Jay Johnston's General Strength Progression

Coach Jay Johnston has 5 videos online which detail his general strength progression for runners. They originally appeared in Running Times magazine. Jay says, "The General Strength progression below is the content that I most frequently forward when answering questions on how to improve your running." You can find his post with all 5 videos here. The Colorado mountains in the background are just magnificent. Here is the first routine




These directions are pretty simple and I wish I knew and practiced this stuff years ago. The short routines that Jay presents are certainly worth the effiort and he suggests doing them post run. I have worked through the first routine a couple of times now. His lunge matrix is another valuable routine that I hope to be able to start again soon with my hip. Jay recommends doing these before running or any other work.




Coach Jay also put together two DVDs in his Building a Better Runner series. I did a little bit of proofreading work for Jay on them, so I hope you don't find any spelling or grammar mistakes if you watch them! Here I reviewed the DVD a bit. I found that the DVD had tons of good information, but knowing what to do and sorting through the DVD to figure it out was too much for me. If you want to work on your building yourself up using Jay's methods, the general strength progression posted above is an excellent way to start. He has posted a lot of other worthy stuff online. I would recommend the DVDs to a coach, a trainer, or to an athlete how wants to dig a bit deeper into building up their body for running so that they can keep injuries at bay and fun faster.

Warming up runners through the three planes of motion

I have been recently learning about the importance of movement through the three planes of motion. Thankfully, the experts are writing and making videos to help me in my understanding and guiding me towards corrective and strengthening exercises that can help me move and run better. Here is a good overview for runners on the three planes of motion by Lori Thomsen found at the  Postural Restoration Institute (I have linked to this before but it needs a bit of study and review). Lori works at the Huskra Clinic and has been putting out some very helpful videos on running using Postural Resoration principles. Here is her newest video. It includes Lori's recommendations for "Dynamic and Functional Warm-up Activities for Runners."


Dynamic, Functional Warm-up Activities for Runners from Hruska Clinic on Vimeo.


If you have imbalances or asymmetries this may be a great place to start correcting your mechanics.

If you  are a mechanically-balanced runner (all those smooth striding athletes that are ahead of me in races!) then you might want to maintain that perfect body balance by incorporating the Lunge Matrix into your warm-up routine. Coach Jay Johnson says this is the warm-up he uses before running. Jay also explains how the lunge matrix as devised by Gary Gray exercises you through the three planes of motion.


Lunge Warm-Up from CoachJayJohnson on Vimeo.


The three planes of motion are the frontal plane, the saggital plane, and the transverse plane. Runners are used to activity in the saggital plane and we tend to be weak in movements in the other two planes. Lori has a couple of videos showing how to strengthen the frontal and saggital planes. She promises to do the transverse plane soon.


Frontal Plane Strengthening Activities from Hruska Clinic on Vimeo.



The Sagittal Plane - the Importance of Squatting from Hruska Clinic on Vimeo.

Here is Gary Gray (mentioned above) addressing the issue of Hip Tightness. He completely explains all motions of the Hip Joint and how the different motions interact. He talks about how tightness of the hip capsules can restrict motion in all three planes of motion and begins mentioning how to address restrictions of the femur in the hip capsule which can create body disfunctions and bad motions throughout the body.



Carson Boddicker of Boddicker Performance has also been writing on the importance of multi-directional training. He recent post recommends runners should work all through planes of motion to avoid stress fractures. Here he recommends slideboard training (I think I have one of those somewhere) for runners to work on movements in the the frontal plane..

Jay Johnston did a similar video to the one above for Nike and  RunnerSpace a year ago. It provides more information on the lunge matrix.



And thanks to Jay, Lori, Carson, and all the other teachers out there who are helping myself and others to move better.

