifting

(dorsiflexion) of t he toes. As is seen in the illust rati on above, th e
origin of the plant ar fascia is the heel (calc aneus) and inser ts at
the hea d of t he m etatarsals.

Prior to t he fo ot l anding when runn ing, the toes are dorsiflex ed,
causing the plant ar fas cia to tighten, thus creati ng a stiff foot arch.
This is representative of the wi ndl ass mec hanis m ( 611).

Upon la nding, the toes and plantar flex, and the arch flattens to
absorb shock.

The toe s begin to dorsiflex when the leg m oves i nto the driv e
phase. This action turns t he ar ch i nto a rigid lev er. This allows for
a solid base of su pport to push off against.
As note d in t he i mage to the l eft, the ses amoid bones are t wo sm all
(pea-siz e) bones embedded into a tendon (flexor hal lucis brevis).
The bo nes sit under the ball of the foot, at the big - toe joint . The
sesamoi d bones act as a fulcrum t o provide the foot leverage wh en
pushin g off t he gr ound (612).

Big Toe Facts

• Carries 12 times more weight than the small toe
• Only toe mad e up of two bones as opposed to t hree
• It has a separ ate set of c ontrol mu scles an d ten don insertio ns
than the rest of t he toes

Shoe Implications

Runnin g shoes that are t oo nar row crowd t he toes i n the toe
box. T his neg ati vely aff ects t he aforem entione d roles of t he big
toe, thus redu ci n g the efficienc y and stability o f a runner . A
reductio n in an ul trarunner’s effi ciency due to a cramped toe box
likely increases their metabolic cost and decreases their sta bility.
Therefore, running in shoes with a wide enough toe box is advised
to allow the f oref oot and toes to exist in their nor m al state ( e.g.,
not cram ped). Chronically weari ng footwea r with a c rowded toe b ox
can cau se a buni on (biomechanical foot iss ue).

Shoe fit for ru nne rs is not j ust a fu nction o f effici en cy but al so

minimizing the c hance for hots pot and blis ter for mat ion. Therefore ,
the inter face of t he sock s and sho es, as w ell as the overall f it, is
importa nt for preventing blister s and running perfor mance.

One sh oe compa ny, Altra, has addressed t his iss ue by maki ng

shoes w ith a wid e toe box. While other shoemaker s offer s hoes i n
varying widths , Al tra incor porat es t his aspect in all of their shoes.

Dysfunction

As note d above, cramming the foot in the t oe box of running sho es

reduces the big t oe’s rol e and the overall si ze of the foot pushin g
off the groun d, th us minimi zing t he power gener ated.

In terms of run nin g gait a nd p ower, there ar e a l ot of areas t hat

one co uld dis cus s, including but not limited to fo ot arch/Ac hilles
tendon stiffn ess. However , as t his section i s foc used on th e big
toe, there is o ne main ar ea of f ocu s – the base of s upport.
Whether due to a cramped toe box , or a str uctural f oot issue, an y
reductio n in t he ‘ size’ of t he for efoot due t o mal alignment of the
toes will negative ly affect a run ner .

The Mey er’s Li ne is a strai ght axis line that, on a functional foot,
goes fro m the center of t he heel, t hrough the bi g toe joint, and
through the c enter of the t op of the big toe (as noted in the below
image). However, when the big toe is angl ed toward the sec ond
toe, in t erms of r unning, its rol e in providi ng suppor t, control ling
pronati on, and facilitating forward propulsi on is greatly reduced.

Often c aused by f ootwear that r estr icts/cram s the t oes toget her, a
bunion (pictur ed below) is a defor mity of t he big toe joint t hat
present s with the big toe angli ng t oward t he sec ond toe and a
medial bony protr usion. T he gr eater the angle, t he greater the
dysfunct ion. F or some, a buni on c an be p ainful and, if sever e
enoug h, may require sur gery.
Get Stronger and More Flexible

Any exe rcise or movement challenging t he big toe to stabili ze an d

strengthen is good. Exercises s uch as balancing on one leg,
plantar f lexing the toes, and s preading the toes are good for
strengthening the big toe. Additionally, it is also i mp ortant that the
big toe have enough range of moti on. So stretching the big t oe
(dorsiflexion), eit her manually or v ia a standing stretch are good
mobility drills.

Shoe Wear Patterns

If your a thlete ha s an old pair of r unning shoe s, lo oking at the

wear pattern on the botto m of th e soles will t ell you a lot about
the person’s f oo t strike . For example, if t here i s v ery little or no
wear on the heel, the athl ete li kely runs wit h a mi df oot or f orefoo t
strike.

If you lo ok at t he worn sol e of a pr onator, typical ly t he later al

aspect of the heel is worn because this repr esen ts t he first place of
impact, as the foot is sup inated. As the fo ot rolls forward and
moves i nto pr onation, the middl e t o the inside ( med ial) of the top
third par t of th e s ole ten ds to be th e most w orn. Nor mal pronation
is also associated with compressi on of the foot arch.

The ima ges b elow denot e thr ee c ommon wear patt erns and
associat ed fo ot/a nkle me chani cs.
PRONAT ION

SUPINAT ION
NEUT RAL

If an at hlete walk s and ru ns in run ning sh oes, t he w ear patt ern wil l
likely resemble that of a heel striker, even if the person runs with a
midfoot strike. This is bec ause when walki ng, the foot initiall y
lands o n the heel .

Pronation

Foot pronation refers to t he inw ard (medial) rotati on of the f oot. It

is norm al duri ng a proper gait pattern for t he foo t to pronat e.
Foot pron ation helps the body ab sorb stress from the impact of
running and w al king. Many peopl e assum e that foot pronation i s
bad, bu t as noted above, it is a nat ural and nec essary movement.

The origin of pronation c omes pri marily from the ankle (subtalar
and mid tarsal joi nts). Bel ow ar e the four pr imary phases of a
normal gait cy cle regardi ng foot pr onation:

1. Foot strikes the ground: sl ightly supinat ed (land on the

outside heel)
2. Foot travels t h rough th e su p port ph ase: F oot
transitio ns fro m s upinate d to a pro nated positio n
 3. Foot begins the drive phase: Foot is in a pronated position
4. Foot prepares to exit the drive p hase and ent er the
recovery phase: Foot begins t o supinate. The big toe plays a
large role in t he s tability of the f oot , regulat ing t he d egree o f
foot pro natio n an d forwar d pro puls ion

Mild Pronation (Rear Vi ew)

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Mild Pronation ( Front Vi ew)

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Overpronation

There is not a clear consensus on exactly how many degrees

equal o verpr onati on . How ever, many clinici ans beli eve that a
subtalar joint an gle greater th an 8‒10 d egrees eq uates to
overpro nation.

Overpro nators ty pically have t he s ame lat eral heel wear pattern as
someon e who pronates, b ut because of th e extr eme medial r oll of
the foot, the wear on the top part o f the shoe is alm ost excl usively
on the medial side.

The mor e a fo ot pronate s, the mor e the fe mur and ti bia inter nally
rotate. If your athlete presents with excessi ve pronat ion
accomp anied by pain while running, it is advisable to have the
individu al meet w ith a specialist such as a podi atrist or physi cal
therapis t. Cus tom orthotic s are oft en pres cribed to help all eviate
stress and pain c aused by overpro nation. Custom o rthotics are
made b y taking a mold of an indivi dual’s f eet. T here are als o over -
the-cou nter or thotics that are not v ery costl y. How ev er, if you think
your athlete woul d benefit from ort hotics, referrin g the person to a
professi onal i s best. Motion -control running shoes ar e often
recomm ended for runners who overpronat e.

Overpro nation i s asso ciated wit h increased g ro und reactive

forces and foo t - contact t ime ( 66 4).
A 2008 study by Cheun g et al . found that the degree of foot
pronati on tended to increase wit h an increase in t he distanc e run
(68). Weak hip abductor muscl es (i.e., glut eus me dius) can also
contribute to over pronation.

Flat Feet

Flat feet are often called fallen or collaps ed arc hes. The medical
term for fl at fe et i s pes pl anus . Indi viduals with fl at f eet hav e little
to no ar ch in t he feet in t he sta ndi ng posit ion. T hos e who
overpro nate often have fl at feet , but this is n ot al way s the case.

A study by Me nz (1998) f ound that static as sess me nts to d etermi ne

arch hei ght cl assi fications , suc h as low or high ar ches, were
unreliab le (610).

Orthotics and arc h-strengtheni ng exercises are of ten prescri bed f or

those wi th flat fe et.

What Is a Q-Angle?

Regardi ng ov erpr onation, the t erm Q angle is oft en a possi ble

culprit. T he Q angle is assessed by measuring the angle between
two line s (57):

• Red Line: ASI S t o the mi ddle of the patell a

• Blue Line: middl e of the patel la to the tibi al tubercl e (also
known as tibi al tuberosity , it is t he bump at the t op/ middle of
the tibia , imme di ately be low th e p atella)

In the f ollowin g d iagram, t he Q an gle is re prese nte d by the angl e

betwee n the red and bl ue lines.
Women t ypical ly have a great er Q angle t han m en because of a
wider p elvis. T he normal Q angl e r ange for adul ts is 15−22
degree s, with women typi cally tr ending toward t he l arger angle ( 58,
59).

A signifi cant Q a ngle is often note d as a p otent ial c ause of

patellof emora l sy ndrome (PFS). H owever, recen t re search has
shown no strong correlati on between an i ndividual’s Q angl e and
the inci dence of PFS (64 6). Th ere fore, a l arge Q angle sho uld not
be used to infer PFS.

Supination

Supinati on (als o called u nder pro nation ) is essenti ally a lack of

pronati on. During pronati on, the ankle joint (subt alar joint) flexes
to allow medi al ro tation of the f oot. During supin atio n, the s ubtal ar
joint does not flex. As noted previously, th e foot is in a slightly
supinat ed position right before stri king the ground. The foot stays
in this position throughout the running ga it cycle for individuals
who su pinate. Thi s results in indivi duals “r unning” on the lat eral
aspect of thei r feet and pushi ng of f the gr ound direc tly beh i nd th e
small “pi nkie” toe. This is evident i f you look at the wear pattern on
a shoe of someone who s upinates. You will find t hat the out er part
of the s ole is wor n, but n ot mu ch e lse.
Those w ho supinate typic ally have a high and ri gid f oot arch.
Based on the Cheung et al. st udy, this may or m ay not put the
runner at incr eas ed risk f or injur y (194, 195, 196).

Assessing Pronation and Supination

Like ov erpronation, there is no cl ear con sensus o n how m any

degree s con stit ute norm al or mi ld pronat ion. D epending on t he
source or study, mild pronation ranges from 4−8 degrees of the
subtalar joint angle (67).

Becaus e of t his l ack of c onsensus , it is adv antageous and practic al

to look f or sig ns of exces sive pron ation/su pinati on and note of pain
and inj uries w hen assessi ng pr onat ion and supi nation.

Visual Signs of Overpro nation

• Knock-k nees
• During the recovery phase, the lower leg swings excessively
outward in rel ation to the upper leg. The foot als o tends to
turn out ward ( toe pointe d later ally) at the r earmo st part of t he
recovery phas e. This often appear s as if the foot br iefly
“flicks” outward
• Substantial inwar d angle of the ankle

Visual Signs of Supinati on

• Bowlegged
• During the recovery phase, the lower leg swings excessively
medially in rel ati on to the uppe r leg
• Outward angl e of the ank le

Injury Considerations
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Pronation is Not Indicative or Predictive of Injury

It is a p opular bel ief that pronation is bad and wi ll li kely lead to

injury. As noted earlier, pr onatio n is a nat ural o ccurrence and
acts to absor b stress, tr ansfer t he load on the f eet, pro vide
elastic energ y, and facilit ate a st able platform f o r the feet to
push off of.

Within the running shoe world, there is often a drive to correct any
foot/ank le arti cul ation th at is n ot c onsider ed
a neutr al or norm al foot position − meaning a foot/ankle position
that neit her p ron ates nor supi nate s. Since most i nd ividuals’ feet
pronate to some degree, it is odd t hat a neutral foot position is
viewed as “normal” (431). One c oul d hypot hesiz e tha t the driv ing
force be hind this are sho e man ufa cturers t hat st and to profit by
selling shoes that “correct” foot/ankle mov ements s uch as
pronati on .

It is adv antag eo us to not view p ronation as be in g indicat ive of

pain or injury, as study after st udy has pr oven this (424, 4 25,
426). In fact, sev eral studies theor ize that r unni ng i njuries s tem
more from training errors ( 429) and hip dy sfunc tion (430).

Knee Valgus

This refers to the knee moving me dially, often term ed excessive

medial knee displacem ent (E MK D) . During EM KD , both t he fem ur
and tibi a med ially rotate. This m edi al rotati on is w hat causes the
knee to move inw ard. Potential causes of EMKD are:

• Large Q angl e
 • Foot ov erpronation
• Overacti ve hip ad ductors
• Underactive hip abductor s – pri mar ily the gl uteus medius
• Lack of ankle dor siflexion

Of the a forem enti oned potenti al ca uses of EMKD , o verpron ation

and un deract ive ( i.e., weak) gluteus medius are t he m ost cite d.

Ankle Dorsiflexion

In a stu dy by Fon g et al., indivi dua ls with p oor a nkle dorsifle xion
during f oot im pac t (i.e., running) had greater gr oun d reacti on
forces. H igher gr ound re actio n for ces are associ ate d with E MKD
(780). T his is bec ause ankle dor sifl exion is essential ly a shock
absorb er and act s to abs orb energy. A redu ction i n ankle
dorsiflexion cor responds to a lack of energy absorption. T his
energy has t o go somewhere, r esul ting in i ncreas ed ground
reactive force and likely EMKD.

Running Form Components

Ask a n on -figure skater to perf orm a triple axel on an ice rink, and
you’ll lik ely get a look of bewild erm ent followed by, “ No freaking
way!” However , ask a no n -runner t o go for a run, and there i s a
strong likelihood that you’ll get a, “ Sure, w hy not? Let’s do
it!” While this is an extrem e contrast, the point is that runni ng is
often vi ewed as a skill set t hat e ve ryone k nows how to do. While i n
its most basic element, thi s is likel y correct. However, as a coach,
you mus t underst and that t her e is a massiv e diff erence bet ween
running and r unni ng correctly. C orr ect running f orm and proper
running mechanic s shoul d not be vi ewed as a skil l s et every one
naturall y has but rather a learned skill that requir es training to
improve upon.

Energy Alloc atio n

To appr eciate the most im portant aspects o f run ning form, it i s

helpful t o underst and wh at ele ment s of run ning f orm use the most
energy.

T he majority o f energy goes t o supporting body weight ,

followe d by energy requir ed for for ward pr opulsi on ( drive phase o f
gait cycl e) an d energy re quire d to swing t he rec ove ry leg for ward.
(585). Ar m swi ng and bal ance have a minim al met abolic cost (586).

The following are 11 running -f orm principles bas ed on

biomec hanics and runni ng ec onomy.

1 – Look Straight Ahead, Not Down or Up

When lo oking down, run ners ar e not able t o see ob stacles or

hazards that are i n their path. T he other pri mary r eason for l ookin g
ahead i s that the eyes cue the head positi on, which, in turn, cues
the upp er -body position. Runners who k eep thei r eyes focused
down tend to tilt their head down ward , w hich c aus es the
should ers to r oll anteriorl y and rot ate inter nally. Further down th e
kinetic chain, this can lead to excessive spi nal flexi on.

Convers ely, looki ng upw ard or tilti ng the head bac k ward cues the
lower b ack to ext end, which str ess es the erector spi nae muscles.
This arched back position (hyperextension) results in the feet
striking the ground substantially in front of the body, thus lessening
the run ner’s effici ency.

2 – Upper Body Erect, Slight Forward Lean

An exce ssive ant erior or posteri or lean angle of the upper body
results i n excessi ve stress on t he LPHC m uscul atur e. A cor rect
slight for ward l ean does not co m e from th e pel vi s but rat her
from the ankles. When r unning, t he body sho uld have a sli ght
forward l ean fr om the heel to t he s houlder s. A g ood way to t each
this is to have at hletes st and with their fee t in th e fr ontal pl ane and
lean for ward from the ankles. They will automaticall y move one leg
forward t o su ppor t themse lves as t heir body mov es forward.

It is com mon t o s ee runn ers le anin g back with s ubst antial lu mbar
extensi on. Thi s is especi ally true w hen a r unner bec omes fat igue d.

Center of Mas s ( COM)

While ru nning, on e’s cent er of mas s is maintained over the base of

support (i.e., l egs /feet). B y lean ing slightly f orwar d, one’s C OM is
maintai ned over t he bas e of s upport versus behi nd i t. Balance is
what en ables a r unner t o cont rol t he COM.

As the body i s in contact motion (v ertical oscillati on, planes :

sagittal, frontal, transvers e) when running, the COM is const antly
changi ng.

A 2010 study by Hamner et al. found that the quadri ceps and foo t
plantar-f lexors (gastrocnemius, sol eus) are the prim ary
contributors to accelerating the body’s center of ma ss during
running (695) . However, t his study did not consi der t he spinal
engine model – noted lat er in t his module.

Most pe ople believe that t he m ajori ty of the ener gy used whil e

running is for for ward pr opulsi on. A study by Chang et al. found
that 73 percent o f a runner’s tot al energy ex p endi ture is u sed
to suppor t body weight, and onl y approxi matel y 20 percent is
used for forward propulsion (730). This demon strates the
importa nce of proper form regar ding COM.

3 – Avoid a High or Long Stride

As with any e xerc ise, effici ency i s of utmos t importance. A s tride

that pus hes r unn ers upw ard w aste s energ y that sho uld be used t o
propel t hem f orw ard. One way to c ue this i s to w ear a hat wi th a
brim an d use the brim as a refer ence point . The bri m of the hat
should not ris e or fall sub stanti ally . To f urt her illustr ate this
concept , think ab out throwing a football. If you wer e asked to thr ow
the ball 10 fe et, y ou coul d thro w it in a strai ght li ne and hit your
target. H owev er, if you w ere as ked to throw it 75 fee t, you w ould
have to aim hi gher in the air to put an arc on it.
This is the same with a long stride versus a short stride. Longer
strides r equire ex cessive vertica l moveme nt (ineffi cient), whereas
short stri des require very li ttle verti cal mov ement (ef ficient).

Vertical Oscilla tio n

This relates to the degree of v ertic al motion of t he body whil e

running . As pr evi ously n oted, t he correct r unning gait will al ways
have so me degree of verti cal oscil lation. H owev er, excessiv e
vertical oscillat io n is inefficient . T he more vertic al oscillatio n one
has, the more energy the pers on must ex pend to c ounteract
gravity. T his c onc ept is di scuss ed i n great er det ail l ater in t his
module.

4 – Foot Strikes the Ground Slightly in Front of or Behind the Center of Mass

Whether your athlete runs with a heel or mi dfoot stri ke, the correct
form is fo r the f o ot to stri ke the gr ound di rectly und er or slig htly
ahead of the hips . While m ore natural with a midf oot strike, it can
also be acco mpli shed wit h a h eel strike. Th is rela tes directly to
one’s c enter of m ass. There ar e tw o p rimar y reas ons why the foot
should strike t he ground under the body:

1. Hamstri ng Str es s : When the l eg i s excess ively elongated in

front of t he b ody (termed overstr idi ng ), it puts subst antial
eccentri c stres s o n the hamstri ngs.
2. Direct Power Transmission: W hen the foot strik es the
ground under the body, it immediately pus hes d own and
rearward, thus pr opelling the r unner forwar d.

Refer to the video in the section, Midfoot Strike vs. Heel Str ike , f or
a dyna mic vis ual representation of foot -strik e location. The vi deo
contrasts heel - and midf oot -based strides and is represent ative of
the foot strikin g t he grou nd a head of and under the body,
respecti vely.

5 – Transverse Pelvic Rotation (Hips)

Most individuals r un with t oo litt le or too m uch p elvi c rotation in t he

transver se plane. It is nat ural for t he pelvi s to rotat e when
walking/running, and a l onger stride lengt h typically equate s to
increas ed pel vic r otation because of increased hip extensi on.
By elimi nating pe lvic rotati on, y ou effective ly lea ve out an
importa nt aspect of the body’s nat ural kinetic chain.

Pelvic r otatio n h elps to minimi ze the imp act of

running. Runni ng with no pelv ic r otation r esults in the feet hittin g
the gro und and then movi ng re arward. This f orm s ubstantiall y
impacts the legs and bo dy (e. g., ground r eaction force). When
running with t he correct amount of pelvic r otation, b y the tim e the
foot strik es th e gr ound, that si de of the pel vis is alre ady rota ting
posterio rly, which reduces the i mpact on t he body ( 224). This is
becaus e the impact of the foot stri ke is dis sipated s lightly throug h
the rota tion o f th e pelvis.

While th e pelv is needs t o rota te, i t should not over - rotate as this
puts exc essiv e pr essure on th e LP HC musc ulatur e and decreas es
the run ner’s effici ency.

There are no hard numb ers to det ermine t he cor rec t amount of
pelvic rotation . T herefor e, visual observ ation i s t ypicall y the
most pr actical and effici ent way to assess pelvic rotation and,
more sp ecifi call y, over - rotatio n. Running with ex cessive pelvic
rotation requir es the upp er body to rotate s ubstantially to
counter balance t he pelvi s and legs. If your athlete’ s torso r otates
45 degr ees or more (noted at t he s houlder s) in t he f rontal pl ane,
there is l ikely t oo much p elvic r ota tion. Fift een t o 3 0 degre es of
upper-b ody r otati on typic ally equat es to the app ropri ate amount o f
pelvic rotation in the tran svers e pl ane.

As note d earli er, the degree o f pel vic rotati on is pri marily
influenc ed by stride leng th and, more specifically, the amount of
hip/leg exten sion.

When running wit h the correct amount of pelvic r otat ion, the hips
and glu tes dri ve t he moti on and the legs “ f ollow t hr ough .” T his
reduces the r eliance on t he hamst rings as the gl utes and hi p
rotation initiat e t he drive phas e. It could be the oriz ed that those
who run with s tati c hips w ould be more suscepti ble to hamst ring
injury due to t he minimized role of the glutes.

6 – Sweep, Don’t Pound

This correlates wi th rotating the pelvis in the transv erse plane

while running. W hen the foot strikes the ground, it should already
be movi ng in a s weeping moti on t oward t he rear of the body. A
good way to vi sualize th is is a cat “pawi ng” at t he groun d. As
noted e arlier, when the f oot str ikes the gr ound without trav eling
rearward simul taneously , it creates a pounding effect on the
ground that decreases effi cienc y and likely increases the chance
for injury . A sw ee ping fo ot strik e cr eates a fluid and powerfu l
stride, whereas a pounding foot strike creates a bro ken and non -
fluid stri de. Ty pic ally, runn ers wit h a poun ding fo ot strike hav e
more v ert ical oscillation than t h ose who sweep t heir feet .

Rotatio n of th e pelvis in t he trans verse pl ane i nitiates and

facilitate s a sw ee ping fo ot strik e.

7 – Keep Hands, Shoulders, and Face Relaxed

The go al of a runner is to have as little was ted e ner gy as possibl e.

When a runner’s face is ti ghtened, hands clenc hed, and shoulder s
shrugg ed (sc apul ar elevation), the individual div erts energy from
the legs and core muscles .

8 – Arm Movement Should Primary Come from Shoulders, Not Elbows

Arm mov ement s hould c ome primarily from t he shou lders, not the
elbows. Active fl exion a nd ext en sion of th e elb o ws wast e
energy. Arm m ov ement s hould not be forc ed, as ar m motion doe s
not driv e the body forwar d. Arm m otion is used to c ounterbalanc e
the mom entum of the leg s (695), a nd as s uch, e xcessive ar m
movement should not occ ur. If an athlete l ooks l ike they are
throwin g uppercuts at Mik e Tyson while running, they have too
much ar m mov em ent!

Arms do not c ont ribute s ubsta ntial ly to pro pulsio n w hen run ning
(695). A s just not ed, the primary r ole of th e arm s i s to
counterb alan ce the mom entum o f the leg s.

Another study found that the ar ms act to reduce tors o and head
rotation (696). The study also f ound that upper - body rotation is
primarily a res ult of lower - body movement, not arm mov ement. A
study by Kram et al. found that swi nging the arms (n ot excessively)
saved a runner approxim ately 4 percent i n ener gy cost vers us not
swingin g the arm s. This is likely due to reduced muscular deman d
due to i mprov ed counter balan ce a nd facilit ating s pi nal counter -
rotation via str etc hing the latiss imu s dorsi ( 586).
Arm Cros sover

There is a long-st anding myth t hat when running, the arms s hould
not cros s the vert ical midli ne of the body ( imagi nar y vertical line
from the middl e o f the nose to the center o f the bell y button ). The
most co mmonl y c ited rea son f or the arms not crossi ng the body’ s
midline i s that it f acilitates torso rotation. T his is i nt eresting
becaus e most run ners lac k the appropriate degr ee of transverse
torso rot ation. As a result of thi s fl awed m yth, the c ommon advic e
is to run with the arms in a forward motion with no inward
movement. Asi de from looking v er y odd, t his for m puts excessive
strain on the external rotator cuff muscles of the shoulders. Som e
degree of medial arm mov ement is sug gest ed.

9 – Short Front Stride with Fast Leg Turnover

Typically, runner s who land on the heel have a slow er turnover

than th ose w ho land midf oot. R egardless of the t ype of foot
strike, th e prop er stride should f ocus on a rel ati vely fast
turnover with ample hip /leg ext ension. Short eni ng one’ s stride
pertains to eli minating or signifi cantly reducing t he foot strik e
ahead of the bod y, thus placing the foot st rike cl os er to the cent er
of mass. This i s n ot intuiti ve for most runners an d takes prac tice t o
learn. C onver sely , leg/hip extension (leg m ovem ent behind the
runner) t ypical ly should not be shortened unless a runner has to o
much ex tensi on. Stride length and hip rota tion are discuss ed in
greater detail lat er in this module.

While a short stri de is typically f av ored ov er a long stride, to o

short of a strid e can al so be i nef ficient. T his is l argely becaus e
the run ner is not taking f ull adv ant age of t he body’s stretch -
shortening cycle (SSC). T he ideal stride rate and length function
on a be ll curv e (573).

10 – Hip Extension

Hip extension (e.g., leg behind the body) is essential to prop er

running form. Indi viduals who l ack sufficien t hip ext ension because
of tight hip fle xor s (iliopso as) or a lack of tr ansv ers e hip rot ation
often hy pere xten d their l umbar spi ne as a compens atory
measur e. Hip ext ension should come fro m the hi p, not the
lumbar spine. Pr oper hi p extension is also a functi on of tr ansver se
pelvic rotation .
As note d later in the secti on di scussing passive movement , prop er
hip exte nsion allo ws for gr eater passive movement during t he
swing a spect of t he gait cycle. Thi s increases the efficiency of a
runner.

Role of t he Glutes

Most runners will tell you t hat t he glutes ar e som e of the mos t
importa nt mus cles for runners t o develop – if not the most
importa nt – as thi s is wher e a runner’s pow er comes from.

While thi s stat em ent is lar gely c orr ect, ther e are a f ew issues her e.

• When m ost peopl e refer t o the “ glutes,” the y are r ef erring to

the glut eus m axi mus (GM ax) – not the gluteus mini mus or
medius.
• While the GMax i s critical f or proper runni ng for m, other
muscles are al so very important to a runner’s for m a nd
perform ance.
• A runner’s for m has to be correct t o utilize the G Max correctl y
and adequat ely.
While all runners utilize th e GM ax when running, most ru nners do
not hav e the proper degr ee of hip extensi on eit her becaus e of a n
extremel y shor t posterior stride and little to no tr ansverse hip
rotation. As a res ult, the GMax i s l ikely un dera ctive as the
primary role of t he GMax is hi p extension .

Concer ning r u nni ng, the GMax is u sed concurrently to move the
runner v ertical ly and for ward ( upw ard diagonal moti on). Too muc h
vertical movem ent (i.e., vertical os cillation) result s i n wasted
energy, increased impact on t he body, decreas ed r unning
econom y, and a s lower running speed. Thi s form requires
excessiv e GM ax activatio n to mov e the ru nner verti cally.
Convers ely, too li ttle vertic al os cill ation results i n a runner
shuffling along.

If runner s lack fle xibility in their hi p flexors , they wil l likely la ck

adequ ate hi p ext ension. This r educes the i nvolv em ent of t he GM ax.
Runner s with poo r hip flex or range of motion oft en c ompens ate vi a
hyperex tensi on of the lum bar s pine.

In summ ary, the GMax is an im por tant mus cle for running, but it i s
utilized correct ly only if a run ner has the appropriat e level of
vertical oscillat io n and posteri or hi p extension.

11 – Neutral Spine

It is com mon t o s ee runn ers wit h e xcessive post erio r or ante rior
pelvic tilt s. Of t he two, ru nnin g wit h an an terior pelv ic tilt is m ore
common. This oft en resul ts in r unners with a substa ntial arc h
(lordosis) in their lower back. A s t he ham strings att ach to t he
pelvis, if the p elv is is tilte d too anteriorly, it “pulls” on the
hamstrings and c reates e xcessi ve tension. As a res ult, duri ng th e
swing p hase of t he gait cy cle, w hen the leg is in front of the bod y,
the ham strings ar e at a greater ris k for injury bec au se of inc rease d
tension under ec centric st ress.

Hyperextensi on

[There is a Vi deo here. Vi deos can not be v iewe d fro m this P DF. To
View Vi deo C ontent, p lease ref er t o the online Cour se]

Excessive F lexi on
[There is a Vi deo here. Vi deos can not be v iewe d fro m this P DF. To
View Vi deo C ontent, please ref er t o the online Cour se]

Putting It All Together – Correct Form

So now that we’v e identif ied m ulti ple elemen ts t hat make up ‘good
form,’ wh at do es good form act uall y look lik e?

The bel ow video denote s prop er form.

[There is a Vi deo here. Vi deos can not be v iewe d fro m this P DF. To
View Vi deo C ontent, please ref er t o the online Cour se]

Assessing Form: Treadmill vs. Outdoors

A comm on ass es sment for eval uat ing a runner’s for m is to w atch
the pers on ru n on a tread mill. T his is a valu able t ool as it pro vides
a contro lled envir onment to as sess a runner. Howev er, one must
be caref ul about what th ey are ass essing. A treadmi ll is a go od to ol
to asses s foot /an kle posit ion (i. e., pronati on) an d fo ot strike type.
However , it has it s weaknesses when assessing overall form.

The foo t pus hes downw ard and rearward when r unning outdoor s to
propel a runner f orward. However, when r unning on a treadmill,
when th e foot im pacts the trea dmi ll belt, it i s swept rearwar d. In
other w ords, w hen runni ng out door s, a runner m ust push off the
ground, wher eas when running on a treadmill, a r un ner must kee p
up with t he tr eadmill be lt. From a neuromu scul ar standpoint ,
these tw o runn i ng envir onments are diff erent.

Many ru nners do not rota te their pelvis enough whe n runni ng on

solid ground. Con versely, when run ning on a treadmi ll, runners
often h ave increased pel vic rot ation due t o the t readmill belt
sweepi ng the legs rearward. Ther efore running on a tread mill ca n
artificially indu ce pelvic r otation that is not pres ent when running
on solid grou nd.

It is stro ngly a dvi sed to a ssess pel vic rotati on and a runner’ s form
in its ent irety whi le watching th e person run out doors at vary ing
speeds.

Fatigue has been shown to alter the biomechani cs of the lower

extremi ties , specifically t he knee and hips, in t he s agittal and
transver se pla ne s (337). This m ea ns that t he st artin g form of an
athlete at the beginning of a run is likely not the sam e form they
will have at the end. This may increase th e chance of injury. It
doesn’t take a ro cket scie ntist t o appreciat e tha t the form of
runners at the start of a m arathon i s likely quite diff erent from the ir
form at t he end!

Here is a summar y of the benefits and dra wbacks of treadmill -

based assess men ts:

Benefits of Treadmill Assessments

• Easy to asses s fo rm beca use o f th e runne r bein g st ationary
• Can manipul ate s peed and inc line
• Most gy ms have t hem

Drawbacks of Treadmill Assessments

• A treadmill may i nduce tr ansv erse hip rotation t hat is not
present when running outdoor s
 • When running on a tread mill, the belt often facilit ates the
drive foot movi ng rearwar d vers us the foot pushing r earward
becaus e of hip rotation /extensi on.

Despite the noted possible drawbacks of tr eadmill assessments, a

treadmill is the m ost accu rate and easy wa y to a sse ss form.

Self-Selection Of Running Form

Some s ources st ate that runners naturall y self -s el ect the most
efficient runni ng f orm/g ait. This dir ectly rel ates t o a runner’s
econom y and effi ciency. So, do runners s elf -sel ect the most
optimal r unni ng c adence, foot strik e, overall form , e tc.? The
answer i s… it depends.

For new runners, the answer is no. Don’t believe this? Watch a
maratho n. Obser ve the f orm of elit e/profes sionals a s they run by.
While th ey might not all have w hat is consi dered “textbook” f orm,
they are very effi cient as every bo dy move ment i s p urpose- driven
to prop el them forward wit h mini m al wasted energy. Assumi ng th at
the form of elit e r unners i s as perf ect as o ne can get, compare t his
form with thos e o f recreati onal r un ners in t he re st o f the rac e. If
the the ory that all runners self -s elect the m ost effi ci ent stride/form
is correct, why w ould there be a difference in fo r m between elites
and recr eational r unners ?

The mos t reas onable an swer i s that most elite r unners hav e
naturall y good bi omecha nics, whereas most ag e -gr oup run ners do
not hav e the sam e level of nat urall y good biomechanics.

A 2014 study by De Ruit er et al . evaluated running efficienc y bas ed

on strid e rate (S R) and f ound that when s elf -sel ecti ng running S R,
no novi ce runner s select ed the most efficient rat e ( 779).
Experie nced r unners in th e study s elected a mor e ef ficient S R tha n
novice r unner s. While b ot h novic e and e xperi enced runners didn’t
self-select the m ost opti mal SR , t he trend dem onst rates that the
more ex perienced runners are, the closer they r un to their i deal
SR.

The go od news is that si mply b y r unning m ore, r u nners can

improve their ru nning ec onom y ( 778). H owever, it is import ant t o
note th at whil e a runner c an im prove their f orm b y r unning more,
the impr ovem ents will not l ikely be to the extent that they will see
significant biome chanical changes to the point wher e they have the
form of a com plet ely differ ent r unn er.

The likely ‘answe r’ regarding the self -selec tion of running is that i t
is a bal ance. Meaning, th at a runner will improve their form to a
degree by running more, and t hey will also i mprov e their for m to a
degree by focusi ng on i mpr ovi ng t heir form . Ther ef ore, com binin g
both ‘str ategi es’ i s likely t he corr ect route.

Passive Energy

Within the bo dy exist struct ures and movement patt erns that allo w
runners to signifi cantly reduce muscle acti vation w hile mai ntaini ng
the sam e, if not greater, r unning performance. T he two areas tha t
this certif icatio n will focu s on r ega rding p assive ene rgy are:

1. Energy Return
2. Passive Movement

Passive move me nt and energ y ret urn are i nterre lat ed. The gen esis
of passi ve en ergy is that w hen t he feet imp a ct the gr ound w hile
running , ener gy i s absor bed and s tored. T he goal of a runner is t o
optimize runni ng form (mechani cs) to conv ert as much of thi s
stored energy as possible into forc es that assist i n forward
movement.

Regardi ng im prov ing effici ency and pe rform ance, the five areas
that this certifi cat ion will f ocus on i n relatio n to pass ive ener gy ar e
hip rotat ion in the transver se pl ane, hip flex ion, f oot plantar
flexion, knee flexi on/exte nsion , an d foot-ar ch compr ession.
Maximiz ing ru nn ers’ passive energy cont ributio n can im prove
their run ning economy. By utili zi ng pass ive e nerg y, active muscl e
requirem ent is reduced while s till produci ng the required amount of
force (6 20).

Stretch Shortening Cycle

“Energy cannot be created or dest royed; it can only be cha nged

from on e form to another .” ‒ Al bert Einstei n

This qu ote pertai ns to a l aw of phy sics, the cons erv ation of ener gy .
Regardi ng the SS C, it is applicable as potential elas tic ener gy is
convert ed to kinetic ener gy.

By defin ition, the SSC is r epres ent ative of an ec centric contr action
of a mus cle followed by a rapi d concentric contr acti on of the sam e
muscle. Conc erni ng runn ing, t he quadriceps, obliques, and calve s
represe nt the muscles most infl uenced by the SSC.

When the feet hit the ground, t he quadric eps a nd c alves

eccentri cally c ont ract (lengthen) and then rapidly c oncentri cally
contract (short en) during the drive phase to provide forward
propulsi on (616). The stret ch as pe ct of the muscl e and tendon
during t he S SC is quite s mall, 6 to 7 percent (61 5).

To illustr ate how the stretch-sh ort ening cycle w ork s, think of
shootin g a rubber band. The m ore you stret ch the band, the farth er
it will travel in th e air once released. However, if you stretc h the
band to o much, it could break. Additionally, the m or e tensi on the
band h as (harder to pull back), the farther it will go. Concer ning
the hum an body, muscles and t endons are the r ubber band. To
recap, t endons c onnect bone to m uscle, and theref ore mus cles a nd
tendon s are often considered t wo parts of a worki ng whole ,
the muscle-t end on unit (524). T he variab les that affect the degr ee
of elasti c retur n of the SS C are (52 5):

1. Length of the stretch

2. Speed of the stretch (loading)
3. Stiffness of th e m uscle a nd te ndon
4. Time between the stretch and the contraction

From a r unning perspecti ve, the legs act as spri ngs. T he springs
compre ss dur in g the firs t half o f the sup port ph ase and
rebound during the driv e pha se.

The stiffer a mus cle is, the greater the amount of energy that can
be store d and rel eased. However, to not inc reas e the chanc e of
injury, a muscle must have full mobility (608, 523).

Tendons

It is impo rtant t o note that de pendi ng on the loc atio n of a t endon in

the bod y, it wi ll v ary in thi cknes s, shape, and l engt h. Thes e
variables affect t he stiffness of the tendo n and thus the capacity
for force prod ucti on. Ten dons hav e elastic prop erti es that allow
them to stretc h. T he stretc h of a te ndon (o r musc le) stores e nergy ,
and wh en the str etch is unloaded, the stor ed energy is
release d. Utili zin g this st ored en ergy pro pe rly can greatl y
minimiz e the metabolic cost of movem ent (521).

The optimal stret ch of a t endon should be viewed as a modified

bell curv e – m eaning th at too little or too m uch of a stretch is not
optimal. If stret ched bey ond t he end point of its r ange of mo ti on, a
tendon could tear complet ely. H ow ever, before t his point is
reache d, a tendon could still be ov erstretched. W he n this oc curs,
structural changes occur to a tendon that effectivel y alters tendon
length and t hus r educes the st retc h reflex ( 522). The degree of
stretch to a tendon that elicits t he ideal stretch reflex is calle d
the ela stic r egio n . Once the st ret ch extends past t his regi on, it is
called the plastic region . At this point, the tend on’s structur e
change s and ther efore changes the tendon len gth ( 522).
The bel ow im age illustrates the elastic and plasti c r egions on a
curve-b ased mod el (load/ defor mati on curv e).

Achilles Tendon

Regardi ng running, the A chilles tendon gr eatly i mpacts

perform ance with respect to free energy. A study that exami ned t he
link between resistance tr aining and Achil les tendon stiffne ss found
that a 16 per cent increas e in tric ep surae t endon (ga strocne mius,
soleus, Achill es tendon) stiffness via resist ance tra ining decreased
the rate of ox yge n consu mptio n du ring run ning by 4 percent,
thereby incre asin g runni ng ec ono my (530) .
Another study confirmed t hese findings by noti ng t hat differenc es
in Achilles tendon mechanical properties were prim arily influenced
by muscl e strengt h (531).

While th e amount of ener gy that can be stored i n the Achilles

tendon and t he resulting i ncrease i n runni ng ec onomy vary, any
increas e in muscle stre ngth of t he tricep sur ae will incr ease
Achilles tendon stiffness, resulting in improved running
econom y.

There a ppear s to be no differe nce between men and women

regardi ng the eff ect of A chilles sti ffness o n run ning economy (52 9).

Mechanics

As rapid dorsif lex ion (loa ding) and plantar f lexio n (u nloadin g) of
the ankl e are res ponsibl e for t he s pring ac tion o f th e Achill es
tendon, if the ank le is not dors ifl ex ed enough, t he energy st ored i n
the Achi lles te nd on will n ot be as high as it coul d b e. The
implication from a mechanical perspective is that the heel of the
foot duri ng th e dr ive pha se sh ould touch th e gro und while th e hip i s
extend ed. Po tent ial ener gy an d r unning econom y are red uced if
the heel does no t touch th e grou nd during this p hase.

Shoes with a high heel i n relat ion to the f orefoot lik ely (signi ficant
heel-to-t op dr op) reduce t he a mou nt of stored ener gy. This i s
becaus e of r educ ed ankl e dors if lex ion, whi ch places the Ac hilles
tendon and calf muscles in a s hor tened position. Insufficient rang e
of motio n (flexi bil ity) of the Achi lles tendon als o limi ts the amount
of pote ntial e nergy able t o be s tored.

O u t s i d e I nf l u e n c e s

Runnin g economy is not just based on stori ng e nergy but als o on

utilizing i t. The in terface of the foot and th e gro und i nfluenc e the
amount of energy that can be utiliz ed. The more soli d the int erfac e
is, the m ore effici ent a ru nner will be. If the running surface is very
soft (e.g., sand) and a s hoe has a lot of c ushioning, this will reduc e
the amo unt of en ergy the runn er c an use as a l arge portion of th e
energy i s abs orbed by the ground and shoe res pect ively.

Some a bsorpt ion, howev er, is lik el y a posit ive th ing in relati on to
running economy and decreasi ng t he chance of injury. Studi es
have sh own a hig her met abolic co st to runn ing barefoot th an
with mini mal s h oes bec ause of i ncreas ed mu scu lar
demand (532) .

Trainability

Many di stanc e runners do not perf orm strength and sprint tra ining
becaus e of t he perceived lack of s pecificity . Whil e t here ar e man y
benefits to di stan ce runn ers, if t hey did spr int trai ni ng only to
stiffen the Achille s tendon to more efficiently utiliz e elastic energy
return, it woul d be well w orth the effort.

Foot Arch

The primary functions of the foot regarding running are shock

absorpti on and pr opulsion. The foot plays a large part with respect
to free energ y, sp ecifically , the l on gitudin al arch (be low imag e).
The mus cles and connect ive tis sue of the f oot af fect the
longitu dinal arch, which a cts as a spring t o provi de passive ener gy
while running (601). The r ed arch in the im age below denot es how
the foot acts as a spring i n relat ion to the planta r fo ot muscl es an d
connect ive tis sue.

A comm on argum ent for r unning in bare feet or mini mal foot wear i s
that sinc e the arc h of the foot i s su pported in co nve ntional r unni ng
shoes, the elastic energy of the longitudinal arch is negated – th us
greatly r educi ng an ener gy source used fo r forw ard propulsi on.
Muscles

Like ten dons , the stiffer a muscle is, the g reater t he elast ic
return wi ll be. Pr e-activat ion of leg muscl es when r unning
prepare s the body and leg mus cul ature for foot i mpact. Pre -
activatio n of l eg muscles is the ori zed to d ecre ase stress to leg
muscles and i ncr ea se the cus hioni ng upon landing ( 520). The bo dy
would c ollaps e u pon foot strik e if the leg muscl es d id not c ontrac t
before and during landing.

Leg mu scle “st iff ness” is controlled consci ously and unconsciously
(526). T he de gree of leg stiffness directly aff ects the amount of
knee flexion. Reg arding consci ous control of leg mu scle stiffness,
an indiv idual can control s tride r ate and l ength (527 ). Leg sti ffnes s
is also influenced by the geometry of the leg at impact. This is
becaus e dependi ng on t he angle o f t he leg at foot i mpact, t here will
be varyi ng loads on the l eg that the muscl es mus t c ounteract (52 6).

T he type of su rf ace that the fo ot lands o n also c orrelates to th e

degree of mu scl e stiffness. W hen runni ng, the body looks to
maintai n the s am e degree of t otal vertical s tiffness (surface
stiffness + leg sti ffness) at all ti me s. Therefore w hen running on
different surfaces such as pav ement and s and, the degree of leg
stiffness will ch a nge to maint ain the same degree of total vertica l
stiffness. For exa mple, if r unning on sand, the l egs must become
stiffer to comp ensate for the decre ase in surface sti ffness (528).

Passive Movement

Go for a walk. Di d you c onscio usl y contra ct mus cle s to swin g yo ur

arms? T his is r epresentat ive of passive movement . Passive
moveme nt is r epr esentati ve of body movem ent t hat is not the res ult
of active musc le contracti ons ( 519, 520). Specifi c t o runni ng,
several body mov ements are influenced exclusiv ely by passive
movement:

• Lower l eg (tibi a/fi bula) swi ng

• Hip flexion
• Knee fl exion

The de gree of passive movement l argely depends on action s do ne

before t he passiv e movement occurs (520). For example, the low er
leg swing (the aspect of the gait when the foot i s in the air) r esults
from ho w extended the hi p is at the end of the dr ive phase. Th e
greater t he hi p ex tension is, the lar ger the l ower l eg swing wil l
likely be (think: pendulum). When examining the movement of the
leg swing, the knee flexe s after the foot leaves the ground behind
the run ner and ex tends pr ior to the foot hitt ing the grou nd. T hese
leg mov ement s ar e synonymous wit h hamstr ing and quadric eps
activatio n, res pec tively. H oweve r, concern ing th e le g -swing aspe ct
of the r unnin g gai t, these muscl es are not activa ted becaus e of
passive move men t.

Concer ning h ip fl exion, d uring the mid dle of the l eg - swing phase,
the hip f lexes to allow th e leg t o m ove forw ard s o th at the f oot ca n
strike the ground and propel the body forward. In iso lation, the hip
flexors a re lar gel y respo nsible for flexing t he hi p. = One possible
excepti on would be runn ing uphill, in whic h case the hip flexors
may be consci ou sly activ ated.

While a primar y action of the hams trings is t o flex th e knee durin g

the gait cycle, thi s action is larg ely passive versu s a ctive.
Therefore, the hamstrings are mos t utilized while ru nn ing t o
deceler ate th e lower leg during the swing phas e and to assi st in
hip exte nsion .

Training Implications

The spo rt of r unning tradi tional ly i ncorpor ates a lot of drills. Two o f
the mor e com mon drills ar e butt ki cks and high kn ees . Butt kick s
are exa ctly what t hey sound lik e – runners stand in t he sam e spot
and try t o “kick th eir butt” with t hei r heels. This r api d knee
flexion/ extens ion trains a r unner to develo p a fa st ki ck and l eg
turnover . Mus cul arly spe aking, thi s drill pri marily f o cuses o n the
hamstrings. H ow ever, as noted pr eviously , this aspect of the
running gait i s lar gely passive. Therefore, by perf or ming thi s drill,
the run ner is t aki ng a passive mov ement and turning it into an
active o ne (e. g., muscle activati on require d) (57 9). However , thes e
drills do have val ue, especially from a neuromus cul ar standpoint
and tha t of ballist ically str engtheni ng the ankle and foot com plex.

High Knees

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 Butt Kicks

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The bel ow ‘dri lls’ are great for s trengtheni ng the muscle/tendon
unit(s) to increas e one’s runni ng efficien cy.

While ex agge rated skippi ng or bounding m ay look si milar to t he

high kn ees dr ill, i t is impor tant t o note that the s kipping drill
focuses on th e b ody’s w hole ki net ic chain rather th an prim arily
isolating the hip flexors.

Strides have a m ultitude of be nefit s and application s, however, in

respect t o incr easing on e’s effi ciency, strides ar e a functional wa y
to train t he sp rin g system s of t he whole b ody.

Exaggerated Ski pping

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Strides ( Slow M otion and Full S peed)

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Allocation of Energy
Watch a n indi vidual run. A lot i s going on – legs and arms
swingin g, tors o r otating, ankl es fl exing and ex tendi ng. This leads
to the questi on, h ow muc h ener gy i s requir ed to mak e each of
these th ings occu r, and h ow d oes i t relate t o an i ndi vidual’s total
energy expenditure? Fort unatel y, Dr. Rod ger Kr am from the
University of Col orado also wondered about this and perfor med
several studies to determine the answer (58 4‒588).

Dr. Kram et al. di scovered that the following areas were

respons ible f or c onsumi ng the most energy whil e r unning (585):

• 69 percent ‒ Supporting body weight

• 29 percent ‒ For ward pr opulsi on
Taking muscle sy nergy into acc ount, Kram et al. deduced t hat
supporting one’s body weight and forward propulsio n equates to 98
percent of th e energy us ed by a runner (587). W hile these
percent ages can likely be varied t o some degree based on the
efficienc y of a ru nner, th e prim ary thing to take note of is t he
distributi on of per centag es as i t rel ates to areas of f ocus. For
exampl e, red ucing body weight would be most a dvantageous fro m a
perform ance s tandpoint.

As note d previously, Dr. Kr am et al. found that s winging the arms

reduce d a runner’ s energy cost by approxi mately 4 percent (586).
This is likely due to the counterbalancing effect.

Lastly, D r. Kra m et al. fo und t hat t he bala nce r equ ir ed by a runn er

equate d to 2 perc ent of t heir energy cost. T he remai ning as pects
that likel y influ en ce the e nerg y co st of a r unner are the run ning
surface, shoes, and step width (587, 588).

Rotational Driven Running

While hi p (pel vic) rotation in the tr an svers e plane is an important
aspect of the run ning gait, it is als o one of the l east -discuss ed
aspects of ru nnin g form. By lea vin g out p elvic rotati on, a m ajor
aspect of forc e pr oduction is eli minated.

Dr. Rob ert Lov ett introdu ced t he rotational conc ept of locom otion in
the earl y 190 0s ( 621), d evelo ped upon by Dr. S erg e Graco vetsky
(617) a nd modified further by Dr . E rik Dalton (619). Before t he
introduction of this concept of l ocomotion, t he traditional
locomotion model was called the p edestri an mo del of ga it. T his
model st ates t hat the leg s are t he primary aspect of the body
respons ible f or locomotion and the upper body i s lar gely passive
(622).

Rotatio nal -dri ven running reduces compres sion on t he spine by

adding a rota ry el ement. T his rotati on stores and r el eases energy
via torsi on (775).

The Spinal Engine

Dr. Gracovetsky developed this m odel (spinal engine). The catalyst

for the s pinal eng ine origi nate d fro m obser ving a n i ndividu al with
no legs walki ng upright b y rotat ing the pel vis, th ere by “walki ng” o n
the ischi al tub ero sities (la ndmar ks on the base of th e pelvis) (617) .
This mo del consi sts of tw o prim ar y aspect s (617):

1. Spinal R otation
2. Coupled Motion

A key as pect of t he spinal engine model is that, unl ike

the ped estrian m odel of gait , Dr. Gracovetsky t heo rized that up on
foot strik e whil e r unning, ener gy w as not a bsor bed by the g roun d
but rath er utili zed up the body’ s kinetic chai n to assi st with
locomotion (619).

As referr ed to ear lier, this r elate s t o ground reaction force , w hich

is base d on N ewt on’s thir d law:

For eve ry act ion , there i s an equ al and o pposit e reaction .

Here is how the pedestri an m odel of gait and t he s pinal

engine interpret ground r eaction force (New ton’s t hir d law).

• Pedestr ian M odel of Gait: Ener gy is absor bed b y the body

• Spinal E nergy: E nergy is utilized v ia count er -rot ation of the
spine to facilit ate locomotion

Spinal Rotation

When running, the spine rotat es (i. e., twists) in opp osite dir ection s.
This is representative of counter -r otation of the hips and to rso, a s
noted i n the i mages below. This counter -rot ation inv olves
the stre tch-sh ort ening cycle ( SS C) to utili ze po te ntial en ergy t o
stabilize the body and assist in loc omotion via tr ansverse rotation
of the hi ps (7 74).
The ab ove left im age illustrates how the spine c ount er -rotates and
laterally flexes w hile running. Spinal count er -rot ation is
represe nted by a runner i n the above right i mage. In this image,
you can see t hat the runner’s s houlders (ax ial rot ati on) are r otate d
to the ri ght w hile the pelv is is ro tat ed to the left as t he left hip is
extend ed. The im age above ri ght i s a real -l ife ex am ple of th e
image t o its left ( note the slight lat eral spi nal flexion to the left).

It is norm al for in dividual s to di ffer regardi ng how m uch spi nal

counter- rotati on t hey hav e. A r ough asses sment for this is to hav e
an athl ete lie on t he floor with t heir knees and h ips at 90 -degrees
and ha ve them rotate thei r lower body down to one side wit hout
raising t heir s houlders off the grou nd. Som e indi viduals can rotat e
their leg s all t he way do wn to t he ground, wher eas others m ay b e
able to get th eir l egs onl y half way down b efore the contrala teral
should er lifts off t he ground.
Regardi ng m ovement in t he tr ans verse pl ane, t he shoulders rot ate
much m ore th an t he hips (pelvi s). As a res ult, it can b e diffi cult to
decipher visu all y if an in dividu al is runni ng wit h transverse h ip
rotation.

The vid eos b elow denote proper torso rotati on.

Spinal C ounter Rotation ( Post er ior View )

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T orso Rotation

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Spiral Spring System

Accordi ng to Dr. Gracovetsky, i ntervertebr al disk s of the spi ne ar e

not for s hock abs orption but rather to store and unload ener gy via
torsion of the spi ne (775 ).

The bes t way to t hink of Dr. Gracovetsky’s spinal engine is to thi nk

of the s pine as a long spr ing. V isu alize a l ong m etal coil spri ng ‒
using b oth hands , grab t he coil spr ing at each end. Twist the sprin g
in oppo sing direc tions and then let it go. T he coil wi ll allow s ome
rotation to oc cur, and when y ou let it go, it springs back to t he
starting positi on. T he spring twi st ing in opp osing directi on s
repres ents spin al rotatio n and t hus tran sver se r otation of the
hips and torso.

While th e spinal engine mode l states that most of t he ener gy

stored via the spi ral sprin g system is located in the collagen of the
vertebral disks (a nnulus) and the fascia o f the l ow back, other
aspects of th e body, such as th e c ore mus culatu re ( inner -/outer -
unit cor e musc les ), play a role i n t he stora ge and re lease of ener gy
(775).

The mus cles i nvolved in t he spi ral spring s ystem ar e noted in th e

next sec tion, Cou pled Moti on.

Regardi ng running, the s pinal engi ne (SE) i s mos t associated with

a heel-s trike gait and, more specifi cally, the stret ch of the bi ceps
femoris during a heel stri ke. As a result, ru nnin g wi th a midf oot o r
forefoot strike ma y reduc e the acti vation o f the bice ps femor is
regardi ng bei ng a major c ontributor to spinal rota tion. This is
describ ed in greater detai l in the P SSS sec tion below.

Coupled Motion

With proper runni ng form, pow er is initiate d through rotation of th e

hips an d the resulting foll ow -thr ough of the legs. This principle is
the sam e as t he boxer d escribed earlier regardi ng kinetic l inking .
In that examp le, f or the b oxer t o ef fectively throw a punch, t he
followin g thin gs o ccurred sequ enti ally:

1 – Hips r ot ate
2 – Rotati on of the tor so
3 – Arm ext ension

This allows the boxer to throw a powerful punch with the ori gin of
the pun ch coming from transvers e hip rotat ion.

Dr. Dalton modified Dr. Gracovetsky’s spinal engine model

(myoskel etal e ngi ne model) to i ncl ude a m odified v ersion of the
body’s natural spring syst em (774) . In doing so, Dr. Dalton
identified what he termed t he anter ior spiraling spr ing syst em
(ASSS) and t he p osterior spiralin g spring syst em (PSSS) ( 776).
These s pring syst ems com prise muscle and fasci a ( myofas ci al).
These s pring syst ems, in c ombi nati on with spinal rot ation,
represe nt the “engine” that po wers proper r unni ng l ocomoti on. In
other w ords, t hes e spring systems work together to f acilitate
proper r unning form.

Dr. Dalton identified two other spring sy stems th at aid in

locomotion, the l ateral s pring sy stem and the stir rup spri ng
system . How ever , this cer tificati on is focus ed on the ASSS and
PSSS sy stems , as they repres ent t he most relev ant systems
regardi ng spi nal r otation.

For exa mple, whil e the spine bends slightly later ally during t he g ait
cycle, this lateral bending (lateral spring system) is more of an
automat ic proces s, whereas runni ng with proper spinal rotation is
not.

– In ad dition to Dr. Grac ovetsk y, Dr. Dalton’s P SS S and A SSS

systems were i nfl uenced by T om M yers (Anatomy Tr ains) and Dr.
Andry Vl eemi ng, who de velop ed hi s own m uscul ar s pring
models: anteri or oblique system and posterior ob lique
system (777) .

How Do the Spring Systems Wor k?

The hip s (pelv is) and shoulder s rot ate in opposi te di rections.

• When the hips and shoul ders a re c ounter -r otated the most,
this repr esent s th e point at whi ch t he musc les, t end ons, an d
fascia of the s pri ng syste ms ar e st retched the m ost. This
relates t o the poi nt in the gait cycl e where the most pote nti al
energy i s stor ed. This als o corresponds to the l egs being t he
farthest apart (for e/aft) in the s agit tal plan e.
• As the hips and s houlder s begin to rotate back t oward each
other, t his is r epr esentati ve of the potenti al ene rgy stored i n
the spin e, mu scles, tendons, and f ascia converti ng t o kinetic
energy t o rot ate t he spine and thus the hi ps and shoulders.
• When the hips and shoul ders a re i n the same fr ontal plane
(the legs pass by each ot her u nder the tors o at t his point),
this repr esent s th e least t ension (s tretch) on the spr ing
systems and also represents the point at which the stretch of
the spri ng sys tem s altern ates t o th e opposing si de o f the
body.
Anterior and Po sterior Spring S ystems

The ant erior spi raling s pring system compris es t he following

muscle groups (776):

Anterior Spiral Spring System ( ASSS)

• External Obliq ue
• Abdomi nal fascia and ext ernal obli que aponeur osis (tendon
sheath)
• Contral ateral I nternal Obli que
• Contral ateral Adductors

The post erior sp iraling spring system compris es t he following

muscle groups (776):
Posterio r Spir al Spring S yste m ( PSSS)

• Latissim us Dor si
• Fascia of the thoracic and lumbar spine region
• Contral ateral Glute Max
• Contral ateral Bic eps Fem oris

These s piraling s pring sy stems ( P SSS and AS SS) gain and relea se
energy via the str etch -shorteni ng c ycle. As you c an see from the
precedi ng PS SS and AS SS im age s, the s pring s yst ems form
diagon al lines. T hese di agonal lines stretc h and contract in a
kinetic chain to facilitate spinal ro tation and, therefore transverse
pelvic rotation. St retching and cont racting of the PS SS and ASS S
represe nt an elas tic response.

The PS SS and A SSS op pose each other, m eani ng t he ASS S

crosses the body diagonally in the front, whereas the PSSS
crosses the body diagonally in the back and at an opp osing angl e
(see bel ow im age ).

Red Lin e = A SSS

Black Li ne = PSS S
C

Diagram s A, B , a nd C ar e denoted below with respect to a r unner’ s

form:

A: Ri ght le g forward, left leg r earward, pelvi s r otated l eft,

should ers rot ated right

B: B oth legs directly under neath pelv is, pel vis and shoulder s
aligned in th e frontal plane (no str etch of either AS SS or P SSS
system)

C: Left leg f orward, r ight l eg rearward, pelv is r otated ri ght,

should ers rot ated left

Arm Motion

As the l atissim us dorsi is primaril y stretched by f orw ard mov ement

of the a rm (hu me rus), running with no arm move men t takes away
an elem ent of the ASSS. I t, ther efore, redu ces the to tal force of th e
spiral spring s yst em. Conversel y, t oo much arm mot ion wastes
energy. Like mos t elements of human per formance, the optimal
amount of ar m sw ing/mov ement exi sts on a bell c urv e.

T oo Much Arm M ovemen t

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T oo Little Arm M ovemen t

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Did you ever wonder why track sprinters have very muscular upper
bodies and a lot of arm m ovem ent compar ed wit h di stance
runners ?

Did you ever notice that your arm movement becomes more
pronou nced when you go from r unn ing at a slow pac e to a s print?

This is because the body needs to generate more energy when

more sp eed is required. This is ac complished by increasin g spin al
rotation, and ther efore a l arger and more r apid s tretch/contr actio n
of the P SSS and ASSS is elicite d. By incre asing ar m move ment, a
greater stretc h is placed on the lat issimus dorsi, t hus increasing
the pot ential and kinetic energy of the PS SS.

Do ‘The Arms Drive the Legs?’

This is a comm on explanation for why arm moveme nt while running

is important. In t he simp lest of t erms, arm m otio n does n ot
drive the legs. A s discus sed pr evi ously, ar m mov ement is
primarily used to assist in counterbalancing th e body and
stretching the lati ssimus d orsi (vi a PSSS) to create potential
energy t o assi st i n spinal rotati on.

Therefore, arm m ovement can assi st in driving the legs (via spinal
rotation) . How ever, this is li kely not what m ost peopl e mean when
they ref er to t his statement.

Range of Motion

Too muc h or t oo l ittle transverse s pinal rot ation will likely d ecreas e
the effectiven ess of the s pinal engi ne. Too little r ota tion will not
create enough stored (potential) e nergy, whereas too much rotation
will decrease r unning ec onom y because of exc essi ve motio n. Th e
ideal a mount of r otation exists somewher e in betw een the two
extreme s.

Spinal Engine Summary

Specific s of th e S SC and spina l en gine ca n get quit e compl ex,

especia lly reg ardi ng the exact mus cles an d aspects in volved with
spinal rotation. H owever, the follo wing sums up spi nal rotation
regardi ng its acti ons an d ben efits:
Counter- rotatio n of the spine facilitates hip ext ension vi a hip
rotation i n the t r ansverse pl ane. This allo ws fo r i ncreased
glute and core ( primaril y obliq u es) invo lvem ent and redu ced
ground reaction force (GRF). Th i s results in less reliance on
the ham string s, reduced com pression of the sp i ne, and
increas ed for ce productio n.

Net effe ct = A faster and more efficient/eco nomical runner due to a

reduce d metaboli c cost of gait.

Relationship Between Spinal Rotation and Efficiency

The spe ed of the runner affects the optimal degr ee o f spinal

rotation. Conc erning the t otal s pec trum of hip rot ati on, it is li kely
that a sl ow ru nni ng spe ed wo uld r elate to a sm all amount of spin al
rotation being most efficient, wher eas a fast running speed woul d
likely translate to a great er amount of spin al rotation being optimal.

In the im age abo ve, the r ectan gle denotes the opti mal deg ree of
spinal rotation, w ith the v ertical bl ue line i ndicating ideal s pinal
rotation when run ning slowly and t he gree n verti cal line denoting
ideal spinal rotation when running fast. Therefore, the degr ee of
spinal rotation outside the rectangle denotes too littl e and too
much spinal r otat ion. Be aware tha t slow and fas t ar e subjective
based on the indi vidual. While tr ansverse h ip rot ation shoul d occ ur
to some degr ee a t all run ning s pee ds, it oft en does not.

Elastic Response

As note d previously, the elastic st retch res pons e is part of t he

stretch-s hortening cycle ( SSC). As the hips rotat e in the transvers e
plane i n one direction, the tors o r otates i n the opposing di rection.
This stretch invol ves the intervertebral disks, and
muscles/ tendons/ fascia noted i n the preceding PSS S and A SSS
illustrations (774).

Increas ed muscle tension and stiff ness inc reases el astic res pons e.
Therefore, the m ore engaged the core musculature is, the greater
the elas tic ret urn of the hi ps will be .

Hip rotation (tow ard the side of the drive leg) begins before the
foot hits the g rou nd. This illustr ate s how hi p rota tio n initiat es the
running drive phase and how t he c ore mus culature plays a key rol e
in force production while running.

Cueing Hip Rotation

For runners w ho do not r otate or over -rotat e the hips when r unni ng,
learning the correct amount of tr ansverse hip rotation can b e
challen ging. The degree of hip rot ation is directl y c orrelated to t he
degree of rot ation of the torso and, more s pecific all y, the
should ers. Don’t believe it? Try running w ithout rot ating th e upper
body w hile rot ating the hi ps … awk ward! C onvers ely , try runn ing
while substantially rotating the torso but not the hips. As you can
see, this does not work very well . The mechanical r eason for this is
counter balance. As defined by Merriam - Webster, c ounterbalanc e
is (533):

A force or influe nce that offsets or checks an op posing force

Be awa re that w hen teaching athl etes to r un wit h t he proper

mechan ics and, more specifically, the corr ect degr ee of hi p
rotation, you should not expe ct to see the m “ge t it” immediately.
Like oth er are as of motor deve lop ment, it i s a pr oc ess, an d
individuals will acquire pr oper form at different rates.

The mos t importa nt aspect when teaching proper for m is that

athletes fund ame ntally u nderst and why the corre ct t echniq ue is
more effi cient and economical than what t hey are c urrently doing
and un derstand t he theory an d mechanics involv ed. Even once a n
athlete can r un w ith prop er form , it takes a lot of pra ctice for i t to
become repeatable to the point where it be come s th e no rmal,
default f orm.

Cue Sho ulder s

Becaus e of s pinal counter -rotati on, if your athlet e u nder or over -
rotates t he hi ps, a good starti ng pl ace is th e shoulders. By
instructing your athlete to increase or decr ease rotation of the
should ers, it is li kely you ca n directly affec t the r ot ation of the
hips. To dem onst rate this, clas p y our han ds to gether with y our
arms poi nted straight ahead. Now begin r unning and make sure
there is no lat eral movem ent of the arms. Th is pre ve nts the t orso
(should ers) from rotating, w hic h in turn greatly r educes hip r otatio n
becaus e of a lack of spinal counter -rotation.

Run Fro m the Sh oulders, Not T he Arms

While countless r esources disc uss “correct” arm p osition and

movement, there are few, if any , resources that disc uss proper
torso rot ation. As a result, most runners focus on ar m movement,
not tors o rotat ion. As the follow ing image denot es, an effec tive w ay
to cue r unner s w ho under-rotate t heir tors o is to ha ve them focus
on movi ng their s houlder s forw ard while running . W hile the focu s is
on the s houl ders moving f orwar d, t he actio n is gr eater rotati on in
the tran svers e pl ane.

Drill

This “cue” in the image assists runners in attaining a greater

degree of tor so r otation. The purpose of t his drill is not to have
athletes achi eve t he perf e ct degree of torso rotati on but rather to
have th em under stand how shoulder movement affects torso
rotation and t o ha ve them “feel” how increased t orso rotation
affects hip rot atio n and g ait m echa nics.

Once a n athl ete has greater awar eness of thes e ar eas, they can
work to adjust their mechanics to achieve the optimal degr ee of
should er/tors o rot ation.
The Gra pevin e , or Cario ca Dri ll , is great f or worki ng on
transver se hip m obility a nd ra nge of motio n. It is al so a gre at drill
as it trai ns the body to mo ve in the frontal plane (see below vide o).

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C u e i n g L e g E x t e n s io n

Another way t o c ue hip r otation is to instruct runner s to foc us on

getting f ull le g/hi p exten sion behin d their b ody. Cueing athletes to
push do wn and back wit h a fo ot until the l eg is at full
extensi on will c ause th e hips to rotate to the sid e of the
extended leg. W hile this may over -exaggerate hip r otation i nitiall y,
it can b e a valua ble lear ning t ool f or runners to understand the li nk
betwee n leg extension and hi p rot ation.

Cueing Arms

While th e arms in isolation do not aid in locomot ion, fore/aft arm

(humeru s) mov ement contributes to stretc hing t he l atissimus dorsi ,
which is part of t he kinet ic chain i nvolved with t he posterior
spiraling sprin g s ystem (P SSS).
Relationship Between Ankle Flexibility and Hip Extension

Hip extension is typically related to transverse hip rotation, hip

flexor fle xibility , and glu te ma x/ha mstring activati on. This is t rue
from a st atic p osi tion. Ho wever, re garding runni ng a nd, mor e
specific ally, pr oper running form, when the leg is in the drive phase
(posteri or to t he body), th e an kle must have ad eq uate
dorsiflexion or else the drive ph ase of th e stri de will be cut
short – t hus r edu cing hip exte nsion.

When p eople disc uss shor tening one’s stri de , thi s i s (or at l east
should be) ref erri ng to reducin g stride len gth in f r ont of the
body, not behind it. Whil e reduci ng the s tride l ength in front of t he
body (te rmed overstriding ) is typi cally a good t hing, the posterior
stride length should not be shortened. In fact, for most runners, the
posterio r aspect of the drive phas e is too short.
Therefore, if your athlete has poor ankle flexibility (i .e., poor ankl e
dorsiflexi on), y ou should work on s tretching the calf muscles
(gastroc nemius and soleus) and ut ilizing a foam r oll er. When
stretching the cal f, ideally it will be in a position specific to running
– hip ex tended wi th the leg stra ight and the foot as fl at to the floor
as possi ble a nd without pain.

If you h ave at hlet es who r un wit h a very sh ort po ster ior stride
and/or premat urely lift thei r heel during th eir poster ior stride (or
always r un on the ir forefo ot), a l ac k of ade quate ankle dorsi fl exio n
may be t he c ulpri t.

Midfoot Strike

Many ru nners have attem pted to c onvert fr om a r earfoot strik e to a

midfoot strike. The cataly st for t he interest i n midf oot striking
coincid ed wit h the minim al shoe ( or baref oot) m ov ement t hat
occurre d around 2009 -2010 i n conjunction with t he populari ty of
the boo k, Bor n to Run by Christ opher McD ougal l (69). This book
profiles t he T arahumara tri be in Mexico, where some member s run
long dis tances w earing li ttle more than thi n rubber soles. The book
discuss es not onl y footwear but al so the midfoot -str ike runn ing
style.

As note d previously, an i mportant factor in an ef fici ent running g ait

is the fo ot strikin g the gr ound below or slightly in fr ont of the body.
Many ru nners find that t his for m is best facilitate d v ia a m idf oot
strike.

For many runners , the topi c of fo o t strike i s quit e polarizin g .

This section exa mines the differences between foot -strike ty pes
and the research surrounding t his t opic. To be cl ear, the topi c of
heel ver sus mi dfoot strike i s not a right an d wrong t ype of
argume nt as t her e is no one ‘c orrect’ foot s trike ty pe.

Is A Midfoot Strike Right for Everybody?

Probabl y not. As noted i n the certif ication, a he el str ike puts more
stress on the skel etal system, w her eas a midfoot stri ke puts more
stress on the mu scular sy stem – especially the c alv es. Reg ardle ss
of the adaptatio n length, some athletes will have
muscul ar/con nective tissue i ssu es when runni ng with a
midfoot s trike.

This section is included to discuss the pros and cons of a midfoot

strike, n ot to nec essarily encourage you to conv ert your athletes to
this foot- strike ty pe. This must be ascertai ned on a n indivi dual
basis. Li ke mo st other ar eas o f tra ining, s ome at hle tes will fi nd
more su ccess wit h one ty pe of trai ning (or foot -s trik e type ) t han
others.

Heel vs. Midfoot Strike

Heel Strike

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Midfoot Strike

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When c ompari ng these tw o running styles, biom echanically, a

midfoot strike produces l ess im pac t force on the body than r unnin g
with a heel strike (321). T his is because a heel stri ke is m ore
reliant o n the skeletal system fo r support and st ability th an a
midfoot s trike, which r elies mor e on the musc ul ature s ystem .
If your at hlete h eel stri kes, t hey should n ot nec e ssarily conv ert
to a midf oot str i ke.

As a mid foot s trik e tends to re duce the imp act o n th e knees , hips ,
and ba ck and les sen stress on the hamstri ngs, if an athlete is not
experie ncing any issues i n thes e ar eas, the if it ain’t broke don’t fix
it theory may be applied . How ever , if you f eel that becaus e of
biomec hanic al or flexibility reas ons they mi ght benef it from a
midfoot strike, it would be adv antageous t o speak w ith the perso n
about sl owly c onverting. A midf oot strike tends t o st ress the soleu s
and Ac hilles t endon, especially for those c onver ting to this f oot -
strike type.

The vid eo bel ow denote s a runner with a forefoot str ike – notice
that the heel doe s not hit the g rou nd.

While a midfoot s trike reduces t he magnitu de of impact forces on

the feet relati ve t o a heel strike , it does n ot me an th at it will f eel
better or be m ore comfort able, especi ally t o thos e in the process of
converting (321). You must be patient with your athletes while they
are maki ng the s witch from heel t o midfoot running . Remem ber,
they ha ve been w alking and running with a heel stri ke their whole
lives, so the change will li k ely not come quickly, ea sily, or wi thout
some d egree of fr ustration.

As note d previously, a he el stri ke that occ urs subst antially i n fron t

of the b ody ( over striding) puts t he hamstrin gs un der substa ntial
eccentri c stres s. If the stri de is r eally long, hyp erex tension of th e
knee is also poss ible. When running with a midfo ot strike, the
aforeme ntioned i ssues ar e largely corrected. Thi s r esults in the
ability to run w ith less ch ance of in jury to th e hamstr ings.

Forefoot Strike

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Foot Strike Misnomer

O n l y T h e B a l l s o f Th e F e e t C o n t a ct t h e G r o u n d D ur i n g a M id f o o t S t r i k e

Many p eople who adopt a midf oot strike im pact t he ground only
with the balls of t heir feet , leavi ng the heel of the fo ot in the air.
This stresses the Achilles tendon and calf muscles, primarily the
soleus. This ty pe of foot strike is c ommonl y referr ed to as a
forefoot strike.

While th e emphasis of foot con tac t with a midfoot s trike is the ball
of the f oot, it sho uld not be th e onl y point of con tact . Once t he ball
of the f oot im pact s the gr ound, im mediate ly afte r th at, the r est of
the foot shou ld li ghtly im pact t he ground. While the ball of t he fo ot
is the ar ea that pushes off the ground, contact ( ground) between
the mid dle of the foot an d heel is used for s upport.

This support decreases the stress on the Achilles tendon and calf
muscles. When w atching a runner with a pr oper midfoot strik e, it
should almost look as though t he e ntire length of the foot hi ts the
ground at the same time. The onl y time th e ball of the foot shou ld
hit the g roun d ex clusively is wh en running up a stee p hill or
sprinting. This is called a foref oot strike.

Drills: Midfoot Form

To und erstand w hat a mi dfoot stri ke is supposed to look lik e and,

more im portant, h ow it is s upposed to feel, there are two very goo d
drills:

Uphill Running

Have a n athl ete r un up a gradual ( 2‒5 per cent grad e) hill. T he

postural traits of a midfoot strik e are almos t iden tic al to that of
running uphil l.

• Slight fo rward up per-body lean (fr om the ankles , not the hi ps)
• Foot lands on mi dfoot versus heel
• Feet land under the body
Resistance Running

Another way t o teach proper mi dfoot strike form is t o wrap a long

theraba nd or rope arou nd your athlete’s w aist while you hol d the
ends b ehind the person ( see t he v ideo to t he ri ght). Cue them to
lean for ward at the ankles, not the waist. You should be at least
three fe et be hind them. Th en in stru ct them t o run for ward ag ainst
the resis tance . D uring thi s time, y ou nee d to be braking to s low
them. Y our for m should be sim ilar to walki ng down a steep hill ‒
low center of gravity, hips shifted down and posteriorly, knees
bent, a nd upright torso. Th is drill is effectiv e bec aus e the runner
must lean forw ar d and st rike wi th the midf oot. T his drill can also be
accompli shed by having t he at hlet e pull a weight -loaded sl ed
attache d to t he w aist by a harness /rope or runni ng with a runnin g
chute.

Converting to Midfoot Form

Many ru nners who convert to a mi dfo ot stri ke from a heel s trike w ill
notice i ncreas ed calf tight ness and, occasi onally, inj ury to th e
soleus and A chill es tendon. W hile soleus ti ghtn ess i s expect ed to
some d egree, inj ury should not be a part of this stri de trans ition.
To redu ce the chance of injury and to facil itate an effective
transitio n to r unni ng with a midf oot strike, t he foll ow ing are sever al
importa nt things t o address:

Soleus

1. Allow th e midf oot and he el to i mpa ct the gr ound alm ost

simultaneously (t he ball of the foot impacts the grou nd sligh tly
before t he heel) t o reduc e the stress on the calf muscles.
However , this act ion should n ot be cued b y aski ng t he athl ete
to land on a certa in part o f their fo ot; rath er, the y s hould b e
 cued to shorten their forw ard str id e and increase their str ide
rate.
2. Perform exerci se s to stre ngthe n th e soleu s and Ach illes
tendon (e.g., jum ping rope, walking on balls of f eet)
3. Right before t he f oot hits the gr ound, it should be m oving
rearward, and the hips should r otat e towar d the side of the
body of the f oot s trike.
4. Do not bounce ex cessivel y when r unning. Bouncing causes
the calf muscl es and Ac hilles t end on to w ork ex ces sively to
acceler ate and decelerat e the body vertical ly. Asi de from
being potenti ally more sel f -injuri ous, it is als o a sl ower way to
run as e nergy sh ould be used for f orward, not v ertic al
propulsi on.
5. Gradual ly intr oduce midfo ot stri king into runs a nd increase
the dur ation of ti me running wi th a midfoot strik e s o long as
no injuri es or exc essive c alf tig htness occ ur.

Athletes who con vert to b arefoot or minimali st runni ng with no

progres sion have an incr eased chance of injury. Individual s
converting from a heel to a mid foot strike often do not have the
structural arch su pport or muscl e and connective tis sue strength to
run in a n uns upported shoe. M usc les and conn ectiv e tissue adapt
to what they have been doing for lo ng peri ods. A dapt ing to a new
running shoe type or foot strike requires proper progression.

When Not to Make Changes

If you a cquire an athlete who is cur rently h eel stri kin g and has a
race in t he near f uture (anything less than five m ont hs), it is
advisab le to not c onvert t he individual to a midfoot s trike for t he
event. R unni ng ef ficiently with a heel strike i s a le ar ned skill , as is
running with a mi dfoot stri ke. U nless the athlete be comes i njured
becaus e of heel s triking, tr ying t o unlearn heel strik ing and learn to
run with a midf oot strike w hen a race is not too f ar away is not a
smart id ea and wi ll most lik ely le ad to slower time s, frustration,
and po ssible injur y.

This is not to s ay that you cannot i ntroduc e smal l doses of midfo ot

striking i nto the training progr am, but you should not expect an
athlete t o suc ces sfully run the eve nt with t he new fo ot strike. All
biomech anically based chang es must be introd u ced in very
small d oses an d over extend ed p eriods.
G o S l o w e r t o G o F as t e r

When c onverti ng to a midf oot st rik e, a runner’s spe ed will initially

likely decrease. This is normal and must be conveyed to a r unner
prior to and during the conversi on to midfoot strik ing.

S h o u l d I C o n v er t M y A t h l e t e t o A M i d f o ot S t r i k e ?

Depen ds. Do you think an athl ete could be mor e eff icient? I s the
individual experiencing issues that may be rectified with a midfoot
strike? If the ans wer to one or both of these questi ons is yes, then
conversion to a midfoot strike may be the right course of ac tion.

Contrary to many running articles, striking with the heel ver sus the
midfoot i s not wr ong or i ncorrect, just different. Therefore, if you r
athlete i s he el str iking an d doi ng fi ne with t hat, t her e is no r easo n
to chan ge. In the same respect, if your athlete is currently runnin g
with a midfoot strike and is having issues (i.e., chro nically tight
soleus), the right course of action may be to wor k w ith the athlete
to conv ert to a he el strike.

More im portant th an the t y pe of foot strike is the angle of the tibia

upon fo ot stri ke. This is di scuss ed in the next s ecti on.

It’s All About the Tibia

Runnin g gait (stri de) effici ency cor relates directly to the angle of
the tibia in rel atio n to the grou nd a t the tim e of f oot strike. U pon
foot strik e, the an gle of th e tibi a in relation to flat gr ound s hould be
at or clo se to 90 degrees.
In the above ima ge, the blue l ine r eprese nts 90 deg rees, an d the
distanc e betw een the yell ow an d g reen lines rep res ents the
accepta ble ti bia angle range during the foot strike. T herefor e, the
foot-strik e angle (red line) is outsi de what should be consi dered an
accepta ble range.

A foot-str ike (ti b ia) angl e at or n ear 90 degrees i n respect to

the groun d allo ws forw ard pr op ulsion to occur almost
immedi ately as t he foot i s directly under, or close t o being under,
the bod y’s center of gravit y. If t he foot strik es subst antially i n fron t
of the b ody, t he ground r eactio n fo rce creat es a n upward an d
rearward mom ent that does not fac ilitate for ward motio n (215). In
other w ords, w hen the foot is t oo f ar in front of t he body at the ti me
of foot s trike, a “ dead s pot” in the stride is create d becaus e of a
lack of f orward propulsion occurring with th e drive leg. Research
has de monstr ated that landing on the he el signi ficantly ahe ad of
the bod y incr eas es the l oading rat e versus a midfo ot strike with t he
leg und er or j ust i n front of the body. It is li kely t ha t the clo ser a
heel strike is to the body, the lo wer the loading rate is in
relation t o a h ee l strike f arther i n front of the bo dy.

If you h ave a n at hlete ru nning wit h a heel strike an d overstr iding,

the goa l should be to shorten t heir stride in front of their body so
the feet land und er, or clo se to bei ng under, th e body’s cent er of
gravity. T his leads to a reducti on i n stride l engt h and an inc rease
in their s tride rate (leg tu rnover). Additionally, reducing stride
length r educes the angle that t he foot is pointed diagonally upward
when th e heel im pacts the ground. When t he fo ot is pointed upw ard
excessiv ely, it causes th e foot to “ slap” down on the ground,
increasing stress on the l egs and body. Thi s slap also causes a
slight delay in tim e before the foot can act to push down and
rearward to pr opel the body f orward, though the ne gative effect of
this on perfor mance is ne gligibl e.

Drill

To dem onstrate why the tibia needs to be at or close to a vertica l

position upon foo t strike, have an athlete stand on one leg with t he
knee b ehind the ankle (t he at hlete will need to hold on to
somethi ng for sta bilization). The n i nstruct t hem t o p ush off t he fo ot
to move the b ody forward. They wi ll find th at for war d propu lsion i s
impossible until the knee is slightly ahead of th e ankle. This
directly c orrelate s with the body being ov er the foot to generate
forward propu lsio n.

Natural Foot Gait

General ly speaki ng, the faster or more uphill a n individual runs, the
farther f orward o n the foot the y te nd to ru n. Co nver sely, the slow er
a perso n runs (or walks), t he m ore natural heel strik ing often feel s.
If you lo ok at t he sole of a track sprinter’s s hoe, y ou will see that
the spik es are un der only the balls of the f eet a nd t he toes. This i s
becaus e when people spr int, th ey are forc ed to emphasize f orwar d
propulsi on at all t imes. Convers ely , ask your athl ete (or try it
yourself) to walk with a midfoot strike. This is extre mely awkward
and fee ls very od d. The f aster a person runs, the m ore nat ural a
midfoot strike will likely feel. Thi s i s substantiat ed in the study
discuss ed next.

Bare Feet = Midfoot Strike?

There is an assumption by man y t hat the body automatically

converts to a mid foot strike when running in bare feet or minimalist
shoes. The thought process behin d this is that bare foot runners
naturall y run with a midfoot strik e t o avoid the high stress (im pact
forces) a ssoci ate d with running wit h a hee l strike. A 2013 st udy out
of Geor ge Washi ngton U nivers ity ( GWU) found t his not to be the
case (3 21). T he i dea that running on bare feet naturally converts a
runner t o a mi dfo ot strike r esult ed from studying j us t one
populat ion of bar efoo t runners . This resear ch was t hen mar keted in
popular runni ng j ournals.

The GW U stud y r esearched 38 runners from a habit ually barefoot

populat ion in nort hwest K enya call ed the Daas anac h. The s tudy
had the runners r un around a track at varyi ng speeds. The s t udy
found t hat w hile r unning with a midfoot strik e low ered impact
forces, m ost ru nn ers ran with a he el strike. While s ome run ners
switche d to a midfoot strik e whil e r unning at fas ter s peeds, a
midfoot strike was not a const ant t heme w hen r unni ng at faster
speeds. T his research contrad ict s the theory th at running i n
bare fe et auto m atically chan ges one’s r unning g ait from a hee l
to a midf oot or f orefoot strike (321).

F o o t C o n t ac t T i m e

Foot-co ntact ti me relates t o how long a foot is in contact wit h the

ground during the running -gait cycl e. Running wi th a heel stri ke
results i n a longer contact time t han a midf oot str ike becaus e the
feet typi cally hit t he grou nd in fron t of the body, thu s elong ating
the strid e len gth. A 2007 study by Hasega wa et al. used vi deo
cameras at the 15K point in a half marathon to capt ure the foot -
strike type and foot-contact tim e in which beginners to elite
competitors comp eted. The results showed the follo wing (322):

• A higher perc ent age of f aster r unners ran with a m idfoot str ike
than slo wer ru nn ers
• Faster runners had less foot contact time than slo wer runners

While n ot all “f ast ” runner s use a m idfoot str ike, t he tendency is

that the faster on e runs, c onta ct o ccurs fart her f orw ard on t he fo ot.
The following chart illustrate s natural runni ng gait tr ansitions
based on the running speed. The chart below ill ust rates the
correlati on betwe en running speed and the type of foot strike.
Another tendency when c onvert ing to a midf oot st rik e or when
getting t ired duri ng a ru n is th at t he foot i mpac ts t he ground w hile
the leg i s still mo ving for ward a nd not rear ward. Thi s cause s the
stride to look li ke a shuffle and increases foot -c ontact time. T his
results i n one’ s t oes slidi ng for war d in the shoes and jammi ng in
the fron t part of t hem (toe box) . W ith a midfoot s trik e, any ti me th e
foot is o n the gro und, it s houl d pu sh dow n and bac k to pro pel th e
body for ward.

The Ach illes t endon also plays a r ole in foot -contac t time, and
therefor e on e’s r unning efficie ncy. From a biome ch anical
perspec tive, t he Achilles tendon is a spring that loads and unloa ds
energy. The s tiffer and longer t he t endon, the g reate r the
reboun ding effect of the “ spring ” (496). Whil e the length of t he
tendon is predetermined at birth, t he stiffn ess of t he tendo n can
be impro ved t hr ough str ength t r aining, r unning, and any other
activity that s tresses th e Ach illes tendon .

Lastly, a stud y th at obser ved t he f oot strik e of 2 86 maratho n

runners foun d that when c omparing the foot -strike ty pe at 10K (6. 2
miles) wit h 32K ( 20 miles ), a lar ge number of runners who r an wit h
a midfo ot strik e at the 10 K poi nt converted to a heel strike at 32K
(324). W hile not noted i n the study, it coul d be hypothesiz ed that
fatigue and a slo wer pac e wer e po tential r eason s fo r the ch ange in
foot-strik e type.
Form Analysis

Recordi ng an athl ete on v ideo whil e runni ng on a tr eadmill f or

immediate feedback and r eassess ment is of substantial val ue.
Video o f running on a treadmill is especially val uable for as sessin g
foot strik e, foo t m ovemen t (pro nati on, supi nation, et c.), and overa ll
body p osition.

