Tuesday, February 24, 2015

'Part II of Athletic Republic's S.S.S. Endurance Protocol' and Gait Re-Analysis

This week marks my completion of Athletic Republic's 16-session Strength, Speed, and Stability (S.S.S.) Protocol to be more widely launched by the facility soon. I previously wrote on my initial experiences and progress in an earlier post and the today I will kind of sum up my progress, areas I've improved, and perhaps some other things to still address.

To accompany my rather subjective progress report I went in for a second gait analysis to check in on things and will use some of the images from 'before' and 'after' to see what areas I have improved upon and some where I still need more strengthening and work. That's running, folks-there's always areas where we could tweak and recovery and strengthening I feel is critical and an ongoing process.

I'll start off where I left off from my post in December 2014. I was just shy of 8 sessions in and doing drills I haven't done since high school and probably never done correctly until this point. Let's just say the teenage athlete Adrienne and the adult athlete Adrienne have seemingly never met! I went in basically an injury-prone statistic and in desperate need of shuffling the deck if I wished to continue running. Based on gait analysis #1 and prior knowledge, there were fundamental weaknesses in my hips, core, lower legs, and feet (notably the right).Trainer Josh Scott and Co. had a fun project on their hands for sure.

Flash forward to last week's session, # 15 to be exact. This particular day included single-leg plyometric drills of 8 seconds a piece in designated sequences, 4 sets or step-ups on boxes of 12 and 18 inches (I think) working on leg turnover, posture, and core strength. Strength work included hip cords working on adduction and abduction and throw in some TRX suspension for good measure. Oh, and the runs on the 'mill were backward. Backward and I "PR'd" backpedaling during 12 second spotted segments running at 10.5 MPH. Yeah, that's a 5:43 pace according to my iPhone pace calculator; you know, because my mental math skills are useless!

During the second half one of the biggest things I noticed was the adaptation to all these crazy moves. I used to sweat buckets (okay I still kind of do) jumping around like a nervous idiot on the spring-loaded plyo board but it became easier over the course of 15 sessions. The crazy climbing got faster, and my fast-twitch muscle fibers came around and I was able to hit, even briefly, sub 5:00 pace on 15% incline. Great for the confidence, at least.

That's really cool, but how does that help on the track or road?...


I believe during the midpoint I had been doing heavy plyometric drills and brief hill runs on a treadmill at 15% incline or so but at slower speeds. The back half of the program took the speed up to more hill sprints (spotted either by trainer or harness for safety) and inclusion of some 'bigger' jumping drills that also were brief working on leg turnover and core stability.

Another benefit I feel I received was increased proprioception. When I first started the program I had little to none and a pretty significant guarding response on my right side due to injury history. For those who aren't familiar-'guarding' is a mostly involuntary response of the body to protect and compensate for an injured or in this case-formerly injured area. It is possible to re-train the muscles and brain to fire normally, but takes gradual retraining. I still catch myself wanting to move my weight away from my R side, but it is nothing like it used to be. Translated to running: I can develop a more symmetrical stride, which means more efficiency and less injury.

Now that I can tell where my feet are landing and have more control of my legs, I can tell them better where to go in relation to my body and how fast or slow.

The Subjective:

Since starting the SSS program, here's the objectives of what a former "injury-riddled statistic" has been able to do. For many, this may not be a big deal and routine, but for me this is quite progressive.


  • Physiological Resilience: approx. 5 months of being able to build mileage and intensity in training without much issue. I've had my days and moments, but overall, I am able to do more in my training, more consistently, and with a faster build up. Psychologically, I am less afraid to go out and spin out a workout on the track-stronger body equals a stronger mind over time. 
  • Progress in core and glute strength. As referenced in the shot in my racing shoes but observed in the 'driver's seat', I can maintain my form longer and adjust pacing and cadence without much fuss. And getting compliments on how your gait looks is always nice too!  I guess when you're not on a wildly spinning belt at a crazy incline, everything seems manageable:) 
  • Increased ankle and lower leg strength. I HAD to have this. The plyo board did cause some ankle soreness in the beginning, but I feel along with my home exercises my right foot was able to re-join the party. 
  • Better warm up habits. At the start of each session, I go through a specific dynamic warmup with different drills and ending with ladder work. I liked the ladder so much I went out and purchased one myself. Now before any workout I tend to steal whatever warmup moves we did at the previous session. The best part is they are multidirectional and multiplanar, critical to running health as we can only point our bodies in one direction for so long without having issues.
  • Education and treatment. Knowledge of your body and how to use it properly is power. I will be honest, I did not always feel like a million dollars every week, but that has to do with factors from my training and outside life (like crazy days at the office, sleep quality, or travel), there were some stiff areas and aches. Dr. Derrick Raymer, the sports med specialist on staff, has been fantastic in addressing some of the wear and tear. This is where AR is different from other training facilities in they come from an injury and overtraining prevention model. Critical for me and I know many others. 
    • I was introduced to regular Graston (aka scar-tissue scraping) treatments on my 'bad' ankle and am not noticing a significant difference anymore in mobility. I rarely think about it anymore as there is little residual damage from my previous fractures and tendon issues. And it doesn't hurt AS bad as I anticipated, which is nice. 
  • Speed & Durability. I still have a ways to go to meet my potential there, but I have been able to hit workout paces without much fuss and comparing my 5k time last year and my most recent one is a good 30 seconds faster. The biggest bonus is the ability to not limp around the day after a race like I used to. I was knocking on injury's door after races last year and this year I was running pain free the day after. Highly encouraging. 
  • Increased athleticism and overall mobility. I can simply do more than just run-my body is able to leave the frontal plane of motion, making the act of running somewhat easier. 
Gait Analysis: The Objective

