#FootworkDrills to Improve #InjuryFreeRunning#Barefoot:

As part of my Team Over The Top (TOTT) run training programme, I incorporate a number of focused footwork drills to:

1. strengthen the feet muscles, tendons and ligaments to better activate the whole running muscle chain
2. square up the body especially from the hips and pelvic girdle to better lock in my Squat/Scoot style of safe, efficient running
3. encourage the body to brace against the negative downward force of gravity from the mid chest to the calves
4. provide a solid foundation for those who wish to transition to full-on BAREFOOT running (none of my runners wear what I call “full-on coffins” but almost all of them wear what is commonly referred to today as “minimalist footwear”. A few DO run full-on barefoot with NO injury issues)

By doing so every week during our technical run sessions, all of my TOTT and private client runners stay away from avoidable running injuries. This allows them to train more effectively to achieve their running goals. As such, I recommend ALL of you fit some, if not all, of the following drills into your run training – YEAR ROUND! The following are not ALL of my foot-strengthening drills but do include some of the key ones:

• side 1/2 squat crossover to strengthen feet, calves and hip adductors

• internal and external hip rotations to open up pelvic girdle and strengthen synergistic muscles of the feet for better balance

• forward knee lift with forceful paw-back to activate hip flexors and lock in a foot landing point just behind the knees. This helps fight the negative downward force of gravity

• quick step with heel flick to strengthen foot arches and calves, protect the Achilles tendons and improve foot turnover for speed and efficiency

• high side leg lift with 1/2 squat to activate all foot muscles and protect against excessive pronation and supination that can lead to ‘itis’ injuries. This also necessitates bracing from the chest to the calves to maintain a squared up, safe running body position

• forward crossover step with 1/2 squat alternating lead foot to strengthen the instep muscles of the feet and prevent plantar fasciitis issues. This also encourages bracing from the chest to keep the upper body in line over the hips for a more efficient forward run drive action

• side to side forward shift. The key is to get the body in line over the support leg during each forward shift. This develops the hip adductors and abductors along with the rest of the running muscle chain. It also translates into safer, more powerful ‘normal’ forward running

You only need a flat surface of not more than 20 metres to do all of the above drills. You also do NOT need any equipment – just you and some sort of surface. In other words, there is NO excuse to avoid these as part of your running regime. The time commitment is minimal (5 to 7 minutes total before each run) but the positive result for safe, efficient running IS significant.

Here’s to you following the old coach’s simple drills – especially the barefoot runners amongst you!

coach Jeff

#EmidioSantroni -“Why I Run” – Inspires #CoachJeff:

I am re-blogging a post from one of my running clients (read below) whose story MUST be read to believe. It is a heart-wrenching yet inspirational journey by one determined and focused young man. For anyone facing challenges in life, his is a message worth applying.
Emidio found my generic training plan for the Around The Bay 30 kilometre race on its website in October, 2015. He then contacted me about designing a specific programme to help him complete the Bay race. Keep in mind – he had NEVER run further than 5 kilometres before and was weighing in at 242 pounds when we 1st met in November of 2015. We quickly figured out that Emidio was our daughter Kati’s Grade 11 History teacher at Iona SS in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. How ironic that Kati’s ‘old man’ would then help guide Emidio to his goal! Over the next 5 months, we met once per month at 5:30 a.m. at the Iona track with the goal of teaching Emidio how to run safely and efficiently as he proceeded to lose 40 pounds and build up to completing the full Bay course as part of his training. I knew nothing of WHY Emidio wanted to run the Bay – other than the desire to “change my life against all odds for the positive”. It was only after he sent the blog featured below that I knew his TRUE reason for wanting to do the Bay race in his hometown.
I have trained 100s of runners, elite athletes and teams BUT I have seldom trained anyone with such determination, internal fortitude and commitment to an end goal. On Sunday, April 3 in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, I will be at the start line to encourage Emidio. I will also be out on the course to hopefully run a few kilometres with him. I know 2 things for certain…#1 – he WILL finish in under 3:30 and #2 – his young son & family will be cheering him on. Finally, to all of those who said “you’ll NEVER do this, Emidio”, I say “touche! He’ll do it and then some.”

coach Jeff

runfatsorunblog

So Why Do I Run?

A lot of people have asked me this question over the course of these past five months, “So Emidio what possessed you to run a 30km race?”  Really they’re not too far off when they use the word possessed.  Because the last two years of my life I was possessed.  I was possessed by my own personal demons.  This race and this commitment to excellence was a way to exorcise those demons that terrorized me.  What demons you ask?

