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Lead Stories: Saturday, September 6, 2008

Ritzenhein Wins U.S. Cross Champs Despite Sore IT Band

Posted February 16th, 2008 at 5:00 PM by Adam Jacobs

Section: News & Results, Cross Country

PHOTOS: Taken by Adam Jacobs (TheFinalSprint.com)

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Study: Fewer Intense Workouts, More Recovery for Maximum Performance

Posted January 22nd, 2008 at 2:39 PM by thefinalsprint.com

Section: Running & Training, Training Tips, Health & Fitness, Injury & Rehab, Exercise

How much time should you spend working at your maximum level in your sport, compared to miles or days spent going at a relaxed pace?

Researchers at the University of Madrid in Spain divided competitive distance runners into two groups. One group did frequent intense workouts and fewer slow recovery miles, while the second group did fewer intense workouts and more slow miles (Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, August 2007).

At the end of five months, the runners who did fewer intense workouts and more recovery miles improved far more than those who ran fewer miles and spent a lot of their time trying to run very fast.
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Jon Rankin: Training to Become An Olympian
(Elite Athlete Blog - Entry #2)

Posted December 19th, 2007 at 1:00 PM by Jon Rankin

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Olympics, Elite Athlete Blogs, Jon Rankin

Welcome to the official blog of rising U.S. track & field star
Jon Rankin; the inaugural member of TheFinalSprint.com’s
Elite Athlete Blog Series. Make sure to check back every other Wednesday for Jon’s latest entry.

Hi everyone. I hope this entry finds all of you happy and healthy this holiday season. I am writing this entry while I sit on my bed feeling terribly sore. Yesterday, December 17th, twenty of us athletes from the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, CA experienced something that will forever change our perspectives on mental toughness and limitations: we spent the day going through the BUD/S Navy Seal training course

The day started off with all of us getting up at 4:30 AM. We departed at 5:10 AM for the Naval Special Warfare Training Center in Coronado, CA. We couldn’t arrive late because to keep the instructors waiting would have made an already-hard day that much harder. They would already be yelling at us and putting us through the worst day, psychologically, of our lives. So we left really early to avoid being late and start off on the wrong foot.
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Interval Training on Consecutive Days

Posted October 15th, 2007 at 11:45 AM by Martha Jones

Section: Running & Training, Training Tips, Health & Fitness, Exercise

The faster an athlete moves in training, the faster he or she will be able to move during competition. So athletes use a training technique called interval training in which they run, cycle, skate, ski or swim very fast for a short time. When they become severely short of breath, they slow down until they recover, and then move very fast again.

Researchers at Ithaca College showed that athletes can gain as much by doing this type of intense interval training on consecutive days as on alternate days (Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, September 2007).

Interval training causes considerable muscle damage, so it usually leaves athletes sore the next day. Most trainers recommend exercising at a slower pace until the soreness disappears. That is why athletes usually follow each intense day with one or more easy days.

However, many competitions require an athlete to exercise flat out for several consecutive days. He/She may have to compete in multiple preliminary heats over several consecutive days to reach the finals.
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Q & A: Should I rest or go for an easy run when I feel sore?

Posted March 13th, 2007 at 9:19 AM by Adam Jacobs

Section: Health & Fitness, Exercise

Will you recover faster from a long run by resting, or by exercising at a leisurely pace?

Most experienced athletes find that they recover faster by going easy the next day. On the day after you exercise vigorously, your muscles feel sore because they are damaged, and running fast with sore muscles injures them.

However, studies at the University of Massachusetts showed that athletes who exercise leisurely on the day after hard workouts are less likely to be injured than those who recover by taking the day off. Exercising during recovery causes muscles to grow more fibrous tissue that helps protect them from injury.
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TFS Review: The Stick’s “Sprinter Stick”

Posted January 10th, 2007 at 10:00 AM by Adam Jacobs

Section: Running & Training, Injury & Rehab, Gear & Apparel, Miscellaneous, Product Reviews, Special Features, Health & Fitness, Injury & Rehab, TFS Reviews

The Stick’s “Sprinter Stick” is an exceptional tool for injury prevention & treatment and was chosen as a “TFS Top Pick of 2006″.

