Resistance Training for Distance Runners

An area of popular disagreement amongst sport scientists and coaches involves the role of resistance training in endurance sports.  I've seen this debate first hand as a college distance runner, a young researcher, and as a coach.  I'm investigating this topic further as a part of my thesis, and wanted to share a few thoughts by assessing the topic from both a sport coach (distance running) and sport scientist's point of view.  I'm planning to address different aspects of this debate in subsequent posts...

Coaches Perspective:
Most distance running coaches incorporate some sort of circuit type strength training into their runner's training program.  It is their goal to develop muscular endurance through light weight, high repetition exercises.  Rationale includes "being able to hold your form and not break down" and just developing overall strength.  Not much emphasis is placed on progression and the resistance training is viewed simply as supplemental to the running training.  Coaches avoid recommending heavy lifting in fear of having their athletes gain weight and/or become injured.  Olympic lifts are largely ignored most likely because of the teaching component.  Distance running coaches are reluctant to involve strength and conditioning coaches in the process because of their general lack of knowledge toward the culture of endurance sports (a topic for another day).  Another issue is time.  With the NCAA only allowing 20 hours of training per week in season (8 hours out of season), it can be difficult to fit everything in.  Coaches use circuit and "core" type training because it's quick and relatively easy to teach.

Sport Scientist's Perspective:
In the weight room distance runners should train for strength and power.  Muscular endurance is developed while running, so trying to enhance this characteristic through resistance training is redundant and unnecessary.  The weight room should be a place to develop attributes that cannot be enhanced during the sporting activity itself.  For distance runners (and most athletes) the focus should be on enhancing strength and power with a periodized program that takes into account the racing schedule and athlete's level of training.  Improvements in strength will allow for enhancement of economy and efficiency which means faster sustained running.  Emphasis should be placed on maximal loading to enhance neuromuscular recruitment.  If structured properly this should not illicit a hypertrophic response.

Coaches and Scientists don't always agree.  I think both groups can learn from one another if issues are put into perspective and viewed with an open mind.  Coaches are reluctant to listen to scientists because "conclusions drawn from the lab aren't always applicable to real world situations."  On the other hand, scientists don't always take coaches seriously because, "they don't have data to support their claims." 

So What's This All About...

I figured the first post should be some sort of an introduction...

I've created this blog to serve as a forum to discuss current topics related to sport and coaching (as if you couldn't figure that out from the title...) My background as an athlete involved playing a number of team sports (basketball, football, soccer, baseball) as a child.  I spent much of my free time outdoors cycling, fishing, and just enjoying the fresh air.  Going into high school I thought basketball would be my sport of choice and in order to get in shape for the freshman team I decided to run cross country that fall.  Immediately I fell in love with the sport and without it I wouldn't be the person I am today.

As a cross country runner I enjoyed the unique opportunity of competing as an individual but also for the team.  Unlike much of my prior competitive experience, the results of a cross country race lied solely in my hands (or feet?).  After a poor race I had no one to blame but myself, and after a great performance no one could argue with the definitive nature of the stop-watch. Growing up playing middle and high school team sports was defined by coaches favoritism and politics (I think this is the case in many places) and having a chance to get away from that was truly refreshing.  I still played basketball up until my junior year of high school, but knew that I wanted to run competitively in college.

Going through the recruiting process was a fun experience and getting a chance to see different schools and take official visits was a great way to cap off my senior year of high school.  I wasn't fast enough to draw any serious scholarship considerations (4:28 1600, 10:03 3200), but I knew I wanted to run somewhere where I could improve.  My high school coaches were great in getting me passionate about the sport, but I needed more.  James Madison University was the only Division 1 school that really recruited me and after taking an official visit to Harrisonburg, Virginia I was hooked.   JMU was a beautiful school in the Shenandoah Valley with mountains all around.  After seeing the great places to train I decided to run for JMU that following fall.  I also enrolled in their Exercise Science program (I wasn't really interested in studying anything else, and exercise was something I enjoyed, so I gave it a go).

My experience at James Madison was both a blessing and a curse.  One month into my freshman year the athletic department decided that they would be eliminating a number of varsity sports (men's XC and track included) because of Title IX incompliance.  Having just gotten settled into a new place and being away from home for the first time I was put in a tough spot.  Luckily four of my best friends and I decided to transfer together and run for George Mason University in Fairfax, Virgina.  The team was young and the coach had just arrived the year before, so everyone was new to the system.  Revisiting and reapplying to new schools was aggravating while still finishing out our first (and last) year at JMU, but we managed to get through it.  That was the curse...As for the blessing I was able to meet a group of guys who I can honestly say were (and still are) second to none.  My teammates at James Madison were wonderful and truly cared about each other.  We ran, ate, and spent all of our time together.  In what many people would argue to be a largely individual sport, the cross country team at James Madison was just that...a TEAM.

