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Why speed training improves distance running performance.
It is well known that if you want to improve distance running you need to develop your aerobic capacity. As the distances community will always say, you want to get the km’s in the legs. What is less well known is that the faster you can run (your top speed over short distances, 100-400m) benefits…
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Want to improve your 5/10km time? Don’t skip on the speed training.
A great recent study by Yamanaka et al, out of Japan shows that in elite 5km and 10km athletes, 100m and 400m performances was strongly correlated with seasons best times. What does this mean? It suggests that even within an elite population of accomplished distance runners the ones that performed better had better speed measures.…
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Should I get a second opinion? In traumatic injuries it may be important.
Medical treatment for injuries seems as though it would be straightforward. You go to a health professional or the hospital, have it assessed, get any tests that are required, and start the treatment they recommend. Easy. But what happens when they tell you everything is fine or that it is not that serious, but you…
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Train for performance not injury prevention.
At a sports injury conference recently renowned sports physiotherapist Rod Whiteley commented that coaches and athletes do not care about injury, they care about performance. Working with coaches and athletes on a daily basis you are reminded of this constantly. As a health professional you are trained to think in terms of injury rates, reduction…
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Why it is important to develop muscular strength in kids.
It is a question that is often asked of, ‘when should children or younger athlete’s start strength training?’ It is often associated with incorrect myths, such as strength training stunts growth or will reduce your flexibility. These myths are completely misguided and totally unsupported by research completed to investigate the effects of strength training on…
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Sleep
A great paper was recently published looking at the sleep patterns of elite athletes in response to training and competition, Haines Roberts et al 2018. The systematic review identified that many athletes do not meet the recommendations for sleep time (>7 hours) and their sleep efficiency (time asleep whilst in bed, >85%) when they are…
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Getting faster is easy. In theory – Part 2
In the first blog on sprinting we spoke about acceleration performance. In this blog we will look at maximal speed sprinting. This is your ability to run at your fastest speed possible. Luckily through the IAAF biomechanics research projects, we have some amazing data that shows what makes the best in the world run really…
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Getting faster is easy. In theory.
Understanding of what allows people to run fast and potentially what will allow them to continue to get faster is continually emerging. In this two part series, we will look at how to accelerate faster and how to hit a higher top speed. It is important to highlight that the different phases of sprinting present…
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What do I need to do before I can return to play following an ACL reconstruction?
Return to play testing protocols have become a mainstay of ACL rehabilitation guidelines. The logic is that passing the tests reduces your risk of consequent ACL injuries. However a recent review starts to look into the idea that maybe the outcomes of passing these tests are not as straightforward as we may believe, Webster and…
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What a pain in the groin!
Groin pain and injuries are a nuisance. They are often caused by multiple factors and can be difficult to assess, diagnose and treat effectively. So when I read a recent paper looking at reducing groin injuries in sport I thought it would be good to discuss the potential contributing factors the development of groin injuries…
