I have both male and female athletes who are still stuck in the ‘mirror image’ mindset. They believe that ‘looking good’ is just as important as anything.
I have explained to them why running long distances is detrimental to their training and is actually making them slower. Some seem interested enough and understand, mean while it just doesn’t ‘click’ with others. Some sport coaches don’t quite understand as well.
I was wondering if there is an article or something out there that can show why long distance running is bad for power athletes? I think a hard copy might be the next best option to try and explain this to everyone.
What do the athletes think they are gaining from long distance running that they don’t get from doing low intensity work (including tempo/general strength/etc.)?
That has some info you could use and I am sure there are others as well.
If your athletes are having issues with leanness and that leads them to look to distance running (not sure what else it could be since distance running isn’t going to give them muscle!) as a way to help them, maybe you could look at your training or modifications in their diet as a way to give them the leanness they want/need without hampering your training.
Have them do tempo workouts instead of long/slow distance workouts. This should help keep them lean and looking good while not interfering with their speed-strength capabilities.
And that’s just it, I don’t think they know what their doing it for, they just run long distance to keep themselves busy. The guys have pretty much stopped but I know some of the females believe going out and running for 30 minutes each day over Thanksgiving break is a similar trade-off to their weight training or speed work they were ‘suppose’ to do.
We’ve told everyone that if you want to be fast athletes you must train to be fast. I’ve explained that jogging like they do is detrimental to becoming a faster more powerful athletes. As far as the diets go, I made nutrition and performance packets and handed them out. We took a day to go over them and had a little question and answer.
I think what it comes down to is some of the girls are afraid of gaining muscle mass, and it’s sad because most of that group are good athletes. I’ve showed a few people pictures of what bodybuilders look like because I think the perception is that if you lift weights, then your going to look like a bodybuilder. However I’ve contrasted that with other pictures of professional athletes in their sport to show the contrast of ‘muscle appearance.’ And I think that may have sinked in to show that we train to be athletes not bodybuilders.
Thank you for the article, I will definitely read it.
One thing you could try, not sure if you have the resources though, is to bring in an elite or near elite female athlete (esp. if there is one from the area). I know a high school coach who did this with his females–he brought in a female skeleton athlete or speed skater or something along those lines that was muscular, lean, but still feminine–something his girls could relate to. He just told her to come in an do her workout along with them–not sure whether or not he paid her. When they saw her getting pumped up for some heavy cleans and squats it made it not seem to “weird.” It’s a stretch, but you never know–it could work.
its been shown that long slow runs are bad for strength levels for sure.
but, its also been shown that long slow runs are not affect by hitting the weights!! though you wont get as strong as if doing weights only, but you will get stronger.
perhaps they confused the two?
i cant like, its in a Strength and Conditioning text book. And its also something i have known for yrs.
Thanks Davan, that’s all good stuff. I think in this city we could probably find an athlete like that who may be able to train with one of the teams.
Otherwise I hope somebody will step up to be a leader and show everyone what the difference between being an athlete and being a model on the cover of Glamour magazine is.
Check out Joe DeFranco’s website in the female athlete training section and show them the pictures. Lots of pics of the female athletes he trains. A lot of them look like they can lift some decent weights too, all the while still maintaining their feminine look.
I had to show my gf that section to convince her weight training was just as good for females as males and now she’s hooked. Loves deadlifts, squats, etc.
And I don’t think Joe D has any of his athletes performing 30-45 min slow jogs either!! Look pretty lean to me without any jogging! Tempo runs, strongman training, prowler sprints, etc seem to be doing the trick. Just keep reinforcing your points, they’ll come around.
Well, we do have tempo workouts, and I’ve explained what there for and why we’re doing them, much like everything else we do (as in weight training, speed training ect.)
But my question refers more along the lines of when they are not at school, such as nights and weekends; some people go jogging for 30 minutes at a time. And from what I hear, they’ll do this sometimes as many as 3x a week!
Now, these individuals are mostly female that do this and they tell me they just don’t want to get bulky. But it frustrates me because they are good athletes, but they could be better if they put the time in. I don’t want to give up on them but I don’t want them wasting their time and my time either.
Sometimes it’s just a case of “nobody’s home”. Maybe you can come tell my guys that you should probably eat at least breakfast, lunch, or dinner before practice. Or that you can drink some water at dinner because it won’t dilute your stomach acid and prevent protein digestion.
You can really only tell them once when you’re sure they’re listening. After that you really have no control as you’re not the one running their life. And some just really don’t care (enough) regardless of their potential. Disappointing sometimes but true.
Tempo runs, strongman training, prowler sprints, etc seem to be doing the trick. Just keep reinforcing your points, they’ll come around.