I was not able to get the images from this go-round, but will share some numbers for all you geeks out there. Previously I had a more significant hip drop and over stride on the Right side and those were the biggest factors in the first analysis. Since the Spring, more tests and angles have been included in a typical analysis so there was more data this time. I will be honest, there are still areas that I need improvement on, but where it got interesting is when I put my racing flats on and cranked the treadmill down to a 6:30 pace. According to the data and how I felt, I was much less sloppy-which was very different as I tended to feel much less in control without specific training.

Why? Probably because I've been trained to maintain form at higher intensities, as the program is designed for; at least that's my hypothesis. I did what I was trained to do running faster. Below are some of the angles and what they mean. I by no means have the perfect gait and I have eliminated some variables and focused more on the frames that looked at me running in trainers (Adidas Energy Boost 2) and racers/faster shoes (Adidas Adios Boost).

Foot Inclination Angle @ Contact (i.e. the dreaded heel strike vs midfoot) Ideal is less than 10
Boost at easy pace: L: 13.0 R: 20.8
Adios at faster pace: L: 3.3 R: 3.4

Maximum Knee Flexion Angle @ Mid-Stance 
This I need to work on, meaning bending my knee more while striking the ground is preferred.


Center of Mass Vertical Displacement (goal of 6-8 cm)
Boost easy pace L: 8CM R: 10CM
Adios faster pace L: 7CM R: 7CM
L: Yes R: No
L: Yes R: Yes


Joint Center Alignment @ Mid-Stance
L: Good R: Good
 Load joints evenly (no *valgus/*varus)
L: Yes R: Yes 


Lateral Pelvic Tilt @ Mid-Stance (Hip Drop) - appears to be improved from last testing* Goal:  Women: 5-7o Men: 3-5o
L: 3.4o R: 5.9o
L: Yes R: Yes


The Bigger Picture

After looking at the data again (the objective) and how I feel during and after my workouts (the subjective) I believe that I have benefitted from the endurance protocol. I have actually been able to run hard without falling apart or struggling in later stages and have strung together weeks of track sessions indicates improvement in my mechanics, especially at faster efforts (which if you know me or have read this blog over time, know this is something I have struggled mightily with).

I was surprised with how in my trainers going slower I noticed not much change, but factors such as fatigue (I did the test during a higher volume week for me), shoe selection (the Boost's bouncy sole may affect how I run some), and the fact that I have really zeroed in on my mechanics running fast and not as much while running easy. I can either drive myself crazy with speculating-or I can address things a little at a time and prioritize. I believe there is no perfect stride, so alter what is most important to keeping you injury-free, efficient, and energized.

The report included suggestions that included working on the upper body a little more, and continuing the core and hip exercises I have been incorporating-a training protocol can only go so far and the rest is up to me!

My final analysis is this: I see a clear relationship with how much more training I have been able to do versus previous cycles and the ease I feel while picking up the pace-both are things I needed to be able to race successfully and safely and I knew that working on fundamental things was the way to go. And it had to be pretty radical from what I was used to.

I have and will continue to recommend this program to friends and fellow athletes. It doesn't hurt to have an incline treadmill in a town with minimal hills! It is an investment in time, but I feel it is worth it and the sessions are enjoyable. I found that it fit well with 'down' or lower volume training cycles where the athlete has time to really work on addressing important or weak areas to enter the new season stronger. It would be great in small groups and perfect for college athletes home for the summer, etc.

Those interested in the program can inquire at www.athleticrepublicthewoodlands.com or look online to see if a location is in your area. I am also happy to address any more details that were not clear in this post.

Thank you, Susan, Derrick, and Josh for all your help in this stage of my comeback-I don't think I'd be doing this well at this stage without AR!

Stay the course.

 

2 comments:

misszippy said...

This really sounds like the most amazing program and like you have gotten so much out of it. I think you will be a machine this year with all this hard work paying off!

DRaymer said...

Excellent Post! I thank you for allowing the Athletic Republic-The Woodlands staff and I to help you along this journey.

Power in Numbers!

Dr. Derrick