Time to "Get Up" and Get Those Hips Working Again

Everything was going pretty good for my hips until last month when I "tweaked" a muscle in my back. I took time off from running, but when I started back my hips were all off again. Some days seemed a little better, but they kept getting worse. The past week it has been like last year all over again. I can feel how uncomfortable and imbalanced I am, and when I go for a run it has not been smooth going. I have forced myself out the door to run and although I have run 11 miles for each of the past two runs, they have been miserable. I am trying to force my body into balance, and I should know after many years of trying to do so, that I cannot do this while running. After my runs, I find it hard to move around and am moving like a senior citizen.

I have tried all the tricks in my book. Nothing has worked. I probably overdid a bunch of them, but I was hoping to just "pop" things back into place. I woke up stiff and still out of balance this morning and I got to thinking. I have tried everything that I thought was working earlier in the year, except for one thing that I had been doing religiously when things were going well. I took out my kettlebell and started doing the Turkish Get up again (previous post). Why had I negelected to get back to this exercise after I hurt my back?

Here is a great video of how to do the turkish getup that breaks it down into specific drills for each movement. It is presented by Anthony DiLuglio from the "Art of Strength” DVD workout series. Take a look at how mobile and strong the hips and shoulders have to be to accomplish the drill.



You can find even more basic kettlebell drills here at Anthony DiLuglio's "Kettlebell Training 101". There are other basic kettlebell drill here including an alternate video of the turkish getup where he takes another person through the routine seen in the Youtube video. He also has a few different videos on Amazon. However if you want to start learning how to use kettlebells, I really like the DVD from Sara Cheatham. I bought her DVD earlier in the year when she only had 100 copies. Now I see she has it for sale again. Not only is she a good kettlebell instructor, but she is also a top-notch Z-Health instructor and she includes some good Z-Health joint mobility drills on the DVD. You can find information here, or look for her Red Star Athletics blog to the left of this post.



After doing some turkish getups again this morning, I feel the balance shifting in my hips. Hopefully this is the ingredient that I have been missing. Upon reflection, I think the turkish getup takes my hips and shoulders (which have also been very tight and not in balance) through multiple planes of motion. Not only that, but the drill strengthens my hips and the connections to my shoulders as they rotate through the various positions and movements.

Speaking of movement through multiple ranges of motion, coach Jay Johnson put this video on his site recently. He has national class runner, Sarah Vaughn, demonstrate a post workout strength leg circuit routine and then the Athena drill. Like a lot of Jay's drills, found on his DVDs, they can be quite advanced, so I may try some of these drills, although I need to be cautious. These movements work the frontal plane, lateral movements, that are movements that are not stressed in running, so I may be somewhat challenged due to all my exercise is in a forward direction and does not involve side-to-side movements. This could be a weakness that affects my hips. This routine can also be downloaded right to your ipod from Jay's site, which is very helpful if you want to keep the drills accessible.


SV Leg Circuit, then Athena (uncut) from CoachJayJohnson on Vimeo.

A Good Week of Long Runs

Today was a decent running day. I had missed a run for the past two days so I was hoping to do another 15 miler. Even thought my left hip was a bit off, my muscles were good and loose. At about 13 miles I sort of changed direction to add a few more miles. I was feeling fine so I threw a new loop in and ended up going 21 miles. That was my longest run since struggling through Boston two years ago (after not running for the 15 days beforehand due to bronchitis). Boston did not go well that year. I felt fine the whole way today and only in the last mile did I start to feel any stiffness in my legs. I have had a good spell of 8 days since last Saturday: Sat. 15 miles/Sun. 12 miles/ Mon./off/Tues 15 miles/Wed. 8 miles./Thurs. off/ Fri. off/ Sat 21 miles. That would be 71 miles in 8 days. Not bad since I probably have been only running 20-30 miles per week since November.

Two days off was a good idea. Last Saturday I woke up with a cramp in my left calf. I was starting to feel the muscle tightening up on my runs. I felt nothing today. I am not sure why I feel so good. I know I have made dramatic improvements in my hips. I have lost about 10 pounds. I have been following the Warrior's Diet, but probably not as fully intended. I eat light and healthy during the day and eat a well balanced healthy meal at night. I have cut out tons of processed foods, sugars, and diet cokes. I eat a lot of fruits and veggies. I would guess that could make my muscles feel so much better if it cuts down on inflamation or something in the muscles and joint areas and feeds them good nutrition.