While you can as sess transvers e hip rotati on on the treadmil l, it is

often m ore ac cur ately as sessed outdoors, as the tr eadmill may
facilitate hip r otat ion. The easi est way to a ssess ru nners o utdoors
is to eith er ru n al ongside them or have them run on a track or bac k
and fort h in fr ont of you. I f running with an athlete, make sure th at
the roa d ahead is clear before l ook ing at y our at hlet e to the side.
Video is a go od medium for thi s a s you ca n rec ord the athl ete
running past you. You can als o rec ord them running while you ride
a bike b eside the person. If filmi ng while rid ing a bik e, you m ust
ensure t hat y ou are looki ng for war d and i n cont rol of the bik e at a ll
times.

Stride Length and Rate

Stride le ngth and stride rate go hand in hand because of their

effect o n eac h ot her. The only wa y to incr ease r unning sp eed is to
increas e stride rate and/ or stride l ength ( 568). Ther efore, a
commonly ask ed question is, how l ong and fast sho uld one’s strid e
be?
This is the milli on -dollar questi on with unf ortunatel y no clear
answer. Befor e w e delve too deep into this ques tion, the most
importa nt thing to appreci ate is that, like most as pec ts of ex ercise
science, stride ra te and length function on a bell cu rve. Too slow or
too fast of a s tride rate and too long or too short of a stride l engt h
will negatively im pact a r unner (573). Therefore, a runner is most
efficient some wh ere in b etwee n th e two ex treme s.

Argument Against Changing Stride Length / Type

Two stu dies examined w h ether or not changing the foot -strik e typ e
and stri de length would i ncreas e performance or, m ore to t he poi nt,
running economy (724, 725). B oth studies f oun d that chang es in
the strid e did not improve runni ng econom y but rath er had t he
opposit e effe ct. S o is changing one’s stride a bad idea?

Not nec essaril y. The stu dies noted here occurr ed over a rel atively
short period. This is in contrast wit h the time likel y r equired for
neurom uscul ar adaptati ons to occ ur that w ould make a runner m ore
efficient. If an ind ividual has b een running with a se t stride f or a
long time, it al mo st guara ntees that when i nitially s witching strides,
the pers on w ould have a decr ease in runni ng ec ono my. Cha nges i n
biomec hanic al for m requir e a long neurom uscul ar adap tati on
period.

If a run ner is i nju ry-free and appears to have good running

econom y, there i s likely no reason to change form. However , if an
athlete i s injur ed or has a form t hat is “less t han i deal” and you
believe the is sue is biome chani cal, working to c hange the stri de
might b e the corr ect way t o proceed.

Correlation Between Stride Rate and Stride Length

Initial in creas es i n spee d rely mor e on the incr ease in stride lengt h
versus stride r ate. However, at hig her running speeds, speed
increas es depend more on incre asi ng stride rate and slightly
decreas ing str ide length ( 569).

Interesti ngly, l eg length, heigh t, an d mass ( girth) ar e not pri mary

factors i n det ermi ning on e’s pr eferr ed strid e rate and length ( 570).

It is mor e ene rg y efficie nt to l en gthen the strid e within an

accept able r ang e than to increase the stride rat e (571). As heel
strikers ty picall y have a longer stri de length than mi dfoot strikers,
this may expla in why tow ard th e e nd of ra ces, t here is often a
conversion from i ndividuals stri kin g with th e midfoot to the heel
(572).

Stride Length

An indiv idual’ s st ride len gth is t ypi cally self-selec ted based on
running speed. S ome studies s ugg est that indivi duals self -select
their run ning styl e (stride rate/l en gth) bas ed o n wh at is mos t
efficient, and whe n forced to change their r unning gait, they
become less effic ient (574). Thi s is likely due to an i ndividual
adaptin g to a part icular running gai t versus i t bei ng mechanically
and ph ysiological ly most efficient. T ypically, wh en an indivi dual
change s est abli shed for m, there will be an initi al decrease in
perform ance an d efficie ncy u nti l the bod y adapt s to the new
form.

To illustrate this point, watch a running race, and you will see all
sorts of stride l engths and rates – many of which ar e ineffici ent a nd
not eco nomic al. I f the theory that people self -s elect the ideal, an d
therefor e mos t ef ficient, r unnin g g ait was c orrect , a ll runner s wou ld
be effici ent re gar ding th eir gait ch aracteris tics (foot strike, st ride
rate/len gth). T his is not tr ue.
 Short Str ide

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Overstr iding

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Vertical Oscillation

An asp ect of stride lengt h often not discuss ed is t hat of vertic al

oscillatio n. Thi s p ertains t o the ver tical mov emen t of the bo dy whil e
running . From an efficiency standpoint, moving t he body vertically
takes m uch m ore energy t h an i t does horiz ontall y.
Therefore, run ni ng with a s littl e vertical oscil lati on as po ssibl e
is sugg ested. Too much vertical o scillation resul ts i n a runner
“boundi ng” or “bo uncing.” Conv ers ely, a runner with minimal
vertical oscillat io n typically shuffle s. As such, the ideal amount o f
vertical oscillat io n exists on a bell curve. Additi onally, greater
vertical oscillat io n equates to higher ground forces (i.e., imp act on
the bod y).

Orange = Low V ertical Oscill atio n

Blue = L arge Ver tical Oscillati on
Regardi ng stri de length, t he longer the stride, the m ore significant
the verti cal os cill ation. A n an alogy to this is thro win g a ball. To
throw a ball fa r ( e.g., lon g stri de), the ball must ha ve a su bstant ial
arc (e.g., a lot of vertical oscillat ion).

The below video denotes exc essiv e vertical oscill ati on.

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In additi on to a s horter str ide le ng th, trans verse rot ation of the
pelvis (hi p rot atio n) assist s in redu cing vert ical oscil lation due to
the ene rgy being used for forw ard versus v ertical pr opulsion.

The primary determinant regarding the amount of vertical

oscillatio n per tai ns to ho w the dri ve leg p ushe s ag ainst th e gro und.
The corr ect angle of force is downward and rear war d (diagonally
rearward). When a runner pus hes directly down i nto the ground,
the bod y mov es primarily upward, not forw ard.

Stride Rate

Stride ra te (S R) d irectly aff ects s tri de leng th (S L) an d vice v ersa.

The topi c of st ride rate is often dis cussed f rom t he perspec tive th at
a fast str ide ra te is better than a sl ow stride rate. T wo thin gs to
conside r:

1. Running with a fa st stride r ate d oe s not ne cess arily equate to

having prope r for m or effic iency .
2. What constitut es a “fast” SR is s ubjective a nd pri marily base d
on the r unner’s s peed.

Runnin g with a hi gh SR is typic ally indicati ve of r unning at a

relatively high rat e of speed. T herefore, incr easing a runner’ s SR
without i ncreasing speed will likely reduce efficiency. Increasing
one’s S L is pr im arily a f unctio n of increased f or ce produ ction,
wherea s incr easing SR i s likel y due to in creased
neuromu scul ar and cardi ovas cul ar capacity ( 578) . Theref ore, it
is probable that a runner currently running with a low SR cannot
increas e SR dramatically without a decrease in for m because of
inadeq uate neural conne ctions and cardiov ascul ar fi tness.

At the 1 984 Olym pics, ren owne d r unning coac h Jac k Daniel s
observe d the stri de rates of runners and f ound that all but one
runner had a stri d e rate of 180 or more per minute (576). T his dat a
point has found its way into ru n ning folklore rep resenting the
low end of wha t constitut es a “fa st” or “h igh” st r ide
rate. Th erefor e, an SR o f 180 has becom e a benchmark for many
runners looki ng t o increase their S R and overall run ning
perform ance.

As a run ner’s spe ed larg ely infl uen ces SR, i t is n ot surprisin g that
Olympic- caliber r unners have high SRs, ev en for long -distance
events ( 576). Ho wever, a s mos t r unners do not ha ve the l eg
turnover of Us ain Bolt, it i s expect ed that the S R of a good majori ty
of runn ers will be below 180. Addit ionally, a runner who att ains a n
SR of 1 80 on a fast training wor kout may li kely be below 180 on a
long ru n.

As note d by r unni ng coac h Steve Magnes s, if an individual runs a t

an 11- minute/mil e pace with an S R of 18 0, this equates to a stri de
length of onl y 32 inches – hardly a n efficient SL (577)!
Conclusions

Decreasing SL and increasing SR are common guidelines for

improving running perfor mance. However, any SL a nd/or SR
change s must b e done with a f o cus on p roper fo rm. Whil e thes e
guidelin es ar e not incorrect per se , they m ust be appreciate d in t he
context of a runner as a whole. As noted previously , any change in
form typi cally e qu ates to an init ial decreas e in performance due t o
the ada ptati on pr ocess.

It is nat ural for S R and S L to c han ge duri ng a r ace or worko ut

(577, 5 78). T his i s especi ally the c ase when fati gue sets in ( 577).

An inter esting poi nt of vie w reg ardi ng SL a nd S R co mes from Stev e

Magnes s, who vi e ws these tw o data point s as f eedback. In other
words, focus on the othe r elements of form (foot str ike, hip
rotation, upp er -body pos ition, etc. ), and t he SL and SR will c hang e
accordi ngly (577) .

Lastly, as a coach, do not beco m e fixated on a set number

regardin g the op timal SR and SL. These are inf luenced
individually; therefore, t here are no right o r wrong SR and SL
number s.

Drills

This section consists of running -form drills t o integr ate into a

training progr am. This is n ot a c o mplete li st but rat her a
compre hensiv e overview of popular drills and wor kout types . You
will inevitably create new drills that will best serve your
athlete. Som e of the following drill s are als o not ed i n the
biomec hanic al sport -speci fic modules.

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Run Uphill

The form used to run up a slight hill (5‒8 percent gr ade) matches
that use d wh en le arning how to run with a m idfoo t st rike.

• The body leans sl ightly for ward.

• The lead leg does not lift up ex cessively b ut sim ply moves
forward t o su ppor t the upper b ody.
• The lead foot hits the ground with t he midf oot, not the toes o r
heel.
• The lead foot lands when the body is directl y over t he foot,
not in fr ont of the bo dy.
Run Downhill

When running downhill, t he tendency is to elong ate the running

stride and lean back into the hill. This is pr imarily done to control
one’s s peed ( i.e., braking). The str ide length should stay about th e
same throughout a run, regardless of whet her the gr ade is fl at,
uphill, o r dow nhill . Theref ore, th e f orm whe n run nin g down hill
should not v ary much from the for m at any othe r ti me.

Run with a Slight Forward Lean

There s hould be a slight f orwar d l ean from the ankl es to the top of
the hea d when running.

This is primarily f or the purpose of the body being “over top” of the
legs at the beginning of the drive phase. This allow s for immediate
forward propu lsio n. When the body is behi nd th e leg s at the
beginni ng of the drive phase, t he body m ust cat c h up to th e driv e
foot for f orwar d p ropulsio n. Th e ot her reas on for a slight for ward
lean is t o reduce the cha nce of the knees hyperextending vi a
excessiv e len gthening o f the ham strings.
Partner Pull Back Drill

Place a harn ess around your c lien t’s waist ( can use a long
theraba nd or padded rope) an d stand behi nd the per son hol ding
the end s of t he rope. Then hav e your client start r unning at a
moderat e pac e. Y ou will run behind (braking), trying to reduc e the
client’s s peed. This restricti on forc es the client t o have a sli ght
forward l ean and drive off the m idf oot vers us th e he el. This drill
can als o be r eplic ated usi ng a running/spri nt chut e or weight ed
sled (see ima ge above).

Strides

Strides are es sen tially spri nts (n ot 100 per cent effor t) that ar e
done b efo re and/ or after r uns/r aces. The purpos e of performi ng
them be fore a rac e is to w arm up t he legs to incr ease blood flow
and get the mind adapte d to w hat r ace pac e will f eel like. Stri des
also wor k to e nhance the neur omu scular ef ficien cy of a run ner.

When do ne at t h e end of long o r easy ru ns, st rid es train the

neuromu scul ar system t o incr eas e speed rapid ly . This enhance s
not only one’ s for m but al so on e’s speed – especiall y at the finish
line.

Strides are ty pica lly done inde pend ently of a run. W hen sp eed
increas es are int egrated into a run, they normally f all into t he
categor y of s peedwork , w hich s tri des are not. Whil e strides
increas e one’ s heart rate, the pr im ary phys iologi cal adaptat ion is
neurom uscul ar, n ot cardi ovasc ular .

If strides are d on e befor e an event , a runner must be suffici ently

warmed up befor e perfor ming t hem. To perform str ides, a r unner
starts running se veral steps at a j og and then incre ases the pace
quickly t o be between 8 0 and 90 p ercent o f their ma ximum s peed
within 15 to 25 foot strikes. Onc e t his speed ha s be en attai ned, t he
goal is t o hol d thi s pace f or an other 10 to 20 foo t str ikes bef ore
slowing down. A critical a spect of strides, including the
deceler ation, is maintai ning as cl ose to perfect for m as possible.
As stride s trai n t he body from a neuromuscular standpoint ,
performi ng stri des with incorrect f orm trains the body to have
incorrect mechanical patt erns.
An athl ete should do no more t han five to 10 strides. If your athlet e
begins t o fee l tire d from th e stri des , the ind ividu al h as done too
many.

Study

A 2015 study by Barnes et al. f ound that runners w ho perf ormed

strides w earing w eight vests (2 0 percent of BW) eli cited the
followin g resu lts t en minu tes af ter performi ng th e st rides (6 72):

– 2.9 p ercent inc rease in peak running spee d

– 20.4 percent increase i n leg stiff ness

– 6 per cent i ncrease in r unning ec onomy

– Slight decr eas e in car diores piratory dem and

These r esults can all be attributed to an increas e in leg stiff ness,

specific ally re gar ding the muscles of the lower le g and Achil les
tendon.

Based on these r esults, t he questi on regarding conventional strid es

(not we aring a w eight vest) is whether they woul d elicit a
meanin gful percentage o f the afor ementioned r esul ts.

Discussion

Instead of a weig ht vest before the start of a race/run, unilat eral

plyometr ic leg jumps foc used prim arily on ankle plantar flexi on
would b e an appr opriate substit ute.

Conclusion

When w arming up for a short - to mi ddle -dis tance event (10K), a

combin ation of unilateral plyometr ics and stand ard strides is
recomm ended approximat ely 1 0 mi nutes before the start of t he
event. Post -run or race, st andard s trides ar e recom mended for
neurom uscul ar tr aining. However, as noted ab ove, more res earch
in this ar ea is needed.
Biomechanical Running Assessments
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The following videos by UESC A contributor and biomechanist, Dr.

Nick Studholme are noted for the purpose of identifying pot ential
biomec hanic al is sues as it relates to runni ng e conomy and a
possibl e increased risk for injury. However , rem em ber that as a
running coac h, y ou cannot di agnose or tre at an inj ury.

Tibial Angle of Inclination

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Pelvic Drop

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Peak Knee Flexion

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Knee Window

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Hip Extension

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Hip and Knee Flexion Angles

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Hip Adduction

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Foot Bisection

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Ankle Dorsiflexion

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Center of Mass to Ankle

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Odds and Ends

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Summary
• The three phases of running gait are:
• Drive
• Support (Stance)
• Recover y (Swi ng)
• Mild pronation is normal. Supination and overpr onati on are
considered a bnor mal foot/ gait patt erns.
• Ground reacti on f orce rel ates t o the force acting up on the
body in relati on t o the fo rce of the foot stri ke on the ground .
• Pronati on is not p redictive of pain or injury.
• The Mey er’s Li ne is a strai ght axis line tha t, on a functional
foot, goes fro m th e center of the heel, throu gh the bi g toe
joint, an d through the cen ter of the top of the big toe.
• Q angle relat es t o the a ngle of the femur.
• Utilization of passive energy reduces the active muscle
requirem ent w hil e still pr oduci ng t he required amount of for ce.
• The foot should s trike the ground under the runner w ith the
tibia at or clos e t o 90 degrees in r elation t o the gro und dur ing
the foot strike.
• Most of t he e nergy when r unni ng goes to s uppo rting the bo dy.
• The hips sho uld r otate sli ghtly i n t he trans verse plane whe n
running. This i s a source of energy termed t he s pina l engin e.
• The PS SS and A SSS sys tems utili ze the s tretch - shortening
cycle to store potential energy and use kinetic ener gy.
• Excessiv e verti ca l body m ovem ent equate s to w aste d energ y.
• General ly, the faste r one runs, the foot stri ke occ ur s farther
forward on th e fo ot.
• A heel s trike plac es more stress o n the sk eletal sys tem
whereas a mi dfoot strike pl aces more stress on the
musculature s yst em.
• Running with a s hort stride and fa st turnov er is often
preferable to r unning wit h a long s tride and a sl ow t urnover.
Module 8: Injury and Illness

Injuries and ill ne sses ha ppen, and as a co ach, y ou need to kno w

how to deal w ith t hese sit uations as they ar ise and see how the
training proce ss may be i mpact ed.

Injury Terminology

Sprain: I njury t o a ligam ent (ligam ents connect bone to bo ne).

Sprains are c ateg orized a s Lev el 1 ‒3, 3 b eing t he m ost seve re.

Strain: I njury t o muscle or tendon (tendon connect s bone t o

muscle).

Muscle Cram p (exercise -based): Involunt ary sp as m of a m uscle

or muscl es. Cr am ps can be caused by many fact ors, includi ng
overuse of a mus cle in d uration and/or intensity and nerve -r elated
issues. Mild dehydration and low electrolyte levels, previously
associat ed wit h c ramping, hav e lar gely been determ ined not to b e
a valid c atalys t fo r cramps (763 ‒765).
Fractur e: A br eak in a b one; v aryi ng degr ees of severity.

T endinosis: (of t en incor rectly cal led “tendoniti s”) Damage to a

tendon. Often caused by over use.

Bursitis: Inflam mation of a bursa sac. A bursa sac is a synovial

fluid-filled sac located b etween bone, mus cle, tendons, etc . The
purpos e of a burs a sac is t o provide cushi oning and reduce f riction .

Nerve I mping em ent: A nerve t hat has pressure app lied to it. Ofte n
referred to as a pinched nerve or c ompress ed n erve .

RICE: Ac ronym f or Rest– Ice–C om pression –Elevati on.

Chafing: Locat ion on th e body where the top la yer of skin is

irritated or worn away either due to skin -o n-skin rubbing ( e.g.,
thighs) or, mor e c ommonl y, from sk in rubbi ng agains t clothing
(e.g., br a straps). While not an injury exactl y, it can be very
painful, and, like an open wou nd, i t can ge t infe cted if not tr eated.
The mos t com mon places for c hafi ng are t he ni pples (men), i nner
thighs, areas whe re the br a rubs ( women), and under the ar ms.

To redu ce the chance of chafi ng, here ar e som e pr eventati ve

measur es:

– Try new clot hes on shor t runs bef ore longer runs
-Men: w ear ni ppl e covers
-Women: make s ure the bra fit s pr operly and is t ight
– Apply a skin lubricant s uch as B ody Glide ® in ar eas that are lik ely
to get c hafed
– Clothi ng wit h hi dden s eams i s pr eferabl e to g arments with
regular seams

Scope of Practice
Success fully p as sing this certifi cation will qualif y y ou to advise and
educat e a runner in all ar eas per tai ning to t raining a nd racing. It is
importa nt to r emember there is a bi g difference betw een
advisin g/edu cating and prescri bing/diagno sing. As a running
coach, you cannot do the following :

• Diagnose or tr eat an injur y or ill ness

 • Prescrib e a n utrit ional or suppl em entation program in most
states unless you are a register ed dietician or certifi ed
nutritionist
• Check w ith loc al or state l aws
• Hands- on muscul ar (i.e., m assage) or skeletal mani pulation
• While not illeg al, any substanti al bi omecha nical devi ation
should be ref erred to a s peciali st.

If you d o not feel qualifie d to a dvis e or ed ucate on a specific area

and de cide t o proceed a nyway, you are pr acticing o utside y our
scope o f knowledge.

This is an import ant distinction. Y ou can work w it hin your scop e

of practice but o utside your sco pe of knowledge . Conver sely,
you can work wit hin your scope of knowledge but outside y our
scope o f prac tice. An ex ample of s omeone worki ng within their
scope o f prac tice but out side t heir scope o f knowledge woul d be a
new run ning coac h whos e athl ete wants them to ad vise the m on t he
differen ce be tween two different s hoes. W hile t his question is
within a coach’s scope of practice, if they do not know the answer
and pro ceed to fabricate one, t hey are prac ticing out side the ir
scope o f knowledge.

An exa mple of someone practic ing within t heir sc ope of knowled ge

but outs ide t heir scope o f prac tice would be a s eas oned ru nnin g
coach t hat is 99. 9% sure their athl ete has patel lofemoral sy ndrom e
and ma nually massages t heir athl ete’s leg to rel iev e the sy mpto ms.
While th e coach may be correc t in their ‘di agno sis,’ they cannot
legally diagnose a condit ion and cannot m assage their athlete’s leg
to reliev e the sy mptoms – even if they ar e sure thi s will wor k.

The distinction between what i s legal and illegal when worki ng wit h
athletes can be unclear. It is al way s best t o err o n t he side of
caution when wor king wit h athletes and refer them t o specialists.
Team Approach

A coach ’s legal and prof essional obligation to refer their athletes to

specialis ts ma y a lso present learni ng opportunities f or a coach.
Often, a speci alis t will adv ise a co ach on what prot ocol to f ollow or
why an athlet e is experiencing a particular issue. K nowledge
gained in this fas hion is i nvaluable and will he lp support furt her th e
develo pment and educati on of a coach.

It is sug geste d t hat a co ach c oor dinate a ‘tea m’ o f specia lists

to whom they feel comfo rtable referring athletes. This team
approa ch general ly elicits t he best and fas test r esul ts for at hletes
and rel eases a c oach from pot enti al liabilit y by overstepping thei r
professi onal bou ndaries.

A coach can’t have all th e resourc es requi red by an athlete. If a

coach is not impl ementing a team approach, they are not providing
their ath letes wit h the best po ssibl e training. Unl ess a coac h is all
of the f ollowin g: doctor, physic al t herapist , regis ter ed dieti cian,
podiatri st, sports psychol ogist, etc. , they need other member s on
their tea m. Ju st b ecause a co ach h as know ledg e or experie nce in a
particul ar area doe s not neces saril y mean t hat t here is not
someon e bet ter equipped to assist in that a rea. F or exampl e, a ful l -
time bio mech anis t is likely bette r s uited to perfo rm an accu rate gait
analysis than a r unning coac h. Th is is not a negati ve reflec tion o n
the run ni ng c oac h but rather dem onstrates the specialized
expertis e of a biomechanist. Refer ring athl etes t o ot hers is not a
sign of weakness but indicates a coach’s intelligence and
dedicati on to thei r athlete s.
Injury – need to add content

Runnin g is a spor t wi th a r elativ ely high inj ury rat e, and as such,
underst anding m ethodol ogies to possibly prevent injuries is of
critical im portanc e.

Your at hletes will experience discomfort and pai n fr om time t o

time. Yo u an d yo ur athlet e mu st a ssess th e situ atio n, use t he be st
judgme nt, and determine whether medical i nterv enti on is necessa ry
or if the i ssue is somethi ng more benign. If you or your athl ete i s
unsure if medical intervention is necessary, seek medical
interven tion!

The following is a list of possible s cenarios and the advised

courses of action .

Injury Scenarios

Discomf ort that appear s to be d ue to a b iome ch anical i ssue

Work to c orrect t he biom echanical issue to see i f the discomfort

diminish es or dis appear s. If not, r efer to a spec iali st. If a
biomec hanic al is sue is s ubstantial or you do no t feel comfort able
address ing the is sue, ref er imm edi ately to a speciali st.

Acute p ain or t r auma th at is severe

Refer to a specialist or emergency care per sonnel

Pain that appe ar s to be t he re sul t of over use

Reduce durat ion and int ensity. If t he pain does not diminish or
disapp ear, ref er t o a specialist.

Random pain

Refer to a specialist

Discomf ort or p ain due t o illness

Cease physic al activity, and depending on the s ever ity of the

illness, the client should co nt act a doctor.

Chronic Pain

Chronic pain is character ized as pain that has been present for six
months or mor e. I t is advis ed to have the cl ient s ee a medic al
professi onal.

You must wor k within yo ur scop e of kno wledg e and pra ctice at
all time s. In other words, know and respect your li mits. If y ou fee l
your athlete’s sit uation is at the threshold of your k nowledge or
practice, you mus t refer the indi vidual to a speci alist . As suc h, this
certificati on wil l n ot cover how to diagnose or treat i njuries, as thi s
constitutes an area outside the sc ope of practic e of a running
coach. Additi ona lly, you c annot recommend or pres cribe
medicati ons. T his includes over -the-count er medications such as
ibuprof en and other anti -i nflamm at ories.

While di agno sis and treat ment of injuries ar e outs ide the scope of
a runni ng coach, it does not m ean that you should be unfam iliar
with the most common types of injuries and their potential
symptom s.

Emergency Situations

Emerge ncy personnel must be aler ted imm ediately if any of t he

followin g situ ations arise.

Note: Contacti ng emergency personnel is not limi ted to the

followin g situ atio ns. Do n ot le ave t he indiv idual and/ or scen e until
emerge ncy personnel arri ves.

• Broken bone
 • Loss of consc iou sness
• Shock
• Choking
• Cardiac arrest
• Drowning
• Respiratory event (e.g., a sthma attack)
• Allergic r eacti on
• Unresponsivenes s
• Uncontr olled bleeding

While coaching a thletes i n pers on, you should always have a cell
phone available t o call emergency personnel (#911).

Inhaler Use

If your a thlete is asthmati c and, in particul ar, suf fer s from

exercise -induced asthma attack s, it is advis ed the pe rson carr ies a
fast-acti ng inhaler while exercisi ng.

Content s of a n inhaler ar e a pr esc ription m edici ne. Therefor e, yo u

are not l egall y all owed to admi nist er the m edicine t o athlet es ‒
even if t hey s uffe r an ast hma a ttac k. Athlet es MU ST adminis ter th e
drug/in haler t hem selves.
Injury Prevalence and Location

A study by Va n M echele n foun d th at runni ng inj urie s amon g

recreati on runner s ranged from 37‒56 per cent annually (19 2).
Other p ertine nt fi ndings f rom t his study:

• Most running i njuries invol ve the l ower ext remiti es

• 50‒75 percent of injuries are d ue to overu se (r ep etitive
stress)
• Recurrences of r unning injuri es range from 20‒70 percent

The Va n Mec helen study also f ound that m any of the comm only
associat ed ris k fa ctors for r unni ng injury ar e uncl ear , in larg e part
due to c ontra dict ory or sc arce r es earch fi nding s. S ome of t hese
factors i nclud e:

• Warm-up/Stret chi ng
• Muscular imbalances
• Lack of r ange of motion
• Orthotics

Therefore, more r esearch is requir ed to as sess the validity of these

areas regardi ng t heir corr elation t o runni ng inj ury.

Many fa ctors i nfl uence i njury prev alence and l ocati on. A 2012
study by Daoud et al. examined re petitive stress inj uri es am ong
collegiate runner s and found that 74 percent of ru nners
experie nced a m oderate to sever e injury annuall y (648). Som e
of the st udy’s spe cific findi ngs:

• The mos t com mon injuries wer e:

• Shin spl ints
• IT band syndr om e
• Patellof emora l sy ndrome
• Achilles tendon pain

Runner s in thi s st udy ran 40‒45 mi les/week, perf or med high -

intensity training sessions, and ran between 12 and 18 races per
year. As such, ru nners in this study are classifie d as competitive
versus r ecreational. Therefore, it i s probable that fac tors suc h as
high mil eage, fas t running speeds, and frequent raci ng contr ibute
to an in creas ed i njury rat e (64 8).

The bel ow inf ogr aphic fr om the U SA Running’s 2017 Nati onal
Runner Survey found the following results r egardi ng the most
prevale nt injuries :

Influence of Foot Strike Type

The aforementioned study (Daoud et al.) found that regarding

repetitiv e stres s i njuries, r unners who ran with a rear foot s trike
were tw o times m ore likely to sust ain a repetitiv e st ress injury tha n
those w ho ran wit h a midf o ot str ike (648).
Anatomical Factors

A 2010 study examining f actors inv olved in prev enti ng injuri es

found t hat tw o anatomical factor s c orrelate highl y wi th runni ng
injuries (649):

1. High-arc hed f eet

2. Leg-length in equality (fun ctional o r structur al)

Is Running ‘Hard on the Knees?’

Runnin g is a spor t that is often ass ociated with being hard on th e

knees. T he c omm on association is that com pressi ve forces on the
knees d ue to the impact nature of r unning caus e knee injuries.

A 2013 study by Hinterwimmer et al. exam ined the effect of

maratho n trai ning on cartil age c hanges (v olume and thickness) of
the kne es of begi nner marathoners (690). It was f ou nd that while
there w ere some cartilage changes , they w ere not cl inically
significant. There fore long-dist anc e runni ng is w ell tolerate d by t he
cartilage in the k nees of beginner marathoners. Mor e research is
require d regarding changes/loss of cartilag e in s eas oned m arath on
runners.
Dr. Michael Fred ericson of the Stanford Running Clinic note s (772),

“At fast er speed s, runners ten d t o have better hi p mech anics,

leading t o redu c ed knee load s.”

This primarily ha s to do with hip r otation i n the transverse plane.

A recent stud y by Peterse n et al. a lso foun d tha t run ning at slower
versus faster speeds increased the load on the knees. This,
howeve r, was due to a decrease i n the ov erall num ber of str ides t o
cover the same distance (773).

Lastly, D r. Fre der icson st ates t hat running with a fo ot strike closer
to the fr ont of the foot re duces the cumulati ve lo ad o n the knees.

Injury Prevention

While inj uries occ ur for var ious r easons, you can tak e meas ures t o
mitigate this ris k for your athlet es.

Volume Increases

Traditionally, a 10 percent maximu m increase in we ekly training

volume and a 10 percent maxim um increas e of t he l ongest t rainin g
day (we ek -to- week) are recomm ended. The tho ught process behi nd
the 10 perce nt rul e is that volume i ncreases greater than 10
percent will increase the chance f or injury.

The vie wpoint of this certif ication program is that w hile 10 p erce nt
is ideal for so m e athlet es, it may be too high o r too low fo r
others. T heref or e, while the 10 p ercent r ule is a general guidel ine,
change s in tr aini ng volume must be based on f eedback from an
athlete. If an athl ete is st arting at the abs olute lowest training
volume, initial vol ume incr eases ca n typically afford to be larger
than 10 perc ent.

A study by Fie lds et al. fo und t hat regardi ng pre vent ative inj ury
strategies, only r educing weekly r unning milea ge correlated
strongly with decr eased running inj uries (649).

Intensity

The lev el of intensity and the num ber of intensit y -based w orkout s
should increase i ncreme ntally. Th e more intense a workout is, the
greater t he m usc uloskel etal sy stem demands. Without proper
progres sion, mus cles and connecti ve tissu e will not have th e
proper amount of time to adapt to the incr eased workload, t hereb y
increasing the risk of injur y. When intensity is initi all y added to a
program (e.g., hil l repeat s, fartl eks , repeat s, etc.) , o nly one day
should be all ocat ed to thi s pur pos e. As th e body ad apts, ad ditio nal
intensity days can be ad ded.

Cross-Training

By defin ition, cro ss-traini ng is w hen indivi duals part icipate i n a

sport or activit y o ther than the sport they compete i n for
perform ance enhancement. Comm on cross -traini ng activities are:

• Resistance traini ng
• Cycling
• Swimming/wat er j ogging
• Yoga and Pil ates
• Other ca rdiov asc ular (e.g ., rowi ng , elliptic al, box in g, socce r,
basketball, cr oss - country skiing)
While th ese ar e s ome of t he m ore popular activit ies , any ac tivity
other th an running is considered c ross -trai ning. As most of t he
movements invol ved with runni ng occur in the s agit tal and
transver se pla ne s, cross -traini ng in the fr ontal p l ane is
recom mended.

A 2013 study by Malisoux et al. found that cros s -training is a viab le

strategy to reduce the chance of running injury due to varying the
load ap plied to th e musculoskel etal system ( 687).

Cross-training has many benefi ts, i ncluding incr easi ng

cardiov ascular fit ness, inj ury pr ev ention, i ncreasing strength,
staying mentally f resh, an d, pe rhaps most im portant — having fun !

Fatigue

When in dividuals become fatigued, their for m can br eak down an d

may lea d to injur y. An at hlete mus t always be c ons cious of fatig ue
during tr aining and racing. If their f atigue gets t o the p oint w here
form bre aks d own signific antly, or t he pers on ca nnot maintai n
focus a nd clar ity, the acti vity level needs t o be reduced or c ease d.

In additi on, a n at hlete lik ely ne eds to refu el whe n th e energ y leve l
drops s ubsta ntiall y. Exerci sing m us t cease i f the f ati gue lev el is s o
high th at an i ndiv idual’s s afety i s at risk.

Pre-Stretching?

It is com monpl ac e to see runn ers stretchin g bef ore training runs
and rac es. There are likely two r easons for this.

1. Decreas e the cha nce of i njury

2. Warm up the mus cles

Interesti ngly, i n b oth cas es, str etc hing is not th e pa nacea t hat
many ru nners thi nk it is. C oncerni ng decr easing the chanc e for
injury, a large me ta -analy sis of 12 studies compri sing over 8806
runners foun d no evidenc e that str etching befor e runnin g
decreas ed the inj ury rate ( 2022). T he most subst anti al evidence o f
preventi ng inj ury is reduci ng volum e.
Kinesio Tape

Kinesiology tap e (often called Ki nesio T ape ) is a stretcha ble

adhesiv e tape pri marily us ed for injury prev ention/interventi on or t o
increas e perf orm ance. Dr . Kenzo Kase developed t his tape in 1973
(214). S pecific all y, kinesi ology tape is used for mus cle and joint
support, enhancement of biom echanical efficienc y, and aid muscle
recovery and end urance.

Studies researching the benefit s of kin esiolo gy tape have

resulted in lar ge ly incon sisten t r esults ( 207, 209) . More
researc h is need ed in thi s area to determi ne the tap e’s
effective ness reg arding it s pur port ed benefits. It ca n be as sume d
that usi ng kin esio logy tape will not diminish perform ance or reduc e
joint stability or functioni ng, possibly enhancing these areas (208).
Therefore, if athletes ask about ki nesiology tap ing or want t o try it ,
it is best to refer them to a specialist with experience in this area.
Running Shoes

While n o evidenc e -based research demonstrates th at runni ng sh oe

type red uces i nju ry, resea rch s ugg ests tha t swa ppin g out dif feren t
types of runni ng shoes d uring trai ning re duces the risk for in jury
(687).

It is the orized tha t using differe nt s hoe types thr oughout the
training proce ss r educes the p oten tial for in jury b ec ause of the
variation of load applied to the musculosk eletal syst em.

Running Injuries

Runnin g is sy non ymous w ith inj ury becaus e of one primary f actor ‒
impact. Accor ding to Van Gent et al., betw een 37 a nd 56 percen t of
runners sustai n at least one inj ury annuall y, an d bet ween 20 and
70 perc ent of those seek medic al attentio n (19 1). A nother s tudy
found t hat between 30 and 90 per cent of r unni ng injuries caused
runners to decrease or stop their tr aining ( 192).

Two stu dies, Mar ti et al. ( 1987) and Taunt on et al. ( 2002),
examin ed run ner s to identify ris k f actors that lead t o runni ng
injuries. The most common injuries involved the knees and feet.
Interesti ngly, bot h studies cam e across four fact ors that placed
runners at greate r risk for i njury ( 205, 206):

1. Running high mil eage (25‒37 miles/week)

• Mileage great er t han this did not i ncrease the c hance for
injury.
2. Competi tive runn ers with a dedicat ed focus on tr aini ng and
racing
3. Younger than 34
• Runner s over 34 were at great er ri sk for Ac hilles an d
calf injuri es.
4. Newly active ( acti ve less t han 8.5 y ears)

Other Fa ctors ( 20 5):

• Weight: T his fol l ows a b ell -shaped curve, mea ning unless
runners were substantiall y und er or overweight, t hey were n ot
at an in creas ed ri sk for inj ury.
• Shoes: Shoe type did not affect injury rate.
• Gender: Wom en are at a higher ri sk of inj ury than men.
Highlighted Gender -Speci fic Inj ury Areas:

• Women: knee, hi p, shin

• Men: pat ellar and Achilles ten dons

These risk factor s correlate to a 2014 study by Kluitenberg et al.

that exa mine d ris k factors for n ovi ce runn ers. T his study h ad 1, 696
particip ants, r anging in age from 1 8‒65. O f the novi ce runners,
10.9 pe rcent sust ained a runni ng -r elated i njury, and the identifie d
risk facto rs based on those injured were as foll ows (647):

• Older ru nners
• Higher body mas s index ( BMI)
• Previous musc uloskeletal compl aints not rel ated to r unning
• No prior running experience

What Is Tendonitis?

The term and diagnosis of tendoni tis are quite c om mon am ong
endura nce at hlet es, especially runners. To understa nd what this
term me ans, attention m ust be pai d to the suffix -iti s. This is a
patholo gical/ medi cal term t hat denotes infl ammat ion.
Therefore, tendonitis means inf lammation of a t endon.
The issue with the term tendonitis is that re cent research has
shown t hat in con ditions diagnosed as tend onitis , there is littl e to
no infla mmato ry cells present ( 606). Ther efore, the
term tend inosi s i s more applic able. T he primary fin ding
regardin g the ca use of te ndino si s is a disrupti on of colla gen
fibers of the ten don, not i nflam mation. Because of the disrupt ion
of colla gen fi bers , the te ndon wea kens an d ca nnot support high
loads (603, 604). Collagen is a structural pr otein in con necti ve
tissue, s uch a s te ndons.

As there is like ly no infla mmati on present with t end inosis, c ommo n

treatme nt met hods such as anti -inf lammatory medic ations and
corticosteroid inj ections have incr eased recovery ti me and
acceler ated t he d egener ative proc ess (603-606) . E ccentri c
strength ening h as been show n t o assist in im pr oving th e
collage n and str ength of a tend o n (603, 604).

If an at hlete believes they hav e ten dinosis, it is advi sed to r efer

the pers on to a s pecialist .

Common Causes of Running Injuries

Commo n facto rs can cause or exacerbate an inj ury due to s tress.

In additi on to and includi ng so me o f the af oreme ntio ned risk
factors, t he fol lo wing ar e the fi ve potenti al risk f act ors rega rding
running injury .

Poor Run ning M echanic s

While some m ec hanical is sues can be easi ly identifi ed, suc h as
foot-strik e type and excessive pronation or supi nati on, it does not
mean th ey ar e easy to change. Thi s is bec ause poor running
mechan ics ar e of ten the result of muscle i mbalanc es and kinetic
chain issues. Ret raining t he body t o run “pr operl y” i s not an
overnig ht sol ution but rather a long process.

Worn Sh oes

This is primarily an issue for those who heel strike, as a midfoot

strike uses pri ma rily knee flexion for shock absorpti on rather than
heel pa dding. As n oted previously, while the body adapts to a
reductio n in s hoe cushioning, excessive wear is li kely a
contributing factor to injury ‒ especially wh en an individual utilize s
shoes f or biomec hanical foot and ankle s upport .

Lack of Rang e of Motion

Lack of r ang e of motion, whether hamstrings, lower back,

quadric eps, or an y other muscle gr oup, will negatively affect an
individual. Tight hamstrings are often the primary cause of injury
regardi ng a l ack of flexibi lity. T his is especially tr ue with those w ho
run with a heel st rike, as t his str es ses the hamst rings eccentricall y.

Mileage and In tensity

Starting a trai nin g progr am wit h m ileage greate r tha n what a clien t
is ready for or increasing mileage too fast is a comm on caus e of
injury. Additionally, integr ating spe ed work into a training pr ogram
before a client is ready for it can al so caus e injur y. Lastly, doing
too man y day s of speed work or hi gh mileage d uring a week can
result in exces siv e stress on the m usculos keletal sy stem. Thi s
often re sults i n a runner bein g unable to recover suf ficiently and
places t he in divid ual at hi gher r isk for injury .

Metaboli c fitness precedes structural readiness ( 190). This

essenti ally means that one’s aerobic capacity/fit ness devel ops a t a
faster rat e tha n muscula r and con nective t issue str ength.
Therefore, runners tend to increase before their bodies can handle
it.
Like incr emen tal i ncrease s in di sta nce, int ensity mu st also
progres s at the c orrect rat e. Int ensity should be int roduced into a
training progr am at a rela tively l ow starting point .

Muscle Weakness

This go es ha nd i n hand with poor running mechanic s . Minor muscl e

weakne sses are normal, as har dly any synergisti c muscle groups
are equ al in s trength and flexi bility . Howev er, subst antial m uscle
weakne ss is not only inefficient but is als o pot enti ally injuri ous t o a
runner.

Runnin g injuri es can range in sev erity from a minor muscle strain
to a maj or issu e, like a fra cture. T he key t o run ning injury-fr ee is t o
respect t he im pa ct on the body and theref ore p erfor m due diligen ce
regardi ng the trai ning pr ocess. Fol lowing are ar eas to take note of
when pr escribing a runni ng program:

• Always warm u p properly .

• Be awar e of high - volume increases .
• If perfor ming s pe ed work, start wit h only o ne d ay p er week
and no more than two day s per week, m axi mum.
• Work to have your athlete improve their running gait .
• Do not s tart speed work until a solid base mileage has been
establis hed.
• If your a thlete ex perienc es mu scul ar or ske letal dis comfort on
a run that is not a normal bypr oduct of the inten sity of t he
workout, have the person stop. If the pai n continues, refer t he
individual to a specialist.
• Allow for eno ugh rest in th e trai nin g progr am.
• If your a thlete is i njured and has s ought a doct or’s advice,
ensure t he person follow s the advi ce, even if it s eem s that the
individual is “healed” sooner than the doct or thought.
• Cross-train
• Train your athlete in frontal and transverse planes, not just
the sagi ttal pl ane .
• Listen t o the body (e.g., if athle tes sense they are still very
sore from a pr evi ous wor kout, i t is advisable to r est or cross -
train ver sus ru n ‒ even if i t is n ot s chedul ed in t he p rogram).

Even if athlet es f ollow all the “r ules” of saf e running, there is no

guarant ee they w ill not get injur ed. Howev er, trai ning intelli gently
mitigate s th e ri sk of getti ng inj ured; at the end of the day, t his is
the best one can hope for.

Running-Related Injuries

If you s uspect an athlete has an injury, incl uding those not ed

below, y ou m ust advise t hem t o se ek a sp ecialist su ch as a docto r
or physi cal th erapist.

P a t e l l o f e m o r a l S y n dr o m e ( P F S )

Freque ntly ter med “Runner’s K nee,” this is a generi c term us ed to

describ e pain around and under the kneec ap. T here are many
theories conc erni ng what caus es P FS. The reality is that th e
definitiv e cau se i s largely unknow n. Below are som e of the
possibl e and hypothesiz ed causes :
 • Tight connective tissue as well as patellar malali gnment.
Patellar malali gn ment is often f ou nd in at hlete s wit h a larg e
Q-angle (89).
• Compressive and shearing forc es and hip rotati on asymmetry
have been s hown to potentially cause PFS (343).
• ‘Tight’ quadriceps and a lack of gluteal str ength.
• Muscle i mbalanc e between m edial and lat eral heads of the
quadric ep muscles.
• Degeneration of cartilage under the kneec ap

Another issue reg arding an acc urat e diagn osis f or P FS is that the
knee re gion i s a very bus y area. Often at hletes an d clinicians ali ke
will label any pai n in the knee regi on as P FS. B elow are three
things t hat m ay b e diagn osed as P FS but are un rela ted. As you c an
see, so me of t he se are also noted above as possibl e symptoms of
PFS.

1. Patella T endo nit is – Infl ammat ion of the patell ar tendon. T he

tendon originates at the bottom of the pat ella (k neecap) an d
attaches to th e top of the tibia.
2. Chondro malacia – Softening and degeneration of t he
cartilage under the knee
3. IT Band Syndr o me – N oted below

I l i o t i b i a l B a n d S y n d r o m e ( I T B a n d S y n dr o m e )
Before we go any further, l et’s defi ne the Il iotibi al B and (ITB ). The
IT band (or tract) is a thic k band of connective ti ssue (fascia ) that
originat es at t he t op of the pel vic c rest and inser ts on the lat eral
head (l ateral condyle) of t he ti bia, right below the k nee. It r uns
down th e lat eral side of t he thi gh. Concer ning r unni ng, the primar y
role of t he ITB is to stabili ze the k nee.

Friction Syndr o me?

Due to where the ITB inserts on the tibia, pain at the side of the
knee w hile running has tr aditionall y been t hou ght to be caused b y
the ITB r ubbi ng a gainst t he pr otrus ion on t he lat eral side of t he
femur w here it m eets the knee, es sentiall y a sheari ng -type
movement. Thi s b ony prot rusion is called t he lat eral femoral
epicon dyle. T his i s why IT BS is als o comm only te rm ed ‘IT Band
Friction Syndro me (ITBFS).’

The ITB FS theory largely assum es that there is a bursa sac

betwee n the ITB and the late r al femoral epicondyle. A bursa sac i s
a fluid-fill ed s ac t hat aims to reduc e friction betw een surfac es.
ITBFS is theref or e theori zed t o be the resu lt of i nfla mmation of th e
bursa s ac (bur siti s).

However , researc h by Fair clough et al. found no presence of a

bursa s ac bet wee n the IT B and lat eral fem oral epic ondyle. What
was fou nd was a layer of high i nnervated f at (i.e., lots of ner ves)
below t he ITB … more on this l ater .

Movem ent Of t h e IT Band

ITBFS is thou ght to be ca used by t he ITB passin g or rolling over

the later al fe mora l condyl e in a fro nt-to-back mot ion when t he kn ee
bends … ther efor e causi ng fricti on.

The sam e stu dy by Fairclough et al . also found t hat t he ITB is

firmly an chore d t o the femur a nd i s also p art of t he tensor f ascia
lata (TFL); thus, the theory that it ‘ passes over’ t he l ateral femoral
epicon dyle is inc orrect.

Compre ssion

In the F airclo ugh study, tw o run ner s that pr esent ed with ITB S
showed no c hanges in th e ITB bas ed on m agnetic r esonan ce sc ans
in relation to asymptomatic runners, but c han ges in the fatt y layer
under t he ITB were identi fied. I t w as also discov ered in the study
that the ITB c om pressed agai nst t he later al fem oral epicon dyle a t
30 degr ees of knee flexi on. Thi s w as largely due to internal
rotation of the tibia. Ther efore, IT B pain i s most li kely du e to
compre ssion of the fat layer b en eath the IT B ver sus frict ion
caused by th e IT B ‘rolling over ’ t he later al femor al
epicond yle. I n ot her wor ds, the IT B or bur sa sac (w hich is n ot
present) is not w hat is irrit ated; it’ s the fat layer underneat h it.

T raining Impli ca tions

The com mon advi ce and t reatm ent options for IT BS t ypically
revolve around st retching and foam rolling .

Let’s first addr es s stretchi ng. T he ITB is a very to ugh structu re. In
a 2010 study by Falvey e t al., a st rain gauge w as used to t est
various stretches on the ITB, and the result was that the ITB was
unaffect ed.

Therefore, stretching is highly unlikely to affect the ‘tightness’ of

the ITB.

Now let’s discuss foam rol ling. This is pretty simple . Stop doi ng
it! Anyo ne that has ever perfor med foam r olling on their ITB will
tell you t hat it is i nsanely painf ul. T he erroneou s and com monly
held belief is th at if it’s painful, it must be tight; therefore,
more fo am rol lin g is the answ er. However , let’s ref er back t o
what is likely t he cause of ITB pain – compr ession. Assuming this
is true, o r at least a very strong contributing factor, common sense
would d ictate that adding compress ion via f oam r olli ng will only
exacerb ate t he is sue. Therefor e, w hether t o prevent ITBS or
interven e onc e painful, f oam r olling directl y on t he I TB shou ld
likely be avoided.

So, wha t should one do if they have pain in the side of the knee?
As ITBS is larg el y an ov eruse i nju ry, the fir st logi ca l step w ould b e
to rest or , at t he very lea st, red uc e trainin g vol ume . Like m any
other p ain -rel ated issues , the l ocalized ar ea of I TB S pain i s likely
the resu lt of d ysf unction in on e or more ar eas. I n th e case of ITB S,
accordi ng to Fair clough et al., it is likely that hip dy sfunction may
be a le ading caus e. Therefor e, seeking a tr ained cli nician is the
correct c ourse of action.
Shin Splints

Shin spl int is als o a relat ively gen eric term used to describ e pain in
the regi on of the tibia. Sh in spli nts can be cate goriz ed into t hree
main ar eas: m usc ular, tibi al fasc ia, and sk eletal. If an
athlete experi enc es shin pain, i t is advised to have them seek ou t
medical advic e, as the ty pe of t reatment wil l likely d iffer bas ed o n
the “typ e” of s hin splint.

• Muscular: This i s often r eferred t o as exertion al

compart ment syn drome. In the c ase of s hin s plint s, the
tibialis a nterio r is the mus cle af fec ted. Duri ng ex erc ise,
increas ed blood f low increases the size of t he tibiali s anteri or.
However , like all muscles, the ti bialis anteri or is e nc ased in
fascia a nd ca n increase i n size onl y so muc h. Thi s i ncrease in
pressur e on t he f ascia is what c auses pai n. Indi viduals who
have tig ht fas cia surroun ding t he ti bialis a nterior are the on es
who most ofte n experience ex ertional com partm ent syndrom e
(385). Ty picall y o nce one stops ru nning, t he pain gr adually
subsides.

As the ti bialis ant erior dor siflex es t he foot/ ankle , wh en an

individual experiences exertional compartment syndrome, the ankle
likely has less ability to pl antar flex. This lack of pl antar fle xion
results i n dec r eased shock absorption. It c ould be presumed that
this decr ease in f oot pla ntar fl exio n would put m ore stress o n the
tibia, th ereby i ncr easing t he c hanc e of inju ry to t he tibia.

• Skeletal: This rel ates to i njury or s tress to t he bone (tibia).

This is commo nly referred to as m edial tibi al str ess
syndro me (MT S S). How ever, t his term is a lso used to denote
connect ive tis sue/fascia r elated to shin pai n. Thi s ty pically
present s with pai n on th e insi de of the tibi a.

If the p ain is on t he front of th e tib ia (tibial spine), t he indiv idual

should seek a ph ysician, as this ty pe of inj ury is typically classifie d
as more serious ( 420). C ontinuing to run wi th a s hin splint c an lea d
to a stre ss frac tu re (small crack i n a bone).

• T ibial Fascia (T ibial Fas ciitis): I nflammatio n of the deep

fascia s urroun din g the tib ia ca n re sult in s hin pa in ( 442). Th is
is often confused with bone pain.
Hamstring Injuries

Hamstring injurie s are oft en caused by hy perextension of the knee.

The ha mstrings a ct to ecc entric ally deceler ate t he lower leg prior
to the s uppor t ph ase of t he gait an d to ext end t he hi p durin g the
drive ph ase.

Runner s who heel strike a nd ov ers tride ver sus mi df oot strik e are at
a highe r risk o f having h amstri ng i ssues. T his is because w ith a
heel stri ke, th e ru nner’s st ride i s ty pically longer; therefore, the
lower leg moves through a larger range of motion than a midfoot
strike. This larg e range of moti on requires a substa ntial eccentric
contraction on the part of the ham strings to deceler ate the lower
leg.

As the hamstri ng s contract ecc ent rically during t he swing phase of

the run ning gait, i f the pel vis is t ilt ed anteriorly when runni ng, it
will put more tension on the hamstrings. Therefore, r unning wi th a
substant ial an terior pelvic tilt wi ll likely incre ase the chance of
hamstri ng inju ry because of th e i ncreased ten sio n on the
hamstri ngs du ri ng the swing p h ase of th e gait cycle.

Runnin g too fast or with t oo much force puts substantial concentri c

strain on the ham strings and can r esult in injury ( hamstring s train).

Ankle Injuries

Runner s who “twi st” their ankle ar e often susceptibl e to twist ing it
again. A twist ed ankle is also c all ed a roll ed or spr ained
ankle. T his inv olv es sprai ning one or more of the ligaments i n the
ankle. R esear ch done by Geh ring et al. de mons trat ed that the
cause o f later al (i nversion) ankl e s prains is not j ust isolated to th e
ankle (3 10). C om promised mov em ent patt erns of the pelvis and
femur a nd neuromuscular reflexes contribute to lateral ankl e
sprains ( 310).

Achilles tendi nosi s refers t o da mag e to the Achill es

Popliteus Injury

The popl iteus m uscle is a smal l and relati vely over looked muscl e
behind the k nee t hat prof oundl y aff ects running.

The po pliteus has three primary r oles:

 • To “unlock” the knee (flex) from a straightened position
• Prevent knee hyperextension
• Laterall y rotat e t he femur when the foot is plant ed

Injury to the p opli teus ca n occ ur d ue to ov erpro nati on of the

foot/ank le co mple x and k nee hyper extensi on. W hen the popliteus is
injured, it shortens, so full knee extension is often not pos si ble or
only wit h pain .

Plantar Fasciitis

Plantar f ascia is a thick b and of fa scia that begi ns a t the ba ck of

the hee l and extends under th e foot to the heads of the
metatars als.

Pain as sociat ed with plantar fascii tis is mos t com m only found at
the beg inni ng of t he arch of the foo t, closest to the heel. When
running , pain most comm only o cc urs when the foot pushes off th e
ground. T ight cal f muscl es oft en contribut e to pl antar
fasciitis. Additionally, w eak int rinsic foot muscl es may incr ease
the loa d on t he pl antar fa scia ( 600) .

Side Stitch

While n ot an i njur y, a side stitch can be quite painful and res ult in
the cess ation of exercise . Also kn own as exer cise - related
transien t abdo m inal pain (ET AP) (437), E TAP i s most commonl y
associat ed wit h r unning (43 7).

ETAP is chara cte rized by cramp in g, or sh arp p ain t oward t he

bottom of the rib cage and most commonly occurs on the right sid e
of the b ody.
While th ere ar e many theories as to why ETAP occ urs, no one
cause h as been i dentified (43 7). S ome of t hese theori es ar e a lac k
of electr olytes (4 38), stret chin g of ligame nts ass oci ated wit h the
diaphra gm (437), and shallow breathing (438). A not her study not ed
that indi vidua ls w ho dem onstra ted back ky phosis (e xcessive
flexion) when run ning we re mor e a pt to ex perie nce ETAP versus
those wi thout kyp hosis (4 39). T he most co mmon tr eatment s are
stopping the exercise, s tretch ing , and deep breat hing.

Preventi ng si de s titches o ften i nvo lves stre ngthe nin g the in ner-
core mu sculat ure, slowly easing into increasing r unning mil eage
and int ensity, inc reasing one’s fitness level, and get ting a pr oper
warm-up.

It shoul d be note d that s ome i ndivi duals e xperie nce pain in t he

should er (mos t of ten the right s houlder) when running, which is
thought to be ref erred pain from t he diaphragm via the phr enic
nerve (4 37).

Metatarsalgia (Hot Spots)

A relativ ely co m mon iss ue for run ners is ‘ hot fe et’ or ‘hot s pots’ on
their fee t – al so r eferred t o as Met atarsal gia . M etat arsalgia is a
generic term t hat refers to pain and inflamm ation on the ball of t h e
foot. De spite t he prevale nce of thi s issue, t here is no sing ular ‘fi x’
as the c ause is li kely multifactor ial . The p ain fro m m etatarsa lgia
can ran ge from sl ightly annoyi ng to unbear ably painf ul.

Two issues may i nduce metatarsalgia:

Morton’s Neuro ma

Commo nly ass oci ated wit h pai n in the middle of the ball of t he fo ot,
Morton’s neur om a is caused by the thickening of th e tissue arou nd
a nerve in the bal l of the f oot (652) . The p ain is often in the form of
a burni ng sensati on.

Morton’s neur om a has been assoc iated with wearing high- heeled
shoes. As a r esul t, wearing a s hoe with a l ower h eel and wearing a
shoe with a wider toe box may hel p (652).

Sesam oiditis

Under t he big -toe joint exi sts tw o pea -sized bones ( sesamoi ds).
The ses amoids ar e embedded in a tendon to as sist with the
mechan ical ef fici ency of the fo ot when running or walking ( 653).

The pai n ass ociat ed with sesam oiditis is due to irri ta tion of t he
tendon in whi ch t he sesamoid bones are embedded . Rest and
placing a pad on the fore /midfo ot with a c utout f or t he big -t oe joi nt
(termed danc er’s pad) can assi st in taking pressure off the
sesamoi ds and thus enh ancing rec overy (653).

A b u n i o n ( H a l l u x V al g u s )
A bunio n is a n abnormal bone growth that caus es t he big t oe to
slant inward towa rd the other toes. This slant of t he toe causes th e
outside of th e big toe join t (first m etatarso phal angeal joint) t o jut
outward (medi ally ). A buni on c auses pain and, i n sev ere cas es,
requires surgery (651).

Some e vidence s hows that wearing tight s hoes (in t he toe box
area) m ay contribute to bunions. A s a resul t, it is ad vised to run in
shoes t hat have ample r oom in th e toe box (651).

Blisters

Blisters are a co mmon ru nnin g inj ury. A bli ster is c haracter ized by
a bubbl e of s kin with flui d on t he i nside. T here are two com mon
causes of blis ters :

1. Friction between the skin and sock or the skin and the shoe
2. Wet feet due t o w ater or e xcessi ve sweating

Blisters may or m ay not b e pai nful. If your athlet e is running in a

race an d is ex per iencing a pai nful blister, have t he pers on seek out
attentio n at a me dical te nt.

Ways to prevent blisters ( 292):

• Make sure fe et ar e dry

• Wear socks that wick sweat
• Do not s have off calluses, as these act to protect the feet
• Run onl y in pr ope rly fitted shoes
• Do not l ace up shoes too tight
• Use a s m all amount of s kin lubric ant suc h
as Vaseline ® or B ody Glide ® in ar eas that are pr one to
blistering

Response To Injury

Runner s respond to injury in vari ous ways. Runners likely tak e

stock of how seri ous they feel an injury is and, bas ed on that,
determi ne the course of action. Additionall y, if a n injury or pain
does n ot impr ove, runner s will li kely seek external h elp, suc h as a
physical thera pist or doct or.
The infographic below is from U SA Running’s 2017 National
Runner Survey regarding how peop le addr ess inj ury.

Running Injury Summary

While m ore res earch needs to be done on the c auses and

preventi on of run ning inj uries, i t is important to be aware of f actor s
that may contr ibu te to th em. It i s i mportan t to k eep in mind t hat
athletes must be ass essed on an i ndividual bas is. F or exam ple,
your athlete may present with m any of the proposed running injur y
risk facto rs but never get injur ed, wherea s anot her athlete may
seemin gly be per fect reg arding mechanics and has no signi ficant
risk for running in jury – but experiences a high i njury rate.

While m any st udi es contr adict eac h other r egar ding potenti al
causes for inj ury, most studies agr ee on two sig nific ant
contributing factors for running inj ury: high mile age and increasi ng
mileage too f ast.

Illness
Dealing with ill ness is unf ortun atel y part of the tr aining proc ess.
This section will f ocus on guidelines and commo n environmental
factors t hat ca n c ause ill ness.
Terminology

Hyponat remia: E lectrolyt e imbalance (i.e., sodium) where s odium

levels are low er t han nor mal. T his can be a res ult of overhy dratio n.

Dehydr ation: Oc curs when the bo dy takes in less fl uid than it

uses.

Hypothermia: Oc curs when the bo dy’s cor e temper ature dr ops

below w hat is ne cessary f or body function and met abolism to tak e
place at a normal rate.

Heat Illnesses: A range of heat -r elated il lness es t hat can range

from fairl y beni gn (e.g., cr amps) to heat str oke, whic h can b e fata l.

Colds And Flu

This is a comm on ailment for many distance runners. Endurance

exercise has been show n t o decrease one’s imm une system .
Therefore, unless athletes get enough rest /recovery , eat healthy
foods, a nd ta ke c are of t heir b odie s, they are lik ely at a gre ater
risk of g etting sic k than t hose who do not t rain f or endurance
sports (295).
When a n indi vid ual gets s ick from a cold or flu, t he body u nderg oes
a physi ologic al response to pr otect and help it h eal. Unfortunately,
the mec hanis ms t hat hel p to heal t he body also dec rease its abilit y
to perfor m at pea k levels. Belo w ar e sever al phy siol ogical
respons es that occur with illnes s ( 296):

1. The body breaks down m uscle ( cat abolism)

• Studies done on i ndividu als wit h fe vers sho wed
microscopic d am age to muscles.
• Muscle s trengt h decreas es, and it can tak e up t o t wo
weeks t o regain s trength ( from a three-day illnes s
associat ed wit h a fever).
2. Fat metabolism is decreased
• Body is primarily utilizin g muscle protein for fue l,
not fat.
3. Aerobic meta boli sm is dim inish ed
• VO 2 max and l act ate threshold will decrease.

Exercise shou ld not be done when fighting off a col d or som ethin g
more ser ious li ke the flu. The f ocus must be on r est and rec overy .
Even if an at hlete were to exerci se when si ck, th ere would b e little
to no im prove me nt in fitn ess, a nd likely th e opposit e would occur .

Rest is often hard for at hletes to adhere to as they view los t

training days as exactly t hat ‒ los t. It is yo ur res po nsibility t o
inform them that they will not see any physi ological gains when
training while sic k and th at by doi ng so, t hey wi ll o nly exte nd th eir
time bei ng “o ut of commiss ion.”

Guidelines
• If an at hlete i s sy mptomat ic (e. g., r unny n ose, e levat ed
temperature, congestion, body ache, chills, etc.), t hey shou ld
not exer cise.
• If an at hlete t hink s they mi ght h ave a simpl e cold but is
asymptomatic, it i s best t o either not exerc i se or ex ercise at
an extremely l ow level for a short duration.
 • If a head col d ha s “move d” into th e chest, it is im p erative not
to exerci se.
• Rest and recover y are the best bet until the athl ete feels
better and shows no sign s of ill nes s.

Summary
Injury

• In emer gency sit uations, emer gency personnel mus t be call ed

(911).
• As a cert ified UE SCA co ach, w e r ecomme nd th at y ou be
CPR/AE D certif ied if worki ng wit h athletes in -person.
• To mitigate the chance for injury, be attentive to the following
areas:
• Volume increases
• Intensity -level inc reases
• Monitori ng fati gu e level
• Integrati ng cr oss- training
• When w orking wit h athlet es wit h an injury, it is best t o adopt a
team approac h wi th other professionals and clini cians
• Running has a hi gh injur y rate, pri marily bec aus e of the
impact nature of the activi ty.
• There is no definitive cause of side stitches.
• There are many potential origins of shin splints. If y our
athlete has d evel oped a shin splint , aside fr om n ot r unning,
the pers on s houl d seek out a spor ts physic ian or physical
therapis t.
• If your a thlete suf fers a sp orts-r elated injur y, the individual
should seek out a speciali st suc h as a phys ical t herapist or a
sports m edicine physician.
• As a coach, w hen dealing with i njury, you m ust al ways work
within your scope of know ledg e and practic e.
• You cannot diagnose an athlet e’s i njury.
• ITBS is li kely t he result of comp res sion ver sus fric ti on

Illness

• If your a thlete ha s a cold and i s sy mptomat ic, th e p erson

should not exerci se.
• When si ck, the body bec omes cat abolic and fat metabolism
decreas es.
• As a coach, w hen dealing with i llness, you must alw ays work
within your scope of know ledge and practice.
Module 9: Resistance Training

For many end urance athl etes, strength trai ning i s not done at all or
only dur ing th e of f-season. Strengt h training is hi ghl y benefi cial
from a p erform an ce stan dpoin t, an d those who do n ot active ly
incorporate it i nto their trai ning program are at a significant
disadva ntage compared to those who do. Runn ers who per form
strength traini n g onl y in the off - season will lo se the ben efits
gained as the season pro gresses. In this case, the saying use it
or lose it is ver y applicable. P eopl e would not expect that if they
did card iovas cular training for only four months, t he results w ould
last for t he ot her eight m onths of t he year. Despite this, many
endura nce at hlet es take this appr oach to strength t raining.

Strengt h traini ng can be i nterpr eted in many diff erent ways. For
exampl e, in theor y, going for a run constitutes str ength training, as
there is t ension o n the m uscles . Ot hers consider str ength tr ainin g a
workout only if they lift weights in a gym. F or this certificati on,
resista nce tr aini ng relat es to exercises that may or may not
utilize weights o r strength -train i ng equip ment. M oreover,
resistan c e trai ning equat es to any type of r esista nc e on muscles
for perfo rmanc e enhancemen t via strength and/ or p ower ga ins.

The terms resist ance tr aining and streng th trai ni ng are

conside red sy non ymous and thus a re used interc hangeably.

This mo dule f ocuses prim ar ily on r esistanc e trai ning theory, while
the follo wing f ocu ses on r esista nce training exerc ise s.

Why Resistance Training?

Just as it is im portant to understa nd why runners r esistance train,
it is equally important to understand why many runners do not do
it. In this secti on, both of thes e are as will b e disc uss ed.

Our Standpoint on Resistance Training

• Resistance traini ng is a c ritical as pect of a run ning program ,
specific ally re gar ding improving running economy.
• The maj ority of endurance athletes have pronounce d muscl e
imbalances, w eak core (inner unit), and upper -body
musculature. Therefore, r esista nce training is import ant for all
runners.
• Resistance traini ng is jus t as i mportant as cardi ovascular
training.
• Resistance traini ng can help t o m aintain l ea n musc le mass.

Improve Running Economy

A 2008 study of distance r unners by Storen et al. found that hea vy

weight tr aining over eight weeks im proved t he economy and time to
exhaust ion o f the runners (no c hange in V O2 max or body w eight)
(654). T his study correlat es with th e results of a study by
Paavol ainen et al . (282) t hat found explosi ve st ren gth traini ng
improved 5K run ning tim es by im proving runnin g econom y.

A study by Mik kol a et al. prescri be d three grou ps of recreati onal

runners varied str engt h-tr aining pr ograms, all while concurr ently
running (treadmill -based). The t hree strength -trai ning groups wer e:

1. Heavy r esistance
2. Explosiv e resi sta nce
3. Light to medi um r esistanc e

All of the runner s improved their running performance .

However , only th e heavy and expl osive resistance -t raining group s
improve d their neuromusc ular fit ness levels (655) .

Do It Right or Not At All

While correct f or m is important du ring all aspect s of training, it is

absolut ely criti cal for resist ance tr aining.

As a co ach, y ou must kn ow what c onstitut es corr ect and inc orrect

form an d acc ept nothing less t han proper f orm. I nc orrect for m
greatly i ncreases the chance of inj ury. Corr ect ver s us incorr ect
form is of ten m ea sured in millim ete rs or de grees. Fo r exampl e,
picking up a weig ht with a flat l um bar spine and sta ble core
muscula ture is a safe movement. Add a f ew degrees of flexi on of
the lum bar spi ne, and it c an become extremely dangerous because
of shear ing f orce s on the verte bra e. For ex ercis es i nvolvin g
multiple j oints and/or planes of movement, ensuring correct f orm
become s signific antly more diffi cult than si ngle -j oint movem ents.

If you n otice y our athlete usin g inc orrect for m, sto p them
immediately and correct it. T here i s no su ch thin g as “slig htly
incorre ct form .” It is eith er corr ec t or incor rect. All owing y our
athletes to pr oce ed with bad f orm not only risks i nju ry and
diminish es the ex ercise’s effecti veness, but it tel ls t hem that the
incorrect form is correct since they were not told otherwise. Do not
allow a nd rei nfor ce incor r ect m ov ement patter ns.

Time Constraints

Many ru nners do not strength tr ain becaus e of a lac k of time. Whil e

training for dis tan ce runni ng ca n b e time-c onsum ing, most runners
look at s trength training i ncorrectly from a time per spective. First,
strength traini ng should not be viewed as an if I hav e a little extra
time, I’ll do it s ort of thing . Sec ond, strengt h training can be don e
anywhe re at any time. A r unner d oes not need a g ym to do
strength traini n g. For ex ampl e, athletes c ould do a wall sit
exercise while waiting for t heir eggs to cook.

Strengt h traini ng can be done throughout the day; t herefor e, it is

unnece ssary t o lump it int o one set time frame. The key to an
effective prog ram is bein g flexi ble and apprecia ting the “wh ole
picture” when designing a program. If this mean s spreadi ng ten
strength-traini ng exercises throug hout the day, so be it − as lon g
as it do es not negatively affect ot her asp ects o f th e trainin g
program . Inte grat ing strength tr aini ng into a running program is
discuss ed lat er in this sect ion under Concur rent Tr aining .

Movement Planes

Body m ovements of runn ers pri mar ily occur in the s agittal plane
(A) and trans ver se plane – hi ps, t orso (B). If runne rs have not
trained f or mo ve ments o utside th e sagitt al pla ne, when th ey ar e
forced t o mov e in other pl anes , the strain on the muscles,
ligamen ts, and tendons often r esul ts in sor eness at best and injur y
at worst.

While th e bod y does not move much in the front al plane (C) while
running , ther e is a need to str ess t he musc les in thi s plane as
many st abilizer m uscles are strengthened this w ay. These
stabilizer musc le s help to support the primary mo ve r muscle s
during s agittal pl ane movements. Therefor e, whi le f rontal pl ane
movements m ay not mimi c sport -s pecific m ovem ent s, strengtheni ng
stabilizer musc les will hel p enhance over all run ning perfor manc e.

When run ning, t he body expend s energ y to m ove forwar d, sta y

upright and bala nced, and absor b ground reactio n
forces. Regar din g the percent of one’s body wei ght, 250 percent is
absorb ed vert ical ly upon each foot strike, 50 per cent is used to
stabilize in the sagittal plane (resis t falling forwar d/backward), and
approxi mately 20 percent is us ed t o stabili ze in t he frontal plane
(resist fal ling over sideways) (669) . This requires runners to
control their b odi es in multiple planes of m ovem ent.

Cardiovascular Fitness Precedes Musculoskeletal Readiness

This concept is m entioned in other sections of this c ertification and

means t hat one’s cardiovascu lar system adapt s t o trainin g
faster th an the musculo skel etal system . This is l ikely a big
reason f or the high injury r ate among runn ers. F or example, just
becaus e som eone has the car diov ascular f itness to run 20 miles
does n ot nec essarily mea n the per son’s m uscles, bones, a nd
connect ive tis sue are re ady for thi s sustai ned im pact.

By perfo rming sp ecific res istanc e- training exerci ses , a runn er ca n

speed up the mus culoskel etal adaptation to reduce t he cha nce of
injury. While it is unlikely that even with strength training, a r unner
can ad apt at the same speed i n both cardi ovasc ular and
musculo skelet al areas, it will lik el y reduc e the adaptation gap
betwee n the two.

Myths Surrounding Resistance Training

For this certification, it would be advantageous not to think of

Arnold Schwarzenegger in the movie Pum ping Ir on when
conside ring r esist ance training. While putti ng on muscle might be
the goa l for s ome runners , bec omi ng a competiti ve bodybuilder or
powerlift er is c ert ainly no t the goal . The purpos e of resistance
training is to g o f aster an d get stronger, not nec ess arily bigger, or
at least not s ubst antially so.

One per vasiv e theme wit hin the enduranc e sport s c ommunit y is
that resi stanc e tr aining will ad d m uscle b ulk an d th erefore shoul d
be avoi ded at all costs. T his comm on misc oncep tion is often
rationali zed b y us ing two erron eous validat ions:

1. Muscle bulk w ill slow m e dow n

2. Power-to -weig ht ratio wil l dec rease
The foc us is ofte n so high on the cardiov ascular facet that all ot her
aspects of fitn ess go out the wi ndow. The q uesti on t o these
runners is t hat w hile they may be aerobic monst ers , how m uch
faster co uld t hey be if the y ha d a s tronger core o r fe wer mus cle
imbalan ces? By not doing strength training, any gains in
cardiov ascular fit ness ar e marginalized becaus e the athlete is
missing out on a major fit ness c om ponent.

Regardi ng mi sconception #1 ( strength trai ning will add muscle

bulk), a 2015 stu dy by B eattie et al. found that over 40 weeks,
distanc e runn ers who par ticipat ed in a st rength - t raining
program could i mprove their l eg strength while not ad din g any
“unwant ed” m uscle mass. It i s pr oposed that t his adaptat ion is
primarily due t o i mproved neur om uscular f uncti on ( 692).

Becaus e strength training is eit her negate d complet ely or

perform ed in minute quantities by most runners, it will become th e
secret w eapo n to your at hlete’s success. R esistanc e training with
the right selec tio n of exe rcises an d prope r form an d progr ession
can sig nificantly i mprove a runner’ s perfor mance.

Anyone who has t ried to put on a l ot of muscle w hil e maint aining

an inte nse c a rdiovascular enduran ce -based pro gram will tell you it
is next t o impossible. The myth is that if resistance training i s
perform ed, all of a sudden you will look lik e a bodybuilder. T his
could n ot be furth er from t he trut h. To put on substantial muscle
size (hy pertro phy ), you w ould have to eat a cons ider able sum of
calories each day and do specific weight -tr aining exercises in set
cycles that would not resemble an endurance -based strengt h -
training progr am. Additio nally, you would have t o do a minim al
amount of car diovascular exerc ise, as this i nhibi ts muscle
hypertrophy t hrough the burning of calories that c oul d be going t o
building musc le. As you c an s ee, t his is ha rdly a ru nner’s p rogra m.

The po wer-to- wei ght argument is s ynonym ous wi th putting on

muscle bul k. B y performing stre ngth training specific to
enduran ce sp ort s trainin g, one’s power -to -weig h t ratio wi ll
increas e. Again, the ass umption b y those who f eel strength
training will d ecr ease th eir po wer- to-weight ratio is they will put o n
substan tial amounts of m uscle.

Genetic s do c om e into pl ay to some degr ee w hen discussi ng

muscle hypertr ophy. For example, if an athlete has a large
proporti on of fast -twitch m uscle f ib ers, the perso n w ill likely
increas e musc le mass to a greater extent t han s om eone wi th
predomi nantl y slow -twitch f ibers. H owever, assu min g the in dividu al
is eating a normal amount of calories, stren gth training for
muscula r endurance, and perf ormi ng a substantial amount of
cardiov ascular ex ercise, t he act ual hypertr ophy would be mi nimal.

In the b elow video, Nell R ojas expl ains sev eral r eas ons why
strength traini ng is import ant for ru nners.

[There is a Vi deo here. Vi deos can not be v iewe d fro m this P DF. To
View Vi deo C ontent, please ref er t o the online Cour se]

Physiology of Resistance Training

There are two pri mary areas that this certification discusses
regardi ng resi stance trai ning physi ology:

• Overload Prin ci ple

• Neuroen docri ne Respon se
Overload Principle

Benefits reap ed f rom stre ngth tr ai ning ar e the r esul t of

the ove rload pri nciple . T he ov erl oad pri nciple stat es that great er -
than-no rmal st res s on the body must be pr esent for a training
adaptat ion (108). The ov erload pri nciple w as devel oped by Thomas
Delorme, M.D., w ho used heavy -resistance traini ng exercises on
soldiers who had just retur ned f rom WWII. Rapid rehabilitat ion of
soldiers was nec essary as there w as a shortage of hospital beds
then. In 195 1, Dr. Delorm e and Art hur Watk ins p ubli shed th eir
findings in a book called Progressi ve Resis tance Ex ercises ( 113).

While th e over load princi ple ori ginated from a resist ance -training
perspec tive, all t raining adaptati ons are based o n this
principle. Regar ding str ength trai ning, the overload princi ple ca n
relate to differ ent physiol ogical adaptations, such as muscul ar
endura nce or power.

Neuroendocrine Response

An area rarely di scussed regar ding strength trai ning is the

neuroe ndocri ne r espons e. This response refers to t he inter action s
betwee n the nerv ous an d endocrine system s that oc cur when
performi ng specif ic strength -trai ning movements. The gr eat est
neuroe ndocri ne r espons e occ urs when performi ng exercises that
recruit large m us cle mass es and are done at a r elat ively high
volume with m od erate to high resi stance ( 109, 189) . T his
response increases tes toster one and hor mones ( i.e., gro wth
hormone) that st imulate musc le growth/st rengt h.

Testosterone is a hormone within the body responsible for muscle

growth ( 20). T est osteron e is a ster oid hor mone f rom the androge n
group r esponsibl e for protein s ynt hesis (12). Therefore,
testoster one i s re sponsib le for an i ncrease in muscl e size/str engt h,
hair gro wth, and bone d ensity . In males, t estost erone is secreted
by the t estes, and it is secrete d by the ov aries i n f emales.
Additio nally, t he adrenal glands release a very s mal l amount of
testoster one. Adu lt males produce approxi mately seven to eight
times mo re tes to sterone than fem ales (13 ).

While th e strengt h progr am of a runner wo n’t contai n high

neuroe ndocri ne r espons e exer cises exclusi vely, it i s crucial to
include them in a program. Exercis es with a high degre e of
neuroe ndocri ne r espons e incorpor ate multi ple large -muscle group s
such as the squat, deadlift, and other Olymp ic -styl e l ift exerci ses
(20).

T he neuroendo crine response al so influences th e order i n

which e xerci ses should b e com pl eted. Ex ercises t hat hav e a
high ne uroendocr ine response incr ease, fo r a short time, the
amount of tes tost erone ci rculati ng in the bl ood. Ther efore,
exercises that do not elici t a hi gh neuroendocri ne r espons e (e.g .,
should er rais e) s hould ty picall y be done after exerci ses with a
large response. These smaller muscles (low neuroendocrine
respons e) will be able to r eap som e of the benefits of the r espon se
becaus e of t he increase i n test ost erone i n the bloodstream.

Muscle Hierarchy

Muscles are of ten categorized as primary and s econdary m overs:

• Primar y Mover: i s a musc le or muscle group that is primarily

respons ible f or pr oducing a movem ent
• Second ary M over: (also t ermed “s tabilizer”) is a muscle or
muscle group that contributes i ndir ectly or s econdar ily to
produc e mov ement. A se condary mover s upport s/assists th e
primary mover. F or exam ple, during a pus h -up, the pectoral is
major is t he pri m ary mov er, and the triceps are t he second ary
movers

Resistance Training Protocol

Resista nce traini ng is int egrat ed i nto a tr aining program fo r many

different reas ons. Some o f thes e include:

1. Corrective: T arget specif ic muscl e(s) to c orrect postural

issues and muscle imbalances
2. Sport Re plicat io n: Exerci ses that mimic running movements
3. Increase Po wer: Exercise s are typ ically call ed pl yometric
exercises, meani ng expl osive -t ype movem ents
 4. Increase Str engt h: While all ex erc ises incr ease muscle
strength, not all s trength exerci ses fall into the just - noted
categories. For example, you migh t prescri be a w all sit to a n
athlete t o incr eas e qu adr iceps strength bu t not necessarily to
correct a muscl e imbalance, replic ate a sport m ovement, or
increas e pow er.

Most resi stanc e -t raining progr ams for sport s and general fit ness
typically assig n a range of 10 t o 1 5 repetit ions with a two- or thre e -
set range. Why?

Strength-Endurance Continuum

The strength- endurance continuum is the genesi s of the 10 - to 15 -

rep, two- to thr ee -set exercise pre scription . This continuum state s
that str ength an d endurance are inversely related (179).
Regardi ng resistance trai n ing, s trength inc reases ar e associ ated
with high loads and low repetitions, whereas endurance increases
are ass ociated wi th low loads and high repetitions. A repetit ion
range o f 10−15 r epetitions seeks t o capitalize on th e benef its of
both str ength and end urance, as th e repetit ion range falls
somewh ere on the spectr um between what is typical ly consi dered
primarily strength and pri marily enduranc e.

In a 20 02 study by Campos et al. ( 180), 32 untr ained men

particip ated i n an eight -w eek resist ance training stud y to es tablis h
the vali dity of the strengt h-endurance continuum. T he subj ects
were divided into four groups: High Repetiti ons (20 - 28 reps) ,
Interme diate Repetitions ( 9 -11 r eps), Low Repeti tions (3 -5 r eps),
and the contr ol gr oup (no exerc ise) .

Subject s were as sessed pre/post i n the ar eas of str ength ( 1 -RM),

muscle endur anc e (max r eps perfo rmed at 60% of 1 -RM), and
cardiov ascular (V O2 max, time t o exhaust ion, pulm onary
ventilation, maxi mum aer obic pow er).

Not surprisingly, the low -r ep gr oup saw the most signi ficant
strength gains, and the high-r ep group realized the highest gains in
muscle endur anc e and si gnific ant gains in max aer obic power and
time to e xhau stio n. Inter estingl y, t he low- and i nter mediate -rep
groups did n ot realize an y gai n in the latter two a reas.
Based on thi s inf ormation, repetiti on range is not s omething tha t
should be as sign ed randomly or doled out the sam e to all
athletes . T he rep etition range assigned t o an exercise m ust b e
purpose- driven and with a speci fic goal i n min d.

Low to medium r epetition s (three t o 11 - rep range) are advi sed if

you are looki ng for large strength gains. A higher -r epetition range
(20‒ 28 reps) is li kely the correc t r oute for musc ular endurance.

Given th e rep ran ges assi gned to t he differ ent g rou ps in th e stud y,
it could be theorized that the 10- t o 15-rep rang e so comm only
assigne d to at hl etes fall s in b et ween tru e str en gth and
enduran ce benef its, and t hus th e benefits are mi nimized
becaus e of a lack of specificit y. Further research is needed to
determi ne if t his hypothesis is corr ect.

However , for athl etes new to st rength training, t he r epetition ran ge

should be mi dran ge with a relat ively low w eight. Specificity of
repetition range s hould c ome i nto play onl y onc e th e muscl e and
connect ive tis sue adapt t o t he strength trai ning.

• Repetition (Rep) : One ful l exer cis e movement. Perf orming

one repetition at maximum intensit y is referr ed to a s one
repetition max im um , or 1- RM.
• Set: A gr oup of predefined repetiti ons.
Alternate Resistance Training Duration Prescription
Rate of Perceived Exertion

Another way t o guide your athl ete regardi ng int ensit y level is
the rate of perce ived exertion (R PE) scale . V ery easy int ensity
would r ank a “ 1,” and extr emely dif ficult (al most t o muscular
failure) would ran k a “10.” For example, an RPE of “8” woul d
represe nt a di ffic ult effort but not t o the point of muscular failure.
The RP E scal e is very us eful in determining rep r an ges, so l ong as
you kno w that your athlet e’s int erpretation of their i ntensity level
regardi ng the RP E sc ale i s the same as y ours.
For exa mple, i f y ou tell y our at hlet e to exercise at a level 1 0, but
becaus e the indiv idual d oes not have a high tol erance for int ense
training (i.e., pai n tolera nce), t hey stop th e exer cis e at wh at
appear s to be a l evel 5 or 6, y ou would be bet ter off using a set r ep
range.

Time

Using ti me ver sus repetiti ons t o pr escribe streng th -t raining set

duratio ns is usef ul for any exercis e, but especi ally for exerc ises
that tak e a rel ativ ely long time, wh ere cou nting r eps would becom e
monoto nous. Usi ng time i s also helpful for i somet ric exercis es suc h
as a wal l sit w her e there are n o re petition s.

Areas Of Focus

While m ost all ar eas of t he body c ould benefit f rom strength

training regar ding runnin g perf orm ance, s everal are as shou ld be
focused on:

Calves

As note d in t he R unning Mechanic s modul e, the stif fness of the c alf

muscles (espe cially the g astroc nemius) and Achilles tendo n
increas es the per formanc e of t he ankle spri ng m echanism that
assists w ith pr opulsion. T heref ore, exercis es tha t focus on
strengthening this area will hel p i mprove an individ ual’s running
econom y. Ass umi ng ther e are no c ontraindications, ballistic
exercises suc h as plyom etrics w ould be benefi cial. The sol eus
muscle i s the onl y leg muscle t hat is active throughout a ll phase s
of the g ait cyc le, includin g the stan ce phas e. Th eref ore,
strengthening the soleus is of criti cal importance.

Feet

Like the ankl e, th e arch o f the f oot also act s as a sp ring

mechan ism to as sist in the propul sion of a runner. The arc h of th e
foot com press es upon foot landing and then act s as a spring to
reform the arc h. While o ne can do exercis es to f ocus on the arch of
the foot, walki ng around baref oot ( indoors) is a g rea t way to help
strengthen it. Additionally, perfor ming unilater al barefoot
plyometr ics can greatly str engt hen the foot arch.
Core (LPHC)

The inn er cor e (LPHC) pr ovides st ability to a runner . Perform ing

exercises suc h as planks , front shoulder li fts, an d s ingle -ar m cabl e
rows functionally train the inner core musc ulatur e.

Gluteals

The glut eals, specifically t he gl uteus maxi mus and medius, are
importa nt for r un ners. The glut eus maximus is a v er y large and
powerfu l musc le t hat generates a l ot of for ce and therefore i s
largely responsible for th e forward propulsion of a runner,
assumin g corr ect form is used. The gluteus medius acts to preve nt
knee va lgus (i nw ard mov ement of the knee) and stabilizes t he
pelvis w hen st anding on one l eg during th e gait cyc le.

Plyometrics

The mos t com mon type of pow er tr aining i s called p lyometri cs a nd

refers to expl osiv e -type m ovem ent s. Almost any movement can b e
turned i nto a plyo metric ex ercise . For exa mple, doi ng pus h-ups
where t he individual pus hes off as hard as possi ble so that the
hands l eave the ground woul d be considered a plyometric ex ercise .
While th ese ty pe s of mov ements are fairly basic l ooking, from a
physiol ogical poi nt of view, they are quite compl ex and therefor e
are con sidered advanced exer cises.
The cha racteri sti cs of a plyom etric movem ent ar e a fast stret ching
phase ( often term ed the l oading phase ) of a mus cle followed by a
rapid co ntracti on of the s ame m usc le (110). T here is a direct
relation ship b et ween th e speed/ distanc e of th e l oading p hase
and the r esulti n g muscu lar cont raction. An ex am ple of this
would b e jum ping off a box an d the n j umpi ng ba ck u p onto anoth er
box. La nding after jumping off t he box is the loading phase and
jumping back up onto the next box is the e xplosi ve phase.

The primary purpose of performing plyometric mo ve ments is to

train the bod y to recruit a s man y muscle fi bers s im ultaneously
within the muscles doing the work. T he recruitm ent of a lar ge
number of mu scl e fibers simul taneously increases force
production over a short period c ompared with st andard
strength traini n g. The goal of conventional str ength traini ng is t o
increas e the amount of w ork that c an be done without regar d to
time. Ru nning re quires b oth lo ng-t erm strength and explosiv e
power. T heref ore, both c onvention al strength training and
plyometr ic trai ning apply to running. In the most dir ect appl icatio n,
running is a s eries of many ply ometric move ments .

A 2013 study by Hudgins et al. found that standing l ong jum ps

(plyomet ric ex erc ise) benefited bot h sprint ers and m iddle - and
long-dis tance runners (693). Therefore, incr eased p ower is
importa nt to l ong - distanc e runners, so plyometric training should
be a pa rt of any distance -r unni ng program.

Another study by Skovga ard et al. examined whether repeat ed 3 0 -

second sprint s and heavy resist anc e training perf or med in
successi on would increase perform ance in distance r unners. The
study found that this training protocol impr oved dist ance -running
perform ance ( 1,500m), running ec onomy, and dynamic musc le
strength (694).

