The Making of a Durable Endurance Athlete

Endurance sport requires serious repetition that can last for several hours in training and racing. Compromised mechanics, repetitive postures, muscle imbalances, and range of motion restriction will inevitably lead to injury. Injury risk can be minimized if the appropriate steps are taken. Here are three steps to improve durability:

1. Improve Movement Quality

Execution of skilled movement is one of the keys to succeeding at endurance sport. If you move well you will not only improve performance by maximizing economy, but you will minimize injury risk as well. Take running for example:

Running is a high impact. Each step exerts a force of six to eight times the body's weight on the ground. If the technique is performed incorrectly energy leaks are created. That means that if the energy to perform a movement does not go specifically into that task it will cause an increase of stress on the associated joint structures. This trauma may go undetected for weeks and possibly months, but will inevitably lead to injury.

There are technical standards for running, cycling, swimming. That technique should be learned well, and practiced perfectly. The more training is done with less than perfect technique, the more it is reinforced. Video feedback can be an important tool but investing in a coach for swimming, running, or cycling is an invaluable asset.

Moving well requires flexibility and symmetry. If the body's joints are restricted or asymmetrical, technique will be compromised. Joint mobilization should be a regular practice for an endurance athlete. There are several self mysofascial release tools available on the market that work well to open up joints and postures. My clients regularly use foam rolls, the stick, and release balls as part of their warm up and daily maintenance program. Specific mobility needs should be assessed and prescribed by a strength and conditioning specialist.

2. Counter Condition

I've borrowed the term coun·ter·con·di·tion·ing from American Heritage Stedman's Medical Dictionary referring to the replacement of conditioning techniques used to generate a negative conditioned response with a stimulus that will produce a positive response. Counter conditioning is the need to do exactly what you are not doing while training in your sport. Endurance sport requires athletes to do a significant movement in the sagittal plane. Ergo the need to include multidirectional training within a strength program. Exercise that takes place in the transverse and frontal plane should be prescribed to create balance.

Postural imbalances also lead to decrements in performance as well as substantial injury risk. A cyclist that maintains a flexed posture for hours at a time with a posterior pelvic tilt will start to exhibit postural abnormalities. Risk for hip injury and disc herniation become a serious possibility if training continues down that path. A combination of lengthening and strengthening of the appropriate postural muscles will help reverse this process. The hip flexors, spinal errectors, abdominals, gluts, and hamstrings have a profound impact on posture. For more detailed info see Mike Robertson's blog post "Hips don't Lie".

Pictured to the left is a Canadian national team track cyclist. He started training with a strength coach at Sport Synergy following a left hip injury sustained during an intense track cycling training block. It is a distinct posibility that his injury could have been avoided with earlier intervention. Range of motion and strength testing showed decreased psoas strength and increased laxity, abdominal tightness, weakness of spinal errectors, as well as tightness in his gluteal and hamstring musculature. From his posture you can see his low back lacks a natural curve, his head protrudes forward and his upper back sways.

3. Recover

Though often overlooked, recovery is one of the most important factors in improving performance as well as reducing fatigue, burnout, and injury risk. During training tissues are broken down from exercise stress. Recovery builds adaptation to training loads as well as improves strength and endurance. Without recovery, training only serves to weaken an athlete. Recovery is multifaceted, there isn't just one thing that you should do to improve your recovery, there are several. Here are three key ways to improve your recovery:

Nutrition

There is a critical 20 minute window following exercise to ingest a carb/protein mix to enhance recovery. Carbohydrate will help restore muscle glycogen stores. Protein will serve to fuel the muscles to repair and grow stronger. The general accepted carb to protein ratio is 3:1.

Endurance athletes are typically eating enough carbohydrate but not nearly enough protein. Protein is a building block for lean tissue, but also important in recovery. The convention is to ingest .5 to .75 grams per 1 lb body weight daily. As an athlete's training load increases protein consumption should also follow suit.

Rest

It is important to schedule rest days where you are not actually doing anything related to training. Getting a good night's sleep is necessary for optimal recovery. Tissue repair is enhanced due to growth hormone that is released at an increased rate during sleep. For this purpose, napping between training sessions is also recommended.

Soft Tissue Release

Soft tissue release techniques are necessary for breaking down muscle adhesions, decreasing tone in overactive muscles, as well as improving mobility, and movement quality. Myofascial release in the form of massage therapy, active release therapy (A.R.T.), and structural integration are superb ways to enhance regeneration.

There are self myofascial release (SMR) and active release techniques that can be used post workout and on a daily basis. Though less accurate than having professional work performed, regular use of a foam roll, stick, and release ball are all affordable implements that provide important recovery benefits. SMR techniques are also great when used in preparation for training and provide a synergistic effect in enhancing flexibility when combined with mobility work.

Summary

You are not doomed to injury by participating in endurance sport, but there is a need to be proactive. Apply the above principles to your training regimen. In order to be resilient the body needs to be in balance; asymmetries need to be remedied, adequate mobility must be reached, strength needs to be gained, and recovery must be maximized.