Today I ate an apple at noon, a Cliff bar an hour before my run (at 2:00), and drank three of four glasses of water. I did not bring anything to eat or drink as I ran (and brought no money either). I will have to do that soon as the weather warms up and I keep doing longer runs. On a normal day I may eat some nuts, fruit, or cheese mid-morning. Then at lunch I may have two or three pieces of fruit, nuts or cheese, and maybe something like broccoli. It doesn't sound that tasty but I am not craving the bad foods throughout the day as I used to do.

I did finally get to run again in the Nike Lunaracers today. The tongue was irritating the top of my left foot when I first wore them for 15 miles last Saturday. If I put them on now, the tongue still irritates it. I was going to cut it off but then the shoelaces would dig into my foot. So today I just moved the shoelaces up a notch and pinched the bottom of the tongue so it was pulled up away from the shoe. It may have looked funny but it worked like a charm. Other than that issue the Lunaracers seem to be excellent running shoes.

It also helps my running that this has been a horrible year at my school. A new principal is really making life miserable. She does not like me (or even talk to me), my creative approach to teaching, or the fact that I think that there is more than one style of learning in this world (not every student is a quiet little girl who enjoys doing paperwork all day-or practicing "state test" questions endlessly). I am being forced out of the school for even having a different opinion than hers. After 21 years at my school, it appears I will be gone next year. It can be tough being a guy teacher in a school full of women (here is a positive post I made on what it is like- but you can read between the lines if-you are interested). A good long run helps me deal with the ridiculousness of the situation. Ironically Wednesday night I will go to the Boys and Girls Club in Nashua to be honored with a Teacher-of-the-Year award and then I will have to find myself another school that will appreciate good teaching.

If you are brave (and smart) you might want to check out or try these warm-up skipping exercises as presented by Coach Jay Johnson on his blog. Here is his Running Times acticle explaining how to get ready for a race. The skipping routines remind me somewhat of what I have seen Haile Gebrsalaise and the Ethiopain runners perform before working out.


Warm-Up: Skipping Exercises from CoachJayJohnson on Vimeo.

The Alphabet Routine for Ankles, Knees, and Hips

Here is a good little exercise called the Alphabet Routine. It comes from coach Jay Johnson. Anything that helps the ankle, knee, and hips is good for me and hopefully will help with my alignment, balance, and running economy. Notice that is it the standing leg that is doing the work. It is like a more intensive version of some Z-Health drills. All of which are meant to improve your neuromuscular system.

The best set of running specific exercises and drills that I have seen are Jay Johnson's "Building a Better Runner: Building from the Ground Up" DVD's 1 and 2. Jay sent me the DVD's back before Christmas as I helped him a bit as he was putting them together. I have gone through his preview DVD's a couple of times each to check them over but there is so much in these DVD's to learn and try that I have been reluctant to add the routines to my own running just yet. I have done a few of the routines but I believe I am not fully ready for them yet and will save them for when I get my hips fully working and in balance (I am getting closer!).

The exercises include Preventive Routines, General Strength and Warm-Ups. There is so much to pick and choose from and I believe these are geared for strong runners on up to elite runners. In fact Olympian Christian Smith demonstrates many of the routines. If you are looking to advance your running to new levels of strength you can check out more on these DVDs here. On this post last fall I discussed one of the DVDs.

UPDATE: One thing I forget about the DVDs (and there are two DVD's in each DVD pack) is that the videos are also in Ipod and Windows format. It was easy to copy the videos onto my Ipod Touch so I can more ealily play them wherever I am. So now I have started working through a few of the drills and routines slowly as I learn what may work best for me.

Here is a video of Christian Smith that shows how he made the Olympic team.

and after the dive.