Before leaving JMU I remember sitting down with Coach Rinker (Head Cross Country Coach at JMU) to discuss his thoughts of training and hopefully learn something.  It was a long conversation in which he described to me how he lays out our annual training plan and divides the season into separate segments with different focuses. It was my first encounter with "periodization", and I was really intrigued by this concept.  Prior to this talk I just always did what my coach said.  I knew there was a rhyme and reason to our training, but as far as putting it all together I didn't have a clue.  My extent of training theory knowledge to this point involved reading "Running with the Buffaloes" (which is still one of my favorite books) and deciding that in order to get better I just needed to run more mileage (pretty simple right?).  This conversation was really inspiring to me and served as a catalyst to my ever-growing interest in sport science and coaching.

Arriving at George Mason University that following fall was a new start with a new program. Academically I stayed with Exercise Science (even though the program at GMU was geared more toward clinical application than athletic performance...)  Athletically I was exposed to a new system and coaching philosophy.  Head Coach Andy Gerard had come to Mason after a stint at Stanford where he was pretty successful (Men's NCAA XC Champs with a team score that would have tied the rest of the country combined!).  The next 2.5 years running for him was a wonderful opportunity for me to develop as an athlete (and as an aspiring coach).  When I received our summer training program for my first season at Mason I was totally surprised (and excited) to read through the countless pages of information.  Coach Gerard is a planner and pays attention to many of the little things that can make good athletes great.  For the first time I had a daily running schedule for the entire summer, detailed explanations of core and strength training routines, as well as an introductory email describing our team's goals for the season and program philosophy. Again these were things that I had thought about, but had never really seen spelled out so clearly on paper.

During my time at George Mason I improved steadily as an athlete every year and finished my final outdoor track season with a 10K PR of 31:49 at our Conference Meet.  Again, far from spectacular, but a proud accomplishment nonetheless.  I spent countless hours in Coach Gerard's office while at Mason and I'm sure I annoyed him a bit with all my questions.  Over the years he lent me a number of training texts which I was happy to read (and they actually ended up helping me out quite a bit with my coursework as well).  The conversations he and I had helped to develop my own training theories.  The wealth of knowledge I acquired from these conversations, while not in the traditional "academic" sense, were a wonderful learning experience.

The person who sparked my interest in sport science was my Exercise Physiology professor Dr. Jason Winchester.  During my junior year I had approached him to work on a research project.  I didn't know it at the time, but this decision ended up being one of the best I've ever made.  Dr. Winchester served as my mentor on an undergraduate research project assessing the efficacy of cold-water immersion in treating delayed onset muscle soreness.  Putting together a comprehensive literature review that underwent countless revisions was a test of perseverance and patience.  I've found that becoming totally immersed in a topic is a great way of learning, and having to defend my research brought out the best in me.

After graduating from GMU in December 2009 I took an intern position within the United States Olympic Committee's Strength and Conditioning Department.  Some would say that distance running and traditional strength and conditioning aren't really related, but that's a topic for another day.  While in school I was required to take a weight training course taught by our strength and conditioning coach.  This experience was both eye opening (I wasn't familiar with the Olympic Lifts or strength training theory) and gratifying (I was able to learn!).  I took this knowledge as well as some extra studying and took (and passed) the NSCA's CSCS exam.  At 6'0" and 155lbs I was by far the smallest person in that testing room....

My position with the USOC involved general maintenance and supervision of the weight room as well as some teaching and program design for the developmental athletes.  Lake Placid, the winter sports headquarters, gave me an opportunity to work with a new group of athletes in sports that I wasn't familiar with.  The Director of Strength and Conditioning there, Jason Hartman, helped me to learn and understand the importance of developing strength and power in all athletes.  Having the chance to discuss a variety of topics with him on a daily basis was without a doubt the most beneficial aspect of this internship.  We came from very different sporting backgrounds (he's a former college football player) yet shared many of the same philosophies on training and nutrition.

My past experiences have also included working for two summers with ZAP Fitness (A Team USA Distance Running Training Center), volunteering at the 2008 Olympic Track and Field Trials in Eugene, Oregon, coaching a few runners with a broad spectrum of talent, working as a manager in a campus fitness center, refereeing youth basketball games, and working at a few high school cross country camps.  As is the case with any new adventure, each of these experiences has helped shape my thoughts and opinions on the topics that will be discussed in future posts.

I’m currently in a master’s degree program in Exercise Physiology at Appalachian State University in Boone, NC.  I’m the graduate assistant cross country/track coach and also work in the Exercise Science Department’s Neuromuscular Laboratory.

Hopefully this blog will serve as a medium for intelligent discussion and an opportunity for people to share their thoughts and opinions on anything and everything involving sport, coaching, and human performance.