TRX Training: Your Best New Workout Partner

Sponsored by TRX. All opinions are my own.

Getting back into a strength training routine is exciting, but can be tough to maintain if you don’t see results right away. The key to sticking with it is to make sure you switch up your program often and choose exercises that you actually enjoy. I try my best to mix up my fitness routine with the gym, home workouts, and outdoor sessions at the park. You don’t need bulky gym equipment and cardio machines to get results. You can get an effective workout anywhere with simple bodyweight exercises and minimal equipment.

I used to avoid brining much equipment with me to the park, since it can get heavy to carry and take a while to set up. I’d end up just focusing on bodyweight and resistance band exercises. For years I’ve watched videos on the TRX straps and have used them a couple of times at local gyms, so I decided to give them a try all over again. I’m so happy I finally took the leap and got myself the TRX Home2 System! They come in a small carrying case and are extremely lightweight, so they are easy to take anywhere. I will definitely bring these along when I travel!

I first used the TRX Home2 System at home by simply using the door hanging option. It was simple to install and remained secure throughout my entire workout. The TRX straps come with a suspension strap that you easily wrap around a beam, pole, or safely around a tree trunk, like I did for my park workout. Adjusting the length of the straps is even easier! The entire setup took me less than a minute, so I highly recommend the TRX straps if you are looking for a quick workout option you can take anywhere!

The best part about the Home2 System is the versatility. I am able to get in strengthening exercises, mobility work, and stretching. It’s the best all-in-one workout partner! As a runner, these are all important to be able to improve my paces, keep my core strong, and prevent injuries. Shifting the angle of the straps while working out can make the moves more challenging, so you can pretty much guarantee continued improvement in strength and avoid plateauing. My favorite moves are the variety of abdominal exercises I am able to do like plank variations and elevated sit-ups.

I’ve been using the TRX Home2 System about three times per week now and love the challenge! Whether your goals are to get strong, lean, more flexible, or rehab from an injury, TRX can help you get results fast without ever getting bored. Have you tried the TRX Home2 System straps yet?

Injury Prevention 101

We all know that runners have a higher risk of injury than non-runners, just as do athletes of any other sport. Obviously this is true, as simply being more active means you are on your feet more often with a greater availability to trip over an object and fall, step on uneven surface and roll an ankle, or just overuse weak body parts. In my opinion this risk is better than being inactive and risking developing heart disease, diabetes, and other health issues that come from lack of exercise. Besides being cautious to avoid tripping and bumping into something, runners, and all other endurance athletes, should follow other steps to decrease their injury risk on a daily basis.

SLEEP & Rest

The first and most important method to help prevent injury is to make sure you are getting enough sleep. You may feel like your 4 or 5 hours of sleep every night is just fine to keep you going, but sleep does much more than help us get through our day. Most, if not all, of the muscle damage repair and growth occurs during sleep. Human growth hormone is released during certain stages of sleep that increase blood flow to our muscles so that they can repair from our workouts. Another stage of sleep, REM, is responsible for relaxing our muscles and reducing symptoms of chronic pain. Runners should aim for at least 7 hours of sleep each night, but research shows 9 or more hours gives the most benefit to competitive athletes.

Strength Training

A well-rounded exercise plan is always best when it comes to lowering your risk of overuse injuries. You’ve probably read that triathletes, even those who participate in Iron Man competitions, have a lower risk of injury than marathoners. That’s because triathletes train with a balanced mix of running, cycling, and swimming. As a distance runner, if all you are doing is running, then you are inching your way closer and closer to an injury every day. The best formula for runners is to incorporate a mix of running, weight lifting, and other cross training cardio exercises. Lack of time may be the reason most runners skip strength training, but you can highly benefit from a quick 20 to 30 minute session a few days per week. This should be a priority if your goal is to improve your performance and not get injured.

Pack on the Miles GRADUALLY

One of the quickest ways to get injured as a runner is to increase weekly mileage by a substantial amount—even if you’re feeling great. The rule of thumb is to never increase by more than 10% each week. This may even be too much for some runners. A safe method is to increase by a handful of miles each week for 3 to 4 weeks and then have one week as “recovery” where you drop your mileage by 20% to let your body rest. After this recovery week, you can safely start back from where you left off.

Rotate Your Shoes

Since the feet carry your entire body weight during all activities, it is beneficial to give this part of the body a break. One way to do this is to switch your shoes throughout the week. Most brands make running shoes for different types of workouts. Save your well-cushioned shoes for long runs and recovery runs, and your lighter pairs for speed and track sessions. The style of each shoe is different which means your foot muscles will work differently in each pair. Everything that happens down in the feet has an effect on the rest of the body—so shoe rotation lets different muscles all over the body work and rest all at different times. 

