Summary: <br> Running form is one of the hot button topics in the world of<br><br> distance coaches. We debate, often with speed/power coaches, on where they fit<br><br> into the program. How important are mechanics for a distance runner? How do we<br><br> change them? Should we change them?<br> <br> <br> These are the questions that wer tackle in this episode. We offer a balanced<br><br> view of how much importance to assign on running mechanics work and how to<br><br> incorporate it into a training program. Tackling on when to work on mechanics<br><br> fresh versus going against the common wisdom and practicing “falling apart<br><br> mechanics.”<br> <br> When it comes to making changes, we discuss how it’s about<br><br> conceptualizing and overemphasize. Step<br><br> one is to get athletes to conceptualize the mechanical changes that you are<br><br> after, making sure they understand what they are actually doing versus what you<br><br> want them to do. Our running form is so ingrained in us that, even if from the<br><br> outside it looks horrible, it feels normal to that athlete. Because of this, we<br><br> need to start by having understand what they are actually doing. Often this<br><br> involves showing an athlete on film so that they can visually conceptualize, or<br><br> taking their shoes off to change the internal feedback.<br> <br> As always, we take a few tangents along the way and discuss the topic of what<br><br> is a scientific approach to training. We often think the scientific approach is<br><br> some systematic beautifully written master plan. It often entails isolating systems where we<br><br> might work on VO2max one day and Lactate Threshold the next, with very little<br><br> intermixing of ‘systems.’ It’s our view that this is a wrong interpretation of<br><br> what a scientific approach is. We choose this isolationist approach as coaches<br><br> because it’s the easy path. It’s much simpler to assign a isolated workout and<br><br> check off that box, then to step back and think about creating a workout that<br><br> accomplishes the goals you’ve set for your athlete.<br> <br> What a scientific approach actually entails is simple:<br><br> Observation and finding out what works and what doesn’t. It’s not some fancy,<br><br> systematic plan.<br> <br> We hope you enjoy this podcast, if you are a regular listener, venture over to <a style="font-family: times;" href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/magness-marcus-on-coaching/id961516002">iTunes</a> and rate it for us. It helps us to be able to keep delivering this content to you guys regularly!<br> <br> Steve and Jon<br> <a href="https://draft.blogger.com/">@stevemagness</a><br><br> <a href="https://twitter.com/jmarpdx">@jmarpdx</a><br><br> <br><br> <br> Resources Mentioned:<br> <a href="http://www.hmmrmedia.com/2016/04/gaincast-episode-9-performance-influences-with-gary-winckler/">Vern Gambetta and Gary Winkler Podcast- HMMR media</a><br> <br> <br> <br> Subscribe:<br> <br> <br> <a href="http://www.stitcher.com/s?fid=63029&refid=stpr">Subscribe on Stitcher</a><br> <br> <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/magness-marcus-on-coaching/id961516002">Subscribe on iTunes</a><br> <br> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/scienceofrunning/MMpodcast">Subscribe through RSS</a>Subscribe to get all of the podcasts via e-mail!<br> Enter your email address:<br> Delivered by <a href="https://feedburner.google.com/" target="_blank">FeedBurner</a><br> <br> <br> <br> <br>