Becaus e of t he explosive natur e of plyometrics, t hey should be

done only by th ose with a solid strength - traini n g base and wh o
can perf orm a m ovemen t with pr oper for m thro u ghout the
prescri bed r ang e of moti on. When starti ng a plyometric pr ogram ,
you sho uld li mit y our athl ete to just one or two pl yometric ex ercise s
per sess ion and li mit the r ange of motion, ac cel erat ion, and
duratio n of th e ex ercise. T he range of motion, qu anti ty, and
intensity level of plyometric exerci ses per session can be
increas ed as t hey progres s.

Make sure th at the athlet e war ms up suffic iently and moves

through the r ange of moti on that will be done during the pl yometric
exercises.

Like an y exer cise, plyometrics c an be self -i njurious i f done

incorrectly. Com mon causes of injury include:

– Not sufficiently war med u p

– Imp roper fo rm/poor biomechanics
– Und iagno sed or overloo ke d preexi sting m usculoskelet al
issues
– Pro gressed too quic kly

Awaren ess of these reas ons wil l si gnificantly red uce the chance of
injury. Perhaps the most important aspect of avoiding injury during
jumping plyometri c exercis es is t o avoid lumb ar and thoracic spin al
flexion, espec iall y during accel era tion an d dec elera tion. Thi s will
ensure t hat t he lumbar and thor aci c aspect s of t he s pine ar e
support ed thr oughout the exer cise.

Correlation to th e Stretch -Shor tening Cyc le (S SC )

As note d previously , running is a plyometr ic exerci se – meaning ,
running is a s eries of expl osive movements . Whil e e xcessive
vertical movem ent during running (i.e., bounding) is inefficient,
shuffling is not efficient either. Therefore, an elemen t of
explosiv enes s is require d for a running -gai t patt ern to be ef ficient .

This relates direc tly to the stretc h- shortening cycle (SSC). T o

recap, t he SS C is representativ e of an ecc entric contraction of a
muscle f ollow ed by a rapid concentric con traction of the s ame
muscle. Regar ding runni ng, the SS C is most representative of the
calves and Achill es tendon unit. Assuming the ankl e joint has full
mobility, the st iff er the c alves and Achilles tendon unit is, t he mo re
efficient a run ner will be becau se of a gre ater e ner gy retur n.

Programming

The pro gramm ing aspect of strengt h training is of ten where many
coache s run i nto problem s. The tw o main areas that coaches ten d
to have issue s wi th are pr ogres sio n and i ntegra tion.

Progression

Like ca rdiovascular trai ning, str ength training d oes not adher e
to the 10 percen t increase rul e. For example, l et us say y our
athlete started of f being able t o bench press 130 po unds. U sing t he
10-perc ent-per-w eek rule, eight w eeks int o the program, they wo uld
be able to bench press 2 53 pounds . As you can s e e, this is not
feasible , corre ct, or sport- specifi c. Strengt h traini ng typically
progres ses m uch slower t han c ardi ovascul ar trai ning and does not
typically incre ase every w eek or ev ery traini ng se ssi on.
Muscles adapt m uch fast er to s trength trai ning than c onnec tive
tissue d oes. T her efore, t he pro gression of stren gt h trainin g
must be very gr adual regardi ng t ime, wei ght, s pee d, and
repetitions to avoid conn ective tiss ue injur y.

If you ar e wor kin g with a n athl ete who has nev er done strength
training or ha s no t done it for a whi le (over one m ont h), you must
be very caref ul to start slowly and with a low wei ght . You al so
might int roduc e j ust a fe w exer cis es for several repetitions f or th e
first stren gth-tr ai ning session. Remember, this is not a per sonal
training sessi on where it has t o take an hour a nd c onsist of all
weight lifting.

You sh ould i ncrease the weight and repetit ions ( or t ime) in v ery
small am ounts and only after an at hlete has shown t he abilit y to
perform at the current lev el withou t notabl e mus cle so renes s in th e
followin g day s.

Structure

As with t he ca rdi ovascul ar asp ect of traini ng, a n ind ividual w ill
benefit f rom st ren gth train ing t o a greater exten t wit h structu re
than wit h ran dom strengt h train ing .

The following chart illustrates how the phases o f a c ardiovascular -

training progr am can res emble tha t of a str ength-training pr ogram
regardi ng progression.

While th e progres sion from one phase to t he next is not set in

stone, the overrid ing principle i s that for an athl ete t o gain s treng th
and po wer s afely, there m ust be some form of progr ession.

While you can em phasize a par ticul ar type of resi stance trai ning,
there sh ould not be excl usively on e type p erfor med at any g iven
time.
As muscl es an d c onnecti ve tiss ue do not r apidly inc rease in
strength from week to week, there will likely be s ev eral weeks
where t he same weight and repeti tions ar e repeated. This is both
normal and a ccep table. G oing t his route is much bet ter than
progres sing an at hlete too rapi dly and riski ng inj ury .

From a safety standpoint , the progression of strengt h training is a s

follows:

1. General Condi ti oning: mi drange repetition range ( 10‒15

reps), tw o or t hree sets, li ght to m edium w eight
2. Strength: low r epetition - high weight
3. Power: Add s peed aspec t to pr ogr amming

The strength-t rai ning rec overy phases (w eeks) s hould coincide with
the card iovas cula r progra m’s rec ov ery pha ses.

While thi s is the general progr essi on, your athl ete may or m ay no t
progres s to all these areas. For ex ample, y our athlete may s tay in
the gen eral c ondi tion ing phas e thr oughout the traini ng program, o r
the indi vidual mig ht not progre ss to the power p hase becaus e of an
injury. The degree of pro gression is completely based on the
individual.

Strength Training Taper

There is not muc h research regarding strength - trai ning tapering for
runners. As s uch, the foll owing are rough guidel ines :

• For 5K, 10K, and half marathon running events, lower -body
strength traini ng should be elimina ted
• For marathons, lower -body resis ta nce trai ning c an be done
during t he firs t w eek of t he taper but in limit ed amounts
(based on a t hree - to four- week tap er). After the fir st week of
the taper, low er -body resi stanc e tr aining s houl d be ceased.

The aforementioned guidelines are noted s pecificall y regarding

lower-body ex erci ses. Cor e and upper -body exer cis es can s till be
done d uring t he t aper. H owever, it should be d one i n limited
quantiti es an d int ensity. I ndivid ual s shoul d not begi n a stre ngth -
training progr am or introd uce h igh intensity (HIIT) d uring a r ace
taper p eriod.
Muscle Specificity

It is com mon t o a ssociate fitne ss i n one area wi th fi tness in

another . For example, ev en if your athlete is an elit e -level r unner
who ca n run a four -minut e mile, if the pers on has never done
strength traini ng, they will be quite sore the day after an initia l
strength-traini ng session. Conv ers ely, if an avid wei ghtlifter who
doesn’t do c ardio vascular exerc ise ran six miles a t a high l evel o f
intensity , they would be i n a world of hurt the followi ng days .

This also holds tr ue for exercis e selection. If your at hlete has be en

doing s quats for t he legs and you c hange t o leg exte nsions on a
machin e, the per son’s quadric eps will likely be s ore the nex t day.
The spe cific use of muscl es, w eight, speed of c ontr action, and
repetitions all fac tor into t he specif icity of m uscle us e.

Concurrent Training

Your ab ility to successfull y integrate resist ance t rai ning int o a

training progr am i s neces sary t o ha ve a wel l-rounded progr am an d
thus a w ell-rounded athl ete. A criti cal factor when integrating
strength traini ng into a cardiov ascular progr am is not to diminish
the athl ete’s abili ty to per form a t t he desir ed le vels in other areas
of the p rogra m. Y ou must desig n a resistan ce -trai ni ng prog ram s o
that an athlet e’s muscles are not t oo sore to perfor m optim ally
when ru nning.

How you r athl et e respo nds to st rength tr aining i s individ ually

based. These are general recomm endations that should be
modifie d on a n individual basis .

• Becaus e of m uscl e specifi city, a sore muscl e in one range o f

motion might not be affec ted i n another range o f m otion. F or
exampl e, an i ndiv idual’s hamstri ngs might be tight fr om
performi ng squat s the day bef ore, but when running, the
hamstrings do not bother them.
• Strengt h traini ng does not ne ed to take place in a si ngle
session but can be spread out to accommodate an athlete’s
personal, wor k, and traini ng sc hedule.

As note d in t he st udy cited at t he beginning of t his module

(Ronne stad et al. ) (287), r esistanc e training just one day a week
was sho wn to mai ntain lean muscle mass and incr ease pow er
output.

A r g u m e nt F or a n d Ag a i n s t t h e I n t e gr a t i on o f S t r en g t h T r a i n i n g

Some researc h c hallenges the eff ectiveness an d v alidity of

integrati ng cardiovascular and resistance tr aining. The main point
of conte ntion is a lack of muscl e st rength devel opm ent whe n done
in tand em wit h a program desi gned primaril y around the
cardiov ascular as pect.

E f f e ct s of St r e n gt h T r a i n i n g a n d R u n n i n g O r d e r

A study by Do ma and De akin l ooke d to det ermin e if either of the

followin g sce nari os was prefer abl e (656):

1. Strengt h-traini ng session fo llow ed by runni ng (si x hours

between training session s)
2. Running followed by stren gth tr aini ng (six h ours bet ween
training sessi ons)

Doma a nd Deakin found t hat c oncerning running per formanc e the

day afte r the afor ementio ned tr aini ng scen arios, the group t ha t
perform ed strength traini ng be fore running show ed greater
running i mpair m ent (i.e., decreas ed runn ing economy) vers us the
group t hat perfor med running f ollowed by strength t raining.

A g a i n s t I nt e g r at i o n

This argument was first brought to light in 1980 by R obert Hi ckson

and wa s term ed concurre nt trai ni ng . Hicks on’s r es earch on
concurr ent str ength and endur ance training found that there was an
inhibition of strength dev elopment when both strength and
endura nce tr aining was done c onc urrently ( 181).

Hickson’s 10- week study placed subjects into thr ee groups:

1. Endurance
2. Strengt h
3. Combination of th e two (St rengt h a nd Enduranc e)

An impo rtant aspect of this study was that the s trength -trai ning
compon ent w as done wit h as m uch weight as possible (80 percent
of 1-RM), and the repetiti on range was low (five r ep etitions) for all
exercises (squat, leg press, leg ex tension, leg c url) except c alf
raises, w hich was 20 repetitions.

The strength and endurance group realized significa nt increases in

strength until we ek six-seven, when strength peak ed, the n
decreas ed during the last two w eeks.

A 1985 study by Dudley and D jami l (182) also fo und that an inver se
relation ship betw een strength training and enduranc e might exist.
This study integrated high -int ensit y cycling interv al s and is okinet ic
strength testing. The prim ary findi ng was that a reduction of
strength development occurred during high -velocity strengt h
training but n ot a t low vel ocities .

In both the D udle y and Hi ckson st udies, it was dete rmined t hat a
lack of st rengt h gain occ urred only in muscl es that were us ed for
both en durance and stren gth tr aini ng modalities. Therefore, the
researc hers deter mined t hat co ncu rrent training aff ects mu scle s
on an a cute and local le vel rather than s ystem ically (181, 182) .

F o r I n t e gr a t i o n

A 1999 study by Paavol ainen et al . found that w hen explosi ve

strength traini ng was integrated wi th endurance trai ning,
perform ance i n a 5K race improved compar ed wit h t hose w ho did
not inte grate expl osive str ength tra ining (2 82). P aav olainen
theorize s that thi s increa se in perf ormanc e was due to increased
neurom uscul ar characteris tics, w hi ch equated t o im proved r unni ng
econom y, as t he subject’ s VO2 max levels did n ot i mprove.

In terms of run nin g, a dec reas e in l eg musc le acti vat ion ofte n
equate s to longer foot contact with the ground. I n this study, it is
additio nally t heor ized that the neu romuscular adap tations fr om
explosi ve str eng th trainin g decreased gr ound con tact tim e
becaus e of c onsistently high m u scle activati on (i .e., forc e
producti on). T he result w as fast er 5K running ti mes.

These findings w ere further corroborated by Mikkola et al., who

found t hat concur rent endurance and expl osive t raining incr eased
anaero bic capacit y without decr eas ing aer obic c apac ity (283).

T iming
Perhap s the most re levant study regarding integration of strength
training was b y S porer a nd We nge r (2003). They lo oked at the
effect of the dura tion of ti me b etw een aer obic exer cise an d
strength traini ng (185). Sixteen m ale subjects w ere divided into two
groups. One group p erfor med high -intensity cycling intervals while
the oth er perf orm ed a steady -s tate submax imal c ycl e test. T he tw o
groups perfor med an incli ne leg pr ess (75 percent of 1 -RM) at four,
eight, a nd 24 hours after t he cyc le tests. E ach str ength -training
assessm ent w as done at least 72 hours af ter the pr evious
assessm ent t o en sure fati gue fr om the prev ious t est was not a
factor. B elow are the resu lts:

Subject s also per formed t he bench press post -aerobic asses sment s
with no difference in repetitions. This confi rm s pr evi ous studies
that sho wed t he negativ e effe cts of conc urrent trai ning ar e limite d
to muscl es us ed f or both enduranc e and st rengt h ap plicatio ns.

Interesti ngly, t her e was n o diff eren ce in th e effe ct o n streng th-

training repeti tion s betwe en th e su bmaxim al and hig h -i

Conclusion

Many of the st udi es that f ound concurrent tr aining detriment al for

strength gains as sessed subjects with a high -w eight/low -repetitio n
range. Alternatel y, studies suc h as Sale et al.(184) , which did no t
find stre ngth t o b e compr omise d during concurr ent t raining,
evaluat ed subject s using a higher r epetition/set r ang e (15‒22 rep s,
six-eight sets).

Therefore, it could be deduced that higher - repeti tions (>15)

protocol s would have greater st rength incr eases than low repetitio n
when tr ainin g concurrently .

Additio nally, n on e of the aforeme ntioned studies on concurrent

training i mplem ented st rength - t raining p rogre ssion. It could b e
theorize d tha t de creases in stre ng th, such as n oted in Hicks on’s
1980 st udy, c ould be less ened or eliminated by e stablishing some
form of p rogre ssi ve struct ure.
While thi s area of sports s cienc e w arrants more r es earch, t here are
some things to consider when desi gning a traini ng program:

• Concurr ent traini ng may decrease strength gains as compar ed

with strength trai nin g al one.
• Concurr ent traini ng does not appear to negativ ely affect
endurance (aerobic training).
• Overtrai ning m ay be a factor a s to why co ncurre nt t raining
results i n decr eased strength gains.
• Strengt h traini ng within ei ght‒10 hours aft er an aer obic -
training sessi on ( utilizing the s ame muscles ) will lik ely resul t
in diminished effectiveness.
• Becaus e of t he duration of most individual s’ work days, a
strength-traini ng session could be implemented on t he sam e
day as another w orkout, assumi ng one is done in the m orni ng
and the other in t he evening w ith at least ei ght h our s in
between.
• Muscles used mi nimally during aerobic trai ning can be
strength trained the same day with minimal or no re duction in
effective ness.
• A progr essive, str uctured strength - training progr am should be
implemented using a concurrent tr aining model to r ealize t he
highest stren gth gains.
• Strengt h traini ng one or t wo tim es/ week will maintai n lean
muscle mass a nd increas e pow er output.

Summary
• Resistance traini ng is an integral part of a running program .
• Performi ng res ist ance tra ining onl y during the off-s eason
violates the use i t or lose it phil os ophy .
• There is no such thing as “almost correct form.” R e sistance
training form is ei ther corr ect or in correct.
• Resistance traini ng of lar ge m us cl e groups stim ulat es the
neuroendocri ne r espons e. This response increases
testoster one and hormon es (i.e. , g rowth h ormon e) t hat
stimulat e muscle growth/strength.
• Exercise s that eli cit the hi ghes t ne uroend ocrine
respons e are those that i nvolv e large mus cle s gr oups
(i.e., squat, dead lift).
• The genesis of any stren gth -tr aini ng prog ram is the overloa d
principle
• A muscl e that is a prime mover is the prim ary musc le
respons ible f or m ovemen t. A s econdary m over is a muscle
that assi sts th e p rimary m over.
• Many endu rance athletes do not st rength tr ain f or fe ar of
developing s ubst antial m uscle mass and, thus, l ow ering their
power-t o-weight r atio. Thi s fear is l argely unwarr ant ed and
inaccur ate.
• Resistance traini ng can f uncti onall y strengt hen t he LPHC.
• The str ength-e n durance conti nu um pert ains t o the number
of repeti tions i n r elation t o the des ired effect (i.e. , gaining
muscular endurance).
• Plyomet rics are explosiv e mov em ents characterized by a f ast
stretch followe d i mmediat ely by a fast contraction.
• Resistance traini ng programs s ho uld hav e a pr ogressive
structure.
• It is advi sed t o h ave at l east e ight ‒10 hours be twee n aerob ic-
and strength - trai ning sessions to maximize strengt h gains.
• Muscles used mi nimally during aerobic trai ning can be
strength trained the same day wit h minimal or no reduction in
effective ness.
• Resistance -traini ng prog rams c an be used for m any things
other than increasing muscle m ass . Followi ng ar e s ome of
these th ings:
• Increas e pow er
• Reduce muscl e i mbalances
• Replicate sport-s pecific m ovem ent s
Module 11: Running Recovery

In this m odule , w e will ad dress co mmon re cover y m ethods such as

stretching, icing, myofasci al rel ease, anti -i nflamm at ories, and th e
value of quality sl eep.

Running Recovery and Treatment

Don’t Fix an Injury, Manage It

The ap proac h most runners tak e o nce injured is qui te interesting.

With res pect t o their traini ng pr ogr am, runners appr eciate t hat
there ar e multi ple factors t hat le ad to impro veme nt, or lack t hereo f.
For exa mple, i f a run goe s poorly, a runner will often asses s why
that mig ht ha ve b een the case . Per haps it’s that t he y didn’t get
enoug h sleep, trained to o hard the day bef ore, w ere overstressed
from wor k, etc …
However , in respect to inj ury, r unners often abando n this ty pe of
multi-fact orial t hi nking and ski p righ t to a tr eatm ent method, vers us
truly thin king abo ut why t he inj ury might h ave oc cur red in th e first
place a nd the var ious fact ors possi bly invol ved. T he biggest issue
with this approach is that ‘treating’ an injur y in isolation is a very
myopic approach a nd one that will likely not hav e a positive and
sustain able r esult . This is c ompounded by t he fa ct th at many
treatme nts th at r unners utilize when injur ed ar e benign at best and
at worst, may hav e the potenti al to exacerbate t he injury. It s eems
that eve ry few days, there is a f an cy new device or ‘method ’ that
comes along promising t o heal at hletes of all t heir aches and
pains. W e’re n ot saying t hat s ome of these thin gs w on’t pro ve
helpful, but t hey must be utilize d i n conju nction wit h the bi g pict ure
and mor eover , not make a n injury worse.

Management

When a runner gets injur ed, the i mmediat e reaction is to fix it so

that they can get back to r unni ng. This is of cour se normal and
expecte d. Firs t, no one w ants t o be in pai n and sec ond, no one
wants to have the ir training derailed due to an injury. For most
endura nce at hlet es, this i nitial r es ponse c an best be descri bed a s
panic. A s not ed above, th is is lik el y why m ost ru nners don’t t ake a
minute t o ass ess all of the pos sibl e reasons for injury and i nstea d,
go direc tly to Am azon.com to order the newest perc ussion t herap y
gun!

The unf ortunate r eality is t hat pain, for lack of a bet ter word, is
likely not just going to g o away with the use of a singular
‘treatment method.’ T he desire of athletes to qui ckly fix any pa in
or injury to the point that it is eliminated almost immediately
after an inter ven tion (i.e., surg er y, therapy devic e, medi cation)
is not re alisti c.

Therefore, the advised approach to responding to an injury is to

pause and asses s all of t he possi ble r eas ons w hy an athl ete mi ght
have b ecome injured (ex: not enough sleep, incr eas ed traini ng lo ad
substan tially, wor k stress, too m uc h time sit ting at work, etc …) a nd
using th at inf orm ation, d evise a pl an to m anage the injury and
more sp ecifically, the issues that might have contri buted t o it.

As you c an s ee, t he issu e is no t th at a run ner s eeks out me dical

advice, or use s a product to h elp a specific area on the bod y to
feel bett er. Th e i ssue is t hat th ese things are oft en utilized i n
isolation, without much thought, and immediately aft er an inj ury
occurs. I t is advis ed that i f thes e and other areas ar e utilized, the y
should be done s o as par t of an ov erall injury mana gement plan,
and onl y after an athlete’ s self - ass essment of th e possible r easo ns
for an in jury or pain.

Summary

A 2018 pap er by Lewis a nd O’ Sulli van, published in the Britis h

Journal of Sports Medicine (816) s ummed up all of the above quite
nicely. T he paper states t hat d ue t o an in dividu al’s desire t o be
pain-fre e, they of ten bypass the thinking st age r egarding possibl e
contributing factors to an injury and jump ri ght to a quick fix
intervention. In short, th e paper states tha t individuals need to
reframe how t hey think a bout non -t raumatic musc uloskeletal injury,
specific ally in r egard to their ex pec tations f or a quic k fix or c ure.

If your a thlete has not be en running prior t o the i nc eption of the

training progr am, you will need to be sens itive t o th e recov ery
aspect of running becaus e of t he physical s tress placed on t he
body. A s suc h, during a r e cov ery period, r unni ng s hould not be
done o n bac k -to- back days, a nd if your athlete has a strain or
sprain, there mus t be complete rec overy before resuming ru nning.
Therefore, if there is any lingering pain, your athlete shoul d hol d
off on r esumi ng r unning . If your at hlete’s muscles are tight,
sometim es a l ow - intensity run is fine. But you need to unde rstand
what yo ur athl etes mean i f they say their legs ar e “t ight.” If y ou ar e
unsure, err on th e side of caut ion and pass on the r un.

Sleep and Recovery

Contribut or: Cor rine Mal colm

Getting the ri ght amount and ri ght kind of s leep i s c ritical no t only
for optim al sp orts perform ance but also for healt hy c ognitive
function ing. Base d on tw o slee p-consensu s pan els, t he Amer ican
Academ y of S leep Medici ne and S leep Researc h, it was fou nd th at
adults n eed a mi nimum o f seve n hours of s leep per night (9 66, 9 67,
968). L et’s di g a bit deeper…

Quality s leep i s b iological ly critic al for man y of o ur body’s

cognitive, physic al, and metabolic processes, inclu ding the immu ne
system, testoster one, human grow th hormone (HgH ), and glucose
metabol ism. Q ual ity sleep is als o i mportant for r educing the cha nce
for injury and i lln ess and recov eri ng from i njury or illness.

Sleep Type

There are two ma in types of sleep:

1. Non-Rapi d Eye Movem ent sleep (NREM)

2. Rapid E ye Mo vement sl eep (R EM )

NREM sl eep has four sleep stages and is t he firs t ty pe of sl eep

that occ urs w hen falling a sleep (96 9). Durin g the thi rd stage , HgH
is released at ma ximum amounts, which is important for muscle
recovery .

REM sleep oc cur s in 30 -t o-40 minute inter vals after NREM sl eep
and is p rimaril y t he time when cog nitive a nd me ntal recover y
occurs.

Most of one’s sleep at ni ght is NR EM sleep (75 – 80%), whi le RE M

sleep c onstitutes approxi mately 20 to 25% .

What Affects Sleep Patterns?

Several varia bles affect o ne’s s lee p patter ns. S ome of thes e are
the bod y’s natural internal clock (C ircadian Rhyt hm), genetic s, an d
the envi ronm ent ( ex: hot, cold, l igh t, eating ).

One’s Ci rcadi an Rhythm i s influ en ced by genetics a nd the

environ ment ( 6) and is controlled by the hy pothalam us in the brai n.
Regardi ng body t emperat ure, t he c ore tem peratu re r ises gradually
through out t he day until approxi mately 9 pm and then starts t o
decreas e (96 9). As the body’s cor e temperature lowers, th e
metabol ic proces ses also slow. Ex ternal temper atur es such as a
hot roo m can negatively a ffect s leep patter ns (969). This is of ten
why pe ople c omplain that they can’t sleep i n hot conditions such as
summer nights wi thout air conditioning.

Lastly, y our b ody’ s natu ral incli nati on to sl eep at a particular time
is a gen etic component r eferred to as one’ s chronotype (970 ). Most
often as socia ted with term s suc h as ‘night owl or ‘e arly riser, ’ from
an athl ete’s point of view, this c an either w ork for or against an
individu al. For ex ample, if an athlete is a ni ght owl, but bec ause of
work an d famil y demands , they are forced t o get in early morning
training sessi ons, this go es ag ainst their chr onot ype and is li kely
not very enjoy abl e.

Health Issues

Many thi nk the only dow ns ide to not getting enough sleep is that
they will be tir ed the next day. Whi le this is a do wns ide, it is j ust
one of many. Bel ow are s ome of t he other key dow nsides:

• Decrease in imm une funct ion. S pecifically , ther e i s a

decreas e in natur al killer c ell act i vi ty and c ytokine interleuki n -
6 (IL-6) ( 968). Natural killer cells are white blood cel ls that
fight vira l infec tio ns, and IL-6 fi ght s infecti ons a nd
inflamm ation.
• Rise in cortisol levels. Cortisol of ten gets a bad rap for
being a stress ho rmone, but in mod eration, corti sol is an
important hor mone for many criti cal physiol ogical functions
such as the brea kdown of macr onutrients and proper immu ne
and ner vous syst em funct ion. How ever, when cortis ol levels
become too high, it can bl ock s erotonin receptor s, decr easi ng
melatonin sec reti on, prev enting H gH release, and i nhibiting
adequate gly cogen storage repl eni shment ( 971).
• Decrease in cog nitive fu nction. Based on a 2010 study by
Cohen et al., 19 hours being awak e result ed in t he same
perform ance decl ine/defi cit a t a bl ood alc ohol c onc entratio n
(BAC) of .05% , and 24 h ours of being awake res ulted in a
BAC of . 10%. (97 2)
Athlete Considerations

Aside fr om ge ner al healt h, the re a re sever al con sid erations to

conside r when w orking wi th at hlet es.

1. Increased ri sk f or injury . Chroni cally get ting l ess than ei ght

hours of sleep pe r night has been associat ed wit h a 1.7 time s
greater chanc e of injury than indivi duals w ho chr oni cally got
eight or more hours of sleep per ni ght (97 3). Thi s is likely
related t o reduced psychomoto r fu nctionin g (ex: tim ing,
coordination) and reduced tissue and bone repair, primarily
due to r educ ed H gH prod uctio n (9 73).
2. Decreased p erfo rmance. Sleep deprivati on is associated
with changes in insulin levels which is important for glucose
metabol ism. T hes e changes c an inhibit glucose synt hesis
(product ion) fr om glycogen stor es, which c an dr asti cally aff ect
endurance at hlet es as they can run out of ener gy ( 974).
3. T ake naps. If an athlete i s shor t o n sleep, taking naps is a
great w ay to extend one’ s slee p ti me whic h corr elat es with
increas ed ph ysic al perfor manc e (975).
4. Sleep extension. This refers to sle eping more via naps and
more ni ghttim e sl eeping in the day s/weeks leadi ng up to a
race. Lik e naps, t his has been shown to increas e perfor manc e
on race day. ( 976 )
Ice?
It has lo ng b een advised to ice not only inj ured area s, but al so to
ice areas on the body to prevent injury. The genesis behind this
was primarily to reduce i nflammation. However, it is now believed
that infl ammati on is a critic al as pect of the heali ng and muscle -
repair pr ocess .

A 2015 study by Leeder et al. found that an ice bath did not
promote recov ery in subj ects wit h DOMS (678). I n f act, icing may
slow the healing process. Dr. J onathan Leeder stated that there is
solid evi denc e to show that athletes feel better after an ice bath
and this is likely why ice baths are popula r and are believe d to
correlat e with mu scle healing and recovery . Des pite this, there is
no evid ence to show that cold t her apy res ults in i nc reased
perform ance and enhanc ed recovery (678).

While n ot injur y -s pecific per se, a 2020 p aper by Fuchs et al .,

found t hat cooling vis col d wat er i mmersion post -ex ercise during
recovery from r es istance -t ype exer cise low ers th e c apacity of the
muscle t o tak e up dietary protei n ( 1014). T his m ay be one of the
reasons why i cing delay s the heali ng proc ess, a s noted above.

For these reasons, runners should reconsider using ice as a means

of recov ery post - workout.

Peace And Love

As allud ed to abo ve, ice h as lo ng b een the pref erred treatment for
injuries. As such, the
acronym R (res t) I (ice) C ( compr ession) E (elev ation) was t he
recomm ended course of action for an injur y. Howev er, as tim e ha s
progres sed, w e have a better understanding of w hat works and
what do esn’t i n r espec t t o trea ting and managi ng a n injury. The
biggest issue wit h R.I.C. E is th e ‘I ’ – as, ici ng has been found t o
inhibit the healing process.
An April 2019 po st in the Britis h J ournal of Sp orts Medicin e by
Dubois and E scul ier (848) offers up two new acr ony ms that better
suit the needs of athletes today – Peace and L ove. Below i s an
explan ation of these acr onyms.

Protecti on: Av oi d activiti es an d m ovements that inc rease pain

during t he firs t few days after i njur y
Elevatio n: Elevat e the inj ured l imb higher t han t he heart as often
as possi ble
Avoid Anti-Inflammatori es: A voi d taking anti -i nflammatory
medicati on as the y reduc e tissue healing and a void i cing.
Compre ssion: U se elasti c bandages or taping t o reduce sw elling .
Educatio n: Your body knows b est. Avoid unnec e ssary passiv e
treatme nts an d m edical i nterventions and l et na ture play its r ole.

Load: L et pai n guide your gradual return t o nor mal activities . Your
body will tell y ou when it’ s safe to i ncrease the l oad.
Optimism : Condi tion your brai n for optimal recov er y by bei ng
confide nt and positive.
Vascul arizati on : Choos e pain -free cardiovascular activities to
increas e blood fl ow to repair tis sues
Exerci se: R estor e mobilit y, strength, and propri oception by
adoptin g an activ e approach t o rec overy.

Anti-Inflammatory Drugs

Due to t he pain-r educing and anti - inflamm atory properties of

NSAIDs, they are commonly used by thos e who experience DOMS
and mu sculos kel etal injuries. H ow ever, as previ ous ly noted, non -
steroidal anti-i nfl ammator y drugs ( NSAIDs) su ch
as ibupr ofen and aspirin have been found to sl ow m uscle recovery
and mu scle gr owt h (133, 134). Acetaminophen ( Tylenol®) is als o
commonly used t o reduc e pai n and fever. However, it is not
classifie d as an NSAID because of its limite d anti -i nflammatory
respons e.

A 2015 study by Da Silva et al. looked at the effect of

taking i buprof en before r unning on male runners who had
preexisti ng ex erci se -induced m uscl e damage (676). The study
found t hat taking ibuprof en did not help pr olong the subject’ s run
time.

Additio nally, a 2013 study by K ust er et al. foun d that inges ting
over-the -counter pain reli evers pri or to a m arathon resulted in
increas ed ga stroi ntestinal issues and musc le cramps (677). The
higher t he do se of painkill ers, the greater t he incidence of t he
aforeme ntioned i ssues.

Based on the aforementi oned stud ies, NSA IDs ar e not

recomm ended for use as a met hod to reduce ex erci se -relat ed
sorenes s, regardl ess of t he sport discipline.

Researc h has shown that NSA IDs actually slow healing of not jus t
muscles, but on bones a nd tendons as well ( 133).

Myosatellite c ells , or satel lite c ells , are found in muscles, and th eir
job is to attach to existing muscle fibers to f orm new fibers. T his
process occur s during normal mus cle grow th as wel l as duri ng
recovery from i nj ury. It is t heori zed that N SAIDs gr eatly reduce t he
spread of the se c ells, thus ham per ing mus cle rec ov ery and growt h
(134).

Another issue in t aking a ny sort of pain -reducing medication is tha t

it allows an individual to potentially train past what the p ers on’s
body ca n physically hand le becaus e of the medi cati on -induced
reductio n of pain. This can lead to greater i njury down the r oad.
However , oth er r esearch has dee med that shor t -term use of
NSAIDs would have minim al impac t on the heali ng p rocess ( 135).

In concl usion, wh ile you c annot ad vise or p rescri be any typ e of

medicati on to ath letes, you can inf orm them of the r esearch in thi s
area. W hile there is no d efinitiv e, agreed - upon effect of NS AIDs o n
muscle r ecovery, it would be wi se t o share this infor mat ion with
athletes as th e abundance of rese arch to s upport th e negat ive
effect of NSAI Ds on musc le rec ove ry is too great to ignore.
Starting Back Up

If your a thlete has access to a pool, water j ogging i s a com mon

cross-trai ning practice that stim ulates th e same mus cles in m ore or
less the same range of motion as running (outdoors), althou gh with
substan tially r educed impact on the body. Addit ionally, a
specializ ed treadmill (Alter G®) all ows individuals t o run at varyi ng
percent ages of th eir body weight. C ycling out of the saddle also
position s the body similarly to ru nning.

If your a thlete is new to r unning, i ncorpor ating r un/ walk da ys into

the pro gram is oft en ben eficial. When retur ning fr om an injur y, slo w
and pro per pr ogr ession i s of the utmost im portan ce. For example,
your athlete might run for one minute and then walk for two
minutes, then rep eat this cycle f our more ti mes. T he primary
purpos e of run/w alk programs i s not for car diov asc ular
conditioning, but rather adapting the body slowl y to the
musculo skelet al demands of r unni ng.

Stretching
The primary reas on for stretching is to increase range of motion at
the joint s. Th e pu rported benefits o f stretchi ng ‒ or l ack ther eof ‒
have re cently bec ome hot topic s for debat e withi n the realms of
fitness a nd s port s perfor mance. T he focus of these debates
include s:

• Does pr e-stret chi ng (stret ching bef ore exer cise) i ncr ease,
decreas e, or hav e no eff ect on athletic perf ormance?
• Does stretching prevent injury?
• Do individuals need to w arm up before stret ching?
• How long should a stretch be held, and how oft en s hould
stretching be done?

The ge nerally ac cepted princi ple behind stretc hing is that w hen a
muscle i s stretc hed, mus cle neuron activity decr eas es, ther eby
relaxing the m usc le, whic h allows f or great er RO M becaus e of
reduce d resist ance. For t his reason, it is th eoriz ed that pre-
stretchi ng a mu scle decreases t he force produ ct ion of a
muscle while ru nning.

In contr ast, a 201 3 study foun d tha t utilizin g a foam roller before
exerci se can increase r ange of motion w itho ut decreasing
force pr oducti on (516).

Physiology

To und erstand how the pri ncipl e of stretchi ng wor ks, it is important
to defin e two pro priocept ive p arts of a mus cle, t he Golgi tendon
organ, and the m uscle spindle .
Golgi Tendon Organ (GTO)

The GT O is a ner ve receptor locat ed at the junction of a muscle

and ten don. Duri ng a str etch, t he GTO senses t ens ion in the
muscle/t endon and sends a signal via affer ent neurons to the
spinal cord. The spinal cord then sends a signal back to the muscle
to relax via efferent neur ons. T his i s called the G olg i tendon
reflex. T he G TO exists to regul ate muscle t ension s o that injury
does n ot occ ur to a muscl e and its associat ed connective tiss ue
(365).

Muscle Spindle

Muscle s pindl es are located deep within a muscl e. Muscle s pindl es

sense c hange in muscle l ength and the range of change in lengt h
and se nd a s ignal to the s pine. Thi s signal triggers t he stretc h
reflex (al so cal led myotat ic refl ex ) . The str etch r efl ex resist s the
increas e in m uscl e lengt h by c ausi ng a muscle t o c ontract (365).
The mor e rapi dly muscle l ength inc reases, t he str onger the stretc h
reflex is. Ther efore, the primary function of mus cle spindles is to
protect t he b ody f rom injur y due to overstret ching.

The go al of st retc hing is t o mini miz e the str etch r efl ex so a muscl e
can be lengthened.
Elastic Response

As note d in t he R unning Mechanic s modul e, the sti ffer

the muscle-tend on unit is, the g r eater th e elastic respon se . In
other w ords, t he greater t he sti ffness of t he muscle -tendon unit ,
the gre ater th e pot ential ener gy s ource is. How ever, if an
individual’s flexibility and range of motion do not match the degree
of flexibi lity requi red for a parti cul ar move ment, per formanc e will
decreas e, and the potential fo r inj ury will increas e. Therefor e, th e
amount of flexibil ity and r ange of motion i n a partic ular area sho uld
match the am ount of flexi bility r equired for the activ ity being
particip ated i n. S ubstanti ally m or e or less flexibil ity than i s
needed will n eg atively impact an individ ual. In particular, too
much ra nge of m otion oft en equat es to a l ack of neuromusc ular
control for a give n area and a decrease in force pro duction (608).

Much of the r esearch about str etc hing and perf orm ance
enhanc ement has been based on d ifferent param eters, and t hus
the resu lts of some of the studies contrad ict the results of others .
For exa mple, some studi es show that pre - stretc hing a mus cle pri or
to exerci se do es not ham per p erfo rmance, while oth ers sho w that it
does d ue to decr eased f orce production ( 111, 241, 242). It shoul d
be note d that many of th e studies citing a decrease in force
producti on ar e ex amining maxi mal force pr oducti on, which is not
typical f or dist an ce runn ers. T her efore, it could be theorize d tha t
pre-stret ching is not as m uch of an issue f or endur ance sports a s it
would b e for s por ts that p redo minantly req uire short , maximal
efforts (ex: spri nt ing).
Types of Stretches

There are four pri mary types of str etches:

Static

An indiv idual perf orms an d hol ds a stretch at the en d range of

motion ( ROM).

• Active: i ndivi dual s perfor m the str etch themselv es

• Passive: an external forc e (i.e., another person) ac ts upon an
individual’s body part bei ng stretched

When h olding a s tretch for a rel ati vely long peri od ( > 40 seconds),
the mus cle spi ndl es become ac cus tomed t o th e new increas e in
length and reduc e the si gnals sent to the s pinal cor d to tell the
muscles to contract.

Dynami c

An indiv idual mov es a bo dy pa rt at a contro lled s pee d throu gh a

range o f moti on t hat mimi cs the m otions p erform ed while running .

Ballistic

Similar t o the dynamic stretch, but the mov ement is done wi th

moment um to str etch past the curr ent ROM limit. This is often
conside red a dangerous stretc h and is not r ecom mended for use
with clients. Because of the speed with which a proper balli sti c
stretch is executed, the stretch r efl ex is triggered and therefore
significantly li mit s the ability of a muscle to stretch .
Proprioc eptiv e Neurom uscul ar Facilitat ion (P N F)

A PNF st retch co nsists of a pa ssiv e stretch follo wed by an

isometric muscle con tracti on. A partner pa ssively m oves a body
part to it s ROM li mit, and then the client is ometric all y contracts th e
muscle being stretched for 10‒15 s econds befor e rel axing the
muscle briefly. T he part ner then passively moves t he body part to a
new RO M. This c ycle is repeat ed t wo or thr ee ti mes in total.

PNF stret chin g w orks bec ause of i ts effect on th e G olgi tendon

organ. During PN F stretchi ng, a m uscle is r epeatedl y contracted
and rel axed, whic h trigger s the Gol gi tendon refl ex numerous
times. Th is ex pan ds the R OM of the target ed body part beyond
what no n -PNF str etches c an accomplish ( 114).

Area of Caution

Overstret ching a muscle and/or co nnectiv e tissu e c an caus e

injury. N o matt er how ski lled you are or h ow lo ng you have
been stretching athletes, it is im po ssibl e to be sure of th e
integrity of a mu scle an d its c on nective tissu e. Many coache s
and fitn ess pr ofessionals “ go by feel ” when stretc hi ng, whic h
contributes to the injury ra te assoc iated with assiste d stretching.
Just because you feel substantial r esis tanc e duri ng a stretch doe s
not nec essaril y m ean it is the end ROM; convers ely, you could
have p assed the end RO M and caused an injur y. W hen per formin g
passive stretc hin g or PNF stretc hi ng, you must con sistently solicit
verbal feedback about the muscle tension your athl ete is feeling
through out t he st retch.

Let your athlet es dictat e what th e end R OM is, n ot you. B y

pushin g past what your at hletes communic ate is t he end RO M or b y
trying to gues s th e end R OM y ours elf, you r isk inj uri ng them .
Before s tartin g the stretch, let y our athletes know w hat stret ch yo u
will be doing and why. Also, tell them they will need to tell y ou
when th ey feel the muscl e has been stretched to the end RO M.
Whether or not at the act ual e nd R OM, you must r es pect your
athletes ’ fee dbac k and stop when they tell you to.

If an at hlete has an injur y or a sus pected i njury suc h as a s train,

the indi vidual sho uld not stretc h or perform myof asc ial relea se on
the injur ed m uscl e, as thi s may wo rsen the injury . W ith any i njury
or susp ected i njury, the fir st cours e of acti on shoul d alway s be t o
seek ou t the advi ce of a speci alist.

T he safest type of stretch for yo ur athlet es to perform is stati c,

active stretchin g (self -st retch) . This is beneficial because they
can do this on their own. While at hletes c ould i njur e thems elves
while stretching during a static, active stretch, the likelihood is
minimal.

If your a thlete is experiencing mus cle pain great er t han nor mal or
the resu lt of d elayed onset mu scl e soren ess ( DO MS), do not
perform or prescr ibe any s tretc hes or myof ascial r el ease. R efer
them to a spe ciali st such as a p hys ical ther apist. Ad ditionall y, if
an athl ete has a postural issue that you f eel could impact
perform ance or s afety, it i s strongl y advised to r efer the per son t o
a speci alist.

Primary Stretches

The stretches that follow are all se lf -stretches. Instr uct your
athlete t o hol d ea ch stretc h for a m inimum of 30‒ 40 second s.

Upper Body

Pectoralis Major
• Keep a slight ben d in the elbow
L a t i s s i m u s D or s i
• Make sure ha nds are on t op of eac h other

Rhomboids / Lower Trapezius

• Allow th e sho ulde r blades to rot ate forward (the upp er back
will flex)
• Do not overstr etc h; rather , hol d the stretch as s oon as it is
felt.
Triceps
• Gently p ull th e el bow tow ard th e m idline of the body .

Levator Scapulae
• Tilt head to the side and slightly forward
Biceps
• Keep palms f acing upwar d
• Keep torso as er ect as p ossibl e w hile elevating ar ms behi nd
the body
R o t a t o r C u f f M u s c l es

Supraspinatus

Pull arm behi nd b ody. Ke ep sc apul a depre ssed.

Infraspinatus / Teres Minor

Slowly r otate t he arms for ward s o t he elbo ws ar e poi nted as

forward as po ssib le in the sagit tal plane.
Subscapularis

Slowly lo wer t he f orearm ( as if y ou’ re losin g at ar m wrestling )

laterally i n the frontal pl ane. With the elbo w on a st able sur face,
you can also use the opposite arm to facilit ate the st retch.

Lower t he arm until slight t ension i s felt. Repeat wit h the ot her
arm.
Lower Body

Hamstrings

This can be modified by propping one leg up on an elevated object

such as a chair and bending f orward at the hips. Additionall y, this
stretch can be done seated.
Gluteus Maximus

Pull the leg t owar d the mi dline of t he bod y.

Piriformis / Gluteus Medius

Keep th e tibi a of the leg crossed as close t o hori zontal as possibl e.

Bend fo rward at t he hips.

G a s t r o c n em i u s

Stretch s lowly to avoid o verstre tch ing the Achill es t endon.

Soleus

Maintai n a 90 -degree kn ee bend during the stret ch.

Stretch s lowly to avoid o ver-str etc hing th e Achil les tendon.

Hip Adductors

Keep p elvis horiz ontal during t he s tretch.

Hip Flexors (Iliopsoas)

Keep th e up per b ody as v ertical as possibl e with the arms

overhe ad.
By perfo rming thi s stretch with t he arms ov erhea d, t he pect oralis
major a nd lati ssi mus dor si are als o stretched.

O b l i q u e s / Q u ad r at us L u m b or um

Keep k nees l ocked out. S hift hi ps t o the opposit e si de of the upper -

body le an.
R e c t u s A b d om i n i s

This stretch plac es the lumbar spine in extension.

DO NOT perfor m this stret ch if t he lumbar extens ion is

contraindicated

T h o r a c i c S p i n e M u sc u l a t u r e

Rotate t hrough the thorac ic spine, not the lumbar spine.

Start

Finish
Myofascial Release

Myofas cial r elease (MFR) is a t er m often used in s ports and

fitness. I t is co m monly u sed to de scribe a proce ss i n which tight
muscles have compressi on applied to them to “r elease” tightness ,
thus rest oring pro per func tion ( 115 ). To un dersta nd exactly what
MFR is, let us examine the name. Myo is a prefix that
means muscle (333), an d fasci al r elates directly to the fasci a of t he
body, a s des cri bed in an earlier module. Therefor e, t he
term m yofascial release pert ains to the reductio n of tightn ess
and rest rictiv en ess of muscl es and fas cia.

Fascia and its rol e in supporting and mobilizing the body have
become know n only in the last fiv e or six y ear s ( 330).
Conseq uentl y, m any coaches and health profes sionals do not full y
underst and f asci a’s role i n the body. Ther efore, when MFR i s not ed
and/or perfor med, it is usually done from the standpoint of r educi ng
muscle ti ghtness while ov erloo king the fas cia el ement.

Fascia is a web-li ke connective tis sue that surrounds all org ans,
muscles, nerv es, blood v essels , and bones in th e body. Muscles
do not fun ction in isolation of th e fascia (330). If a muscl e is to o
tight, th e fasci a s urround ing th at m uscle a nd likely f ascia in other
areas wil l also be restricted. It is i mportan t to reiter ate that fasci a
can als o func tion independent ly of the mus cles (270).

When at hletes us e the term myofascial release, they typic ally

refer to it in the c ontext of either m assage (se lf or performed by a
specialis t) or utili zing a tool such as a foam roller or massage
stick.
Maintain Properly Functioning Fascia

The following information by Julia Lucas provides valuable insight

on how to pr operl y care for the body and, m ore s pec ifically , t he
fascia (3 30).

• Let the body heal if coming back from injury – d o n’t rush
back into trainin g: If one’ s body mechanics ar e alt ered du e
to an inj ury, t he f ascia will ada pt t o new m ovem ent (incorrec t)
patterns .
• Stretch gently : Hold stretches for three t o five mi nutes and
do not f orce a str etch.
• Stay hydrated : P roper hy dration levels are necessar y for the
fascia to mov e un restricte d.
• Move ar ound: Adhesions can f orm between faci al s urfaces
that are statio nar y for lon g peri ods . These adhesion s can
alter corr ect body mechanics.
• Foam Ro ller: Described below

Fascia Specialists

If you or your ath letes feel they ar e not seeing the desired result s
with thei r stretching/MFR program, they sh ould seek a fascia
specialis t. Specia lists use vario us methods (i.e., st r etching, han ds -
on man ual bodyw ork) to w ork on fascia. Professionals such as
massag e ther apis ts, chiropractors, physical therapist s, and
osteop aths are of ten trained in my ofascial therapy.

Foam Roller

The foa m roller is the mos t com mon and popul ar tool u sed t o
facilitate MFR. A foam roll er is e ss entially a semi -hard, round tub e
of Styrof oam ™. F oam roll ers come in varyi ng degrees of ha rdne ss
as well as len gths. The c once pt b ehind a foam roll er is that it
“rolls” ov er a ti ght muscle and/ or c onnecti ve tiss ue t o reduc e
muscle/c onnectiv e tissue tight ness . While f oam r ollers can be
benefici al, th ey c an mak e a tig ht muscle or fasci a t ighter.

The wid ely ac cepted theory sur rou nding f oam roller s is that the
more it hurts, t he better it works . T his coul d not be f urth er fr om th e
truth. To o mu ch compression overstimul ates t he muscle
spindle s (i.e., the nervous sys tem ) and causes the muscles to
shorten in res ponse as a protectiv e measure agains t injury ( 274).
Additio nally, t oo much compres sion can damage muscles and
connect ive tis sue on a cellular l ev el (fibroblasts), i ncreasi ng
inflamm ation r ather than r educi ng i t. Individuals t ypi cally apply
much m ore pr ess ure than is n eces sary and, frequently, in the
wrong l ocations ( 274). Just becau se press ure is applied to a ten der
area via a foam r oller or by other means, t he pain and tightnes s
will not necessarily go aw ay. In some cases, and as noted above, it
can act ually m ak e it wors e, as exc essive pressur e f rom the r oller
can cre ate traum a.

When fascia is irr itated, it becomes in flam ed. Infl ammation lead s
to the fascia sh ortening and b ecoming extremel y tight in a
localize d are a (115). Reducing fas cial tight ness r equires much
lighter pressure in a spe cific area and for more extended p eriods
than is t ypicall y u tilized wi th sta nd ard foam-rolling protocol.

It is sug geste d th at if your athl etes utilize a foam rol ler or ha ndheld
massag e stick , they appl y light to medium amou nts of press ure.
There s hould be no pain due to too much press ure being applied.
Therefore, in relation to working wi th fascia, the phr ase pai n, no
gain is applic able.

Due to t he size of foam rol lers, they often do not compress just the
desired muscl e/fascia but ancill ary muscles and c onnective t issue
as well. When dealing wit h restr ict ed fasci a, it is advised to use a
well-wor n roller t hat is softer than a new one.

As note d previously, if you beli eve your at hlete’s di scomfort is the

result of a spr ain or strain, it is adv ised not to perfor m stretching o r
use a fo am ro ller. In this si tuati on, it is reco mmen ded to see k t he
attentio n of a spe cialist su ch as a physical thera pist .
Foam Roller Applications
Lower Body

Hamstrings

Gluteals
Quadriceps

Tibialis Anterior (Shin)

Hip Adductors
Iliotibial Band (It Band)

Calves
Upper Body

Latissimus Dorsi

Low Back (Erector Spinae / Quadratus Lumborum)

Upper Back

Percussion Tools

In the la st few ye ars, perc ussio n t ools, oft en ter me d, ‘mass age
guns’ h ave become quit e popular amongs t end urance athletes a nd
fitness e nthu siast s. The or iginal m assage gun was developed in
2007 b y Dr. W ers eland D C (2025). Since t hat tim e, many ot her
massag e guns have come into exis tence. M assage guns are
essenti ally handheld pow er tools t hat generate extr emely fast
pulses ( 2,000 – 26,000 pulses per minute) t o provide a
vibration/mass age effect to muscl es. Ther e are mul tiple reasons
why athl etes use massage guns such as reduction in pain,
increas ed range of motion, rec overy, etc.

Two res earch studies not ed that the primar y benefit s of perc ussio n
therapy are in cre ased ra nge of mo tion and impr oved muscl e
recovery (2023, 2024). Wit h res pec t to bot h studi es, percussi on
therapy and t radit ional m assag e th erapy d emon strat ed simila r
results. Additi onally, anot her st udy by Imtiy az et al., found t hat
both ma ssage therapy an d perc uss ion ther a py helped in the
preventi on of del ayed onset m uscl e soreness (2026).

Summary
• The adv ised appr oach to respondi ng to an injur y is to paus e
and ass ess al l of the pos sible r eas ons why the i njur y occurr ed
and then us e that informat ion t o devise a pl an to manage it.
• There are two ma in types of sleep:
• Non-Rapid Ey e M ovemen t sleep
• Rapid E ye Move ment sleep
• Health issues rel ated to not getting enou gh sleep include:
decreas e in i mmune funct ion, ri se i n cortisol level s, decreas e
in cogni tive function.
• Athlete consi dera tions rel ated t o sl eep incl ude: i ncr eased ri sk
for injury , decr ea sed perf orma nce, a need for n appi ng and
extended sleep.
• Ice has been sho wn to d elay t he h ealing proces s.
• The Gol gi ten don organ ( GTO) and muscle spindl es work
together to influence the amount of stretch placed on a
muscle.
• There are four ty pes of stretches:
• Static
• Dynamic
• Ballistic
• Proprioc eptiv e ne uromusc ular f acili tation (P NF)
• Be caref ul no t to overstret ch a mu scle.
• The saf est way for athletes to st ret ch is for them t o stretch
themsel ves.
• When str etchi ng statically , a str et ch shou ld be held for at
least 40 seconds to allow the muscle spindles to reduce thei r
signaling, thus re laxing the muscle and allowing for greater
range of moti on.
• A muscl e-tendon unit that has t oo much flexi bility m ay result
in decreased force produ ction.
• Myofasci al rel eas e is a term that typically refers to
compres sion of m uscles f or the pur poses o f red ucing
tightnes s.
• When fascia is irr itated, it becomes inflam ed and thus
shortens, causing muscle t ightness and pain.
• Fascia can be damaged when too much pressure is applied to
it.
• Foam rolling prior to exercise has been shown to increase
range of moti on without a decr eas e in forc e product ion.
• Percussi on to ols such as mass age guns h ave b een shown t o
improve rang e of motion and recov ery.
Module 12: Athlete Intake

The athlete intake is the most criti cal element of the training
process, as it det ermines if an athl ete is healthy enough to
particip ate in a running program. A dditionally, it est ablishes a
starting benc hmark regar ding v arious traini ng el ements.

Upon c omplet ion of this m odule, y ou should have an under stand ing
of the f ollowin g areas:

• Element s of t he a thlete sc reeni ng

• Anthropometri c assessments
• Girth me asure me nts
• Body composi tion
• Why BMI and BIA are not advis ed f or asses sment s
• Athlete profile
• Athlete variab les to consi der
• Working with s pecial populations

Athlete Screening
All athle tes m ust be cons idere d ap parently healt hy before r eceivi ng
coachin g. Thi s is accompli shed by using the HH Q an d PARQ, as
detaile d below. T he A thl ete Pr ofile will help you better understand
your athlete to ensure the most effi cient coach/athlete relationship.
Athlete Health Screening

Before y ou c oach any ath lete, t wo forms will nee d to be fille d out:

– Phy sical Act ivity Readiness Questio nnaire ( PARQ)

– Hea lth Histo ry Questionnaire (HHQ)

The gol d standar d for the PAR Q is the Am erican College of Sport s
Medicin e (AC SM) , which i s repri nt ed from t he C anadian Society f or
Exercise Physi ol ogy (497). As laws vary fr om st at e to stat e, it i s
advised to seek legal ad vice bef ore coaching i n dividual s
utilizing the PARQ and HHQ.

Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire (PARQ)

Based on AC SM protocol , if an athlete ans wers yes to any PARQ

questio ns, th e person must obt ain written consent from a physician
providin g clearance to work out before coaching can begin.
However , bas ed on UES CA pr otoc ol, any athlet e, r egardless of
PARQ or HHQ results, m ust have been cl eared by a physi cian
in the la st 12 mo nths befo re be gi nning a r unning program . The
questio ns on the PARQ ar e (497):

• Has your doct or ever sai d you hav e a heart condition and
recomm ended medically s upervi sed physic al acti vit y?
• Do you have chest pain brought on by physical acti vity?
• Have you dev eloped chest pain wi thin th e last m ont h?
• Do you l ose consciousness or fall over as a result of
dizzines s?
• Do you have a bone or joi nt problem that c ould be aggravat ed
by physi cal ac tivi ty?
• Has a doctor ever recomm ended medicati on for hi gh blood
pressur e or a heart conditi on?
• Are you awar e of any reason y our doctor w ould advi se you
against physi cal activity w ithout m edical s upervi sio n?

Even if c leare d, a physici an ma y s uggest specifi c g uideline s suc h

as keep ing an at hlete’s heart r ate below a certain l imit or av oidin g
particul ar exer c is es. Regardles s of your opinion of what a
physicia n say s, t he docto r’s “p rescription ” for yo ur athlet e
supers edes ever ything and mu st be follo wed pr ecisely as
intended .
When a dminis teri ng the PARQ, it i s advised to ask athletes the
questio ns ver sus having t hem fi ll i n the answers themselves. If y ou
work remotely wit h an at hlete, schedule a call to go over the PARQ
instead of emailing the form.

Health History Questionnaire (HHQ)

The HH Q is im po rtant from bot h a liability and perfo rmance aspec t.

For exa mple, pas t or pres ent injuri es of an athl ete c an affec t
biomec hanic al eff iciency and overall perfor mance. M edications th at
your athlete takes can also affect perform ance. Thi s is especially
true reg ardin g th e cardio vascu lar system. Comm on types of
medicati ons p res cribed t hat aff ect heart rat e are:

• Antidepressants
• Beta-Bl ockers
• Vasodil ators
• Bronchodilat ors
• Calcium channel blockers
• Nitrates

If your a thlete do es not k now what type or classif ica tion a dr ug is,
it is the athlete’s responsibility to contact a phys ician to
underst and it s eff ects on the body. Additionally, it is your
responsibility to be awa re of a d rug’s eff ects on an athlet e and
modify th e pro gr am according ly. For example, bet a -block ers are
used for ches t pa in and high b lood pressur e and ca n lo wer one’s
heart rat e. Aft er a physic ian has c leared an athlete to exerci se, y ou
must modify the program to consi der any effect medication has on
the bod y (i.e., lowered heart r ate) . For athl etes wit h asthm a, it is
strongly recom me nded that they always have a f ast- acting i nhaler
on their perso n in the eve nt of an acute ast hma atta ck.

While th ere ar e v arious H HQ for m s and questi ons, below are

common ques tions found on H HQ f orms:

1 – Curr ent H eight:

2 – Curr ent W eight:
3 – Age :
4 – Sex :
5 – What is your restin g heart r ate upon w aking:
6 – Do y ou ta ke any drugs or m edi cations ?
7 – Dat e of y our l ast medi cal physi cal:
8 – Do y ou have a family history of heart diseas e?
9 – Do y ou have emphys ema?
10 – Ar e you, or have you been, r ecently pregnant ?
11 – Do you have hi gh cholest erol ? If so, are you under the care of
your ph ysician for it?
12 – Ha ve you had surger y in t he past year ?
13 – Ha ve you ev er had an inj ury t hat caused y ou t o stop
exercisin g for more than a week?
14 – Ar e you, or have you ev er been, anorexic or b ulimic?
15 – Ar e ther e any other physic al or emotional pr obl ems affecting
your training?
16 – Do you drink alcohol ? If s o, how muc h per wee k?
17 – Do you have any met aboli c di seases such as diabetes,
hyperth yroidis m, etc.?
18 – Do you, or have you ever, sm oked regularl y?
19 – Do you curr ently or have you had an y of t he fo llowing
conditions?

• Heart Att ack

• Heart Disease
• Heart S urgery
• Heart M urmur
• Hypertension
• Thyroid Problems
• Asthma
• Epileps y
• Anemia
• Stress Fr actur e

It is UES CA pr oto col for y our at hlet es to be clear ed by their

physicia n with in t he last 12 mo nths to train and par ticipate i n a
coache d running program . How ever, suppose your athlete
answer ed yes to any of t he questi ons 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15,
18, and 19 i n the precedi ng list. In that cas e, it i s advised to have
them rev isit a do ctor to e nsure tha t particip ation in a runni ng
program is medic ally approved.

Cardiac Screening

It is advi sed t hat your ath lete r ecei ve a car diac a sse ssment ( EKG
stress test) wit hi n one year before beginning the running p rogra m.
A succe ssful s tress test does not r ule out t he c hanc e of hav ing a
cardiac event, nor does it identify all pre -existing c ardiac is sues.
However , this step ensur es th at the athlet e has done everyt hing t o
ensure t hat t hey are ‘apparent ly healthy’ befo re beginning a
training progr am.

Keeping It Legal

As note d previously, it is s trongl y advised that t he PARQ and HH Q

questio ns noted i n this section are not to be us ed “as is” without
consulting legal counsel.

Anthropometric Assessments

Anthrop ometr y relates to the m eas urement s and proportions of th e

human body. Nex t, the anthrop ometric meas urem ent s repres ent th e
most co mmon and relevant measurements relativ e t o fitness and
sports perform ance. The true valu e of anthropometric
measur ement s is gauge d by c orrel ating ini tial as ses sments and
reasses sment s of tests.

Anthrop ometri c assessments ar e c ommonl y perf orm ed at the

beginni ng, end, and througho ut a t raining progr am. These
assessm ents are most commonl y done for athlet es who foc us on
weight l oss.

The op portunity f or error i s signi fi cantly reduced by having the

same p erson perf orm the i nitial as sessments and reassessm ents.
Girth Measurements

Girth me asure me nts are c ircumf er ence m easur eme nts take n at
various locations on the body. T he two most impo rt ant facto rs in
obtaining accur ate measurements are the locati on and tension
of the tape measure. When ret esti ng, the exact loc ation and tape
tension must be r eplicate d. Whi le i t is alwa ys bes t t o perfor m
reasses sment by the sam e indi vidual who t ook t he initial
assessm ent, t he t esting appar atus plays a r ole in ac curacy.
The Guli ck tape measur e is made for the purpo se of girth
measur ement s. It has a s mall s pring at the end of the tape t hat
expand s after the tape becom es ti ght. Upon the init ial stretc h o f
the spri ng, th e m easure ment is ta ken. Thi s ens ure s that th e corr ect
amount of tension is on t he ta pe, as it does not all ow for
overtigh tening.

While th e locations differ based on what areas you are looking t o

assess, t he m ost common area s ar e:

A: Calv es: Meas ure at t he widest part of t he cal ves .

B: T high: Meas ure the mi ddle sec tion of t he thi gh. To get an
accurat e site measurem ent, have an athl ete lift thei r leg unt il their
femur is parall el t o the gr ound. Th en, plac e a fi nger at the hip
angle f ormed b y t he inguinal cr eas e. The m idpoi nt between the
inguinal crease and the top of the patella ( kneecap) is the lo cation
of the t esting site .

C: Hips: Meas ur e at the widest p art of th e hips an d take t he

measur ement from the si de of your athlete .

D: Abdo men: M e asure level wit h t he nav el (bell y button). As with

the che st measur ement, if you are a male assess ing a femal e, ha ve
the athl ete a djust the tape in fr ont and tak e the mea sureme nt on
the side or b ehin d them.

E: Chest : Measure level with the nipples while ens uring the tape is
horizont al to t he ground. If you ar e a mal e assessi ng a female,
have th em adjust the tape in fr ont and tak e the measurement from
behind.

F: Arm: Measure at the widest par t of the biceps (unflexed) .

Body Composition

The two most prevalent m ethods f or asses sing body composition

are:

– Skinf old Cal ip ers

– Bioel ectrical I mpedan ce
Skinfold Calipers

As the name suggests, sk infol d calipers take measurements of

folds of skin. T he re are m any di ffe rent loc ations on the body to
measur e b as ed on the particul ar f ormula or equation being used .
The me asurements are as sess ed i n millimet er inc rements. S kinfol d
calipers are typic ally sprin g-loaded with a preset amount of
tension. The spri ng tensi on is i mp ortant b ecau se if the tens ion is
too hig h or too lo w, the c ompressi on on t he ski nfol ds will be
inaccur ate, and t he perc ent of body fat will be wr ong.

Exces sive b ody fat and t ester er ror can adve rsel y affect the
accura cy of t he test. The mor e body fat an individual has, the
higher t he pe rcen t erro r wil l typic al ly be.

If the te ster d oes not administe r th e test c orrectly a nd plac es th e

calipers i n the wr ong location or pi nches the skin wi th an incorrec t
amount of pr essure, the t est res ult will be i naccurat e. UESC A
referenc es the Jackson-P ollock 3- Site Test (498).

A d m i n i s t e r i n g T h e As s e s s m e nt

You will need to know yo ur ath lete ’s age a nd b ody weight f or this
test. Aft er you ge t these piece s of informati on, y ou will want to
inform your athlete that the measurements will pinch slightly and
that you will assess each site t hree times and t ake the aver age.
Perform t his te st in a priv ate se ttin g to mak e the ind ividual f eel
more co mfortable.

Pinch th e fat and skin in t he de sign ated ar ea an d pla ce the

calipers right next to your pinch. Once you have placed the
calipers i n the rig ht place, allow th e calipers to “s ettle in,” w hich
takes a bout t wo or three s econ ds. Note the measurement, then
open th e cali pers and remove t hem from the site that was t ested.
Pulling t he ca lipe rs off th e site wit hout op enin g the m will pinch the
individual being tested.

Before measuring a site, i nstruct y our athl ete not to tighten the
muscle at the site being t ested. When perf orming a pinch, you wan t
to make sure you pinch o nly th e sk in and f at, no t mu scle. Th ere ar e
two way s to do this:
 1. After ma king t he pinch a nd ho lding it, gentl y pull aw ay from
the surf ace of the body p art be ing assesse d. If a mu scle is
pinched, it will lik ely “slip” out of t he pinc h, lea ving only the
skin and fat.
2. After yo u hav e pi nched t he sit e an d befor e you appl y the
calipers, ask the individual to tighten the muscle in the area
being t ested. If y ou feel t he ar ea y ou pinc hed ti ghten or slid e
out from the pinc h, you pinched m uscle.

You sh ould perform the pi nch using your t humb and side of the
forefing er (poi nte r finger). If you h ave lon g fing erna ils, use t he
sides of both fingers, so you do not scratch the subj ect.

Becaus e of t he tautness of the skin, the thi gh measurement i s

often th e mos t dif ficult on e to p erfo rm accur ately. To make th is site
easier t o measur e, have your athl ete shift their wei ght ont o the l eg
not bei ng measur ed. The leg being measur ed should have a slight
bend in the k nee with all t he body weight on th e opposite l eg.

All sites are o n th e right si de of the body.

F e m a l e M e a s u r em en t S i t e s
T ricep: (vertical pinch) I n the middle of th e upper arm, midw ay
betwee n the elbow and t he to p of t he shoulder ( acromion pr ocess ).

Supraili ac Cr est: (diago nal pi nch) Have th e indi vid ual find the t op
of the ili ac cre st by movi ng the th umb do wn th e rig ht s ide ( mid -
axillary li ne) of the body until hitting the top of t he pelvic bo ne.
This area is calle d the ili ac cres t . Once th ey ha ve l ocated t he ili ac
crest, diagonally pinch the skin/fat directly i n front of it.
T high: (vertical p inch) Sa me lo cati on as th e thi gh gi rth
measur ement not ed previ ously, mi dway between the ingui nal
crease and t he to p of the patel la.

Male Measurement Sites

Chest: ( diagonal pinch) H alfway between the nipple and ar mpit
(axillary f old ).

T high: (vertical pinch) Same locati on as th e fem ale caliper si te

measur ement not ed above.

Abdomen: (verti c al pinch) Appr oxi mately one inch l aterally t o the
right of t he belly button ( umbili cus ).

Body Fat Equation

Body d ensity mus t first be deter mi ned to get one’s body fat
percent age. The Jackson -Pollock f ormula determ ines body densit y
(85, 86). Onc e body dens ity is determined, using a f ormula
develo ped by W. E. Siri, o ne’s bod y fat per centage can be
ascertai ned ( 84). While the bod y -density equati on di ffers bet ween
male an d fem ale, the bo dy -fat equation (Si ri) is the same for both
gender s.

Becaus e of t he labor -intensive nat ure of t he body -density

equatio ns, use the followi ng link (body -com positi on calculat or):

http://ww w.line ar - software .com/ onli ne.html

Following are categorizations of body composition, based on ACSM
protocol , relat ed to one’s fitness l evel.

Source: ACSM ’s Health -R elated P hysical F itness A ssessment

Manual, 2 n d E d. ( 2008): pg. 59

Bioelectrical Impedance Assessment (BIA)

The BIA is typi cal ly asses sed using a handhel d unit or scale.
During the BIA, a very low electric al current is sent through the
body. T his cur rent is facilit ated by fat -free ti ssue (i. e., muscl e an d
intercellular water). Fat im pedes t he elect rical c urr ent, as t here i s
little water in fat cells. The degree to which the electrical current is
impede d is d eter mined and conver ted to determi ne body density.
That is then converted to percent body fat. These calculations are
all don e by t he BI A unit.
T he percent erro r with BI A is typ ically a ssoci ated with on e’s
hydration level. If an ind ividu al is dehydr ated, the result will likely
be inac curate and show higher body fat levels t han the per son
(87). Since hy dration lev els sk ew t he resul ts, it is advisabl e not t o
perform t he BI A t est in the mor ning or aft er exer cis e sessions, a s
your athlete will l ikely be dehydrated. Reassess men ts using the
BIA sho uld be done at the sam e ti me of day, wit h t he athl ete
ingesting approximately t he same amount of flui ds before t he
assessm ent. H ow ever, thi s testi ng method is not advised becaus e
of the p ossibil ity of perce nt err or.

Weight

Determi ning y our athlete’ s wei ght as an independent variabl e is

limited in practic ality. By correlating weight a nd body fat, y ou will
be able to determ ine what is oc curr ing with body composition. For
exampl e, if an at hlete’s weight stays the s ame b ut body fat
decreas es, you c an ded uce t hat the person gai ned l ean muscle.
Many p eople ass ociate w eight as a functi on of heal th and fi tness .
However , it is y our responsibili ty as a coach to educate y our
athletes that i t is only on e fact or a nd that i t nee ds t o be cor relate d
with percent body fat to have real value.

Body Mass Index (BMI)

BMI is ca lculat ed using a form ula t hat det ermines if an indiv idual is
underw eight, average weight, or overweight. Thi s is determi ned b y
compari ng an individual’s height and weight. Wh ile BMI migh t be a
good assessmen t tool for t he general po pulatio n , it is not an
accurat e tool for an athl ete, a s it does no t consid er body f at or
muscle (88). Therefore, s omeone with a lot of m usc le and l ow
body fat woul d lik ely be c onsid ered “overwe ight” bas ed solel y on
BMI. Whil e UE SC A does n ot use BMI as an assessment to ol for
these r eason s, it is import ant t o b e aware of what i t constit utes
and its s hortc omi ngs wh en wor kin g with at hlete s.

Athlete Profile

The Athl ete P rof ile can be compl eted ver bally or v ia a form sent to
the athl ete to fill out if th ey are bei ng coac hed r emo tely. The
purpos e of the at hlete pr ofile is to obtain a wide vari ety of
information to assess/coach an individual better and more
accurat ely. Thi s profile does have a degr ee of perc ent error base d
on the i ndivid ual, as peo ple mi ght answer questi ons based on w hat
they thi nk the y should say rather than realit y.

Some of the areas that this prof ile address es ar e:

• Athletic Back grou nd

• Goals
• Training Availability
• Pain Tol eranc e
• Mental Readi nes s to Trai n
• Best Typ e of T rai ning Str ucture
• Personality Ty pe
 • Strengt hs/Weaknesses

UESCA Athlete Profile Questions

1. What type of phy sical acti vities do you curr ently par ticipate
in?
2. What competit ive sports (if any) have you partic ipated in?
3. Why, when, and how did you get s tarted in runni ng?
4. Will you be trai ni ng by y o urself or with others?
5. What ar e your short and l ong -t erm running goal s?
6. When do you hav e the m ost en ergy: morni ng, mi dday,
evening?
7. Does your schedule vary, or is i t f airly consistent?
8. What days/tim es do you have to tr ain?
9. How important is structure in you r l ife?
10. What as pect of running are you most intimidated by (if
any)?
11. What ar e your top three r unni ng -r elated s trengths and
weaknesses?
12. Do you r espond better to tough love, hand holding, or
somewhere in bet ween?
13. Do you crack, stay the same, or thr ive under pre ssur e?
14. What ar e you bet ter at? Short, har d sprints or long
endurance ef forts ?
15. How competiti ve of a per son are y ou? Rat e yourself 1 -10
(10 = the mos t)
16. How much do you enjoy t he int ensi ty of pu shing har d
while training/racing (1 -10)?
17. How confiden t a r e you in your abil ities as a runner (1 -
10)?
18. Do you l ike to be challenged? 1 -10 (1=untr ue, 1 0 = very
true)
19. Are you susc epti ble to m ental bur nout as a res ult o f
training ? 1-10 (1=untrue, 10 v ery true)
20. What is y our c urr ent wee kly trai ning volum e (dist anc e
and/or ti me) a nd how long hav e you been runni ng
consistently?

Athlete Variables to Consider

When d eveloping a progr am for an athlete, ther e ar e sever al
variables to consi der. Whil e there are likely near -endless variable s
that a c oach coul d consi der wh en developing a running pr ogram,
UESCA f ocus es on the fol lowing ar eas:

• Fitness Level of Athlete

• Experience of At hlete
• Training Duration
• Work Ethic of Athlete
• Trainability
• Special Popu latio ns

An athl ete’s goal s are a c ritical as pect of progr am develop ment.

Due to t he im port ance, a full m odule is dev oted to goal setti ng, a nd
a full module i s devoted t o per iodi zation and pr ogram design.

Fitness Level of Athlete

This is a crucial part of developing an eff ective program. You

acquire an at hlet e who w ants t o c ompete in a 100 - mile gravel rac e
in two and a half months but has not starte d training and has poor
aerobic condi tioni ng. What do y ou do? Do you put t he athl ete on a
fast-track program that mi ght get t he pers on ready f or the event
but wou ld risk inj ury, o r do you advise that it would be
advant ageous to choose anot her event giv en the ti me duration a nd
the curr ent fit nes s level?

It is impo rtant t o underst and t he ar eas that com pris e the fit ness
compon ent of a tr aining program. T oo often, endurance athletes
think of “fitness” solely in terms of the car diopulmo nary aspect.
The four areas that make up fitness as defined by UESCA are:

1. Cardiopulmonary
2. Strength/ Powe r
3. Stamina/Endu rance
4. Flexibility and Joint Range of Motion

All four areas of f itness n eed t o be incorporated into a traini ng

program . You likely have heard debates about whic h sport has th e
best ath letes. Ob viously, this is ex tremely s ubjec tiv e. For ex ampl e,
if peopl e believe that po wer is the most important trait, they would
be hard -press ed t o find a sport mor e target ed than powerlifting.
However , if one c onsider s that car diovasc ular endurance is the
most important aspect, running would likely be high on the li st.
This is noted because this certific ation is not trying to determine
which s port or which aspec t of f itn ess is m ost impor tant, but rath er
becaus e it is attempting t o identify all areas of fit ness that must b e
include d in a program for it to be comprehensiv e. Each aspect of
fitness n eeds to be appr opriat el y scaled accordi ng to an
athlete’ s indiv id ual needs. For example, if your at hlete has a
substan tially l arge percentage of body fat, it is advi sed to f ocus on
fat/weig ht los s.

Experience of an Athlete

General ly speaki ng, experienc ed r unners present m ore of a

challen ge to a coach than beginners, as the areas f or improveme nt
aren’t a s great. T he princ iples and fundam ental s of coaching a
beginn er are the same as an el ite athlete. While the focus and
specificit y are often narrowed for an elite runner ver sus a beginner,
the core coac hin g practic es do no t change. It is im portant to know
how to s cale your progra mming appropriat ely to acc ommod ate ea ch
athlete as a c oac h.

Experienced Runner

Just because a r unner is competi ng at a high level does not

necess arily m ean that the pers on i s not de fici ent in one or more
areas.

For many high -level athl etes, t he r ole of a coac h is not so m uch t o
push th em but to provide struct ure or hold t hem bac k when need ed
if they h ave the propensity to overtrain.

Experie nced r unners often chall enge coac hes because the y may
have es tablis hed training methods and may be r esis tant to c hang e
‒ even i f their cur rent trai ning p rac tices are incorr ec t and
inefficient. Being a qualit y coach means havin g th e ability to
commun icate eff ectivel y with yo ur athlet e as t o
the how’ s and w hy’s of t he trai ni ng proce ss.

If your a thlete is both ex perie nced and elit e, th e ro om for

improve ment i s ty pically s mall. B ut while the tot al range for
improve ment i s s mall, the effort required t o coach t his type of
athlete i s imm ens e. The s mall, s eeming ly tri vial insi ghts oft en
make all the difference at this l evel. Theref ore, y our attention to
detail m ust be ex tremely high w hen workin g with th ese athl etes. It
is also suggested to bring in other professionals (i.e.,
biomec hanist s, s ports ps ychol ogis ts, e tc.) t o assi st. If you do not
feel you can assist cert ain ath let es because t hey are abo ve
your lev el of expertise, you s ho uld not w ork wi t h them a nd
refer th em to a more e xperience d coach .

Novice Runner

When wo rking w ith a beg inner ru nner, yo u must make n o

assump tions.

When w orking wit h a novi ce runner , and es peci ally one with no
history of running, you must be sur e to mak e no ass umptions.
Assuming a n ovic e athlet e underst ands a nd can execute seemingl y
basic thi ngs is a critical mi stake.

It is advi sed t hat if you ar e workin g with novice runners with little
to no b ase fit nes s, they s houl d be limited t o parti ci pating i n a 1 0K
event d uring their first year . Additi onally, t he focus of a first -yea r
runner s hould b e on learning pr oper me chani cs, increasing
muscul ar end ura nce, gai ning car diovascular fi tn ess, an d
learning about t he sport ‒ not s peed. W hile it i s fine to
incorporate high levels of intensity into a pr ogram, it should be
done s paringly and only if the athl ete is physical ly r eady.

Training Duration

Training duration is the amount of time between the acquisition of

an athl ete and the race f or whic h t he pers on is t raining, ass uming
the athl ete hi red you to h elp tr ain f or a sin gular eve nt. Before
taking o n an athl ete, you must tak e entire stock of t he following
areas to determine if the durati on of time t o train for the rac e is
enoug h.

• Current training volume

• Experience
• Time av ailabili ty
• Biomec hanic al ef ficiency
• Fitness level
• Distanc e of event being tr aine d for

Training Volume

The time comm it ment per week varies considerably based on wh ere
an athl ete is i n the training proces s and the rac e di stance being
trained f or. Fo r e xample, at th e on set of a traini ng p rogram and
during t he ta per, the weekly tim e c ommitment will li kely be
substan tia lly l ess than during wee ks at peak trai ning volum e.

Genetic Predisposition

No matt er how hard most peopl e w ork at it, they probably w on’t b e
able to sprint l ike Usain B olt or run a marat hon as fa st as Emi ly
Sisson. This d oe s not me an, h owe ver, that they cannot impr ove
substan tially. You might know of r unners who c an without much
training, run 1 0 m iles with out a pro blem wh ereas mo st others woul d
cramp after just a few mile s. Wh et her it is muscul ar endur ance ,
VO2 Ma x, abil ity to reco ver, o r p ain toler ance, yo ur athlete will
likely fi nd cer tai n areas of tra ini ng and d evelo p ment ea sier
than othe rs.

If your a thlete is an exp erienc ed r unner, t hey wi ll li kely hav e a

good id ea of where their i nherent strengths and weakness es lie.
However , if your athlete i s new to t he spor t or p hysi cal activi ty in
general , it will ta ke some time f or you to be abl e to determi ne
strengths. Once y ou ascertain this, it will he lp wit h program
develo pment, as you will be able t o target areas th at likely need
more foc us than others.

The Sp ort Gene by David Epstei n examines the r ole of natur e

(genetic s) vers us nurture (traini ng) regardi ng sports perform ance
(466). W hile the book is f ull of res earch and int eres ting anecdot es
regardi ng this topic, the gi st of t he book is t hat both genetic s and
training impac t th e succe ss rat e of an indi vidual at a partic ular
sport. Genetics in fluence many things, including how well an
individual adapts to aerobic exercise, limb lengths, height, etc.
Based on the sport, a ge netic attri bute such as extr eme hei ght
might b e an asset (basket ball), whereas, i n another sport, it i s
largely a liability (distance runner) (466).

As note d in t he book, in a study, 1,900 Canadi an fir efighter

applica nts were given VO 2 max tes ts to see if there was suc h a
thing as a na tural ly gifted aerobic i ndividual. As i t turns out, t he
study id entified six indi vidual s who had no hist ory of aerobic
training but had VO2 max levels associ ated w ith collegiate
distanc e runn er s ( 479).

Genetic s may als o play a role i n how motiv ated an i ndividual is to

exercise and t rai n. A study of 37,051 twins found th at 48 to 71
percent of th e var iation in the amount of exercis e performed by t he
subjects could be attributed to genetics (495).

Work Ethic of an Athlete

Some in dividuals will have a str onger work ethi c t han others . Som e
athletes will hang on to y our ev ery word an d do anyt hing an d
everythi ng you say. For ot hers, it w ill be like pulli ng teeth to get
them to come clo se to ad herin g to the train ing pr ogr am. The
majority of athl et es will fa ll som ew here betwe en these two
extreme s.

The stronger an athlete’s work ethic is, the faster they will typically
progres s and see results. While one aspec t of being a coac h is th e
ability to motiv ate, it doe s not alw ays ens ure th at a n athlet e will
give 10 0 perc ent. If an at hlete’ s w ork ethic is po or, it is your
respons ibility t o f ind a w ay to moti vate the indivi dual. Suppose th e
training progr am i s modifi ed to acc ommod ate an ath lete’s la ck of
training. In th at c ase, yo u must re schedul e the goal event if the
training will n ot adequat ely pr epar e the at hlete for t he event.

You mu st be honest in your as ses sments of you r at hletes. T his

might call for t ough conv ersati ons when addres sing a lack of work
ethic an d adhere nce to t he pr ogra m. While tactfu l i n your
discussi ons, y ou must b e direct and truthf ul con cerning curr ent
training perfor ma nce.
Trainability

This relates to how well an individual responds to the training

process. Also, in The Sport Gene , Epstein notes a s tudy call ed th e
HERITA GE Famil y Study ( 466). The gener al the sis o f this st udy is
that indi vidua ls r espond differ entl y to train ing, bas ed main ly on
genetic factor s (4 67, 468 ). Sp ecific ally, in 2011 HER ITAGE
researc hers ident ified specific g en e variants ass oci ated wit h hig h
aerobic capacity. Individuals wit h many of thes e gene variants
improve d their V O2 max three tim es more than those with a low
number. Other gene variants correl ated wit h the magnitude of th e
drop in heart r ate due to aerobic tr aining ( 466, 467, 468).

Trainability relates to training methodology. In other words, if an

athlete i s not r esponding well t o a particular t rai ning met hod
or application, change the traini ng stimulus (466). A traini ng
method or applic ation m ust be im plement ed for a l ong enough
period t o ens ure t hat a tr aining adaptation has enough t ime t o
occur.

Special Populations

This certification denotes three specific categories of runners that

require additi onal awareness:

• Youth Ath letes ( 16 yea rs or youn ger)

• Older At hlete s ( 65 years or olde r)
• Athletes With a Physical Disability

Youth Athletes
 Below are six overriding t hemes w hen coachin g any youth s port:

1. Fun
2. Sportsm anshi p
3. Skill an d Motor Develop ment
4. Social and E mot ional Develop ment
5. Commun icatio n
6. Safety

Fun

Particip ating i n a running race sho uld be f un for a c hild. If

competi ng in r unning rac es is s om ething a parent w ants for a chil d,
but the child hates it, this i s a tim e when a conv ersa tion bet ween
you an d the parent is appropri ate. How you deci de to make traini ng
fun is u p to y ou, but you shou ld tr y your h ardes t to balanc e fun and
some form of stru ctured training.

Youth u nder the age of 14 sh ould have mi nimal specialization in

the pro gram.

S p o r t sm a n s h i p

Sportsm anshi p is winning with humility an d losi ng with res pect f or

each ot her and the opponent. Sportsmans hip is mo re than j ust
being n ice to others. Someone di splaying good sportsman ship is
supportive (of teammates and opponents), partici pate with a
positive attitu de, are resp ectful , ar e willing to le arn, and pr actice
self-cont rol. W hen these quali ties are pres ent, it makes for a more
enjoya ble and healthy sport environment. Showi ng good
sportsm anshi p i s not just for th e athlet es; it i s i mportant for
parents, coaches, volunteers, et c. … to portray these trait s so
that you th ca n le arn by e xampl e. And when learned at a y oung
age, th ere is a m uch higher lik elihood of y outh to portray these
traits lat er in lif e in their f amilie s, workplac es, a nd social cir cles.

S k i l l a n d M o t o r D e ve l o p m e n t

The phy sical dev elopment of c hildren largely rel ate s to when the y
hit pub erty. Ki ds hit puberty at diff erent tim es. F or t his
reason, assessin g a child ’s futu r e potenti al is very difficu lt, as
one’s s uccess m ay have mor e to do with hi tting p uberty early
than it do es wit h being a runni n g prodig y.
While a physic all y mature child mi ght be ab le t o handle a s lightly
higher workload t han a c hild w ho has not y et hit puberty, this
should be as sess ed indiv iduall y. It is never a wrong decision to
progres s a chi ld conserv atively .

S o c i a l a n d E m o t i o na l D e v e l o p m e n t

Researc h has shown that yout h w ho part i cipate in sports have a

wide ra nge of out comes, i ncludi ng physical and soci al healt h, low er
health-r elated iss ues, higher academic ac hievemen t, and a great er
likelihood of attending a nd graduating coll ege. Spo rt has b een
shown to enhan ce the social an d e motio nal co m petenci es
essenti al to success in relati onships, sc hool, an d work.

In a spo rts en viro nment, y outh are expose d to a stru ctured n eed t o
engag e in a social environment where deci sion - maki ng, mem ory,
teamwor k, an d pr oblem -s olving ar e neces sary. All of which have
been a ssociated with greater s oci al and emotional intelligence l ater
in life. W ith m ent al healt h at t he forefront of soci al p riorities, i t is
essenti al to pr ovi de yout h with a s afe and heal thy e nvironm ent to
provide youth wit h a sup portiv e m eans for social a nd emot ional
skill dev elopment. For thi s to happen, the sport s environ ment
needs to be safe, supportive, a p lace to succeed, and a
commun ity wh er e youth can le ar n age -ap propri at e cogniti vely,
emotion ally, and sociall y skil ls.

Communication

How yo u com municate wit h a c hild is different from how you sho uld
speak w ith an adult. A youth parti cipant is less li kely to be
interested in the nuances of the training process than an adult
would b e. Keepin g the science ou t of the v erbiage when
coachin g a ch ild is highl y advi sed.

It is prob able that a youth athl ete won’t h ave a l ong attentio n sp an;
the you nger t he c hild, the more lik ely this i s. Theref ore, sav e you r
20-minu te dis sert ation on oxidative phosphorylat ion for your adult
athletes and try t o keep t alks with youth cli entel e to a few mi nutes
and on topic s they under stand.

The em phasis on communication s hould be ligh thearted, fun, and

supportive. Keep criticism t o a mini mum, and if cri tic ism is us ed, it
must alw ays be fr amed in a suppor tive man ner. F oul language
should never be used w hen c omm unicating with athletes,
regardl ess of age.

Involving Parents

It is a p arent’s ch ild, not y ours. Th erefore, you need to inclu de th e

parents in the training pr ocess ‒ as long as their participation is
constructive and supportive. The exact verbiage of how you speak
to a chil d’s pa ren ts is up t o you . T he prim ary thi ngs to reme mber
when in volving p arents are:

– Keep them involved in t he trai ning process

– Keep lines of c ommuni cation open
– Be su pporti ve of their g oals f or t heir chil d as l ong as they are
healthy and attai nable
– Mana ge their e xpectati ons
– Conti nue t o reit erate your trai ning philos ophy throughout the
coachin g process
– Be res pectf ul and prof essional at all times

It is impo rtant t o underst and t hat y ou are c oachi ng a child who,

more th an likely, is not just part ici pating i n run ning events. T he
child is most l ikely doin g sport s and non - sport- r elated
activities. Theref ore, you should l ook at t he trai ning process as an
opportu nit y t o enhance t heir m otor development . This means you
should work i n all planes of movem ent and eng age t he child in
movements and activities t hat m ay not nec essaril y be runni ng -
specific.