Product: The Stick’s Sprinter Stick
Price: $32.95
Rating: Excellent 8.9/10.0
Pros: Improves performance by accelerating recovery; portable; good value; versatile
Cons: Difficult to use on arm muscles and feet without a partner.
Overall: This is a one-of-a-kind self-massage tool that can reduce muscle soreness, prevent injuries and even make you a better runner.

For those who have never seen it used, The Sprinter Stick is likely to seem quite peculiar. As a matter of fact, when one of The Final Sprint’s product testers first received it, he thought we had sent him: “Some type of a hybrid between a rolling pin and a weapon from ‘Karate Kid’“.

Believe it or not, this observation was quite perceptive. The Sprinter Stick, one of the many models in the The Stick’s product line, is a 19-inch rod of plastic with grey, grooved handles on each end and nine, independent spindles surrounding it’s core. Just as a rolling pin is used to knead and reshape dough, The Sprinter Stick is used to stretch and manipulate muscle. The Intracell Technology of The Sprinter Stick can also be thought of as a type of weapon; one that has proved extremely effective for runner’s in the battle to stay injury-free.
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Marathon Training Tips: Increasing Intensity, Speed & Preventing Injuries

Posted October 30th, 2006 at 12:00 PM by Martha Jones

Section: Running & Training, Injury & Rehab, Training Tips

Many runners have the mistaken impression that they have to run a lot of miles every week to be able to run fast in a marathon. Most will find that running too many miles slows them down.

To run fast in races, you have to run very fast in practice. However, on the day after you run very fast, your muscles will feel sore. If you run fast while you are sore, you are likely to injure yourself and not be able to run at all. Take easy workouts until your muscles feel fresh again. Read the rest of this entry »

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Principles of Training

Posted October 28th, 2006 at 7:00 AM by Martin Kennedy

Section: Running & Training, Injury & Rehab, Training Tips, Health & Fitness

You will not become a better athlete by doing the same training regimen each day.

Athletes train by taking hard workouts on one day, feeling sore on the next, and not taking another hard workout until the muscles stop feeling sore.

It’s called the hard-easy principle.

If you want to become stronger or faster or increase your endurance, you have to exercise hard or long enough to make your muscles burn. Then your muscles will be sore for one or more days.

However, if you try to exercise hard when your muscles are damaged, you will tear them and the muscles will weaken.

If you wait for the soreness to disappear, your muscles will be stronger than they were before your workout. As you continue to take stressful workouts only after the soreness disappears, you will become progressively stronger and faster and have greater endurance. Read the rest of this entry »

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Crunch Time - ‘Worry, Set, Go!’

Posted May 23rd, 2006 at 8:00 AM by Arthur Rosen

Section: Running & Training, Motivation, Training Tips

I train endless hours climbing up and down the hills, the speedwork, the tempo runs, the long runs, the recovery days. How many miles did I log this week? Sixty? Seventy? The humidity got to me this week, I felt like I was dragging myself. The rain helped cool me off but it did raise some blisters that will need my attention for at least a week. My legs aren’t fully recovered from last week’s mileage, my knees hurt, what’s that pain I feel in my arch? Will my lower back ever stop hurting? Will it heal by marathon day? I must go on. I’ve put too much into my training not to run the marathon next month. I swear it will be the last one. I will be prepared. I am ready to prove to myself once again how much I have in me, that I am ready, that I will be the best that I can be.

“The marathon is the reward for all of this training” they say.

Finally it’s taper time. Let’s bring down the mileage. I need that. My legs so badly need that. I am starting to feel a bit antsy as I’m not running as much as I have the last few weeks. I’m feeling fat. I want so badly to run more and damn the taper! Stay lean, stay healthy, keep hydrating, keep that “edge”. Did I carb-load enough? Did I eat the right foods? Did I do the past eighteen weeks all right, will someone tell me if I did it right damn it! I don’t know! I’m confident but I’m nervous, so nervous that I hardly got any sleep last night. Drink, go to the bathroom, drink some more, go to the bathroom some more. Are my laces knotted right? Is the chip on properly? Everyone standing around me is running, stretching, drinking. Why does everyone look more fit than me? Am I really deserving to run in this race? I’m feeling pumped, my stomach is in a knot, but the day is here and it’s a perfect day. Pace right, drink often, run your race. Ready, set, go!

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