May 15, 2011 was probably the happiest day of my life (next to my wedding of course).  My first son John Paul was born at a healthy 8 pounds 8 ounces.  The sky was limit that day.  I was already listing off the things that me and my new little buddy and I were going to do such as: fishing, playing soccer, helping him with homework…

View original post 1,577 more words

#UCANBaseballAcademy Dares to #FixSouthAfrica:

In my February 24, 2016 blog post, I introduced you to my friend and coaching colleague, Mark Moore. If you recall, Mark runs an elite baseball academy in Capetown, South Africa where I first met him during one of my business trips. Having worked with Mark & his youth baseball players on injury prevention and body awareness on the field, I knew that this is a special human being.

However, it has only been over the past month that I more fully understood just how special Mr. Mark Moore is to SOOO many in South Africa. This is a white man who does NOT see colour nor race. He doesn’t accept oppression nor apartheid nor violence to solve challenges. He puts his money where his mouth is and ventures into the fray that is South Africa. He does this at significant emotional and financial cost BUT refuses to quit, cave in or capitulate to the ‘common opinion’. For all of the above traits and many more, I have ALL kinds of time for Mr. Mark Moore.

At my request, Mark forwarded me a link to his UCAN Baseball Academy programme (please click on the link inserted below).

http://ucan.baseballacademy.co.za/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3:donations&catid=1:front-page

If you have taken the time to peruse the content of the above link, you will have a better understanding of Mark, his supporters, the great work they are doing in the shanty towns of Capetown AND how they need our help! I have visited a number of shanty towns in Capetown whilst there on various business trips over the past decade. Thus, I know first hand the challenges that face South Africa in changing the dynamic of the next generation. Facing severe financial constraints, Mark’s UCAN programme needs a regular infusion of capital to continue its difference-making work.

For every youth that UCAN assists in forging a better, more productive life, the positive repercussions for South Africa as a whole are significant. Why should we in other parts of the world who face are OWN local challenges give a crap about South Africa?? Good question…to which I reply “South Africa’s challenges are MUCH greater than ours on most of the planet AND, by positively impacting impoverished youth in South Africa, we are creating an atmosphere of world sharing and support for generations to come.

Now is the time for those of us who CAN to support UCAN. There is a Donation link in the link above AND a charitable donation number. You will automatically receive a tax donation slip via email. As those of you who follow my blog regularly know, I DO NOT solicit donations nor spew on about various causes. This, however, is an exception. I have been moved to action by a man guided by God to do His work on earth against all odds. I have financially committed to support the work of UCAN – it’s my small way of letting Mark know that there are people who care. There are people who want to positively affect change. There are God-fearing people who care that Mark’s UCAN programme succeeds in allowing youth from Capetown’s  shanty towns to rise up and improve the South African landscape for the betterment of the world.

I ask “what are you waiting for?” Offer up your financial support. Offer up your moral support. Offer up your hands-on skills (if you are so inclined to visit with Mark in Capetown’s shanty towns). Offer up your voice to impact positive change within the political structure of South Africa. As has been proven over the centuries, the masses rising up impact positive change. It’s the only way to do so!

Here’s to you rising up!

coach Jeff

#CoachJeff’s Illness and #InjuryPreventionRoutine for #InjuryFreeRunning #Barefoot:

For the past year, I have been following a rather radical, multi-pronged daily routine to:

• virtually eliminate my risk of avoidable illness
• virtually eliminate my risk of avoidable running injuries

I am happy to say that my routine has thus far proven successful. I have not been sick for even a nano-second and I have not incurred as much as a muscle ache on the ‘avoidable injury’ front – this whilst maintaining a daily intense workout programme of natural method training drills, running, swimming and so on. Is this simply a fluke, good karma, God watching out for me or simply me dodging a bullet? I think not. What I do daily helps strengthen my immune system, full skeletal-muscular system, neuromuscular proprioception system and hormonal system. In other words, this is NO accident…

I will give you a layout of my daily routine:

• 20 minutes of transcendental meditation
• 5 minutes of natural method exercises to activate my body

• five minutes of seated quiet visual and mental focusing to quiet my mind
• 35 minutes of natural method circuits that include extensor muscle chain activation, unlocking of my hips and lower back, balancing and squaring up my body, creating total body symmetry and total body bracing

• 8 to 10 kilometre barefoot run

• a plunge into the lake – year round

• hopping barefoot in the snow (during all days of our Canadian winter)I allow myself approximately 2 hours  to complete my daily programme

I obviously get up early each day (3:50 a.m. weekdays and 4:50 a.m. weekends). I also attempt to get 6 to 7 hours of deep sleep every night and never eat beyond 7:00 p.m. Combine all of this with a FAIRLY balanced nutritional focus and you understand why I am never sick, never suffer a serious illness, never needlessly injure my body running and exercising and, more than likely will live well beyond 100!! I may not know the time of day at that age BUT I’ll still be running barefoot and plunging into some body of cold water!

Care to join me???

 

coach Jeff