Safety

When training youth (and adult) athletes, the mo st import ant

aspect i s saf ety. The musculos kel etal structure of a youth athle te
is still in a developmental phase and cannot and should not have
the sam e stressors placed upon it as an a dult. T he younger the
athlete i s, the mo re this is true. Ar eas, wh ere thi s a pplies m o st ar e
race dist ance, str ength tr aining, and race/tr aining fr equenc y and
intensity .

Adolesc ents matu re at ver y different rates, and as s uch, it is

difficult t o det erm ine if an adol esce nt is phy sically m ature e nough
to hand le a s et di stance. Therefore, when w orkin g with yout h
runners, a slow and ste ady pr og ression is always the be st
course of acti on as you want t o ensure the program is
appropr iately prescribed and s caled.

The foc us on strength trai ning should be on bodyweight exercises

in all planes of movem ent, with the primary f ocus on overall
strengthening and fun.

Educati on and aw areness are essential to c reating a network of

coache s, trainers , doctors , volunteers, mentors, and parents that
create a safe environment for youth athletes. Al l participant s m ust
be adv ocates of r espect and an abuse -free
environ ment. Em otional abus e, physical abuse, bull ying, and
harassm ent ar e primary ex ampl es that, if presen t, c an lead to
severe mental an d physic al health outcom es and pot ential
cessation of spor ts participation al together. Resour ces are
availabl e thro ugh the US Cent er fo r Safe S port (if U S -based) to
educat e and report concer ns confi dentiall y.

Interactions Between Coaches and Athletes

The mos t cruci al thing in a coaching relationship is t hat it is always

professi onal. Thi s encapsulat es m any things ranging from physica l
touchin g, lan guage used, phy sical actions, and mannerism s. As an
exampl e, a coach might s ay or do somethi ng th at, i n their m ind, is
professi onal; how ever, from the at hlete’s point of vi ew, it is
unprofe ssion al and scary .

Older Athletes
It is a fa ct that as one ages, m any physiol ogical cha nges oc cur.
Following are so me examples of these changes (92):

• Cardiac output decreases

• The overall decrease in elasticit y of muscles and connectiv e
tissue
• Decreas e in nerv e impuls es (e. g., reaction time)
• Sarcopenia: a reduction in muscle strengt h
• Decreas e in l ung capacity
• Bones becom e w eaker a nd more brittle (i.e., osteop orosis)
• Increas e in recov ery time

Does thi s mean that if you coach an athl ete wh o is 65 or ol der,

there is no h ope? Not, an d in f act, it is quit e the opp osite. A s a
coach of an ol de r adult, you ha ve the op portunit y to hav e a
substant ial im pact on slo wing t h e aging process. As an
exampl e (running -specific) of what fitness can do to slo w the agin g
process, at the 2 021 Fift h Avenue Mile in N YC, th e winner of the
70 to 7 4 -year- old age gr oup cr oss ed the li ne in 6:18, and t he
winner of the 80‒ 99 age group did it in 8:1 7 (93)!

A compr ehensive training progr am can dramatic ally slow

physiol ogic al changes as sociat ed with agi ng, es pec ially mus cle
strength (639). Some imp ortant ar eas to identify in a training
program are:

1. Strengt h traini ng
2. Adequate recover y periods
3. Maintai ning i nten sity in the trai ning progr am

T he overall st ru cture of a runn i ng pro gr am for athletes 65

years and old er should b e based on the in dividu al, not th e age .
This is because of the wide range of physical capacity.

Muscular Endurance

While m uscle str ength an d pow er have b een show n to decr eas e
over 60 year s of age (640), st udi es seem to in dic ate that
muscul ar end urance is n ot affect ed (641) . The ne uromusc ular
system r egarding running is pri mar ily correl ated to muscle
fatigabil ity. In oth er words , as s om eone ages, t he fa tigability does
not cha nge much, if at all.
A r e a s of F o c u s

While m uscular endurance has not been s hown to decrease with

age, as noted pre viously, the s ame cannot be s aid f or musc ular
power/st rengt h, c ardiovascular out put, lun g cap acity , and reactio n
time (64 2).

Therefore, when creating a running progr am for an athlete over 65

years old, focusin g on these areas safely is advis ed. Of course,
age is a relati ve number, and whil e it is lik ely tha t you will come
across a runner i n their 40s who r equires much more attention t han
a runne r in their 60s, th e general t rend is t hat ol der athletes sho uld
have dif feren t are as of fo cus th an younge r athl etes.

Athletes With a Physical Disability

Training methods differ based on the physical li mita tions of an

athlete. Reg ardle ss of th e disa bilit y, it woul d hel p t o focus on th e
same ar eas o f performanc e enhancement and c omponents of
fitness t hat yo u w ould wit h a n on-disabled indivi dual . How you
customiz e the pr ogram and worko uts to accomm odate an athlete
will differ.

Importa nt areas on which to foc us when w orking wi t h a phy sically

challen ged athlet e are:

• Safety
• Feedback
• Equipm ent
Depen ding on the area of disability , safety and equi pment m ight be
more of an iss ue than wit h an able -bodied athlete.

Accordi ng to Cat herine Sellers , di rector of USA Par alympic Track

and Fiel d High P erformance , a coach goes thr ough a growt h
process when firs t working with an athlete with a phy sical dis ability
(342). T he stages are as f ollows :

1 – F ear of th e unkno wn
2 – F ear of saying so methin g wrong
3 – S hock
4 – A ccept ance
5 – A dvocacy

When w orking wit h any at hlete, the learning proc ess is a two - way
street. This is es pecially true when working with a physicall y
disable d athl ete. While the athl ete is learni ng ab out training
method ologi es, physiology, an d race tactic s from you, you are
learning about the person’s partic ular disability and its cha llenges.

As a co ach, o ne of the m ost im por tant and nec essary traits is the
ability to adapt. A s stated abov e, t he goal and basic structur e of
the pro gram s hould not c hange; it i s jus t a f uncti on of what
modifications need to be i mplemented to m eet the needs of an
athlete.

Suppos e your athlete has a video of him or hers elf racing or vide os
of other s with the same di sabilit y. I n that c ase, it ca n be be nefici al
in unde rstanding the nat ur e of the disability and its i mpact on
perform ance.

Summary
• An HHQ and PAR Q must be compl eted before tr aini ng an
athlete can c omm ence.
• If an at hlete ans wers yes to any of the PA RQ q uest ions,
the pers on m ust get a physician’s clearance pri or to
working with you.
• Based on UE SCA protocol, any athlete, regardless o f PARQ
or HHQ r esults, must have been c leared by a physi cian in t he
last 12 months prior to be ginning a running program .
• It is advi sed t hat your ath lete r ecei ve a car diac a sse ssment
within one year p rior to beginni ng a training/raci ng program .
• A Gulick tape measure is used to t ake acc urate girt h
measur ement s.
• It is advi sed n ot t o use B MI or BIA method s to d eter mine bo dy
composi tion because of a subs tant ial chan ce for inaccuracie s.
• Many vari ables c ome int o play when creat ing a trai ning
program . Below are six var iables:
• Fitness level
• Experience level
• Training duration (how long before goal event)
• Genetic predi spo sition
• Work ethic of athl ete
• Special popu latio ns
• The athlete profil e will help you to assess athlet es i n the
followin g are as:
• Athletic backg rou nd
• Goals
• Training availability
• Pain thr eshol d
• Mental r eadiness to train
• Best typ e of tr ain ing struc ture
• Personality ty pe
• Strengt hs/weaknesses
• Fun, safety, and age-appropri ate c ommuni cation are fo cal
points w hen c oac hing yo uth at hlet es.
• When w orking wit h youth athletes, parents must be i nvolved
in the tr aining process.
• While physiol ogic al capacity decreases as peo ple a ge,
physical traini ng can dra matica lly slow the agin g pr ocess.
• Athletes with a physical disabili ty present a uni que set of
challenges to a c oach, pr imarily regarding the use of adapti ve
equipm ent. I n these cases, a c oac h has an opportunity to
learn as much as an athl ete.
Module 13: Goal Setting

This lesson will discuss all aspect s involved with understanding

different goal types and how t o eff ectively work w ith your at hletes
to estab lish t hem .

• Different types of goals a nd how to identify them

• Process, Perf orm ance, a nd o utcom e goals
• S.M.A.R. T goa ls
• Open and Cl osed goals
• Assessi ng p ot enti al
• Logging training and its v alue i n goal setti ng
• Goal identific ation and i dentif ying a goal event
• Health vs. Competitive goals
• Long and S hort -T erm goa ls

Goal Setting
Goals ar e a n ece ssary co mpon ent in effecti ve pr ogr am desi gn. If
your athlete has not identified a goal for w hich t o tr ain, you should
work with them to come up with one. Without a specific goal, there
is no foc al point, and the refore intermediary goals cannot be
establis hed.

The go al of an at hlete n eeds t o be realistic and attainable. I t is th e

respons ibility of c oaches to inf orm athletes if they feel their goal is
too far-r eachi ng and, thus, not realistic or potenti all y unsaf e. Let’ s
repeat t his for those in t he back… a goal MUST be realistic and
attaina ble! S etting unrea li stic and unachi evabl e goals sets at hlete s
up for p erceiv ed f ailure, s adness, negativi ty, and ev en depr essio n.

If an at hlete’s go al race i s mont hs down t he ro ad, it is a go od id ea

to choo se pr epar atory rac es befor e the goal race. T his is
especia lly true fo r beginners as do ing a “pr actice” r ace or r aces
will help familiari ze them with the process of preparing for, and
racing i n a running race. F or more seasoned runner s, practic e
races should be used for high - lev el traini ng, maint aining
motivati on, and overal l fit ness/p erf ormanc e assess ment.

For many indiv iduals, the big pict ure goal might be somethi ng ot her
than a r unnin g ra ce, such as w eig ht loss, i ncrea sin g cardio vascu lar
fitness, or low eri ng chol estero l. F or this ty pe of ath lete, the y
typically use r unn ing as a motiv ating factor for th eir big pict ure
goal.

Process, Performance, And Outcome Goals

In the f ollowin g vi deo, Jim Leh man discuss es the se different goal
types. T his to pic is also c overe d la ter in th e mod ule by Ben
Rosario. Note – t he below video m akes mention of c ycling -specific
scenari os, but the overreaching m essage is applicable to al l
athletes , inclu din g runne rs.

[There is a Vi deo here. Vi deos can not be v iewe d fro m this P DF. To
View Vi deo C ontent, please ref er t o the online Cour se]

The mos t founda t ional m ental perf ormanc e skills for athletes cent er
on Motivation, G oals, an d Com mi tment . It’ s tough to build a
coachin g plan for someone wit hout knowing wha t they are
pursuin g, why the chosen goal s ar e personally r elevant to t hem,
and wh at pot enti al barrier s are ex pected i n their tr aining. This tri o
of factor s sets up the enti re trai nin g cycle. I t’s im portant to
underst and and help gui de the athl ete through each of these area s
to ensur e alig nm ent in th e co achi ng-athl ete rel ationship a nd
minimize any pot ential points of c onflict or disagreement. T hese
three fa ctors also wax an d wan e th rougho ut an athle te’s life. I t’s
importa nt to c ons ider the changing nature of each domain
through out a season and a lif etim e for those pursui ng athl etic -
related goals.
Goals m ight b e t he most researched and discu ssed area
related t o perf or mance. At its cor e, goal setting appears to be a
relatively well - dis cussed concept embedd ed in all enduran ce
perform ance. Still , there are im port ant con cepts and framew orks to
conside r when setting go als. T he fi rst of th ese factors center on
Process, Perf orm ance, a nd O utco me goal s.

Outcome Goals

Let’s sta rt with outcome goals, as most ath letes hav e a spe cific,
desired outcome they are trying to achiev e. An outc ome goal is a
specific r esult that in and of it self is largely out of an athlet e’s
control, such as winning a race, m aking it to the podium, or hitting
a very s pecific ti me. Out come goals are rooted i n precision and
often h old deep v alue and meaning, but oft en can contribute to
anxiety and fr ustr ation, gi ven t he l ack of c ontroll abi lity. Muc h of
coachin g is c entered on agreei ng t o realisti c Out come goal s and
working to struct ure the process of physiol ogical development to
put the athlet e in the best poss ible position to ac hiev e these goal s.
But ther e can be a lot of outsid e in fluencer s that sta nd in th e way
of Outc ome goals becomi ng reality – weat her can b e non -
conduci ve to som eone’s goal r ace for exam ple, or a perfectly
execute d day may be ecli psed by another runner accident all y
tripping them. In short, o utcom e g oals are speci fic results w ith
limited control.

Performance Goals

Perform ance goal s lie just unde rne ath Out come goal s and focus o n
a set of stand ard s to eng age t hat gives th e athl ete more co ntrol
over eff ort and intensit y w hile r edu cing an emphasis on an exact
outcom e. Perf orm ance g oals ar e st andards that are being pursue d
that are not n ece ssarily ti ed to sp ecific, ex act o utc omes, y et still
hold hi gh val ue. Perform ance goal s will still l ikely be specifi c but
will have fluidi ty, and flex ibility beh ind them. They c onnect an
athlete t o mor e c ontrolla ble, y et le ss specif ic out co mes – s uch a s
maintai ning a har d effort when tired or fati gued or engaging in
mental t oughness (more on that to pic later) . Perf or mance goals
can be mod ifi ed and scaled gi ven the uni que n eeds of an
athlete and/or changing circu mstances of a specific eve nt.

Wherea s an Outc ome goal may be somethi ng al ong the line s of

“Win the local 5K ,” a perf ormance goal ma y be ‘ average a 6:30 per
mile pac e’ in t he race a nd continu e to run hard when tired d uring
the final stretc h o f a race.” Focu sin g on those k ey st andard s of
perform ance gives the at hlete a specific, tangibl e ar ea of control
that in t urn is l ike ly to lea d to t he b est poss ible o utc ome giv en th e
circumst ances they find t hems elves in. Important ly, Perform ance
goals ar e the def acto def ault f or a nyone who fi nds t hemself in a
position in wh ich their sp ecific Out come g oal ma y b e in jeo pardy.
Rather than reducing eff ort compl etely, co ntinuing to push as hard
as possi ble w hen a race outcome goal is unlikel y gi ves the athlet e
a sense of agenc y and fo cus i n a s pecific w ay, rather than
becomi ng ov erwhelmed wi th th e possible fr ustrati on of falling short
of their i ntended Outcom e goal .

Process Goals

Process goals ar e the m ost controllable s et of goal s in the l ife of

an athl ete and inf luence t he daily and weekly trai ning plan as the y
focus o n acti onable behaviors on a regular, consi stent and
trackabl e basi s. Completi on of Pr ocess g oals p uts the athl ete in
the best poss ible place to achi eve a specifi c out com e goal.
Exampl es of proc ess goa ls could i nclude how m any days p er wee k
an athl ete trains, what tim e of v olume they work t o c omplete, and
what intensity ranges the y perform their trai ning.

Taken t ogether, an exam ple of the s e goal s worki ng togethe r coul d

realistically look somethi ng lik e thi s:

Outcom e Goal s ( Desired Resu lt ): Get top 3 in t he regional road

race ch ampionshi p

Perform ance Go als (Standard s) : Execut e a sm art race da y

strategy. Focus o n staying in the top 1/3 of th e pac k at all ti mes.
Follow any attack in the last 5 mile s . In training – develop menta l
toughn ess ski lls of runni ng hard w hen tired.

Proces s Goals ( Behavio r) : weekl y mileag e, int erv als, long runs,
strength traini ng, nutrition, and mental skill s develo pme nt over a
16-wee k traini ng cycle. P ercent ag e of trai ning i n specific zones
that alig n with go al objec tives.
S.M.A.R.T Goals

The acr onym SM ART has gained much att ention in recent y ears
due to goal s etting and is worth considering when w orking wi th
athletes . The acr onym st ands f or:

Specific: goals n eed to be clear a nd spec ific. S om e questi ons t o

conside r include: What ar e you tryi ng to ac compl ish? Why now?
When a nd where is the ev ent t aking place?

Measur able : t her e are m any w ays to meas ure s uccess. C om pletin g
a race is one l ev el. Focusing on an outcome tim e goal is another .
It’s also i mport an t to focu s on mea suring p rogre ss a long th e way.
Whatev er the out come in focus , it needs t o be clear and have so me
ability to be m eas ured.

Attainable: there are tw o ways to t hink about the level of

attaina bility. F or many, m aking sur e a goal is connected to a
realistic l evel of achievement i s i mportant. A new runner who
express es a goal of winni ng the Bolder Boulder 10K in their fi rst -
ever rac e will li kely be set tin g t hemselves up for h uge lev els of
disapp ointment if they em bark dow n this path. Y et, others m ay
want to take on what we s ometime s call “a big hairy goal,” w hich is
of high challe nge and a difficul t le vel of at taina bilit y. It’s es sentia l
to consi der th e b alance between c hallenge an d risk when
conside ring t he l evel of attainabili ty in goal crea tion. The
convers ation bet ween at hlete and coach r egarding the expr esse d
goal of r isky a ttai nability i s critic al here.

Releva nt : Ensuri ng a goal is pers onally r elevant and meaningf ul is

arguabl y the mos t critical aspec t of SMART . Essenti al quest ions t o
ask incl ude: W hat makes this g oal importa nt to y ou? What m akes
the purs uit of this goal w orthwh ile? Is this t he rig ht t ime in y our life
to pursu e this go al? Athl etes often get caught i n pur suing re lativel y
meanin gless pers onal goals because they see other s pursui ng
them. Fo r exa mpl e, I’ve w orked wit h plenty of ru nner s who b elieve
they ca n’t call themselves a “runner” until t hey c om plete some
arbitrary feat, such as complet i ng a marat hon or running a speci fic
time in a partic ul ar event . Yet, the y have no person al intere st in
pursuin g suc h goals. Work ing t o understand the per sonal
significance of a goal is import ant.

T ime-Based: Every goal needs a t arget date. W hen is the eve nt?
Is there adequate time to prepa re? How will purs uin g this g oal
impact my schedule for t he next week, month, six m onths, y ear,
etc.?

Open and Closed Goals

Open a nd cl osed goals ar e a f urther important consi deration in

goal set ting, parti cularly in the c onnection to the underlying
psychol ogical frameworks that can be influenced by either, most
notably that of flo w state or clut ch state (w hich wi ll be disc ussed
later). Flow has been de scribed as an opti mal experience of total
immersion in an activity, whic h dif fers from a clut ch state, a feeli ng
of urge ncy in nee ding to perfor m in a partic ular w ay in a specific
moment. Further, the concept of fl ow is oft en tied t o Peak
Perform ance attainment, defined as a stat e of ac complishm ent
resultin g from sustained eff ort and concentration.

Open Goals

Open g oals are non -spec ific an d exploratory. They do not have a
specific target, focus, or outcome. Rather, they are tied to an
ongoin g proc ess. Open goals are f luid, spontan eous , and
respons ive to the changi ng demands of any giv en si tuation. They
are most often connected to perfor mance s tandards over
perform ance outc omes and per mit adaptability and explorat ion. I n
the pap er cit ed below, thi s des cription from a clim ber worki ng on
summitin g Mt Eve rest is that of open goals: “I was just thinki ng,
“Oh, I’ll j ust see how it goes and t ake it as it comes .” I climbed
higher and hi gher , and the clim b had got more and more
engross ing a nd difficult and all - encompas sing r eall y … until I
discover ed th at I’ d climbe d like 40 me ters w ithout consciousl y
knowin g what I w as doing.” As a c oncept, the abilit y to tap into
open g oals based on perf ormance standar ds is s om ething t hat
every at hlete can work to adopt in their trai ning and racing
strategy/

Closed Goals

Closed goals are speci fic, rigid, and tied to the outc ome. Due to
their co nnecti on t o an objectiv e, m easura ble res ults such as
winning or ac hiev ing a qualifyi ng s tandard, for exam ple, clos ed
goals, a re so meti mes refe rred t o as fixed g oals. Th ey can i nflue nce
a sense of ur gency during com peti tion and lead to d eliberat e
decisio n-maki ng r egarding incr easi ng intensity, effor t, and/or
concent ration in a given situati on. An example of this type of goa l
is quote d by a tennis player, “To be hone st, I just wanted to win the
match. I didn ’t care how; I just wanted to wi n.” A Clutch stat e is
also an import ant psychol ogica l st ate for an ath lete to work out.
This state requires a decision to continue pushing despite the
discomf ort of pur suing a specif ic outcome. Clutc h st ate is of ten ti ed
to a de ep sense of personal m eaning with outcome goals (965).

Assessing Potential
For athletes who have a performance -based goal, y ou must asse ss
their pot ential to determi ne if t heir goal is f easib le. Athletes ofte n
ask abo ut their potential in thr ee main ar eas:

1. Person al Pot enti al: What is my physiologic al potent ial?

2. Event P otenti al: What is my pot ential for pl acing in a
particul ar event?
3. Event P repar edn ess: Will I be r eady to participa te i n a
specific event? Assessin g potential can play a significant role
in goal selection. For example, if you hav e an athlete who
wants to win their local criterium the following year, you will
need to assess their current fitness level a nd how it relates t o
their stat ed g oal.

Asses sing po ten tial is very subjective , and w hile one can use
data to assist in t his dete rminat ion , there is a hi gh degree o f bias
involve d at the end of the day . Tw o coaches could assess an
individual and come up with two completely different views of their
perceiv ed pot enti al. The l onger one has c oache d an athlete; the
more ac curate the indivi dual wi ll be in ass essing an athlete’ s
potenti al.

Following are five primary things that affect the accuracy of

“athlete pote ntial ” assess ments :

• Past-per forma nce history of running

• Physiol ogical and perform ance test ing
• Rate of progression in tra ining
• Duration of w orki ng with an at hlet e
• Capacit y to adapt to the tr aining pr ocess

While th ese ar e fi ve impor tant area s to look at, there are unli mited
areas th at can be used to assess p otential. As a coa ch, i t is up to
you to think outsi de the box and look for areas that you feel will
most acc uratel y assess your at hlet e’s potential.

All the a reas abo ve affec t how and what g oals ar e s et. The goals
should be challenging, realistic, att ainable, well -r ounded, and m ost
importa nt, agr eed upon b y you and your at hlete.

Following is a breakdown of each area regarding potential

assessm ent:

Running Performance History

Perhap s your athl ete was a top for mer divisi on o ne track runner.
While th e time ga p between their c ollegi at e running career a nd
present time affects pote ntial t o s ome de gree, i t does give a good
picture of the indi vidual’s perceived potential c oncerning capacity
to be a talent ed r unner.

Physiol ogical T esting

A test s uch as FT HR can provid e y ou with good info rmation

regardi ng an athl ete’s cur rent and potenti al phy siological capacity.

Speed of Prog re ssion in T raini n g

As there is alw ay s room f or impr ov ement, t here i s n o such t hing as

one’s “p otenti al” or “capacity,” as t his is a moving target. It is just
a functi on of how close a n athl ete is to this movi ng target t hat yo u
should attem pt to assess.

When w orking wit h a dec onditi oned athlet e or a n av erage -

conditioned athlete, the fastest rat e of progress occ urs in the
beginni ng. T his is natural. The bett er condi tione d an athlete
become s the slower the person’s rate of quanti tativ e progr ession .

As the name suggests, quantit ativ e progr ession looks solely at th e

amount of im prov ement fr om a numerical s tand point, not the
significance of the improv ement. F or example, let u s say your
athlete r educ es h is or her 54 -mi nut e 10K ti me by 10 second s.
While thi s is an i mprovement, i t is not very signi fic ant given the
relatively low s tar ting benchmark a nd small -time i mprovement.
However , if a r unner’s pr evious best 10K ti me w as 29 mi nutes a nd
10 seco nds and t hey impr oved by 10 seconds ( 29:00), this is very
significant as imp roveme nts made on times close to one’s current
physical pote ntial are diffi cult to ac hieve a nd us ually measur ed in
very sma ll incr em ents.

T herefore, rat e of progre ss is a good way to a ssess wh ere

athletes are i n r elation t o their current po tential. Typically, the
faster th eir pr ogr ession, t he fu rthe r they ar e from th eir pote ntial,
wherea s the s low er they progress, typically the cl os er they are to
their pot ential . W hile there are ma ny reasons why an athlet e’s
progres s might s peed up or sl ow down (i. e., ski ppi ng traini ng
session s, over trai ning, inj ury, et c.) , a coac h mus t take thes e
factors i nto co nsi deratio n to ef fecti vely an d accu rate ly asses s an
athlete’ s prog res s.

Duration of Athlete Relationship

As with any rel ati onship, the l onge r two pe ople k no w each other,
the better the y co me to u nderst and one another . Th e longe r you
work with athletes and tr ack their performance, the more historical
data yo u will hav e to hel p predict t heir pot ential.

Capacit y to A dapt to the T rainin g Proce ss

Individu als a dapt to traini ng at diff erent rat es –

rememb er trai nability ? If y ou were to take f ive at hlet es at equal
fitness l evels and give th em th e sa me traini ng pr ogr am, you woul d
most likely see fi ve differ ent pr ogr ession r ates a nd results.

Training Log

In additi on to aidi ng with docu ment ing work outs, usi ng a trai ning
log also holds substantia l value for goal setting. Having ath letes
record w hat t hey did well and what they feel the y need
improve ment on during a traini ng session or rac e c an signi ficantl y
enhanc e the qual ity of the over all t raining progr am. Areas
identified as having room for impr ovement can translate to goals
through out t he tr aining proces s. F or exam ple, perhaps an ath let e
noticed that t heir hips tilted mor e i n the fr ontal plan e at the end of
their run whe n th ey got f atigu ed. While thi s is n ot a race-s pecific or
fitness g oal, a bi omecha nical i mpr ovemen t goal is j ust as
importa nt.

Sacrifice

Reachi ng a goal t ypically t akes some form of sac rifi ce, whet her
getting up a half- hour earlier to get a traini ng sessi on in or cuttin g
alcohol out o f on e’s diet t o los e w eight.
Therefore, if athletes come to you with goals that you feel would
require some sac rifice on the ir par t, the firs t thing y ou sho uld do is
ask the m if they are seri ously willi ng to m ake th e s acrifice(s ) to
attain th em. It is your job to p aint a realisti c pict ure of what you
believe will be re quired t o reac h a goal ver sus ta kin g on an athl ete
without explai ning what y ou envisi on will be needed on their part.

Goal Identification

Before i dentif ying a goal r ace, i t is advised to as ses s your at hlete’ s

fitness l evel, exp erience, and curr ent train ing v olu me. Onc e the se
benchm arks have been e stabli shed, base d on the pr oper trai ning
volume progr essi on, you will b e able to project by w hat dat e the
athlete will be re ady to c ompe te i n a race of a cert ain dist ance.

A goal r ace is diff erent fro m a n on- goal rac e. Many r unners i dentif y
one or t wo races per year to fo cus on (i.e., goal event) while
particip ating i n ot her races duri ng t he year strictly , f ocusing on
using th em as part of their traini ng.

As is dis cusse d l ater in t his mo dul e, the p rimary go al of yo ur

athlete might not be race - based. F or exam ple, y our athle te’ s
primary goal m ight be to lose 10 pounds, and tr aini ng for a
maratho n is t he p rimary m eans t o exercise and l ose weight.
However , even in these c ases, a goal race should b e identif ied a s
a focal point of th e trainin g pro ces s.

T he most impo rt ant asp ect o f a goal rac e is t hat it has meanin g
for an at hlete. It could be the Bost on Marathon, or a local r unnin g
race tha t an athlete’s famil y and fri ends will be able to attend. Thi s
is why it is critica l that an athlete determines what their goal
race(s) is vers us the coach.

In the f ollowin g t wo vide os, Be n R osario a nd Ji m L ehman discus s

the proc ess f or s etting g oals and goal rac es, re spe ctively.

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Identify Goal Event

The dat e of t he goal event and an y other prepar ati on or training

events are the genesis for assessi ng the distance and traini ng tim e
facets o f the prog ram.

Suppos e your athlete already has a goal event in m ind or has

signed up fo r an event. I n that cas e, you w ill need t o asses s if th e
person will be adequatel y prepared for the event, given the curre nt
level of conditioning and training volume.

The nu mber of goal event s per year is based on how many ti mes
an athl ete can pr operly pe ak f or a n event. As noted previou sly, all
goal ev ents s houl d be challenging but attai nabl e.

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Determining Goal Events

Due to t he various lengths of r unni ng races, rac e -specific go al(s),

varied conditions of athletes, and individual physiol ogy, it is
impossible to determine how many goal ev ents a runner can target
in a sea son.

However , the l onger the goal r aces are, th e few er r aces c an be

targete d per seas on as goals. Addi tionally, the m ore inexper ience d
a runne r is and/or deconditioned, t he fewer races s hould be
targete d as goals .

Often, a runn er’s goal rac es ar e a mixed b ag of dist ances a nd

disciplines. Fo r e xample, a run ner might t ar get a 5K road race, a
10K trail run, and a 40 -mil e ultr am arathon. As y ou c an see, thes e
are all v ery diff er ent dist ances and disciplines – all of which
require different areas of traini ng focus.

In summ ary, th e number of goal r aces th at a r unn er can t arg et

is highly indivi d ualistic base d o n many varia ble s, including b ut
not limit ed to t he following:

• Experience
• Fitness level
• Length of rac e(s)
• Ability to recov er
• Time av ailabili ty t o train
• Race-specific go al(s)

Identify Preparation (Tune-Up) Events

Once yo u have e stablished th at an athlet e’s goal e vent(s) is

feasible base d on their cur rent l ev el of fitn ess a nd t raining volum e,
you will want to plot a preparation race or races. To do this, select
races th at are the appropriate distance concerni ng w here the
athlete i s in t he t raining progr am. There s hould alw ays be at lea st
one pre parati on r ace. As noted ear lier, preparati on r aces foc us o n
gaining experienc e for new runners , where as, for ex perienc ed
races, the foc us shifts to high -i ntensity trai ning, as sessi ng curre nt
fitness a nd p erfor mance l evels.

Some c oaches and athlet es de note events by lett ers :

 • “A” event = goal race
• “B” event = i mportant preparat ory race
• “C” event = tr aining or mi nor race

Some runners choose to race a lot – like every w eekend! F or the se

runners, it is im portant f or them to underst and t hat most of t heir
races ar e ‘wor kouts’ vers us goal r aces. R egardi ng t he event
identification letter noted above, these would be ‘C’ events.

Quantitative Goals

Aside fr om pro vid ing exp erienc e, g oals sh ould be quantitativ e an d

measur able. Com mon goals ar e:

• Race or training times

• Perform ance t esti ng (e.g. ,heart rat e, lactat e)
• Race pl acing
• Weight or body fa t loss/gain
• Weight or repetiti ons for s trength -t raining asses sments
• Range of moti on for flexibility -bas ed assessments
• Reducti on or elim ination of illness/ disease/pain (e.g ., high
blood pressur e, d iabetes, high chol esterol, l ower back pain)
• RPE

While n ot as quantitative, if ass es sed usi ng a 10 -point scal e (0

being l ow, te n bei ng high) initiall y and for future ass essment s, the
followin g are as c an be analyz ed q uantitati vely.

• Stress
• Energy l evel
• Producti vity
• Sleep

From a goal race standpoint, establishing quantitative goals

through out t he season, s uch a s performanc e test ing and
training/ prep arati on race times, as sists significantly in deter minin g
if an athlete is on track. These mid -season goal s hel p athlet es sta y
motivated and keep their heads in the gam e.

Goals n eed t o be realistic. For example, if y our athl ete is currently

averagi ng a nine - minute- mile pace for a 1 0K, it is hi ghly unl ikely
the pers on wil l be able to aver age a seven -minut e m ile in one
month’s time. Thi s is an exampl e of a poorl y est abli shed goal.
Properly esta blis hed, qu antit ative goals c an be deri ved from some
or all of t he follow ing:

1. Past and curr ent testing data (i f applicable)

2. Initial a nd curr ent assess ments
3. Athlete’ s rate of progres sion

By esta blishing goals wit h your ath letes, you will as certain what
motivates them. Underst anding thi s is critic al to developing an
engagi ng and fulf illing program for an indi vidual .

Health vs. Competitive Goals

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Long and Short-Term Goals

What co nstitut es long and short-term goals is subjective. However ,

you mus t be awar e that y our at hlet e might be tar geti ng a goal
further o ut th an o ne year, whic h m ay or ma y not be event s pecific .
For exa mple, your athlete may hav e the goal to qual ify for the
Boston Marat hon in two y ears, or perhaps you ar e w orking wi th a
very talented athlete whose goal is to partic ipate in the Olym pic
Trials in three ye ars. These are all examples of long -term goals
that are more tha n 12 mo nths awa y.

Convers ely, w het her shor t -term goals are weekly , bi weekly, or
monthly, they are important to mai ntain m otivati on and structure.

Summary
• Goals s hould be SMART:
• Specific
• Measur able
 • Achievable
• Relevant
• Time-Based
• The three primar y types of goals are outcome, performance
and process.
• There are five pri mary w ays to address pot ential:
• Past-per forma nce history of specifi c sport ( e.g., r un ning)
• Physiol ogical and perform ance test ing
• Rate of progression in tra ining
• Duration of w orki ng with an at hlet e
• Capacit y to adapt to traini ng pr ocess
• The mos t foundat ional m ental perf ormanc e skills for athlete s
are Moti vation, Goals, and Co m mitment.
• Goals s hould be quantit ative i n nature, wit h the exc eption of
training youth ath letes, as the f ocu s shoul d be havin g fun.
• Identify goal and prepara tion event s.
• Goals s hould be short and long ter m.
• Training logs assi st with goal identification and setting.
• New runners, r eg ardless of thei r physical c onditi on, should
not sign up f or a maratho n in t heir first year of trai ni ng.
Module 14: Female Physiology and
Programming

Contributor: Dr. Leah Roberts

This section is included in this mo dule due to its im portance with

respect t o fem ale -specific progr am ming.

The Menstrual Cycle and Female Athlete

Performance

One of t he m ain differen ces b etwe en male s and fem ales is t he

differen ce in dom inant sex hor mones: estrogen and progest erone
for femal es a nd t estoster one f or m ales. In femal es, these
hormon es are res ponsibl e for m aintaining a healthy menstrual
cycle and contrib uting to bone health. They ultim ately influen ce
perform ance.

More th an hal f of elite fem ale at hletes report hor monal fluct uatio ns
during t heir m ens trual cycl e that negativel y affect t heir exercise
training and perfo rmance capac ity. (992) It has al so been re porte d
that ma ny Oly mpi c gold m edals have be en won duri ng all phases of
the men strual cyc le. (993)

What is the Menstrual Cycle?

The me nstrual cy cle starts with t he first day of bleeding (m enses) ,

where w omen are sheddi ng the ute rine lining. Mens es is the start
of the f ollicular p hase, or “low hor mone” phase, characteriz ed by
low luteinizing hormone (LH), follic le stimulating hormone (FSH),
progest erone , and slowly increasi ng level s of estrogens. E strogen
starts to incre ase on day 5-6 and s urges ar ound day 14 -16, along
with LH. The folli cular ph ase is during the first 14 days of t he
menstru al cycl e ( assuming a 28 -day cycle). On day 14, an egg is
release d, and est rogen t hen drops for sever al days. This is k nown
as ovul ation.

The luteal phase starts on days 15 thru 28, when the uterus
prepare s for a fer tilized egg. Pr oge sterone (and estr ogen) b egin t o
rise, pe aking f ive days pri or to t he onset o f bleeding. PMS
symptom s start t o occur when progesterone lev els rise. If a
fertilized egg i sn’ t implant ed, p rog esteron e and estr ogen le vels
fall, cau sing t he uterine l ining to s hed. Thi s brings you bac k to d ay
one of t he m enstr ual cycl e (100 6).

The Female Sex Hormones

Hormon es are chemical m essengers produced b y the endocrine

glands and r eleased into the bloo dstream. As m ent ioned above, the
women’s men strual cycle has fl uct uations in vari ous hormones.

Estroge n: prim ar ily prod uced by t he ovari es. It plays an im porta nt

role in r eproducti ve and sexual de velopm ent once a female
reaches puberty
Progest erone: pr oduced by th e ov aries, adrenal glands, and
placent a. It pl ays an important role in preparing t he uterus f or
pregna ncy (the luteal phase of the menstrual cycl e) and
maintai ning pregnancy.

FSH: produced b y the pit uitary gland. Initi ates t he f ormation of

follicles i n the ov ary and follicl e c ells to pr oduc e estrogen.

LH: produced by the pitui tary gl and. Triggers ov ulat ion at the en d
of the f ollicular p hase.

T estosterone: w omen pr oduc e testosterone too. N ormal m ale

testoster one: 250-900 ng/dL ( Age 19 -49); Normal female women
testoster one: 15- 70 ng/dL

Managing Periods with Contraceptives

Hormon al contrac eptives ( HCs) s uppress t he natural endogenou s

producti on of estr ogen and pr ogest in to prevent ovul ation. T hus,
females using HC s are al ways i n a “low-hor mone phase” regardin g
natural ovarian hormones. A rec ent study s howed th at 50% of
female athlet es use some kind of HC that affect s their mens trual
cycle (9 94). It wa s shown that the oral contraceptiv e pill is the
most po pular type of HC, used by almost 80% o f the sampl e. Wit h
use, fem ales r eported a dverse si de effect s that may affect
perform ance, i ncl uding w eight gain, irregul ar peri od s, and poor
skin being the most comm on.

In contr ast to the advers e side eff ects rep orted, 13 % of

contrac eptive users said t hat they l iked the regul arit y of the pill
and kn ew whe n t hey would ex peri ence their wit hdr awal bl eed,
which h appens during the four or seven pill -free days of an oral
contrac eptive pill cycle. T here i s s ome evi denc e that the HC does
not affe ct trai ning -induced changes in performanc e; however, mor e
researc h in thi s area is neede d (10 00).

Menstrual Cycle in Relation to Health

A natur al men str ual cycl e includes phases with high estrogen
concent rations a nd is as sociat ed with good bone health and better
fertility o utcom es . The me nstru al c ycle is p art of a much m ore
significant health issue for fem ale athletes. Low energy availability :
meanin g that energy intak e and ex penditure are not in balance,
can lea d to irr egular periods or l os s of men ses entir ely, as w ell as
problem s with bone heal th (or l oss of bon e mineral d ensity), a
condition term ed the Female Athlete Triad (1003). O ther
disturba nces t o normal p hysiol ogic al functi on may al so be
observe d, incl udi ng, but not li mited to, reductions i n metabolic
rate, imm unity, pr otein sy nthesi s, and cardi ovasc ular health.
Another conc ept, known as Red -S ( Relative Ener gy Deficiency in
Sport) (w hich c an also be obs erve d in mal e athl ete s), expa nds t he
definitio n of t he F emale A thlete Tri ad by c onsid ering other a spect s
of healt h and perf ormanc e. (10 04)

This ne w termi nol ogy Red -S for “F emale A thlete Tri ad” incl udes
amenorr hea, osteopenia, and disor dered eating. The International
Olympic Commi tt ee adopted i t in 2 014. Th e red- S underlying issu e
is that c alorie expenditu re is greater than caloric intake, creating a
deficit in over all en ergy. Femal es and mal es of all ages and
abilities can s uffe r from Re d -S. It i s estimat ed th at 18 -20% of all
athletes suffe r fr om disor dere d eating. It is also est imated t hat 6 2%
of femal e and 33% of mal e athletes in aest hetic or weight -cl ass
sports (bodybuilding, wrestling, rowing, figure sk ati ng) suff er from
disorder ed e ating (1013) .

T here are su bst antial h ealth co nsequen ces of d isorder ed

eating. T he body depends on ener gy for or gan s yst ems to f unctio n
correctly; if energ y is lacki ng, body systems start to fail. Oth er
conseq uenc es include:

• Psychol ogical : emotional labili ty/ moodiness, increased

anxiety and depr ession
• GI issue s: con sti pation, i rritabl e b owel sy ndrom e (I BS)
• Bone health i s rel ated to estrogen and the end ocrine system ;
men have est rogen too! So if ener gy is not avail abl e, men
won’t be maki ng t estoster one ( or estrogen) . This can lead t o
osteopenia and s tress.
• Endocri ne: decreased m elatonin c auses i mpaired sl eep whi ch
is associated wit h decreased cellular repair.
• Hematol ogy: s tart seeing ferritin/i r on drop. Decr eas ed iron
leads to anemia.
 • Immunity : T cel l f unction decre ase s, and t he body c an’t figh t
off viral/ bacteri al infections. Thi s is why an athlete t ends to
get a co ld or sick when e xhau sted.
• Cardiov ascul ar: r esting H R incr eases, and HR becomes hig h
for easy effort s
• Menstrual dysf unction: S een i n female at hletes not on oral
contrac eptive pill s (OCP), polyc yst ic ovarian syndrome
(PCOS), or peri - menopausal. When an at hlete i s st arting to
have irr egular periods (spotting , ir regular f requency , or
missing), this is a red flag that t he body’s energy bal ance is
off. Decr ease d energy a vailab ility means l ess es tro gen
produc ed by the ovaries. Decreas ed estrogen caus es loss of
ovulatio n and me nstruati on and decreased bone re modelin g
(bone st rengt h). There is a strong correlati on between
menstrual dysf unction an d the risk of stres s fract ur es. Onc e
energy balan ce is corrected, it c an take up to 3 - 6 months for
periods to ret urn, and tak es approximately one y ear for bon e
health t o rec over.
Warning Signs of Red-S
1. HR elev ated f or easy effor ts.
2. The mindset of tr aining i s bas ed in calories burned r ather
than effort
3. Ignoring rest day s and recover y w eeks
4. Lack of motiv atio n and e njoym ent for traini ng
5. Menstrual dysf unction
Treatment For Red-S
• Reverse the l ack of ener gy av ailability: To differenti ate
between over trai ning and un der -fueling, decrease tr aining
volume by 50 - 70% for 7 - 10 days ( while keeping all other
variables suc h as calorie intake the same). If the athlete
starts feeling imp roved mentally a nd phys ically, the
underlyi ng iss ue i s overtraining.
• Interdisc iplina ry approa ch:
1. Physicia n (blo od work, me dicati on if need ed)
 2. Coach ( balan cing training volume and int ensity
appropr iately)
3. Sports n utritio nis t (target calori c i ntake, e duca tion on
quality f oods)
4. Psychol ogist ( address u nderlyi ng pathology for
disorder ed e ating or overtr aining)
Potential Effects of the Menstrual Cycle on Training and Performance

Approxi mately 75 % of at hletes experience adver se side eff ects d ue

to mens es wit h si de effec ts incl udi ng but not limi ted to: cram ps,
back pa in, headaches, a nd bl oating. (994) Fluct uati ons in st rengt h,
metabol ism, inflammation, body temperature, an d fl uid bal ance
change s coincide with hor monal fl uctuations thr oug hout the cycl e.
(995)

The eff ects of a f emale’s menst rual cycle ar e still hi ghly individu al.
Coache s can use an athl ete’s cycl e to hel p det ermi ne wher e to fi t
in specific training. The potent ial effects of hormonal fluctuat ions
during a female’s menstrual cycl e are as f ollows:

Follicular Phase
• Due to higher pai n tolerance and e xperience of higher
perceiv ed en ergy levels, especi all y during the early follicular
phase, t his is the time wh en th e fe male bo dy is prim ed for
high int ensity.
• Carbohydrate loading the day before and during exercise
might be nec es sary for fem ale endurance athlet es t o be ab le
to exerci se at hig h intens ities d ue to the ris e in estr ogen in
the late follicu lar phase may h amp er pre-exercis e
carbohy drate stor age (996)
• Strengt h traini ng may be more effective when es trogen level s
are highe r during the late follic ular phase. (997)
Ovulation
• This could be the time to achieve strength gains. Compared to
the follic ular a nd luteal p hases , a s ignifica nt incr eas e in
quadric eps str en gth duri ng ov ulati on has been documented
(998).
Luteal Phase
• The body is n ot primed for high int ensity.
• PMS might int erf ere with traini ng and per formance (7 -10 days
before menses (999)
• Body m ass mi ght be higher due to f luid.
• It has b een s ugg ested th at br eathi ng and body tem peratur e
increas es could make it harder to run i n the heat. T he ons et
of sweat ing is del ayed so that swe ating oc curs o nly after
higher body t emperatures have be en reac hed. Recent studi es,
however, indi cate that thi s does not affect perfor mance
(1001).
Training with One’s Natural Cycle

The Follicular Phase is c onsidered the “low ” horm one phas e. Wh en

menstru ation occ urs, a female’s hormone profil e is most simi lar to
a male. Estrogen rises a f ew da ys after menstruation and is
associat ed wit h i ncrease d pai n tol erance, high er te stostero ne, a nd
improve d recove r y (1006) . T his is the best time f or
Intensity : VO2 w ork, one rep max and heavy lifti ng, tempo
intervals, and double trai ning sessions. A weight training study
showed increased strength ga ins when focused on training durin g
the follic ular p ha se (100 8).

The Lut eal P hase is consi dered the “high” horm one phase.
Progest erone is t he domi nant hor mone a ssociated with: incr ease d
core temperature , decreased plas ma volume, incre ased HR (rest
and wit h activi ty), and PM S sym ptoms (1006) . T his i s the best
time for effo rt- based trai ning s essi ons (rat her than based s trictly
on HR o r pac e). Progest erone is c atabolic (brea ks down m uscle);
thus the re is a ne ed for in creas ed BCAAs and protei ns durin g
recovery . Progest erone a lso im pair s glycogen uti lization, and
athletes requi re an increa sed c arbohydrat e intake during training.
It is not norma l to miss per iods. A missed period is a red fla g
indicating an imb alance i n the hormonal axis and likely underlying
energy defici ency (RED -S).

Training with Hormonal Contraception

Oral Co ntraceptiv e Pills (O CPs) ar e typical ly a c om bination of

estroge n and progestin f or three w eeks, then pl acebo pills for one
week. Bleeding occurs during placebo week. Some OCPs are a
continu ed cyc le of estrog en and pr ogester one – this is called a
minimal c yclical hormonal pattern; no ovul ation, no f ollicular or
luteal phase.

Bleedin g whil e on OCP is withdr aw al bleeding, not a true per iod. It

takes a pill 8- 12 hrs before a work out to mi nimiz e t he effec ts of
high pr ogest erone. For ex ampl e, if you are cycling i n the m orning ,
it is recommended to take OCPs at night.
Another contr aceptive device is the Intrau terine Device (IUD ) –
either c opper or hormonal IUD. C opper I UDs do not affect
ovulatio n. Hor mo ne IUDs exert hor mones l ocally on the uter us, a nd
some w omen still ovulate. Man y w omen do not hav e month ly
periods, although they still hav e cy clical hor mone changes.

How to Mitigate PMS

Ways to mitiga te PMS sym ptom s f or athlet es inc lud e:

1. Cramping: Dr. St acy Sims Prot ocol – start 5-7 days BEFO RE
onset of blee ding
1. Magnes ium gl yci nate 250 -400mg once a day
2. Aspirin 81mg onc e a day
3. Zinc 30- 45mg once a da y
4. Fish oil 1000mg once a day
2. Bloating: simethi cone (G as X 1 -2 t ablets every 8 hours)
3. Headac he and cr amping: acet aminophen 650m g every 4 -6
hours. A ce taminophen is prefer red over NS AIDs (i buprofen ,
 naprox en) during training and r acing because of the risk of
rhabdomyolys is.

Should an at hlete want to mitigate PMS sym ptom s using any of th e

above- noted met hods, they should reach out to t hei r physici an
regardi ng the use of any medici ne or suppl ement.

In the vi deo belo w, Nell R ojas s ha res som e impo rta nt thoughts o n
training with t he menstru al cycl e a nd understan ding every at hlete
is highly individual in how they are affect ed.

[There is a Vi deo here. Vi deos can not be v iewe d fro m this P DF. To
View Vi deo C ontent, please ref er t o the online Cour se]

Menopause and Perimenopause

Strictly d efine d, menop ause i s the last me nstrual p eriod. It
represe nts the end of a w oman’ s r eproductive y ear s as her ovari es
run out of egg s. Now the cells i n t he ovar y are producing less an d
less hormones, and menstruation eventually stops.

Perimen opause i s the period prec eding, and just af ter menopaus e
and, on aver age can last one t o four years. In indus trialized
countries, the me dian age of onset of perim enopaus e is 47. 5 year s.
However , this i s highly v ariabl e. It is import ant t o note that
menop ause it self occurs on average at ag e 51 and c an occur
betwee n ages 45 to 55. T he tim e to one’s l ast menst rual peri od is
defined as the perimenopausa l transition. Often the transition can
even la st longer, five to s even yea rs.

Symptoms of Perimenopause

The cha nges in hormone levels can lead t o a v aried set of physic al
and em otional sy mptoms. As wit h menstruation i n y ounger life, al l
women will ex per ien ce perimenopa use diff erently . W hile sym ptoms
are com mon i n perimenopaus e, w omen wil l experience diff erent
combin ations of t he symptoms bel ow, and to varying degrees:

Progest erone Deficiency Sym pto ms Bleeding

• Short cy cles
• Heavier flow
 • Premenstrual spotting

Premen strual Syndrome ( PMS) – often se en during pre -

menop ause:

• Moodiness
• Hot flushes
• Depression
• Poor concentr ation
• Irritability
• Anxiety
• Headac hes ( menstrual mi graine)

Estroge n Exc ess Sympto ms

• Bleeding (too much, too l ong, t oo soon)

• Erratic Br east t en derness
• Bloating
• Headac hes
• Weight gain
• Vaginal discharge
• Estrogen Defi ciency Sym ptoms
• Hot flushes, night sweats, and heat intolerance
• Insomni a
• Fatigue
• Headac hes

Althoug h the sym ptoms lis ted abov e are common during
perimen opause, not ever yone will have all of these. Women may
have so me sy mpt oms, and they may have f ew or no symptom s.

Symptoms of Menopause

Estroge n play s a role in m ultipl e or gan syst ems. As estrogen dro ps

during menopaus e, a woman m ay have:

• Changes in m ood and irrit ability

• Decreas ed m elat onin pr oducti on → , sleep disr upti on
• Hot flashes
• Loss of elasti city and thi nning of th e skin
• Loss of menst rua tion an d ovul atio n
• Decreas ed bone density
 • Body fat redis tribution: E strogen pl ays a rol e in f at s torage;
decreas ed es trogen leads to i ncreased vis ceral adi pose
Higher visceral adipose t issue is directly related to developing
cardiov ascular di sease and di abet es (1009)
• Decreas ed m uscl e mass ( sarcopenia): Estrogen sust ains the
number of sat ellit e cells ( muscle st em c ells) . As e str ogen
decreas es, there is less sti mulus f or muscl e synt he sis.
Starting at me no pause, a fem ale will lose 50% of muscle
fibers by age 80 ( 1010).
• Impaired gluc ose metabolism: Estr ogen pl ays a role in insuli n
Less est roge n me ans blo od gl ucos e incr eases fr om insulin
resistance. As es trogen decreases , the bo dy ha s an impaire d
ability to proc ess fructose , cau sin g increa sed f atty acids in
the bloodstream. (1011). This pr ovi des a hi gher r isk of
developing diabet es.

Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT)

Hormon e repl acement therapy is used bot h duri ng perimenopaus e

and me nopa use t o help alleviate t he symptoms of decreased
estroge n, suc h as hot flashes and vaginal dryness. There ar e two
types:

1. Estrogen only (to pical cream/gel, patch, pill, vaginal),

2. Estrogen plus progestin ( pill). It i s recomm ended to take HR T
for the s horte st ti me poss ible ( 100 7).

HRT can provi de several benef its f or perim enopaus al women

beyond prev enting pregn ancy. These benefits ar e li sted bel ow. I n
additio n to potent ial benefits, t he use of hormonal c ontraceptives
by perim enop aus al women has been associate d wit h an inc rease d
risk of bl ood cl ot s. It may be as sociated w ith some increas e in th e
risk of h eart at tac k, stroke, and breast canc er.

Perimen opausal women shoul d not use es trog e n-containing

contrac eptives if they sm oke or have a hist ory of es trogen -
depen dent c ancer, heart disease, high bl ood pr ess ure, diabetes , or
blood cl ots. O therwise, hormon al c ontrace ptives appear saf e for
healthy wome n over age 35, p rovi ded the y do not s mok e. T aking
hormon al con trac eptives can m ask signs of appr oac hing
menop ause, i ncluding menstrual irr egulariti es. This can mak e it
challen ging t o know when peri menopause is occ urri ng.
The use of any c ombinat ion estrogen -progestogen contrac eptive
will result in wit hdrawal bleedi ng ( i.e., bleeding like a menst rual
period) even after menop ause. Some provi ders t ell women t o sto p
hormon al con trac eptives at age 51 (the av erage age when
menop ause occur s). Still, t his str at egy is n ot alw ays appropriate
since n ot all w om en will h ave r eac hed menopause by that age an d
will still need birth contro l.

Benefits of or al h ormonal contr ace ptives b eyon d bir th contr ol:

• More regular menstrual cy cles

• Reduced menstrual bleeding ( and l ower rat es of i ron
deficien cy an emi a as a r esult)
• Decreas ed ut erine pain during menstruati on
• Reduced risk of ovarian and ut erine cancer
• Reduced hot flas hes
• Maintenance of bone strength
• Improvements in acne (w hich c an f lare up aroun d m enopause)

Training in Perimenopause and Menopause

Perimen opause tr ainin g depends on perim enopausal symptoms:

sleep disrupti on, and hot flashes. An athlete may need to decrease
training inten sity if recove ry is im p aired fro m me nop ausal
symptom s (espec ially sleep disr upt ion).

During meno paus e, it is recomm en ded to li ft HE AVY . H eavy l oad

stimulat es satellit e cells to preserv e muscl e mass a nd stimulate
Type II muscle fi bers. It also decr eases intramuscular fat deposits.

High-Int ensity Int erval Training (HI IT) is another way to train in
menop ause i s HII T increases insuli n sensiti vi ty. M ult iple studies
have sh own t hat HIIT impr oves f as ting glucose and i nsulin
sensitivit y in pre- diabetic patie nts. It decre ases cen tral obe sity
more th an moder ate -intensity c ont inuous exerci se ( 1012).

Adding balance w ork duri ng menopause al so preser ves

neurom uscul ar connections.

Summary
• The three phases of the menstrual cycle are follicular,
ovulatio n and lut eal.
• Estrogen and progesterone ar e the dominant female sex
hormones
• Hormonal contrac eptives ( HCs) s uppress t he natural
endogenous production of estr ogen and proges tin t o prevent
ovulatio n
• Low energy avail ability: m eani ng t hat ene rgy intake and
expenditure are n ot in bal ance, can lead t o irregular period s
or loss of menses entirely, as w ell as probl ems w ith bone
health
• This new termi n ol ogy Re d -S for “F emale A thlete Tri ad”
includes amenorr hea, ost eopenia, and dis order ed eating
• Approxi mately 75 % of fem ale athletes experienc e adverse
side effects due to menses
• Menopause i s the last menstrual period
• Perimenopause i s the period prec eding, a nd just af ter
menopause and, on aver age c an l ast one to four years
• Hormone repl acement therapy is used bot h duri ng
perimenopause and menopause to help all eviat e the
symptom s of decr eased estrogen
Module 15: Periodization and Program
Development

When o ne thi nks of an endurance sports c oach, regardless of the

sport disciplin e, creating trainin g programs is likel y near the top of
the list o f resp on sibilities. While c reating and updat ing train ing
program s is just one as pect a nd r esponsi bility of a coach, it is an
importa nt one . M oreover, often when an athlet e seeks out a
running coac h, the primar y thing they are l ooking for is a trai ning
program . Bec aus e of the fundamental importanc e t o the tr aining
process, underst anding the s cienc e behind peri odiz ation a nd ho w it
relates t o creating a safe, effectiv e and p rogressiv e training
program is criti cal for a running coach.

Periodization
At the c ore of an y effectiv e trai nin g progr am is s tru cture. A popu lar
and wel l -known tr aining s tructur e i s periodi zation . Periodiz ation
involves a progression of several cycles of t raining periods to get
an indiv idual to p eak perf orma nce level by a part icu lar date or
time.

Each tra ining peri od has a spe cific focus (e. g., in cre asing a erobic
capacity). T he key elem ent of p er iodizatio n is th at each tr aining
period builds on the prior trainin g period. Periodi zation also
focuses on al tern ating str ess a nd r ecovery phas es t o allow f or the
desired physi ological traini ng adaptations. While per iodizati on is
most oft en ap plied to trai ning progra ms at l east one year in
duratio n, it is als o appli ed to event -specific traini ng programs.
Periodiz ation has garner ed its f air share of criticis m as bein g rigi d,
outdate d, and flawed.

The op posite of periodization is “wi nging it” and r and omly

assigni ng wor k outs without muc h, i f any, reasoni ng behind them.
While thi s sounds crazy, t his is oft en the t raining st ructure c hose n
by coac hes w ho l ack the knowl edge of how the body functions.
Often, t hese c oac hes ap ply th e sa me traini ng st and ards, str ucture ,
and pro to col to al l of their athletes . The advice and program s give n
to these athl etes are ofte n bas ed o n what t he co ach person ally
does or what they recentl y read in a maga zine. Thi s, of course, is
not the advis ed w ay to str ucture a training progr am.

What Is the Right Approach?

This is the milli on -dollar questi on t hat has not and li kely cannot b e
answer ed becaus e the “c orrect” pr ogram st ructur e i s based on a n
athlete’ s indiv idu al need s. Th at sa id, as with mo st t hings re lated to
human perfor mance, the optim al t r aining s tructur e c an likely be
represe nted as a bell curv e – as noted in t he fi gure below.

As you c an s ee fr om the abov e ima ge, the correc t st ructure i s not a

finite po int o n the bell cur ve but rat her a g eneral are a – meaning
there is quite a bi t of room for inter pretation and cus tomizati on.

T he correct tr ai ning stru cture m ust be b ased on an indivi dual,

not a predefin ed set of parameters. Whil e it is fi ne to hav e
phases within a tr aining program that emphasize a particular type
of physi ologic al a dapta ti on, these phases shoul d not be rigi d. The y
should exist m ore to provi de gener al directi on to a t raining plan
than stri ctly di cta te its co ntent.
Periodiz ation is a polarizi ng to pic. As such, this mo dule will
discuss t he di ffer ent mod els of per iodizati on a nd the pros and
cons.

General Adaptation Syndrome

To und erstand how the body becomes stronger, it i s import ant to

underst and how i t adapts to str ess . This can be t rac ed back to
findings from Han s Selye, an e ndo crinologi st. He fo und that whe n
stressors were pl aced on mice in a laborat ory setting, all the mice
demons trated sim ilar response l ev els. This adaptati on is
called g eneral adaptation synd r ome (GA S) (96).

GAS co mprises t hree stages ( 96):

1. Alarm: When ala rmed, the body i mmediat ely respo nds to fi ght
or flight, shifti ng i ts resour ces t o m uscular and emot ional
needs.
2. Resistance ( also called adapt atio n ): The body adapts to
stressful situatio ns and becomes stronger.
3. Exhaust ion: If hi gh -stres s level s persist for too l ong, the
body will begi n to break d own.

When a runner tr ains or r aces, the body re cogni zes the effort as a
stressor and adapts to deal wit h the stress. The goal of an athlete
is to avo id the third category of GAS: exhaustion (i.e.,
overtrai ning). Overtrainin g occur s when an indi vi dual con tinues
to stres s the bo dy witho ut adeq uate rest. As a r esult, the body
will eventually break down, decreasing per formance. This is a
crucial aspect of effective endurance -sport s traini ng , as athl etes
respon d differ entl y to the stress ors put on them. For exampl e,
some at hletes respond best t o multiple back -to- bac k hard tr ainin g
days, w hile ot her s respond best to at least one r ecovery day
betwee n har d trai ning days.

It is impo rtant t o note that the resi stance s tage of G AS differ s in

time an d inte nsity depending on th e athlet e. For exa mple, a
professi onal r unner woul d likely have a lon ger d urati on in the
resistan ce phase than a r ecreation al runn er, and the profes siona l
would c ertainl y have a hi gher effor t level.

Having at least one day off be tween exer cising the same m uscle
group vi a strengt h training is st andard. W hat is not as well - know n
is how many days an end urance athlete sh ould do cardiovascular
training befor e ta king a d ay off or adding an e asy d ay. To a nswer
this que stion, two primary f actors n eed to be co nsid ered.

1. Intensity and/ or d istance of the trai ning se ssion

2. Recover y rate of the athl ete

The har der th e intensity o r the l onger the distance of a trai ning
session, the mor e required rest. T he level of fitn ess larg ely
influenc es the r ecover y rate of an athlet e. The better
conditioned an athlete is, the faster the recovery rat e will typ ically
be.

The optimal amo unt of rest requir ed between traini ng sessions is

best asc ertain ed through trial a nd error. The mos t i mportan t thin g
to be a ware of is that athl etes will re spond differ entl y to stress;
therefor e, trai nin g progr ams m ust reflect th is.

The dia gram below illustrates the basic concept of stress and
recovery in rel ati on to the con struction of a trai ning program.
Rest per iods (decrease in volume/i ntensity) are i ntegrated i nto a
program to all ow the body to r ecov er and profit fr om periods of
stress (i. e., intensity/volume). T his , in turn, enables an athlete to
attain a high er fit ness lev el. Thi s r esults in furth er i ncrease s in
volume and i nt ensity.

Getting Started: Easy Before Hard

While training programs di ffer in construction, a general theme is

that trai ning prog rams sh ould p rog ress from easy to hard re gardi ng
intensity and distance. A s noted previously, a quote by Jay
Johnso n sum s up the rati onale behind this t raining practice:

“Metabol ic fitn e ss precedes stru ctural readiness.”

T his means th at individu als’ car diovascular adaptation o ccurs

at a fast er rat e t han their muscu loskelet al ad apt ation . For
exampl e, from a cardiov ascular st andpoi nt , a r unner might h ave no
problem runni ng f or an hour at an i ntense l evel. However, t heir
muscles and c on nective t issue mi ght not be able to support or
sustain this effort .

The ove rall trend when cr eating a t raining progr am s hould f ocus on
proper progressi on. This is not t o s ay that hard effor ts cannot or
should not be fus ed into t he initial stages of a tr aini ng program.
However , they should be integrate d intelli gently.

Mount Everest Analogy

Perhap s the best analogy regarding the theory behi nd the c reati on
of a trai ning program is the met hod used t o clim b M ount Ev erest.
Becaus e of t he el evation, the mountain is climbe d i n stages. This
allows cli mbers t o acclim ate pr operly to th e altit ude. Like altitud e
acclimati on, tr aining program p rog ression i s done in st ages to
properly progr ess athletes to their goals. If athletes were to
progres s too f ast, they would ris k i njury and lack the requir ed
fitness l evel t o p erform o n race d ay.

In moun taineering, there is an elevation t ermed the “death zone”

(higher t han 26K feet). Hu mans ca n stay a t this ele vation o nly for
short periods before being forced to descend to a lower altit ude …
or die (303). T he death z one i s analogous to m aint aining t oo hi gh a
volume/intensity based on an athlete’s fitness l evel .

While d eath is n ot the res ult (let ’s hope not!), expanding the time
spent d oing high mileage and/ or intensity beyond w hat the body
can ha ndle at a given poi nt may result in long -lasting effect s,
including injury and extre me fatigue (i.e. overtraining).

Periodization Models

The con cept of periodization w as developed during the 19 50s in

the Sovi et Uni on as a wa y to tr ain for the Olympi cs. After th e
Russian s did well at the 1952 Helsi nki Olym pics, it put
periodiz ation on t he map as a novel and gr ound breaking way to
train. Becaus e of this attention, per iodizati on wa s es tablishe d as a
formal tr aining pr actice in 196 4 by Leo Mat veyev . Th e
establis hment of periodiz ation as a trainin g pra ctic e primaril y
resulted from Mat veyev’s book, Fundamentals of Sports
Training (312) . M atveyev’ s peri odi zation tr aining pri nciples were
later adapted for use in W estern countries in the mid -1980s. Tud or
Bompa i s ofte n cr edited with being the founding father of modern
periodiz ation and, more s pecific all y, responsible for bringing the
concepts of periodization to W estern count ries (94, 95).

Specific to ru nnin g, Arthur Lydi ard created a peri odi zation m odel
(linear) t hat m any runners have foll owed throughout the year s.

Following are dis cussions of the three primary perio dization

models: classi c (t raditional), bl ock, and int ermed iate (hybrid).

The go al of t his s ection is not t o recommend a s peci fic

periodiz ation model but r ather to educat e you on t he various
models so that you can determi ne what model w oul d be best for a
particul ar athl ete.

Classic Periodization

The classic perio dization model (often termed Linear Periodization)

is base d on a one -year s chedule with typi cally one peak. T he ye ar
is broken down into cycles (94).

1. Microcycle: T ypi cally represen ted by a week

2. Mesocycle: C ons ists of tw o to si x micro cyc les
3. Macrocycle: Ref ers to th e annual training progr am and is
broken i nto t hree phases:

1. Prepar ation : r epresented by tr aini ng done to prepare for

the com petition phase
2. Competition: ty pically designe d ar ound one or two
competitions and also incl udes the taper periods
3. T ransition (off - season): used to r ecover physic ally and
mentally

The ima ge below illustrates the classic peri odizat ion model.

• Bottom Line: mi crocycles

• Middle Li ne: m esocycles
• T op Line: phas es of macr ocycl es
The are as of cla s sic periodizati on are as f ollows:

1 – Ge neral Con ditioning: varied low -level fitness routines

2 – Ba se Fitn ess: sport- specifi c l ow intensity, i ncr easing volum e
3 – Buil d Fitn ess: integr ation of higher i ntensi ty, volume
increas es
4 – Pe ak Fitn ess: intensity conti nues to increase. While the
overall v olum e m ay stay t he same or decre ase, t his phase might
contain the highest volume days (e x: long run).
5 – T aper: volume subs tantially decreas es, periods of short
intensity
6 – GO AL EV EN T
7 – Re cover: typically characteriz ed by the transiti on seas on;
similar to general conditioning

The ove rall trend of classi c/line ar periodization is that overall

volume steadi ly decreases through out the progr am while int ensity
steadily incre ases.

Below r epres ents how these tr aini ng cycles fit into the clas sic
periodiz ation model.

In the vi deo belo w, Ben Rosari o di scusses the i mpo rtance o f the
transitio n sea son (i.e., off- seas on) .

[There is a Vi deo here. Vi deos can not be v iewe d fro m this P DF. To
View Vi deo C ontent, please r ef er t o the online Cour se]
One of t he h allm arks of cl assic pe riodizati on is t hat several fitnes s
workloa ds are de veloped at the same time. The bel ow chart
visually denotes the simultaneous development of m ultiple fitness
workloa ds. Thi s c hart does not acc urately r epres ent a training
season as it i s us ed solel y to represent concurrent tr aining
workloa ds.

L y d i a r d P e r i o d i z a t i on

As note d above, Arthur Lydiard was a New Zealand running coac h

largely known for his linear periodization m odel. Mo re specif ically,
Lydiard creat ed a training (peri odiz ed) pyramid th at many runners
use to t his da y. T his pyra mid is i llu strated below:

Regardi ng the above image, w hile most of t he titl es are self -

explan atory, hill t raining could be best described as the ‘s trength’
training phas e, a nd the i ntegr ation phase could be best de scribe d
as race- specifi c t raining.

As you c an s ee fr om the abov e illu stration, the L ydi ard pyra mid is
based around a s ingle season peak. In many res pects, it refl ects a
‘block’ periodizati on model due to i ts focus on a singular
physiol ogical adaptation at a ti me approach. In this sense, t he
Lydiard periodization is not a ‘tr ue’ classic period ization model.
However , as y ou will read below, a block periodi zati on model
allows f or multi pl e peak s througho ut the y ear and th us short er,
concent rated areas of focus than t he Lydi ard m odel .

The cha rt above i llustrates the gen eral trend of c las sic (linear)
periodiz ation. As you can see, from the beginni ng of the program to
the end , ther e is a trend o f decreasing vol ume a nd i ncreasi ng
intensity .

C r i t i c i s m s of C l a s s ic P e r i o d i z a t i o n

Initial crit icism of classic period iza tion cam e fro m D r. Yuri
Verkhos hans ky, a sports s cienti st deemed the “ father of
plyometr ics” (233). Dr. Ver khos hansky’s criti cism of M atveyev’s
classic p eriodi zat ion model res ulted in the creati on of his own
periodiz ation model, block peri odi zation , which i s discussed in
detail in the next section.
Dr. Vladimir Issur in is another detractor of the classic periodization
model. Dr. Iss uri n is a sports s cientist wor king w ith the Israeli
Olympic Commi tt ee’s Elit e Sports Departm ent (2 31, 232).

While Dr. Issuri n and Dr. Verkhoshansky had many points o f

contention with the classic periodiz ation model, the issues most
applica ble to end urance sport s trai ning ar e (233):

1. Originall y dev elo ped for the 1 952 Helsinki Olympi c Games
and construct ed around one peak versus m ultipl e peaks
2. Inflexibl e
3. Too many areas of simult aneous f ocus that res ult i n
insufficient trai ni ng stimuli and less -than-desired outcomes
4. Incompatible wor kloads (i .e., hi gh, low) res ult in c onflicting
and dim inished physiological r esponses.

Of thes e points of contention, #3 and #4 r epres ent t he prim ary

focus ar eas. Whe n these two p oint s are su mmariz ed , what is bein g
propos ed is t hat classic periodi zat ion is equival ent to multit asking .
More sp ecifically, too many areas of differ ent int ens ity levels are
being tr ained sim ultaneo usly, effec tively ne gatin g th e desire d
physiol ogical res ponses.

While Dr. Issuri n is largely critic al of classi c (line ar) periodi zation ,
he note s in his book Block Peri odi zation: Breakt hrough in Sport
Training that clas sic periodizati on i s appropriate for beginner to
interme diate athl etes but not elite/ advanc ed at hletes (314).

Block Periodization

Dr. Verkhoshansky develo ped the t heory of block pe riodizati on to

correct w hat he v iewed as flaw s in the classic p erio dization
model. T he gene sis of thi s mod el is that multipl e areas of focu s
are not addressed simu ltaneo usly but rat her in d ividuall y over a
set peri od. Bl ock periodi zation is charact erized by a series of
connect ed gr oups or “bloc ks” (es sentially m esocy cles ). Each block
has a pr imary foc us.

Accordi ng to Plis k and S tone, 2003 (230), there are two types of
blocks: accu mul ation and restitu tion . Duri ng an accumulation
block, o ne ar ea of fitness i s em phasized to the e xte nt of int entio nal
overrea ching. The point i s to st res s the body wit h o ne aspect of
fitness (i. e., hi gh volume) over a s et time d urati on ‒ usually four
weeks. Toward the end of the t raining bl oc k, fati gue typically sets
in beca use of the extreme workl oad.

Following the accumulation block i s the restitution block. This block

looks to benefit from all of the hard work performed during t he
accumul ation block. During this bl ock, the fitnes s aspect focused
on duri ng the acc umulati on block i s signific antly r educed, w hile
another fitness aspect is i ntroduced at a m oder ate l evel (i.e. ,
speed/i ntensi ty) ( 230).

This mo del by Pli sk and Stone has been f urther dev eloped to
include three phases: Acc umulation, Trans mutati on, and
Realization. I n t his model, the ac cumulati on phase (2 -6 weeks) is
akin to t he base t raining phas e, al beit sho rter th an a linear
periodiz ed b ase t raining phas e. Therefore, the accumulation pha se
(2-4 we eks) focuses on l ow i nt ens ity and high v olume. Duri ng th e
transmut ation ph ase, the focu s is on high inten sity, typically
focused on devel oping a singular energy system . T he reali zation
phase ( 7-14 days ) or more comm only referr ed to as the ‘tap er’
phase, i s whe re t he prim ary fo c us is on low volume and rest , with
small doses of hi gh-intensity w ork outs.

All three phas es compris e a sin gul ar traini ng blo ck.

The ima ge below denote s the areas of foc us (i.e., v olume,

intensity , specificity) for each phase.
Hybrid (Intermediate) Periodization

Based on the information r egar ding classic and bl oc k periodizatio n,

there ar e two con stants:

1. Classic periodization is str uctured for begi nner and

intermediate athl etes
2. Block periodiz ati on is str uctured f or advanced/ elite athletes

As thes e two p eri odization models (classic and bl oc k) are at

opposit e ends of the spe ctrum, the question aris es: Is there a
model i ncorporati ng aspects of bot h model s? Yes, a hybrid
(interme diate) model.

Plisk an d Sto ne r eferenc e an i nter mediate perio diz ation m odel t hat
uses a summ ated approach (230). This approach f ocuses on
fitness v ersus fat igue an d vie ws e ach as havin g op posing effect s
on the body. Ther efore, fit ness = good, fati gue = bad. A sum mate d
approa ch looks at the sum of fit ness and f atigu e to maximize
fitness and mi nim ize fatigue. A su ccessf ul prog ram base d on
this appr oach relies heavily o n f atigue m anag em ent prac tices .
A summ ation peri odization strat egy is beli eved t o o ffer dual
benefits of re duci ng the c hanc e of overtrai ning a nd i ncreasi ng
fitness a s the athlete trai ns in m ult iple aspects of fit ness in parall el
through out t he m esocycl e (235, 236, 237).

The intermedi ate model theorized by Plisk et al. us es four - week

mesocyc les. T he volume or inte nsi ty increases e ach week during
the first t hree we eks (micr ocycles) of each mes ocyc le. The f ourth
and fin al wee k of the mes ocycle is an “unl oading” or recover y wee k
charact erized by a decrease in vol ume and intensity . This all ows
the bod y a c hanc e to rec over f or t he following wee k, which is the
start of the next mesocyc le. The f ollowing 16 -w eek sample charts
illustrate the basic concept of t he Plisk et al. interm ediate
periodiz ation model. Not e eac h cy cle repr esents four sequential
weeks.
Criticism of Periodization

The con cept of periodization has been wi dely c rit ic ized for being
antiqua ted, ri gid, and lac king a sci entific and pr acti cal
foundat ion. I n ot her word s, det ractors of period iz ation bel ieve
that it fai ls to m eet the r ealit y of training and c o mpetition .

Additio nal criti cis ms of periodiz ati on include (782):

• Not bas ed in science/phy siology

• Does not consider the improvem ent of athl etes a nd t herefor e
slows the rate of improve ment
• Rigid structure that is broken up into predefined periods and
cycles
 • Complex and confusing principl es and gui delines
• Not practical in r eal-worl d traini ng applications
• Arbitrary orga niz ation

It may b e true tha t if just o ne ty pe of traini ng wer e f ocused on fo r a

set period (i.e., endurance), an individual w ould see the most
significant gains i n that area comp ared to training m ultiple areas of
fitness si multa ne ously. H owev er, f itness el emen ts a nd, mor e to th e
point, tr aining as pects d o not exist in isolat ion. U ES CA does not
subscri be to t he belief th at mul ti ple fitness ar eas cannot be
trained within t h e same perio d b ecause of d i mini shed training
adaptati ons.

UESCA believ es t hat multi ple ar eas of foc us should be trained

simultaneously to ensure that a runner is well -rounded and not
overtrai ned in an y one ar ea. T his i s not to say th at t here cannot be
a primar y focus, but only perf ormi ng one type of training sti muli fo r
a partic ular durat ion of ti me may not be a dvant ageous for a
runner. T he m ost important asp ect of a pr operl y constru cted
training program is that an at hl ete has indivi du ally based
stresso rs pla ced upon them, foll owed by som e r ecover y
duration. This pr ocess is repeated over and ov er to achieve the
desired result.

Which Way?

One of t he ke y pr inciples of trai nin g progr am co nstr uction is ‘Lea st

to Most Specif ic.’ This me ans t hat you foc us on the aspects least
specific to the goal farthe st aw ay f rom the goal r ace and the most
importa nt aspect s the closest t o t he event. As you can see, wha t is
focused on at what point( s) in t he training progr am will vary base d
on the r ace b eing trained for. It als o varies base d on the le vel of
the run ner. F or example, a short r ace suc h as a 5K would li kely
focus o n endurance towar d the beginning of th e program, and
intensity closest to the event, due to the short distance. On t he
other e nd of t he s pectrum woul d be an ultramarat hon which w oul d
place in tensit y to ward th e begi nni ng of th e pro gra m and a focu s on
distanc e/volume closer to the goal event.

Using the 5K and ultramarathon examples above as being o n

opposit e ends of the spe ctrum, a half and f ull marat hon would be
somewh ere in the midd le. For m ost people, bot h of t hese ev ents
(half an d full mar athon) would be considered long - distanc e events
and thu s, would have a focus on intensity early in the progr am an d
volume later in the program. Howe ver, for many seasoned or elite
runners, thes e d i stances do not represent ‘long’ dis tances as it
relates t o thei r ability to r un those distanc es. In other words , they
are not training t o be able to r un t hat far, t hey’r e tr aining t o race
those di stanc es a s fast as they can . For the se ru nne rs, their
program s might be structured m ore like that of a r egular runner’s
5K prog ram – meaning a focus on volume t owar d the beginning and
a focus on int ensi ty towar d the end.

R e v e r s e P er i o d i z a t i o n

As traditi onal ( lin ear) peri odiza tion places a foc us o n volum e at t he
beginni ng of a pr ogram and int ens ity towar d the end. Flippi ng
these fo cus a rea s in term s of w he re they are in the progra m is
often te rmed ‘ Re verse P eriodiz ati on.’ The chart bel ow illustr ates
the tren d from be ginning to en d, w here int ensity de creases while
volume i ncreases over tim e. Foll owing the ‘Least to Most Specific’
program ming r ule, the bel ow m odel of rever se periodization would
be most appli cabl e to lon g events such as marat hons or
ultramar athons w here the most specific as pect of tr aining i s volu me
versus i ntensit y.
Periodization Summary

Concep tually, per iodizati on is on t he right track – t o progr ess an

athlete f rom a rel atively l ow lev el of condi tionin g/in tensity/v olume
to a hig h lev el in a system atic, pro gressive man ner. This is t he
genesis and purpose of a ll training programs. So, w hat’s the issu e?

The pro blem i s n ot the goal of per iodizati on but rat her how an
athlete progr esse s and th e tim e fra me in w hich th e progressi on
occurs.

Perhap s the b ig gest issue is that periodi zation f orces athlete s

into the same re strictiv e train ing param eters. What if athl ete A
attains t he best r esults w hen perfo rming hi gh -int ens ity traini ng,
wherea s athl ete B realiz es peak performances w hen training at or
right bel ow lactat e threshold? Concerning periodiz ation, if t hese
two athl etes were in a me socycl e t hat focu sed on b elow-lact ate -
threshol d trai ning , athlete A wo uld likely pro gress sl ower th an
athlete B.

The correct way to progress an athlete is by taking an individual

approa ch. Wh ile it’s fine t o have a gener al theme for a trai ning
duration (i.e., ge neral fitness), it should not be overly
restricti ve, m eaning it’s fi ne to all ocate the month of March to
general fitnes s. H owever, the progr am should not st ate that every
training sessi on must be belo w X YZ heart rate. It’s fine to have an
overriding theme for a par ticular duration. However, it’s not
realistic, practi cal, or adv antageous to hav e onl y on e type of
training inten sity for an e xtend ed p eriod. Tr ainin g gu idelines
should primaril y be direc ted by as sess ment checkpoints, an
athlete’ s traini ng history, and t he i ndividu al’s p hysi ological
respons e to tr aini ng.

Therefore, the pr oper way to pr o gress an athl ete through a

training plan i s t o sched ule a baseline assessment and
periodic assessment checks (i.e., tr aining volume, physiol ogica l
assessm ents, tim ed distances, etc. ) throughout t he plan to ensur e
that an athlet e is on targ et. Thi s en sures th at it wi ll be quic kly
identified and rectified if an athlete is behi nd schedule with
prepare dnes s.

Recovery Considerations

Travel

Many at hletes travel to ot her ti me zones i n their country or

internati onally to compete and for work and leisure. The fart her
away from the race or loc ation is f rom their time z one, the more i t
will negatively affect an i ndividual’ s Circadi an R hyt hm. In a 2016
study by Simp son et al., it is noted that traveling east more than
two time zone s w reaks th e mos t h avoc wit h one’s C ircadian
Rhythm due t o their wake -up and bedtime being shi fted later in th e
day (97 6). Thi s is term ed, ‘Circadi an Misali gnm ent.’ The same
study n oted t hat i t takes approxim ately one day to adjust t o eac h
time zon e cros se d. The below stra tegy is r ecomm en ded to c omb at
jet lag d ue to Cir cadian Misalignment.

• Upon ar riving at t he desti nation, sy nchroni ze on e ’s watch a nd

meals to the new time zone. Concerning m eal timi ng, this
might be the mos t effectiv e as gas trointesti nal tr act signali ng
is an important factor in resetting one’s Circadian Rhythm.

Program Considerations

Determi ning t he f requency of r est days in a train ing progra m can

be chall engi ng w hen co nsideri ng all other traini ng program
variables. This se ction discusses h ow to best appro ach
implementing res t and recover y da ys in a program.

An athl ete’s abilit y to recover m ust be ass essed on an indiv i dual

basis. U nless an individu al res ponds best to ba ck -t o-back hard
days (di scuss ed below), a rest day typicall y follows a hard day. A
recovery day may constitu te an easy run or a day of f. “Hard days”
tradition ally in clu de any f orm o f tr aining t hat p uts a lot of str ess on
the bod y (ex: lon g runs, i nterv als).

“Hard d ays” ar e s ubjectiv e. For a professional runner, running 10

miles (1 6.1 km) i n an ho ur may not constit ute a “ hard day,” while
for most every on e else w ho d oes not run for a li vin g, it mos t
certainly is!

Becaus e of t he individuali zed r ecovery rate , it is dif ficult ‒ if not

impossible ‒ to decipher the optimal amount of r ecovery (in days)
after a hard w ork out. There ar e so many v ariabl es t hat the best
way to determine this is based on the hist ory and pr ogressi on of an
athlete.

One da y’s res t af ter a har d day mi ght not be suffici ent for an
individual to be recovered from a physiological standpoint . Think
about it. A ma rat hon tap er is t ypic ally two to thr ee weeks i n
duratio n. Why ? T he theo ry is t hat i t t akes t his long f or the b ody t o
recover f rom al l t he traini ng and build proper gl ycogen stor es. It i s
highly p roba ble t hat phy siolog icall y, the b ody is not complet ely
recover ed on e or even several day s after a hard wor kout. Als o,
keep in mind that fatigue is cumulative. As a result, it is not j ust
a singul ar har d workout t hat th e body is reco ver ing from but
rather th e tota l workloa d of tr ai ning ove r a pe ri od of tim e.
Therefore, unless an athl ete is tapering for a race, the goal is not
to be ful ly rec ove red phy siologicall y but rat her recov ered enough
to perfor m a p res cribed w orkou t at the des ired pace /distanc e
without r isking injury or illness.

Trial and Error

The am ount and t ype of r est will vary by the indivi dual. Som e
athletes might r espond best to a whole d ay off, while oth ers
might re spond b est to a ctive res t (e.g., an eas y r un).
Additio nally, s om e indivi duals may respon d bes t to t wo cons ecutiv e
days off follo wed by two h ard d ays, wherea s oth ers may res pond
best to j ust o ne day off fo llowe d by one ha rd da y .

Unless an athlete already know s this and passes thi s inform ation
along t o you, the only way to fi nd out is through t rial and err or.
Tracking all this i nformation, inclu ding sleep hours, will help you
underst and how an athlet e mos t eff iciently r ecovers.

While thi s certif ic ation di scuss es r est rega rding rest days or activ e
rest day s, rest should be view ed as a func tion of energy
expend iture and muscle activati on . Just becaus e an athlete is not
training on a r est day do es no t ne cessarily mea n th e perso n is
resting. For ex am ple, spe ndin g the day at a con cert standin g in
one pla ce for hours or taki ng a f our -hour w alking tour of NY C are
not rest days! If an athlet e is s erious about trai ning, they must
always c onsid er energy conse rvat ion.

The mor e stress placed o n the body ‒ whether from racing,

training, lack of s leep, or exte nded work ho urs ‒ the more re st is
require d. Add itionally, recovery ti me will v ary ba sed on many
factors, such as i njury, fit ness l ev el, muscl e sor ene ss, etc.

Hours, Not Days

It is adv antag eo us to thin k of tr aining d ays in terms of h ours,

not days. Let us say an i ndividual gets off work at 9 p.m. and
trains fro m 10 p. m. to mid night . T he next day t hey have a n after -
work dinner, so they train in the morning fr om 5:30‒7. While the
training sessi ons are technicall y on consec utive day s, as their
training progr am states, only 5. 5 h ours pa ssed betw een the end of
one trai ning s essi on and the st art of the next. Thi s is not enough
time bet ween trai ning se ssions an d, in this case , c ertainly not
enoug h ti me for a dequat e sleep. It is ill -advi sed t o perform
evenin g-to-m orni ng work outs on c onsecut ive days or same - day
workout s of hi gh i ntensity and simil ar natur e (strengt h to strength
or cardi ovasc ular to cardi ovasc ular).

Back-to-Back Days

As athle tes a dapt to the s ame tr aining stim ulus di fferently, s ome
runners may r espond best to back - to-back hard day s follow ed by
one or more easy days. T he ex act number of rec overy days t hat
follow ar e bas ed on the i ndivid ual’ s recove ry rat e. However , if
three or more rec overy days ar e required, a program shoul d not
implement ba ck -t o-back hard days .

This type of training should be attempted only by a runner who

recovers well dail y.

Overtraining Syndrome
Contributor: Ale xandra Coates

While ev eryone h as hear d of t he terms “Over traini ng” and

“Overtrai ning Syndrome,” t here i s much confusi on a bout what
overtrai ning r eall y is. In t his sec ti on, we will def ine the com ponents
of the o vertrai nin g spectr um a nd t ouch o n how rela tive -energy
deficien cy in s por t may dri ve un der perform an ce. To begin,
“overtrai ning” i s defined as the verb to describe the process of
intensifi ed training that c ould lead to “acut e fatigue,”
“overreaching,” or “overtraining sy ndrome” . Ther efore, overtr ainin g
can be used inter changeably with “ overload” trai ning .

While thi s secti on could be appropr iately included in many of the

lessons, it is incl uded h ere due to the corr elation between
program ming and training load and more specific ally , programming
appropr iate tr aini ng loads to mi nim ize the c hanc e of overtrai ni ng
your athletes.

Acute Fatigue

It is well under st ood that a ce rtain amount of ov erlo ad traini ng is

require d for tr aini ng adaptation to occur. A s the t rai ning load
increas es, the at hlete should expe rience normal trai ning fati gue,
called a cute f atigue . Acute fati gue should l ast a day or two upon
recovery , and the n there shoul d be a micro - adapt ati on
or super compens ation.

Functional Overreaching

Functio nal ov erreaching i s diffe rent from ac ute fatigue prim arily
becaus e ther e is a decrease i n performan ce . W hile acutely
fatigue d athl etes may feel tired, they can s till per for m if required,
wherea s funct ion ally over reached athletes cannot perform to their
normal abilities. This typi cally occ urs following a tw o -to-three-we ek
training camp or a partic ularly har d training block.

