Holding Good Form
You may have noticed the common theme of holding good form in all categories of training listed above. It is important to hold good form in both training and performing to prevent injury, develop (and produce) the movement that is most efficient, and to develop (and use) the aerobic infrastructure for that movement. Baseline Sessions can help us find our starting point… a bit of measurement of form and fitness. For identifying if we are holding Good Form, we turn to simple observation/Video analysis:
- With Running, a treadmill (Laufband) is very useful…
- With Cycling, your bicycle on an indoor trainer (Rollentrainer, turbo trainer) can help.
- With running and cycling a video setup centered at hip level from the side, back, and front could be useful
- With swimming a video setup above and below water from the side and the front could be useful.
- In regard to camera setting a higher frames-per-second (fps) is important.
The measurement of Fitness will allow us to get a better understanding of Training Stress specific to you leading to better progression of training and lowering the chances of overtraining… In TRAININGPEAKS™ we use the Training Stress Score (TSS) (TRAININGPEAKS™ Article: Click Here). In the Baseline Sessions we are looking to measure your Threshold (a measurement you can hold for an extended period of time). Beyond the Baseline Sessions there will be occasions where training sessions (and performances) can be intense enough that it will give us a new threshold.
The Platform and Movement Patterns
The Core is the platform from where movements can work from. I describe the core as the body from hips to shoulders. This platform could also be looked at as a springboard… that must be suspended in good shape with the right kind of muscle tension. In simple terms the base for this platform starts with square shoulders, square hips, and a neutral pelvic tilt.
Movement patterns are basically coordinated series of movements around joints and involve many muscle actions of tugging, stabilizing, and slowing down… Running is suddenly a very complex activity. The same goes for Swimming and Cycling… The joints of the body are set up to want to move a certain way and muscles are attached in a way to create efficient movements… That does not automatically mean everyone is efficient in a movement. Bodies adapt to what is placed on them… including sitting at a desk 40 to 60 hours a week (add in your form of commuting… sitting). Some muscles tighten and others weaken. Then when it comes to running (or another movement pattern) the body wants to stay in line with what it is used to… sitting.
Overuse injuries can occur when you are telling the body one thing (running) and the body wants to do another (sitting). At the same time more energy is needed for the individual running the same distance with an inefficient movement pattern.
For a body that is more used to sitting then movement, developing stability/flexibility/power in a particular movement pattern (Swimming/Cycling/Running) is difficult… drills and stability/power exercises (Strength exercises) that work on the individuals can help. I would be cautious with fitness machines that guide you in the particular movement pattern it wants you to. A good aerobic system must be developed alongside the development of the movement patterns to bring everything together… the endurance athlete produces one power movement over and over again.
Force production creates the movement, The Aerobic infrastructure allows you to do this continuous
Force production creates the movement, The Aerobic infrastructure allows you to do this continuous. When the skill in performing the movement patterns improve, efficiency improves and likelihood for injury decreases. This involves the combined effort of muscles stabilizing and moving through a joint. Flexibility, Stability, Power, Endurance.
Swimming form, Cycling form, and Running form come with their own unique challenges to develop.
Swimming Form… we are moving our body through water; the body gets minimal feedback to interpret as we are passing through. With training we would like to minimize the resistance of our bodies against the flow of water, at the same time we try to develop the production of force against the water to allow us to pull and push our bodies through the water.
Cycling Form… earlier I cautioned about using fitness machines as it guides you in a particular movement pattern. In a way the bicycle does the same thing. The trick is to set up the bike to work with your biomechanics. The points of contact are your feet with the pedals, sit bones with the saddle, and hands/arms with the handlebars/arm rests. The saddle and handlebars/arm rests should be set up in a manner to allow for body shift as you are moving through a variety of terrain and conditions. With training we would like to minimize the resistance of our bodies (with our bicycle set up) against the flow of air, at the same time we try to develop the production of force against the pedals to allow us to move across the terrain and conditions.
Running Form… in a similar manner to cycling, the body should be able to shift (in running form) given the terrain and conditions. An individual can use multiple running forms throughout an event. I more recently started adapting my run… Would consider the following: absorb landing with quadriceps, pull body forward with glutes, and allow legs to swing forward.
Activating the right muscles
The sessions above describe exercises that are somewhat continuous in nature. There is another focus that is very important in training… Supportive exercises called Activation Sessions help activate the muscles needed during the session and performance.
- Strong muscle attachments to the bone
- Bone density
- Muscle density
- Movement
- Coordination of muscle contraction
- acceleration, deceleration, and stabilization
- Aerobic Infrastructure