As a trainer and a student, working with a polarised range
of athletes from Swimmers to footballers , runners to badminton players,
sprinters to distance athletes, The more
I learn about the human body in respect of Anatomy and Physiology, the more I am
fascinated by what it can achieve through training, up-skilling and
development.
One of the questions and barriers that I often come up
against with some resilience when recommending a course of gym based action is :-
“Im an endurance athlete, why do I need to train in the
gym?”
It’s a good question I guess, there is even some logic to it…
if you are a marathon runner, or road cyclist, Iron man, triathlete etc, surely
the best thing to do is be out there, pounding the pavements, turning the
wheels, lapping the pool, putting in the miles.. right? Well it goes without
saying that covering distance in any sport in order to build up your aerobic
threshold and V02 max and gain experience is a must, but the human body is
complex web of bones connected by joints and many muscles reacting to brain
signals to provide a desired movement or counter movement.
Most individuals tend to rely on one side of their body more
than the other in every day life as well as sport… this means that they are
dominant through one side of their body and most likely stronger or more
importantly, they can sequence a range of movements through that side more
proficiently than the other. I wont profess to fully understanding why this
happens in humans, but I imagine there are a complex group of reasons relating
to DNA, inherent traits , environmental factors and so on… Rarely do I come
across an individual who can use one side of their body as well as the other
and perform a group of movements bi-laterally perfect. That said… like any
skill, I believe, as do others, that these imbalances and uni-lateral
weaknesses can be trained, improved and corrected.
Back to the question…
Imagine this scenario…
You are a runner or a cyclist with a right side dominant
gluteal group (backside). This gluteal group ensures that when I cycle, run,
perform any activity, I use and prefer this leg to dominate any locomotive
movement and as such… maybe ever so very slightly, I rely on this side to assist
in the drive of any motion created in my sport or activity regardless of
distance, game, sport.
Now, arguably, there may be ways of correcting these on the
track, on the bike, in the swimming pool etc, but I believe that the best way
to correct these weaknesses is to assess them through hands on and visual
approaches in function (i.e watch the activity), the prescribe a range of
motions in the studio that best bring in to action the necessary muscle groups
through a sequence of movements. Once
the weakness is identified the work begins, exercises with strict prescription are
formed and routine is developed. Through structured, repetitive movements with introduction
of resistance, balancing and holding techniques
these body regions and weaknesses can begin to be strengthened, improved and
evened out through the body, both ensuring a more stable and ‘balanced’ body
and also reducing the risk of injury.
What is the end result?
These changes don’t just happen over night… Ignore anyone
that tells you there is a ‘quick fix’ solution. It takes commitment, time and
patience… like any training program. If I said to a marathon runner that by
balancing your gluteal range right side dominance you would achieve a 1-3%
improvement in performance, would that be acceptable? As an elite level athlete
completing a marathon in 2 hours 20 minutes, 1% improvement could arguably lead
to an improvement significant enough to qualify, Personal best, win a
competition and so on…
You tend to find the higher quality the athlete the better
they are at hiding imbalances or the lesser the imbalance that they naturally
have.
The biggest fight I come up against personally in any sport
is Swimming… I used to be a swimmer and swam to a reasonably high level and for
a time, was putting 30 hours a week training in… The emphasis, particularly in
Britain, is to get people in the pool, keep them in the pool and then swim
lengths, lengths, lengths. It probably isn’t the only sport that this attitude
takes dominance, however if you refer to the above, think about the bodies
imbalances and what happens if you continue to put miles, hours and strain
through these imbalances, it becomes clearer as to why a body balancing routine
is important to any athlete… i.e. you
always perform an activity with a minor or major structural imbalance, no
matter how naturally talented you are, there is a limit to you reaching your
peak performance. Its mechanics and science!
The issue is often peoples/coaches/athletes perception of
the word ‘GYM’. The immediate response is “I don’t want to be a big muscle
bound athlete”. At this point, I know I have my work cut out for me, but I love
a challenge and half the battle is convincing people. In these instances I
refer back to the preceding columns. If that still fails to convince someone of
the importance of a gym based routine somewhere in their plan, I tend to accept
that some people will never move out of the dark ages, after all, the
difference between most athletes is the way they chose to train and what
methods they adopt and believe in!
You only have to look at the some of the best endurance
athletes in the world to see that some gym based work is crucial… for example,
Mo Farah,
In conclusion, structurally, there is always something that
we can work on to ensure that our bodies are operating at their balanced best.
Why wouldn't you want to improve your muscle balance to improve your performance?
Stu Clark
Fit4Purpose Athletic Performance.
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