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Running performance: Lessons from 2016
- Updated: December 29, 2016
LIFT WEIGHTS BEFORE YOU RUN
Weight training after a run could be compromised, according to findings published in the Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research in October.
Male athletes were assessed during strength sessions that were completed after four different aerobic pre-workouts — including an easy 45-minute run, a steady 20-minute run, 5 x 3-minute intervals or 20 minutes steady running up a gradient of 6-9%.
The volunteers were asked to perform three sets of 6-10 repetitions at 70-80% of one repetition-maximum (1RM) of the five-exercise resistance session — which comprised the high pull, squat, bench press, deadlift and push press — after each of the runs. Results showed that they managed as many as 18.6% fewer total repetitions of the exercises compared to when they didn’t run beforehand.
DRINK CHERRY JUICE
In August, a team from Northumbria University showed how sprint speed could be maintained for longer than usual when athletes consumed a concentrated dose of the tart-tasting Montmorency cherry extract.
Of the 16 participants in the trial, half consumed 30ml of cherry concentrate mixed with 100ml of water twice a day — in the morning (at 8am) and evening (6pm) — while the rest of the volunteers took a placebo drink.
They then repeated a shuttle test assessment, with results suggesting the cherry shots produced a lower inflammatory response in the athletes’ muscles, enabling them to keep running at high speed for longer.
REST BETWEEN CIRCUIT SESSIONS
Circuit training is considered a valuable training addition for runners, but overdo it and you could be in trouble.
A study published in the journal Frontiers in Physiology looked at whether circuit training on two consecutive days affected the immune function of a group of fit volunteers who had been circuit-training for a minimum of six months before taking part. Dr Ramires Tibana of the Catholic University of Brasilia, the lead author, found the consecutive sessions provoked a strong metabolic response and reduced the levels of anti-inflammatory cytokines — proteins produced by …
