TCR115 | 3 Reasons Strength Training is NOT Helping You Run Pain Free and What to Do Instead

The Conscious Runner Podcast

Episode Summary

We thought this was a good one because we see too many people who have been strength training (among a whole lot of other things )and are still in pain…some for months and some for years. Even just yesterday we saw a post in the group about the pitfalls of strength training.

So we wanted to shed a light on what we see as to why strength training is not helping you

What You’ll Discover

In this episode, you’ll discover 3 reasons strength training is not helping you run pain-free and what to do instead.

Problem #1: You’re Doing the Wrong Exercises

There is so much information out there and so many people with good intensions giving it. On the one hand its good, because we want to help each other. We want to support each other and share what may have worked for us.

But on the other hand, it does a real disservice because there has been no evaluation done on your unique situation so how can somebody possibly know what you need just because they have or had similar injuries. They can’t. You can have the same injury as someone else, but what caused it and what’s keeping you in pain could be very different.

So you’re out there and doing everything they can from advice and tips FB groups, you tube, podcasts, magazine articles and books and wondering why you just can’t shake your injuries.

First thing i want to point out there is a difference between functional movement and corrective exercise and strength training. Functional movement and corrective exercise reconditions your body so it is moving in the most optimal way for you (this may or may not include resistance training).

When that happens, chronic injuries drop away, you become more efficient and get faster and set yourself up for preventing future injuries. We see this all the time with the people we work with. Where they come in being in pain for months or years and then within 2 weeks, 3 weeks, 5weeks. they are pain-free.

I remember the quickest result someone got was in the first week.

The bottom line is strength training is not functional movement or corrective exercise. A lot of people don’t know that and think they are fixing themselves through strength training. And I’m not saying someone can’t get results from that… it may just happen to be that was what they needed to recondition their body, but without an analysis how do you know… it’s like throwing a dart in the dark and hoping you hit the target.

Maybe you get it or maybe like the people we work with you’ve been in pain for months or years and are watching the window to your dreams close.

I just spoke to a woman the other day who’s 45 and has had calf pain for 3 years and hip pain, IT Band pain and glute pain for 10 years

• Can’t run above 5 miles or do hills with out pain.
• Has had to cut back the number of miles she run, not getting faster
• Not able to do workouts with her friends
• Registering for races and missing them
• Super frustrated with being in pain and not being able to figure this out

And one of the things she was doing (among a number of them) was strength training…but what she really needed was someone to show her what she needed to do to recondition her body so she could run without pain and STAY injury-free. Strength training could have been making things worse because it was throwing her body morvout of balance.

Solution

Get an assessment on your body from someone who knows what to look for in runners…someone who can determine the exact strategies you need to recondition your body so it can start working 100% for you instead of fighting yo reach step of the way, makes you more efficient and helps you STAY injury-free That may include resistance training, but strength training

Problem #2: You Aren’t Doing the Exercises Correctly

This is a BIG one. I see this all the time; Especially at the gym I work out at. And interestingly, injuries are one of the top reasons people quit working out at gyms. They get all excited. Like on January first, sign up for a gym membership and 10-12 days later, they get injured, become de-motivated

Out of the 45 percent of people who make New Year’s resolutions each year, only 8 percent actually succeed. Of the most popular types of resolutions, the two highest involve some level of fitness or healthy lifestyle adoption… of which fitness can be a part of.

So there’s this guy at the gym I go to…..been their for years and every time I see him lift a weight I cringe because he’s doing it ALL wrong. It is soooo painful to watch him. ‘Cause I know the damage his doing by lifting the way he is. And he’s a marathon runner and currently dealing with pretty bad knee pain.

Now why he doesn’t get help, I don’t know… Maybe because he thinks he know’s what to do, but one thing is sure, he is in pain and not moving towards his running goals. And I see this all the time at the gym and know they have little to no hopes of getting out of pain and most likely are going to cause an injury.

And don’t get me wrong, I’m not talking about heavy, heavy weight here. I’m talking about watching this guy do bodyweight squats, kettlebell thrusts, dumbbells….

And here’s the thing is a lot of people even if they read about how to do the exercise correctly, watch videos on it can’t do it cause they are simply limited by their body! For example, my sweeties got really stiff ankles… so stiff it prevents him from being able to point his feet! So how effective do you think he is at something like swimming where your feet are a part of your . W

hen he swims he looks beautiful on the surface… best stroke ever… but when you look at him under the water it is a mess… because his feet are pointing downward he is actually preventing himself from going forward. His arms are trying to move him forward while his feet are trying to move him backward so he’s not as fast as he could be.

So matter how much you try, if your body is limiting you from doing a particular exercise, you will not get the full benefit of it.

And in many cases, I see people who because they need a functional movement/ corrective exercise strategy first, perform strength exercises in all the wrong ways. And you top that with not knowing which exercises to do, sets, reps, etc. No wonder they’re injured for so long.

Solution

So if you’re going to strength train, it is important to do exercises correctly. If you have restrictions in your body, address those first before adding any heavy weight or else you’re just building a house of cards that at the slightest thing… putting on your sock, getting out of the shower, etc is going to come crashing down…because the foundation was never solid.

Problem #3: Wrong ExercisesYou don’t have plan of progression.

Do the same exercises week to week, month to month. Continuing to do that can actually build up and start working against you.

Solution

This is why we think it’s so important to periodically assess your body, assess your program and make adjustments.

If you get this wrong (doing wrong exercises, doing exercises incorrectly don’t have a plan of progression, you’re really condemning yourself to more misery, injury, pain, frustration and sub par performances. But if you get it right you can, you can recondition your body, overcome your chronic injuries much faster than you think, get faster and shatter your PRs! The runners we work with are doing this! And they are doing this in half and full marathons…many of them weren’t even running or had to walk during their runs when we first started.

So, if you would like help with this it all starts with booking a FREE body breakthrough call with us. Go to consciousrunner.com/breakthrough/.

On this call we’l get you clear on three things.

1. Biggest things preventing you from overcoming your chronic injuries
2. What you need to do to overcome them
3. How to STAY injury free so you can shatter your personal bests and run for life

Again, if you would like our help with this go to consciousrunner.com/breakthough/.
Look forward to speaking!

Your Next Steps

Book a call with us at consciousrunner.com/breakthough/.