Functio nal ov erreaching t akes about 1 -2 w eeks t o r ecover fr om, b ut

symptom s should resolve compl etely followi ng appropriate rest. If
adequ ate rec over y is taken, there may be a perf orm ance super -
compen sation, or there m ay jus t be a retur n to t h e athlete’ s
baselin e level of perform ance ( 978 -982). El iciting ac ute fatigue
with training has been s hown to be a more r eliable method of
achievi ng super -c ompens ation than functional ov erreaching
(978), s ugges ting that ov erreac hing is not r equir ed or even
recomm ended for perform ance gai ns.
Non-Functional Overreaching

Non-fun ctional ov erreachi ng oc cur s when athlet es are not gi ven

sufficient recover y time followin g functional overrea ching. Non -
function al ov erre aching i s diffe ren t from fu nction al overrea ching
simply b ecause it takes weeks to months to recover from thi s state
(once the athlete takes tim e off). T he athl ete will los e fitness due
to the le ngth y rec overy p eriod. Athl etes ma y hav e dif ficulty
determi ning w het her they are havi ng symptoms of overrea c hing o r
are simply unfi t, which c an be extr emely fr ustrati ng. Non -function al
overrea ching should be avoided, and if an athlete is suspect ed of
having non -f uncti onal ov erreac hing, mont hs of r ecovery may be
require d.

Overtraining Syndrome

Lastly, t here i s O vertraini ng Sy ndr ome (OT S). The l iterature

suggest s that overtraining syndr om e may not be as simple as
training throu gh a state of non-f unc tional overreachi ng, as it likely
requires some ad ditional factor s or circumst ances in addition to
training- stress for the syndrom e to be initi ated ( 977). It is be lieve d
that OT S may r equire additional factors sim ply because mos t
athletes hav e like ly experi ence d so me form of ov err eachin g. Still,
only a v ery sm all percent age of ath letes de velop tru e OTS
(977). T he trigger s of OTS are i ncompletely underst ood, but ther e
may be a triggeri ng virus, gastr ointestinal i ssue, or excessiv e
altitude/ heat train ing stres s, whi ch may pre dispo se t he athl ete
towards devel opi ng OTS. OTS i s d efined as the “pro longed
malada ptation of no t only the athlete but s everal biological,
neuroc hemic al an d hormonal regul ation m echanism s” (977). It
requires the excl usion of any other diseas e, nut rien t deficiency, o r
other m ajor di sor ders (977). The li terature suggests that it t akes
months t o years t o recov er from O TS and often spel ls the end of
the athl ete’s care er (977). As thes e athlet es seem particul arly
sensitiv e to traini ng and life str ess for many years a fterward, most
athletes do n ot re turn to high -performance sport after diagnosing
OTS.

RED-S

Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED -S ) is not on the

overtrai ning s pec trum but shar es s everal c ommon overreac hing
symptom s. RE D - S (984) i s a pr ogr ession of the Female At hlete
Triad (985), whic h is the understanding that insufficient energy
availabil ity (i.e., not enough calori es eaten com par ed to those
expend ed) leads to a dec reas e in r eproductive horm ones, w hich
disrupts the m en strual cy cle, and which c auses low bone m ineral
density l eadi ng to stress fr acture s (985). R ED-S buil ds upon this
model b y s uggest ing that low ener gy avail ability can cause a ho st
of other physi olo gical sy mptom s, can driv e underp erforma nce a nd
is not restricted to female athletes. RED -S and over reaching may
overlap as it is v ery diffic ult to ac curately asses s c alories i n vs.
calories out. Athl etes may be tr aining so hard t hat t hey are
invertedly in a state of low -energy availability. F urt her, res earch
hasn’t c onclu sive ly show n that ove rreache d athl etes aren’t
underp erformi ng simply becaus e of an energy d efici ency
(986). H owev er, while RED-S c an be detected with standar d blood
tests, ov errea chi ng and overtr aini ng synd rome r are ly are id entifie d
with blood markers (987). As such, while t here is wi thout a doub t
some ov erlap bet ween R ED -S and overtrai ning, t her e are al so
some differen ces which w e will see in the sympt om s section belo w.

Symptoms

To begi n, mood s tates foll ow an inverse linear tr end with trai ning
load so that the athlete wi ll becom e more irritable and emot ionally
unstabl e as tr aini ng load increases . A state of ac ute fatig ue shou ld
feel like norm al tr aining f atigu e, wh ereas at hlete s wh o are
overrea ched will show m ore sy mpt oms of depression and anxiet y.
Overrea ching (functional and non - function al) is f urt her
charact erized by a decrease in heart rate at exerci se intensities
over ~7 0% of max (not just at m ax ) and a decrease in lactic acid
producti on (978, 988) – r esulti ng i n the at hlete not being able to
sprint or push hard. Functionally ov erreached athletes also have
increas ed sym pat hetic nerve ac tivi ty, reduc ed m axi mal cardia c
outputs, and incr eased arterial stif fness (9 80, 9 81). While coache s
and ath letes will not be able t o det ect all of thes e s ymptoms in
training, they sho uld be able t o rec ognize under perf ormanc e in
training and t hat training feels mu ch hard er tha n it should. If you
use he art rat e measures, heart rat e recov ery will
be faste r following a given eff ort (t ake HR R as the differenc e in H R
at the e nd of exer cise to 6 0sec pos t -exercis e whil e t he athl ete is
standin g/sitting s till). Waki ng hear t rate var iabilit y may b e highe r or
lower with overre aching but will lik ely be d ifferent from baseline
(982). T here is n’t a resting blood marker t hat ac cur ately pr edicts
overrea ching or OTS.

Overtrai ning S yn drome s ympto ms are har der to pin point b ecaus e
due to t he m alad aptatio n of s ever al physi ologic al axes, ther e are a
variety of sym ptoms indivi dual to the athlete (977). Most athletes
with OTS report extreme exhaustion, deep muscle and joint pain
followin g eve n ea sy exerci se, a nd strange distur ban ces to h eart
rate. Oft en th ese h eart rat e dist urbances p resent as highly
elevate d heart rat es during eas y ex ercise and potent ial
suppres sion of h eart rate during s trenuous exer cis e. Sleeping
disturba nces seem to be comm on with raci ng heart rates or anxie ty
that do es not allow for sleep, or in extreme cases , athletes c ann ot
stop sleeping. Athletes also re port extreme brain fog, difficulty
concent rating, an xiety, and depres sion. Many more symptom s
likely represent the indiv idual imb alances; however, standa rd blood
test resu lts ar e u sually n ormal ( 987). Altogether , these sym ptoms
are very similar t o that of chronic f atigue s yndrome.

Finally, RED-S is the eas iest t o di agnose as w e have some clear

symptom s and bl ood mar kers. The earliest marker o f RED -S i s
suppres sion t o resting metaboli c r ate, whi ch means athletes with
RED-S often gain weight r ather than lose it, des pite taking i n fewe r
calories than they expend. There will be re ductions in blood
pressur e and rest ing hea rt rate. In a standard bl ood test, there will
be a co mbinati on of red fl ags s uch as low estrogen, testost erone,
luteinizing hormo ne, follic le -stim ul ating hormone, T 3, IGF -1, seru m
ferritin, l eptin, fa sting bl ood gl uco se and i nsuli n, an d increa sed
LDL ch olester ol and cortis ol (98 5, 989 -991). Finally, after a l ong
period of RED -S, athletes will have reduced bone mi neral density,
likely resulting in stress reactions or stress fracture s (984).

The bel ow video by physi ologi st Al exandr a Coat es discusses

Overtrai ning S yn drome i n detail.
[There is a Vi deo here. Vi deos cannot be v iewed from this P DF. To
View Vi deo C ontent, please ref er t o the online Cour se]

Training Program Development

Overview

A trainin g pro gra m must b e flex ibl e and d ynami c. Without a

constan t eye on an athl ete’s tr aini ng proc ess, good communicatio n
betwee n athl ete and coach, and m odificati ons m ade to a pr ogram
that refl ect th e at hlete’s c onditi on, a traini ng pro gra m quickl y can
be dee med i neffective. The quality of a coach is not so muc h
judged by the abi lity to create a tr aining program but rather by th e
ability to modif y and ma nage it to get the most out of an at hlete.
This requires accurate and constant feedback from athletes to
ensure progr ams are relevant and on track in rel ation to the goal s.

Athletes will c om e to you with diff ering a bilities, ex perienc e leve ls,
goals, a nd st artin g points . Per haps your at hlete was working solo
or with other c oa ches but not getti ng the desired results and is n ow
three m onths away from th e goal race. Conversel y, y our athl ete
may be new t o running, unabl e to r un more than a few miles and
complet ely deconditioned. The problem wit h many tr aining
program s is that t hey mak e ass um ptions. Some of t he more
common assumpt ions are:

• Form and biomec hanics are cor rec t

 • Base level of prof iciency r egard ing skill an d technique
• Training progr am starts at the begi nning of a calendar year
• Training at a particular volume before the start of the program
• Prior run ning exp erience
• In good phys ical condition
• Training for a particular event

Most trai ning programs focus on tr aining v olum e. T his i s pri marily
becaus e if an indi vidual c annot complete distances in traini ng ne ar
those of the r ace being tr ained for, the likel ihoo d of successf ul
completion on race day is slim.

This em phasis on volume versus intensity is typic all y greater with

new an d/or deconditioned runners.

Training program s range from generic to extrem ely involved and

detaile d. The trai ning pr ogram s you create for y our athletes are
primarily based on their goals and should also c onsi der their
strengths and weaknesses.

An impor tant th i ng to re memb er when developi n g a train ing

program is th at your athl ete i s n ot you! M any c oaches design
program s around what they like and what personally works for
them. W hile this approach may work in som e cas es, it is important
not to c onstruct t raining progr ams this way. Indivi duals will have
varying r esponses to the same trai ning stimuli. T his is a critic al
piece th at se para tes a qu alifie d co ach from an u nqualified c oach. A
qualified coach will construct a training program grounded in
scienc e and customized f or an i ndividual athl et e.

Lack of Research

Despite the many articles in magazines and online regarding

training progr ams for runn ers, t her e are a surpris ing ly low n umber
of peer-r eview ed researc h articl es on this s ubjec t.

Therefore, most articles r egarding pre -form atted pr ograms and

training progr am construc tion a re either b ased on t he foundatio ns
of exerci se sci ence and/ or on the experience of coaches r egardi ng
their per sonal ex perienc es an d th ose the y hav e co ached.
This is not necessari ly a bad thing. The trai ning practices that
coache s impl ement are often done becaus e they know they work
based on past ex perienc e, even if they don’t know t he
physiol ogical rati onale behind the training methodol ogies. In other
words, t he rol e of sports science is often to exp lain why a
particular traini ng methodolog y works versus developing a new
and grou ndbre aking trai ning th eory.

Becaus e of t his, most of t he content in this module is formul ated

via applied exerci se science and evidence -based fin dings fr om our
team of advis ers versus s olely r un ning-specific programming
studies.

Preformatted Training Programs

Pick up any r unni ng mag azine, and you will undo ubt edly fin d that it
contain s traini ng program s. They give spec ific pl ans to follow to
achieve one’ s desired res ults. W hi le one of these pl ans might wor k
well for one person, it pr obably does not w ork so well for ot hers. In
other w ords, pre - formatte d trai ning plans a re aki n to a “one size
fits all” m odel.
T he primary t rai t that mo st pre - f ormatted pr ogr ams have is a
pre-determined starting t rainin g volume. For example, a
maratho n program might assum e t hat an athlet e has been r unni ng
at least 20 mil es (32 km) per we ek for the previo us four we eks.
This may or may not be t he case. Regarding predetermined starti ng
training volum es, this ap proac h wo rks only with s om eone not bei ng
professi onally coached. Using the precedi ng ex ampl e, an individu al
without a coach would train until reaching 20 miles (32 km)/week
and the n would begin foll owing the program. How e v er, in a
coach/a thlet e rel ationshi p, thi s b uildup period of 20 miles (32
km)/we ek is part of the tr aining program . Ther ef ore, the actual
training progr am would b e lon ger t han noted in the pre-form atted
plan.

This certification does not have pre -formatt ed tr aini ng plan s as part
of the c ontent. W hy? Pre -form atted programs si m ply do no t
adjust fo r an a th lete’s specifi c n eeds. F ollowi ng are sev eral
variables that ca nnot be accounted for with pre -f or matted tr ainin g
plans:

• Recover y rate
• Accurat e traini ng volume
• Strengt hs/weaknesses
• Time av ailabili ty
• Physiol ogical adaptation t o trai ning
• Injury
• Scheduling c onfli cts

It is incor rect t o f orce pot ential ly h undred s of di ffere nt traini ng

scenari os into jus t a few pre -for matted trai ning programs. Thi s
leads to program s that ar e not indi vidualiz ed and, therefore,
nowher e near as effective as they could b e. T rainin g progra ms
need to be indiv idually designed for each athlete ‒ period. Pre-
formatte d trai ning progra ms are a great pl ace t o get ideas b ut
should not be us ed “as is ” for athl etes unl ess it happens to fit
exactly with w hat a partic ular a thle te need s.

Program Design Principles

Following are general trends concerning running program design:

1 – Dec onditio n ed athlet es g enerally st art at a lo w volum e and

intensity leve l and spen d the b u lk of the begin ni ng of the
training program focused on bu ilding fitn ess an d endurance.

• Athletes who beg in a pro gram at a modera te to high fitness

level typically focus less on fitness and ae robic development
than decondi tioned athl etes.
• Athletes with a re latively high fit ne ss level at the inc eption of
a training program typical ly integr ate high -intensity training
sooner than those with lower b egi nning -fit ness l evels.

2 – High- volu me/intensit y weeks are typi cally fol lowed b y a

recove ry week, especi ally wi th novice r unner s.

3 – Whil e an athl ete’s ab ility to r ecover must be assessed

individu ally, it i s safe t o say tha t after a ny ha rd training day, a t
least on e rec ove ry day should fo llow.

4 – As athlet es progres s thro ug h the trai ning p r ocess, t hey

should b e abl e t o handle a hig he r worklo ad wit h faster
recove ry.

5 – Gen erall y sp eaking, there sh ould not b e mor e than th ree

consec utive weeks of in creasing volume unless t he traini ng
volume is low .

6 – Foc us on developing physiol ogy that is mo st race -specifi c

closest to the race and conversely develop the least specific
physiology furt h est away.

7 – Foc us on str engths closest t o a race and weaknesses

further away.

Trends six and seven are depicted in the visual below.

Commo n sens e di ctates t hat the m ost spec ific physi ology to a
particul ar race wi ll not al ways align with a runn er’s strengths. So,
what sh ould y ou do as the coach i f the most specifi c physiology t o
a race a lso happens to be a w eak ness of an at hlet e? Double down
and star t focu si ng on the athl ete’s area of weak nes s further from
the race .

8 – Duri ng a tr ai ning block, st art with wor kouts with the

highest training load and progre ss to workout s with the lowest
load.

9 – T he biggest bang for t he bu ck worko uts in re spect to

physiological ad aptation s are st eady st ate ru ns, tempo r uns
and inter vals. A s such, t hese should be i ntegr ated into athl etes’
program s at s om e point( s).

The cha rt bel ow denote s the f our key work out ty pes in respect to
their ass ociat ed r ecovery and adaptation ti mes. F or exampl e,
intervals have a short adaptation time, but due to the intens ity,
they req uire m ore recover y time th an the other t hre e worko ut
types.
Do We Really Know What Training Volume Is Optimal?

To some degr ee, there is a trickl e - down ef fect fr om profes si onal

runners to am ateurs regarding trai ning theory and methodology. As
previou sly mentioned, thi s is lar gel y due to mag azine and online
articles about how pros tr ain. W hil e most amate urs do not have t he
time to tr ain at th e same volum e a s the pr os, an d e ven if they did,
most co uld not handle t he vol ume without getti ng i njured or
overtrai ned. H ow ever, th e mes sage is clear: If you want to be th e
best, yo u mus t ru n a lot … peri od.

Is more alwa ys better?

Likely n ot. Th e fo llowing diagra m il lustrates that t he ideal training

volume and i ntensity exist s on a bell curve, meanin g too mu ch or
too little volume and intensity will likely result in decreased
perform ance. The correct volume and int ensity mus t be ass esse d
and det ermined i ndividually.

The mai n tak eaw ay is that mor e is not (necessarily) better

regardi ng trai ning volume. It als o needs to be st ated that many
runners run a lot of volum e for one simple r eason – they like to
run! So l ong as t hey don’t get injured or exhibit sy mptoms of
overtrai ning, t her e is not hing i nher ently wr ong wi th t his. Still, it
also might not be in the athlet e’s best inter est from the standpoi nt
of optimi zing t hei r training.
Not All Mileage Has the Same Value

Accordi ng to r unn ing coach Jac k D aniels, i ncrea ses in traini ng

volume past a certain poi nt foll ow the law of dimi nis hing ret urns
(720). Increasi ng volume t o a c ertain point will subst antially benef it
a runne r. How ever, volum e increas es past this p oint will hav e a
reduce d benefit. I n other words , you don’t get the same bang for
your bu ck. Thi s is a slippery slope as the benefi ts ar e reduc ed, a nd
the cha nce f or inj ury increases. This relates to the “ sweet s pot,” a s
noted i n the diagr am above.

Conflicting Information

Historically, elite marathon runners have al wa ys trai ned at a hig h

volume; therefore, it has been established that this i s a
prerequ isite t o running a fast marathon. At the elite level, the
phrase I f it ai n’t broke, d on’t fi x it is very applicable. Changing a
training progr am or strate gy ha s fe w reperc ussions f or an age -
grouper . How ever , for professionals, there is likely too much
risk in d rasti cally alterin g an an nual trai ning r eg imen. T his is
likely why there is not a l ot of r esearch in t he area of varied
training volum e a mong el ite ma rat honers. As a r esult, high weekly
mileage remai ns a const ant among elite marathoner s.

Several studi es s uggest t hat o nly high-int ensity trai ning inc rease s
fitness a mong we ll-conditi oned aer obic athletes and that low -
intensity training does not lead to increased aerobic capacit y. As
the maj ority of ti me spe nt running by elite marat hon runners is a t
subthre shold levels, their tr aining methodology see ms to contradi ct
the scie nce b ehin d improv ing o ne’s cardiov ascul ar c apacity.

Convers ely, there is evidence t hat an increase i n running v olume

correlat es with a n increase in running economy (ef ficiency).
Runnin g long mil es also i ncreases one’s m uscul ar e ndurance an d
mental s tamina. So is the mileage run by elite m arathoners
necess ary or pri marily b ased on historical traini ng patt erns, and
how do es this inf ormation relat e to the average runner? At t his
point, n o one real ly knows the ans wer.

Marathon Long Run(s)

At the m ost si mpl istic leve l, mor e t ime spe nt run nin g equat es to
more str ess on the body. This i s es pecially the c ase with long runs .
Individu als wh o introduc e high- mileage days before thei r body
is adapt ed put e xcess stres s on their mu sculo sk eletal s yste m
and are at an in crease d risk for injury. T his is es pecially the
case for runners who have biomec hanical inefficien cies an d
imbalan ces. T hes e issues likely increase t he chanc e of injury ove r
those w ho ar e bi omecha nicall y sound.

A “fast” r unner m ay be a ble to clip off 20 miles ( 32 km) in tra ining

at a sev en-mi nut e per mil e pac e ( 4:20 mi n/km) ( 2:20 elaps ed tim e),
while a nother runner may take 3:20 (10 mi nute per mile pac e –
6:12 mi n/km) t o c over the sam e di stance. T he st ress on th e body
for the sl ower ru nner is much gr eater th an that o f the fast er
runner, prima ril y because of the duration of tim e spent ru nning
(one hour mor e).

Regardi ng m arat hon trai ning, the average pres cript ion for t he
maximu m distanc e long r un is ~20 miles (32 km). T herefore, for a
slower r unner, it may be advis ed for the long run to be 18 miles ( 29
km). Con versel y, for faster runners and those wi th a low inci denc e
of injury, 20-22 m iles (32 - 35 km) m ay be the opt imal long run
distanc e.

The ge nesis of th e longest run is t hat in or der t o finish a maratho n,

you mus t be able to run a parti cul ar distance in a s ingle run.

While lo ng runs are part of a runni ng program and more

specific ally, m ara thon program s – f rom the standpoi nt of making a
singular long run the pinnacle of a training progr am i s incorre ct.

Why this is the c ase?

1. From an endurance stan dpoint, successful compl eti on of a

marathon is t he r esult of the c um ulative volume, not a
singular run. Therefore, in the sch eme of the overal l program,
a runner will l og a lot of miles, making a si ngul ar long run
fairly insi gnific an t with res pect t o t he whol e trai ning progra m.
2. Long runs put a l ot of str ess on the body, re quir ing more res t
which from an overall program perspective, reduces the
overall tr aining v olume.
3. The ex act dis tance of long runs s hould be bas ed o n a
runner’s speci fic physiol ogy and tr aining adapt ations.
Conclusions

A well-c onstructed training program m ust s ufficientl y stress t he

body a nd all ow pr oper rec overy. R egarding intensit y versus
volume, the ratio between the two must be configur ed individuall y.
While lo ng trai ning runs are an important aspect of a marathon
program , an a thlete in good to grea t ae robi c condition could likely
benefit f rom i ncre ased int ensity as much or more fro m increa sed
volume.

As a ge neral tren d, volum e and int ensity have an inverse

relation ship, as noted in t he im age to the ri ght. T her efore, during a
week of volume increases, it is advised n ot to s che dule lar ge
amount s of s peedwork.

Programming Factors and

Considerations

Noted b elow are t hree ar eas to be aware of when cr eating a

program .
– T ime vs. Di stance (Lon g Run S pecific)
– Facto rs T hat I nfluence Volu me Increases
– T he 10% R ule
– Least to Mo st Specific

Time vs. Distance (Long Run Specific)

Many fa ctors i nfl uence one’s abilit y to toler ate tr aining stres s on
the mus culosk eletal system. You probably know a r unner w ho ca n
barely e ven l ook at a pair of runni ng shoes without getting i njure d,
while a nother can seemingly run endless miles w ith out ever getti ng
so much as a blis ter! Thes e two ex amples shoul d be considered
outliers. The r est of us fall som ew here in between.

Regardi ng long r uns, some advise that the duration be pres cribe d
by time v ersus di stance. Famed running c oach Dr. J ack Daniels
suggest s that for recreati onal r unners (non -elite), the long r un
should be no longer tha n 2:30. Hi s theory is that because of the
lack of a daptation in the body from a mu s culosk el etal poi nt of v iew ,
running over 2:30 would i ncrease t he chance fo r inj ury to the poi nt
where it’s not wor th the gamble (757). Moreover, Dr. Daniels states
that eve n if a n in dividual’ s go al ti me is 4: 30 and th e perso n’s
longest run is 2:30, this v olume dis parity should not be caus e for
alarm, as it is not necess ary to trai n at or cl ose t o the race
distanc e (757). In other w ords, Dr. Daniels l ooks at t he long run
from the pers pect ive of str ess o n t he body. For example, if a top -
level m arath oner runs th e marat hon in 2: 20 wh er eas a
recreat ional run ner does it in 4: 40, from purel y a time
perspe ctive, the recreational run ner places tw ice the amo unt of
stress on the bo dy as th e top -l evel mar athon er.

If prescri bing l on g-run volume by t ime, the exact m aximu m shoul d

be dete rmined by many fa ctors, including traini ng history,
compari son betw een prescribed long -run ti me, and estimated
maratho n finis h ti me and propensit y for injury.

Factors That Influence Volume Increases

There is little arg ument that substantial increas es i n training

volume ( both long run and weekly volume) from w eek to week will
likely increase the chanc e for injury. What qualifies as
a subst antial i ncr ease is subjectiv e, as it is bas ed on the
individual. Many factors influence volume increases within a
training progr am.

The dat e or d ista nce of an ev ent i s not a f actor i n i ncreasi ng

volume. Volume s hould never be increased to accom modate an
event. If an a thlet e is not r eady for an eve nt ba sed on curre nt
training volum e a nd prop er vol ume progres sion, a new event mus t
be sele cted.

Following are the most influential factors:

New Run ners: M usculos keletal sy stem has not adapted to the
impact of running.

Low T raining V o lume: The body h as not adapt ed to high volume.

Individu als wit h h igh train ing v olu mes typi cally t olerate large
increas es bett er t han tho se wit h low training vol umes.

Physiol ogical A daptation : The s peed at whic h your athlet e adapts

to cardi ovasc ular and mu sculo skel etal trai ning w ill affect h ow fas t
the indi vidual can progres s. Of t he two, mus culos kel etal adaptati on
is more significant with res pect to volume progression.

Biomec hanics: If your at hlete has substantial postu ral or

biomec hanic al de viations that woul d likely i ncrease t he chance fo r
injury, volume increases should be made sparingly or not at all a nd
only aft er con sult ation wit h a s peci alist.

History: If your a thlete is an exper ienced r unner, you shoul d not e

the indi vidual ’s lo ng-run v olum e increases during pr evious y ears
and the resul ts (e.g., perf ormance, injury, etc.) to help esti mate t he
appropr iate v olume increases. Additionall y, any reasons f or del ays
in the athlete’s pr ogram progression, such as inj ury or burnout,
should also be no ted.

Injury: If your at hlete is r ecov ering from an injur y or sicknes s,

initial vol ume increases, i f any, should be minimal.

Current Training Volume: Volume increas es lar gely depend on t he

athlete’ s curre nt t raining volum e.

Genetic s: Some athletes are natur ally gifted in e ndurance and

musculo skelet al adaptat ion. However, until you wor k with an
athlete f or a s ubs tantial amoun t of time, you will not be able to
determi ne this .

Ability to Recov er: Many fact ors affect one’s abilit y to recover,
including proper rest, nutri tion, ma nageable volume, and int ensity
increas es.

The 10% Rule – Fact or Fiction?

A 10 pe rcent max imum inc rease in volume i s com monly

recomm ended for running program s. Most c oaches r eferenc e and
use the 10 perce nt rule t o stee r th eir athle tes away from
overtrai ning and potenti al injur y. S o where did t his popular
guidelin e ori ginat e from? No one k nows. A ccordi ng to Carl F oster,
director of the Human Per formance Laboratory a t the Univer sity of
Wisconsi n‒La Cr osse, th e origi n i s “lost in histor y,” and he notes
that “wh ether it (t he 10 percen t rul e) is righ t is un do cument ed”
(130).

Dr. Ron Dierck s f rom the Univer sit y of Groningen in the

Netherl ands, who was a m embe r of the team that conducted the
study m entioned above, noted that regardi ng the 10 percent rule,
“Nobod y found out if it work s or w hat is the basis of it.” Dr. Di ercks
goes o n to s ay , “ People hear som ething, t hey r ead somethi ng, a nd
then it’s like a rel igion” (1 30).

Given th e lac k of an origi n or sc ien tific expl anati on of the 10

percent rule, i t appears t o be prim arily bas ed in running and
training lore.

When u sing a set percent age ( 1 0 percent) f or vol um e increases,

the initi al incr eas es will b e quit e s mall (ass umin g th e athlet e is
starting at a low t raining volum e). As the volum e increases, the
increas es get lar ger and larger. T here ar e two prim ary issues with
this app roach :

1. Increas es in v olume are based on a preset , arbit rar y

percent age and t herefor e do not c onsider an individual’s
adaptat ion response to tr aining.
2. If an at hlete were starting at a v ery low trai ning v olume, the
initial increases would be so smal l that they would be dee m ed
inconsequential.
1. For example, i f y our athl ete st arts at runni ng one m ile, a
10 perc ent increa se is .1 mile. B as ed on t he 10 perc ent
increas e logic , they woul d run 1.1 miles the following
week.

While thi s secti on debate s the vali dity of t he 10 per cent ru l e, it

must be noted that weekl y incr eas es of les s than 10 percent (or no
weekly increases) are standard in training programs. Additio nally,
athletes respond different ly to t he same volume i ncr eases. I n the
below vi deo, Ben Rosario discu ss es volu me incr eas es and the 10%
rule.

At the e nd of the day, a 1 0% v olum e increa se ma y o r may no t be

correct for your a thlete, but from a macro perspecti ve, a ten
percent volum e i ncrease woul d m ost likely be m ost applicable fo r
mid-range vol um es – meaning, for very low vo lumes or very high
volumes , the 10% rule would lik ely be inac curate du e to the volu me
increas es bei ng t oo low and t oo hi gh, respectively.

[There is a Vi deo here. Vi deos can not be v iewe d fro m this P DF. To
View Vi deo C ontent, please ref er t o the online Cour se]

Challenge to the 10% Volume Guideline

The ge nesis of th e 10 percent volume increase r ule is to reduce

the risk of injur y. A 2008 study out of the U niversi ty of Groni ngen
in the N etherlands challenges this notion. There were 532 s ubjects
in this st udy, s pli t into tw o groups to train f or a f our -mile (6. 4 km)
running race ( 130 ). One gr oup of r unners was p ut on a 13 - week
program with 10 percent weekl y increases in vol um e. The other
group w as put on an eight -week pr ogram w ith 50 percent weekly
increas es in v olume. The study fo und that the 10 percent i ncreas e
group h ad a 20.8 percent injury rat e, wher eas the 50 percent
increas e group had a 20 .3 percent injury rate. In ot her wor ds, th e
two gro ups es sentially had the sam e injury r ate, approximately on e
in four.

While thi s stud y s eems to indic ate that the rate of v olume i ncreas e
is not a factor for injury, it is impor tant to note that many factors
contribute to injur y. Thus, volum e i ncreases must be based on the
individual.

A 2012 study by Nielsen et al. al s o turned up s imil ar findings (3 16).

In this st udy, 60 novice r unner s tr acked t heir di sta nce ove r 10
weeks u sing GPS technol ogy. Of t he 60 r unner s, 13 sustained a n
injury. Those injured increased their weekly training volume 31.6
percent compared to those who w ere not i njured (22.1 perc ent).
While thi s stud y s eems to dem onst rate an i ncrea sed chance for
injury with significant incr eases in weekly training volume, it needs
to be n oted t hat t he uninjured indi viduals i ncreased their weekly
training volum e 2 2.1 perc ent, whic h is muc h greater than the
customary 10 per cent.

Weekly Volume Increases

Weekly v olum e increases are di stri buted u nevenly a cross a week’s

worth of training. For example, if an athlet e is runni ng 40 m iles (6 4
km) per week, a 10 percent increa se equates t o a f our -mile ( 6.4
km) weekly incr ease for a total of 44 miles (71 k m). Below i s how
the four miles mi ght be distrib uted :

Long r un: 1. 5 miles (2. 4 km)

T empo run: 1 mile (1. 6 km)

Eas y run: 1 mile (1.6 km)

800- meter repeats: . 5 mile ( .8 km)

As the f our a dditi onal mil es (6. 4 k m) are s pread un evenly across
four day s (wor ko uts), the daily inc reases are lik ely not sub stanti al
when y ou dist ribute the increas e across X number of days. While
significant weekly increases in v olume may or may not increase th e
chance for inj ury, when discuss ing percent age volume increases, it
would b e adv antageous t o foc us o n daily v olum e increases, as th is
likely has a stronger correlation to injury rate than weekly volume
increas es.

Weekly v ol um e increases can a lso be accommodated via an

additio nal da y(s) of runni ng.)

Programming Intensity

Introduc ing a nd/o r increas ing in ten sity in a t rainin g program

requires a slow and disci plined progression. Trai ning modal ities
such as sprint s, hill repeats (for speed), and int erval s requir e a
runner t o produc e more power than normal runn ing conditions. Th is
increas e in power typically occur s i n conjunction wit h an inc rease
in leg tu rnover, and ther efore the running stride becomes more
ballistic. Additi onally , these trai ning modal ities often change the
mechan ics of a r unner ‒ speci fical ly increased hip extension and
transver se hip rot ation.

Biomechanical Adaptations

Given th e likel y i ncrease in hi p ex tension and t rans verse hi p

rotation, injury is a likely r esu lt if one’s body is not a dapted to an
increas ed range of motion. Whi le a “tight” muscl e(s ) may as sist a
runner r egarding the stret ch -shortening cyc le (SS C), the mus cle(s)
must ha ve full range of motion. In addition to gr adually increasin g
the spe ed and qu a ntity of the a for ementio ned tr aini ng mod alities,
performi ng str etc hes that target the hip flexors, hip adduct ors
(groin m uscles ), and ab dominal m uscles are advant ageous .

You mu st info rm your athletes to t ake stoc k of t heir bodies durin g

and aft er spe edw ork sessi ons. I f t hey feel pain, exc essive m uscle
tightnes s, or li mit ed rang e of motio n, they must st op to minim ize
the cha nce of inj ury.

Build Up Speed

Introduc ing s pee dwork a nd int ensi ty into a progr am must be don e
in small amounts and with small speed incr eases. T he
theory o f walk before you run appli es to speedw ork as there is a
natural hierar chy to the ty pe of wor kouts int roduc ed in a trai ning
program . For example, before i ntroducing speedwor k, an
athlete shoul d alr eady be perf ormi ng thres hold training (t em po
runs, pr ogress ion runs) a nd fart lek s. While not pure speedw ork,
these tr aining mo dalities help t he body a dapt t o run ning at a fast er
pace.

The first interval- training sessi on might lo ok so met hing lik e this:

• Two-mile warm - up at eight -min/mil e pace

• 3 x 200- meter eff orts at s even - min/mile pa ce wit h a 400 -met er
jog in between
• One-mil e cool - down jog

As the r unner pro gresses, the i nter val-traini ng sessi on might look
like this:

• Two-mile warm - up at eight -min/mil e pace

• 4 x 400- meter eff orts at si x -min/ mi le pace with a 20 0 -meter
jog in between
• One-mil e easy jog
• 4 x 200- meter eff orts at 5:30 -mi n/ mile pac e with a 200 -met er
jog in between
• One-mil e cool - down

Common Programming Mistakes

Creatin g a pr oper training progr am is a com prehensi ve and f luid

process. Due to t he many variables and m oving par ts, it’s a near
certainty that no program is ‘perfe ct.’ How ever, ther e are four
program ming mis takes that are more comm on than others.

Your Athletes Are Not You

This is perhaps the most comm on coaching mistake – regar dle ss of

the spor t. A lo t of coache s are eith er curre nt or p rio r athlete s
themsel ves in the sport that they are coac hing. This is generally a
good th ing, as it gives a coach ex perienc e to dr aw from and
appreci ate th e context of the s port and their ath lete. Ho wev er,
often tim es, a co ach use s their personal e xperi enc e as the sole
driving f orce t o cr eate their athletes’ progr ams. I n ot her wor ds, this
falls into the, “ it worked f or me, s o it will w ork for you” trai ning
method ology. As you can see, this erroneously assumes that all
runners (and hum ans in g ener al) respond t he ex act s ame way to
the sam e trai ning stimuli.

While it doesn’t t ake a P h.D in ex ercise p hysiol ogy to understan d

that this is inc orr ect, it is still th e way that man y co aches w ork wit h
their ath letes.

Too Much Volume

No dou bt about it , training for a m arathon takes tim e. However, a

lot of ru nners and coaches overly focus on the volume aspect and
therefor e de duce that in o rder t o b e succe ssful at a maratho n, on e
must pil e on huge amounts of vol ume.

There is nothing wrong with integrating long runs into a marathon

program , as t his i s an important as pect of t he training process.
However , ther e is often a mispl aced emphasis on volume as
compar ed to other areas, such as aerobic condi tioni ng.

If volum e were the sole determi nant of mar athon success, there
would b e no need for work out ty pes other t han endurance runs.
Thus, intervals, tempo and steady state runs would largely be
deeme d inconsequential. This of c ourse is not t he c ase.

Not Enough Intensity

In comp arison to shorter distance events s uch as th e 5K,

maratho ns ar e run mostly at low intensities . Due to this, many
maratho ners and coaches don’ t int egrate much, if any intensity in to
maratho n programs. T his is a mi stake.

Program ming i nte nsi ty pur ely from the standpoi nt of specificit y to
an eve nt is looking at it through the wrong lens. The benef its of
intensity are multifaceted , with the primary benefit being inc reasing
one’s a erobic capabilities.

No Half Marathon Prerequisite

Among some ath l etes and coaches , there is a thought that i n ord er
to run a marat ho n, you m ust h ave done a half mara thon pr evious ly.
While o n the surf ace this may appear to m ake s ens e. It is fl awed
logic. As an example, using this l ogic, if a n athlete wanted to run a
5K, the y must firs t race a mile or 3000 -met er rac e. To be cl ear, i n
regard t o bei ng prepared to run a marathon – t he m ost important
thing is t hat t he t raining t hat a run ner doe s sup port s the dis tanc e
and go als of the r ace the y are t argeting.

While h aving r un a race before running a marath on i s a good ide a

to gain an u nders tanding of h ow th e body and mind respon d to ra ce
scenari os, it is not a prer equis ite to have run a half marathon
before attem pting a marat hon. So, is doing a half m arathon befo re
a marat hon a bad idea? Not at all. It’s just not a prerequisit e.

Not Specific

All too o ften, mar athon p rogra ms p lace an over- emphasis on two
aspects of trai nin g: low in tensit y a nd high volu me. While th ese
aspects are in clu ded in a mara thon progr am, th ey a re often don e at
the excl usion of most ev erythin g else.

In order to be as best pre pare d for a marat hon, or a ny type of rac e

for that matter, di aling in the tr aini ng to be as s peci fic as po ssible
to the r ace b eing trained f or is c riti cal. Som e of t hes e areas of
specificit y incl ude:

• Environmenta l conditions : altitude, heat, humidit y

• Running surf ace
• Length and percent grad e of cli mbs
Mismatched Time Availability

While it’s true t ha t a lot of runners overesti mate how much tr aining
time is re quire d t o train f or a m arathon, the real ity i s that tr aining
for a mar atho n d oes tak e a su bsta ntial am ount of ti me.

Therefore, if an athlete does not have enough time to train for a

maratho n, they s hould l ook to select a shor ter di stance rac e that
aligns wi th th eir t raining ava ilabilit y. ‘Cram ming’ f or a runni ng ra ce
is never a good idea.

Training Environments

Course specifi cit y is an overlooked aspec t of pr ogr am desi gn. R ace

course terrain and characteristi cs must be incor por ated as much as
possibl e in traini ng. Ide ally, a r ac e websit e will pos t the rac e
profile d etaili ng t he elev ation. Thi s will hel p det erm ine what the
training envir onm ent for y our at hle te shoul d consist of. If the
course profile is not onli ne, it would be pr udent to email the race
director t o get thi s infor m ation. By knowing the c our se profil e, you
can tailor specific workouts and ra ce strategies.

When running out side, the athl ete must be awar e of the
surroun dings and know the route and pote ntial hazards.

Following are four primary types of training environm ents, each

with its own advantages and disadvantages:
Track

A track is a gr eat training envir on ment for spee dwo rk and, more
specific ally, inter val-type traini ng sessions. The ins ide of the inn er
lane (lane 1) is 400 meters long. Therefor e, the distances of out er
lanes ar e greater than 4 00 meters. Most tracks are made of cinder
or a rub ber -ty pe compound.

Disadv antages: Boring; can b e dif ficult to get tra ck time if alr eady
utilized by a t eam or scho ol.

Road

Often h as vari ed terrain. Easies t f or most peopl e to access and

most ap plicable f or those traini ng for road races .

Disadv antage: O ften put s the r unn er far from home.

Trail

Runnin g off -r oad offers m any benefits over r unni ng on the r oad.
Advant ages are greater s hock abs orption, varied terrain, and an
uneven s urface t hat chal lenges a runner’s balance and ankle/leg
stability. Trail r uns and cross-country races are r un almost
exclusiv ely off- road. Additionally, many ult ra -mar at hons int egrat e
off-road secti ons for some or the e ntire course.

If your a thlete participates in a r ac e in whi ch some or the entire

course is off-r oad, the individu al wi ll need t o do specific off -r oad
training.

Runnin g off -r oad requires much gr eater ankle st abil ity and
proprioc eption/ki nestheti c awaren ess than run ning on the r oad.
Without specifi c t raining, an indivi dual gr eatly i ncreases th e
chance of inj ury. As with i mplem enting any new trai ning el ement, a
slow an d progres sive adaptati on t o trail running must occur.

In additi on to inc orporati ng trai l ru ns into a traini ng program ,

performi ng ankle - stability exerci se s and ballistic mo vements in the
frontal p lane can help an indivi dual adapt to run ning off-road.

Disadv antages: Unstabl e surf ace; if in a hunting ar ea, do not ru n

during hunting season; unpred ictable conditions.
Treadmill

A tread mill off ers many advant ages over running outdoors. Primary
advant ages are i ncreased shock absorption, no t weather
depen dent, contr olled e nvironment (control over speed and
incline), and often a more time - effi cient workout.

An ancillary benefit to tread mil l running i s the auditory

feedback the treadmill p rovides. Unlike the ground, a tre admill
running deck is s uspended and all ows users to hea r the impact of
their foo t strik e. The lou der th e fo ot strike i s, the g reater th e
impact on the feet and le gs. Thi s auditory f eedback allows a runn er
to modif y the gait to beco me s moot her and more effi cient.

Disadv antages: Boring, t read mill belt artifi cially en hances gait,
thereby chan ging the leg musc ular activity.

Treadmill vs. Outdoors

In many resp ects , runnin g on a treadmill is the polar opposi te of

running outsi de. When running out side, an indivi dua l must push of f
the gro und wi th t he feet, wher eas when running on a treadmill, a
runner primaril y moves t he legs to keep u p with the treadmil l belt.
Runnin g on a treadm ill requires a runner t o pus h of f the “gr ound”
(i.e., belt ) a littl e, but nowhere near the ext ent requi red when
running outsi de.

Therefore, the m uscles and how they are utilized differ between
running on a treadmill an d outs ide. While running on a treadmil l
exclusiv ely is not advisa ble, it has benefit s. Ru nnin g inside is the
best wa y for a coach to assess a r unner’s gait. As t readmills tend
to have bette r sh ock-abs orption pr operties than out door running
surfaces, for athl etes who are i njury prone because of the i mpact
nature of run ning, treadmi ll work outs can be quite benefici al.

A 2014 study by Kaplan et al. found that w hen r unni ng outsi de, t he
foot strik es th e gr ound wi th 20 1 pe rcent of one’s bo dy weig ht,
wherea s runn ing on a treadmill res ults in 175 perce nt of on e’s b ody
weight (698). As a side n ote, exercising on an elliptical machine
resulted in only 73 percent of one’ s body weight . Therefore cross -
training using clo sed-chain car diov ascular exerci ses such as
elliptical s and bik es will lik ely re duce the c hanc e of injury and
increas e recover y time ov er runni ng. Nonimpac t open -chai n
exercises, suc h as swimmi ng and pool jogging, likel y decrease th e
chance of inj ury as well.

Why Does Running on A Treadmill Suck?

While n ot ev eryone think s treadmi ll running suc ks, a large

percent age of runners find running on one harder than running
outside – es pecially ment ally. Af ter all, it doesn’t get the nick name
‘Dreadmill’ for nothing!

As a tre admill ha s good shock- abs orption properties and helps

propel a runne r’s legs rearward, in theory it shoul d f eel easi er tha n
running outsi de. Additionally, t he mechanics of treadmill running
and run ning outsi de are t he same ( 699) – s o what gi ves?

A 2012 study by Kong et al. exami ned this exac t phenomenon

(700). In this expe riment, runners ran on an outdoor track for thre e
minutes and t hen immedi ately r an on a treadmill for three mi nute s,
followe d by another three - minut e r un outdoors. When runni ng on a
treadmill , subj ect s were i nstruct ed to run at the sam e percei ved
intensity and speed as o n the trac k. The results sh owed that both
outdoor runs occ urred at the s ame pace w hile the tr eadmill r un w as
perform ed at a substantially slower pace.

The stu dy fou nd t hat the l ikely culprit of this mism at ch of

percepti on of pac e and s peed i s due to a distort ion of visual
inputs. I n other words, t he per ception of in creased difficulty is
purely psycholo gical.

This finding corre lates with another study that found the per ception
of dista nce rel ates signific antly t o the exer cise o utc ome (70 1). Th e
closer s ubjects ar e to a perceiv ed target or finish , the faster they
go and the easier the tas k is perceived to be. In this study,
particip ants w alk ed a course w ith no defi ned fi nish line and then
walked the same distance with a set finish line. Particip ants note d
feeling more f atig ued wh en no finis h line w as pre sen t.

Becaus e ther e is no phys ical fi nish line when running on a

treadmill , it is li k ely more ment ally exhaus ting and t hus is
perceiv ed to be more diff icult t han runni ng out door s.
This information i s import ant to consider w hen work ing with
athletes who i ntegrate treadmill running i nto their program and/or
prescribi ng treadmill work outs.

Workout Types

Repeat s, fartl eks, HIIT, base … what do these t hings have i n

common? They ar e all specific w or kout/trai ning t ypes. While t here
are nea r -limitl ess names f or workout types , traini ng sessions fall
under si x prim ary categor ies:

• Active Rest/R ecovery

• Enduran ce
• T hreshold
• Interval s
• High-Intensity I n termittent T raini ng (HIIT )
• Multiple- Worko u t T r aining Days

It is impo rtant t o know th at ma ny a thletes and c oach es

overem phasiz e one or m ore of the aforem entioned areas. A ny
emphas is on a particular tr aining area (i.e., HIIT) s hould cor relate
with a specific point in th e training process. For example, w hen
focusin g on buildi ng fitness and a mileage base, en duranc e
training shoul d b e the pri mary f oc us, not HIIT.

Active Rest / Recovery

While re covery c an be a total rest day, ac tive rest i s often

prescrib ed to keep the m uscles “loose.” These w ork outs are
charact erized by extremel y low i nt ensity for relati vely short
amount s of ti me.

Run/Wal k: Run/w alk work outs are great for begi nner runner s and
season ed runner s coming back from injury or doi ng a recov ery
workout. This type of wor kout com bines running and walk ing, an d it
is up to you to determine the total time and ratio between running
and wal king.

Shakeo ut Run: T hese ru ns are done either the day before or the
day of ( a few hours befor e) a ra ce. They ar e cha ract erized b y an
easy pa ce (i.e., j og) and are r elati vely short in dist ance. They are
done to loos en up the legs. If done directl y before a race, it is
conside red s ome or all of t he w arm -up.

Cross-T rainin g: Activities such as cycling and s wim ming ca n also

be suita ble f or re covery, s o lon g as the int ensity is relatively low
and the indivi dual is used to the m echanic s of t he activity.

Endurance Training

The pur pose of endurance wor kout s is to increas e m uscular

endura nce and a erobic c apacit y. They ar e char act erized b y
exercisin g at a low intens ity (sub LT) and f or relativ ely long
periods. What constitutes a ‘long t ime’ is s ubjecti ve and based on
an indiv idual. Th e pace durin g enduranc e sessi ons is typically
steady, with f ew f luctuations in int ensity or speed.

T erminology: l ong stead y dist ance (LSD), base, l ong ru n

Long Run

LSD run ning i s generally struct ured around a sl ower pace and
longer distance. The dist ance i s based o n wher e an athlete is in
the train ing pr ogr am.

A high tr ainin g vo lume is often ass ociated with a n in creased risk

for injury . This i s most corr elated with tota l weekly training volum e
and dra matic ally i ncreasi ng the vol ume dur ing a trai ning session. A
2012 st udy by Quinn et al . found that while musc ular damage did
occur d uring l ong runs, so long as an indiv idual was adapted to
this dist ance r eg arding a prog ress ive traini ng pr ogr am, ther e wer e
no adv erse effect s on a r unner’ s running e conomy at submax imal
speeds (688). Therefore, a run ner well adapted to a training
program shou ld be able t o adhere t o the pr ogram in the day s
followin g a lo ng r un with out negati ve cons equences .

Base Run

These a re us ed t o help an at hlete adapt t o running f rom a

musculo skelet al standp oint and gain cardiovas cula r fitness. Thes e
runs are typic ally done at a comfor table pace. T he base run
distanc es incr eas e as an athlete adapts to running and gai ns
cardiov ascular fit ness.

Intensity vs. Volume

Many ru nners try to get away w ith t raining as littl e a s possible for
their go al rac e. T here ar e likely m any fact ors for thi s, such as
other tim e commi tments, f ear of inj ury du e to ov erus e, boredom,
etc.

While some of th e aforementioned factors may be v alid, the

compen satory act ion of reducing tr aining v olum e is t ypically t o
increas e intensity . This is a slipper y slope. Remember, the aerobi c
system adapts faster than the mus culo skel etal s yst em. Ther efore ,
althoug h an i ndivi dual may be able to “handle” an intense
cardiov ascular w orkload, it is lik el y that the per son’ s
musculo skelet al system c annot.

While th ere is some phys iologi cal carryover betw een aerob ic and
anaero bic -type exer cises, they lar gely do not f ocus on the same
thing. A s suc h, s wappin g out endurance fo r inte nsit y is not a
shortcut that is a dvised. While t here is nothing wro ng with
decreas ing v olum e to a point, it must be done intelli gently. You
should have historical d at a on t he athlete t hat w oul d suggest that
the pro posed dec rease in traini ng volume would be sufficient for
the eve nt bei ng tr ained f or. Howev er, even in thi s c ase, a drastic
reductio n in v olume or a swap for high -int ensity wor kloads i s not
recomm ended.

Laurse n et al . not e that w hile t here is overl ap bet ween adaptatio ns

that occ ur at l ow and hig h inte nsiti es, the metab olic pathwa ys to
elicit these ad aptations a re like ly different . Add itio nally, a nd mor e
importa ntly, he n otes that low -i ntensity trai ning ( bas e traini ng) is
largely a prerequisite to hi gh -int ensity traini ng h avi ng an i mpactf ul
and last ing e ffect on perf orman ce (738). In othe r w ords, lo w -
intensity /high- vol ume trai ning s hould prec ede l ow -v olume/h igh -
intensity training for the best results.

In summ ary, w hil e high -i ntensi ty/l ow -volume trai ning may initially
elicit fast er ph ysi ological adaptatio ns than low -intensity/high -
volume trainin g, i t is advised to perform low -intensit y training at
medium to high v olumes befor e im plement ing hi gh -i ntensity
workloa ds.

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Threshold Training

The pur pose of threshold traini ng i s to incr ease one’s lactat e

threshol d (LT). T his traini ng oc cur s in a range sl ightly below to
slightly above one’s LT. While thre shold training ca n be steady
efforts across a r elatively long per iod, it can als o be shorter or
have int ensity var iations.

T erminology: Negative s plits, t em po, time trial, progression runs

Tempo

Tempo workouts consist of five to twenty m inute s ef forts (exc ludin g

warm-up/cool- down), de pendi ng on the length of th e race being
trained f or. Th e i ntensity is just be low race pace . T empo ef forts are
typically a mini m um of fiv e min ute s and ar e ste ady- state eff orts a t
or slightl y abo ve/ below LT (317). If above LT, the pace is around
one’s M LSS.
These w orkouts a re typically per for med just below race pace and
are don e for f ive to 20 mi nutes (ex cluding warm - up/ cooldown),
depen ding on the length of the event being trained f or. A war m -up
is recommended when performing tempo efforts.

In the vi deo belo w, Ben Rosari o di scusses why h e b elieves t hat

tempo w orkou ts provide a runner t he biggest bang f or the buck.

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Time Trial

This is essentiall y a tempo effort but is typically done over a set

distanc e and often with a set ti me goal.

Progression Run

This run starts at a particular pace and ends at a faster pac e

and/or effort. For exampl e, a si x -m ile run m ight b egi n with the first
four mile s at a n e ight-minute-mil e pace, the fifth mil e at 7:30/mile
pace, a nd the las t mile at 6:45/ mil e pace. The exac t structur e is u p
to you. Howe ver, the con stant i s a n escal ating pace throughout t he
workout. This type of wor kout or race strategy is also called a
negativ e split. This refers t o runni ng the s econ d half of a run fast er
than th e first.

Intervals

Intervals are c har acterize d by p red etermin ed dur atio ns of int ense
cardiov ascular ef forts at or above threshol d lev el and timed
recovery periods. Recovery peri ods typicall y do not allow for full
recovery . How ev er, there may be full reco very betw een int ervals
for sprint ers a nd middle-distance r unners ( ex: 800 meters).

The pur pose of intervals is to increase aer obic c apa city, incr ease
LT, and improve r ecovery time. I nt erval int ensity can be measure d
by pace , time, dis tance, and heart rate. Whi le an int erval eff ort ca n
be short or long, it is advi sable not to have an effort b e shor ter
than 30 seconds and lon ger than fi ve minut es. Ef fort s longer than
five min utes w oul d likely need to b e done at a r educ ed inte nsity
that wo uld di mini sh the physiol ogi cal benefits of the interv al set.
Interval s hav e t wo prim ary c om ponents: inten si ty and ti me .
Some in terval s m ight incr ease i n ti me and intensity, whereas oth er
interval sets might increase in time but decrease in intensity. The
structure of an interval set is dependent on what you deem most
importa nt for t he progres sion of your athlet e .

Intervals don e at a very hi gh int en sity and for sh ort duratio ns cou ld
be cons idered a high -int ensity int erval (HII T) wor k out due to the
high int ensity and short re st peri ods.

While th e structur es of int ervals vary, five pr imary ty pes are most
applica ble to running.

1. Straight

Efforts a nd re cov ery asp ects re ma in the s ame t hrou ghout t he

session.

Ex: Thre e min ute s at 150 beat s pe r minute (bpm) fo llowed by on e

minute of rest. R epeat t his thr ee ti mes, then rest for five minutes.
Repeat cycle two times.

Repeat s: These are characteriz ed by runni ng at a relatively f ast

pace for a set am ount of time ( or d istance), recov er y, and t hen
running the s ame distanc e and/or pace again ( e.g., run a mil e at
seven-m in/mil e pace, ea sy jog quarter mile, run mi l e at sev en -
min/mile pace; re peat cyc le tw o ti mes).

Hill Repeats: A c ommon i nterv al -tr aining workout is hill repeats. A s

the nam e suggest s, this w orkout consists of an indivi dual running
up a hill at a part icular p ace, re sti ng (usu ally by ru nning b ack d own
the hill), and t hen running back up the hill. Hill repeats are often
perform ed to bec ome mor e effi cient at running uphi ll and w ork on
one’s c ardiov asc ular conditioning.

Float: Fl oat ru ns are ess entiall y repeats, but the pace is still
relatively high ins tead of an easy j og in between eff orts. Float
workout s train the body t o res pond to mid - race sur ges whil e not
dipping below rac e pace. An exam ple of a float r un would be a
track wor kout wit h altern ating 400- meter eff orts. T he alternating
efforts w ould be at race pace and 30 seco nds over race pace.
Typically a float workout is assigned a set number of efforts. The
workout ends if an individual can no longe r maintain the assi gned
pace.

1. Ascendi ng
Efforts increase in duration throughout the session.

Ex: One mile at 8 :00 pac e, one -mi nute rec overy jog > two mi les at
8:15 pa ce, tw o -m inute recovery jog > three miles at 8:30 pace,
five-min ute rec ov ery jog; t hen r epeat.

1. Descen ding

Efforts d ecrea se i n durati on thr oug hout th e sess ion.

Ex: Thre e min ute s at 7:0 0 pac e, t wo-minute jog > t wo minu t es at
6:00 pa ce, one -m inute jog > o ne m inute at 5:30 pac e, five -mi nute
jog; the n repeat.

1. Pyrami d

Effort d uratio ns i ncrease then dec rease to the s tart ing leve l.

Ex: 400 meter s at 75 sec onds, 200 -meter recover y j og > 800
meters at 2:3 0, 400 -meter recover y jog > 1600 met ers at 5: 00, 4 00 -
meter recovery jog > 800 meters at 2:30, 4 00 -m eter recovery jog >
400 met ers at 75 seconds.

1. Fartlek

Hard efforts and recovery periods character ize this type of i nterval,
but the durati ons, intensiti es, a nd r ecovery times var y.

Ex: This i s a S we dish wor d that m eans speed play . Fartleks are
unstruct ured i nter vals. Thi s mea ns that an athlet e randomly picks
up the pace at random ti mes throughout a work out. The dur ation of
each “pi ckup” is also ran dom. The only s tr ucture generally
associat ed wit h f artleks is that yo ur athlet e mig ht p redeter mine
how ma ny eff orts to do during a session. A n exampl e of a f artlek
would b e upping t he pac e from one telephone pole t o the next, b ut
this is ty pically d etermin ed whi le r unning, not i n advance. F artlek s
are also termed pick-ups or surges .
High-Intensity Intermittent Training (HIIT)

There h as been a recent tr end of tr aining at relat ivel y low vol ume
and hig h intensity for enduranc e ev ents. The dimi nis hed trai ning
volume is typic all y replac ed by inc reased i ntens ity ( often
termed h igh-int ensity int ermitt en t training or HIIT ) (427).

HIIT is characteri zed by an intensity level that is equal to or

greater t han t hat of interv als. W hil e the tim e frame f or bouts of
intensity /recovery migh t be clos e t o that of inter vals , HIIT oft en
incorporates varying training modalities (e.g., rowin g, strength
training, plyo metr ics, etc.)

The mos t cited and doc ument ed st udy done on the purport ed
benefits of HII T w as perfo rmed by Tabata et al. The 1996 st u dy has
gained attention becaus e of it s findings related to t he benefits o f
short, intense ex ercise on all area s of the body (17 0). Many people
use the term T abata training interc hangeably wi th H IIT.

HIIT is not as wel l researched as many other areas of con v entio nal
endura nce tr aining. Therefore, i t c an be assum ed that there are
still man y unknowns regarding the effectiveness of HIIT on
distanc e running training, especial ly with respect to training for
half an d full m arathons.

It is stro ngly a dvi sed to b egin a training pr ogram wit h a soli d bas e
training phas e th at focus es on low heart ra te trai nin g. This d oes
not mea n HIIT cannot be implemented duri ng thi s phase. However,
it shoul d be done in moderation.

HIIT can place increased stress on the m uscular system dependi ng

on the t rainin g m odality. Stress o n muscl es an d connectiv e
tissue must b e g radually progr essed to ensure th ey can handl e
the incr ease d w orkload.

Assuming tha t HI IT could fulfill a r unner’s cardi ovas cular,

musculo skelet al, and en durance needs, the one var iable that it
cannot take into account is the psychological a spect. The time it
takes to comp lete a marat hon t ypic ally ran ges fro m t hree to six
hours, w ith the s ub -three-hour range typic ally reser ved for
professi onal and top age -group competitor s. Theref ore a di stanc e -
running progr am made up alm ost exclusivel y of HI IT -type
program ming has a high probabilit y of leav ing a runner ill -pr epare d
for the psych olog ical dem ands of l ong-dist ance running, such as a
maratho n. Thi s aspect cannot be i gnored or un derestimated .

Effect of HIIT on Well-Trained Endurance Athletes

One stu dy of part icular int erest ex amined the e ffect of HIIT on wel l -
trained endur anc e athlet es ver sus sedent ary in divid uals an d
recreati onal athletes. A 2002 st udy by Laur sen and Jenkins foun d
that sub maxim al t raining on we ll-tr ained a thletes di d not se em to
increas e their enduranc e cap acity or VO2 max (171) . Laursen an d
Jenkins theorize that the only way t o elicit additional endurance
and ph ysiological gains i n well -t rai ned endurance at hletes is
through HIIT. I nte restingly , studi es examined by Laursen and
Jenkins found that HIIT done by we ll -trained athl etes did not
increas e their oxi dative o r glyc olyti c enzym e acti vity . T herefore,
they theorized t hat an in crease i n the mu scle’ s ability to b uf fer
hydrogen ions ( delay m uscl e bu rn) was a possib le reason for
an incre ase i n e nduranc e cap acity in wel l -train ed endurance
athletes.

Several studi es h ave de monstr ate d the p hysiol ogic al bene fits of
HIIT on endurance athlet es who had not pr eviously integrat ed HII T
into thei r training program (225, 226, 227 ). For these athle tes, the
benefits of HII T w ere reali zed q uic kly. Con versel y, i ncrease d
intensity of HIIT sessions in athletes already performing HIIT did
not sho w signific ant incr eases in c ardiovascular a daptations (22 8,
229).

Multiple Workout Training Days

Whether it be bec ause of a limit ed amount of tim e to train during a

single sessio n or an athlete is looking for perform ance gains by
training twice i n one day, this sect ion disc usses so me thin gs to
conside r.

Two-a-Days (TAD)

A TAD in corpo rat es two w orkou ts within a singl e da y. There are

some b asic guide lines for TADs.

• No back -to-back TADs

• Must have at l eas t eight hours bet ween w orkout s
 • TADs should be p erformed only by runners who have a solid
mileage/fitnes s base
Common TAD Structures
• One of t he TA D w orkouts i s a ru nni ng work out, w hile the other
is some form of cross -trai ning ( e.g ., swimmi ng, w ei ght
training, cyclin g).
• One of t he TA D w orkouts i s card iov ascular-f ocus ed, while th e
other is f ocus e d on strength, r ecovery, or s kill/for m .
• Becaus e of t he m ileage r equir ement, TADs are o ften
perform ed by r unners trai ning f or ultra -mar athons. In these
cases, typicall y, both workout ses sions are mid -l ong distan ce
runs at s ub -m axi mal effor ts.

Two rec ent st u di es suggest that tr aining t wice a day compared wi th

training the s ame total vol ume ( su m of the two s ess ions/da y) ever y
other d ay ind uces greater phy siol ogical adapt ation s (242, 243).
Therefore, TADS should not be viewed solely from a perspective of
conveni ence but also from a perspective of perf orm ance
enhanc ement.

In the vi deo belo w, Nell R ojas dis cusses what s he conside rs to b e

one of t he m ost i mportan t traini ng principles to u nderstand.

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Program Creation Process

The bel ow video by Ben Rosari o discusses the c reation process o f
building a trai nin g progr am.

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Before y ou c an b uild out a pro gra m for an athle te, you ne ed to

make sure th at the event selec ted to focus on is feasible based o n
the follo wing f act ors. Ther efore , th ese fea sibility ste ps also
represe nt the firs t four st eps of the progr am design. The fo ur ste ps
to deter mine f eas ibility are :

1 – Go al Event Determi nation and Progr am D ur ation

2 – Det ermin e T raining Availa bil ity
3 – Initi al T raini ng Volu me/Starti ng Fitness Level
4 – Lon g Rang e Strateg y
5 – Integrate T r aining Bl ocks
6 – Integrate W eekly V olum e an d Structu re

If an ev ent is dee med fea sible bas ed on these f our steps, c ontin ue
building out t he program with st ep 5.
Step 1: Goal Event Determination and Program Duration

A runne r often comes to a coa c h w ith a goal ev ent already i n mind .

If an at hlete does not hav e a g oal r ace in m ind, t hey might le ave
the goa l race sel ection up to t he c oach. H owev er, r egardless of
who ch ooses the goal rac e, on ce it has be en noted, it is time t o
determi ne how m uch time an athlete has t o prepare for the r ace
(i.e., program dur ation).

If it is de termin ed that th e goal rac e is not feasi ble based on an

athlete’ s starti ng volume/f itness and the a mount of ti me to tra in for
the race , an athle te must select a goal rac e tha t is more ali gned
with the training load.

An athl ete m ust be passi onate about the goal event( s) they
choose. This pas sion will help t o k eep them en gaged and
motivated thr oughout the training process. The pas sion might co me
from the desir e to have a shiny belt buckle or per haps an athlete
wants to target a race in t heir hom etown. Whatever, the reason,
race sel ection should start with the questi on, “ What race am I
most passion ate about?”

If your a thlete is targetin g an even t that h as a lo tter y system to ge t

in, their partici pa tion in t he ev ent i s solely i n the hands of t he
lottery gods and as such, a plan ‘B’ non -l ottery goal event nee ds to
be sele cted.

Step 1B: Program Duration

The dur ation of an athlet e’s trai ning progr am is m ult ifactorial . The
three pri mary f act ors are:

• Intensity
• The mor e intense the trai ning f ocus (ex: V O2 Max),
generall y the shorter the t raining block
• Signific ance
• This relates direc tly to what training adapt ation is m ost
important for s uc cess come rac e day. The more
important, the lon ger the durati on.
• Rate of athlete adaptation
• Of the t hree f acto rs, this is the o ne that ma y cha nge in
duration bas ed on how f ast, or slow an at hlete i s
adapting from a physiological pers pective.
When cr eating a t raining progr am, a good starti ng pl ace is to
allocate 8 weeks per training bl ock (VO2 M ax/La ctat e
Thresho ld/En durance). Conside r this the bl ank sl ate approach.
From this point and taking the aforementioned factors into
conside ration, you reduc e or lengt hen the duration of each block .

For exa mple, t he VO2 Max bloc k m ay be as shor t as 2 or 3 w eeks

wherea s the endurance bl ock m ay be as long as 12 weeks.

Step 2: Determine Training Availability

Regardi ng mi sali gned goals, i f the athlete whos e ti me avail ability

listed above has a goal to part icipate in a marat hon, you must
explain why t he tr aining availa bility is insuffi cient for the go al an d
recomm end th at a 10K distance or less would be a better and m ore
feasible optio n.

It is bett er to err on the s ide o f ca ution w hen s elect ing an event

based on one’s tr aining availability . For example, if your
athlete t hinks their schedule will open up down the road an d enable
the pers on to tar get a half mar ath on, it is better to go for t he sur e
bet and target a 10K.

Realistic Programming

Athletes hav e many obligations other than training, some of which

come u p unexpec tedly. This is t he norm, not the exc eption! I t is
your responsibilit y as the coach to develop a program that
conside rs this while keeping the at hlete on track to reach their
goal. Fo r exa mpl e, if your athl ete has bus iness meetings t hat co me
up ofte n at the end of the day, i t is advisable not to s chedul e
critical w orkouts f or that time. You must wor k with th em as m uch as
possibl e to ac commodat e their sc hedule and personal obli gations.
However , athl etes can ai m to parti cipate i n an event only if t hey
have th e time to t rain for it .
Step 3: Initial Training Volume – Long Run

Once yo u know t hat an athlet e’s tr aining availability is appr opriat e

for the t ype/di sta nce eve nt th ey ar e trainin g for, yo u need to know
if they ar e currently training and, if so, what their longest ru n is.
For this long run to have value in the creation of the training
program , it must be recent, compl eted wit hout i njur y, and have
been pr ogres sively built up to.

Currently Not Running

If an at hlete i s deconditioned and/ or not c urrentl y r unning, you

must be very c ar eful to s tart them at a low level and progr ess th e
individual slowly to allow the body to adap t from a musculoskeletal
standp oint. If an athlete has never run bef ore a nd has poor runni ng
form, a si gnific an t focus must b e o n prope r runn ing form/gait . The
initial trai ning volume for an athlete such as this would likely be:

Run/Wal k‒20 mi nutes

A run/w alk program has a n indi vidual alternate betw een running
and wal king at se t interval s (i.e., w alk five minute s, run five
minutes) . As an athlete p rogresses throu gh the r un/walk
program , the r u n portion beco m es long er, and t he walk portio n
become s sho rter .

Keep in mind that even if your athl ete is in good aer obic shape
unless t he perso n has b een r unni ng rece ntly, t heir muscles and
connect ive tis sue need ti me to adapt. This t ype o f at hlete should
adhere closel y to the preceding volume gu ideline.

This is also relev ant to athletes w ho trained an d competed in

running events the prior y ear and s tayed in shape during th e off -
season but have not run r ecently. Assuming it has been at least
one or t wo m onths since an at hlete ran, they sho uld start at or
close to above the initial trainin g guideline. These
athletes typic ally adapt f aster t o running t han s omeone new to th e
sport, yielding a high rate of progr ession.

Once a n athl ete i s up to an ho ur r un/walk progr am, the indi vidua l

can adv ance to a mileage -bas ed ( versus ti me -based) progr am. T he
starting run mil eage should start at two miles.
Step 4: Long Range Strategy

The lon g-range st rategy is , for l ack of a better w ord, a road map or
outline f or bo th t he coac h and ath lete. It p rovid es a bird’s eye vie w
of the w hole t rain ing pro gram a nd t herefor e is a gre at startin g poi nt
as it serv es as a framework to be built upon wit h m ore specific
data su ch as trai ning bl ocks, w ork outs, et c.

A long-t erm str at egy als o serv es as a refer ence poi nt to ref er to
through out t he tr aining proces s to check if an at hlete is on track f or
their go al rac e.

Step 5: Integrate Training Blocks

If the lo ng-range strategy provi des a road map, tr aini ng bloc ks

provide the di rect ions. More specifi cally, trai ning blocks (or
themes, as n oted in the p eriodi zati on secti on) pr ovi de struct ure t o
the pro gram b ased on th e phy siolo gical ad aptati on t hat a co ach i s
looking to develop at a given time.

Preparation Races

It is com mon f or athletes to pl ot th eir prep aratio n ra ces at t he

same tim e as thei r goal race. H owe ver, it is more advantageous to
plot the m afte r de termining the set tr aining block s/themes. T his is
becaus e by plotti ng preparation races in s pecific bl ocks/themes, a
coach c an match a type of race that typicall y targets a specif ic
intensity (i.e., energy system) to the corresponding block. F or
exampl e, if the c oach is l ooki ng to develop an athlete’s lact ate
threshol d, usi ng a 20km t ime tri al as a pre parati on event w ould
likely be a good match.

In additi on, t hese races ar e imp ort ant for m any r eas ons: ch eck
fitness l evel, pra ctice fue ling, get used to race- day jitters,
strategy/ pacing, and a l ot mor e. R unners t ypical ly do not taper or
do not t aper t o th e same exten t for tune -up races as they would f or
a goal r ace. As a result, m ost ru nners are not co mpl etely rec overe d
for tune- up races . Many r unner s c all this l ack of ta pering t rainin g
through a race.

While a t aper i s t ypically not im plemented for tu ne - up races, an

athlete shoul d sti ll decre ase int ens ity befor e one. Th e last h ard
workout before a tune -up should be two to five days in advance
(720). T he longer the tune -up r ace, the longer t he duration
betwee n a hard w orkout and th e tune -up r ace shoul d be.

T r i a l i n g T h e F u e l i n g S t r at e g y

Prepara tion r aces are a great t ime to practi ce a f uel ing strat egy.
While thi s can and shoul d be done during t raining r uns, ev erythin g
from pre- race, du ring the race, and post -rac e can be practiced with
all of th e dyn amic s and in tricaci es of race day! F or exampl e, a
“nervou s” stom ac h may react di ffer ently to the s ame fuel us ed in
training and on ra ce day.

Course Simulation

Most rac es denot e th e el evati on pr ofile on their websites. As such,

you can get a pretty good idea of h ow diffic ult the course is and,
specific ally, w her e the most challe nging sections of the race are. If
an eve nt has a c ourse m ap but no elevati on profile, you can use
the website M apMyRun.c om to cr eate the race map. Clicki ng on the
elevatio n fea ture will gen erate t he elevatio n ma p. T his infor matio n
should not only h elp shape the ov erall trai ning proc ess but the
selection of the tune-up race(s ) as well.

Step 6: Integrating Weekly Volume and Structure

As note d in t he vi deo above, s teps one thr ough five represent the
core steps of cre ating a trainin g program. From t hi s point on, the
specifics of the program c an be developed. For this section, we’ll
conside r thes e fo ur specif ics th e l ast step of the tr aining program
construction proc ess.

These s pecific s c onsist of :

• Determi ning w eekly volume incr ea ses

• Integrati ng re cov ery wee ks
• Program ming t rai ning weeks
• Integrati ng s pecif ic daily worko uts

Weekly Volume Increases

This step is where you estimat e the weekl y traini ng volume f or

each w eek until t he goal race. Not e, if you get t o this step, y ou
have alr eady deemed tha t the goal race is feasibl e – theref ore, t his
is solely to determine weekly training volume, not a feasibili ty
work-up.

Like oth er areas of the progra m, t here really is no standar d or

templat e to g o off . For example, some wee ks may increase i n
volume, while other weeks may sta y the same or decrease. There
are man y fact ors, such as wher e in the trai ning prog ram an athlet e
is (ex: base p has e, peak phas e) and what the f ocus of the week i s
(ex: recovery, vol ume, int ensity) . T his topic was disc ussed
previou sly in t his lesson r egarding the 10% volume i ncrease ‘rule.’

Integrate Recovery Weeks

No more than thr ee weeks sho uld pass wit ho ut being follow ed by a
recovery week . T he new er the runner, rec overy weeks sho uld oc cur
more frequent ly t han wit h an experienced runner.

– Char acteriz ed by a 30 –50 perce nt reduc tion fr om the prev ious

week’s volume/distance.
– Inten sity during recov ery pe r iods shoul d be no hi gher th an an
RPE of 6.

Programming Training Weeks

Once th e structur e (durati on, c ycles, weekl y volume, themes ) of a

program is in place, the weekl y training pr ogram can be develop ed.
The we ekly volume must matc h that of the previ ous st ep. W eekly
program s should be desi gned and sent weekly or bi weekly t o an
athlete. It is n ot advised to giv e an athlet e mor e th an two weeks’
worth of program ming at a time to allow for feedback and c hanges
in rate o f progression, if n ecessary.

Following is a weekly tem plate tha t denot es the foll owing areas:

• Weekly date ran ge

• T raining them e ( if applicable)
• Morning and evening workouts (i f applicable)
• Distance or ti me duration of wor kouts
• Intensity pres cri ption (i.e. , watt s , speed, heart ra te, RPE,
etc.)
• T otal weekly vol ume
Integrating Daily Workouts

Workout types wi thin a tr aining pr ogram are repetit ious in nature .

Therefore, you should create a database of workouts for your
athletes . This wa y, each worko ut t ype can be t horo ughly e xplain ed,
and the only vari ables that change are the intensit y and v olume.
How yo u deci de t o define them is up to you. Howev er, something
simple and intuiti ve typically wo rks best.

When cr eating a workout database, categorize e xer cises by

activity. T here ca n be as many wor kouts under each discipline as
neede d. For example, if y ou have six runn ing w ork outs, they could
be R1‒ R6. By having a w orkout database, all your athletes need to
do is lo ok at t he r eferenc ed wo rkou t numbe r to g et t he work out
information and then ref er to the we ekly sc hedul e fo r the vol ume
and pa ce, if appli cable.

Creating a workout database is initially time -con suming, but it

is a tim e-saver t hroughou t the tr aining pr ocess. A database
helps at hlete s, as more sp ecific wo rkout inf ormati on can be
provide d for each exercis e/work out . If you have an exercise or
workout that does not fit into the databa se, note “custom” on the
weekly workout s heet and specify the exer cise/w ork out in an em ail
or over t he phone. If you t hink a w orkout/e xercis e might be
repeate d, add it t o the database.

Workout Database Information

Informati on to ad dress for work out s are:

• Workout type ( ex: Interval)

• Workload (ex: heart rate, RPE, pace, etc.)
• Description/Notes
• Goal of worko ut

Programming Variables
Taper

[There is a Vi deo here. Vi deos cannot be v iewed from this P DF. To

View Vi deo C ontent, please ref er t o the online Cour se]
Longest Run

The lon gest r un i s used t o benchm ark an athlet e’s preparedness

with respect to a goal ev ent. The reasoning behind this is simple ‒
having t he ability to r un at or near the full distance of the goal
event is a pre req uisite to bein g able to co mpete and finish a
race/ev ent fe eling good and with t he least cha nce f or injury.

For marathons, m ost programs have several long runs (typically

betwee n 3 -9 l ong runs) th r oughout the program’s du ration, w ith th e
longest run typically done a week or two before the final tap er.

The typical mil eage range for the longest run is:

Half Marath o n: 12–13 miles (19 – 21 k m)

Marathon: 1 8 –22 mil es (29 – 35 km)

10K: 6–10 mil es (9.7 - 16 km)

There are a few things to keep in mind concerning the long run.
The lon g run i s of ten ass ociated as the prim ary b enc hmark to
determi ne if a runner is pr epared f or race day fr om a volum e
standp oint. H owever, it’s i mportant to kee p the l ong run volume in
perspec tive wi th t he total volum e of the pr ogram. In reality, t he
volume of a si ngular long run is qui te insignificant concerning the
total vol ume o f th e whole progr am. Every ti me an at hlete ru ns, th ey
build fit ness, stre ngthen the ir mus cles and connecti ve tissue, an d
add vol ume t o their cumulative tot al. The point i s that increasing
endura nce and fit ness is not solely the domain of long runs.
Endura nce and fit ness ar e being developed wit h each
run. Th erefor e, while feeling good af ter s ome l ong runs is a goo d
thing to benc hma rk, it is m ore im p ortant t o view rac e prepa redn ess
from the pers pect ive of th e wh ole p rogram, not ju st l ong run s.

Over-Distance Training

This is characteri zed by training at a longer distance than t he race

distanc e. T his type of trai ning i s most pr evalent with 5K and
10K ev ents. Over-distanc e trai ning shoul d not be part of a
maratho n program. If the goal event is a half marat hon, there is no
reason f or ov er -distance t raining. However , if a half marathon is
being u sed as a t une -up race f or a marath on, there will be tr ainin g
days at a gre ater distanc e tha n 13. 1 miles ( 21 km) . Following are
several r easons why over-distanc e training sho uld be left o ut of
maratho n programs:

T ime: As it alr ea dy takes a lot of t ime to tr ain for a marathon, ov er -

distanc e traini ng will take time aw ay from other aspects of tr ainin g,
and mor e importantly, it wil l take ti me away from other aspe cts of
an athl ete’s lif e ( e.g., family tim e).

Injury: G ener ally speaki ng, the longer an indivi dual runs, the
greater t he ris k of overus e injur y. Therefor e, ev en i f there is a
slight fitness advantage, whic h is debatable, this advantage would
likely be offset by an incr eased chance of injury.

Catch U p: Trai ni ng for a marat hon is not l ike a school exam: Y o u

cannot cram f or it . If the r ace date is near and an at hlete is
unprep ared fr om a fitness or endur ance perspec tive, it is bett er to
pass on the event and choose a s horter event or s elect a marat hon
further o ut.

No Need : Above all else, there is no need t o tr ain a t a further

distanc e than a marathon. One exception is if y our athlete is
training for an ult ra-marat hon. Thi s particular rac e distanc e(s) is
not larg ely foc us ed on i n this certi fication.

Weekly Volume Percent Increases

The cha rt bel ow provides ro ugh guidelines for dete rmining weekl y
volume percent i ncreases bas ed on the st arting vol ume. These
increas es repr es ent the maxim um percent increases – ther efore,
there of ten wil l b e just a small i nc rease (o r no i ncr ease) in traini ng
volume from w eek to wee k.

Weekly v olum e p ercent i ncreas es are not noted to determi ne if a

goal ev ent is feas ible, as t his s houl d have been done
previou sly. Rather, this st ep is a to ol in ass isting wit h the
determi nation of overall w eekly volume inc reases a nd, mor e
specific ally, w hat the max imum ov erall weekly v olume increases
should be. T his s tep is m ost eff ect ively utili zed by determini ng th e
maximu m over all weekly v olum e and subtracting the weekly l ong -
run dist ance, i f applicabl e. The remainder of the di stance
represe nts the re st of the weekly r un distances.
NOT E: If your ath lete is running less than five mi les per week, th e
focus sh ould be o n learni ng pr oper form an d mus cul oskelet al
adaptat ion.

What if an Athlete Misses Training Days?

In the vi deo belo w, Nell R ojas dis cusses how t o he lp athlet es d eal
with missed traini ng days .

[There is a Vi deo here. Vi deos can not be v iewe d fro m this P DF. To
View Vi deo C ontent, please ref er t o the online Cour se]

Sample Training Scenarios

Athletes will c om e to you with uniq ue situations and goals. You wi ll
need to be able t o asses s eac h at hlete individually to devis e an
appropr iate a nd effective t raining program.

Following are examples of types of athletes whom y ou might com e

across ‒ all of whom require dr asti cally diff erent p rograms:

Scenario One

A decon ditioned and overweig ht athlete who w an ts to lose

weight a nd is m otivated to par ti cipate i n a 5K at the end of the
year.

The first step wo uld be to connect the athl ete with a registered
dietitian for as sis tance in creati ng a n utriti onal st rat egy that will
enable the person to los e weight while still havi ng enough ener gy
to train proper ly.
Depen ding on hei ght/wei ght, y ou m ight need to be s ensitive to th e
impact of running on the body. This program would more closely
resembl e an over all fitnes s/wei ght - loss routine with a slant toward
running -speci fic t raining.

Scenario Two

An experienced runner w ho is t r ying to q ualify f or the Bo ston

Maratho n.

You ne ed to dete rmine th e indi vidual’s str ength s and weakness es

to get t he athlete to the next level. This would invol ve
biomec hanic al as sessments, weekl y training program adjust ments ,
nutrition al strategies (in c onjunction with an RD), and perhaps
much m ore. W ork ing with this ty pe of athlet e will r equire all of your
expertis e and, m ost likel y , referr al s to other special ists.

If you d o not feel comforta ble c oac hing an expe rien ced athl ete, it is
best to r efer t he person t o so meo ne else. Just bec ause yo u are a
great co ach t o one partic ular level of runner does not necess arily
mean y ou are a grea t coach to oth er levels . This i s not a w eakness
but a fu nctio n of reality; y ou ca nnot be ev erythi ng t o every one.
Good c oaches know their strengths and w eaknesses, and t heir
clientele reflects this.

Scenario Three

An athlete who works 80 hours a week and ha s f amily

obligations, sig ned up for a marathon, and now needs to find a
way to tr ain pr o perly w hile no t t aking ti me or en ergy aw ay fr om
work or f amil y.

This type of athlete is always a ch allenge to work w ith because of

time con straint s, and mor e tha n lik ely, you will not be able t o
prepare the i ndivi dual perfectly for the event. It is your job to work
with wh at you have and prepare the athlet e as best as possi ble
given th e circ ums tances. In this ca se, it might me an advisin g the
athlete again st d oing th e goa l event and s hifting fo cus to a short er
distanc e. Importa nt things to a scer tain initi ally ar e s tarting fit ness
level, when the race is, a nd how much time the person has per
week to commi t to training. If the date of the event does not align
with the amount of traini ng tim e available, you should recommen d a
shorter event to focus on.
Athletes must be account able. Just becaus e yo u pre scribe a
workout does not necessarily mean an at hlete will follow it. This is
not alw ays your athlete’s f ault. For exampl e, you mi ght hav e
prescrib ed an ev ening tr aining session, but maybe a child got sic k,
or a bus iness dinner pop ped up, and the person could not do the
training. This i s li fe, and you m ust adjust t he trai nin g progr am
accordi ngly. H ow ever, if t hese t hings become ha bitual or an athle te
just doe sn’t follow the tra ining program, you need to make i t clear
that the lack of pr eparati on is n ot y our fault but r ath er due t o the
person’ s lack of adheren ce to t he program.

Scenario Four

A relatively fit p erson wants to d o a 10K to stay motivat ed and

have a goal.

This type of athlete is quite commo n. The emphasis of working with

this type of at hlet e is over all fitn es s with a slant t ow ard run ning.
Remem ber, thi s i s not someon e w hose goal in l ife i s to bec ome an
elite run ner. T he l onger t he dis tance of the running race bei ng
targete d, the mor e speci alized the focus on running must be.

Athlete Case Study

Athlete Information

Athlete: Mike ( 40 years ol d)

Running Experience: Ran in c ollege for s occer. Has been r unni ng

for the l ast 3 y ears.

Goal: Finish a m arathon in under 4 hours

Health History: No past running injuries. Had a physical and

everythi ng came back fine

T raining Avail ab ility: Curr ently do most r uns af ter work (1 - 1.5
hours a vailability ) but due to a wor k schedule shift, will be doing
most runs in t he morning (hav e 1. 5 hours avail abili ty).

Current Training Volume: 15 m iles (24 km) per w eek

Asses sment Results:

 • Height/ Weight : 5’ 11”, 17 5 lbs ( 79. 4 kg)
• Body Fat: 21%
• Resting Heart Ra te: 61 bpm
• FTHR: 155 bp m

Athlete Profile
1. What typ e of ph ysical activit ies do you current ly
participate in?

Runnin g, strengt h training, cycl ing, golf

1. What co mpetiti ve sports (if an y) have yo u part ici pated in ?

Runnin g, cycli ng, soccer

1. Why, wh en and how did you get started i n runn i ng?

In colle ge (20 years ago) for c ondi tioning f or soc cer

1. Will you be tra in ing by y oursel f or with ot hers?

Group r uns on weekends, during the week by mys elf

1. What ar e your s hort and long -term runni ng goal s?

Short-ter m goal – be abl e to run 10 miles non -stop

Long-te rm goal – Finish goal marathon in under 4 hours

1. When do you h ave the most ener gy: morn ing, m i dday,
evening ? And w hen to you do your runs?

Most en ergy i n th e morni ng, do runs in the eveni ng after wor k.

1. Does yo ur sc hed ule var y or is it f airly co nsist ent ?

During t he week i t’s fairly c onsist ent. On t he weekends it’s l ess

consistent due to my kid’s schedul e

1. What days/tim es do you h ave t o train?

Monday through Friday: 6 am -8am (some evening av ailability)

Saturda y: 2 -6pm
Sunday : 2 -4pm

1. How imp ortant i s struct ure in yo ur life?

Quite im porta nt

1. What aspect o f r unning a re you most inti midat ed by (if

any)?

Bonkin g duri ng long runs or in t he marathon

1. What ar e your to p three r unning - related stren gth s and

weaknesses ?

Strengt hs: go od aerobic fitnes s, s peed, don’t quit

Weakne sses: muscle cramps, run too fast at the start of races,
endura nce

1. Do you respond better to tough love, handholdin g or

somewh ere i n b etween?

Somew here i n between

2. Do you crack, stay the same or thrive under pressure?

Stay th e sam e

1. What ar e you b etter at: S hort, h ard sprint s or lo n g

enduran ce eff ort s?

Short, h ard s print s

2. How co mpetiti ve of a per son are you? Rat e you rself 1 -10
(10 = th e most)

1. How mu ch do yo u enjoy t he int ensity of pushin g hard

while tr aining/ ra cing (1-10)?

9
 2. How conf ident are you i n your abilities as a r un ner (1 -1 0)?

5
3. You like to be c halleng ed? 1- 10 (1=untru e, 10 = very tru e)

4. You are susc ept ible to m ental b urnout a s a re su lt of

training? 1 -10 (1=untrue, 10 very true)

5. What is your cur rent we ekly t rai ning volu me (d istance

and/or time) a nd how long hav e you bee n runni n g
consist ently?

15 miles – have been running cons istently at or above 10 mi les p er

week for the last three months.

1. Current and/or p ast injuries

None

1. What ar e your c urrent b est paces/times for races and/or

distances, if app licable?

1 mile – 5:03

5 miles – 30:28

Training Program Notes

Based on Mik e’s Athlete Profile, there are a few things that stick
out.

• Mike not es that h e gets exercis e -r elated c ramps . W e know

that mos t cram ps are rela ted t o ov erloading the muscles
versus hydrati on issues. Therefore , we can likely deduce that
since Mi ke also noted that his wea kness is enduran ce, he is
likely progressing too fast in respect to trai ning volume.
• As Mike note d th at he lik es to be pushed hard and
challenged, as w ell as he’s competitive by natur e, t his migh t
also translate to him pus hing t oo hard/far/ fast i n respect to
his traini ng pr ogr ession.
 • Given th at Mik e n oted that he i s a 5/10 wit h resp ect to his
confidence, i ncreasing hi s conf idence will need to be
integrat ed into the plan. It is likely that his lack of confiden ce
is due t o him pushing too hard in training/r aces and failing at
his self- establi shed goal s. Therefore, realis tic goal setting i s
likely needed.
• His self-r eport ed time when he has the mos t energy is in the
morning but h is r uns are in the ev ening. T his mi sm atch mu st
be disc ussed to s ee if he can r un i n the m orning.
• As Mike note d th at he p articip ates in sever al sp orts and
activities , it will need to be determi ned how he i s str ucturing
his weeks to acc ommod ate th ese sports/activities.
• Due to t he muscle cramping issue and tha t he is most
intimidated by bonking during long runs/marathons, a focus on
endurance is likel y.
• Mike not ed that he starts r aces t oo fast. Thi s is al so likely
during tr a ining ru ns. Ther efore, im plement ing s ome sort of
pacing param eter s at the start of r uns/rac es suc h as heart
rate, RP E or pac e shoul d be i mplemented.
• The dat e of M ike’ s goal m arathon i s Octob er 18 t h , w hich is 2 0
weeks from today (May 30 t h ).