Focus on Good Form

The constant pounding on the ground from running has an impact on the entire body. The ideal running form is one that lessens this impact and keeps all parts in sync and balanced. It is beneficial to add strides once or twice a week to focus on this. Run 5 sets of 20 to 30 seconds at a hard pace where you practice holding an upright posture with relaxed shoulders, taking quick steps, landing on the mid-foot, and a having a slightly forward lean—all aspects of proper form. Once you master good running mechanics, you will lower your risk of overusing any part of your body.

Stretch & Foam Roll

Just like weak muscles are prone to overuse injuries, tight muscles are more prone to tearing—which is an injury that can put you out for months! Runners can get tight all over, but hamstrings and calves/Achilles are the common areas that get torn. My advice is to make it a habit to stretch after EVERY SINGLE RUN for 10 minutes. A few sets of 20 second holds for the glutes, hamstrings, quads, and calves is enough. Foam rolling can be more tedious but is useful to tackle much deeper muscular tightness. It may also help improve range of motion that is limited by chronic muscle inflammation.

These steps may seem like a large load added onto your regular running routine, but they are necessary if you want to run for years without worrying about easily getting injured. These components will also help you become a more efficient and faster runner over time, so it’s a win-win if you ask me!

Sources

How Sleep Adds Muscle. The National Sleep Foundation. www.sleep.org. Nov 15, 2019.

Balance Training: A Key to Injury-Free Running

Most runners are primarily focused on improving their endurance and speed during their training cycles. Strength and flexibility are usually a secondary focus, especially if the runner has had a history of an injury and has been educated on the importance of these components. Balance training, on the other hand, seems to be of less importance to runners. In general, balance declines as we get older—by up to 75% by the time we are 75 years old. This is why older people are prone to falls, which is currently the leading cause of injury and death in the geriatric population. Balance is fundamentally the skill of keeping the body aligned and upright by reacting to changes in our center of mass at all times. Taking this definition into consideration, it seems balance should also be a primary focus during training, since after all, running is basically a one-legged balancing act.

Balance is (Almost) Everything

Most people will think of running as an activity involving a push-off phase, forward propulsion, and a landing. These are all most definitely parts of the running cycle, but about 50% of running is an action of falling forward. Thankfully, we developed the ability at an early age to stabilize ourselves against falling while running. This natural reaction gets harder to control as we run longer and faster, since the muscles in charge of this action get fatigued. And if running straight with no disruptions gets harder to control when we are tired, then the task of maintaining our balance is that much more difficult when having to make a sharp turn, stepping over uneven surface, or having to make a sudden stop to avoid a collision with a person or object. Improving our body’s balance directly will not only improve running form and posture, but it will also decrease injury risk and pain.

How to Train Balance

Balance is controlled by proprioceptors in our muscles and joints, which are basically tiny sensory nerves that can anticipate changes in our body’s center of mass. When we step on a pebble that causes a loss of balance, the proprioceptors fire this sensation to our muscles, so that they can react as quickly as possible to stabilize our joints and avoid a fall. For the case of running, the main proprioceptors to focus on when working on balance training are the ones located in the feet, ankles, and hips. It is always best to start working from the ground up as the feet and ankles are the first to sense any position changes from running on uneven surface, for example.

Exercise (and Run) Barefoot

One theory of why Kenyans are one of the fastest and most efficient runners is because they grew up walking and running barefoot on uneven terrain, therefore constantly strengthening their proprioceptors and intrinsic foot muscles that control balance. This enables these runners to devote the majority of their energy to forward propulsion while running. Unlike the Kenyans, most of us have grown up running in some good-looking shoes with excellent support and cushioning. On top of that, we opt for road running when training for a marathon. This means we leave our proprioceptors pretty quiet during our entire run. The only time those nerve receptors are active is when there is a sudden change in our position that we are not prepared for.

Strengthen Balance Muscles

A part of every runner’s strengthening program should include core, hip, ankle, and foot exercises. Most of us occasionally incorporate upper leg strengthening, which is important, but often forget to directly strengthen the joints and muscles below. The foot and ankle joint are probably one of the most important body parts for runners, as they carry the entire weight of the body at all times. The feet absorb the initial impact of striking the ground, which makes them extremely vulnerable to injury.

Easy exercises to work the ankle stabilizers can be done with resistance bands, strengthening the four main movements of the joint. For the intrinsic muscles of the feet, towel curls are an effective strengthening exercise. Place a small towel on the floor and try to pick it up with your toes for 10 to 15 repetitions at a time.

