Random Medicine Ball exercises

Hey Jay--

I really liked this video. There's been a lot of good stuff up here of late. Keep up the good work. One of my favorite parts of the video was definitely the "bad" reps, especially the hammie flips since the cause seemed more "technical" than, um, "structural." I know that you said you like the Big 10 as a routine b/c it requires so little--if any--teaching. I've never tried the hammie flips myself, there was an old workout video of yours that had them and when I was guinea pigging it on myself, I substituted Russian Hamstrings, since I was doing it solo. It seems to me, with my limited physiological knowledge, that these exercises would be similar generally but not specifically, (flexion vs extension? as I said, a very limited physiological knowledge). If work is work, that seems to be a legitimate substitution. After seeing that video, I think if I tried to introduce the hammie-flips, the girls I coach would get a better ab workout from giggling (as well as some bruises) than a hamstring workout. So thanks for posting that.

The other thought that went through my head as I watch that video was something I read on Steve Magness' site (or that he posted on this site), a quote to the effect that runners should look for the same thing in the weight room that throwers do: power. In the spirit of your post on dissent, how much does throwing around an 8 lb ball contribute to power? Obviously, you believe in its efficacy or you wouldn't be assigning it to your athletes. On a personal level, I enjoy throwing med balls around, and when you did some mbht's last track season, it looked like the girls enjoyed it more than doing snatches in the weightroom. Also, you compliment your GS-stuff with weightroom stuff, but in the vein of Nathan's comment on the "real world" schedule, what is most efficacious for someone who also has to finish their geometry homework, study for a Spanish test and practice the violin? Thanks again for all the great stuff, keep it coming, please!

Thos

Coach Jay,
This is just another excellent post with tons of useful information. This fall/winter I've been more diligent with "core" or "general strength" work. We have a three different med-ball routines that we alternate through every few days/weeks. Since I did not have any cross country eligibility in the fall and only really did the US 10 mile champs, I was able to work a little harder on general strength. This indoor season I've been able to handle pretty high mileage, but more importantly high quality runs. For example, this morning I did (my favorite) 20x400 workout. I could feel the different with the stronger core and was able to keep good form throughout the workout. In past, workouts like this would be more of a struggle at the end trying to hold form. I definitely credit the general strength work to being able to handle faster and higher volume workouts while keeping good posture - thus hopefully getting more out of the workout. Just thought I'd give my 2cents on how routines/general strength exercises specific improvements in running. Also, there was a recent article on Peak Performance News in an interview with running form expert Jay Dicharry, which I linked to at the bottom of this e-mail. In the second question when asked what is optimal running form and how to get it he states, "Okay, now onto strength. We run in one plane – the sagittal plane. So every time you run, you are strengthening the tissues that move us forward. We walk in the sagittal plane. Many runners go to a gym and do squats, leg press, hamstring curls, calf raises, etc. They get stuck on strengthening these muscles that all operate in a singe plane. In all my years of working with runners, I have never encountered one who was weak in the quads, hamstrings, or calf. Think about how much volume of work you do with these muscles. A lot! Now think about how much you work the muscles that control lateral and rotational stability in your body. Is it the same? I doubt it. Running is a great exercise, but it doesn’t work on global stability. Ignoring your stability needs is a bit like trying to graduate high school while only studying a single subject. We need to think of ourselves as well-rounded athletes instead of simply runners. There is a vast body of research showing that deficits in stability are responsible for the majority of running injuries." I thought that this quote really explains how exercises such as haybales make us more well-rounded, and therefore faster, runners.

http://peakperformance.runnersworld.com/2010/02/httphscvirginiaeduinternetpmrgaitcoordcfmhttpwwwhealthsystemvirginiaeduinternetpmrspeedcfmwwwuvaendurospo.html

Hope all is well and thanks for all of the knowledge and ideas you share on this site.
-Tyler McCandless