Training Structure
• Mike ex ercises al l year round. The refore, he is always in
pretty good s hape. Due t o this and the fa ct that he is
targetin g a m arat hon, usi ng th e ‘le ast to m ost sp ecif ic’ rule o f
program ming, Mi ke’s program will start off with hi gh -intensit y
work and gradual ly trend t owar d lower intensity and higher
volume as the pr ogram progresses.
• Throughout t he duration of the trai ning pr ogram, Mi ke will
reduce his cyc ling and golf and focus mor e on r unn ing and
recovery .

Process Goals

Based on Mik e’s A thlete Intak e, there are sever al i mportan t

process goals to work on throughout the tr aining pr ocess that wa s
develo ped in conj unction with M ike.

1. Make tim e to r un during t he morning, when possi ble

2. Adhere to the programmed intensit y and v olume, es pecially at
the start of ru ns t o avoid runni ng t oo fast/ hard.
 3. Work on ment al t raining aspec ts t o increase confidence

Periodization Phases

Mike is c urrentl y averagi ng ~ 15 m iles (24 km) per week of runni ng

and ha s been doi ng this f or thr ee months. As suc h, Mike is li kely i n
pretty g ood aerobic shape, as has a solid v olum e base. Due to thi s
and the fact t hat he is trai ning f or a marat hon, t her e is no need to
implement a c onditioning phas e that focus es on buil ding aerobic
fitness. Moreo ver , implem entin g th e ‘least to most specific’ rule,
the peri odizat ion program will fo cu s on hig h int ensit y first an d
focus o n high vol ume closest t o the event.

Assessment Results

Mike’s FT HR bas ed on a 20 -mi nut e asses sment was 155 bpm. Hi s

body fat was 12%

Zone Creation

Based on Mik e’s FTHR of 155 bpm , below are hi s corresponding

training zone s:

Recove ry (< 68% of FT HR): 105 bpm and below

Enduran ce (69 -83% of FT HR): 106 – 128 bpm

Steady State (84 -94% of FT HR): 129 – 145 bpm

Lactate Thresho ld (95-105% o f F T HR): 146 – 162 bpm

VO2 Ma x (> 106% of FT HR): 163 bpm an d above

• Note – as Mik e becomes more aer obically fit, his LT will

increas e, thus lik ely changing his FTHR and thus, his heart
rate-bas ed tra ining ranges. Th e mock -up w eeks noted below
primarily note r at e of per ceived ex erti on (R PE) as i ntensity
benchm arks, how ever, you can als o use tr aining zones, as
noted above.

Sample Weekly Training Programs for Each Phase

Below is a mo ck- up of th e phases and dat es of Mik e’s prog ram:

Below a re mock - up sam ple weeks from each sub -s ection fr om th e
phases of the macrocycle. With t he exception of the transiti on
week, pl ease note that the bel ow sample weeks do not de note
cross-trai ning or strength traini ng.

The moc k-up program is s olely i nc luded i n this s ecti on to ill ustrate
what var ious wee ks of a program c ould look like – including Mike’s
hypoth etical program. Not e – the below mock -up

Preparation

General Condi ti oning

Base Fitness

Build Fitness

Competi tion

Peak Fit ness

T aper

Transition

Weekly Program

The we ekly pr ogr am below is a mock -up to illustr ate how a weekly
program coul d look. How you deliv er progr ams to your athlet es is
up to yo u and will be bas ed on you r prefere nce, wha t your at hlete s
are look ing for and the m edium by which y ou are pr oviding the
informati on (ex: online coaching pl atform, s preadsheet, em ail,
etc…)

(The Sa mple Weekly Progr am m ust be view ed in the online c ourse

as it can ’t be dis played i n this pdf )

Whole Program

The bel ow pr ogram highli ghts w ork outs, and tot al w eekly volume
and is n oted for t he purpose of giv ing an athlet e a macro look at
the who le program so tha t they can see how th e workouts, tr ainin g
blocks a nd phase s fit tog ether.

(The Sa mple Whole progr am must be view ed in t he online c ourse

as it can ’t be dis played i n this pdf )

Summary
• Periodiz ation is based on the princ iples of t he gener al
adaptat ion s yndr ome (GA S).
 • The three phases of GAS are:
• Alarm
• Resistance
• Exhaust ion
• Classic periodization consists of t hree ph ases: preparation,
competitive, and transition.
• Classic periodi zation is br oken do wn into cycles:
• Macrocy cle
• Mesocyc le
• Microcycl e
• Classic periodization is cri ticized by some for being too
general and t rying to foc us on too many training var iables
simultaneously, t hereby reducing a program’s effec tiveness.
• A hybrid periodiz ation str uctur e combines elements of both
classic a nd block periodization.
• While a t raining program must hav e structu re, it als o must b e
flexible.
• Your at hlete will miss trai ning day s. You m ay need to modif y
the program t o ac commodate t his.
• Tapers are characterized by gr adually reducing volume while
still inte grating s ome intensity.
• It is idea l to in clu de asse ssme nt c hecks th roug hout a progr am
to ensur e an athl ete is pr ogres sin g prope rly.
• Peaking for a n ev ent gives your at hlete the bes t chance t o
perform at physiological m axim um on the day of the event.
• For experienc ed athletes , hist oric al data can h elp t o
estimate the peak with gr eater ac curacy.
• Finding the right balance between exercise, rest, and other
obligati ons (e .g., job, fami ly, ) is cr it ical for a successful
program . Indiv iduals who do not successfull y bal anc e the
demands of tr aini ng can become m entally burne d out and
suffer symptoms of overtraining.
• Think of training days in terms of hours, not exact days.
• Overtrai ning o ccu rs when the tr aini ng volume and/or intensit y
exceeds the abilit y to recover.
• The off-s eason of fers an oppor tunit y for a w ell -deser ved
mental break.
• Reverse periodiz ation fo cuses on i ntensity at th e be ginning of
the program a nd volume t owar d the end.
• A trainin g program shoul d progres s from least speci fic to mo st
specific
• Not all mileage has the s ame value
• The 10% volume increas e rule i s l argely errone ous
 • The steps to c rea te a trai ning program are:

1 – Goa l Event D etermination and Program Durat ion

2 – Det ermine T r aining Availability
3 – Initi al Trai ni ng Volume/St arti ng Fitness Level
4 – Lo ng Range Strategy
5 – Int egrate Training Bl ocks
6 – Int egrate Weekly Vol ume and Structur e
Module 16: Pacing
Pacing i s a cr uci al part o f run ning and is perha ps o ne of th e mos t
importa nt things t o master , as it can be the differenc e between
finishin g stron g a nd drop ping out.

The pac ing st rategy for a short r ac e (5K) v ersus a l onger r ace
(marath on) is quit e different. This i s often a diffic ult concept to
grasp for new run ne rs. Push too hard, too early, and pay for i t later
in the e vent. The best way to appreciate p acing is to consider the
cost/be nefit r atio. Too high an ener gy expenditur e (c ost), and the
benefit ( result) wi ll decre ase ov era ll. Too low of energy
expend iture, and the result will dec rease as well. To perform
optimally , the energy ex pendit ure must be not t oo high or too low.
In other word s, ru nning a well- paced race is a functi on of balanc e.

Race p ace i s det ermined durin g t raining and based on

asses sment s of an athlet e’s fit n ess level. C orrel ating an
athlete’ s effor t le vel, suc h as L T, t o asses sment methods (i. e.,
heart rat e, power , RPE, etc.) will enable t he per son to track pace
through out an ev ent.

For exa mple, whil e an at hlete might want t o break th ree hours fo r a
maratho n, thi s is not a feasibl e goal if the i ndivi dual can av erage
only a 1 0-min/ mil e. Assuming an a thlete has a ti me goal, it must b e
realistic.

When p articipating in a race, unplanned events can occur, s uch a s

bathroo m breaks, cramping, and falls, j ust t o nam e a few. It is
imperative that your athl ete not ex ceed the planned pace af ter
being d elayed. D eviating from t he planned pac e alm ost always
ends in a slo wer overall ti me.
In the vi deo belo w, Nell R ojas pro vides a n over vie w of pac ing a nd
why it's c riti cal.

[There is a Vi deo here. Vi deos can not be v iewe d fro m this P DF. To
View Vi deo C ontent, please ref er t o the online Cour se]

Pacing Overview
Smooth and st eady is al ways the better p acing o ption than
erratic and pu nchy. The more err atically a runner pa ces
themsel ves, t he l ess effici ent t hey will be. For ex ample, w hile it
might seem faster to sprint up t he hills an d recover on the way
down d uring a hill y race, t his will li kely res ult in a sl ower tim e tha n
a comp etitor w ho keeps a constant effort. T his do es not me an th at
an athl ete should not pus h har der i n some sections of a course, b ut
the efforts ne ed t o be cal culat ed t o ensur e the over all pace is
sustain able f or the durati on of the race.

While specific t o cycling, a study t hat examined power out put

during Olympi c di stance tr iathlons found t hat lar ge power
variations equated to a higher over all workl oad vers us cyclin g at a
constan t pow er output (470). A ddit ionally, a study by Rapoport
(705) fo und t hat r unning at a c onst ant pac e is the m ost effi ci ent
pacing strategy. However, Rap op ort noted that fo r running at a
constant pace to be the most effi cient str ategy, t he terrain
must not vary. M ost outsi de c ours es have some sor t of terrai n
variation. In th ese cases, the mo st effici ent way t o run is not at
a set pace bu t r ather at a set level of e xertio n o r effort.

It is esse ntial t ha t you kn ow th e co urse pro file of a r ace so t hat y ou

can pla n a detail ed paci ng str ategy for you r athl ete.

The ima ge below shows v arious pacing strategies. O f the four

strategi es, onl y t he orange and bl ack are r ecom mended.
Impact on Glycogen in Relation to Varied Running Speed

To run a predetermined distance in a set time, a runner must

maintai n a specifi c average speed for the entire course. If a r unne r
dips bel ow thi s a vera ge pace, the individual must run faster than
the aver age at so me poin t to m ake up for going slo wer tha n the
averag e pac e. You may b e thinking, “Big deal, a l ittl e slower here,
a little faster t her e … so l ong as I averag e the sam e overal l pac e,
what do es it matt er?”

From the standpoint of glycogen utilization, even if the finishing

time is th e sa me (i.e., sam e av era ge pac e) bet ween a runn er who
maintai ns the same pac e and one who var ies pace, there is a
greater metaboli c cost because of increased glycogen
consum ption w it h a vari ed pace. This puts a runner at risk of a
slower overall tim e or, in the worst -case sc enari o, h itting th e wall.
Car Analogy

Two cars drive a distance of 65 mil es. One drives at a steady

speed of 65 mph while th e other is constantly br aking and
acceler ating betw een 40 to 80 mph . While b oth c ars arrive at the
finish in one hour , guess which car was mor e inef fici ent and thus
used m ore gasoli ne? The car drivi ng at varying speeds.

This example illu strates the importance of main t aini ng a ste ady
pace a nd/or i ntensity level over the distance of an event.

Self-Regulation: Mind or Body?

Intensity and fati gue are invari abl y linked to en dur ance sp orts
training and, thus , pacing . The lon ger and /or mo re i ntensel y an
individual continues to ex ercise past the ini tial s ens ation of muscl e
tightnes s, the mo re fatigu ed th e pe rson will beco me. If exerci sing
to an ex treme lev el, even tually, th e level of perf orm ance will
decreas e, and if continued long enough, exerci se c essation will
likely occur.

The hu man body regulat es itsel f to ensure surviv al and to opera te

efficientl y. Wh at i s up for debate is the exa ct me ans by whic h the
body re gulat es it self and to w hat extent.
Fatigue

Fatigue is a catchall term that is used in many different contexts.

For exa mple, f ati gue can be used to denote mental or physi cal
stress. Additional ly, the exact defi nition of fatigue is also up for
debate. Som e view fatigu e as a pr ogressiv e proces s that begins at
the ons et of exer cise, whi le others view it as the inv oluntar y
endpoi nt of an ex ercise bout (542, 554). C auses of physical fatig ue
likely differ based on th e mode of exercise and its duration and
intensity .

Physiol ogical changes that occ ur w ithin a m otor unit regardi ng

muscula r fatigue are term ed perip heral fat igue ( PF ). This is
conside red the tr aditional mod el of fatigue . For example, w hen
running , the quadriceps begin t o “burn” an d fatigue; this indi cates a
buildup of aci dity within t he muscl e, which slows the runner and
possibly caus es t he runn er to stop . In oth er wor ds, the
physiol ogical changes that res ult i n fatigue are isol ated to specif ic,
local muscle motor units ( 545). To review, a motor unit com prises a
motor n euron and the mus cle fi ber s that the neuron influenc es
(innervates). B el ow is an exam ple of periph eral fati gue.

Cause: Runni ng uphi ll

Resp onse: B uildup of intramuscular acidity – c ausing muscl e

burn
 Effect: Runner slows or stop s t o recov er

The op posing model of fatigue is t ermed central fatigue

(CF). Central fati gue res ults fr om events within the brain and spi nal
cord (541). Centr al fatigue and, m ore specificall y, t he cent ral
governo r mod el (CGM) ar e disc us sed in t he ne xt s ection.

Performance Limiter Models

The cen tral gover nor model (CG M) is the opposi te of the peripher al
fatigue model . Peripheral fatigu e states t hat the muscle itself is
the cau se of t he fatigue, wher eas the CG M states the br ain, not
the muscle, i s th e reaso n for a d ecrease in muscle
perform ance ( 534, 538). This mea ns that t he br ain constantly
assesse s the bod y to ens ure w e d on’t hurt ours elves. Regar ding
the func tiona lity of the body, t he b aseline is call ed homeost asis .
Homeos tasis i s defined as (535):

Any self -regul ati ng process b y w hich biol ogical systems tend
to maint ain st ab ility whil e adju st ing to co ndition s that ar e
optimal for survival.

The brain monitors the body to ensure that no aspect of the body’s
function ing d eviat es too f ar from h omeost asis. I n es sence, t he
brain is t he body’ s control room and thus it s safety mechanism. If
the brai n sen ses that som ethin g is getting to a pote ntially
danger ous level, it acts to decr eas e the int ensit y level of that
specific area.

In the exampl e u sed pre viousl y re garding a bui ldup of

intramuscular acidity causing a muscle’s function to decrease –
under t he CG M, t his is the resul t of the br ain reduci ng musc le fib er
recruitm ent of the quadric eps ( 536) .

Physiol ogist A .V. Hill origi nally proposed t he C GM i n 1924 (537,

539). Hill suggest ed that the heart was prot ected by some sort of a
govern or, likel y either from the hear t itself or the n ervous s ystem
(539). M ore recently, the exist enc e of a c entral gov ernor w as
theorize d by phys iologist Tim No ak es (540, 544) . Mo st of the
information discussed today regarding a c entral governor is based
on the r esear ch b y Noake s et a l.

Specific ally, N oa kes et al . sum marize the CGM as f ollows:

“Exerci se p erfor mance i s reg ulat ed by th e cent ral nervou s

system specifically to e nsure th at catastrophi c physiolo gical
failure d oes n ot occur du ring n o rmal exercis e in
humans. ” (542)

“The su bcons cious brain s ets the exercise i ntensi ty by deter minin g
the num ber of motor units that are activated an d hence the mass of
skeletal muscl e that is recruite d throughout the exercise
bout.” (543)

CGM regarding pacing:

“The brain det er mines the nu mb er of active mot or units based

on a pa cing st ra tegy that will all ow com pletion o f a task in the
most effi cient w ay while main tai ning inte rnal h o meosta sis and
a metab olic a nd physiolo gical reserve capacity.” (543)

The exi stenc e of a centr al gov ernor in res pect t o t he CGM likely
has rami fications regardi ng the defi nition of many ph ysiologic al
events and t erms . VO2 m ax rep res ents an indivi dual ’s maxim al
capacity to trans port and use oxy gen during exerci se. However,
under t he CG M, an indivi dual’s VO 2 max does not r epresent th e
maximal capacity to trans port and use oxy gen; r ather, the c entral
govern or det ermi nes this (602) . W hile som e may vi ew this
differen ce in defi nition as a nuanc e, physi ologic ally speaki ng, th e
distincti on is s ubstantial beca use of its implicatio ns .

A study by Karlss on and Saltin not ed that perfor mance dec rease d
before c ompl ete glycogen depletion (716). Ther e is minimal
evidenc e to s upport physi ologi call y why thi s occ urs . As suc h, a
decreas e in perfo rmance prior t o t otal glyc ogen depletion m ay be
associat ed wit h C GM.

The bel ow ex cerpt from ‘R un Lik e a Pro,’ by Ben Rosario and Mat t
Fitzgerald explai ns the CGM in cl ear layman’s ter ms:

The brain’s number one job is to protect us at all ti mes. When we

engag e in an acti vity that, if continued for a long enough per iod of
time, wo uld se rio usly har m us, cer tain are as of t he brain b egin t o
send si gnals t o our consc ious minds that we should stop sai d
activity. When ru nning a 400 - meter repeat at ou r 5K race pace,
even th ough that repeat only t akes somew here betw een one a nd
two min utes f or t he typic al high sc hool cross countr y runner , the
brain g oes int o N ostrada mus m ode and pr edicts that were w e to
keep ru nning at t his pac e. Eventually, we would get dange rously
tired. We migh t c ramp up . We c oul d pass out. S o th e brain gives us
the hig h sign of physical discom for t and loss of moti vation, which
encour age us to quit long bef ore we are i n any real danger.

Realizing this fact, and acknowledging it, i s a wonderful thi ng. It

gives us the pow er to ov erride these sign als, firs t i n practic e an d
eventu ally, hopef ully, on r ace day. And on e of t he best ways to
achieve this effec t is by doing a lot of very structured workouts
where y ou’re f orc ed to lock int o a very specific pac e. In loc king
into a p ace, you’re essentially pretending you c an’t slow down,
forcing y ourse lf t o stick to it reg ar dless of thos e da nger sig nals. To
succee d in thi s ef fort, you must l earn to rel ax whil e still runni ng
fast. Co me rac e day, yo u can fall back on all of thi s practic e and
do esse ntially the same thing, r u nning relaxed and f ast so y ou ca n
complet e the dist ance at a pace that represents your true limi t
rather than w hat your brain tries t o tell you is y our limit.

Key Aspects of the CGM

1. The CG M can be thought of as a m odified central fat igue
model, as the CG M does not identi fy the s pinal c ord or motor
unit as havin g a r egulato ry role (53 8).
2. The CG M does not identi fy that changes within a m otor unit
(i.e., dec reas e in force pr oducti on) can occ ur as t he primary
means of fati gue. In other words, t he CGM views peripheral
fatigue as a bypr oduct of centr al f atigue ( 538).
 3. The CG M defi niti on of fatigue is not quantitativ e bu t rather
based on one’s s ensations (543). This is akin to usi ng rate of
perceiv ed ex ertion (RPE) t o ass es s fatigue.
4. The CG M theoriz es that t he s ubconscious brain det ermines
the met abolic cos t required to perf orm a physical task (543).
5. Homeos tasis i s m aintained under all conditi ons of ex ercise
(542).
6. CNS regulate s m otor -unit recrui tm ent to e nsure that ATP
producti on and ut ilization are m atc hed (538 ).
Challenges to the CGM

While th e CGM raises many interes ting propositi ons and theories,
accordi ng to Hen riette van Praag, Ph.D., a researcher at the
Nationa l Instit utes of Health, the C GM “lack s a clear
structural/physiol ogical basis w ithi n the central n erv ous syst em.
Thus, e mpirical evidence for the existence of a ‘ gov ernor’ remains
to be es tablis hed .” (546)

While th ere is n o direct quantit ative evi dence to prove th e

existen ce of a central go vern or, does it mean th at it does not
exist? A s not ed earlier, t he CG M is a modified v ers ion of the
central fatigue m odel, and thus, it is likely t hat aspects of the CGM
exist to r egula te human perfor man ce.

Perhap s the most extensi ve criti cal review of the CG M is by W eir et

al. (538) . Whil e t he paper ide ntifies many a reas of t he CGM that
Weir an d his t ea m feel ar e not val id regar ding provi ng the
existenc e of t he CGM, Weir et a l. conclud e tha t it i s likely that
both the central and peripheral f atigue models w ork together to
influenc e and re gulate h uman pe rforman ce.

Below a re so me aspects of the C GM that Weir et al. challenged

regardi ng its v ali dity.

1. While the CGM assesses fatigue based on one’ s perceived

exertion level s, propone nts of the CGM ass ess f atigue by
quantit ative m eans (e.g., VO2 max, blood lacta te). Therefor e
the resu lts ar e as sessing exerci se perform ance, not fatigue
(538).
 2. The CG M addr es ses a si ngular as pect of f atigue, w hereas, in
the real world, th ere are many l imi ting fact ors of pe rformanc e
such as motiv ation and enviro nme ntal issues (538)
3. Accordi ng to t he CGM, homeos tasi s is maintained under all
conditions of exercise. By definitio n, homeostasis is not
maintai ned during exerci se as vari ed exer cise intensities exi st
and are likely nec essary t o stim ulat e the required
physiol ogical adaptations to induc e advan cements i n fitness
levels (547).
4. Changes in m otor unit recr uitment and firing rate can be
influenc ed by reflex effec ts of the spinal cord (548, 549). This
is at odds with the CGM.
5. During voluntary exercise, fatigue can occur that is not the
result of CNS l i mi ting mot or -unit recruitmen t (550, 551, 552 ,
553).
CGM Discussion

When di scussi ng the peri pheral and central gov ernor models
regardi ng the ori gin of fatigue , it i s essent ially t he classic
argume nt of whic h came f irst, the chicken or the egg. Regarding
fatigue, it is lik el y that both the chicken and the eg g occur
simultaneously. I n other words , based on the studies review ed in
this secti on, it is likely th at bot h th e centra l and peri pheral f atigu e
models coexis t to monitor fatigue and, thus , regulate exerc is e
intensity .

Specific ally, re ga rding th e CGM , w hile ther e are stu dies tha t see m
to confli ct with th e existe nce o f th e model in its ent irety, it i s likel y
that man y as pects of the CGM ar e valid as no fati gue mod el or
theory explai ns all of the aspect s of fatig ue (538). More
researc h is requir ed regarding the existenc e of a “governor” and,
more sp ecifically, what ex actly t he term “governor ” i mplies and
encomp asses . However, as Weir et al. propose, sear ching for a
unifying theor y of fatigue is “futi le” (538) .

Based on the likely contri bution of both the peri pher al and c entral
fatigue model s, t he follo wing defin ition of f atigu e is suggest ed:
Any ex ercise -in duced r educti on in the ability t o exert m uscle
force or power, regardl ess of wh ether or not th e task can be
sustain ed (554, 555).

The CG M and an updated model termed the ‘Psy chobiologic al

Model’ are dis cus sed in t he next lesson, ‘M ental Training.’

Stick to the Script

It is imp ortant n ot to get suck ed into rac ing at a nother

person’ s pace b ut to stick to th e planned pace . It is easy t o get
caught up in the excitem ent of a r ace and go t oo fast. Preparatio n
events will all ow your athlete t o gain exposure t o th e excitement of
race da y whil e learning how not to translat e that ex citement into
throwin g off t he p acing game plan.

Utilizing some or all of th e assessment tools noted here during

training will e nsu re that an athlete is racing at th e correct pace on
race da y.

Althoug h it is i mportant t o stick t o the script, this applies only wh en

your athlete is healthy , w ell-rest ed, and performi ng at their
expecte d fitn ess l evel. If y our at hlete has an off day and feels
terrible, t he in divi dual sh ould r edu ce inten sity b elo w what was
initially targeted. Your athlete must listen to their body.

Many ru nners enj oy traini ng wit h others for motiv ati on and social
interacti ons. Whil e this is generall y a goo d idea, a common mistake
is to trai n with gr oups and do workouts tha t don’t follow a runner’s
specific trainin g program. Your athlete m ust be aw are of t he gro up
workout plan and pass o n it if it do es not adher e to t he plan.
While a warm - up is advis ed bef ore starting a rac e, i t is also
advised to st art off on the cons erv ative side regardi ng paci ng.
Typically, only eli te/professional athletes have the training to start
at a hig h lev el of intensity and mai ntain that lev el th roughout the
event (3 18). T he longer t he ev ent, the mor e acc urat e this is.

Risk Management

As with most t hin gs relat ed to spor ts, prop er pac ing comes d own t o
risk managem ent. Go too easy, and an at hlete will l ikely mis s the
time go al. Go too fast, and an athl ete will li kely blow up an d miss
the time goal. Ho wever, w ith pr ope r pacing , an athle te can s et
themself up wi th t he best chan ce t o succe ed by ma naging risk
appropr iately.

Risk vs. Reward

It is com mon k no wledge that t he p ace for a mar athon is slow er

than th at of a 5K. While th ere are physiolo gical reasons fo r this,
a runner ’s m ent ality al so pla ys a large part. Specifically,
distanc e will dict ate how fast an i ndividu al will r un. As an examp le,
let’s assume that Jessica can run a 5K at an eight -m inute-mil e
pace a nd has nev er run a marat hon. On a whim, Jessica decides to
enter a marat hon without any s pec ific traini ng (obvi ously n ot a
smart id ea). Jess ica paces herself at a 10- minut e-mi le pace durin g
the mar athon . But why? S he has no previous ex peri ence tel ling h er
how fast to ru n, s o why di d she slo w down so mu ch i n relatio n to
her 5K pace? The answer: While J essica k nows she can run at
least 5K at an eight-minut e pac e, s he beli eves t hat given the
distanc e of a m ar athon, s he w ould not be able t o hol d that pace
through out wi thout blowi ng up. This is an example of risk
manag ement.

Let’s as sume that Jessica mirac ulo usly (in li eu of her lack of
training) make s it to 24 mi les at a 10-minute pa ce w ithout bl owin g
up. She deci des t hat sinc e ther e ar e only 2.2 mil es l eft, she will
pick up t he pace. Jessica lifts h er pace to 8:30 min/ mile for t he
remaining dist anc e. Why didn’t Jes sica pick up t he pace bef ore
this? For the s am e reaso n that she initially deter min ed to ru n a 1 0-
minute pace at th e start ‒ there was too much ris k of blowing up.
With 2.2 miles l ef t to run, she determined t hat the potential rewar d
of a fast er tim e w as worth the ri sk. In othe r word s, s he estim ated
that the rewar d (i .e., picki ng u p th e pace and fi nishi ng faste r)
outweig hed t he ri sk (i.e., blowing up and not fi nishi ng or finishin g
slower).

This represents that the i ntensity one runs at correl ates to t he

distanc e left t o run. T he farther fr om the fi nish, t h e higher the
risk – a nd the cl oser to t he fini sh , the lo wer th e risk.

In 2010 , a gr oup of researchers (de Koning et al.) s ought a way t o

quantify this phenomen on. In a paper title d, Regulation of pacin g
strategy during athletic competition , de Koning et al. created a
formula called th e hazar d sco re ( 567).

The haz ard s core correlat es the int ensity at whic h an indivi dual is
performi ng to the distanc e or ti me remaining in t he exercise bout
and thu s det ermi nes the likelihood that an indivi dual will change
pace. T he for mul a is as f ollows (534):

Hazard = Mo men tary RP E * Fr acti on of the distan ce rem aining

While thi s certif ic ation w on’t go int o the specific s of the haz ard
score p aper by de Koning et al., t he prim ary thi ng t o under stand is
that the RPE of a n indivi dual a t a set poin t in ti me and the distance
remaining of an e vent infl uenc e the pace of a r unner (567).
Pace Assessment Tools

While th ere ar e li kely countless pace assessment to ols, UES CA

has ide ntified fou r that ar e likely t he most popular.

• Heart r ate mo nit or

• GPS that give s r eal-time pac e
• T ime
• Rate of perceived exertion scale (RPE)

Regardi ng heart r ate and as noted earlier in the

certificati on, c ardiac drift i s a phenomenon that elev ates on e’s
heart rat e wit hout increasi ng ot her perform ance metr ics. It is
natural f or car diac drift to occu r w hile run ning, especially in the
latter pa rts of a training r un or race. Cardiac drift can artificially
increas e one’ s heart rate by as much as 10‒15 bpm. Therefore, it
is important to pace not only by heart rate but also by RPE.
Sample Workout Structures Using Pace Tools

You ca n create st ructured work out sessions for y our athlete usin g
some or all pace assessm ent tools . Followi ng are examples of
workout structures using t he pace assessment tools:

Heart R ate Mo nit or: Easy run, k eep heart r ate betw een 110 and
130 bp m for 30 m inutes.

GPS: Fiv e-mile r un, run the fir st mile at nine -mi nute pace, then run
the next thre e mil es at 6: 30 pace, and co ol dow n at nine-minute
pace for the l ast mile.

T ime: Run 400 m eters in t wo mi nutes, jog 100m . Repeat the cycl e
two mor e times .

Based on the preceding pace tools , it is very easy t o allow

number s and quantitative metric s t o rule y our coaching prac tice. It
is also easy for runners t o obsess about their quantitative st ats.
While p ace as ses sment to ols ar e extremely valuabl e and necess ary
in the tr aining and racing process, it is also important to unplug
from this data str eam no w and the n. Have your athl ete go f or a r un
purely f or fun and check out the sc enery v ersus s tar ing at a GPS
watch the whole time! Unplugging is easie s t to accomplish and
most practical on easy w orkout days.

Pacing By Feel

Many ex perienced runners can ac curately deter mine their pace by

feel. Thi s com es from lots of ex per ience a nd cor rela ting thei r pac e
to pacin g too ls a nd RPE. So h ow does o ne become accustomed t o
pacing by fe el? F ollowing is a way to test one’s “f eel ” for pac e.

Using a stopwatch, run a set distance at the desired pace ( ex: run
three mil es in 24 minutes – eight- min/mile pace) , but look at the
time onl y onc e th e distan ce h as be en run. If your at hlete has a
real-time GPS watch, they can guess the pace and t hen look at t he
watch to see how close th ey were.

While thi s is just one ex ample of how to test one’s a bility to f eel
the pac e, the test s must be done fr equentl y to i ncrease one’s
proficie ncy at cor rectly pacing by f eel.
If individ uals use a pacin g tool( s) (i .e., heart rate mo nitor) to
determi ne eff ort l evel, they need t o correl ate the pacing tool pac e
with ho w they feel. For ex ample, if an athl ete’s pacing strategy is
to maint ain a n 8: 30-min/ mile pace during a race, but the person
cannot maint ain t his pac e bec ause of exha ustion or injury, the
runner must sl ow down. F ailure to do so wi ll likel y r esult in a
slower overall tim e at best and a “ Did Not Finish (D NF)” at w orst.
Learnin g how to pac e by feel i s im portant to develop and m aster.

Pacing Variables

Long vs. Short

Pacing f or lon g- and short -dist anc e event s varies. Short -di stanc e
events ( e.g., 5K) are typic ally ra ce d at a hi gher inte nsity tha n lon g -
distanc e events ( e.g., mar athon), assuming an athl ete’s fitness
level is v ery good , and the indi vidual has tr ained at high
intensiti es. Short events are often considered 10K or less, and
long-dis tance events are t ypicall y c onsider ed 10 K or longer.

Experience / Fitness Variables

Individu als wit h r ace-proven fit nes s levels can ty pic ally perf orm at
a highe r inte nsity than those w ho are new to the sport or not at a
high fitn ess le vel. We’re n ot talk ing about a jum p fro m a Zon e 2
effort to a Zone 4 effort ‒ we’re tal king about a relat ively small
differen ce. For ex ample, a new runner might run a half marat hon i n
the low t o mid dle part of Z one 2, w hereas an ex peri enced
particip ant who h as a high fitness level might rac e i t in the middle
to high Zone 2 or even lo w Zon e 3 .
Many of the p aci ng guidelines des cribed i n this s ec tion are
identified in ranges based on LT. Less -fit athlet es should race
toward t he b otto m of the rang e, a nd more -fit at hlet es should tar get
a pace i n the upper rang e.

In a stu dy of r unn ers at th e IAA F H alf Marat hon Wor ld

Champi onshi ps, t he faste st runner s more or less m aintained the ir
pace thr oughout t he race, wher eas slower r unner s s aw their pace
decreas e from 5K onward (657) . W hile this is likel y an example o f
experie nce v ersus fitness, regardl ess of fit ness or experien ce, a
runner c an run an even - paced rac e.

Pacing By Time

More th an any ot her metri c, mos t r unners shoot for a partic ular
overall ti me. D uri ng traini ng and racing, th e total ev ent dist ance i s
often br oken into sections , eac h wi th a set time g oal . From a raci n g
perspec tive, t his is done to check one’s pr ogres s. F or exam ple,
during a marathon, your athlet e mi ght hav e set t ime goals a t the
10K, 13 .1 mil es ( halfway) , and 30K (18.6 miles) poi nts.

If your a thlete is not at t he tar geted time at certain checkpoints, i t

is important not to lift the pace to regain ti me. This will typically
result in an ov erall slower time and perhaps a D NF.

The bes t way for your athlete t o reduce ov erall ti me without putti ng
in more effort i s to focus on running the tangents of the race
course.

Pack Pacing

In the st udy o f th e IAAF Half M ara thon ru nners prev iously n oted
(657), runners who ran in packs had smaller pac e reductions tha n
those w ho di d not run in packs. Therefore r unni ng w ith other s in
race scenarios is advised to run at or ne ar a spe cific pace.

Age, Gender, and Speed Variables

A 2011 study (March et al. ) look ed at deter minants of pacing

pertaini ng to mar athons ( 658). The findin gs:

• Older ru nners ma intaine d a mo re c onsiste nt pac e th an

younger runners
 • Women maint aine d a mor e cons ist ent pac e than men
• Faster runners m aintained a more consistent pace than slower
runners
• This finding was also consistent in other studies (659,
660).

These r esults were consi stent with a 2014 study by Trubee et al.
that sho wed wom en were bett er at pacing t han men, especi ally in
hot wea ther. The study al so found that elit e runners were better a t
pacing t han non- elite runners. Unsurprisingly, ther e was no
differen ce in paci ng aptit ude betw een elit e men and women (659).

Effect of Temperature on Pace

The ide al tem per ature for runni ng (especi ally long distances ) is
betwee n 50 and 53.6 degrees F (729). Within thi s r ange, t he
tempera ture d oes not hav e a negat ive effec t on a runner’s
pace. T emperatu res abo ve or bel ow this r ange wi ll likely
negativ ely aff ect pacing. Temper atures outside thi s range likely
have a more significant a dvers e ef fect the longer the distance is.

A table by Ma gill et al. de mons trat es the e ffect t em peratur e can

have o n pac e (723). Like t he af orementioned st udy, this tabl e
assume s that 53 degree s F is t he i deal temperat ure for runni ng. A t
90 and 10 degrees, the recomm ended adj usted pac e is 27 s econ ds
per mile slower. For example, i f a runner’s pace at 53 degr ees F is
8:00 mi n/mile, the pace at 90 and 10 degr ees is 8:27 min/mil e
(723). Sl ight t em peratur e variation s from 53 degrees F to 6 0
degree s hav e littl e to no change in recomm ended pace chan ges.
However , the mor e extrem e the te mperature chang e, the m ore
effect it has o n th e recom mend ed pace.

Be awar e that any temper ature/pace guid eline char t is just t hat, a
guidelin e. In divid uals’ tol eranc e fo r temper ature ch anges v aries
substan tially, and adapta tions such as heat -accli mati on traini ng
will lessen the negative e ffect of heat on an individual.
E f f e ct of H e at o n t he C e n t r a l G o v er n o r ( C G )

Concer ning t he c entral g overnor m odel, researc h shows that an

increas e in core t emperat ure sti mulates th e CG r egarding
anticipa tory re gul ation – meani ng, as one’ s core te mperature rise s
to the point w her e fatigu e wo uld b e likely, t he b ody self-regulates
to slow a runn er, thereby reduc ing the pers on’s c ore temper ature
(733).

Physiology

As an in divid ual’s core te mpera tur e rises, an incr ea se in bl ood is

directed to the sk in to aid in cooling. This r esults in a decrease in
blood fl ow to the muscles, redu c ing the amount of oxygen t o the
muscles and t hus likely d ecreas ing perform ance ( 520).
Additio nally, t her e is a decreas e i n ATP pr oduc tion at elev ated
core temperature s (732).

M i t i g a t i n g E f f e ct s o f H i g h T e m p er a t ur e s

In additi on to hea t-acclimatization train ing, pre-c ooli ng the body

before r unning (i. e., use of an i ce vest) and ingesti ng cold fluids
have b een s hown to decr ease core body temper atur e, which may
result in increased perfor manc e (534).
Course Profile (Elevation)

As note d in t he T raining Progr am module, utilizi ng an elev ation

course profile can be ver y hel pful in deter mining a pacing strate gy
for your athlet e. Even if t he a dvis ed strat egy is to maintai n a
consistent pace, your athlete needs to know wh ere any hills are.
Following is a sa mple profile of a 10K course.

D e t e r m i n i n g P er c e nt G r a d i e n t

Most co urse profi les equ ate to littl e more t han a squiggly li ne an d
distanc e/elev ation marker s. How do you fi gure out t he steepnes s of
the hills ? For t his , you ne ed to thin k back t o mid dle school and
channe l your inn er 13 -year-old – r emember “rise ov er run”?

The eq uation for this is: 1 00 x ri se/run. For exam ple, let’s say that
a road ri ses 100 f eet in one mil e (i. e., run). Therefor e, the equati on
would b e:

100 x 1 00/5, 280 ( feet in a mile) = 1.9 per cent g rad e

Sample Race Pace Guidelines

Regardi ng the sample el evation pr ofile above, a sample pacing

strategy might lo ok something like this:

Use miles 0–1.5 as a chance t o w arm up, maint ain an RPE of no

more th an 6/ 10, and target a pace of 8:00 min/mil e. Once you hit
the hill at 1.5 mil es, incre ase y our RPE to 7/10 ( not e, your pace
will drop slightly) .

Continu e running at this 7/10 pace until you hit mile 3.5 when th e
big hill begin s. Y our RPE will lik el y increa se, bu t tr y not to go
above a 7.5/ 10 R PE on t his hill . M aintain t his R PE until mile five.
At this p oint, if y ou feel good , incr ease yo ur RP E to 8/10 a nd tar get
a 7:45- min/mil e pace if possibl e throughout the end.

As this e xampl e i s based on a six- mile course, th e pace and RP E

increas es are likely more ag gressiv e than would be c onsider ed
appropr iate f or a longer event, suc h as a half or full marathon.
Longer event s would likely hav e a more consistent pace (R PE -
based) t hrou ghout the rac e.

Pacing Guidelines

The Start

Most runners hav e some l evel of anxiety before a race. Com bine
this with adre nali ne, and it’s e asy to see h ow y our athlete can g et
lulled into running a pac e faster than initially planned.

The run start is a chaotic and stressful environm ent. Most

individuals will have elevated heart rat es because of nervousness
and stress ‒ and this is before t he gun goes off! Thi s is
termed ‘ antici pat ory anxi ety.’ I n other wor ds, an at hlete is
anxious about the start of a rac e and ex periences many
physiol ogical changes ty pically as sociated with phy sical ex ercise
(e.g., inc reas ed r espirati on and heart rate). Once th e race starts ,
the stress an d anxiety t ypical ly decrease.

Your at hlete should focus on p acing by feel and sett ling into the
planne d pac e. At hletes w ho find themselves run ning too fast must
slow do wn im mediately and get back on track.
A 2010 study by Hausswir th et al. analyzed how the pace of the
first kilom eter o f a run af fecte d ov erall run perfo rm ance (3 67). T he
results f ound t h at runnin g 5 pe r cent slo wer th an one’s 10K
race pa ce result ed in th e best o verall r un tim e. Convers ely,
running at 5 perc ent fast er or 1 0 percent sl ower t han one’s 10K
race pa ce res ulted in an overal l sl ower tim e. In oth er words , too
slow or too fast a pace in the first kilometer/mile i s l ikely to
negativ ely aff ect the ov er all run ti me (spe cificall y f or distances o f
10K an d bel ow).

Body Awareness

The ability to pace properly is dependent on body awareness,

specific ally co ncerning one’s form, breathing rate, and overall
fatigue/ exerti on l evel.

Running Form

Being a ware of one’s for m is ver y important whil e r unning. If an

athlete notic es form is breaking down, they are advi sed to sl ow
down a nd work to regain proper for m. Comm on caus es of for m
breakd own ar e ex haustion and overexertion. Runner s often f ind
that doi ng a body scan helps c hec k their form. For exampl e, the
athlete might ass ess the followi ng areas:

– Head: Is my neck verti cal or substantially flex ed or exten ded?

– Back : Is my back hunched (flex ed) or extended?

– Foot strike: Is my foot strike at the corr ect siz e and rate ? Am I
shuffling?

– Hips: Are m y hips stat ic or r otating?

– Shoul ders: A m I elev ating my shoulders, or are they depress ed

and retr acted ?

Breathing / Stride Rate

Breathi ng rat e can be cor related to one’s st ride r ate. By taking a

breath after a set number of stri de s, your athlet es w ill be able to
regulat e the stride rate and the br eathing rate. Bei ng awar e of t he
speed and fr equency of t he stri de/ breathi ng rat e wil l allow y our
athletes to st ay on pace.

Once a n athl ete has est ablished a pace tha t they feel is
appropr iate, t hey need to get a sense of their stri de and breathin g
rate an d how it relates to RPE.

Overall Fatigue Level

If an at hlete becomes overly fati gued at a ny tim e, they must slow

down. W hile s om e degree of f atigue is nor mal and expe cted with
running , if your athlete experiences fatigue to the extent that it
could impact thei r safety or their a bility to compl ete a workout or
race, th ey must s low dow n or st op.

Break It Up

Breakin g a lar ge project i nto sm all er, more manageable pi eces

helps wi th mot ivation and maintaining focus and dis cipline t o
accompli sh a t as k. This st rategy i s often used when runni ng and,
more sp ecifically, during l onger ev ents suc h as half and full
maratho ns.

A sampl e strat eg y for a m arathon might be to br eak the rac e up

into thre e parts:

• Start‒13.1: R un at an R PE of 6/1 0
• Miles 13.2‒22: R un at an RPE of 7/10
• Mile 22‒Finis h: Assuming you feel good, r un at an RPE of
8/10.

This strategy can also be used in shorter events.

Common Pacing Mistakes

Starting Off Too Fast

This is the most common pacing mi stake, as even seasoned

runners fall vic ti m to it. It is ver y easy to start off t oo fast. This is
becaus e of m any factors:

• Overly e xcited
• When st arting off , a runner doesn’t feel fati gued at a faster
pace
 • Desire to keep up with surrounding runners

While thi s can oc cur at any dist ance event, it is most comm on in
short races (10K or less).

Running Someone Else’s Pace

It is com mon t o r un at another per son’s p ace. T his i s especi ally

true if a n indiv idu al runs near a not her run ner for long periods an d
that run ner ei ther speeds up o r slo ws dow n. Reg ardi ng slowi ng
down, t his speed change is oft en not a conscious eff ort. Lastl y,
some ru nners get competi tive wi th other runners dur ing a race an d
change their speed bas ed on beat ing thos e around them.

Running at Substantially Varied Intensities

The mos t com mon issue i n this regard inv olves hill s and descents.
Many ru nners try to maint ain the s ame speed (pace) up hills as o n
the flats . Con vers ely, man y run ner s relax w hile g oin g down hill,
causing their f or m to break down. Running at v aryi ng intensities is
less effic ient than runni ng at a constant i ntensity. Therefor e,
typically result s i n a slow er tim e a nd potentially a “ Did Not Finish
(DNF)” because of excessive energy expenditure.

Running Positive Splits?

If a run ner ru ns a race wit h posi tiv e splits, i t mea ns that if t he rac e
was split up into halves, t he second half is run slow er than the
first. Running a r ace with positi ve splits is li kely vi ewed as
negativ e due to t he assumption that the r unner star ted too fast,
which is the reason for t he slower pace lat er in the race.

However , ‘pos itiv e split’ d oes not denote how much slower t he
second half of a r ace was compared to the first. F or exampl e, was
a runne r one minute slow er or 45 minutes sl ower during the sec ond
half? B oth ar e ex amples of pos itiv e splitting, bu t as you can see,
both ar e very diff erent from a ti me perspective.

Therefore, when addressing whether or not a positiv e split on the

part of y our at hlete was a poor pacing strategy or s omethin g we nt
wrong, you must first look at the time differ ence between the two
halves t o see if t he time differ enc e is sub stanti al.
In contr ast, a ‘negative split’ denotes a r ace in whi ch a runner
runs the second half of t he rac e f aster th an the fir st, a nd an ‘even
split’ denotes a r ace in w hich a runner runs bot h the first and
second half at th e same pace. Las tly, as common -s ense di ctates , a
race co urse’s t err ain significant ly affects the runner’ s speed and,
thus, th e paci ng.

Distance Specific Pacing Guidelines

The following guidelines are rough recommendations, as the exact

pacing prescri pti ons are indivi dual ly based. Typi call y, the m ore in
shape and/or adv anced a runn er is , the longer t he person c an run
at MLSS . Additionally, an in -shape runner can typi cally run at
paces h igher than MLSS for longer periods than someone who is
not as a erobi cally conditi oned.

One thi ng to keep in mind – the information in t his section i s for

you, the coach… not for your athle tes. Why? Because all of this
information can be overw helmi ng f or an at hlete. It i s your job as a
coach t o underst and the below inf ormation and then convey a
strategy to your athlete in an easil y consumable ma nner.

Race-Specific Advice

[There is a Vi deo here. Vi deos can not be v iewe d fro m this P DF. To
View Vi deo C ontent, please ref er t o the online Cour se]

Functional Threshold Heart Rate-Based Pacing

The following guidelines are rough recommendations, as the exact

pacing prescri pti ons are indivi dual ly -based on m any factors,
including env ironmental f actors such as heat and humidity – as
they aff ect he art rate.

Below a re sample training zones based on an i ndivi dual’s ( Brian)

function al thr esh old hea rt rate (FT HR) 0f 1 65 bpm.

Short Distance

Assuming your at hlete is i n go od physical c onditi on, race dis tance s

of 5K a nd les s can be run at a relatively hi gh lev el of intensit y
compar ed wit h long -distance even ts. Depending on one’s fit ness
level, the advised intensit y range is between 95 an d 110 p ercen t
of one’s FT HR.

Events aroun d 10K in length ar e done at a mor e conservati ve pa ce.

This typically equates to r acing at 90-100 percent o f one’s FT HR.
Long Distance

For half marathons, the pace should be between 75 and 85

percent of one ’s FT HR. From an RPE per specti ve, the intensity
should feel lik e a long -tempo r un ( 368).

Pacing f or mar at hons sh ould be b etween 70 and 80 percent of

one’s FTHR. T he pace s hould be f ive to 10 bpm low er than a lon g
tempo r un from a heart rate pe rspective. T he R PE should f eel lik e
a long endur ance -based r un.

Summary
• The general paci ng them e is t o st art cons ervativ e and fini sh
strong.
• Race pace is det ermined during tr aining.
• Intensity ben chm arks suc h as hea rt rate, G PS p ace , and ra te
of perceived exer tion (RP E) are w ays to assess one’s pac e.
• It is impo rtant t o stick to t he pr edetermined pac e pl an and not
deviate from it and, more specifi cal ly, not g o ove r th e
prescribed pace.
• The onl y time i t i s OK to go above the prescribed p ace is
toward t he ve ry e nd of a run, a nd only if a n athl ete feels
able to do so with out “hitti ng the w all.”
• It is com mon f or r unners t o be nerv ous bef ore a race . This is
especially true for new runners and/or bef ore im por tant
events.
• Peripheral fati gu e relate s to fatigue starting withi n t he
skeletal muscl e w hereas central fatigue cor responds to
fatigue contr olled by the mind. The se issue s relat e t o
the cent ral gover nor mod el .
• Even though shor t -distanc e events like 5Ks are s hor t
compar ed wit h m arathons, they ar e still endurance events and
therefor e pro per pacing i s important for a successf ul race.
• Pacing i s typic all y based eith er off pacing metric s ( GPS),
heart rat e, RP E, or a com binati on of them.
• General ly speaki ng, the short er the event, the f aster the pa ce.
• Overreaching too early in a dist ance -runni ng race will re du ce
the energy and performance lat er i n the race.
• Pacing must be p racticed in trai ning to be effecti ve on race
day.
• Default t o body awareness: Regardless of what a heart rate
monitor says, i f y our athl ete is feel ing fatigued t he i ndividu al
should slow dow n .
Module 17: Mental Training

• History of perfor mance psychology

• Psychol ogy 101
• Myths of sport s psychology
• Motivati on
• Theories
• High-per forma nc e commit ment and barrier s
• Historical beliefs and models of endurance limits
• Self-talk
• Self-concept and self-effic acy
• Mindful ness
• Emotional regulat ion
• Executi ng when it counts
• Mental i mager y
• Flow and clutc h s tate
• Yerkes- Dodson Law
• Perform ance anxi ety
• Mental t oughness
• Pain thr eshol d, to lerance, and sen sitivity
• Psychol ogy and I njury
• Attentio nal c ontro l
Introduction

Much lik e phy sic al traini ng, mental skills or sports perform ance
psychol ogy c an b e trained in a specific, deli berat e w ay that
optimizes skill de velopm ent and gi ves the athlet e the best possibl e
chance of succes s.

Althoug h goal att ainment alon e is not the key defini ng mark er of
success for m any recreational athletes and is only part of their
journey, endurance sports offer m any athl etes a unique op portunity
to pursu e the ir se lf-discov ery. M any come t o endurance sports to
redefin e them sel ves or out of a deep desir e to c han ge their life
directio n. Unders tanding what brings an at hlete into the enduran ce
world is critical in any coach -at hlet e relationship.

Periodiz ation of s kills help s en han ce this p roces s, with the athle te
learning how to engage i n specifi c sports psychol ogy practic es at
particul ar times. Mental s kills c an unfold across thr ee broad
domain s, incl uding The F oundation (much li ke base training, skills
that are best utili zed thro ughout th e year a nd s et up the nex t ord er
of traini ngs); H igh -Perfor manc e P sychology Skil ls ( the meat of
many pr ogram s, especially when an athl ete has identified and
enters a traini ng block tar geting a set of goals o r races for t he ye ar
or seas on); and Race D ay Sp ecifi c Skills ( as an ev ent draws near,
working on specific aspec ts of t he mental game that align wi th the
specific aspects of the event at hand). All of these skills wor k
togethe r in c oncert and b uild upon one an other. Muc h like a
physical race, the training of th e mi nd is do ne delibe rately
through out t he at hlete’ s li fe. It i s s pecific t o the det ails of th at
individual, their personal history, their time commit ment, dedication
level, their specific goals, and the race day specific s of the event
they are part akin g in.

Sport ps ychol ogy training nee d not occur in a vacuum. Some skills
can be devel oped outside of training, such as mi ndfulness, goal
setting, and self-t alk, but a number of thes e skills ar e best
develo ped al ongs ide the physic al t raining i tself.

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The Foundation
Brief History of Performance Psychology

Perform ance psy chology has grow n in leaps and bounds ov er the
past 10 0+ years, with a recent acc eleration of inter est over the
past few dec ades . Norman Tripl ett is widely believed to have bee n
the first t o stu dy how psy cholo gica l factors i mpac t p erforma nce,
citing social facili tation factors of cyclists p erformi ng better when
riding in groups t han ridi ng sol o in 1898. He was perhaps the fir st
to show intere st i n under stand ing social a nd ps ych ological impa cts
on perf orman ce. I n 1925 Coleman Griffith (w idely l abeled t he fat her
of sports psyc hol ogy) founded the first sport s psy chology researc h
lab and facilit y at the Uni versity of Illinois. His early quotes on th e
impact of the min d on pe rformance were groundbreaking at that
time: “The mor e mind is made use of in at hletic competition, the
greater will be the skill of our athl etes, the finer wil l be the cont est,
the hig her will be the ideals of s portsmans hip dis played, the long er
will our games persist in our national life, a nd the more truly will
they lea d to t hos e rich p erson al a nd soci al pro duct s which we
ought t o expect of them. Because of these facts, the psychologis t
may ho pe to break into a t hletic competition, just as he has alrea dy
broken i nto t he realms of i ndustr y, commerc e, medic ine, educatio n,
and art.” Coleman was lik ely the fi rst psychologi st t o work
alongsi de a profe ssional sports team, helpi ng th e Chicago C ubs in
the 193 0s. H e als o authored t wo b ooks, Ps ychol ogy of
Coachi ng and Ps ychology of A thletics.

Perform ance psy chology development mainly focused on motor

skill acq uisitio n and was conducted in lab settings over the
followin g few dec ades, wi th ren ew ed enthusias m in the 1960s a nd
1970s. The I nternational Societ y of Sport P sychology (ISSP) was
created in 1973. In 1979, a paper by Rainer Marte ns titled “About
Smocks t o Joc ks” was pu blishe d, c alling fo r more re search t o
examin e the r eal - life appl icability of psychological factors in t he
field of play ra the r than ju st wit hin laborat ory set ting s. This p aper
was on e of the cornerstones in i ncr easing r ecognition, awar eness,
and gro wth of ps ychology in the s port over subsequent years.

The Ass ociati on f or Appli ed Sport Psychol ogy w as f ounded in

1985, a nd o ne year later, Division 47, The Soci ety f or Sport,
Exercise and Per formanc e Psyc hol ogy, wa s crea ted in the
America n Psyc ho logical Associ ation.
Today, there is si gnificant interest in performance psychology
practice s across nearly a ll spectru ms of sport, span ning all age
ranges and performance l evels. S port and perf orm ance ps ychol ogy
today ty pically in volves t hree a rea s of foc us, incl udi ng a Cli nical
Focus (general m ental health, athlete mental health, and as pects
of injury and r etir ement fr om sport, etc.), a Perfor mance
Enhanc ement Focus (managing performanc e pressure, developin g
focus, a nd co nce ntration skills, se lf-talk, and vis ual ization, etc.),
and a C oachi ng Collabor ation Foc us (impr oving communic ation and
team co hesion, etc.). Most major s ports franchis es, including the
United States Oly mpic Committee ( USOC), now empl oy a team of
mental health professionals, cli nic al psychologi sts, and Cer tified
Mental Perfor man ce Coac hes ( CM PC), a cr eden tiali ng program fo r
those wi th a mast er’s or d octorate through the AAS P.

Myths of Sports Psychology

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Why Train the Mind?

“Mind is everyt hi ng — m uscle piec es of rubber. All t hat I am , I am

becaus e of m y mi nd.” Paavo N urmi , aka The Flyi ng Finn (9 ti me
Olympic Gold Me dalist, R unnin g)

“Your mi nd is what makes ever ythi ng else work.” Kareem Ab dul -

Jabbar (Basketball)

“Of the t op 10 0 pl ayers, p hysically, there is not m uc h difference.

It’s a me ntal abili ty to handle t he pressure, to pl ay well at t he rig ht
moment s.” Nov ak Djokovi c (Tennis )

“I believ e a cham pion wi ns in his mind first ; then he plays t he

game, n ot the other way around. It’ s powerf ul stuff.” Alex
Rodrigu ez (B aseball)

Motivation

Perhaps the most common defi nition of moti vation in the sporting
context is “Th e direction and intensity of one’s effor ts. (Sage,
1977)”
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Self-Determination Theory (Intrinsic and Extrinsic)

Psychol ogists Edward Deci an d Ri chard R yan devel oped the self -
determi nation theory, whic h des cri bes moti vation as “what m oves
us to ac t.” The ir t heory st ates t hat humans have an i nherent
tenden cy to move towa rd growt h and sug gests t hat humans have
three co re ne eds that hel p mov e to wards gr owth and mastery:
Autono my, C ompetence, and Relat edness (939).

Autonom y is defi ned as t he ability to engage i n vol untary and s elf -

endors ed behavior and feel in c ont rol.

Compet ence i s defined as ex periencing our behavi ors as ef fectiv e,

feeling as th ough we’ve d one, are doing, and wi ll co ntinue t o do a
good jo b.

Related ness i s defined as the need to interact a nd be connecte d

with others.

Self-det ermination theory desc ribes two f or ms of m otivation:

intrinsic and extri nsic. Intri nsic m otivation is inher ently sel f -
satisfying and engaging and is often described as “ behavior for its
own sak e.” A utonomy, competence, and rel atedness are the three
primary c ore n eed drivers connect ed to i nt rinsic motivation.

On the other hand, extrinsic motiv ation is r elated to being

rewarde d in s ome tangibl e fas hion. For athl etes, t his can come in
completing an event, earning a finisher’s m edal, or hitting a
qualifyi ng sta ndard for en try int o a specific race. Th is can also
come in social m edia and a need to be recognized by others.

Self-det ermination theory has been studied about a number of

factors i n spor t, i ncludin g drop-out rates from par tic ipation i n
adolesc ents.

Goal Orientation Theory

Goal ori entati on t heory is anot her popular theor etic al framework f or
underst anding dri vers for s ports participation and performanc e,
with the theory proposing two underlying orientations: a task or
ego orie ntation . This theory centers on the idea that goals ar e
created with diffe ring underlyin g reasons or purposes besides goal
content (i.e., that which the person is attempting to accompli sh).
This helps explain the dif ferent approaches and responses to
achieve ment - bas ed situations and tasks. T ask o rientation is often
called mastery -goal orientation an d focus es on three primar y
factors: engaging in chall engin g ac tivities, e xertin g effort wit hin a n
activity, and pers isting d uring t he challen ge. Ta sk o rientatio n may
differ from one ac tivity to another, given the in di vidual’s inter est
level (for exampl e – a tri athlet e m ay be m ore interested in c ycling
than swi mmin g). Mastery goals foc us on le arnin g an d master ing
new skill s, with a desire f or incr eased un dersta ndin g, awar eness,
or comp etenc e. T his is most oft en seen w it h the driv e for lea rning
and imp rovem ent .

Ego orie ntation i s often r eferred t o as per formance -goal

orientati on a nd tends to f ocus prim arily on evaluation, typically in
compari son to ot hers. Compet enc e is com parati ve under t his
framework, wit h an indivi du al’s feel ings of worth or s elf -efficacy
being b ased on c ompleti ng a t ask or event com pared to a si milar
referenc e poi nt, p erson, or self -i mposed st andar d. P erformance
goal ori entati on t ends to focus on an attempt to be better t han
others, win, or m ake soci al compa risons that ar e judgment al in
nature, emphasiz ing seeking f avor able judgment from others .

What Can You Learn From Ten Million Marathon Finishers?

A semin al pa per, “Reference -D epended Pr eferences : Evidence

from Mar athon R unners” (940), pu blished in 2016, r eviewed near ly
10 million mar athon finis hing ti mes (9,789, 093 t o be exact) fr om
1970-to 2013 wit h the hy pothesis that athl etes are driven by the
motivati on to f ini sh ahead of a giv en refer ence point (i.e.a
particul ar time goal, typic ally eit he r endi ng with 0 or 5 in
connect ion t o the marathon). T his was seen mos t cl early wit h the 4
hour ma rathon finishing ti me, wit h a total of 300,324 finisher s in
the 3 mi nutes bef ore 4 h ours (i. e., 3:57, 3:58, 3: 59), compar ed to
212,47 7 finis hing in the 3 minutes ju st after 4 hours (i.e., 4:00,
4:01, a nd 4: 02). The diff erenc e of 87,847 finishers was the most
distinct with tim e stamps on a r ound numb er at eithe r the hal f -hour
(i.e., 3:30, 4:30, 5:30, et c.) or hour mark (3, 4, 5, et c.), although
this tren d of “ exc ess mas s” bef ore a clear t ime st amp was seen
when pl otted acr oss the 10 mi nut e and 5 -minut e m arks as well
(i.e., 3:35, 3:40, 3:45, 3: 50, 3: 55, etc.).
This pa per pr ovides evidence f or t he inter nal and extrinsic f actors
associat ed wit h s pecific r ace tim es , partic ul arly the marathon, bu t
that likel y tran sla tes for o ther e nd urance activiti es.

Outcom e goal s for recreati onal endurance athlet es most oft en fall
into on e of the fol lowing c ateg ories : 1. Just Finish G oals, 2. Break
a time g oal (m ost often t hat of a cl ear n um ber re fer ence point s uch
as a 4-h our m arathon). 3. Set a P R, 4. Qu alify f or an event (again,
most oft en tar geti ng a set refer enc e point). This paper supports
referenc e poi nts as a key motiv ati ng factor in goal orientati on and
the deci sion t o sp eed up or incr eas e intens ity in a racing
environ ment.

Commitment And Barriers

Barriers are in evi table in any purs uit of a goal. Som e barrier s are
known i n adv anc e to enc ompass t he realit y of daily life. This
include s work obl igations , famil y r esponsi bilities , outsid e
commitm ents, an d overal l time t o t rain dail y and weekly. Bar riers
need to be s ystematically ident ified, emphasizing a structured pla n
that be gins wi th a warene ss and rec ognition by c oach and at hlete
alike, with a m utually agr eed -upon plan foc used on how b ar riers
will be integrated as an expected part of the training plan.

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High-Performance Psychological
Barriers
Psychology 101: Understanding Your Athlete

An indiv idual’ s ov erall psy cholo gic al frame work is e ssential in

underst anding how to wor k with them. At any giv en moment in our
lives, our basic individual psychology can be broken down into
three m ain categories: Thoughts, Feeli ngs, and Act ions.
Collectively, over time and with repetition, this constellation of
experie nces mak es up w hat w e commonly r efer t o as personality.
Thousa nds of res earch ar ticles, books, and countles s model s dive
into a theoretical understanding of persona lity. P ers onality i s a
word an d idea deeply woven into our every day lexic on and intuiti ve
experie nce. A nd f or purposes here, we cert ainly do n ot have time
to revie w all th e potenti al mod els.

The cor e of o ur psychological fr am ework involves those three ba si c

categories. Thoughts include beliefs, biases, and values. Feelings
encaps ulate our mood and the frequency, intensity, and range o f
our emo tional ex perienc es. Ac tions descri be our behaviors. You
can con sider eac h of these ar eas t o be im pacte d in typical w ays
(how we may usually feel, think and act regardless of the si tuatio n)
along w ith sit uati on -dependent ways (how you mi ght approach a n
easy ver sus a diff icult task , for e xa mple).

We must be c ognizant of the envir onment al fact ors in which our

athletes and we li ve – the cultu ral, religious , financi al, and
community as pec ts that occupy a s ignificant porti on of the athlete ’s
life. Combining the internal framew ork outlined above and the
external envir on ment, w e thus ha ve a Bio -Psyc ho- Social
underst anding of the psyc hological factors t hat c om prise the
athlete’ s life fr om a whol e -pers on perspec tive.

One of t he m ost widely u sed m od els for c onsid erin g perso nality
is T he 5 Facto r Model , s ometi mes more c ommonly referred to as
The Big 5. These traits include extroversi on, agr eeableness ,
conscie ntious nes s, neuroticism, and openness to e xperience. A
2006 m eta -analys is review ed 3 3 peer -review ed st udi es that
correlat ed extrov ersion and consci entiousness with high physical
activity l evels, cit ing that the f orme r “may be the most import ant
factor as socia ted with ph ysical act ivity.” Ne urotici s m was
correlat ed with low physic al activit y (941).

In my pr actice, I often vi ew ma ny athletes purs uing endura nce

sports as a journ ey of self-disc overy. Many who seek endur ance -
based c halle nges are doi ng so to r e -define them sel ves, pus h the ir
limits of what they believe to be possible, or seek curiosity in the
connect ion t o challenge. As a coa ch, you have a f antastic
opportuni ty to partner with your athlete in their p rocess of
self-dis cover y b y being able t o ask perti nent q uestions about
their backgro un d, motiv ation l evel, and pursu it of goals.

The bel ow video discuss es this section an d the nex t section – th e

three va rious mo dels of one’s l imit ing fact ors.

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Historical Beliefs on Endurance Limits

Peripheral and Central Fatigue

Historical models of exha ustion, fatigue, a nd limiting factors in

endura nce s ports focused on a cul mination of m uscl e fatigue on a
central (central n ervous system) a nd peripheral (mu scular sy stem)
basis. T hus, tr adi tional m odels hav e focus ed on imp roving
muscula r and car diovasc ular str ength, stamina, pow er, and
endura nce w hile l argely i gnoring psyc hological v ari ables.

Central Governor

The cen tral gover nor theory foc uses on the centr al nervous s ystem
monitori ng physiological si gnals during exercise, wit h the pr emise
that the brain is i n a stat e of c onst ant mon itorin g an d will pre vent
overexe rtion t o the point of ph ysical detriment or death (942). “It is
hypoth esized that a centr al gov ernor contr ols physic al activit y in
the brai n and that the human b ody function s as a co mplex sy stem
during exercis e.” This theory claim s that th e brai n is the ulti mate
regulat or, i.e., th e central gov ernor, of all physic al and
physiol ogical syst ems an d regulates physic al exertion and exercis e
through monit oring and s ubsequent regulati on controls to prevent
serious bodily damage and/or death. The central governor theory
largely i gnores c onscious psyc hol ogical proces ses such as
motivati on of self -determi nation and labels events s uch as f atigu e
through subc onsc ious aw areness, ” Fatigue is a s ens ation that
results fr om th e c onscious perc epti on and interpretation of
subcon scious regulatory proces ses in the brain. I t is therefor e not
the expr essio n of a physi cal ev ent” with the idea that the br ain will
override any other system to limit physicall y pus hing past one’s
physiol ogical l imi ts.

Timothy Noakes is largely credited with the centr al governor the ory
in 2005 (943) . However, t he ori ginal idea was pr oposed by
Archibal d Hill as early as 1924 .

Critics of the central governor largely posit the role of mediating

factors o f sev eral psychol ogica l va riables (i ncludi ng motivati on and
conscio us control ), alongside ci ting sever al exampl es of at hletes
who ha ve ex perienced “physiol ogic al catast rophes” during s port,
thus pro vidin g evi dence of the abili ty to ov erride t he purport ed
monitori ng mecha nism of which the central gover nor gets its name.

The Psychobiological Model (The New Formulation for Understanding Limits in

Endurance)

The Psy chobi olog ical Model of Endurance Perfor mance is the
newest devel opm ent in the theoret ical understa nding of limit ers to
perform ance. It gi ves incr eased att ention t o psy chol ogical f actors,
including cognitive perception, motivation, and willin gness. T his
model c onsiders t he deci sions t o sl ow, stop, cont inue or acc elerat e
in endu rance -bas ed tasks as being a highl y cons cious proc ess of
decisio n maki ng, intensity regul ati on, and behavior al regul ation,
even g oing s o far as to m ake th eir declarat ive st atement, “T he
psycho biological model of endurance performanc e p roposes that
percepti on of effo rt is the ultimat e determi nant of enduranc e
perform ance. The refore, a ny physi ol ogical or ps ychological factor
affectin g the perc eption of effo rt wi ll affect endur anc e
perform ance.” The basic t enet s of this mod el are be ing examined
by rese archer s in several differ ent applicat ions and even helped
spawn t he book, Endure by Al ex H utchins on.

This mo del is pri marily based l argely on B rehm’ s M otivational

Intensity The ory ( 944), w hich c onsi sts of tw o mai n a spects o f
motivati on: potential motiv ation and motivational int ensity.
Potenti al moti vati on is the maxi mum effort a pers on is willing to
expend to reach a goal. I n contras t, motivational int ensity is the
amount of eff ort t hat a person will exert. Of critical i mportan ce, th is
theory s uggests t hat people wi ll co ntinue t o en gage in a task with
the sam e level of intensit y as l ong as they view t h ei r goal as
remaining po ssibl e.

The psy chobi olog ical model suggests that an at hlet e will stop not
necess arily w hen they reach a limi t of phy siologi cal capacity but
rather “w hen t he effort required by the tas ks exc eeds the gr eatest
amount of eff ort t hat the i ndivi dual is willing to ex er t during the
task (mot ivatio n) or when the maxi mal effor t is co ns idered t o hav e
occurre d, and continuati on of the t ask is p erceiv ed as impossible. ”
Therefore, motivation alongside the perception of effort becomes
the ultim ate deter minant guiding an athlet e’s decisi on -maki ng in
endura nce s ports in this t heory.

Percepti on of eff ort is pri marily m ediated by c ogniti on, cog nitive
apprais als (i.e., h ow one is thinking about the physi cal experienc es
they are havi ng), and self -talk, t he latter of which can functi on
through either ins tructional or m oti vational chan nels .

Instructi onal s elf- talk is th e spe cifi c langu age aroun d desire d
movement and m echanic s. This ty pe of self -talk is best do ne w hen
needin g to guide through a particul ar tas k or rem em bering t he
basics o f a n ew s kill. For a n endur ance at hlete, I’ll often
recomm end instr uctional self -t alk when guiding thr ough s pecific ally
challen ging aspe cts of a r ace c our se, such as c harging up a hill, or
descen ding a tec hnical tr ail, wit h spe cific guidance around the
mechan ics of par ticular aspects of movem ent and posture o r bod y
position . Instr ucti onal sel f -talk i s best used to remind yours elf
about a spec ific mechanical aspect of movement, which c an be a
helpful strate gy i n many i nstan ces , i ncludi ng open - water swimmin g
for triathl etes, es pecially those ex perienci ng a nxiet y over th is
portion of the rac e. Clinic ally, I’v e found guiding ins tructional self -
talk lan guage to be a criti cally hel pful fact or in over coming open
water swim anxiety by gi vi ng the a thlete a direct foc al point of
focus in bodil y m ovemen t over anx ious tho ught s.

Motivati onal s elf - talk ofte n foc uses on psyc hing ours elves u p for a
challen ge, boosti ng confi denc e, or maintai ning effor t. In short,
motivati onal s elf - talk is oft en th e f ramewor k that m any think of
when di scussi ng self -talk and c an sometim es be best summ arized
by thinki ng of it b eing yo ur pos itive coach or che erle ader. Th e
three ar eas o f foc us most motiv atio nal self-t alk tend to cente r on
include arousal and emot ional c ontrol (i.e., you got this, stay
present) , mast ery (i.e.lear ning and improvi ng), and drive (i.e.,
you’re doing great, keep pushing).

Studies have fou nd that motiv atio nal self-t alk reduces rates of
perceiv ed eff ort and increases t ime to exhaustion, especial ly in
time-to-exhaustion labor atory t ests (947, 948). T her e is also
prevailing evi dence sugg esting that instructi onal sel f -talk is b est
used for tasks re quiring f ine m otor control i n spe cifi c movem ents.
In contr ast, m otiv ational and i nstru ctional s elf-tal k s how
effective ness in b oth stre ngth and endura nce.

Further, how you direct your self -talk also m atters in terms of the
voice b eing used, specific ally w het her that includes first pers on
(i.e., “I”) or sec ond pers on (i.e ., “ You”) pr onouns. Researc h
indicate s that usi ng second -person pronouns i n motivational self -
talk, suc h as “ Yo u got thi s,” pr odu ces fast er time -tri al
perform ances tha n first -person self -talk (94 5, 94 6).

Strategies
Self Talk – Cognitive Beliefs and Biases

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Organic vs. Strategies

Additio nal str ategies for engagi ng i n self -tal k cen ter on the
differen ces between organic and st rategic. Organic self -talk i s a
natural, responsi ve, and instinctual proces s that all of us develo p
over the cour se o f our lives. It’s t he predominant voice that arises
in our mind without havin g to direct control or effort to how we’re
speakin g. A good starting point for developing s port s psych ology
skills with the athletes you are wor king wit h begins by having them
pay atte ntion to t he orga nic se lf -talk voices that nat urally ari se
during t he course of their traini ng. This will give bot h you and th em
a glimps e into th e types of self -tal k that un fold natu rally and in
differing circumst ances ( easy days vs. hard days et c.).

Strategi c self-t alk is planned, r ehearsed, and pr acti ced pre -

determi ned st atements a nd us ed i n specifi c situations for a
particul ar pur pos e. Mantr as ar e the most w idely us ed type of
strategic self-t alk . They ar e typi cal ly short, specif ic, positive,
instructional, or goal -oriented s tate ments that an athlete can use
for a sp ecific r ea son (i.e., instr ucti onal or motiva tio nal) an d a
certain time in eit her training or ra cing scenarios (949).

One of my fav orit e sayings is, “ yo u can’t chang e what yo u’re

unawar e of.” F rom this coaching perspecti ve, helping an at hlete
become awar e of their organic s elf - talk thro ugh moni toring th us
allows f or the spe cific self -t alk voic es to be dev elop ed ove r the
course of a tr aini ng plan .

Cognitive Appraisals

The last distincti on in self -talk i s cognitiv e apprais als, whic h are
subjective interpr etations and/or automatic thoughts about
perceiv ed ev ents. For an athlet e, t his includes how they are
interpreting and r esponding to stim uli they come acr oss, whi ch
could c onsist of i nternal and/or ext ernal sources. How a runner
interprets the various dat a being displayed on their watches or
other te chnol ogic al areas provi ding inform ation i s i mportant. With
so many pot ential measur ement s (i .e., pac e, dist anc e, time, heart
rate, po wer, z ones, etc.), it ’s impor tant to under stan d how an
athlete i s maki ng sense o f, pot enti ally jud ging, and/or pote ntially
making decisi ons based on thi s inf ormatio n. For example, an
athlete may become quic kly consumed by monit oring pace or sp eed
and ha ve biased beliefs, j udgm ent s, or negative sel f -talk about
their pa ces. O ne of the m ost co mm on elem ents a co ach will r un
into is an athlete having predetermined be liefs (often tying back to
individu al self -worth, ego, identity, and/or comparis on to ot hers on
platform s such as Strava) around t hese number s, w hich can ofte n
lead to anxiety, stress, or r efusal about r unning slower than what
they’ve deem ed c omforta ble, p artic ularly o n easi er d ays. For
exampl e, an athl ete may have predetermi ned th at 8:30 per mile is
their rec overy r un ning pa ce, p erha ps not b ased on any
physiol ogical met ric but rather t hei r percep tion of w hat
slow/rec overy me ans (mor e mentally than physic ally ). But in
reality, as a c oac h, y ou’v e det ermi ned their recover y pace based
on phys iologi cal markers i s clos er to 9:30 per m ile. This is often an
area of const ernation bet ween coach and athlet e ali ke and t ies
back to understa nding t he underly ing core belie fs a nd iden tity
structure that an athlete may h ave when w orkin g to gether.

Other co gnitiv e a ppraisal s for e nd urance athlet es i nclude t hat o f

stress, threat, or challenge as it re lates to their performanc e. The
biopsyc hosoc ial approach em beds a framework f or underst andin g
the view of ch allenge vs. threat rel ated to potential stressors or
moment s of pr ess ure (950). The pr emise is that s itu ations c an b e
apprais ed thr ough a pers pectiv e of either c hallenge or threat,
which then differ in physiological and psychological reactions. A
challen ge app rais al occur s when a problem is self -determin ed to be
relevant and i mportant. T he indivi dual pe rceives to have s ufficie nt
(or nearl y suffi cient) pers onal r esources to meet or exceed the
task’s d eman ds.

On the other hand, a thr eat ap prai sal invol ves a sit ua tion t hat is
also det ermin ed t o be im portan t an d self -rel evant but with an
underlyi ng p erception of lacking personal resou rces or abili ties to
meet th e dem and s of the task. For an athl ete, t his determini ng
level of thinking will likely be noticed in t he fo r m of self -talk as
they ap proac h demanding work out s or races. Not s urprisingly, a
challen ging s tate is typical ly ass oci ated wit h impr oved
perform ance.
Self-Concept And Self-Efficacy

Psychol ogist Albert Bandura defines self -efficac y as “the belief in

your ca pacity to execute beh avior s neces sary t o pr oduce s pecifi c
perform ance attai nments.” This i nc ludes an indi vidu al’s abilit y to
control own’s one actions, intentions, motivations, and behaviors
related t o go al pu rsuit. At i ts cor e, self -effic acy is connected to th e
underlyi ng b eliefs and ideas an athlete has regar ding their ability
in any n umber of areas, i ncluding but not limited to: following a
training plan, exe cuting w orkou ts, and ulti mately re aching t heir
goals. S elf-eff icacy can be broken down i nto gr an ul ar areas and
relates t o som eo ne’s bel ief about success in a parti cular sit uation .
An athl ete m ay have diff ering l evels of self - efficacy related to
differing tasks – f or exam ple; s omeone may beli eve strongly that
they ca n acc ompl ish their weekl y assigned volume b ut have
skepticis m reg ard ing their abilit y to maintain tempo paces in
training. A tria thl ete may have hig h efficac y in r unn ing but l ow
efficacy i n swi mm ing.

Accordi ng to Albert Bandura’s t heory, self -ef ficacy beliefs ar e

develo ped by four primary s ourc es of influence:

Master y Exp eriences/P erform an ce Outcomes

The mos t influent ial sourc e of effic acy is our prev ious performanc e,
specific ally the interpreted results of past success. “ Mastery
experie nces are t he most influenti al sourc e of effic acy infor m atio n
becaus e they provide the most aut hentic eviden ce of whether on e
can mus ter whatever it tak es to succeed. Success builds a r obust
belief in one’ s pe rsonal e fficacy . F ailures under min e it, esp ecially
if failures occur before a sense of efficacy i s firm ly establis hed”
(Bandur a, 1997).

Vicariou s Ex peri ences/ Social Rol e Model s

Watchin g, hearing, or lea rning about other s’ suc ces ses, especiall y
those c oming from personally r elevant others, i nfluences our
beliefs aroun d wh at we d eem p ossi ble. Ba ndura (19 77) p osi ts tha t
“Seeing people si milar to oneself s ucceed by sustai ned eff ort
raises o bserv ers’ beliefs t hat t hey too pos sess t he c apabiliti es to
master c ompar able activiti es to succeed.” I n today’ s current
climate, social m edia can play a si gnificant role in c omparing to
other at hlete s and helpi ng (or har ming) self -effic ac y beliefs .
Social Persu asi on

Positive verba l fe edback follow ing tasks rei nforce s t he beli ef that
the pers on h as th e ability, skills, o r capabi lities t o s ucceed.
Coache s play a v ital role i n the verbal feedback foll owing w orkou ts,
training sessi ons, and peak p erfor mance attem pts. Therefor e, th e
coachin g-athl ete relationship m ust have a well -understood pathw ay
for provi ding t his type of f eedback that hel ps bu ild e fficacy.

Emotion al Stat es

We’re all hum an and have changing emoti onal, mental, and
psychol ogical states. Those specifi c states can i nfluence how a
person i nterpr ets their abi lities i n any given situation. Theref ore, it
is much easier to bolster self -ef fic acy when feel ing healthy, stron g ,
well, and/or successful.

There h as been a 5th addition to this model by James Madd ux

(2013) r egarding “imaginal experiences,” w hich is “t he art of
visualizi ng yours elf behaving effectively or succ es sfully in a given
situation.”

Mindfulness

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In recen t year s, mindful ness h as been gi ven m uch attentio n for a

broad r ange of concerns and is bei ng utiliz ed by athletes to
improve concentration a nd foc us and help regul ate emotions. In
short, mi ndfulness carries the defi nition, “Paying attention in a
particul ar way; on purpo se, in the present moment, and non -
judgme ntally.” (J on Kabat -Zinn) T here ar e typic ally five fac ets of
Mindful ness i nvol ved in practic e: O bserving, Des cribing, Acti ng
with Aw arene ss, Non -Judging, and Non -Reacting. T hese ski lls are
critical fo r an athl ete in overall well -being and goal pursuit.

Mindful Sport Per formanc e Enhanc ement is one of s everal m odels

aimed a t impl ementation w ith an at hlete populat ion ( 951). In
general , research finding s are mix ed with specifi c outcome goals,
in part b ecause connecti ng mindfulness practice dir ectly to the
achieve ment of goals proves di ffic ult, given the many other facto rs
at play i n an athl ete’ s life (i.e., t raining cy cle, ov erall
volume/intensity, etc., length of tim e in sport, we ather demands of
the day, the over all skill o f an a thl ete, em otion al re gulatio n skills,
etc.). In short, av ailable r esear ch points t o the potential for
increas ed flow st ate and decr eased perfor manc e anxiety. More
specific studies h ave demonstr ated increased flow and running
econom y (952), c orrelate d with higher perf orman ce l evels in track
athletes (953) , an d improv ed bodily awaren ess, s elf - regulati on, a nd
trust (95 4).

There h as never been an easi er ti me to pr actice mi ndfulness, giv en

the avai labilit y of online r esour ces and apps. In sigh t Timer is my
recomm endati on, in part because I am a te acher on that plat form
and ha ve created a cours e, Unl ock Your At hletic Pot ential
(https://i nsight tim er.com/m edita tio n -cours es/cou rse_dr -justi n-ross-
final) but more so becaus e the general plat form is fr ee.

Attentional Control

Attentio n con trol is the a bility t o c hoose what w e p ay atten tion t o

and ign ore. T his t heory s ugges ts t here ar e two dim ensions invol ved
in sports : direction (internal -ext ernal) and Width ( Br oad – N arrow) .
Deman d refer s to where we driv e attention, movi ng f rom the
internal experiences (ranging from bodily s ensations to
psychol ogical ex perienc es) to the external envir on ment (landsca pe,
the worl d aro und us, etc.). The wid th refers to th e d egree o f
expansi on in shift ing focus, moving from a Broad foc us wher e we
take in many t hin gs at on ce to the Narrow, where w e focus on a
single reference point. There is thus an overlappin g continuum i n
these di mensi ons , most of ten pr es ented w ith fo ur q uadrant s of
potenti al foc us.
Four Qu adrant s of Attenti onal F ocus – Adapt ed f rom Nideffer,
1976

Broad – Exter nal

A gener al view of the overall lands cape a nd environment.

Assessm ent and evaluati on of the various elements in the
environ ment occur here, i ncludi ng t he abilit y to s can a wide array
of chan gin g stimuli. For an endurance athl ete i n competition, this
categor y includes scanni ng the ext ernal features of the race
course, including the general l andscape, weather, and surrounding
particip ants/c ompetitors.

Broad – Intern al

A gener al view of the interna l l andscape i ncludes physical

sensati ons a nd psychological experiences. This is sometim es
referred to as the Analyzi ng quadr ant. Rev iewing o ne’s general
thought s, em otional experienc e, and bodi ly sensati ons occ urs he re.

Narrow – Internal

Maintai ning a spe c ific focus on some aspect of t he mind or body.

This range could include a negative hyper - focus on an area of
discomf ort or pai n in the body to a rhythmic repetiti on of a ment al
mantra. This qua drant is know n as Prepari ng – r eadying oneself t o
execute in th e next moment or mai ntain a series of calm
convers ations in t he mind .

Narrow – Ext ern al

Finding a specific external cue in the environment to drive attention

and foc us. This q uadrant is someti mes call ed Act ing , in whic h ther e
is a deli berate outward focus of ex ecution in the en vironment.

Of import ance in this mod el is t he skill dev elopm ent in shifti ng

focus gi ven c han ging de mand s. F or exam ple, I ofte n recom mend
athletes learn how to shift atte ntio n throu gh each of the fou r
quadra nts during their trai ning c y cl e to rec all this ability in key
events. In the Leadville 100 M TB r ace, for exam ple, I often
recomm end devel oping t he abi lity t o execute narrow ly focus ed
internal and external skills on key sections of the course (St
Kevvins, Pow erli ne, and Colu mbin e, for ex ampl e) w hile work ing
with a br oad focus of attention on other ar eas requiring less
cognitive demands.

Emotional Regulation

In short, our a bili ty to reg ulate em otions is at th e h eart of

performi ng well i n just about any area in our liv es, both in and out
of the s port. E mo tional re gulati on r efers to monit orin g and t hen
managi ng your own psyc holog ical experiences effec tively, in mind,
body, e motion, and spirit. This f irs t requires the abil ity to generat e
self-awarenes s. There ar e hundreds if not thousand s of different
ways to practice this set o f skills, and you, along with your
athletes , are alre ady em ployin g a number of th em i n your d aily life.
There are several general categories to consider when thinking
about e motion regulation, incl uding (955):

Situation Selecti on: we c an modif y when and w her e we pl ace

ourselv es, the races we t ackle, and the tr aining env ironments.

Situation Modifi cation: once c om mitted to a specif ic situati on

(i.e., trai ning env ironment or race) , we are no longe r necess arily
able to escape – we are, however, able to modify some aspect of
the envi ronm ent t o align with p eak perform ance.

Attentional Depl oyment: cogni tiv e perspective is a choice, and

learning where, what, an d how we focus is critical in determining
our emo tional ex perienc es. At hlet es need to learn how to f ocus and
channe l their concentrati on, knowi ng what eac h foc al point may
trigger e motio nal experie nces.

Psychol ogical C hange: w e have a tremendous im pact on choosing

our self-t alk. M ai ntaining cons iste nt, non -j udgm ent al se lf-talk
focused on f orward momentum an d aligned wit h goals is criti cal in
managi ng em otions. Cog nitive appraisals are als o necessar y.

Respon se Mo dul ation : our best possible mechanis m for changin g

emotion al ex peri ences is to focus on addr essing our thoughts
(above), actions, and physiology. We can choose how we r espon d
in our posture and breat hing, working to m aintain a confident body
position and r egulate our breat hing (some s ports pro vide mo difyin g
breathi ng opportunities m ore readil y than endur ance sports ).
How To Practice or Recommend Practicing These Skills

Implementing spo rt psychology trai ning int o ong oing physical

training requir es a creativ e, coll ab orative proces s. There is no
“gold st andar d” or “best pr actic es” recomm endat ion for how to
teach a nd gu ide an athl ete thr ough these steps . I believe t hese
skills ne ed to coi ncide with the physical tra ining and are best
learned while eng aging i n regular physical tr aining. I also
recomm end th at most wor kouts (s ay 75% of an athl ete’s workouts )
focus o n dev elop i ng at le ast o ne of these m ental skil ls. An at hlete
need n ot spend t he entir e 60 minutes of a n hour -long session
focused entir ely on thes e skills . Instead, a dedi cated, deliberate 5 -
10 minu te block i s often enough at a descri bed ti me in the s essio n.
The key point is t o make ment al sk ills an ongoing pr ocess to
coincid e with t he physical aspects of traini ng.

Executing When It Counts

This set of psych ological theories and applications is best tailored

for the s pecifi c e vent tha t an athle te is pre parin g fo r. Whereas th e
previou sly mentioned skill s are more broadly applied throughout an
athlete’ s life, t he followin g set of s kills are event/ ra ce -speci fic an d
will be guided/tailored for the specific nuan ces of the race details
and the current fi tness level of you r athlete.

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Mental Imagery

Visualiz ation, bet ter know n in t he perform ance psyc hology world as
Mental I mager y, may be one of the most m is unders tood and
misused skills. A nd as referenced above, visuali zati on can play a
vital role in our d evelopment of sel f-efficacy and pre paratio n for
key eve nts. O ver time, res earchers have ti ghten ed t he fram ework
to a spe cific s et of steps to tak e w hen engaging in mental i mager y,
with the most wel l-known and t houghtful m ethod foll owing t he
acronym PET T LEP. Ment al Imager y has shown t o help impact
psychol ogical states, decr ease anxiety, inc rease confidenc e, self -
efficacy, and con centrati on.