Simple exercises for strengthening the hip stabilizers can also be done with resistance bands such as clamshells, bridges, standing legs lifts, and lateral squat walks. All of these moves can be done without the bands, along with bodyweight squats, step-ups, lunges, and heel raises. Isolating one leg at a time is also useful, especially if you have experienced a one-sided injury or low back pain in the past. Incorporating a handful of these moves before or after runs is the easiest way to make sure to get them in.

Uneven Surface Training

One of the most effective ways to challenge your balance muscles and proprioceptors further is to perform lower and upper body exercises standing on a wobble board, balance disc, foam mat, or other unstable surface. This will help work the ankle and hip stabilizers, intrinsic foot muscles, and the entire core all at once. As mentioned above, most runners training for marathons limit their runs to the road. Trail running is a beneficial way to strengthen the proprioceptors as you constantly challenge the joints and muscles with the varying terrain.

Keep in mind the reasoning for emphasizing balance training along with your regular marathon preparation. Good balance will help relax the body more while running, leading to better posture and less tension when fatigued. This means less energy wasted and more to use for the push-off phase and increasing speed. Keeping these specific muscle groups and proprioceptors strong will ultimately make you a better runner by allowing your legs to effortlessly move faster, while lowering your chances of injury and pain.

Sources

Scott Mullen, MD, Jon Cotton, MD, Megan Bechtold, DPT, and E. Bruce Toby, MD, Barefoot Running: The Effects of an 8-Week Barefoot Training Program, Journal, Nov 4, 2019.

Anna Brachman, Anna Kamieniarz, Justyna Michalska, Michał Pawłowski, Kajetan J. Słomka, and Grzegorz Juras, Balance Training Programs in Athletes – a Systematic Review, Journal, Nov 4, 2019.

Finding the Right Running Shoe for You

Finding the right running shoe can get tricky. We all want to go for the most stylish pair with attractive colors and designs, but many times these nice-looking kicks end up destroying our feet. As a runner and physical therapist I have learned along the way that the single most important gear to be picky about for running (or really any activity that has you standing or walking for long periods of time) are shoes. If you are an occasional runner who gets in a few miles every week just to stay active, one pair at a time is sufficient. But runners training for a distance event, especially those who incorporate different types of runs require a couple of pairs to rotate through. And it involves more than just “cushioned” or “light” when shopping around. 

Know Your Foot Type

The first thing every runner should do when selecting shoes is figure out their foot type. Are you a pronator? Do you excessively supinate when you land? Do you have high arches? What does this all mean anyway?!

Pronator: This is when you land on the inner part of your foot when running. Most of the time runners initially land on the outer border of the foot, but quickly roll inward excessively. Those with low arches usually fall in this category.

Supinator: This is when you land on the outer border of the foot and remain with the majority of the pressure on this area throughout the midstance and even into the push-off phase of running. Those with high arches will fall into this category.

There are several running shoe stores that offer a gait analysis that can give you an idea of your foot type, but the best analysis would be by a podiatrist or sports medicine professional that specializes in gait and has access to the technology. A great way to analyze your foot type that can be done at home is checking the wear on your current or an old pair of running shoes. If you notice the wearing is excessive on the outer border, you can assume you are a supinator and you underpronate when you land. A pronator would have excessive wear on the inner border. If your shoes have even wear, you most likely have a neutral arch and pronate a normal amount.

Next Step: Shoe Type

Cushioned: Supinators should opt for cushioned shoes (at least for the majority of their runs). They provide optimal comfort (cushioning) with the least amount of firmness in order to promote a bit more pronation when landing. Cushioned shoes are made to be more flexible, but not all flexible shoes are cushioned! Some cushioned shoe examples are New Balance Fresh Foam, Brooks Adrenaline, and Saucony Omni.

Motion Control: This shoe type is made with more rigid materials in order to control the foot from rolling inward too much. Overpronators or runners with flat feet will benefit from motion control shoes since they include a more dense midsole, which helps raise the arch of the foot. Saucony Kinvara, New Balance 1540, and Brooks Ravena are all great shoes for low arches.

Stability: If you are a neutral runner, then stability shoes are your go-to. Most will have a firm rear and flexible forefoot with a moderate amount of cushioning. Some examples are the Saucony Guide Iso 2 (one of my favorites!), Adidas Ultraboost, and Nike Air Zoom Pegasus. 

Shoe Rotation

If you are an everyday runner, alternating between faster paced running, track sessions, and easy runs, it is best to rotate between two or three pairs. Opting for lightweight, flexible shoes are best for speed sessions. Shoes made for the track or even most “racing” shoes such as the Nike Vaporfly 4%, generally do not have much cushioning. As long as you limit the use of this type of shoe to short track repeats and racing, your feet won’t be affected too much. For the majority of your weekly runs (which should be at a conversational/easy pace), it is ideal to use the shoes that are best for your foot type as explained above.

