Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Why Are You Doing That?


I just wanted to take a moment to clarify a training philosophy question.  Admittedly this may be my ego speaking, but it’s a question that’s come up more than a few times so there may be more confusion than I realized.  It’s also a topic on which I want everyone to be clear.  (Well, those who actually read my stuff, anyway…)

Last year I competed in a Spartan Race – one of a few types of outdoor obstacle course races.  I’ve also signed on to do 3 more in 2013 (more on that below).  At the TR we’ve also added a Competition Training Small Group session to our schedule to specifically address the training protocols of regular, non-professional athletes like us who are now competing in ultra-marathons, triathlons, obstacle course races, mud runs, etc. 

If you’re somebody who doesn’t have the advantage of youth anymore, has a job, family, etc. training for these events poses some major challenges.  Challenges that if I may be so bold to say, require the guidance of a knowledgeable fitness professional who can accurately assess injury risk and improve performance simultaneously for this demographic.

The confusion has apparently been borne from my previous discussions (lectures? rants?) where I have made a point of saying those types of events are a bad idea for most of us.

They are.

The confusion, I believe comes not from my answers, but from two different questions.

If the question is the following: “Is endurance training such as distance running, biking, etc. healthy for you or a good way to stay fit?”

The answer is an unequivocal NO.  

Any kind of long duration training is not intense enough to force metabolic changes (which is what burns body fat) and due to the fatigue borne from such training, impossible to do in a correct bio-mechanical position.  The repetitive movement in an incorrect bio-mechanical position will lead to injury either chronic or acute.  This is not a question of “if” it will, but “when” it will.  This is something I believed several years ago and has been confirmed through my years of observing people exercise.

However, if you compete in a sport where some unhealthy occurrences are going to come up (ultra-marathons, obstacle course races, biking, etc) it MAY be necessary to have some less than optimally safe training protocols in your program.  Therefore, if you’re doing an obstacle course race or trail marathon, you may have to get outside on trails for a LONG time to acclimate yourself to the style of competition.

THIS DOES NOT MEAN IT IS HEALTHY FOR OR WILL HELP YOU LOSE BODY FAT.

When I was training for the Spartan Race last summer I actually GAINED body fat in the 6 weeks leading up to it.  And I also have a tissue restriction in my lower leg that still prevents normal movement in training – don’t get me started…

The Better Question to Ask Yourself: Why Do I Do IT?

I do it, and I speak for a friend who does ultra-marathons, because we like the challenge, we like the emotional reward, and we like competition.  We do not do it because we think it’s a healthy habit.

Following many peoples’ line of thinking, a client could come to me and say

“Jon, I want you to include punching me in the face during our training sessions.  Serioulsy, three or four times per session, maybe after our core work, just crack me square in the face. I’ve seen boxers that are in very good shape so I should be doing what they do.” 

Boxers are in shape + boxers get punched = I should get punched, right?

Wrong. They do it because it’s a necessary evil of their competition.

Ditto for any kind of endurance training.

Whenever you take up any exercise program ask yourself “Why am I doing this?”  The answer, whether it be improved health, fat loss, strength gain, athletic performance improvement, whatever – should dictate the type of training protocol you undertake.  Don’t get punched in the face just because boxers do.  Don’t run one gazillion miles just because an endurance athlete does.  All that does is increase your chance of injury with no correlative increase in chance of success. 

If you’re in a competition, you MAY be able to justify some risk in your training.

If your goal is health, fat loss, strength gain, etc.  Keep it safe.

Keep it intense, but keep it safe.