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Physical

Imaging all the relevant physic al c haracter istics ass ociated with
the perf orman ce. In some insta nce s, athlet es ma y c hoose t o we ar
their rac e day atti re when practi cing mental imagery to connect to
the phy sical s ens ations of the specific kit they will be wear ing at
their key even t.

Environment

The loc ation of the key ev ent, i mag ining in as much detail as
possibl e the s ight s, sounds, sm ells , and tactile experiences
involve d. This can include aspects of the c ourse its elf, the
spectat ors, and s urround ing environmental cues.

Task

Focusin g on t he specific actions, movements, and details about the

upcomi ng ex perience, incl uding for m and fl o w.

Timing

Picturin g in re al-t ime how the m ov ement w ill proceed at rac e pac e
or how c ertain as pects of a course will unf old, alt hough the timin g
aspect of PET TLEP can be uti lized to slow dow n, r ewind, or fast
forward specifi c c ompon ents a s de emed n ecess ary.
Learning

The ability to use visualization to adapt, review and change to

meet ch anging demands and t asks throughout t he season. F or
exampl e, the speed at w hich an at hlete performs m ay likely chan ge
as the s easo n pr ogresse s, or as n ew skills are d ev eloped through a
training cycle, so must th e visu aliz ation se quence a dapt wit h new ly
acquire d skills .

Emotion

Focuses on t he s ame em otional ex perienc es as will be felt during

the key event . Fo r perform ance an xiety/pre ssure, th is can b e a
helpful t echni que for an athlet e to practice devel opi ng a pr e -race
routine t o cal m nerves a nd stay focused.

Perspective

Perspec tive c an change in P ETTLEP from first pers on (i.e., as if

the athl ete is perf orming) t o thir d p erson (i. e., wa tch ing from a
distanc e). Per spective shif ts can be benef icial f or w orking on
timing a nd flo w in the first perso n t o workin g on f or m or mec hanic s
in the third person.

Flow State and Clutch State

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Endura nce athlet es love f low st ate, that m arvelous experience

coined by psy chologist Mi haly C sik szentmi halyi t hat embodi es
perceiv ed ea se and effor tless abs orption of movem ent connecti ng
us to th e pur e enj oyment of the sp ort. That beautifu l feeling whe n
we let go of caring about the metrics displayed on our watch,
removin g obs essi on about pace defined by mile s plit s, and s hiftin g
our focu s prim aril y to the feeling of moving smoot hly and
rhythmic ally thr ough open space. Time can bec ome distort ed, an d
our exp erienc e guides us into a natural tr ance of f eeling alive. We
may be chasi ng b ig goals or running/riding/ swimmi ng/moving to
achieve a per sonal best when experiencing flow . H owever, the
spotlight of our focus shines most brightly on the experi enc e of
movement, and w e absor b into the moment. Flow state can be an
elusive beast for many, o ne we as pire to t ap int o, y et chall engin g
to conju re up at o ur fancy at an y p articular time.

There are noted to be several dim ensions of flow, with three being
of primar y imp ort ance in achie ving this stat e.

1. Clear goals.
2. Unambi guous feedback.
3. Merging and balance of c hallenge and skill (see bel ow). This
step is crucial, as too high of a challenge with too lit tle skill is
met with anxiety, whereas too li ttle challeng e wit h too much
skill is m et with b oredom. Ther e needs to be a goldil ocks
match between hi gh chall enge and high ski ll to t ap i nto flow.

Csiksze ntmiha lyi went on to descri be certain per sonality trait s as

being b etter able to achieve a f low state, described as an a utotel ic
person ality (in Gr eek translation, A uto means sel f and Telos mea ns
goals) i n whic h a person i s curi ous and persistent, with low self -
centere dness (ego) and pursues activities f or intri nsically
motivati ng reasons.

Clutch state is flow states counter and not nearl y ref erence as
frequen tly. W her eas flow state connects us to how it feels t o be
tapped into movement, cl utch st at e resides in th e s ense of
pressur e or ur ge ncy to execut e in a specifi c manner at a specific
time. A s tudy published i n 201 7 looked at 26 pe ak performances
through the perspective of eac h of these psychol ogi cal states an d
had so me int eres ting find ings and takeaw ays. N otably, there
appear ed to be three key differ enti ators when operating from a
clutch state pers pective, inclu ding the purposeful m ental “switchin g
on” in response t o situati onal dem ands th at kick ed t his proc ess
into moti on. Fr om a clutch state perspectiv e, fixed goals, challen ge
apprais als, and a deliber ate decisi on to increas e eff ort and/ or
intensity guided the psychological framework.

Fixed g oals become a necessary s tarting point w he n wanti ng to

work on clutch state. Fi xed goals are spe cific a nd outcom e -
focused , suc h as wanting to run a personal best in t he 5k or
maintai ning a cer tain pac e duri ng workout repeats ( compar e this t o
open g oals t hat f ocus on proc ess more than outcome). Hav ing a
clear number i n mind wit h a tar geted obj ective greatly influences
the sec ond f actor in the algorit hm, challenge apprais als. A
challen ge apprais al is a c ognitiv e appraisal that r eferences how w e
internall y think about or narrate our exper iences in mind and body.
When w e are pur posefull y pus hing the pac e, hu nting down fast
splits, how we tal k to ourselves has to change otherwise, we may
talk ours elves ba ck into a state of comfort. The o pp ortunity t o wor k
on task- specifi c s elf -talk i n chall enge appr aisal mom ents is an
importa nt fact or i n ta ppi ng int o a c lutch sta te. In these mom ents,
our beli efs about our cap abiliti es and our li mits c om e to light and
have a dramatic i mpact o n our choices to either keep pushi ng or
back do wn, w hich hits squarely on that thir d differen tiator – t he
delibera te de cision to incr ease effort or intensity. That moment
when th e choice t o continue is met with knowledge t hat it’s going
to hit he ad-on wit h mount ing di scomfort. A nd you or your at hletes
do it an yway bec ause th e goal ma tters.

Yerkes-Dodson Law
The Yer kes -D ods on Law is a m odel of the r elationship betw een
stress and perfor mance that is so metimes referr ed to as the
Inverted-U model , given it s graphe d shape. This the ory was f irst
develo ped in 1908 by psy chologist s Robert Yerk es and John
Dodson , who des cribed “ ar ous al” when they firs t began
experim enting on mice. They noted a relat ionship b etween
“arousal” (i.e., str ess) and perf orm ance, noting that perform ance
peaked with medi um level s of ar ousal/stres s. If too l ow on t he
stress continuum, performance dim inished. Likewise, too much
arousal or stress caused perfor mance to s uffer as well. Therefor e,
they co nclud ed that optim al arousal leads t o opti mal perform ance.
Too little arousal can be described as boring and unchallenging.
Too muc h can lead to hei ghtened anxiet y and sit uati ons in w hich
deman ds exc eed capabili ties.

Performance Anxiety

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Perform ance anxi ety is a c omm on experience. I n m y experi ence

working with athletes, I wi ll often begin t he discussion surrounding
perform ance anxi ety as a mark er s howing that t he athlete c ares.
This often sets and validates the importance of sport and
perform ance i n lif e and n ormali zes the experience as common. I’v e
even ta ught my s even -year-old daughter t hat pr e -performa nce
anxiety simply m eans th at yo u car e, and s he now s hares th is
stateme nt to help her gym nastic s t eammat es prepar e for their
routines .

A biops ychos ocial model of anx iety perform ance centers on t he

role of c halle nge and thr eat a pprai sal as k ey fact ors in the
experie nce a nd s ubsequ ent ability to manage perfor mance anxiet y
states. This theor y suggests that the cognitive eval uations (i.e.,
what is being thought) pr ecede any physiological responses to an
event. It also sug gests th at a c hall enge apprais al is associa ted
with a better cardiovascular pattern in the body and improved
perform ance.

A threat state co mes from a sit uat ion bei ng ap prais ed as b oth
importa nt and wit h insuffi cient “r es ources t o meet the demands o f
the task .” For an athlete, the t hrea t apprai sal is ofte n center ed o n
not bei ng full y pr epared or not capable of r ising t o t he chall enge to
meet rac e day goals or ex pecta tions. In s hort, t he athlete f ocus es
on dou bt ab out th eir ability to succ ee d in a meaningful even t.
Further, when that event i s tied deeply to identity, not only can the
event fe el as though it is bein g thr eatened, but so t oo can t he v ery
fabric of how a p erson vi ew’s t he mself giv en th eir perform ance. I
firsthan d exp erie nced thi s after running t he Boston marathon in
2017 o n a s weltering day . Not many performed wel l, given t he
conditions, and I was struck by how many athletes were devastated
by their perfor ma nce afte r the f act . Where as I w as elated, i t was
my first Boston, and I th oroughly enjoyed t he experi ence despite
one of my slowes t marath on tim es, others were distr aught. The
more I talked t o athletes t hat day, t he more I found t hat they had
tied a c ore p art o f their id entity to their rac e time s, and ma ny wer e
concern ed that th ey had not re -qualified for the 2018 marath on,
further d isrupti ng and thr eate ning t heir sen se of i de ntity.

On the other hand, a cha llenge st ate occ urs when a situati on is
perceiv ed as bot h import ant al ong with suff icient (or close t o
enoug h) abili ties to m eet the demands of t he tas k. I n short, a
challen ge state occurs when the at hlete deems t he event as
meanin gful and believes t hey have what it t akes t o meet the
specific demands of race day to reach their goals.

This mo del is ext ended by considering ho w sel f- effi cacy, pe rceive d

control, and goals influence some one’s perceiv ed resources to
cope with situations. Higher lev els of perceived control paired with
self-effic acy and mastery - orient ed goals ar e the most likely t o elicit
challen ge apprais al. Low er perc e iv ed contr ol and self -efficac y, an d
ego-ori ented goal s are the most lik ely to eli cit thr eat apprais al.

The Stress Response

Our bod ies have a physi ologic al p athway t hat has e volved t o
screen for and prepare for the threat. This system in cludes the
sympathet ic nerv ous syst em, in w hich the Fight or Flight respons e
is activated upon threat d etection. A cascade of physiological
change s unf olds f rom the Hypot hal amic -Pit uitary - Adrenal Ax is
(HPA), including cortisol and adrenaline.

The HP A syst em can be activated f rom 1 of 3 ge ner al categories,

with na mes that are often used interchangeably but are quit e
different .
Fear: a r eal -ti me threat t o your phy sical saf ety or we ll -being i n this
moment. If you’v e ever been i n a car acci dent or c ome acr oss a
mountai n line on a hiking trail, t he experience in mind and body
comes fr om a pla ce of fear.

Stress: when demands exceed the ability to handl e them

effective ly, for ex ample, havin g 12 hours o f work to complet e in a n
8-hour day. I mportantly, i n the l ife of an athlete , str ess can
accumul ate in mental form (men tal demand from wor k, school,
househ old, and f amily res ponsi bili ties) an d phys ical form (daily an d
weekly training impacts on the body).

Anxiety: thought s, belief s, or f orecasting about the future,

specific ally wh en perceivi ng the fut ure as a threat st ate. Of t he
three list ed co ndi tions, thi s is th e one that will b e p redomin ant in
the life of an end urance athlet e. It will ofte n com e f rom the
questio ning of “w hat if…” and be attached to an y number of f actor s
ranging from t he uncontr ollabl e (s uch as t he w eather befor e a
race) to t he outcome (setti ng a PR, qualifyi ng for a s ubsequent
event, e tc.), t o th e identit y imp act most oft en tie d to outcom e(not
succee ding is per ceived as a negat ive impa ct on i dentity).

As discu ssed earl ier, chall enge ver sus threat apprai sal is a
significant perception that will di ct ate this experience for your
athlete’ s exp erie nce, par ticular ly t hat of p erform anc e anxiet y. In a
race da y cont ext, it’s also import ant to get a better sense of wha t
the athl ete m ay be identif ying as a potenti al thr eat. The deeper t he
threat (i. e., th e m ore the event ’s o utcome i s perc eiv ed as
meanin gful, ti ed t o identit y, and socially judged), the higher the
likelihood of anxiety (956 ).

Mental Toughness

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“Mental t oughnes s is probably one of the most used but least

underst ood t erms used in appli ed s port psy chology. It appears,
therefor e, tha t vir tually a ny des irable positi ve psy chological
charact eristic ass ociated with s port ing succ ess h as been labeled
as ment al toughness at one tim e or another.” Thi s quote comes
from a 2 002 paper aptly titl ed, “ Wh at Is Thi s Thin g Called M ental
Toughn ess? An i nvestigation o f El ite Sport Perf orm ers” highlight s
the lack of un ific ation re gardi ng la beling, i dentif yin g, and
underst anding the concept of Mental Toughnes s. T his conc ept
appear s to have widespr ead usage and a general s ense of intuiti ve
underst anding despite th e lack of r esearch clarity . A few models
will be presented here (957).

Peter Cl ough (ps ycholog ist) de scri bes four esse ntia l traits of
mental t oughness that he label s th e 4 C’s: Confi dence, Chal leng e,
Control, and Com mitment. In addition, he describes Resilience
(coping with lif e’s difficulti es) and Positivity (seei ng and sei zing
opportu nity) as k ey elem ents i n hi s model. He is oft en critici zed fo r
taking t he co ncep t of Hard iness an d curtaili ng it i nto his mod el of
mental t oughness . Other c onceptual frameworks i nc l ude the role of
coping skills i n the context of performance, optimi sm , and
resilienc y (958).

Further ideas incl ude the bioecological model of me ntal toughness,

definin g this s tat e as “A personal capacity to d eliver high
perform ance r egularly des pite v ary in g degrees of sit uationa l
deman ds.”

A 2017 review of Mental T oughnes s and S ucces s in Sport reviewe d

the qua ntitati ve li terature avail able and found 19 studies that met
inclusion criteria. Results indicated that m entally tougher a thletes
“particip ated at hi g her lev els of competition and tended to achie ve
more or perfor m better.” ( 959)

A subse quent meta -analy sis in 202 0, “Developing and training

mental t oughness in sport; a sys tematic rev iew and meta -analysis
of obser vatio nal studies and pre -t est and post -t est experim ents”
(960), e xamined t he various types of ment al toughness training
practice s to unde rstand b est pr acti ces in developing this approac h
with athl etes. The study suggests a high r ange of variability in the
approa ch and trai ning methodology used in s port .

The Me ntal T oughness Q uesti onnaire is the mos t used obj ective
report.

Obsessive vs. Harmonious Passion

The du alistic model of passion defi nes pas sion as a “strong

inclination for a self -defining activi ty that w e lov e, v alue and spe nd
a consi derabl e a mount of time on. ” This model pr oposes tw o type s
of passi on, h arm onious ( havin g autonom ous c ontr ol in ch oosin g
when to and when to not engage i n the ac tivity t hat results i n
adaptiv e out comes) and obsess ive (a feeling of being unabl e to
help on eself and su rrendering t o t he desir e to engage in that
activity despit e potential harm). (9 61)

In short, harm oni ous pas sion i nvol ves an activity liv ing in h armon y
with all other areas of a person’s life and not overpowering
decisio n maki ng or identi ty. Sport is valued and of i mportance, b ut
a perso n can modify the urge, tendency, or desi re t o partici pate, or
perhap s more im portantl y, not par ticipate when needed.
Engag ement is c omplete d in l arge part for engage ment’s s ake. T his
is show n in at hlet es who can t ake r est day s and listen to changin g
needs of thei r bodies for r ecov ery practices. In general,
harmoni ous p assi on fuels greater s ubjectiv e well - bei ng and
sustains higher performa nce.

Obsessi ve passion can fe el as though it is outsi de a person’s

control. Often thi s can come fr om an over - identi fication of
particip ation i n s port as a pers on’ s singul ar identit y. This c an fu el
a sense of ur gency abou t traini ng and per forming w ell, whic h is
often tie d tig htly t o self -w orth. B ehaviors c an manife st in not
resting or recover ing properly and f uel injur y cycl es. Obsessi ve
passion is ass oci ated wit h poorer outcom es and a l ower sense of
subjective wel l-being (962).

Pain Threshold, Tolerance, And Sensitivity

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Pain thr eshol d is the mini mum a mo unt of st imulu s or intensit y that
someon e will des cribe as shifting f rom a pl ace o f comfort to
discomf ort to pai nful. Pai n tol eran ce is based on wi llingnes s and is
defined as the amount of time someone i s willing t o tolerat e pai n or
the maxi mum am ount of i nten sity t hey are willin g to tolerate . Pai n
sensitivit y is the subjective experi ence of disco mfo rt, an effort to
quantify how i ntensely so meon e ra tes disc omfort (9 63).

Reactio n t o pain, particul arly in ps ychological responses thr ough

cognitive apprais al and emotional regulation, is vita l in an
endura nce at hlet e’s life.
Researc h has att empted to ex amine these conc epts with athl etes
and fou nd, i n general, tha t elite and high -l evel a thletes tend to
have hi gher pain toleranc e and thr eshold l evels along with l ower
pain se nsitivit y c ompared to c ontr ols. Furt her, end urance athlet es
may hav e bet ter t oleranc e tha n other types of sports .

Importa ntly, endurance s ports offer an opportuni ty for athletes to

work on psychological skills for ma naging these experiences
through motiv ation, goals , and self -talk.

Psychology and Injury

Injuries are o ne o f the mo st frus tra ting asp ects of b eing an

endura nce at hlet e. As a coach, it’ s essent ial to understand the
general psyc hological an d em otional impac t and tim eline m ost
athletes face whe n workin g thro ugh an inj ury. T he T hree Ph ases of
Injury R ecover y i s the mo del m ost commo nly us ed and incl udes:

Injury And Illness Phase

This is the time frame in w hich t he athlete i s first i nj ured.

Accomp anying thi s phase tend to be negat ive emoti ons – s adness,
anger, and fr ustr ation. N otably , one of the most challenging
aspects of thi s ph ase is th e uncert ainty th at the athl ete
experie nces r elat ed to th e diagnos is, prognosis, and potential
negativ e impact o n pursui ng their goals. Uncertai nty is one of the
biggest driver s of anxiety we h ave as hum ans. T her efore, a nxiety
is a common concern at this stage as an athlete seeks answers
and a tr eatm ent p lan.
Rehabilitation And Recovery Phase

The time frame in which an athlete has a working diagnosis and

begins a treatment plan. This c oul d include taki ng a few day s off
to, havi ng rec ons tructive s urger y, or startin g ph ysic al thera py. Th is
phase often i ncludes mix ed em otions, b ut more c ont rol as th e
athlete works to r egain st rengt h, m obility, and gener al heali ng.
Increas ed control often leads t o reduced anxiet y.

Return To Sport Phase

The time in which an athl ete is permitted to get back to training.

This ph ase is oft en connected to i ncreased anx iety related t o
potenti al con cerns around re -injury and th e sub sequent concern
this has on p erce ived go al pur suit or a ten denc y to t ry to tak e on
more th an is advi sed by r eturni ng t o the pr e -injur y w orkload
without proper ramping. In the c as e of the former, it can oft en be
helpful t o have th e athlet e com plet e an an xiety hier archy rat ing
their co ncerns on a scale of 0 – 10, then w orking sy stematic ally
from the botto m t o the top to r ebui ld confi dence and work thr ough
any em otional regulation needed. For example, a runner
overcom ing a str ess fract ure m ay rate wal king w ithout a boot as a
1, altern ating a 2 0 -minut e sessi on with jog - walking every 2 minut es
as a 5, and r unni ng a set of 8 00 re peats o n a tr ack as a 10. It’s th e
coach’s work t o help that athle te progress t hrough each lev el (first
by adh ering t o P T guidel ines) and to help man age t he emot ional
experie nces i nvol ved with each inc reasing level of c oncern. It’s
advised not t o m ove on t o the nex t step in the hierarchy unti l the
athlete has d emonstrated anxi ety r eduction and improved tr ust
(964, 9 65).

Summary
• Ego orie ntation i s often r eferred t o as per formance -goal
orientati on a nd tends to f ocus prim arily on evaluation,
typically in co mp arison t o oth ers
• T ask orientati on is often called mastery -goal ori ent ation a nd
focuses on th ree primary f actors: e ngagin g in c halle nging
activities , exer tin g effort within an activity, and pers isting
during t he challenge.
• Outcom e goal s for recreati onal endurance athlet es most oft en
fall into one of th e followi ng categories: 1. Just F ini sh Goal s,
2. Break a tim e goal (mos t often that of a c lear num ber
 referenc e poi nt s uch as a 4 -hour marathon). 3. Set a PR, 4 .
Qualify f or an ev ent (ag ain, m ost often targetin g a set
referenc e poi nt).
• The cor e of o ur psychological fr am ework involves th ose thre e
basic ca tegori es: Beliefs, biase s, a nd valu es.
• The Psy chobi olog ical Model of Endurance Perfor mance is th e
newest devel opm ent in the theoret ical understa nding of
limiters to perfor mance and it gives increased attention to
psychol ogical fac tors, incl uding cognitive perception,
motivati on, and w illingnes s.
• Strategi c self-t alk is planned, r ehearsed, and pr acti ced pre -
determi ned st atements a nd us ed i n specifi c situations for a
particul ar pur pos e.
• Mantras are t he most widely us ed type of strategic self -talk.
• Attentio n con trol is the a bility t o c hoose what w e p ay atten tion
to and i gnore .
• Mental I mager y h as show n to help impact psycho logical
states, decrease anxiety, incre ase confidence, self - efficacy,
and concentr ation.
• Perform ance anxi ety is a c omm on experie nce.
• Our bodies have a physi ologic al p athway t hat has e volved t o
screen for and prepare for the threat.
• The three phases of injury are the illness and injury phase,
the rehabilitat ion and rec overy phase and t he return to sport
phase.
Module 18: Sports Nutrition

Content Provide d by Bob Seebo har, RD

Proper nutrition plays a cri tical r ol e in the healt h an d perfor manc e

of a run ner. U nderestimati ng or mi sunders tandi ng p roper nutrition
and ele ments of f ueling c an have disastrous cons equences on
one’s p hysical performanc e and health. It is impor tant to
underst and t hat while nutritional/f ueling guideli nes are important to
be awar e of, i ndi viduals will res pond differ ently to t he sam e
nutrition al/fueling strategy .

Scope Of Practice

It is esse ntial f irs t to disc uss sc op e of pra ctice whe n it com es to

nutrition . Unless you are a Registered Dieti tian ( RD) or Regi stered
Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN), many states li mit the amount of
nutrition al inf orm ation you can legally provi de t o an athlete.
Therefore, in ma ny states, you cannot prescribe an eating plan or
supple ments, but you can educate athletes about th e concepts
discuss ed in t his module. You can educate and i nfo rm an at hlete
on nutritional information. Still, you cannot pr esc ribe a
nutrition program, diet, or suppl ement protoco l, especially if
your athl ete h as any pre -existin g medical con dit ions. It is
recomm ended that all enduranc e c oaches have a te am of
professi onals inc orporat ed int o their busi ness. One of thes e sho uld
be a re putabl e R egistered Diet itian, prefer ably one who is a Boar d
Certified Speciali st in Sports Dietetics (CSSD) and specializes in
endura nce at hlet e nutriti on.

This mo dule w ill not disc uss s peci fic amounts of

macro/mi cronutri ents or c aloric int ake, as this v aries widely due t o
several variables. An athlete should seek an RD or RDN for advic e
and gui danc e specifically t ailored t o them.

Upon c omplet ion of this m odule, y ou should unders tand th e

followin g are as:

• Macro and Mic ronutrient s

• Foundation nutriti on
• Energy system s
• Physical perio diz ation
• Nutrition periodization
• Meal/nutrient timi ng
• Training and raci ng strategies
• Carbohydrate loading theories
• Role of i nsulin
• Pre-race fueli ng
• Fueling during and after a race
• Supplements

Terminology

Carbohydrate: O rganic c ompound made up of oxygen, hydrogen,

and car bon. Categorized as sim ple and complex, carbohydr ates
provide ener gy to the body.

Hypoglycemi a: Low blood sugar

Hypergl ycem ia: High bl ood s ugar

Iron: A mi neral needed t o hel p hemoglobi n car r y oxygen i n red

blood c ells to the muscles .

Electrol ytes: Regulate t he b ody’s fluids, help t o m aintain a hea lthy

blood p H bal ance, and cr eate elect rical impulses es sential t o all
aspects of ph ysic al activity – from basic cell func tion to com plex
neurom usc ul ar interactions ne ede d for at hletic perf ormanc e.
Calcium : Elem ent that is i mport ant for grow th, m aint enance, and
repair of bone tis sue, mai ntenance of blood calci um levels,
regulati on of mus cle contr action, nerve conducti on, and nor mal
blood cl otting .

Dehydr ation: Oc curs when the bo dy loses excessiv e amounts of

fluids.

Hyponat remia: A metabolic conditi on that occur s when ther e is n ot

enoug h sodi um (s alt) in the body fl uids out side t he c ells. It is often
associat ed wit h overhydr ation.

Carbohydrate lo ading: C haract er ized by eating additional

carbohy drate s in the day s leading up to a n event wi th an
associat ed decre ase in tr ainin g vo lume. C arb lo adin g aims t o
maximize endurance perf ormance by increasing muscle glyc ogen
levels.

Insulin: A horm one prod uced in th e pancr eas pl ays a crucial role
in regulating blood glucose (sugar) levels.

Macronutrients

Carbohydrates

Carboh ydrate int ake is a vital part of a runner’s diet, as it pr ovide s

energy f or trai ning and r acing. Carbohydr ates m aintain blood
glucose level s during exercise and replace muscl e glycogen. The
carbohy drate req uired depends on an athl ete’s t otal daily energy
expend iture based on resting met abolic r ate (R MR ), trainin g
intensity and duration, ra ce distance, gen der, and environmental
conditions (1 kg = 2.2 lbs).

• Kg = Kil ogram
• BW = Bo dy Weig ht

The typ e of c arbohydrate inges ted is just as impor tant as the

amount. During c arbohy drate -l oadi ng peri ods and w hen eat ing
meals, it is advis ed to focus on complex c arboh ydrates found in
whole f oods and avoi d junk car boh ydrates such as highly
process ed fo ods as they provide li ttle nutrit ion. Sim ple
carbohy drate s ar e recom mended before running rac es and durin g
training sessi ons as they are e asily broken down for immedia te
energy.

Several varia bles influen ce car bohydrate and c alori c requir ement s:

– Inten sity: T he higher the i nten sity, the great er t he

carbohy drate req uirement.

– Heat/ Humi dit y: Heat and humi dity typic ally incr ease the
carbohy drate req uirement.

– Altitu de: Met abolic r ate inc reases at al titud e and will
necessit ate a hig her carb ohydr ate intake.

Adaptation

Some in dividuals find that dram atic ally increasing one’s

carbohy drate intake caus es gastroi ntestinal issues. I f this is t he
case, gradually in troduce higher carbohydrate levels as a program
progres ses.

Rebound Hypoglycemia

Rebou nd hy pogly cemia refers t o a process by which carbohydrate s

are con sumed close to the start of an exer cise s essi on. This
ingestion causes one’s insulin levels to elevate, whi ch causes
blood s ugar l evel s to decr ease. The ne t ef fect of thi s proces s is
that an athlet e fe els like t hey h ave run out of en erg y or, in
endura nce at hleti cs terms, “hit the wall.”
A 2010 study out of the U niversi ty of Birmingham analyzed s tudie s
pertaini ng to r ebo und hy poglyc emi a and f ound that while t here w as
a subst antial met abolic c hange in t he body (e.g. , rebound
hypogly cemia), there was no consi stent data to point to a decreas e
in perfor mance (447). This was corroborated by a similar study out
of Deaki n Uni ver sity (448 ). How ev er, the U nivers ity of Birmi ngha m
study did find that some subjects experienced effects similar t o
hypogly cemia, ev en if the y did not have low gluc ose levels.

It is reco mmen de d to exp erime nt with ing esting car bohydr ates in
varying amounts and at various ti mes prio r to exer cise b outs to
assess t he eff ect on an a thlet e (44 7).

Relationship Between Carbohydrates (Sports Drinks) and Dehydration

Most sp orts dri nk s have a high concentrati on of carbohydrat es.

This is often mar keted to maintain energy and avoid hitting the
dreade d “wall .” W hile car bohydrates help t o slow the body’s r ate o f
glycoge n depletion, is it possibl e t o have t oo m uch of a good
thing?

Accordi ng to phy siologist and nutr ition ex pert Dr. S tacy Sim s, the
answer i s yes. Dr . Sims n otes t hat when to o many c arbohy drates
are taken in by w ay of a sports dri nk, the i ntesti nes are forc ed to
take in water f ro m other parts of t he body to di lute the ing ested
carbohy drate s (760). Drawing aw ay water from ot her part s of th e
body can cau se dehydration. T herefore, Dr. Si ms recomm ends a
lower carbohy drate conc entrati on when dr inking flui ds that contai n
carbohy drate s – with the sole purpose of the carbohydrates being
for fluid absor ptio n – not fuel. As a result, D r. Sim s recomm ends
keepin g fluid intake for hy drati on purposes and food for fu eli ng
purpos es (67 1).

Insulin

The En ergy S yste ms module notes that ins ulin is a hormone

produc ed in t he pancreas and play s a cruci al role in regulati ng
blood g lucos e (sugar) lev els. Indivi duals w ho have t ype 1 di abet es
are una ble to produce insulin and require i nsulin shots for t he bo dy
to uptak e glu cose from foo d. Th e r oles of i nsulin ar e noted belo w
(449):
 • Facilitates muscl es, the li ver, and fat to uptake glucose from
the blood. Gl ucos e stored in the m uscles a nd liv er i s
convert ed to and stored a s glyc ogen, and glucose st ored in
fat is sto red a s tr iglycerid es.
• Prevent s the use of fat as an energy source. Ther efore, whe n
insulin levels are low or nonexistent, the body uti lizes fat as
fuel.
• When gl ucos e lev els rise, i nsuli n is secrete d by t he pancre as.
When gl ucos e lev els fall, t he secretion of i nsulin slows or
stops.
• Blood glucos e lev els rise after ingesting car bohy drat es.
Simple c arbo hydr ates suc h as can dy bars elicit a m ore
significant insulin response (gr eater insulin secretio n) than
complex carbohy dra tes s uch as b eans. W hen blood glucose
levels rise, this s ets off an alarm that sign als insulin
secretion. This in sulin secretio n can cause blood sugar levels
to plum met because of the upt ake of blood gluc ose for
storage by the m uscles, li ver, and fat.
• Insulin r egulates the met abolis m of carbohydrat es and fat.
Gels, Drinks, Jelly Beans

A 2008 study by Campb ell et al. examined the effectivenes s of

ingesting various forms of carbohydrates m id -rac e ( gels, dri nk, jell y
beans) i n relation to each other and water ( 710). The study foun d
that whil e all c ar bohydr ate so urce s increa sed bl ood glucos e over
solely w ater, ther e was no signific ant differenc e in blood glucos e
levels between the three carbohydrate sour ces. This study di d not
discuss i ndivi dual s’ gastro intesti n al tolerance to the different
carbohy drate sou rces. Thi s fact or and on e’s tol eran ce to the
quantity of ca rbo hydrate intak e ar e equal ly imp orta nt and must b e
determi ned during training and on an indiv idual basi s.
Protein

Protein f rom a ni mal and plant sources pr ovide s the amino acids
neede d for m uscl e growt h, repair, and mai ntenance.

Protein can b e a reserve f uel s our ce durin g an end urance event or

training sessi on o nce glyc ogen stor es have bee n exh austed.
Protein i s fou nd i n bean s, po ultry, eggs, d airy, lean meats, and
fish. So me en erg y/sports bars and shakes can s upp ly the
appropr iate a mounts of pr otein and carbohydrates and are easily
digeste d. Whil e p rotein is import ant for buil ding and repairing
muscle, i t is not a neces sary f ood source r ight before a rac e.

Fat

Fat, a source of energy, is important in athletes’ diets. High -f at

diets ar e not r eco mmend ed for athl etes. He art -healt hy fats li ke
those fo und i n fat ty fish, a voca dos, nuts, a nd oli ve o il can h elp wit h
recovery and the inflamm ation r es ulting f r om ex erci se.

Micronutrients
Iron

Iron is n eeded to help he mogl obin carry oxy gen i n r ed bloo d cell s
to the m uscle s. T herefor e, iron is a critical dietar y element for
endura nce at hlet es. Whil e ther e is typically little dif ference in
vitamin and mineral levels of at hletes and non - athletes, athl etes
are ofte n iron def icient. A n incr eas ed iron r equir ement for women
is often r ecomme nded d ue to menstruation.
Electrolytes

Electroly te is a term used to descri be ions. The maj or electr olytes

in the b ody are:

• Chloride
• Phosphate
• Calcium
• Sulfate
• Sodium
• Magnes ium
• Potassi um
• Bicarbonate

Electroly tes ar e minerals that bre ak dow n into sma ll, electri cally
charge d parti cles called i ons. P res ent wherever ther e’s water in
the bod y, electrol ytes regulate the body’s fl uids, hel ping maintain a
healthy bloo d pH balanc e and crea ting the electri cal impulse s
essenti al to al l as pects of physi cal activity ‒ from basic cell
function to co mpl ex neur omusc ular interacti ons. The kidneys work
to keep the e lectr olyte co ncentr ati ons in t he bl ood constan t des pite
change s in t he body.

Foundation Nutrition
Founda tion nutriti on princ iples i ncl ude educating at hletes about the
importa nce of opt imizing blood sugar within a yearly periodi zed
nutrition model.

A runne r -focused study (2013 by H ansen et al.) f ound

that ma rathon ru nners w ho foll o wed a scientif ically -based
nutritional strat egy were approximately 5 percent faster than
runners who s el f-select ed their nutritional appr oach (702).

Energy Systems

This section is largely a review of Lesson 4 ( Energy Systems ). The

duratio n and intensity of exerci se dictate which energy system will
be utiliz ed th e m ost, maki ng it eas ier to de liver n utr ition ed ucatio n
strategies to athletes. Therefore, understanding energy systems is
critical fo r unders tanding sport s nutrition.

The bo dy’s three energy system s i nclude t he phosphagen system ,

glycolyti c syste m, and th e aer obic pathwa y. T hese system s are
engaged at diff erent tim es an d amounts b ased o n the int ensity
and dura tion of training. Warm- up and l ower i ntensity traini ng wil l
exert a much diff erent m etabol ic r espons e and energy system
deman d on t he b ody than moderat e to high -intensit y exercis e.
Strengt h and pow er traini ng will be somew hat dif fer ent from long
endura nce tr aining. Thes e alter ations in trai ning l oad ( volum e an d
intensity ) dictate what, when, and how much of the energy systems
contribute to fuel workouts. Car bohydrates, protein, and fat
consum ed daily f ollow dif ferent m etabolic paths, and their
utilization depends mainly on th e in tensity a nd durati on of tr aining .

The ph osphagen system, also k no wn as the phosph ocreatine or

creatine phosphate system, is a n anaerobic (with out oxygen)
pathwa y that supplies imm ediat e energy to the work ing mus cles. A
limited amount of phosphocreatine is stored in the body, an d this
system only pr ovi des enough energy for approximat ely 10 seconds
of high-i ntens ity exercise. After the initial 10 seconds of thi s type
of traini ng, at hlet es will ty pically r equire about 2 -4 minutes of res t
to allow rege nera tion of t he phosp hocreati ne us ed. It is ver y
importan t for a t hletes p artici pat ing in thi s type of trainin g to
allow thi s rest i nterval between sets to accou nt for the energy
system to re cover durin g this m aximal energ y u se.
The glycolytic sy stem, also known as glycolysis, is another
anaero bic metabolic pat hway t hat breaks down gluc ose or glycog en
for ener gy. As wit h the firs t ene rgy system, the gl yc olytic sys tem
also ha s limited s tores and will provide onl y enough fuel for about
1-2 min utes of hi gh -intensity exer cise. Thi s sys t em also yields
lactate molecules, which can be thought of more as friends t han
foes. La ctate can be use d as an e nergy s ource to f uel mus cular
work at certain intensity l evels.

T he last ener gy system , aero bic, uses o xygen an d can th us

produce a larger amount of ener gy. Pyruvate, a p roduct of
glycolysi s, ent ers the mito chon dria and ge nerat es a constan t
energy suppl y to fuel wor king m us cles for hours and hours and
lower to moderate intens ities.

General ly, high -i ntensity traini ng will rely m ore on anaerobic

metabol ism, w hil e lower i ntens ity and longer durati on traini ng wil l
rely mor e on aerobic metabolis m. It is import ant t o r emember that
there is very r are ly one e nergy sys tem doi ng all of t he work at an y
given p oint t hrou ghout exercis e.

Physical Periodization

Physical perio diz ation is a train ing strategy that pro motes a n
improve ment i n p erformance by pr oviding varied training
paramet ers such as speci ficity, i nt ensity, and v olum e, in an ann ual
training plan. Phy sical peri odiz atio n is imp ortant for nutritio n
plannin g bec ause each tr aining cyc le has s pecific physiologic al
goals. T hese goals are n ecess ary to consi der w hen educati ng an
athlete about dail y nutrition, nu trie nt timing strat egi es, and the
effective use of s upplem ents.

There are three primary periodizatio n cycles: 1) mac ro, 2) meso,

and 3) microcy cle. The macrocy cle is generally vi ew ed as the big
picture and is def ined as the entire year for most r ec reational
endura nce at hlet es. The mesocycl e usuall y enc ompasses 2 - 3
month b locks separated i nto three specif ic sub-c ategories: 1) bas e
training, 2) co mp etition a nd 3) tra nsition. Each me socycle sub-
categor y has i ts own ver y spec ific physical goal s based on an
athlete’ s goal s an d comp etitive cal endar. Lastly, the microcyc le is
a block of 7-10 days and is foc used mainly on daily training and
recovery adaptati ons.
Underst anding t he body’ s energ y system usage coupled with
energy expendit ure infor matio n during dif ferent training cycle s
is the fir st ste p i n knowin g how t o approa ch ed uc ating
enduran ce at hletes abou t their d aily nutr ition a n d nutrient
timing plans. U s ing the “ eat t o train, don’t train to eat” mantra is
importa nt. It wi ll assist a n athl ete with eati ng in preparation for
high-qu ality tr aini ng sessi ons r ather than using f ood as a trai ning -
based r ewa rd sys tem.

While n ot a formal lesson in per iodization, i t is im portant to note

that coa ches use many dif feren t ty pes of p eriodi zati on with
athletes . The above infor mation depicts a tr aditio nal physica l
periodiz ation model whe re the athlete progress es t hrou ghout the
year from aerobic foundation to speed/intensity, then competition
followe d by the tr ansition cycle or off -seas on.

Nutrition Periodization

I create d the con cept of nutriti on p eriodiza tion i n th e early 2000s to

assist co ache s a nd athl etes i n ali gni ng t heir physic al periodizati on
plannin g with nut ritional needs . As different training cycles are
followe d throughout the year, energy dem and, ener gy expenditur e,
and bo dy str essors differ. Proper nutrition plan ning and
periodiz ation will allow maximal phy siologic al adaptation at the
right tim es of t he year for athlet es. It is typi cal for m any athl etes t o
only co ncern t he mselves with t hei r nutrition plan a few day s bef ore
competitions. Thi s “old school” me thod of sports nutrition will not
assist wit h sup por ting health or performanc e impr ov ements.
Nutrition must be aligned with physical training as training load
ebbs a nd flows fr om day t o day, w eek to w eek, and month t o mon th
through out an athlete’s annual trai ning pl an.

Nutrition has been a com plex set of nu mbers for bot h athlet es an d
coache s, cum ulat ing into meal plans that have t radi tionally been
calorie-based. Unfortunat ely, e ven though this is what athlet es
think th ey ne ed t o be su ccessf ul, i t has no t prov en t o be
efficacio us no r lo ng -standing i n th eir at hletic car eer s. The only
reason athlet es t hink in t his manner is bec ause nut rition
professi onals present this proc ess to them year after year. T he
coach’s role is to provide more su ccessful nutriti on periodization
plannin g tec hniques that can be easily ada pted t o an athlet e’s
lifestyle, including more qualitative strategies and engagi ng the
athlete i n the ir nu trition pl annin g and moni toring .
Compar ed to calorie coun ting and measuri ng an d w eighing food,
the con cept of nutrition periodiz ati on is not meant t o be
complex . The si mpler th e messaging, the more successful
athletes will b e at adopti ng a su ccessf ul nutri tio n periodi zation
plan. The followi ng are t he fiv e compone nts of t he nutrition
periodiz ation concept:

1. Manipul ate body weight and b ody composi tion s a fel y and
effective ly
2. Improve the h orm onal infl uenc e of appetit e
3. Support the i mmune system and the microbiome
4. Periodiz e sup ple ment us age
5. Support a healthy relationship with food

Training load changes alter the level of physical str ess on the
body, w hich l ea ds to diff erent nutr ient needs. A thlet es who are n ot
nutrition ally pr epared be fore tr aini ng sessi ons w ill not receiv e the
same p ositive physiologic al adapt ations as athl etes who ar e
prepare d and place their nutriti on on the t op of thei r priority l ist. As
mention ed pr eviously, nut rition per iodizati on does not need to be
complica ted. The basic premise is to educate an athlete on which
nutrition al strategies should be modified to best support trai ning
cycles’ e nergy demands and stress ors.

The following section highlight s each of the mai n physical

periodiz ation cycl es and specifi call y emphasizes nut rition
educati on that can be pr omote d during eac h of t he s pecific
mesocyc les.

Macrocycle Nutrition Guidelines

The mai n nutri tion concept that should be emphasiz ed yea r- roun d
to athlet es is how to optim ize bl oo d sugar best. Thi s one si mple
nutrition emphasi s creates a m ore successf ul approach to daily
eating and pr ovides physi cal benef its, including s teady ener gy,
reduce d cravi ngs , better r ecov ery, and a better likel iho od of
achievi ng bo dy w eight and body c ompositi on goals. There are als o
cognitive benefits such as better focus, concentration, reaction
time, an d ove rall brain h ealth.
Blood Sugar Optimization

The “ho w” of opti mizing bl ood sugar is quit e sim ple. The ebb an d
flow of b lood sug ar is facil itated b y food c onsu mpti on and is
regulat ed by hor mones, partic ular ly gluca gon and i nsulin. T o
optimally contr ol blood s ugar, a pr oper rati o of c arbohydrat es an d
protein shoul d be consum ed. B ecause mos t prot ein sources conta in
fat, ther e is n ot a strong emph asis on disc ussin g a quantifi able
amount of fat to c onsume per d ay. Instead, the main focus s hould
be on e ducating athletes abo ut seeking a balance o f saturat ed
versus unsaturat ed, emphasizi ng mono -unsatur ate d and
polyuns atu rat ed f ats, especially O mega -3 fats.

Consumi ng m any carbohy drates wit hout pr otein or fat will rais e
blood s ugar quick ly, causi ng an inc rease in insuli n s ecretion from
the pan creas . When this happens, an athl ete will feel like they
have m ore energy, but it i s usuall y short -li ved. One of the roles of
insulin is to lower circulating blood sugar, and when this happens,
an athl ete’s ener gy level may drop signific antly s oon thereafter.
There is a difference in the type of carbohydrate consumed and the
respons e on blood sugar. Carbohy drates w ith more fiber will have a
slower effect on the rise and fall of blood sugar, but it is not until
adding a prot ein - rich food that blood sugar will be more sta ble.
Therefore, it is ideal for the coach to educate athletes on
consumi ng carbohydrate and protein -rich foods t o el icit a positive
blood s ugar r esponse.

T he easiest strategy to t each at hletes h ow to p r oportion and

periodize macronutrients prop erly is via the Periodization
Plates™. I designed these as a qualitativ e only food pairi ng model,
so it is best not to assign quantitative percentages when using this
model. Adopti ng t his qual itative dai ly nutriti on model will allow you
to educ ate wi thout prescri bing (r em ember t he sc ope of practi ce).
Based on the trai ning cyc le an d as sociated heal th goals, daily
nutrition goal s and macronutrients will nee d to b e shifted to
account for the tr aining l oad, ener gy expe nditur e, a nd recovery
needs.

The Periodization Plates ™ model c omprises four nut rient

categories: 1) protein/fat, 2) fruit s and vegetabl es, 3) whol e grai ns,
and 4) s ports nut rition pr oducts . E ach nutr ient c ategory can be
shifted higher or l ower based on the training cycl e and training
load ch anges thr oughout the year.

It is impo rtant t o rememb er that th e Perio dizatio n Pl ates T M m odel

guides athlet es in learning how to structure and peri odize their
daily nu trition needs. It is not a m eal pla nning tool in the tr aditio nal
sense b ut rat her a qualit ative model that athlet es c an adapt to t heir
lifestyle without dependi ng on calorie counting f or t heir dail y
nutrition al needs. The vari ous plat es represent general shift s in
nutrient s, and the re is not necessarily only one plat e that wi ll be
correct for an athlete. Daily nutriti on may likely c hange based on
health and perfor mance goals, and there s hould be f lexibility i n
moving between plates t o acc ount for indiv idual athlete goals an d
needs.
The following are guidelines on educating an athlete to use the
Periodiz ation Plat es™ model based on the specif ic tr aining c ycle.

Base Training Cycle

Plate # 1

This plate yields most carbohydrates from fruits and vegetables

and is i deal f or a n athlet e wh o is j ust begi nnin g a tr aining progra m
or has w eight los s and/or body composition go als. I t is impor tant t o
note th at car bohy drates m ay be lower using this plate since it is
compris ed of f ruit s and v egetables and does not incl ude whole
grains. Accordingly, it is im portant to ensur e the athl ete
underst ands this and does not hav e higher qual ity ( high int ensity
and/or l onger dur ation) tr aining while using this plat e.

Plate # 2

This plate contains a higher amount of car bohydrates and is mor e

benefici al to s upport an in creas ed t raining l oad and energy
expend iture, whic h often happens around the mi ddl e to end of b ase
training. While sti ll neces sary to e mphasiz e prot ein -rich foods,
whole g rains are introduc ed to incr ease tot al car boh ydrate needs ,
which will help performance as the athlete progresses to a hi gher
training load.

Plate # 3

This plate is very similar to Plate #2, with the exception of

introducing sport s nutrition products. Suppose an athlete plans to
use spo rts nutriti on prod ucts during competition. In that cas e, it is
importa nt to i ntroduce these v arious products into t he traini ng pl an
around the mi ddl e to en d of b ase t raining so the athlete can test
the pro duct’s res ponse on their di gestive syste m and begi n to
develo p succ essf ul nutrient timi ng strategi es. These product s
should only be us ed withi n a nutrient timing wind ow (before,
during, or aft er tr aining) and not throughout the day when the
athlete has acces s to real food.

Competition Training Cycle

During most of the competition trai ning cyc le, there is really only
one pla te that athletes will need to use. Whi le plates from the othe r
training cycles ca n be us ed, it i s id eal to st ay in t he confine s of th e
competition traini ng cycle plate. Because this tr aini ng cycle
typically inclu des higher i ntens ity and lon ger d urati on traini ng
session s, ample carbohy drates ar e neces sary f or energy
manag ement and support perfor mance goals and fas ter recov ery.
There is still ade quate protein and fat to s upport bl ood sugar
control. Sports n utrition products should be used during m ost
quality tr ainin g s essions to de ter mine if t hey wil l p ositively or
negativ ely aff ect an athl ete’s diges tive syst em du ring highe r
intensity traini ng. The digestive sy stem shunts m ore blood away
from the gut t o th e workin g mus cle s during high er in tensity
training. It is m or e difficul t for a n athlete t o dig est calories when
this hap pens . Be cause o f this, an athlete needs to simulate race
pace eff orts during high - quality trai ning sessions to determi ne ho w
well certain sports nutrition products will be tolerated.

Transition Training Cycle

Becaus e the transition cy cle is c lassically k nown as the off - seaso n,

and this is sy nonymous w ith mo re rest and little to no struct ured
training, it is b en eficial to teac h th e athlet e the imp ortance of
scaling back their daily nutrition pl an to support low er energy
expend iture tr aini ng. Whil e it is stil l param ount t hat an athl ete
consum es enough food t hroughout the day , blood s ugar control a nd
implementing a m ore bal anced mac ronutrient prof ile become the
most important nutrition goals f or this cycl e.

Plate # 1

This is the same plate off ered during the fi rst part of base tr aining,
and for good reas on, as it is opt im al for controlli ng blood s ugar.
This plate is ideal for an athlete who is truly taking a break from
structured trainin g and may only be incorporating fun exercise
during t his cyc le.

Plate # 2

While th e transiti on cycle is known for rest and r ecovery, a f ew

athletes still tr ain at lower inten siti es durin g this cyc le. This plate
introduces more carbohydrates with whole grains and will help an
athlete mana ge a modera te en ergy expen diture to s upport t heir
exercise traini ng.
It is impo rtant t o rememb er that it i s tough for at hlet es to
disconti nue t he use of sp orts n utrit ion pro ducts f ollo wing th eir last
competition. This is due to behavi or change, and the coach should
emphas ize energy intake from whole foods and slow ly encourage
the athl ete to we an off s ports nutr ition products. Be patient as this
could take upwar ds of 3- 4 weeks.

Additio nally, it m ay be pr udent to recomm end pl ate #2 in the first

part of t he transit ion cycl e and enc ourage the athlet e to mov e to
plate # 1 after a f ew weeks. Thi s w ould su pport a m ore p osi tive
behavi or cha nge process and woul d assist t he at hlete in their
prepara tion f or b ase trai ning nutrit ion onc e again.

Fluid / Hydration

There are no exact daily hydration guidelines that are 100%

support ed by res earch. T he m ost effective quali tati ve strategies t o
teach at hlete s ab out pro per hy drat ion strat egies inc lude uri ne col or
and uri ne frequency. While neither is an ex act sci ence, thes e two
method s are easy for athl etes t o learn and utiliz e daily.

The nor mal color of urine throughout the day should ideally be pa le
yellow. Many fact ors will di srupt th is color, such as the first void of
the mor ning a nd t aking s upplement s, specifi cally B -v itamins. A
good ru le of t hum b is to t each athl etes to begin ass essing t he col or
of their urine afte r the first void i n the mor ning.

The sec ond s trat egy is ur ine fr equency. Ideally, an athlete will
urinate approxim ately ev ery 2 hours throughout the day. Uri natin g
too often or n ot o ften enough can i ndicate impro per daily hy dratio n
techniq ues. R em ember, fr ui ts and vegetables c ontai n water, as d o
other b everages such as tea, milk, and cof fee. T her e is not an
exact a mount of plain w ater an at hlete should drink throughout the
day. It is much m ore effe ctive t o te ach athl etes about urine color
and fre quenc y si nce wat er, ot her beverages, fr uits, and vegetables
can all be used to improv e daily h ydration status.

Nutrient Timing
Nutrient timing involves specific strategies to improve hydration
status, carbohydr ate delivery, and electrolyte usage before, during,
and aft er trai ning session s. Specifi cally, pr e -traini ng involves
consumi ng calori es and f luid 1 -3 hours bef ore tr aini ng, and post -
training involv es consumi ng ca lori es and f luid i mme diately and up
to 1 ho ur after training.

Like daily nutriti on principles, it is ideal for perio dizing

nutrient timing s trategies based on the athlete’s training
cycle. I t is im port ant to n ote that nutrient ti ming s trategies
introduce more quantitati ve -based informat ion s upp orting c urrent
sports nutritio n r esearch.

In nutrie nt timi ng terms, fiv e maj or nutrition areas ar e discus sed:

1. Fluid
2. Carbohydrate
3. Protein
4. Fat
5. Electroly tes, s pe cifically s odiu m

The following are specific nutrient timing strategies you can teach
an athl ete based on their traini ng c ycle. Energy expenditur e will
fluctuat e throughout the year, and nutrient timing str ategies shoul d
support these changes.
Base Training Cycle – Before Training (1-3 Hours)
Fluid

Current fluid recommendations are very quantitative -based with

fluid int ake b efor e trainin g. Ho wev er, it is g ood t o begin the new
training year by t eachin g athl etes about thirst in ste ad of ju mping
right int o the num bers ga me. I will present quantitati ve fluid
strategies for the Competition Trai ning Cycle. Still, to begin this
new trai ning c ycl e and y ear of trai ning, at h letes will benefit more
from coa ches con tinuing t o tea ch t hem ab out uri ne color an d
frequen cy of urination thr ough out t he day.

Of cours e, this m ethod of non -quantitative fluid t imi ng does hav e a

higher ri sk to r ew ard ratio in the beginning. Still , it usual ly only
takes a few w eek s for athl etes t o l earn mo re ab out their bo dies a nd
fluid ne eds b ased on their traini ng load, e nviron men tal stress , and
individual sweat responses.

I refer to this q ua litative h ydrati on educati on as the “goldiloc ks”

method. Teac hing an at hlete how much fluid is t oo little, too muc h,
and just right. Su ccessful daily f lui d balan ce inc lude s consu ming
plain w ater and other bev erag es and higher wat er -c ontaini ng foo ds
such as fruits and vegetables. Because daily c onsumption of these
will likely vary, i t is even more i mportant f or coache s to begin th e
training year with subjecti ve me as ures tha t athl etes can utili ze
through out t he entire year to as ses s their bodies and hydrat ion
needs better.

For early mornin g training sessions, the athlete w ill be

dehydrated. T here is no way aro und this due to water lo ss
during sleep. Encourage the athlete to dri nk acc ording to thirst
when th ey firs t w ake up. This will be a bit of trial a nd error, but
most athletes will usually cons ume around 8 -20 ounces of f l uid
automat ically i n t he first hour of w aking. A gain, em phasize the
proces s of teach ing an at hlete about their thirst response and
that they shoul d start listening t o their b ody’s h ydration need s
more cl osely bef ore a tr aining session.

For later day trai ning sessions , it i s much easier to help at hletes
implement a proper nutrient timi ng hydrati on str ategy because th ey
will have more time in the day to consume fluids and high er water -
containing foods. Encourage athletes to pay clos er attention to
their thir st at l ea st two hours before a later day wor kout. Thi s will
establis h mor e awarene ss of t heir hydrati on needs and will assist
them in makin g b etter hy dratio n ch oices thr oughout the day.

Carbohydrates, Protein and Fat

Following along the same pattern as edu c ating on a more

qualitati ve ba sis, nutrient timing of carbohy drate s is highly
individual. Because this tr aining cycle should be lower in intensity
and dur ation, the messagi ng is geared mor e toward t he time of the
day an athlet e trains and the overall goal of the t rai ning session.

If the w orkout is l ess tha n 60 minu tes, ther e is n ot a n immed iate

need to eat t o fuel the ses sion unless a runner is hungry. If t hat is
the cas e, enc our age the cons umpt ion of 1 serving of carbohydrat es
and a s maller am ount of prot ei n and fat (about 1/4 -1/2 serving).

If the w orkout is l onger t han 60 mi nutes, it is rec om mende d to

consum e 2 -3 serv ings of c arbohydr ates and on e ser ving of protei n
and fat. This c om binatio n will st abi lize blo od su gar before t he
training sessi on a nd ens ure st eady energy during tr aining.

Electrolytes

The five main electrolytes in sport s nutrition for endurance athletes

are sodi um, c hlor ide, pot assium, m agnesi um, and calcium.
Therefore, sodium is the primar y electrolyte lost in sweat and is
more frequent ly di scussed. Sod ium intake i s highly i ndividual
becaus e of s weat rate, sw eat s odi um conc entration, and fa mily
history of cert ain disease states such as hy pertension. Because o f
this, ge neral guid elines s hould onl y be pro vided to athletes . The
range o f sodi um l oss in s weat is ty pically re porte d t o be 10 00
milligram s per li t er. How ever, s weat sodium con centration t esting
has indi cated tha t athlete s can los e betwe en 200 -2300 milli grams
of sodiu m per lite r of swe at. Thi s makes it nearl y i mpossibl e to
provide an ac c ur ate sodi um consumption plan f or at hletes unless
they ha ve had a sweat s odium concentrat ion t est. Therefor e, mo st
sports nutritio n professionals r ecommend a range of 500 -1000
milligram s of s odi um per li ter of sw eat lost per hour to be on the
conserv ative s ide. Athlet es who require a more aggressive s odiu m
supple mentat ion plan should c ons ult a qualified Registered
Dietitian speciali zing in s ports nutrition for endurance athle tes.
Base Training – During Training

Calorie needs wil l be minimal duri ng traini ng due to this trai ning
cycle’s l ower energy expenditure nature. In general, athletes
usually do not ne ed to co nsum e any calories for w or kouts u nder 60
minutes. For w or kouts b etween 1 - 3 hours, current s ports nutrition
researc h recomm ends consumi ng 30 -90 grams of c arbohy drate per
hour. H owever, because of the low er traini ng stress of this cy cle,
athletes can easil y consu me a l ow er rang e of c arbo hydrate intak e
per hou r. Alm ost all enduranc e athletes will not need to consume
any prot ein or fat during t raining dur ing thi s cycl e.

Fluid needs vary greatly depending on the sport. For example,

cyclists a re able to consume fluids on the higher end of the
recomm endati on and runners on th e lower end. Curr ent
recomm endati ons based on sports nutrition research sugges ts
athletes should c onsume betw een 12 -32 ounces of f luid per hour
during tr aining.

Base Training – After Training (0-60 Minutes)

Post-wor kout nutr ition is highly i ndi vidualiz ed based on the goals
of the a thlete . Th ere are t wo m ain goals fo r post -workout nutrition :
1) spee d glyc ogen replenishm ent and 2) optimiz e b lood sugar to
improve fat oxidation. A k ey learning message is that it tak es the
body 1 6-24 hours to completely replenish glycogen stores w hen a n
athlete f ollow s th eir norm al, per iod ized dai ly nutr itio n pl an. I n oth er
words, if an athlete does not have quality ( glycogen depleti ng)
workout s withi n 16 -24 hours of eac h other, there is no need to
speed glycogen r eplenis hment . This is often true during this
training cycle. Th e gener al rec om mendati on of eati ng a more
balanc ed post -workout meal or snack consi sting of c arbohy drates,
protein, and f at w ill be more supportive of a n athlete’s goal during
this train ing cy cle . Remem ber, n utr ient timi ng mu st be peri odize d
just as d aily nutrition is periodized throughout th e y ear.

While somewhat dependent on how well the athl ete was pre -
hydrate d and stayed hydrated duri ng the workout, fl uid
recomm endati ons post -workout ranges from 16 -24 ounces of fluid .

The ad dition of el ectrolytes is v ery important post -w orkout. While a

specific r ecom mendation does not exist, consumi ng 200 -500
milligram s of s odi um in a f luid o r post -work out m eal /snack w ill
usually meet an athlete’s needs.

Competition Training Cycle – Before Training (1-4 Hours)

This training cycl e usually includes either lon ger duration, higher
intensity , or a combination of both. Because of this, pre -trai ning
nutrition becomes much more i mportant t o provi de nutrient s for
training and s et u p a mor e succ ess ful post-t raining r ecovery
process. Bec ause of the higher str ess of int ensit y-effort-bas ed
training in this tr aining c ycle, mor e quantitativ e rec ommen dation s
are ado pted from the publishe d research, which will be disc ussed .

Fluid / Hydration

Current quantitative recommendations suggest drinking 0.07 -0.10

ounces of flui d p er p ound of body weight 4 hour s before training
and an additi onal 0.04 -0. 10 ounces per pound of bodyweight 2
hours b efore trai ning. For exampl e, a 140 -pound ( 63.5 kg) fema le
would c onsume 10 -14 ounces of fl uid 4 h ours befor e training and
an addi tional 6 -14 oun c es of fl uid 2 hours befor e tr aining. A 185 -
pound ( 84 kg) male woul d cons um e 13 -19 ounc es of fluid 4 hours
before tr aining an d an additional 7 - 19 ounces of flui d 2 hours
before tr aining.

Early mo rning tra ining se ssion s wil l be cha llengi ng f or athlet es to

be fully hydrat ed beforeh and. In th ese cas es, it i s r ecomme nded
that the athle te b egin th e morn ing rehydrat ion pr oce ss by dri nking
small am ounts of fluids that contain sodium and car bohydrates.
Water al one is no t the best reh ydrating opti on; t hus, athletes
should not over -c onsume water wit hout eating f ood or cons uming
electroly tes. L ow - fat milk o r cho col ate milk, or a s m oothie c an al so
be use d in sm all quantiti es in t he early morning to begin t he
rehydrat ion pr ocess.

Carbohydrates, Protein and Fat

Carboh ydrate s ar e essential during this training cy cle due to the

higher tr aining load. Bec ause of this, the periodi zati on of
carbohy drate s should somewhat follow the athlet e’s training to be st
support energy needs and recover y. However, c arb ohydrate intak e
does n ot need to be the s ame daily but rat her periodized to match
training and adaptation n eeds. For exampl e, sup pos e an athlete
has a hi gher qual ity traini ng ses sio n (defin ed as a th reshold or
higher effort or longer than 2 - 3 hours). In t hat case, it is important
to shift daily c arb ohydrat es to sup port this. Alter nat ively, if a n
athlete has m ore aerobic or tem po - based tr ainin g, th is could
suggest a low er c arbohy drate i ntak e befor e traini ng.

While m ore complex, onc e an athl ete understands t his, it is a

straightforwar d c oncept with an easy imple mentatio n strategy.
Suppos e an athlete wakes up on a day when higher i ntensity
intervals are to be perfor med. In that cas e, the first inclinati on is to
eat a hi gher carb ohydrat e mea l to help su pply t he body with th e
energy needed for the wor kout. As stated previously, the abil ity to
improve glycogen stores u sually takes 16 - 24 hours, so the a thlet e
may not have had enough time to f ully repl enish the ir glycogen
from the previ ous day. Thi s can co mplicate matte rs becaus e the
athlete must not only kn ow wh en t heir hig her q ualit y training
session s are, but they must als o pl an ahead by incr easing
carbohy drate con sumption in the day prior t o a higher effort
workout.

Protein and f at ar e still im portan t macron utrient s fo r athletes to

consum e but mus t be peri odized m ore carefully i n this training
cycle. As the intensity of exerci se i ncreases, this wil l shunt blood
from the dige stiv e system to th e w orking m uscle s. T his redu ces th e
body’s ability t o d igest foods, especially protein and fat. The
quantiti es of prot ein and fat b efore higher i ntens ity t raining will be
much lo wer than i n the pr evious training cy cle.

Becaus e of t he hi gher cal orie expenditure and c alori e needs duri ng

this train ing cy cle , the nutrient t imi ng wind ow is exp anded t o 1 -4
hours b efore trai ning. A n athl ete s hould be educated to eat more
calories when there is a longer per iod before trainin g and eat fewer
calories when there is a shorter period before traini ng.

Electrolytes

Electroly te co nsu mption c an m ostl y mimic t he base training cycle

nutrition guidelines. The main diff erence will be the environment al
strain si nce this t raining cycle usually falls in hotter and sometim es
more hu mid w eat her conditions. T he athl ete should be enc ourag ed
to begi n their electrolyte c o nsumpt ion bas ed on the previous
training cycle and adjust accord ingl y due to their sw eat rate , swe at
sodium concentration (if th ey have this dat a), and performanc e an d
recovery mark ers .

Fiber

Researc h by Burk e et al., found that a reduction in pre -race

intestin al fiber content lowered the risk of G I issues (2027) of
distanc e runners. Howev er, the opt imal time perio d t o reduc e fiber
pre-race is depen dent on an i ndivi dual’s gut transit times (2028).

Competition Training Cycle – During Training

Fluid / Hydration

Researc h support s drinking 3 -8 ounces of fluid ever y 15 -20

minutes during tr aining. While many theor ies eit her support or
dispute this ra nge, the a thlete needs to ha ve a r ange to star t with
and the n alt er based on t heir i ndiv idual n eeds. It is advisab le not
to cons ume m ore than a pproxi mat ely 33 -36 ounces of fluid per
hour to avoid gas tric empt ying c hal lenges.

Carbohydrates, Protein and Fat

Calorie needs during training will be increased due to this training

cycle’s h igher energy expenditure nature. Sim ilar to the last
training cycle, mo st athlet es will no t need to con sum e any c alories
during workouts under 6 0 minutes , as long as t hey are fed and
hydrate d bef ore t hese w orkout s. F or workouts ov er 60 minutes,
current sports nutrition res earch re commen ds co nsuming 30 -90
grams of carbohy drate per hour. T his is an expansi ve rang e, and it
is recommended that athl etes begin on th e lower end at first and
make n ecess ary adjustm ents t hroughout this tr aini ng cycle to
customiz e their n eeds.

Most en durance athletes wi ll not need to c onsume a ny prote in or

fat durin g trai nin g, exce pt ultr arun ners. Ma ny of the se end uranc e
athletes will c ons ume wh ole fo od during m ore ext ended trai ning.
While specific r ec ommen dations per hour do not exis t for prot ein
and fat, it is a dvi sabl e to enc ourage thes e athl etes to cons ume
more car bohy drat es with a small er ratio of energy coming from
protein and f at.

Competition Training Cycle – After Training (0-60 Minutes)

Carbohydrates, Protein and Fat

Most of t he p ost - workout nutrition messaging i n this training cycle

is to qui ckly replenish glycogen stores due to a higher training load
and mor e freq uent training. Curr ent researc h rec om mendati ons
suggest athl etes consum e 1 -1. 2 gr ams of c arbohydr ates per
kilogram of body weight. For a 120 -pound (54. 4 kg) female athlet e,
this wou ld eq ual 55-65 grams of c arbohy drates. For a 180 - pound
(81.6 kg ) male at hlete, this would be 82 -99 grams of carboh ydrat e.
A typical servi ng of fruit or grai n ty pically h as ar oun d 20 gr ams of
carbohy drate.

Fluid and electrol yte cons umpti on post -trai ning are the sam e as i n
the prev ious t rain ing cycl e: fluid re commen datio ns r ange fr om 16-
24 oun ces of flui d, and electr olytes, specifi cally s odium, range
from 20 0 -500 mill igrams.

Transition Training Cycle

The mos t importa nt nutriti on m ess age dur ing the tr ansition cycle is
that a s pecific nu trient timi ng sy st em will u sually n ot be necess ary
since the physiol ogical goals of this cycle c enter on recovery and
pre-hab ilitation/r ehabilit ation with out a hi gh degree of volume or
intensity traini ng.

The transition cy cle should be thought of more as a lifecycle

phase, and, as s uch, ath letes should be educated about t he
differen ces in energy ex pendit ure. This alone wil l help gui de the m
in periodizing their nutrition more successfully and shift the i r
paradig m from “eating to compete” to “eati ng for a li festyle.” Durin g
this cycl e, the ma in nutriti on educa tion poi nts ar e to avoid th e dail y
nutrition plan of s ports nutrition pr oducts used i n th e previous
training cycle and to re-foc us on bl ood sugar o ptimi zation using t he
Periodiz ation Plat es.

Exceptions

If an at hlete engages in li ght tra ini ng duri ng this cyc le, it will li kely
not be extrem ely high in energy ex penditure. It i s us ually
unnece ssary t o h ave a s pecific nut rient timi ng pl an during t he
transitio n cycl e.

If an at hlete engages in st rengt h tr aining with hy pert rophy g oals, a

nutrient timing pl an cons isting of c arbohy drates and protein
immediately befo re and after c an be impl ement ed. In this c ase,
consumi ng tw o s ervings of protein and 2 - 4 servi ngs of
carbohy drate is r ecommended to maximize musc ul ar adaptations.

Carbohydrate Loading

Carboh ydrate loading has been a prevalent practic e among

endura nce at hlet es for m any decades, us ually i n th e form of the
somewh at cas ual pasta l oading di nner t he night bef ore a
competition. How ever, some athletes have also follo wed a more
structured carbohydrate loading protocol, of which many versions
have ex isted over the dec ades .

When c arbohydrate loadi ng pr otoc ols were first cr eated, there w ere
quite a f ew n egat ive side effect s athletes experi enc ed, specificall y
gastroin testinal ( GI) distress.

In the 1960s, res earcher s beg an u sing the biop sy n eedle t o colle ct
small mu scle ti ss ue samples to me asure glycogen (stored form of
carbohy drate s). Based on the abil ity to measure gl ycogen,
researc hers w ere able to concl ude the foll owing:

• There w as a direct correl ation bet ween gl ycogen

concent ration and daily c arbohydr ate inta ke
• Glycogen con centration declined during ex ercise, especially
during high i nten sity exer cise
• Higher glycogen concent rations resulted i n less fati gue and
better perform ance

Of cours e, if a n a thlete fo llows a hi gh carb ohydr ate daily nu trition

plan, gl ycoge n st ores sh ould b e hi gh in th eory. How ever, with so
many dif ferent di etary str ategi es being foll ow ed by athletes
currently , it cannot be assume d that athletes have fully loaded
glycoge n stor es.

Carboh ydrate s ar e linked to perfor mance, which is why

carbohy drate loa ding str ategies have bec ome s o p opular.
Unfortu nately, ea rly carbohydrate l oading protocol s were diff icult t o
implement an d caused a f ew si de effects th at had negative
perform ance c onsequences.

Glycogen Super Compensation

Glycoge n sup er -c ompens ation (above nor mal levels ) was stu died i n
the earl y stag es of carbo hydra te l oading proto cols by mani pulati ng
both trai ning and dietary i ntake of carbohy drates. In brief,
researc hers w oul d deplete muscle glycogen in athlet es first
through high - intensity wor kouts one week befor e a competit ion.
This was followe d by three days of dietary carbohydrate restrict io n
with very light training if any at all. The idea was to deplete
glycoge n stor es as much as possible.
Following the depletion state, athletes would follow an extremely
high car bohy drat e daily nutritio n plan for t hree days before
competition wi th l ittle to no trai ning. While this im pr oved to supe r -
compen sate glyc ogen st ores, athl etes ex perienced GI distr ess
symptom s from the low carbohy drate/high f at int ake and did not
appreci ate th e lack of trai ning t he few day s bef ore c ompetiti on.

For these reasons, this gl ycogen s uper -compensati on strat egy w as

short-liv ed.

Updated and Current Strategies

The sec ond c arbohydrat e loading strategy, proposed in the 1980s,

deleted the glycogen -depleting ex ercise part of t he protocol and
focused on si mpl y increasing daily carb ohydrates over a 6 - 7 day
period before competition. This pr otocol has wit hst ood the test of
time an d has, by far, been the mos t popul ar carbohy drate loading
protocol that man y athlet es continue to foll ow.

This up dated strategy seemed to w ork well, especial ly since

athletes were usu ally instr ucted to eat as m any c arb ohydrat es as
possibl e the wee k leading up to the competition. Unfortunat ely, th is
strategy had som e challenges, incl uding weight gain (mainly f rom
water), an overall feeling of heaviness, and mor e frequent daily
bowel m ovem ents . Also im portant t o note i s the psyc hologic al
impact of overeating which typically accompanied this approach. It
is often difficult for an at hlete to approach eating almost unlimited
carbohy drate s for a short period and then r eturn to normal daily
carbohy drate con sumption levels after a competit ion . Nevert heless ,
this bec ame t he mainsta y carb ohy drate lo ading prot ocol for
endura nce at hlet es.

The current reco mmendations for the most up -t o-date carbohydra te

loading proto col have shifted and have b een reduc ed to a short er
loading proto col ( 933, 934). This is advant ageous for various
reasons that wer e menti oned prev iously.

The two most cur rent carbohydrate loading strategies are outlined
below:
I n t er n a t i o n a l S o c i e t y o f S p o r t s N ut r i t i o n ( I S S N )

8-10 gr ams of car bohydr ate per kil ogram of body weight for 1 -3
days be fore an endurance ev ent.

I n t er n a t i o n a l O l y m p ic C o m m i t t e e ( I O C )

7-12 gr ams of car bohydr ate per kil ogram of body weight for 24
hours b efore an enduran ce ev ent.

OR

10-12 g rams of c arbohy drate per k ilogram of body w eight for 36 -4 8

hours b efore an enduran ce ev ent.

The IOC carbohy drate loading rec ommendations ar e founded on

more rec ent evidence that super -c ompens ation of glycogen store s
can be done in 24 -36 hours wit h i ncreas ed dail y carbohydr ate
intake a long with a prope rly imple mented physical training t aper
and rest strat egy leading up to competition (935). This may lead to
lower rates of GI distress and, overall, more gut comfort and
psychol ogical wel l -being as athletes pr epar e for com petition.

Female-Specific Considerations

Most res earch on carbohydrate loading str ategies h as been don e

on male s, and while there have been a handful of st udies on
females, the evid ence is f ar fro m c onclusiv e. Mu ch of the early
researc h on m ales versus femal es centered on i ncreasing the tot al
percent age of dai ly carbo hydrat es. This res earch fo und that wom en
did not r espo nd as well as men ( lo wer glyc ogen stor es and smalle r
perform ance i mpr ovement). The conclusions foc used on moving
away from r ec om mending perc ent ages of carbohydrates and shif ted
to imple menti ng a grams of car bo hydrate per kil ogr am of
bodywe ight st rategy. Addi tional ly, i ncreasi ng tot al energy intake
(calories) and inc reasing total c arbohydrat es wer e also beneficial
for femal es who wanted to reap th e benef its of a carbohydr ate -
loading proto col.

Factors that determine the succes s of carbohydrate loading in

female athlet es i nclude t otal daily energy intak e, amount of daily
carbohy drate con sumed, and mens trual cycl e phase. Women may
have a great er capacity fo r stori ng glycoge n duri ng t he luteal
phase of the menstrual cy cle. T he natural f luctuations of hormon es,
specific ally estra diol, may be the critical fa ctor det ermining
carbohy drate sen sitivity and the ability to s uper - compensa te
glycoge n stor es t hrough out the normal menstrual c ycle.

There are differences in carbohydrate loading in m ale and female

endura nce at hlet es. Fem ales c an super -c ompensat e glycogen
stores but require a higher daily ca rbohydrate intake and a higher
daily cal orie i ntak e during the l oadi ng pha se. C urrent
recomm endati ons sugges t that fem ale athl etes need 8 -12 gr ams o f
carbohy drate per kilogram of bo dy weight per da y and a hi gher
daily en ergy i ntak e durin g the carb ohydrat e loa ding phase ( 937,
938). A dditionally or al ter nativel y, i t may be benefici al to add mor e
carbohy drate s during exercise depending on m enstr ual cycl e
patterns . How ever, there i s no c onclusive evide nce to support
specific r ecom me ndations.

Supplements
Discussing supplements with athletes is somewhat of a slip pery
slope. Be sure to keep in mind the scope of practice . As a coach,
you wa nt to provi de edu cation surr ounding supplem ents rat her th an
providin g a pr esc ription.

It is easy to e duc ate athl etes about supple ments on ce you

underst and t he three mai n categori es of supplem ent s:

1. Micronut rient
2. Sport
3. Ergogenic ai d

Micronutrient

These a re us uall y daily s upplements, prim arily vit amins and

minerals , taken either as an “insur ance policy” or for specific
deficien cies t hat have b een id entif ied from biom ark er testing an d a
qualifie d prof essi onal’s i nterpr etati on.

Commo n micronutrients e ndurance athletes will t ake include

vitamin B12, iron, vitamin D, and m agnesium. Ma ny whole foods
provide ampl e mi cronutri ents, w hic h shoul d be t he fi rst line of
educati on for athl etes. It i s only recommended t hat athletes take
micronut rient s upplement s only aft er having specific biomark er
testing done and reviewe d by a Re gistered Dietiti an or Sport s
Physicia n. Ali gni ng micro nutrie nt supple ment u se with bio marker
testing will provide the athlete with a more i ndividualized approach
to takin g thes e s upplem ents a nd will supp ort ta kin g them due t o
micronut rient defi ciencies .

Sport
This category incl udes energy bars, sports drinks, gels,
gummie s/che ws, electroly tes, and anyt hing else that will be used
immediately befo re, during, or after training sessi ons. These
supple ments are usually neces sar y for mos t endurance athl etes at
some p oint th roughout t heir c ompetitive y ear, but c oaches shoul d
educat e athl etes on the c orrect tim i ng of using t hes e. When ever
possibl e, athl etes should be encouraged t o use real food to meet
most of t heir dail y nutritional needs and s ports s upplement s to
meet trai ning nutr itional needs when digest ive challenges ar e
present.

Ergogenic Aids

Ergoge nic mea ns perform ance - enhancing. This is th e more

complica ted category rel ated to “pills, pow ders, and potions” and
usually suppl eme nts that do not ha ve much scien tifi c suppo rt of
safety or efficacy . Examples of erg ogenic aids for endurance
athletes inclu de c affe ine, creati ne, nitrates, beta - alanine, sodium
bicarbo nate, and branched -chain amino aci ds. At hletes should b e
advised when considering ergogenic aids as specif ic dosing, and
implementation st rategies are r equi red to el icit physi ological
adaptat ions. This c ategor y of s upplements will be the lowest on t he
priority lis t for enduranc e athl ete r ecommendati ons. Coaches
should alway s ref er to a qualifi ed Register ed Di etiti an who is a
Board C ertified S pecialist in Sport s Dieteti cs (CS S D) and has a
specialty in w orki ng with endur anc e athlet es.

Summary
• Unless you are a Registered Dietitian (RD) or Registered
Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN), many states li mit the amount of
nutritional inf orm ation you can legally provi de to an athlete.
• You can educate and inf orm an athlete on nutriti onal
information but you cannot prescribe a nu trition program, diet,
or suppl emen t pr otocol, especi ally if your athlet e has any pr e -
existing medic al conditio ns.
• Macronutrient s ar e carbohydrat es, fat and protei n
• Two of the more i mportant m icronutrients fo r end urance
athletes are ir on and ele ctrolyt es
• Carbohydrate int ake is a vital part of a runner’s diet, as it
provides ener gy f or traini ng and racing. C arbohydr ates
maintai n blood gl ucose l evels duri ng exer cise and r eplace
muscle glycog en.
• Protein f rom a ni mal and plant so urces pr ovide s th e amino
acids needed for muscle growth, r epair, and maintenance.
• Marathon runners who foll owed a s cientific ally based
nutritional strategy were approx imately 5 percent fas ter than
runners who s elf- selected their nut ritional approach
• As differ ent tr aini ng cycle s are foll owed th roug hout the year ,
energy demand, energy expenditure, and body stressors
differ.
• The following are the five components of t he nutrition
periodiz ation concept:
• Manipul ate body weight and body composi tion s afel y and
effective ly
• Improve the h orm onal infl uenc e of appetit e
• Support the i mmune system and the microbiome
• Periodiz e sup ple ment us age
• Support a healthy relationship with food
• Nutrient timing is a critical aspect of effe ct ive fueling for
training and r acin g
• Carbohydrate loading str ategies have less ened in duration
over tim e.
• It is reco mmen de d for yo ur athl ete to cons ult a r egi stered
dietitian if the y ar e intere sted i n ta king an y form of
supplement progr am.
Module 19: Safety

In many resp ects , this is t he mo st importa nt secti on of the whole

running coac h certification cour se becaus e saf ety is paramount t o
everythi ng els e. While thi s less on will discuss vari ous issues that
encomp ass s afet y -related areas, t he safet y of y ou r athlete and
your program min g methodologies must first and for emost take
safety into consid eration.

In the vi deo belo w, Nell R ojas pro vides a n over vie w of the
importa nce of running saf ety.

[There is a Vi deo here. Vi deos can not be v iewe d fro m this P DF. To
View Vi deo C ontent, please ref er t o the online Cour se]

Scope of Practice and Knowledge

Success fully p as sing this certifi cation will qualif y y ou to advise and
educat e an athlet e in all areas about traini ng a r unner. It is
importa nt to r emember that the r e is a big di fference between
advisin g/edu cating and prescri bing/diagno sing. As a running
coach, you cannot do the following :

• Diagnose or tr eat an injur y or ill ness

• Prescrib e a n utrit ional or suppl em entatio n prog ram in most
states unless you are a register ed dietician or certifi ed
nutritionist
• Check w ith loc al or state l aws.
• Hands- on muscul ar (i.e., m assage) or skeletal mani pulation
• While not illeg al, any substanti al bi omecha nical devi ation
should be ref erred to a s peciali st

If you d o not feel qualifie d to advis e or educate on a specific area

and de cide t o proceed a nyway, you are pr acticing o utside y our
scope o f knowledge.

This is an import ant distinction. Y ou can work w it hin your scop e

of practice but o utside your sco pe of knowledge . Conversely,
you can wo rk wi thin your scop e of exper tise b ut outside your
scope of prac tic e. An exampl e of someone wor king within t he
scope o f prac tice but out side t he area of k nowledge would be a
running coac h whose athl etes want advice on the dif ference
betwee n two separate sh oe br ands. While t his question is within a
running coac h’s s cope of practi ce, an indiv idual who does not kn ow
the ans wer and proceeds to fabric ate one is pr actic ing outs ide t he
scope o f knowledge.

An exa mple of someone practic ing within t he sc ope of knowl e dge

but outs ide t he s cope of practi ce would b e a s easo ned run ning
coach w ho is 99. 9 percent sur e an athlete has a pat ellofem oral
syndrom e and manually m assages the athl ete’s l eg t o reliev e the
symptom s. Whil e the run ning c oac h may be corr ect in the
“diagno sis,” th e i ndividual cannot legally diagnose a condition and
cannot massage t he athl ete’s l eg t o reliev e the s ym ptoms – even if
sure that this will work.

The distinction between what is legal and illegal when working with
athletes can be unclear. It is al w ay s best t o avoi d caution w hen
working with athletes and refer them to speciali sts.
Team Approach

The leg al and professional obli gati on of a coac h to r efer

athletes may also present learning opportunities. Oft en, a
specialis t will advise a coach on w hat prot ocol t o fol low or w hy an
athlete i s experiencing a partic ular issue.

Knowle dge gained in this fashi on i s invaluable and will help furth er
the dev elopm ent and education of a coach.

It is sug geste d th at a coa ch co ordi nate a team of sp ecialists to

whom they feel c omfortable ref erri ng athl etes. T his team
approach gen erally elicit s the best and fastest results
for athlet es and releases a coac h from po tential liability by
overste pping pr ofession al bou n daries.

A coach can’t have all th e resourc es an at hle te requires. A coac h

not impl ement ing a team appr oach is not pr ovidi ng athletes with
the best poss ible training. Unle ss a coach i s a d octo r, physic al
therapis t, regi ste red dieti cian, pod iatrist, sp orts p sy chologi st, etc. ,
the indi vidual nee ds other mem ber s on the team . Ju st because a
coach h as kn owl edge or experie nce in a parti cul ar area does
not necessarily mean that there is not someone better
equipped to as si st an ath lete i n t hat area. For example, a
register ed dietici an focused on enduranc e sport s is li kely better
suited to advise an athlete on nutri tional str ategy than a running
coach. This is not a negative r eflection on a running coach but
demons trates a dietician’s spec iali zed expertise. Referring
athletes to ot hers is not a sign of weakness but indi cates a coach’s
intelligence and dedication to their athletes .

Weather
Temper ature extr emes not only negatively affect one’s perf orman ce
but can be dangerous as well.

If an at hlete k nows that c ompetiti on will occur i n extreme

tempera tures, the individual needs to simul ate these temper atures ,
if possible, durin g training safely. Accurately predicting how the
body will react and perfor m in a dve rse con ditions is critical fo r an
athlete’ s safe ty. Prepari ng for extr eme tem perat ure s is cove red in
detail in the Envir onment al Phy siol ogy less on.

Additio nally, wet weather can also pose a r isk in r es pect to slipper y
surface condition s. This is exacerb ated on smo oth surfaces (ex:
painted lines, manhole c overs, sm ooth roc ks, et c…) , uneven terr ain
and lea ves. U nlik e the pi cture above, it is not a goo d idea t o run
through water (if possibl e), as a runner does not know the depth or
surface condition beneath the wat er.

Another issue in cold weather i s ic e. While all ice c an be

danger ous, t he m ost dan gerous ty pe of ic e is of t en referred to as
‘black ice,’ this is ice that blends in with th e asphalt and a r unner
does n ot often notice it un til it is too late.

Regardi ng heat, i t is advis ed if pos sible, to run during the coolest

times of the d ay and ide ally, o n a route th at pro vides ample shad e.
Regardl ess of the route, a runner must tak e en ough fluids wi th
them for the d ista nce that they are running . Whil e it’ s never a ba d
idea to r un on a route th at passes by a wat er fountain(s) or a store
where a runner c an purc hase drinks, a r unner c ann ot depend on
this. For exam ple , perha ps the wat er fount ain is out of order and
the stor e is cl ose d.

Safety Issues

Runner s must al ways stay aler t on roads and always run on the
left-han d side unl ess ther e is a wider shoul der or running l ane o n
the right .

Runner s need to be caref ul not to put themselves in harm’s way.

Below a re sev eral exampl es of this :

• If runnin g in l ow l ight or a t nig ht, r unners must w ear reflectiv e

clothing and have a light source.
• Runner s must be aware of their sur roundings at all ti mes!
• It is not a good id ea to ru n alo ne in areas t hat co uld be
considered d angerous. At hletes should run only on r oads th ey
are famil iar wit h and, ideally, r oads with a wide s houlder or
running lane.
• If your a thlete is trail running, i nst ruct the i ndivi dual to alwa ys
run with a par tner and know the route. If y our at hlet e runs i n
areas that all ow hunting, trail r unning should not be done
during hunting season.
• If wearin g he adp hones, make sure to wear only one earpiec e
or headphones that allow outsi de noise to be heard.
• When running near parked cars , a runner must be far enoug h
to the si de so tha t if some one ope ns a do or su ddenly, the
runner will not be hit.
• An asthmatic athl ete should al way s carry a rescue ( fast -
acting) i nhaler.
Hydratio n is an i mportant area to focus on when di scussing safe ty.
Many ru nners oft en run l ong distances wit hout f luids. This c an le ad
to dehy dration w hich can caus e s erious m edical complications.
Two way s to prev ent this are to carry fluids during a run or m ake
sure the re are st ops along a r oute to get fl uids and food. S pecific
hydratio n syst em s are made for runners, s uch as hy dration
backpa cks, belts that carr y small fl uid cont ainer s, a nd handheld
bottles with a str ap for e asy c arryi ng.

An athlete must always hav e em ergency infor mation on

hand. Pr oduct s allow indi vidual s t o put their name and em ergen cy
information on wrist or ankle bracelets. Additionally,
athletes should t ell someone of th eir proposed r out e.

If runnin g on trail s in unf amiliar or remote areas, ha ving a w atch

that has navi gati on cap ability suc h as Glo bal N avi gation Satellit e
System ( GLON AS S) is imp ortant .

When d oing a long run, if possi ble, an athl ete s houl d bring a cell
phone and r un in an area with s tops for food and water. This i s
especia lly impo rt ant when running in hot w eath er.

Summary
• As a run ning coa ch, you cann ot d o the fol lowin g:
• Diagnose or tr eat an injur y
• Prescrib e a n utrit ional or suppl em entatio n prog ram in
most states unles s you ar e a regist ered di etician or
certified nutriti oni st
• Check w ith loc al or state l aws
• Any hands -on muscular or skeletal manipu lation
• While not illeg al, any substanti al bi omecha nical
deviatio n sho uld be referr ed to a s pecialist
• As a coach, y ou must alw ays pr ac tice withi n your s cope of
practice and k no wledge.
• It is nev er the wr ong ap proac h to r efer your athl ete to a
specialis t.
• It is advi sed t o h ave a te am of sp ecialists to wh om you ca n
refer your athl etes to.
• When running in l ow light condi tion s, reflecti ve cl othing and a
light source are musts.
• Always r un in f a miliar loc ations a nd ideally wit h a partner.
• Always c arry e me rgency c ontac t in formatio n whe n tr aining
and raci ng.
Module 20: Running Shoes and Apparel
Runnin g shoe and appar el sel ecti on has a significant influence on
a runne r. The pri mary areas of im pact are:

1. Safety
2. Perform ance
3. Comfort

This mo dule w ill cover all of these areas a nd m ore!

