BUILDING TISSUE TOLERANCE
Running is a high-impact exercise. Plain and simple. The act of running is in essence a series of single leg hopping and landing over & over again. And every time we land, ground reaction forces are transmitted from the ground to the foot and through the ankles, knees, hips, and spine. If the body is not adequately prepared to deal with these forces, it can spell disaster. The sport requires a certain amount of resilience for the muscles, tendons, ligaments and bones to withstand repetitive stresses of running. When these tissues are exposed to controlled and progressive loading, they adapt to become stronger. This adaptation process is essential to preventing injuries such as bone stress reactions or stress fractures, as well as tendinopathies.
One way to allow the body to adapt to the demands of running is through gradual progression – not doing too much, too fast, too soon. Two main parameters to consider with progression of any training program is volume and intensity. Generally we only want to significantly increase one at a time. This is why we have a base phase of running, building mileage with easy aerobic running, prior to increasing intensity of speed work.
Plyometrics and power training are another essential element in preparing the body for the demands of running, crucial for building tissue tolerance and resiliency. These are fast, explosive movements that prepare your joints and connective tissues for the impact forces experienced while running. This type of training makes you more powerful, which means you can do the same amount of work faster and with less wasted energy. This means you can more efficiently generate muscular force off the ground and into your next step. Not only for force production, but plyometrics train you to better absorb ground reaction forces while also absorbing potential energy to propel you forward into your next stride. This decreases the workload of running overall, enhancing both tissue tolerance and overall performance.
A quick way to start implementing plyometrics and power training into your routine is to start 1-2 times per week before a run or strength training session. You can view these as a dynamic warm up. Start with single leg pogo hops vertically, focusing on punching the floor with each strike and progressing to linear or lateral single leg pogo hops. Incorporate rapid alternating between legs with a split squat jump, focusing on exploding off your front leg and rapidly switching legs in the air, and then progressing to bounding drills. One of my favorite ways to spice up your training with power is to perform short hill sprints. Best performed on a steep incline, start with 5 sets of 10 second sprints focusing on driving your foot through the ground. This practice will do wonders for your running form and will boost your tissue tolerance to sustain you for miles & miles.