Everyone has different feet and running form varies greatly, so what works for one person may not work for another. Just because you see a “fast” runner using a pair of the brand new Nikes does not mean you should go out and spend the money to use the same style. Well, first of all, a shoe does not necessarily make you faster. If you find you run faster in a given pair of shoes it is your better foot mechanics that are making you faster, not the actual shoe. The best advice if you are having any foot, knee, hip, or back pain during or after running, is to definitely evaluate your running mechanics and foot type. Switching to the right shoe for you can be a simple fix to a nagging problem.

A Stronger Upper Body for Better Running

The upper body plays an important role in our everyday activities. We would not be able to perform tasks such as reaching, pushing, lifting, pulling, and grasping objects without sufficient upper body strength. During walking and running, our arms help propel us forward by the act of swinging in coordination with the opposite lower limb. The arm swing is what aids in controlling the upward force developed by the leg swing, keeping us moving horizontally, either forward or backward.

The arm swing in running is driven by the shoulder muscles. Even when we try to restrict our arms from swinging, our shoulder muscles are still contracting. While our legs swing during this motion, our torso rotates. The remainder of our upper body muscles, including the abdominals, entire back and chest, and even the neck muscles, control this rotation.

Weak Arms = Fatigue

Runners with poor upper body strength will fatigue much quicker in longer runs. As mentioned above, the biomechanics of running involve the entire body working together to create the running movements of leg and arm swing, pelvic stabilization, and torso rotation. Since the arms contain smaller muscle groups than most of the rest of the body, if they do not have sufficient strength to begin with, once they tire during running, the other muscle groups must begin to work harder throughout the remainder of the run. The shoulder muscles will need to work harder to continue propelling the weak arms, which will cause them to fatigue and then limit the amount of arm motion. At this point the core and torso muscles will need to create a stronger rotation to counteract the leg swing. The pattern will continue the fatigue downwards to the legs. In this case, for whole body endurance purposes, having a stronger upper body will help a runner last much longer.

The Purpose of Good Posture

A component to proper running form is good posture. Running with a forward head posture or rounded shoulders will make it more difficult to swing the arms and rotate the torso efficiently. This may lead to similar fatigue as described above or even injury to other joints below and most likely back pain. 

• Run Tall Proper posture begins with making sure to run tall—basically keeping the head facing forward with the chin parallel to the ground and keeping the shoulders back. This will help open up the chest and ensure more efficient breathing, improving endurance. Keeping the head in the appropriate position and shoulders back to create this tall posture requires strong upper back muscles. These muscles will pull the shoulders back by squeezing the shoulder blades together. Effective exercises to help achieve this strength are upper back rowing and reverse fly exercises. It is important to also include stretching for the chest and shoulder muscles, as having tightness in these areas will contribute to rounding out the shoulders and preventing a tall posture.

• Arm Swing Overall shoulder strength is beneficial since the shoulders are the driving force to the arm swing. Deltoid exercises such as straight-elbow forward and side raises are examples of simple strengthening exercises. Proper running form also includes elbows bent as close to a 90-degree angle as possible and limiting the arms and hands from angling in front of the body. This bent position is the job of the bicep muscles; therefore adding in a few variations of arm curls will help achieve this strength. Another effective way to strengthen all components of the arm swing is mimicking this motion with a pair of light dumbbells while performing a leg exercise such as walking lunges or step-ups.

• Stable hips The rest of the upper body, from the mid-back to the lower abdominals, is the main component for the torso rotation and pelvic stabilization in running. The torso should mostly be kept as stable as possible with a rotation that flows with the amount of leg swing. Deep core muscles that connect to the spine are in charge of keeping this stability. Most abdominal exercises such as leg raises, crunches, and planks, should be performed with the pelvis rotated slightly backward as to limit arching the back. This posterior pelvic position will contract these deep core muscles. 

• Trunk Rotation Rotation is achieved mostly by the obliques in the core, which can be strengthened by floor exercises such as the dead bug and Russian twist exercises. Performing walking lunges with a torso twist to the side of the stepping leg is a great combination exercise for the obliques, as well.

If you are looking to improve running form, endurance, or even set a PR, consider including several exercises for the upper body. Although this means you have to set aside a bit more time for exercise, it will be well worth it. A stronger upper body means more efficient breathing, better posture, and improved biomechanics with every step of running. All of these outcomes will lead to lasting longer while running and decreasing your risk of injury and pain along the way.

Sources

Beattie, Kris, et al, The Effect of Strength Training on Performance Indicators... : The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, Online, Aug 19, 2019

Pontzer, H., et al, Control and Function of Arm Swing in Human Walking and Running, Online, Aug 19, 2019