Running Shoes

There are three primary cl assifications of shoes: co nvention al,

minimal ist and maxim al/over cu shioned.

Conven tional shoes are designed t o provid e support and stability.

Minimalis t shoes are desi gned to allow the feet t o u se their
inheren t strength to support a r unner inste ad of r elyi ng on t he
structure of a shoe. Minim alist s hoes are typicall y u sed in
conjunc tion w ith a midfo ot strik e. Maximal or ov er cushioned shoes
have su bstantiall y more c ushioning than c onventional shoes. W hile
most sh oe companies now mak e s ome ver sion of a maximal
shoe, H oka O ne One was the origi nator and is l argely still th e most
popular .

Heel-To-Toe Drop

This relates to the difference i n th e height of the sole at the heel

and for efoot ( in millimeter s). Bec ause of its paddi ng and support, a
convent ional running shoe ty picall y has a drop of 10 or mor e
millimeter s, wher eas a mi nimali st shoe ty pically has a drop of le ss
than 10 mm ( 364). The heel -to-t oe f all has becom e a focal point
with the increasing popul arity of minimalist shoes.

Individu als co nve rting to or curr ent ly runni ng in mini malist sh oes
tend to l ook f or s hoes wit h sma ll t o zero h eel-to -toe drop. While
this leve l of th e heel-to-toe drop m ight be f ine f or some, it is not
advised for those converti ng to a midfoot strike or f or indivi duals
with excessively tight calv es and/or Achilles tendons. Successful
progres sion t o a minimalis t shoe often tak es tim e.

As note d previously , duri ng a m idf oot stride, the bal l of the f oot
impacts the ground first, but almo st immediately after that, the
midfoot and heel lightly im pact t he ground to pr ovide support.
Assuming your at hlete runs wit h correct form , a sm al l - to the zero -
drop sh oe wil l place extra eccentri c stress on the c alves a nd
Achilles tend on. Without an el evat ed heel , the ankl e is forc ed to
dorsiflex more. T herefor e, you need to fact or in ankl e flexibili ty
(flexion) conc erni ng your athlete’s shoe selection.
In the im age abo ve, the heel drop corresponds t o 16 minus 9 in
millimeter s (7 m m drop). Note, that a zer o-drop mi nimalist shoe
has the same sol e heigh t at th e heel and f orefo ot.

Conventional Shoes

Conven tional running shoes ar e geared t oward runners who hee l

strike. M ore spec ifically, tr aditional running shoes primarily f ocus
on the f ollowi ng t hree ar eas:

• Cushioning: prim arily thro ugh midsole EV A foam

• Control rear foot motion
• Arch support

The foo t arch type often (but not always) c orrelat es to the amoun t
of rear f oot m otio n. Below is a chart of these corr el ations:

Conven tional running shoes ty pically have some or all of the

followin g char act eristics:

• Substantial h eel padding

• Large heel -to -toe drop
• Relatively rigid s hoe

The res ults of most studies regardi ng the i mpact of s hoe ty pe (e. g.,
stability, motio n c ontrol, neutral) wi th respect to controlling foot
motion are confli cting. S ome st udi es show that t he kind of r unnin g
shoe d oes not inf luence r ear foot motion ( 197, 198) or minim ally,
wherea s other st udies s how that r ear f oot motion c an be
substan tially affected by the ty pe of shoe (199) .

It is well- know n t hat the body can adapt t o change. Studies have
demons trated that runner s can adapt to changes in t he type of
shoe a nd the type of running surface (200) . This ten ds to sup port
the arg ument that the spe cific s hoe type mi nimally af fects rear foot
motion becau se of the body’s abilit y to adapt to vary ing shoe
types. A dapt abilit y is one of th e m ain reas ons b ehi nd the
barefoo t/mini mali st shoe movement. Those who r un barefoot or i n
minimalis t shoes often believe that conven tional sho es take over
the stab ilizati on and su pport aspe cts the body s hou ld natur ally
provide. This, i n t urn, mak es for a weaker f oot and ankle c omple x.

Many shoe/foot s tudies are done with the feet i n a static position or
with runners who run for s hort bouts and therefore for whom
fatigue i s not a fa ctor. It h as be en propos ed that mo st injurie s
occur w hen a run ner is fat igue d and have r educ ed muscle s trengt h
levels to control the ankl e joint (199). Therefore, it c ould be
deduce d that a d ecrease in th e body’s abili ty to s tabilize the ankl es
and fee t would pl ace greater reliance upon a shoe’s structure for
support.

While it i s standard to rec ommend a specifi c type of running sho e

based on foot type, accor ding t o a 2009 st udy by Ri chards et al.,
only mini mal e vidence ex ists to support that this pr actice reduce s
injury rates (201). Additio nally, Ri chards et al. f ou nd no
randomi zed, con trolled tr ials cor related t he pr escription of the
shoe typ e to in j ury rates. Ric har ds et al. concluded that
prescribi ng shoe type ba sed on foot type i s not an evidenc e -bas ed
practice (201).

Perhap s the most interesti ng st udy to support the fi ndings of

Richards et al. is a 2009 study by Knapik et al. This study
examin ed the cor relation of shoe prescripti on and injury risk amon g
new milit ary trainees (195). Kn api k et al. f ound t h at regar dless
of a trainee’s st atic foot type (hi gh/low arch), in dividual shoe
prescri ption b ased on foo t type did not lo wer in j ury risk
compar ed wit h when all the t r ai nees ran in th e same t ype of
shoe (st ability).
The on e cav eat t o these studi es is that the parti cipants ran l ow
mileage relati ve t o distance runner s, who ty picall y r un long miles.
For exa mple, part icipants in Knapik ’s study r an b etw een .5 t o thre e
miles at a time. T herefor e, mor e r esearch is n eed ed on hig h -
mileage runn ers to assess th e relationshi p betw een shoe type
and injur y ris k ( 202).

Minimalist Shoes

Characteristics
• Minimal heel padding
• Small heel -to-t oe drop (ty pically 10mm or l ess)
• Minimal arch s upport
• Flexible sole and shoe fabric (“uppers”)
• Light
• Wide toe box to t ake into account the expansion of the
forefoot durin g im pact

Unless your athletes spec ifically a sk for a minimal s hoe at a

running store, the staff will watc h t hem run and put t hem in a
convent ional shoe based on t heir visual assess ment of rear foot
motion ( e.g., neut ral, moti on control, stabilit y).

Most track an d c ross -co untry- sp ecific r acing sh oes are

minimal ist in design. Some of th ese shoes have s mall spik es on
the sole for tr acti on on t he track and off -road.

Hybrid shoes fall in between minim al and c onventional shoes. They

are char acteri zed by a medium l ev el of heel -toe drop, heel
paddin g, and wei ght and arch support.
Barefoot

If your a thlete wants to run bar efo ot, th e most im portant thi ng to
realize is that the body needs to adapt bi omechanic ally, and the
skin als o needs to become mor e c alloused. Wal king indoors in bare
feet is t he star tin g point t o tou ghe n up the feet, the n walkin g
outside in an are a void o f any debr is that c ould puncture the skin.
Before r unnin g o utside, r unnin g o n a trea dmill i n b are feet (if
allowed) or o n a r unning track i s al so helpf ul in t he adaptat ion
process.

Following are several reasons why people believe that running

barefoo t is m ore advant ageous tha n runni ng in s hoe s:

• Direct power transfer

• It is the way th e body w as bio mec hanicall y mea nt t o run
• Less mass (i.e ., s hoe) to accel erat e/decel erate to increased
efficienc y
• Strengt hens t he f oot arch

When b eginning t o run b arefoot outside, it i s stro ngl y advised to

use sho es such as Vibram Five Fingers®. These ar e essenti ally a
foot glo ve wit h a rubber tr ead on t he bottom. Th e st andpoi nt of t his
certificati on is th at if your athlete wants to run barefoot outside, it
should be done i n shoes such as Vibram’s . This i s becaus e the
chance for inj ury, and thus inf ection, due t o glass or other debris
penetra ting t he s kin on t he sol e is high w hen runni ng barefoot.
However , an athl ete who insist s on runnin g bar ef oot must know
the risk s and fol low a pr oper adapt ation pr ocess.

A 2009 study by Kerrigan et al. found that whil e conventional

running shoes pr ovide good s upport to the foot, t hey place more
significant stress on the ankles, knees, and hips than running
barefoo t (323). T he study con sisted of 68 young, uninjured, active
runners who aver aged 15 miles/week. The study theorizes that th e
reason f or incr eased stress on the three joints abov e is bec ause
convent ional shoes lessen the am ount of pronation of the
foot/ank le. Th is r educes the b ody’ s natura l shoc k absorption
properti es via foot/ankle pronation, and the shock is then
transferr ed to the three jo ints ( hip, knee, a nkle).

A 2012 study by Franz et al. found that running bar efoot of fered no
metabol ic be nefit over running in li ghtweight, cushioned run ning
shoes ( 787). As noted in t he b elow section, a study by Kram et al.
found t hat running baref oot increased one’s energy requirement by
2% com pared to r unning in shoes with 10mm of EV A foam ( 327).

Over Cushioned (Maximal) Shoes

In contr ast to r un ning barefoot or i n minim alist foot wear, ov er -

cushion ed shoes (aka maximal c us hioned) have up t o twice t he
cushion ing of standard r unning shoes.

T he genesis f or creating over -cu shioned shoes w as to serve

the ultramarat ho n market (673). However , sinc e t hen, the key
demogr aphic has expanded to encompass r unner s of all abilit y
levels and apply to event s of varying dista nces.

While th ere ar e n ot many studi es r egarding max imal shoes at the

point of this c ertif ication, some asp ects of t he res ear ch are
contradictory. For exampl e, som e r esearch (1019, 1020) found t hat
maximal shoes increased the l oadi ng rate and i mpact forces .
Convers ely, anot her stud y that looked at m inimal , tr aditional, an d
maximal shoes found that maxi mal shoes did not inc rease the
loading rate ( 1021) . Ther e are li kely many variables that infl uenc e
the outc ome of th ese stu dies, s uch as the f oam t ype , thickne ss,
overall s hoe c ons truction, etc… A s such, more r es earch is need ed
in this ar ea.

That said, if an athlete likes to run in maximal shoes and doe s n ot

see an increase i n injuries. As a r esult, running in this type of shoe
should not be dis couraged.

Other Shoe Types

T RAIL

T RACK
Efficiency

A 2012 study by Kram et al. found that running in c ushioned shoes

was mor e effici ent regardi ng V O2 Max and met aboli c power than
running baref oot (326). T his is bec ause there is an i ncreased
metabol ic cost wi th runni ng barefoot. While runni n g in sho es
does in crease th e metab olic cost by addi ng mass to a run ner,
it is hyp othesi ze d that the cush i oning ca ncels o ut the
metaboli c co st ( 327).

A study by Lo gan et al. re searc hed the diff erenc e in ground

reaction forces ( GRF) bet ween thr ee types of runni ng shoes:
cushion ed, racing flats, and raci ng spikes ( 609). Gro und reaction
force p ertains to the forc e the body exe rts on the gr ound (e.g.,
impact). The prim ary finding was that racing flats and spikes have
a subst antiall y hi gher GR F an d loading rat e than cushioned shoes.

The loa ding rate relates t o the speed at which GR F occurs ‒ in

other w ords, t he speed at whic h loa ds are appli ed t o the body.
While mi nimally c ushioned shoes s uch as r acing flat s and s pikes
likely enhance a runner’s efficiency from a biomechanical
standp oint because of a direct power tran sfer (e.g. , minimal ener gy
lost through the absorption of shoe cu shioning), i t is likely that the
metabol ic cost is much hi gher t han with a m ore c ushioned s hoe
and po ssibly puts a runner at an increased risk of injury (609).
Becaus e of t he increased GRF and loading rates of racing fl ats an d
spikes, it could be theorized t hat t his type of footwear woul d be
most ap plicable t o shorter -distanc e event s.

Carbon-Soled Shoes
It seems that mo st all sh oe co mpa nies no wada ys ar e offerin g
carbon- soled shoes. One can only guess t hat thi s is largely due t o
the hyp e and the results o f pro r un ners wearing t he most wel l -
known c arbon -sol ed shoe, the Nike Vaporfl y. The Vaporfly 4% is
named due t o the purport ed energ y savings (4%) over the best
existing, non- car bon plated m arat hon shoe. S o, the million -dollar
questio n… do car bon shoes m ake a differe nce, and to what
degree ?

While th ere is not much researc h on carbon -soled s hoes at the

point thi s sect ion was writt en (2 022), like m any o ther resea rch
areas, it appears to be a mixed bag. Howe ver, before we go any
further, it ’s imp or tant to discus s the reasoning behi nd a car bon
fiber sol e. As you ’ve lear ned throu ghout this cer tific ation, th e foo t
has a b uilt -in t ension syst em c alled the ‘Wi ndlas s Mechan ism.’ A s
the ima ge bel ow i llustrates, this m echanis m is an e nergy s ource by
tighteni ng and rel easing energy upon foot push - off. The car bon
sole plate is esse ntially an externa l ‘Windla ss Me ch anism’ t hat
looks to enhance one’s energy return and thus, reduce the
metabol ic cost of running , hopefull y translating t o faster running
times.
Credit: https:// ww w.docpods.com/f oot -pai n-info/t he- windlass -
mechan ism -in- the -foot-and-foot -pai n/

Research

As note d above, t he carbon -pl ated sole res earch is a mixed bag.
Specific ally, re ga rding th e Va porfl y 4%, o ne 20 19 s tudy by
Hoogka mer et al. found t hat the pr ototype shoe (as sumed t o be t he
Vaperfly ) did r ed uce the meta bolic cost of a run ner by 4% ( 1016).

Convers ely, research by Beck et al. (1017) and Healey et al.

(1018) did not find a corr elation between c arbon -plate soles and
improve d running the economy or metabol ic effic iency.

Of the st udies no ted, the 202 2 stu dy by H ealey was the mos t
notable . In this st udy, two shoes w ere examined. One was the
Vaporfly 4%, and the oth er wa s th e Vaper fly 4% , b ut the c arbon
sole ha d six l ater al cuts i nto the m iddle of the s ole, thus
significantly reducing its effectiveness. The finding was that
betwee n bot h sh oes, ther e was not a signifi cant diff erence betwe en
the two shoe s re garding runni ng e conomy (ener gy s avings) or
mechan ics. H ealey et al. s uggest t hat the shoe’ s eff ectiveness
likely results fro m a combination and int eraction of the car bon sole,
foam, a nd t he shoe’s geometry .

In summ ary, based on the curr ent r esearch , it appears that t he

carbon plate i n is olation i s not a si gnificant fact or in the Vaporfly
4%’s su ccess i n r eal -worl d running scenari os. Stil l, t he shoe’s
construction in totality is li kely the most crucial variable.

Note: Li ke the studies in t his section focus ed on the Nike Vaporfly

4%, we cannot speak to other s hoe brands that offer carbon plate
sole sh oes concerning their eff ecti veness or pur port ed benefits.
Arch Support Debate

Following are common theories a bout why indi viduals are f or an d

against arch s upport.

For Arch Suppor t

• Favors orthotics and shoes that offer arch support. Shoe

types th at pro vid e arch s uppor t ar e stabilit y and motion
control.
• An indiv idual’ s ar ch is not stron g e nough t o support the foot
when running. Therefore, orthotics and arc h -support ing sho es
are needed t o compensate for the lack of i nherent arch
strength/support.
• Overpronation can lead t o injur y and ther efore needs to be
lessened or elimi nated vi a support shoes or orthotic s.

Against Arch Su pport

• The running s tyle most as sociat ed with a need f or ar ch

support is a heel strike, w hich is bi omechanicall y in correct.
The correct form is a midfoot strik e.
• Pronati on is norm al and does not need to be cor rect ed
(stabilized) .
• Arch support wea kens the arch. Conversely , shoes without
arch support strengthen the arch.
• As the l ongit udin al foot a rch pr odu ces elas tic en erg y when
running, arch support red uces t his energy sourc e, reducing
the runner’s effici ency.
• Arch support r educes pr onation, acting as the b ody’ s natura l
shock absorber. This, in t urn, i ncr eases st ress i n lower -
extremity joints ( 323).
In the vi deo belo w, Nell R ojas dis cusses i mport ant conside ration s
with selecting the right shoe.

[There is a Vi deo here. Vi deos cannot be v iewed from this P DF. To

View Vi deo C ontent, please ref er t o the online Cour se]

Running Shoe Fit and Replacement

Guidelines

Regardi ng shoe fi t, the m ost import ant thing is to try on shoes wit h
the sam e soc ks a nd orth otics (if us ed) for tr aining and racing.

Correct Fit

Front of Shoe: T here sh ould be at least half a t hum b’s widt h but
not mor e than an entire th umb’s wi dth bet ween the l ongest t oe a nd
the fron t of th e s hoe. Ru nnin g for extend ed per iods and in hot
weather caus es t he foot to ex pand. Selecti ng a shoe that is too
small will likely c ause the foot to become cramp ed when running
for long perio ds a nd in h ot we ather .

A shoe shoul d fit snugly but not tight in any one spot. The heel
should not fe el li ke it will come out of the shoe at an y point . As
noted i n the video in the biom echanics m odel w ith Dr. Studholme , a
shoe sh ould have enough room in t he toe box, have good heel
support, and feel good.
Breaking In Shoes

While th ere is al most no break -in period with runni ng shoes today
becaus e o f t heir simple st ructur e ( 203), thi s does not mean that t he
specific design and nuances of a shoe might not take getting used
to. Shoes sho uld feel co mfortabl e when t rying t h em on. If your
athlete experi enc es pain or the shoe just does n’t feel right i n the
store, they shoul d not purchase them with the hope that they will
get mor e comf ort able once br oken in. It is advised t hat an
athlete wear new shoes aroun d the house or whil e r unning erran ds
before r unning in them. W hen r unni ng in new shoes i nitially, it i s
ideal to start with shorter distances to see how one’s feet re spond
to the s hoes. For exampl e, per haps the sho es fit gre at, but t he
tongue moves to the side while running and put s pressure on the
side of the feet. This is not somet hing your athlete wants to
discover on a lon g trainin g run.

Seeing how s hoes feel w hen runni ng in them is ess ential. M any
running stores ha ve treadmills f or t his purpose, and some st ores
allow cu stome rs t o run ar ound the block. R unnin g outside is ideal ,
but a tr eadmill or runnin g in the st ore is fine if this i s not an opti on.
Some running stores also allow customers a long return window
(i.e., ten days) to take them home and run in them t o know i f they
fit correct ly.

Replacement Guidelines

Depen ding on the source, runni ng shoes s hould be replaced

betwee n 400 and 600 mil es (203) . While thi s range i s sufficie nt,
three ke y vari abl es ultim ately s ho uld be t he d eterm ining fa ctor in
shoe re placement :

1. Comfort
2. Fit
3. Shoe C onditi on

If any of thes e fa ctors are subs tan tially co mpromi se d, the s hoes
should be replac ed ‒ regardless of age or mileage. Continued us e
of shoe s that are deficient in any of the ar eas above would at bes t
diminish perfo rm ance and, at wor st, caus e injur y.
Effect Of Shoe Breakdown on Biomechanics

While it i s well - known that run ning shoes l ose some of their
cushion ing o ver ti me, what is less known i s how the loss of
cushion ing af fect s a runner’s f orm.

In a 20 09 study by Kong et al., 24 runners (14 m en, ten women)

were divided into three gr oups, each wearing a different type of
cushion ed shoe. Over the cour se of the st udy, t he subjects ran 2 00
miles (2 00). R unners wer e ass ess ed biom echanical ly befor e and
after th e 200 miles. The t hree ty pes of shoes us ed i n regar d to
cushion ing w ere air, gel, and s pring -cushi oned.

After 20 0 miles of running, ther e w ere only minim al changes in

subjects’ running mechanics, a nd, interestingly, ther e were no
reporte d changes in impact forc es. So, wh at does this mean? T his
informati on se e ms to su pport t h e notion t hat th e body ad apts
to chang es in f o ot cushi oning and suppo rt. As s hoe cus hion and
support decrease, the body adapts to maintain prop er running
mechan ics. A dditi onally, t here was no differ ence in r unning
mechan ics from one type of shoe c ushioni ng to the next. Thi s
finding r elate s to the effectiveness of differ ent ki nds of shoe
cushion ing. R esults from t he Kong et al. st udy dem onstrate that
regardl ess of shoe brand and shoe cushioning ty pe (i.e., air, gel,
spring), the prima ry sourc e of cushioning is mids ole EVA foam.
Concer ning E VA midso le foam, there is no disc erni ble difference
betwee n shoe brands (20 0).

Shoe Compression

The exa ct per centage of cushi oning lost in relati on t o miles r un is

unknow n as t here are many vari abl es (e.g., runni ng style, runner’s
weight, etc.). Ho wever, it has be en theori zed t hat t he most
significant cushio n loss occurs wit hin the first 2 00 miles (2 04). It is
importa nt to st res s to athl etes t hat while they do not want to r un in
a shoe t hat is uncomforta ble, over time, th ey sh oul d not ex pect
shoes t o feel the same as when th ey were bran d ne w.

A comm on practi ce among dist anc e runners is t o s wap out identical

pairs of r unni ng s hoes during tr aini ng. Generally spe aking, t his is a
good id ea, as it w ill provide mor e c ushioni ng for an athlete durin g
runs. Another common re ason for doing t his is t o “r est” or al low
shoes t o “dec ompress” bef ore t he next run. The legal advic e in th is
area is t o let s hoes rest between 24 and 48 hours before r unning in
them ag ain, t he t heory b eing t hat i t takes t his long f or the E VA
midsole foam t o r eturn to its decompressed stat e. A study by
Cook et al. foun d no difference in the retention o f cushioning
between shoes t hat wer e rest ed and those that w ere not when
used within 24 - t o 48 hou rs (204) .

Shoe Cushioning: Effect on Performance

Accordi ng t o a st udy by Kram et al ., the degree of f oot/shoe

cushion ing c oncerning eff icienc y r esembl es a b ell c urve (327). To o
much or too lit tle cushioning decreases effi cienc y ( metabol ic
power). This st udy had ten bar efoot runner s run with a midfoot
strike on a rigi d t readmill ( no s hoc k absor ption) usi ng the f ollowi ng
scenari os:

1. Barefoot
2. Barefoot on a treadmill that was c overed i n 10mm EVA foam
3. Barefoot on a treadmill that was c overed i n 20mm EVA foam

Note: 10mm is r oughly the sam e height of cushi oning in the

forefoot of lightw eight running shoes

The con clusion: Running with 10mm of E VA foam required

approxi mately 2 percent less ener gy than runni ng barefoot while
running with 20m m of EV A foam required 1.7 percent less energy
than ru nning barefoot.

Apparel Selection
Proper s electi on of clothi ng is not a functi on of only comfort but
also saf ety a nd performa nce. F abr ic materi als an d c lothing desig n
are con stantly ad vancing to refl ect the incr easing demands of
endura nce at hlet es.

There are several factors to consider when selec ting clothing:

• Fabric compositio n (wicking fabrics )

• Proper fi t
• Clothing for al l ty pes of w eather
• Function
• Comfort

Wicking Fabrics

Wicking r efers t o the abili ty of a fabric to “breathe.” Unlike f abrics

such as cotton that absorb sweat, wicking f abrics al low bod y hea t
and sw eat to pas s throug h, so the body st ays cool and dry.

It is impo rtant t o note that the qual ity and effecti ven ess of wi cking
apparel vary greatly. While you don’t have to br eak the bank to g et
good-wi cking running clothing, be aware t hat inexpensive, non -
running , bran d -specific clothing mi ght not be as perf ormanc e -
oriente d as cl oth es from a running company.
Proper Fit

Proper fi t of cl oth es is ess ential fo r perform ance clo thing.

Depen ding on the preference of a r unn er, c lothing m ight fit s nugly
or be m ore rel axed. An im portant f actor to be a ware of is that
loose-fitt ing cl othes tend to have a higher chanc e of chafing a
runner t han ti ght er -fitting cloth es.

Weather-Based Clothing Options

An athl ete m ust be ready for al l types of weather . This means it is

imperative to have a wide selection of clot hing. Not having a
proper c hoice of clothing comprom ises not only an a thlete’s
comfort but also perform ance and safety.

Cold Weather

A base l ayer (l ay er next t o the ski n) that provides warmth and

wicks sweat away from the body is necessary when exercising
during c old w eath er. The c older the weather, the m ore layers are
neede d. It is advi sed to have s ome sort of windpr oof outer layer fo r
cold an d windy days to mi nimiz e wind chil l. Foll ow ing is a chart of
cold-we ather r unning clothing concerning appli cabl e temperature s.
A few thi ngs t o k eep in mind:

• Individu als re spo nd differ ently to h ot and c old w eath er;

therefor e, the bel ow chart is onl y r ough guideli nes.
• A clothi ng pro duc t will likely have varying insulation
properti es depending on the purpose. For example, tights
come in varyin g thicknesses based on the temperature for
which they are designed.
• Many cold -weather clothi ng items indicate on t he tag what
range of tem peratures t hey are rec ommended for.
• It is bett er to ove rdress a nd sh ed l ayers th an u nder dress
• Dark-col ored c lot hing will absorb more heat than li ght -colo red
clothing.
• Normally, less cl othing i s worn during a race than in training,
as the e ffort l evel is usual ly mor e s ignificant, and thus more
body heat is generated.
• It is esse ntial t o wear su nscre en o n any e xpos ed sk in,
regardl ess of the time of y ear.
This chart takes into account the wind chill

Guidelines

While a wide s election of clothi ng options makes tr aining an d

racing i n most conditions possi ble, it can be challenging to f igure
out whic h pie ces of clothi ng to wea r. A few r ough guidelines can
help wit h maki ng these d ecisio ns:

1. Always dress i n l ayers.

2. When running in cold weather, an athlete shoul d be somew hat
hard for the fir st f ive to 1 0 minutes .
3. The mor e intense the trai ning or racing, the few er layers
should be worn in cold weather.
4. Always tr y out dif ferent cl othin g op tions du ring tr aini ng befo re
racing i n them .

Apparel Inventory

The following are common types of running apparel f or traini ng an d

racing:

• Running top ( slee veless/s hort sl eeve/long sleev e)

• Jacket
• Sports b ra
• Hat/Visor
• Headband
 • Vest
• Shorts
• Tights
• Arm war mers
• Gloves
• Socks/C ompressi on sock s
• Sunglasses

Some ar eas t o consider w hen s electing apparel are:

• Seams: Make sur e that t he seams will not r ub the s kin.

• Pocket s: What and how much do you need to carry ?
• Reflective clothi ng: Never a bad i dea an d man datory for low
light conditions.
• Fit: Make sure cl othes don’t c hafe during t raining before
using th em in rac es.
• Brand: D on’t ass ume that just bec ause a piece of a pparel
from a br and f its well, all other pie ces in th e sa me s ize from
the sam e brand w ill also w ork w ell.
• Keys: W ill you be carrying your k eys when running ? Critical
pockets that atta ch to sh oelac es may be a good o ption.
Compression Socks / Calf Sleeves
 Many runners w ear com pressi on socks and compr ession c alf
sleeves. Com pre ssion socks co ve r the foot and extend to the top of
the calf. Com pres sion sle eves s lid e on ov er the calf and jus t
protect t he calf.

The science behind compression socks comes from clinical settings

where t hey ar e used to tr eat e dem a (buildup of fluid beneat h the
skin) and other m edical issues. Th e theory behind compress ion
socks is to incr ease the blood flow rate back to t he heart (venous
return) and reduc e blood pooli ng i n the legs. A nother reason som e
people use t hem is to reduce t he v ibration of the cal f muscles,
thereby decre asi ng fatig ue.

A 2011 study out of Stellenbos ch U niversity in South Africa s ought

to deter mine t he effectiveness of c ompress ion s ock s in post -
exercise recov ery for male long - dis tance runners (268). The s tudy
assesse d 83 r unners com peting in a 56 km (35 -mi le) ultra -
endura nce run. F ollowing is a s um mary of t he findings regar ding
the effectiven ess of compr ession s ocks:

• Runner s wear ing compres sion s oc ks had more m inor muscle

damage post - rac e than t hose without com pressi on socks
• Those w earing compressi on soc ks exhibited mor e m inor calf
swelling
• Some c ompression socks may not provide enough
compres sion t o el icit the desired results
• Theoriz ed that compressi on soc ks provide dyna mic stability t o
the calf ( i.e., fl exi ble cast)
• Calf stability reduces muscle vibration, which is
theorize d to i ncre ase mus cular end urance and r educ e
sorenes s and muscle damage.
• Benefits are li mit ed to calf mus cles (gastrocnemi us and
soleus) via re duced structural dam age.
• Increas ed cell ular repair
• Increas ed venous return is inconcl usive

These findings are substantiated by several other st udies (265,

266, 26 7).

While th e prim ary data show that c ompress ion s ock s may decreas e
muscle damage ( calf) whil e running and i mprov e recovery, anoth er
study found that compres sion soc ks did not increase running
perform ance. A 2015 study by Stic kford et al. found that low er -leg
compres sion s leeves di d not im prove an individual’s running
mechan ics (gr ound contact time, st ep frequency , an d lengt h) or
VO2 ma x. In other words, t he runni ng economy of test subjects wa s
not alter ed using calf com pressi on sleeves (675).

Lastly, a 2014 st udy by Hill et al. exa mined the eff ect of c alf -
compres sion app arel con cerni ng accelerati ng recov ery post -
maratho n (689). There w as no phy siologic al rec over y improv ement
in the gr oup that wore compression socks over the group t hat did
not. Int erestin gly, the gro up th at w ore com p ressi on socks noted a
significantly lowe r level of perceiv ed muscle sor eness (after 24
hours) t han t he g roup th at did not wear compres sion socks. As
compre ssion so cks imp rove d th e sense of recovery with out
actually enhanci ng reco very f ro m a physiolog ical s tand point,
the benefit of co mpress ion w ear may be more psychologi cal
than physiolog ical.
Conclusion

The phy siological benefit of wearing compr ession socks/sleeves

during and af ter a run is l argel y inconclusi ve, wit h t he most rece nt
data le aning toward the appar el showing no be nefit. Howev er,
becaus e of potential psyc hological benefit and t he f act that there is
no phys iologi cal downsi de to wear ing com pressi on socks, it shoul d
not be discouraged if an athlete w ants to wear t he m while r unni ng
and for r ecov ery.

While n ot a p erformance f actor per se, due to the sk in cover age o f

compres sion s oc ks and c alf sl eev es, they also l ikel y keep a runner
slightly warmer in cold weather.

Other Running Gear

• Smartphone/ i Pod arm hol der
• Hydration belt/vest
• Handheld wa ter bottle
• Anti-chafe bal m/s pray
• Backpack
• Nipple covers
• Jogging stroll er
• Foam roller
• Headlamp (if r un ning at night)
• Sweat-proof s uns creen
• GPS wat ch
• Reflective clothing/straps
• Waist pack/ SP Ibelt ™

Summary
• The maj or fact ors in app arel select ion are:
• Fabric compositio n (wicking fabrics )
• Proper fi t
• Clothing for al l ty pes of w eather
• Function
• Comfort
• In cold weath er, clothing shou ld b e layere d.
• Compression soc ks can assist i n r ecovery and may improve
running
perform ance.
• It is impo rtant t o have a wide r ange of clot hing opti ons so t hat
an athl ete is
prepared for any weather cond ition.
• The primary types of shoes are: conventional, mini malist and
over-cus hioned ( maximal)
• While E VA fo am i n runni ng shoes compres ses over time,
allowing sho es
24–48 hours to “deco mpr ess” befor e runni ng in t hem again i s
a myth.
• Conventional running shoes ar e c haracter ized by s ubstanti al
heel
padding, cus hioni ng, and arch support.
• Minimalis t shoes are char acteri zed by mini mal heel padding,
cushioning,
and arc h support. Minimali st sho es have a low heel - to-toe
drop.
• Shoe c ushioning may assi st in f or ward pr opulsi on but likel y
diminishes the
effect of the s tret ch -short ening cyc le (SSC). A lar ge heel -to-
toe drop also
reduces the SSC of the A chilles tendon.
• There is little to no break -in ti me r equired with t oda y’s
running shoes.
• Carbon soled sho es look t o us e the energy retur n of the
carbon fiber s ole to reduce the energy cost of a runner.
Module 21: Race Preparation and
Execution

Race d ay repr esents the culmination of all of your at hlete’s hard

work. As such, there should be no surprises on race day, an d a
strategy should be in place to give your athlete the best chance of
hitting t heir g oal. This mo dule disc usses th e are as and as pects
necess ary to ens ure that your athl ete has a po sitive experience o n
race da y!

Upon c omplet ion of this m odule, y ou should have an under stand ing
of the f ollowin g areas:

• General preparati ons

• Course knowl edg e
• Weather
• Prepare for the unexpect ed
• Rules
• Areas of focu s th e week befor e a r ace
• Areas of focu s on the day of a r ace
• Race-day schedule and l ogistic s

In the vi deo belo w, Nell R ojas i ntr oduces strate gies for race day
prepara tion, r ace executi on and post -race consi der ations.

[There is a Vi deo here. Vi deos can not be v iewe d fro m this P DF. To
View Vi deo C ont ent, please ref er t o the o nline Cour se]
General Preparations and
Considerations for an Athlete

It shoul d go witho ut sayin g that the more pr epare d y our athl ete is
for their r ace, t he smooth er it wil l go and the m ore enjoya ble it w ill
be. Bel ow are some areas your at hlete should l ikel y focus on to be
as prep ared as possible f or the bi g day.

Course Knowledge

The cou rse s ubst antially i nflue nces how tough a running r ace is
and, mo re specifi cally, how a race is trained for. Pri or knowl edge
of a cou rse wil l t ell athletes w here challen ging part s of the cours e
are, the locati ons of water stops, and wher e they can conserve
energy. The Paci ng mod ule notes that rac es oft en provide c ourse
and ele vation maps. This i s very helpful in the desi gn of a train i ng
program as w ell as for pacing and race str ategi es. Another way t o
gather i nform ation about a rac e course is t o speak t o those who
have d one t he race befor e. Online blogs and m essage boar ds ar e
also go od sources of event inf orm ation, assumi ng t hat it is not th e
first year it’s b ein g held or that the course hasn’t ch anged. Som e of
the thin gs to f ocu s on are :

• Notable climbs and desc ents

• Road c onditi ons
• Final few miles and especially the last mile
• Location of aid st ations/bathrooms
Tangent Lines

A tange nt line is a straight line that touches a c urve at a poi nt. By

followin g “tan gen t lines,” a run ner can run a co urse in the m ost
efficient way pos sible. W hile it’s li kely impossibl e t o run ex actly t he
distanc e of a rac e (ex: 2 6.2 mil es) , the closer a r un ner ca n get t o
the actu al rac e di stance, the b etter job the y did r unn ing the
tangent s.

This is done by m aking the course as “small” and “fa st” as

possibl e. This is accompli shed by running the s hort est distance
betwee n poi nts A and B. This t acti c is called runnin g the
tangent s . Cou rse distances ar e typically measured at the
tangents of tur n s, so by not raci ng the tangent s, a runner
effectiv ely races farther t han th e course actu ally is. Raci ng th e
tangent s is the best way t o decrease one’ s race tim e without
expend ing extra physical effort . B y some estimates , a runn er could
run an additi onal half -mile by not r unning the t angents over the
course of a m arat hon!

In the im age belo w, the bl ue lin es represe nt the roa d, and the re d
line represents a runner’s path. This illu strat es how racing t he
tangent s can substantiall y “shor ten” a course. T his is possi ble on ly
on a rac e course that is cl osed to t raffic.

As note d above, r unning the t angents thro ughout an entire c ourse

is difficul t, if not impossible – especially when the re are a lot of
particip ants.

Therefore, in large, crowded races, your athlete should nev er cut

someon e or a group of people off t o run a tangent li ne, as t his is
danger ous and i mpolite.
As such, faste r ru nners at the head of the r ace g ene rally hav e
fewer p eople to c ontend with and, therefor e, can run tangent lin es
much e asier t han slower r unner s t hat run i n large p acks.

Google Maps

If a race provi des a cours e ma p, y ou can utilize the street vi ew

function of G oogl e Maps t o view the cours e. This is an excell ent
tool as y ou c an vi rtually “d rive” t he entire c ourse . S ome of t he
aspects of a c our se that can b e as certaine d are:

• Hills and descents (steepness)

• Landm arks (ex: o ne mile t o go, there is a red bar n on the lef t
of the r oad)
• Turns

Be awar e that if y ou are using the map for l andm ark s, depending
on whe n the mapping was don e, the landm arks m igh t have c hang ed
(ex: the r ed barn was torn dow n).

Weather

The we ather i nfluences r ace str ategy as w ell as r ac e preparation .

The tem perat ure affects many t hings, inc luding apparel, hy dratio n
strategy, and effort level. While tr a ining in the expected weather
conditions of an event is essential , your athlete must be pr epare d
for unfor esee n te mperatu re fluc tua tions.

Rain an d incl ement weat her do not impact j ust performan ce but
also the over all s afety of your athl ete. Str ong wi nds also aff ect a n
athlete’ s over all t ime.
T o prepare for b ad weat her, b oth physically and mentall y, one
must tra in in it. Any trai ning d one in bad weat her must als o be
done s afely.

Heat ac climati zat ion is necessary for athlet es comp eting or training
in extreme heat. Information on this is provided in the Illness an d
Injury m odule.

Adjusting Race Plans for Prior Illness or Injury

If an at hlete has missed tr ainin g d ue to inj ury or illn ess over some
part of t he trai ning process and you think t hey’v e mi ssed enough
that they are n’t a s fit as t hey n eed to be t o hit t heir original time
goal, yo u have to be the one t o co nvince t hem t o ch ange th eir pl an.
While oft en c hall enging to come t o terms with, it tak es a lot for a n
athlete t o admit where t hey ar e in terms of fitnes s and try t o
execute the best race possible, giv en that fitnes s. T his is in
contrast to an athlete not admit ting where their fitness is and trying
to pace them selv es like t hey w ere in perfe ct conditi on.

Prepare for the Unexpected

While th ere wil l always be unexpec ted issues th at come up on rac e

day, it is your r es ponsibili ty to i dentify and adapt an athlete t o as
many p otenti al pr oblems t hat c an occur on race day during
training. This s er ves three prim ary purpos es:

1. Reduce the anxiety of an athlet e by buildi ng their c onfidence

2. Safety
3. Increas e perf orm ance

Potential Issues
• Bad weather: rain, wind, extrem ely hot/cold temperat ures
• New course
• Adjusted start tim es
• Sicknes s
• Body pains (e.g., knee, s hin, cr am ps, ham string)
• Injury
• Food/drink offerings at rest stops are not the same as noted
in the ra ce inform ation.
• Extreme fatig ue
• Tripping/falling
• Blisters/c hafin g
 • Getting l ost
• GPS wat ch m alfunction

You mu st identify potenti al issues and possible solutions ‒ or at

least ways to miti gate th eir severity. In ad dition to the solut ions
discuss ed in t his module, it is advantageo us to speak to other
coache s to get addition al resourc es to mi nimize the impact of
unexpe cted i ssues that c an pop up on race da y.

Common Issues

Of the is sues abo ve, som e of th e more co mmon on es that a run ner
may enc ount er and experienc e on race day are list ed below. As a
coach, you must explain the issue and how to mi nim ize the impact.

Weather

Your at hletes sho uld keep an eye on t he f orecast. Regardl ess of

the fore cast, athl etes are advis ed to pack a wid e as sortment of
clothes to be rea dy for any weather condition.

Sickne ss

Athletes who are sick sho uld n ot ra ce; if th ey are in the race
already, they should not conti nue.

Exerci se-Rel ated Cramp s

If a cram p is lo ca lized an d can be treated via str etc hing an d self-

massag e, it is OK to conti nue. How ever, once cr amps becom e so
severe that rest, self-mas sage, and stretching d o n ot eliminate th e
crampin g, it is advisable t o stop. C ramping is typi cal ly associ ated
with the following:

• Running at a high -intensity level

• Running for l onger than having pr eviously trained f or
• Low gly cogen/electrolyte s tores *
• Dehydr ation*

* Most c urrent re search has debunked the myth t hat low glyc ogen
and mil d to m oderate dehydrati on l evels cause m usc le cramps
(763-76 5).
Cramping, an d m ore specificall y s evere cr amping, i s typicall y
prevent able.

Injury

Throug h proper tr aining, many i njuries can be pr evented. H oweve r,

if an inj ury does occur during an event, at hletes need to be abl e to
assess accuratel y if they shoul d o r should not c onti nue. Reason s
not to c ontin ue ar e:

• The injury will get worse if they co ntinue

• Head or back injury
• Excessiv e pai n
• Suspect ed ligament or tendon i njur y
• Potenti al for i nfe ction
• Broken bone

Athletes who are unsure i f they sh ould co ntinu e in an eve nt sho uld
seek medical adv ice at an aid stati on, if po ssible.

Rules

Part of havin g a s uccessf ul strat eg y is havi ng a clea r

underst anding of the rules. You and your athlet e must fully
underst and and c omply wi th the rul es of an event and that of the
race’s s anctioning body, if applicable. The rules of an event sho uld
be post ed on the event’s websit e.

Coach Checklist and Considerations

As is not ed in thi s modul e, hav ing an athl ete ch eckli st is fairly
commonplace. However, w hat is not so com monpl ac e is havi ng a
coach c heckli st on race d ay. T he below list by Ben Rosario
highligh ts key as pects th at a c oac h must b e aw are of on ra ce da y.

Weather

Athletes spe nd m onths wi th a goal in mind, and it can be tough t o

explain that beca use of e xtrem e heat, craz y win d, o r someth ing
entirely unfor eseen, they will need to adjust thei r ti me goal . The
strategy is to explain to an athlete that a time goal i s chosen
becaus e that tim e goal r epres ents the bes t an athlete can perfor m
on a pa rticular day. Adjust ing t hat t ime goal doesn’t change that.
An athl ete is still trying to achieve the best they can on a specific
day, but now, bec ause of the w eather, it’s no lon ger X; it’s X + Y.
Additio nally, c oac hes hav e to d o their hom ework. They need to
look at past results from a particul ar race when the weather ’s been
bad. Co nsult heat calculat ors because the athlete wi ll look to you
to give t hem a ne w pace goal. You ’ve got t o get it ri ght.

Injury or Illness

If an at hlete has missed tr aining due to inj ury or illness over some
part of t he trai ning process and you think t hey’v e mi ssed enough
that they are n’t a s fit as t hey n eed to be t o hit t heir original time
goal, yo u have to be the one t o co nvince t hem t o ch ange th eir pl an .
While oft en c hall enging to come t o terms with, it takes a lot for a n
athlete t o admit where t hey ar e in terms of fitnes s and try t o
execute the best race possible, giv en that fitnes s. T his is in
contrast to an athlete not admit ting where their fitness is and tryin g
to pace them selv es like t hey w ere in perfe ct con diti on.

Uncertainty

Be prep ared, as a coach, to handl e uncert ainty on r ace weekend .

Face it- if your at hlete has trav el delays on race weekend, f orget s
to pack their r aci ng flats, or ca n’t get a reservat ion at the
restaurant th ey w anted t o eat at, etc., you will be the one t hey c all.
You ha ve to stay calm, confident, and pragmati c. At hletes f eed o ff
of you.

Importance of the Day

Coache s need to remember ho w vit al race weekend i s to the

athlete. Even if y ou hav e a hugely success ful coac hing busines s
and are worki ng with 50 athlet es, with mult iple r aces on any one
weeken d, you can never let an athlete think you don’t care. The
point is, as a coa ch –even an online coach –you wor k on the
weeken ds, and y ou hav e to be prepared j ust like you expec t your
athletes to b e. Yo u have t o have a system f or com m unicatin g with
athletes the day before t he ra ce, t he morn ing of (if necess ary), a nd
of cours e, right afterward. They w ant to k now y ou c are.

Ben Ro sario Quot e: “I made this mi stake once a long time ago
when I was c oaching an adult t raini ng group. We had about 30 or
so peo ple running either a mar athon or half mar athon. It w as a lo op
course so the ma rathoners had to run two loops. One of the
athletes was com ing in toward t he end of t he loop and I star ted
cheerin g that he was alm ost done. The pro blem was that he was
one of t he m arath oners. H e was re ally hurt that I di dn’t rem ember
which race he was running. That stuck with me big time.”

Local In-Person Race

For coaches w ho work in person wi th athlet es in thei r town, it is

highly r ecomm end makin g a bi g deal out of wh atev er the “b raggi ng
rights” race is i n their tow n. If y ou have m ultiple athl etes running a
certain race, you should have a meet -up spot for your athlete s
before and after. You should s et up a post -race get -together.
Perhap s you coul d create shirts specifically for your crew. It’s a
great ch ance to build cam araderie and als o great advertising!
Week Before the Race

Following are areas to focus on the week b efor e a r ace (most

applica ble to half and full marathons and ultra -m arathons):

1. Rest and Rec overy

2. Nutrition and Hydration
3. Supplies
4. Confirm Travel Pl ans (if any)
5. Athlete Tracki ng
6. Mental Prepar ati on

Rest And Recovery

Conserving energy must be a pr im ary focus bef ore a race. T his is

an all-e ncom pass ing focus. Asi de f rom any workout session s,
excess energy ex penditure should be avoi ded o r kept to a
minimum . The l onger the r ace, t he more thi s appl ies .

Nutrition And Hydration

Eating health y, fa miliar foods is al ways im portant during the

training proce ss but esp ecially the week b efore an event. An
athlete must also place a signif icant focus on st aying well
hydrate d. Ref er t o the S ports Nutri tion module f or m ore infor matio n
on nutrit ion and h ydration.
Supplies

Anythin g and everything needed for an event must b e sourc ed an d

organiz ed before or during this week. Following i s a list of
items/supplies that athletes shoul d reference t o make sure t hey are
prepare d for t heir event:

• Nipple covers for men; if c hafing is a conc ern

• Running shoes
• Socks
• Anti-chafing b alm such as Body Gli de
• Running hat/ visor
• Running clot hing (i.e., shorts, shirt , tights, sports br a)
• Sunglasses
• Compression soc ks, if used
• Throwaway cl oth es if it’s a cold -w eather event
• Pre-post race foo d
• On-the-r un food/ drinks
• Dry clothing and comfortable shoes for aft er the r ace
• Waterpr oof sunsc reen
• Photo I D/pas spor t
• Towels
• Toilet paper
• Medical needs (e.g., insul in, inhal er)
• Heart rate/GPS watch
• Watch/al arm cl oc k
• Directions to race
• Camera
• Wallet/m oney
• Phone
• Reservation i nfor mation (i f any) for lodging, rest aur ants,
transpor tation
 • Race information, race number/timi ng chip/ confirmation of
race ent ry
• Rain gear
• Extra ru nning clot hing
• Hydration sources
• Emergency contact inform ation

If your a thlete is flying to an e vent , running shoe s must be in

their ca rry -on . R unning shoes are specific to an individual and can
spell disaster if l ost in transit. Thi s is not to say ot her
equipm ent/appar el is not import ant. Howev er, runni ng shoes are
critical.

Confirm Travel Plans

If traveli ng to an event, it is su gge sted tha t your ath lete get

confirma tion of tr avel arr angements such as plane, hotel,
restaurant, a nd c ar rental reser vat ions.

Athlete Tracking

Many lar ge h alf a nd full m arathons have at hlete trac kin g ser vices
that foll ow th e ru nners’ m id-rac e progress and fi nis h time. T his is
facilitate d by part icipants runni ng over timi ng stri ps that ca pture
their tim e. If fa mi ly and fri ends ent er a part icipa nt’s race nu mber i n
the athl ete tr acke r (typicall y a m ob ile phone app), th ey will get
update s direc tly t o their phone.

Note: As glitches with trac king apps and ti ming s trips can oc cur,
runners shoul d inform thei r frien ds and family not to worry if t hey
don’t g et mid -r ac e splits.

Day Before the Race

There s hould be t hree ar eas of foc us the day before a race.

1. Take Care of All Event Preparations

This includes all operational items such as race number pickup and
pick up any la st- minute it ems nee ded for r ace day, such as food,
hydratio n, an d thr owaway clothe s.

Also, lay out y our race clot hes a nd any oth er thi ngs you’ll n eed o n
race da y (ex: r ac e number, fuel, et c.

2. Proper Fueling

This should have been pr acticed during training. Aside from meals,
it is a go od idea for your athlete to bring al ong f amil iar and healt hy
snacks. Depending on the size of a race, the host town or city may
be overr un wit h hungry runners looking for f ood. Thi s means
hundre ds ‒ if not thousands ‒ of runners and their fa milies/friends
all vying for th e s ame pla ces to din e. There fore, adv anced planni ng
such as reserv ati ons (months ahead) is advisable. Also, hydrate,
hydrate, hydr ate!
3 . R e st

It’s temp ting t o w alk arou nd th e ex po area or ch eck out the sights ,
especia lly if a rac e is in a fun plac e and y our at hlet e is with friends
and fam ily . However, you must r emind at hletes that they have
trained very h ard for their r ace and must co nserv e t heir en ergy fo r
the next day. Mor e specifi cally, yo ur athlet es shoul d keep walkin g
around to a mini mum and get enough sleep.

If an at hlete want s to go si ghts eeing and d o tourist t hings, t hey ar e

best do ne aft er the event and i deal ly one or two day s after t he
event. T he lo nger the eve nt, th e m ore reco very ti me is need ed.

At Event: Day Before the Event

The rac e schedul e will inf orm at hl etes where they need t o be and
when. B elow are some thi ngs t o consider:

Athlete Check-In

This is where all registered athletes go to confirm p articipation in

the eve nt. At this point, athlet es usually get a race packet with all
the infor matio n a bout the eve nt. T his is oft en the s ame loc ation as
the race exp o for more sig nifica nt events. It is a go od idea for y our
athlete t o have th e followi ng ite ms on hand:

• Photo I D
• Confirm ation of entry (i.e., print ed copy of r ace entr y
confirma tion)
Race Expo

Expositi ons ar e c ommon place at r aces, bi g and sm all. Som e are

held on -site at the race c ourse, w hile others ar e “off -site” (of ten in
the host hote l or a conve ntion hall ). Expos are f abu lous for
checkin g out new gear and pr esent an exc ellent opportunity t o pic k
up fueli ng sa mple s t o use at a l ater time.

Remem ber, N oth ing new on race day! Race day is when y our
athlete uses what is tried and t ested during traini ng to make
everythi ng familiar and safe.
Pasta Dinner

For participants and family mem bers, many events have a pasta
dinner t h e ev ening befor e the r ace. These are gr eat to atte nd
becaus e they are often c heap er th an dini ng at r esta urants. T hey
are typic ally held at the host hotel or somewhere nearby. It’s also
an exce llent ti me for your athlet e t o meet f ellow competitor s.

The on e pot ential downsi de is t hat your athlete t ypic ally has no
control over w hat food is available , how it is prepar ed, or the exact
content. For exa mple, this mig ht not be the best idea if your athlete
has spe cial di etar y needs . In additi on, the times when the pasta
dinner i s offer ed might n ot fit in wi th your athlet e’s f ueling
schedul e.

Race Day

Your at hlete will l ikely go through a wide r ange of emotions on ra ce

day, incl udin g bei ng excit ed, n ervo us, or ev en sc are d. This is
natural, and t o some degr ee, it would be unnat ural not to have
anxiety t he day o f an eve nt. Y ou are respo nsibl e for remindi ng
athletes that t hey have tr ained for this day and should feel
confide nt in t heir preparation. Rem ind them to sti ck to the game
plan an d to have fun.

Four thi ngs need to be focused on in the w eeks l eading up t o an

event:
 • Assure athlet es t hat they hav e adequatel y pre pared.
• Have at hletes wri te down a sc hedule for rac e day.
• Make sure th ey go over t he rac e -day chec klist to ensure
they have ev eryt hing th ey will need for th e event.
• Ensure t hat t hey have re ad an d un derstan d the rule s,
directions, and sc hedule of ev ents (e.g., rac e number pickup) .
• Have them mentally review the s tr ategy y ou ha ve laid out fo r
them the mor ning of the event.

Throug h stom ach butterf li es and nervous energy, it is easy f or yo ur

athlete t o get thr own off track and lose foc us o n wh at need s to b e
done o n race day . For this reas on, they need to wr ite down a
race-da y tim elin e. Once athletes get the race s che dule th at not es
where a nd w hen t h ings need t o be done (e.g., race s tart time,
shuttle bus, deadline to be in start corrals), they sh ould create a
race-da y timeli ne . This will give at hletes c onfidence that they do
not forg et anything and a re where t hey ne ed to be at particul ar
times.

A sampl e race -day event timeline might look like thi s:

4:45 a. m. Wak e up

5:15 a. m. Breakfast

6:15 a. m. Get changed into running clothing and throw away

clothing

7:30 a. m. C heck out of the hotel

8:00 a. m. Eat pre -race food

8:15 a. m. B athr oom break

8:30 a. m. War m-up

9:00 a. m. R ace Start

Wake Up!

The mo nths of training and sac rific es all culminat e on race day.
So, wha t is the m ost important t hing to rem ember ? Get Up!

Whether overs lee ping an alarm or f orgetting to s et one, the result

is the sa me: miss ing the event. Therefore, it is in y our
athlete’ s best int erest to set m ulti ple alar ms and, if available,
arrange for a wak e -up cal l. Ther e are many reasons for a DN F.
However , not making the start l ine should not be on e of them.

Eat

Regardl ess of the length of an event, your athlet e needs to be

fueled appropriat ely. The timeli ne of when and what to eat s houl d
be work ed thr ough in trai ning t o ensure am ple tim e t o eat and
digest f ood wi thout nega tive c onse quence s. Th e lon ger the event ,
the mor e critic al pre -race fueli ng i s.

Warm-Up

A prope r warm -up is an essential part of r ace day f or short er -

distanc e events. Physiol ogicall y s peaking, a w arm - up has many
positive effect s o n the b ody (2 61, 262).

• Warm bl ood d eliv ers more oxygen to the m uscles.

• Dilates blood vessels, which are constricted during rest
• Muscles contr act faster and wit h gr eater for ce w hen warm
versus “c old.”

For short -distanc e event s, the minimum tim e spent warming up

should be fiv e mi nutes and the maximum 30 minutes.
Like all other aspects of r acing, a warm -up should be practic ed in
training to de term ine the optim al d uration and i nten sity. A w arm-up
is meant to enhance perf ormance and de crease the chance of
injury, not to pre- fatigue an at hlete . The tim e from t he end of th e
warm-up to the beginning of t he race should be no l onger t han 1 5
minutes.

Researc h by T illaar et al., found that when trialing t wo differ ent

warm-up strate gi es (10 m inutes vs . 8 x 60M spri nts) , there w as n o
significant differe nce in running performanc e usi ng t he two
different strat egi es (2029). Theref ore, it w as concluded that
athletes sho uld c hoose what w arm -up met hod t hey f eel most
comfortable wi th.

Regardl ess of the strategy , a w arm -up will have a positive eff ect o n
perform ance i n relation to no w arm -up (2030).

In the f ollowin g t wo vide os, Be n R osario d iscuss es warm-up

routines and suggested protocol.

[There is a Vi deo here. Vi deos can not be v iewe d fro m this P DF. To
View Vi deo C ontent, please ref er t o the online Cour se]

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Race Day Logistics

Timing Chip

This is typically i ncluded in the registration packet. The chip is

typically attac hed to the r ace n umb er or is e mbed de d on a s trap
that gets fast ene d aroun d sho elac es. As t his chi p r ecords an
individual’s time, an athl ete m ust k now where it i s on race day. N o
chip = no official race tim e.

Last Bathroom Stop

Increas ed anxiety often equat es to increas ed bat hroom stops. The

port-a-p otty ar ea is often very h ect ic befor e the star t of a race. As
such, lines can be extended. Athletes should fa ctor in time t o use a
port-a-p otty befor e the race. A dditi onally, as ther e i s a bett er -tha n-
averag e chance t he toilet paper wi ll be gone, y our athlete s hould
have a personal supply!

The Start

Starting areas of significa nt ev ents will likely be d ivi ded int o

corrals a nd waves based on partic ipants’ estimated paces – faste st
up front , slow est in the back. T he corrals are oft en denoted by t he
color of the race number bibs and the race num bers . The ev ent
schedul e will i dentify when and w here your athl ete will start.

Before t he st art, have yo ur at hlete s replay the r ace game pl an in

their min d ‒ n othi ng sho uld co me a s a surpr ise. H avi ng a game
plan will help to r educe pre -rac e anxiety and inc rease performanc e.

If an at hlete must be at t he star t li ne long befor e the gun goes off

and col d is ex pec ted, it is advis ed to wear warm c lot hes that can
be disc arded bef ore the start. T hese are often t erm ed throwaway
clothes, and man y events donate t he garm ents l eft behind by
runners. Thrift st ores are great pl aces to pick up c heap, w arm
clothes!

Adhering to the Race Strategy

The ‘strategy’ for a race should contain multiple str ategies that
encomp ass al l ar eas of t he rac e. Below are a f ew of these
strategies:

• Nutrition
• Pacing/i ntens ity
• Mental aspect s
• If things go wr on g (more on thi s in the nex t secti on)

It is impo rtant t o stress to an at hle te the im porta nce of adhering t o

the race strat egy. The trai ning proc ess lea ding up to a race i s long
and met iculous – especially in r egard to nutrition an d
pacing/i ntens ity f or vario us sect io ns of th e cour se. Deviatio n,
especia lly substantial deviation from the race day st rategy i n one
more or areas can spell disast er f or an at hlete.

Things such as r unning at a higher intensity level, eating unfamiliar

food or drinki ng u nfamiliar drink s o r forgetti ng a bout one’s m ental
game pl an can substantially aff ect the succ ess o f an athlete on
race da y.

What To Do When Things Go Wrong

“Every one h as a plan unti l they get punched in t he

mouth.” This is a famous Mike Tys on quot e that more or less sums
up what happens when a n athl ete f ails to pl an for adversity. W hen
asked t o elaborat e on his quot e, T yson stated, “ People wer e aski ng
me [bef ore a f ight ], ‘What’s going t o happ en?,’ ” Tys on said. “The y
were talking about his styl e. ‘He’s going t o give you a lot of lateral
movement. He’s going t o mov e, he’s going to danc e. He’s going to
do this, do th at.’ I said, “ Ever ybo dy has a plan un til they g et hit.
Then, like a rat, they stop in fear and freeze.”

Unless an athlete has prepared in t raining f or specifi c situati ons,

they will likely un der or o verco mpe nsate or as Ty so n stated , they
will freeze.

A.D.A.P.T.

Due to t he number of variables, there is a better t ha n average

chance that t hing s will go wrong at some point in a r ace. As note d
previou sly, mi nim izing iss ues on race day i s largely predicat ed o n
the pre parati on t hat a runner does in traini ng.

Hopeful ly, the thi ngs that go w rong during a rac e w il l be minimal,
both in t erms of s cope a nd fre quency. How ever, r egardless of the
scope a nd s everit y of an i ssue on r ace day , an athlete needs to
know h ow to deal with it. T he A. D. A.P.T acronym pr ovides a
framework to dea l with iss ues that arise on race day .

This strategy als o seeks to reduce the chance of an athlete

panicki ng an d thr owing t heir race plan out the window. Most of the
time, m aking sm all, incr ement al changes is a mu ch better
course of acti on than revising a whole r ace pl an.

Accept: During a race, it’s easy to blow thi ngs out o f proport ion
and los e a rational perspective on things. It is al so easy for an
athlete t o pro ject their curr ent si tuation to the f utur e, and often i n a
worst-case scenario sort o f proj ect ion. An exam ple of this w ould be
getting a blist er and inste ad of appreciating the s ituation for what it
currently is and how to deal wit h it, an athlete solely focuses on
how it wi ll neg ati vely affe ct the ir r ace.

Staying in the pr esent is an i mpo rtant as pect of a ccepting

one’s c urrent sit uat ion. A nticipat ory anxi ety is a t erm that
describ es hav ing anxiety about an event in the f utur e. In ter ms of
running , this woul d apply with r espect to how one’s current
situation will a ffect them later in the race.

Diagnose: Thi s i s a prett y cut and dry ste p . “Wh at is the is sue?”
Whether it be a r olled ankle, it’ s pouring down r ain, or a side
stitch, an athlete needs to figure out what the issue is.

Analyze : This is t he step that an at hlete as sesses w hat’s go ing o n.

For exa mple, an athlete might hav e an ups et st oma ch. Thinking
through the c urrent situati on wil l al low an athlet e to plan a c ourse
of actio n.

An exa mple of thi s step w ould be an athlet e that roll ed their ankle :

“My ankl e hurt s but not t oo bad, I can wal k on it which is good a nd
I’m only one m ile from the finish.

Plan: In this st ep , an athl ete m akes an acti onable pl an to d eal wit h

the curr ent sit uati on. It g oes wit ho ut sayin g that the fewer is sues
an athl ete has to deal wit h, the eas ier it is to creat e a plan.
Convers ely, the greater th e number of issues, the m ore thinking is
involve d to figure out a s olution. W hile per haps over simplified,
when fa cing multi ple issues at t he same tim e, iss ues that have th e
most pot ential to be catastrop hic ( ex: over heati ng) should be de alt
with first.

T ake Action:

This is where the rubber hits the r oad. The prior step of
establis hing a pla n now m ust b e put into ac tion.

With res pect t o the athlet e that is overheat ed, below might be thei r
action p lan:

“I’m going to w alk to minim ize my effort an d focus on drin king to

cool my body and if I need to, I’ll s top under a shaded area to get
out of t he su n. O nce I fe el bett er, I’ll start a walk/r un strate gy.”

Did Not Finish (DNF)

While a ‘ Did N ot Finish’ (D NF) is not the goal of any athlete on
race da y, the real ity i s that if an at hlete races for long enough,
statistically sp eaking, a DNF is a high probability. Moreov er, som e
races h ave a higher DNF percentage than others.

From a coaching standpoint, th e m ain thing to get across to an

athlete i s that a DNF sho uld not have a negati ve connotati on
associ ated w ith it . Regar dless of how well an athlete prepares f or
a race, t here may be vari ous sc enarios out of their c ontrol that
makes c ontinuing ill advis ed. A ddit ionally, t he realit y is that thing s
do not always go as plan ned and despite an athlete having a DNF,
there ar e alw ays positive s to ta ke away fro m the ra ce as w ell as
learning experiences.

There are many reasons for a DNF , including but not limited to
being u nprepared, under -t rained, ri sky race strategy , injury/ill ness,
etc… Let’s analy ze some of these below t o gai n a bit more insig ht.

Injury/Ill ness: A s the saying goes , “Sh#t H appens.” Perhaps an

athlete f alls o n a descent and hits their kn ee so har d that t hey
cannot conti nue. While u nfortunate, there is nothing el se that coul d
be don e and stop ping is t he cor rec t decision.

Aggres sive Strat egy: The bigger t he risk, t he gr eat er the c hanc e
for failur e. An ath lete has to u nder stand th is bef ore adoptin g an
aggress ive race s trategy. That being said, s houl d an athlete set a n
ambitio us go al th at forces them to run at or near the ir maxim um
capacity and they DNF, there is nothing to be ashamed of.

Undertr ained/ Un prepared: These two areas are sy nonymous an d

unlike i njury o r a n aggre ssive r ac e strate gy, th ese two is sues
should not be a r eason f or a D NF. Whether an athl ete didn’t put in
enoug h traini ng ( mental/ physic al), didn’t tri al thei r n utrition
program or di dn’t do enough r esearch about the course… at the
end of t he day, is sues su ch as these are tr ainin g mi stakes t hat
should not occur.

Unsafe Conditi o ns: May be the temperatu re plumm eted

unexpe ctedly and put an athlet e at risk of hypother mia or perhap s
a freak li ghtni ng storm roll ed in m aking c ontinuing unsafe. In cases
such as these, the only correct ch oice is tha t of per sonal health
and saf ety.
Lastly, r egardl es s of the reaso n fo r a DNF, any r ac e analy sis with
an athl ete m ust not be done u ntil a few day s after the race… at a
minimum . Emot ions run h igh after a race and lik ely continue for a
few day s after it – espec ially if the race di dn’t go as planned.

During The Race

By the ti me th e st art gun goes off, your ath lete s hould know the
pacing and f ueling strate gy and how to deal with the most
unexpe cted t hings that mi ght c om e up. Ot her tactic s, such
as runni ng the t angents , must be r emembered and i mplemented on
race da y.

In the vi deo belo w, Nell R ojas dis cusses f uelin g str ategies for
maratho n raci ng and trai ning.

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The Finish

If an at hlete has f amily/frie nds t her e to che er th em o n, they shoul d

mutually agree upon a l ocation to meet at. Som e ev ents do not
allow sp ectat ors i n the fin ish ar ea, so selec ting a pr e -deter mined
meeting locati on i s import ant . Large event s ofte n have a fam ily an d
friends area near the finis h line. A dditionally, dir ect ly after a race,
an athl ete is advi sed to w alk ar ound to prevent bloo d pooli ng in
their leg s.
Post-Race Fueling

The eve nt is over , and it’s time t o celebrate … almo st. Your
athlete will need to refuel and hydr ate at t he end of the event,
either u sing t he f ood and drinks m ade av ailabl e by t he event or
brought by th e individual’ s famil y, friends, or coach… ideall y withi n
30 minu tes of fini shing.

Completing a running race is a huge accomplishment and deserves

celebrating, but not at the expense of one’s well - bei ng. You r
athlete shoul d wa it a few hours aft er the ra ce a nd preferabl y at
dinner t hat e veni ng to have al cohol ‒ and only the n in moderati on .
Alcohol has a mu ch more signifi ca nt effect on a n at hlete p ost-rac e
than un der normal conditi ons. T he primary post -race drink should
be wate r and an electroly te replac ement drink.

Runner s sacrif ice a lot to train f or a race. Some of t hese thi ngs are
their fre e time and their f avorit e (and may be not so healthy) food
and dri nks. B ecause of t hese sacr ifices, m any runners go cr azy a t
dinner after fi nishing a race to r ew ard themselves f or their
sacrifice s. Whil e this is deserved, the body is pr obably not used t o
a triple- decker cheeseburger w ith a plate of gravy f ries. Therefore ,
it is advi sable to eat relat ively healthy and in moderation.

Post-Race Care

Many ev ents hav e compli ment ary post -rac e mas sages and
stretches avail abl e for participa nts. This is a servic e that will help
in the re covery process. While hopefully, your athlete is not a
candid ate for the medical unit at an event, they nee d to know tha t
there is t hat l evel of supp ort, if ne ed be.

Depen ding on a r unner’s level of f atigue post -race, some w alking

around is hel pful in the recover y pr ocess. H owev er, it is ill -advised
to spen d the rem ainder of the day after a r ace c onst antly walking
around. This will likely hinder t he r ecovery process and, more to
the poi nt, your at hlete mi ght not be able t o do so. T h erefor e, it is
probabl y not a good idea for y our athlete to mak e pl ans that
require l ots of energy aft er a race. The lon ger t he r ace, the more
applica ble thi s is.
Post-Race Assessment

Upon fi nishing a r ace, your athl ete will likely be exhausted and
feeling a wide range of emoti ons f rom elati on to
disapp ointment. Regardl ess of th e emotio nal r esp onse, a self -
asses sment of o ne’s per formance directl y aft er an event is not
recom mended. Y our athl ete s houl d wait u ntil having a chance t o
clean u p, ref uel, and rel ax bef ore assessi ng ho w the race w ent.

Self-ass essment will provi de both you and the athlete with v aluab le
information. The following areas represent comm on assessments:

• Areas in whic h th e athlet e felt pre pared and u nderprepared

• Strengt hs and weakness es
• Accurac y of paci ng
• Fueling strategy

Odds and Ends

• Most hot els have a check out ti me i n the lat e mor ning. Your
athlete shoul d try to get a late che ckout or book the hotel fo r
another day t o have somewher e to get cleaned up a nd
recover after t he race.
• Please r emem ber to tell y our at hlete to thank the ev ent
organiz ers and v olunteers for all t heir har d work !
• Maintai ning a proper diet and hydr ation levels during travel i s
essenti al. Do not rely on f ast food at airpor ts and ga s station s
for fuel while tr av eling.
 • Allow ample ti me for pre -r ace ac tiv ities. Your ath let e does not
want to be on such a tight schedule that a slight delay might
negativ ely aff ect other as pects of r ace preparati on.
• Big race s ofte n h ave a h ost h otel where t he ex po/r ace pick-up
is also at. This is often preferable as it mini mizes the runni ng
around that an at hlete will need to do.
Summary
• Before l eavin g fo r an eve nt, yo ur a thlete m ust g o thr ough a
checklist to make sure nothing is f orgotten.
• If flying t o an eve nt, runni ng s hoes must be taken as a carry -
on.
• If traveli ng to a p opular event, it is advise d to m ake
lunch/di nner reservations ahead of time.
• Knowledge of a r ace cou rse is ext remely i mportant.
• Once at hletes have their r ace program, they should create a
time-bas ed sc hedule to e n sure they are where t hey need to
be at ce rtain t ime s.
• In order to be co mfortabl e raci ng i n bad w eath er, o ne has t o
train in it .
• Your at hlete must be aware of all t he rules of th e race.
• Nothing new on r ace day !
• The athlete should do some, but not too much, walk ing after
the race .
• If a race has an a thlete tr acking sy stem, yo ur ath let e shoul d
inform friends and family so they can track the runner during
the race .
• Have at hletes set multiple alarm s on race day t o ensure the y
do not oversl eep.
• Post-rac e fueli ng a nd car e are criti cal to recovery .
• A runner should have a plan/ strat egy for if and when things
go wrong
• When things go w rong, us e the A.D .A.P.T str ategy
• If stayin g in a hot el, it is a dvise d t o book a roo m for an
additional da y so athletes hav e somewher e to cl ean up and
rest after their ev ent.
• Following are areas that must be focused on the week before
a race:
• Rest and recover y
• Nutrition and hydration
• Supplies
• Confirm travel pl ans (if any)
Module 22: Keeping it Legal

When st arting up a runni ng coach practice, many individual s forg et

about t he legal aspect. T his is especially t he cas e with indi vidual s
who star t up a coaching practice as a side gig to their full -ti me job .

The reality is that no matter how la rge or small your coaching

busines s is, y ou mu st appreciate t he lega l aspects t hat go along
with starting a business.

This lesson prima rily serves as a r eminder to ensur e that you have
researc hed a nd c hecked all of the necess ary boxes in terms of
running (pun inte nded) y our coaching busi ness.

You’ve l ikely heard the acrony m C OA (cov er your a$$). Well , it

could n ot be truer when w orking wi th athlet es si nce you are
advisin g them on matters t hat pert ain to their body and physical
health.

UESCA has m ade a signifi cant effort to cov er all per tinent legal
areas a s it rel ates to start ing and running a coachi ng pract ice in
this less on. H owe ver, you shoul d n ot view t he co nte nt in this
lesson as an exhaustive l ist. Y ou are strongly advi sed to s peak
with an attorney in your st ate/country that c an advise you o n
matters pertai ning to star ting and running a coachi ng busi ness.

Legal Considerations
As a run ning coa ch, you will be ad vising cli ents on matters t hat
involve their physical well - being. B ecause of thi s and the fact tha t
we live in a highly litigious society, pr otecti ng y ours elf from li ability
is of par amount importance.
T he informatio n in this m odule should not be co nstrued as
legal ad vice. Consult a li cens ed attorney i n you r jurisdiction
regardi ng any topic in this module.

Upon c omplet ion of this lesson, you shoul d hav e an underst andi ng
of the f ollowin g areas:

• Insurance and certifications

• Athlete healt h scr eening
• Liability waiver
• Personal con duct
• Scope of practice
• Documenting wor kouts
• What constitut es a perfor manc e -enhancing aid
• Physiol ogical test ing reg arding a physician’ s presence
• Legal business st ructure

As note d above, t his less on will focus on t he ni ne areas above.

This lesson is crit ical as many full - time and part - tim e coaches d o
not hav e the corr ect struc ture and operati ons to prot ect them selve s
from law suits. Moreover, many coaches op erate som e aspec ts of
their bu siness es t hat are not le gal.

Insurance
Let’s sta rt by dis cussing worki ng with an athlet e in a healt h clu b or
like environment. Most health clubs are required to carry insurance
that cov ers th eir staff, so if a healt h club employ s y ou, mor e tha n
likely, you do not need to purchase additi onal insurance.

Suppos e you perf orm coa ching ses sions at a per sonal traini ng
studio or apartme nt gym. In that case, the facility wil l most lik ely
require you to show proof of liabili ty insurance and possibly a
person al training or coac hing c ertif ication. Most f acil ities require at
least a $1 million policy and require inclusion on the insurance
policy a s “add itio nal insu red.” I f th is is the case, the apart ment
complex /studi o w ill inform you of t he exac t nam e to put on the
insuran ce pol icy. There is typically no extr a cost to add an
additio nal ins ured party t o a polic y. Depending on where y ou
purchas e you r insurance, the pric e typical ly ranges between $100
and $4 00 annuall y for a $1 milli on policy.

If you ar e trai nin g a clie nt via t he internet or els ew here, it i s still

advisab le to get a $1 milli on polic y to ens ure that y ou are c overe d
for almo st any thi ng that could hap pen.

Before purchasing insurance, m ake sur e that th e policy cove rs

the type of trai ni ng you w ill be p roviding , as in s ome cas es,
fitness-based ins urances do not c over sport -specifi c training. For
exampl e, a policy might c over r oad running but not t rail runni ng.

CPR/AED Certification

You ne ed to be C PR/A ED certifi ed if you coach i n person. CP R

stands for car diopulmon ary res usc itation, and A ED stands
for an a utom ated external defibrillator . The two pr im ary
organiz ations tha t provide CPR/ AE D training in t he United States
are the Americ an Red Cr oss (A RC ) and the Am eric an Hear t
Associat ion (A HA ). The ot her basic certificat ion offered by both
ARC an d AHA is f irst aid, which i s suggest ed but required by
UESCA.

CPR/AE D is not a prerequisite t o t aking the UE SCA Running Coach

certificati on exam , as many coaches solely work w ith athletes in a
virtual c apacity. However , as noted above, if you are going to be
working with athlete’s in- person, y ou need to be CP R/AED
certified.
Athlete Health Screening

All athle tes m ust complet e the Health Histor y Qu estionnaire

(HHQ) a nd Ph ysi cal Acti vity R ea diness Questi on naire
(PARQ). The gol d stand ard for he alth screening for ms withi n the
US is the Americ an Coll ege of Sports Medicine ( A CSM). A CSM
provide s the guidelines f or exer cis e/testing pres cription in t he
fitness i ndustr y. Assessi ng an athl ete using these t wo tools (HHQ
and PA RQ) wil l gi ve you a good pic ture of t heir over all healt h an d
potenti al risk f act ors.

Sample PARQ and HHQ q uesti ons are not ed in Module 1 2: Athlet e
Intake. I t is str ongly advi sed that t he PAR Q and HH Q questi ons
noted i n Module 12 not be us ed “as is” with client s without
consulting legal counsel.

Liability Waiver

It would help i f y ou had your athle tes sign liabilit y waivers. The
waiver should absolve you of all liability and responsibility f or all
potenti al situations, including deat h. An at torney should dr aw up
this waiv er. Ho we ver, man y coa che s/trainer s get t hei r waivers off
the inter net. Whil e a waiv er do es n ot preve nt yo u fro m being sued ,
it helps protect you in th e event of a lawsuit. If you decide t o use
a liabilit y wai ver from the inter n et, it is advis ed to have it
review ed by an attorney in yo ur local jur isdict io n.

Personal Conduct

You mu st conduc t yoursel f prof ess ionally and under stand that ho w
others perceiv e y our acti ons and v erbia ge is su bject ive. T herefore ,
you must alw ays err on t he sid e of cautio n reg ar ding you r
actions and lang uage. W hile th is holds for athl etes of all ages, it
is especially true when working with minors. For example, any
physical cont act not nec essary fro m a c oaching per spective shou ld
not occ ur. Ex amples of normal phy sical contact w ith in a
coach/a thlet e rel ationshi p are phy sical cueing of ex ercises, t aking
anthrop ometri c m easurements, and assist ed str etching. Not e that
even wit hin th ese areas, proper ju dgment must be exercised. For
exampl e, whe n taking the ches t gir th meas urement of a fem ale
athlete, the c orre ct metho d is t o in struct th e athl ete to hold t he
tape me asure at chest level and to assess t he gi rth measur ement
from be hind t hem . If perfo rming a hip gir th meas urement, it shoul d
be take n from the athlete’ s side rat her tha n from the front or rear.

Before performing any action th at requires physical con tact,

you must infor m an individual w hat it is you int end to do and
the purpo se of t he actio n. You m ust ob tain consent regardi ng thi s
type of physic al c ontact. Do no t as sume th at this pe rtains o nly to
coachin g the opposite sex. Regardless of t he ag e or gender of a n
athlete, this p roto col must be fo llo wed. Fol lowin g is an exa mple of
a prope r way to i nform an at hl ete of your proposed action and a sk
for cons ent:

“Sara, during t h e back- row exer cise, I t ypical ly place m y

fingers o n the m idback muscl es to ensur e that th e corre ct
muscle s are bei ng activated. Ho wever, befor e I do this, I want
to make sure yo u are co mfo rt abl e with thi s.”

If an at hlete’s an swer is “ No,” you cannot physic ally cue them

during t his ex erci se or lik ely dur ing any exercis e.

Anythin g that could consti tute phys ical or s exual abuse (verbal or
physical) is pr ohi bited. W hat is co nsidere d abuse is hi ghly
subjective, so yo u must always be aware of your ac tions. If your
athlete states tha t someth ing y ou are doi ng ma kes them
uncomf ortabl e, y ou must discontinue this action im mediately.

Scope Of Practice
Upon p assing the running certifi cat ion exam, you wil l be a c ertified
coach – not a doctor, not a physic al therapist, or a register ed
dieticia n. It is crit ical that this is understo od and, m ore to t he poi nt,
practice d and res pected. As a prof essional, you must under stan d
your professional limits and res ponsibilities. As mentioned
previou sly in t his certificati on, t he f ollowing is a li sti ng of thi ngs
that you cann ot do as a certifi ed UESCA Runni ng Coach:

1. Prescrib e med ica tions or sports su ppleme nts

2. Prescrib e a n utrit ional pr ogram *
3. Diagnose and/or treat any injur y or perceiv ed m edi cal
condition
4. Manual therapy s uch as massage, trigger point, etc ….…

* Check with t he l ocal an d stat e laws

You can infor m and edu cate b ut never p rescr ibe any
medicat ion, spo rts suppl ement, or nutriti on prog ram. No r can
you diag nose or treat an y inju ry or medi cal co ndi tion.

Regardi ng m edic ations and s upplements, m ost anyt hing th at can

be purc hased in a drugst ore f alls i nto things that cannot be
prescrib ed or administer ed by you. Some of the thi ngs that fall i nto
this cate gory, ev en though th ey ar e not necess arily prescript ion
medicati ons, are:

• Pain reli evers/ ant i-inflamm atories ( e.g., Advil®, Tylenol ®)

• Decongestants (e.g., Sudafed®)
• Diet pills (e.g., w ater pills)
Scope of Practice Scenarios

Following are thr ee scenarios alon g with the corr ect way to handl e
them:

Scenari o One

Athlete: Your athlete com es to you with a s ore ankle that has not
been g etting bett er over t he last t wo traini ng sessi ons and is
seeking your advi ce on h ow to deal with it.
Coach: Assumi ng you have ev aluat ed their biom echanics before
working with the individual and have advised the person on proper
form, at t his p oint , the pr ofessi onal thing to do is to make a r eferra l
to a spe cialist .

Scenari o T wo

Athlete: Your athlete just read about a new diet in a recent

magazi ne arti cle and wants you to put together a si milar diet for
her.

Coach: You need to infor m her t ha t you cannot do s o because th is

is the realm of a registered dietici an (RD), not a running c oach. It
would b e adv isable to ref er her to an RD t o get her questions
answer ed and a nutrition plan m ade for her .

Scenari o T hree

Athlete: Your athlete wants to i ncorporate an ov er -t he-counter

ergoge nic sports supplement i nto his program and wants to know
which is the best one to get and how much t o tak e per day.

Coach: You c an only inf orm your athlete about the purport ed
effects of the sup plement , assu min g you ar e kn owle dgeabl e about
it. Advisi ng the athlete to take it and advising on how much to take
is outside your scope of practice. Just b ec ause most sports
supple ments are over -the -counter does not mean th ey cannot ha rm
an indiv idual.

Document Workouts

Anythin g you do or advis e your at hletes o n needs t o be

docume nted. Not doing s o leav es y ou legally ex posed if an athlet e
questio ns something you did or suggested that caused the pers on
harm. A dditionall y, it is advised to be as s pecifi c as possibl e. For
exampl e, let us s ay your athlet e accused you of as signing push -
ups that resul ted in a sho ulder inju ry. If you did n ot docume nt th e
exercise, it is t heir word agains t y ours. However , if you doc umen t
your sessions, yo u can state with certainty if you did or did not
perform push - ups during t he s essi on. This also has to do wi th
asking f or an d re ceiving f eedback during s essio ns. You sh ould b e
asking athlet es if they ar e experiencing any pai n during exercises,
especia lly dur ing strength and flexi bility trai ning. I f pain is fel t, you
need to modi fy or cease t he ac tivit y and docum ent f eedbac k.

Before workin g with athl etes, yo u must i nform t h em t hat i f they

feel any pain or discomf ort past what is expected, they must
let you know a t t hat time (ass umi ng you a re wo rki ng with th em
in perso n). If y ou’re not worki ng with an athlet e in person, the
individual must cease th e activity and let you know that day via
email or phone.

Detaile d infor mati on you can provi de about a s ession and i nformi ng
your athlete what you expect regarding feedback wil l reduce your
potenti al exposur e to legal acti on against you.

Ergogenic Aids

It is esse ntial t o discuss what i s legal and illegal regarding

ergoge nic ai ds. Many people automatically think of doping when
they he ar the wor ds performanc e -enhanci ng or ergogenic ai ds.
However , this could be anythi ng fr om a cof fee i n the morni ng to t he
use of ill egal dru gs. What is im por ta nt to note is that the rul es an d
nothing else mak e a sub stanc e or product illegal. A sport’s
governi ng body c ould ban orange j uice tom orrow, and what was a
legal, healthy drink toda y is a banned substance tomorrow. For
exampl e, caff eine is consi dered a ban ned subs tanc e within some
sports but only in high concentrati ons.

Some dr ugs get a bit tricki er, par ti cularly involving i ndividuals wit h
asthma. Most sports ban t he dr ug albuter ol (bronchodilator) , a
perform ance - enhancing aid. H owever, a therapeutic use
exempti on (TU E) that req uires a do ctor’s ap prova l al lows us age for
those w ho need it . A TUE states that an individual n eeds to use a
banne d subs tanc e to bring the per son up t o the lev el of “regular”
particip ants. An athlete needs to b e familiar with banned
substan ces t o know wher e the line between legal and illegal lies.
Many at hletes who test positive for controll ed subst ances do not
conscio usly do s o. They may have unkno wingly tak en a vit amin o r
sports supplemen t containing trace amounts of a banned
substance. It i s always an athl ete’s respo nsibil ity to know the
contents of ev er ything th ey ing est.
If a US-based runner has a question regar ding a TU E or whether a
specific drug is o n the banned list, the individual sh ould contact
the US Anti -D opi ng Agency (U SA DA) for m ore information. If
residing outsi de t he US, t he countr y’s national g over ning body,
nationa l anti - dopi ng age ncy, and/o r the Wor ld Anti - Doping Agen cy
(WADA) should be contacted.

Physiological Testing

The leg al aspect of physi ologic al t es ting has a l ot t o do wit h the

administ rator’s sc ope of practic e and local laws. Let us take bloo d
lactate testing, for example. It is the responsibility of a coac h to
researc h all local laws about t he drawing and di spo sal of bl ood ‒
before perfor ming a blo od lac tate test.

Another physi ological tes t wort h m entioni ng is t he V O2 max test.

The VO 2 max tes t takes an individual to the ph ysical limit
regardi ng car diopulmonar y stres s. Many la bs that test VO2 max
require a doct or’s presence. W hile having a doc tor on hand durin g
a VO2 m ax test i s not required by law in m ost pl aces, it is worth
performi ng due di ligence to confir m this. If based on an at hlete’ s
HHQ an d PAR -Q results, y ou feel t he indiv idual should not do a
VO2 ma x test, a sub -max imal t est might be a b etter option f or this
individual, or perhaps no test would be be st. Regardless, any sub -
maximal or maxi mal test shoul d be done with an A ED pres ent and
with the athlete haven gotten physician clearance for the tes t. If a
VO2 ma x test i s administ ered, the ad minis trator i s assumed to b e
qualifie d to ru n th e test a nd full y u ndersta nds t he pr otocol.

Unless you are qualified to ad m inister a VO2 max test and ha ve

a physi cian and AED on - site, it i s advis ed to o ut source t his
test or p erfor m a sub -m axim al V O2 ass essm ent.

Business Formation

When st arting your coac hing business, you will need to det ermin e
what type of legal business structure it will operate. The four
primary t ypes of busines s struc tur es (US -based) ar e:

• Sole Pr opriet orship

• Partners hip
• Limited Liabili ty Corporation ( LLC )
• Corporation

Of thes e four structures, only the LLC and corporate structur es

create a legal identity that is separ ate from you. Thi s means that if
you wer e on t he l osing end of a lawsuit, as sets c ould be collecte d
only fro m the company and not your personal asset s, such as yo ur
house or pers onal financ es. Thi s is becaus e the law suit would be
against your c om pany a nd not aga inst you perso nall y.

Therefore, it is highly recomme nded that you structure your

coachin g bus ines s as a legal entit y th at is entirely separat e from
you.

It is stro ngly a dvi sed to w ork th rou gh an accou ntant , attorn ey, or
compan y/indi vidual speci alizing in busines s form ations. The
followin g are t hre e things that you will likely need to be esta blish ed
if setting up your company as an L LC or corporat ion.

1. Local B usiness Li cense(s)

• If doing busi ness under a nam e oth er than your own, you
might need t o file a doing busi ness as (DBA ) form wi th
your business na me.
2. Federal Tax ID # (also called Empl oyee Identification Number
or EIN)
3. Busines s checking accou nt

Summary
• If you ar e coa chi ng inde pendently , you ne ed to pur chase
professi onal li abil ity insur ance.
• As a coach, b eing CPR/A ED certif ied is an abs olute
requirem ent if working wit h athl etes in pers on.
• Prior to workin g with athl etes, they must fill out a H HQ,
PARQ, and li abili ty waiver .
• Ideally, you s houl d have an att orne y draft a nd/or rev iew
these docum ents.
• You must alw ays appreci ate and w ork withi n your sc ope of
knowledge and pr actice.
• Document wor kouts
• Be sure of all loc al laws prior to p erforming test s s uch as
blood l actate and VO2 Max.
• If your a thlete is performi ng a s ub- maximal aerobic
assessm ent, t he i ndividual mus t get physici an clearance prio r
to perfor ming the assess ment.
• If coachi ng in dep endentl y, it is ad vised to creat e a separat e
legal entity for your business.
• Your personal conduct m ust al way s be professional . This
includes correspondence via p hone and em ail.