3 Tips to Train Smarter this Spring

Want to run a marathon, climb Mt. Rainier, or bike a century? This time of year many of us are ramping up our training and we are full of hopes and aspirations for physical accomplished this summer. I'm one of those people hoping to continue to push my limits conquering harder rock climbing routes. Once the warmth and sunshine arrives (typically much later here in Seattle) we dust off our running shoes, bikes, etc and go full steam ahead. However, going out too fast leaves many of us susceptible to injury.

As research has now shown, the majority of athletes problems are most often neither in the musculature nor the skeleton.  Rather, it’s in the structure of the connective tissue including the fascia, ligaments, tendons, and joint capsules that have been loaded beyond their prepared capacity (Renstrom and Johnson, 1985, Hyaman and Roeo, 2000; Counsel and Breidahl, 2010). This typically occurs for a variety of reasons, but I’ll outline a few for you here:

1. Abrupt changes in training intensity or volume- As I’ve heard others say in the past, it’s all about the dosage. If you add in too much volume or intensity too quickly you will find yourself on the injured list, oftentimes because of a connective tissue injury. You see muscles respond faster and recover more easily than tendons and ligaments because muscles receive more blood flow, while connective tissue receive less blood flow. In fact, fascia can take 6-24 months to rebuild fascial elasticity.  Thus when returning to a sport or starting a new sport you must ease into training to avoid getting injured.

2. Changes in technique- I see this frequently with runner’s going from a heal strike to barefoot style of running. If you’ve been training for years in one style and then just switch to a new technique without a reduction in volume and intensity you are setting yourself up for failure.

3. A Change in the types of equipment being used- Cyclists changing bikes, shoes, or seat height. Rowers changing the type of boat or set up. Runners changing their footwear. All of these require adaptations for your body so ease into the new equipment.

Injuries take away huge gains in training and create a great deal of frustration. It's best to take a proactive approach to your training. Make sure to plan for the appropriate amount of volume and intensity that will continue to push you forward without getting into the zone of injury and overuse. When in doubt about an area that is painful be proactive and get it checked out. Oftentimes, injuries heal themselves much quicker if given time heal rather than pushing through pain and creating a chronic condition.