What’s Your Secret Weapon?

If you are an athlete, you are always looking for an edge over your competition.  You can only train just so many hours in the day, so you need to find something that sets you apart.  You can be healthier, have better reflexes, have better flexibility or agility or perhaps all of these.  Whatever it is, it is your “secret weapon” (or perhaps your secret weapons).

As a runner, I follow a training pattern that is determined by the time of year.  There is base building, strength, speed and racing fit and you plan your workouts accordingly.  There are also times when you are training for shorter races like 5K’s and 10K’s and times when you are training for a half marathon or marathon.  You follow patterns year after year and do what works and don’t do what doesn’t work.

I do a couple of things, though, that help me stay healthy, keep my energy up and stay strong and flexible.  One is that I always drink Shakeology before a long run and always have it afterward as a recovery drink.  It gives me sustained energy for the long workouts and then helps me to replenish my energy stores after a workout.  I literally have never found anything better and I have been running for almost 45 years.

The other thing that I do is to use P90X or Chalean Extreme for my strength workout.  Runners in particular are notorious for shunning strength training.  For other sports, strength workouts are essential but sometimes hard to fit into your training schedule.  I used to pick up some weights and do them and neglected the things that I didn’t want to do like stretching.  But with P90X or Chalean Extreme or any number of other Beachbody workout DVDs, you get a complete total body workout with warm up, stretch and warm down and additional workouts that are dedicated to flexibility, agility and core strength to name just a few.

Obviously, I have been running for a very long time, but that doesn’t mean that I love it any less or want to be the best that I can be any less.  That’s why I have my “secret weapons” to even the playing field a little and give me a chance to catch that runner in front of me!

 

Strength Training: More than Just Getting Ripped By Tony Horton

We know that strength training is an important part of a Power 90 or P90X routine. Why? It makes you stronger, and I’m not just talking about the shape of your biceps or the size of your pecs. Resistance training strengthens bones, ligaments, and tendons, as well as your muscles. Altogether, a well-oiled internal machine improves your balance and power while shortening your recovery time and risk of injury.

The difference between a full-spectrum workout like Power 90 or P90X and an all-aerobic workout regimen is huge. People who only do aerobic routines run the risk of developing overuse injuries, and their fitness is imbalanced.  Runners, for example, work their calves and hamstrings hard, but the quads and upper body get off easy. It’s important to strengthen all the major muscle groups for overall fitness balance and to reduce injury risks. No matter how careful they are (varying their workout intensity or the terrain they run on, wearing good shoes, etc.), runners who do not balance their regimens with strength training are likely to suffer from some kind of running-related injury
sooner or later.

Strength and power start at the core. Your core strength, which comes from your abdomen, back, and trunk, is the center for most of your power, agility, and balance. That’s why we bust out the crunches, lunges, and squats.  Strengthen your core and you’ve got a lot more “oomph” to rock out the outer, sport-specific muscles. Another major benefit to muscle training is creating muscle density. The denser your muscles, the higher your metabolism—and you know what that means. You can consume more calories without gaining weight. Now that’s incentive!

Peace,
Tony H.