youth sports

THROWING THE CAT AMONGST THE PIGEONS

Posted on by PEAL

What were you doing at 18? Me? I was trying to get my footing as a student-athlete at Penn Sate. The lure of fraternity and dorm parties was definitely at odds with any academic rigor I could muster. Coupled with a less-than-productive end to my first varsity basketball season, I became the poster-child for college age zeitgeist: angst-ridden, self-doubting, distracted and somewhat overwhelmed. Many of you, though, were high school seniors at this age, riding the wave of upperclassmen superiority, college-bound apprehension amid the melancholic change from parental dependency to full-flung independence. Either way, it was tumultuous times.

Selemon Barega is an 18 year old from Ethiopia. He now owns the Diamond League record (@Diamond_League) and the 4th fastest 5000m time in history, running a scorching 12:43.02 on August 31 in Brussels (http://www.letsrun.com/news/2018/08/legendary-company-selemon-barega-runs-1243-4-time-brussels-join-bekele-geb-komen-sub-1245-club/). Already with an impressive CV (gold medals in the 2016 World and African U20 Championships, 5000m and 2017 World U18 Championships, 3000m), Barega finished 5th at the 2017 IAAF World Championships in London behind notable runners Mo Farrah and compatriot Yomif Kejelcha. This year, he has reached personal-bests in the 3000m (7:37.54) and 2 miles (8:20.01). Many believe, with some reservation, that he is the next great middle-distance superstar (video below).

A self-proclaimed student of the genre, Barega admits to have studied some of the greats, Haile Gebrselassie and Kenenisa Bekele, for inspiration. “I have [watched] videos of every top athlete,” he says. “I am a big fan of Kenenisa and Haile. I admire Kenenisa’s successes and his records. I love the tactics that Haile implements in his races.” Although he gained both tactical and experiential lessons from the cynosure of track legends, Barega displays the confidence – and running acumen – of his predecessors. Side-by-side, there is a marked, calm resemblance between he, Haile and Kenenisa:

In previous posts, we have discussed the necessity of technique – specifically the runners ability to maximize the falling center of mass over the foot. Despite the flubdub of rumor flying around the running forums (drug and age allegations), what Barega possesses is independent of those contrivances. The only true barometer: running skill. During the last 250m of the race, when he outkicked Kejelcha and 2nd place Hagos Gebrhiwet, the announcers even exclaimed “look at the young Barega bouncing on his feet, his toes barely kissing the ground…it looks easy!” How else would you blow past someone who “we know is in supreme shape!”; essentially, negating the concept that pure physiological progress reigns supreme.

So important is technique that even the elite coaches are spending the time attempting to optimize running stride. In a recent article, Bernard Ouma, coach of the two fastest 1500-meter men of the year Timothy Cheruiyot and Elijah Manangoi, explained that “there was only one thing he has tried to fix: Cheruiyot’s running form, punctuated by his distinctive forward lean.” “These are old habits,” Ouma says. “You might not be able to change much, but you can influence them toward good performance. I’ve been working on his [stride], which [was] very long but [is] shortening now” (http://www.letsrun.com/news/2018/08/secrets-worlds-best-1500-meter-training-group-elijah-manangoi-timothy-cheruiyot-coach-bernard-ouma-turned-rongai-athletics-club-powerhouse/ ). Which in layman’s terms means decreasing ground contact time and resistance, while accentuating acceleration. Even an analysis on world-record holder and premier long distance runner Eliud Kipchoge (https://posemethod.com/running-technique-analysis-eliud-kipchoge/), by Pose Method guru Dr. Nicholas Romanov, reinforced that during Nike’s attempt for a sub-2 marathon, Kipchoge displayed a “big angle of falling [that was] was easily visible throughout the race. Indication of falling by support foot heel moving up was consistent and correlated with close to the vertical body position throughout the race.” Similar words could easily be spoken about Barega.

I don’t want to be 18 again, though from my older perspective, I’m still intoxicated by the blooming fervor of teen spirit. Barega is by far the best U20 3-5k runner worldwide. With Kejelcha at 21 and Gebrhiwet at 24, he is clearly the younger outlier. Athletes who wear the rose of youth upon themselves are infectious, brash. Those older, sometimes more thoughtful, methodical. Let’s hope, that in this case, that unbridled, exuberant potential is not wasted. The cat is out of the bag, and on the prowl.

Race Video:

 Screen Recording_2018-09-02 18.40.01.mov

PEAL

America’s #1 Sports Performance Coach & Gait Analyst

STOP YOUTH SPORTS INJURIES: What Every Parent Needs To Know

Posted on by PEAL

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‘The gravitational field of the earth is easily the most potent physical influence in any human life. When human energy field and gravity are at war, needless to say gravity wins every time. It may be a man’s friend and reinforce his activity; it may be his bitter enemy and drag him to physical destruction.”

Ida P. Rolf, Ph.D.
You just bought a new Lexus. You decide to teach your kid how to drive. You both get into the car, with him or her behind the wheel. You pull out of the driveway, and then you instruct your child to “smash into the nearest wall!” Imagine how dumbfounded your teenager would be. But you explain, “Hey, since crashes could be a part of your driving experience, I think we better go out and teach you how to crash more effectively.” Obviously, this seems like a ludicrous idea and somewhat over-the-top. Why not just improve the driver’s skill behind the wheel and lessen the chance for collision, or even avoid the situation completely?
It has been well-documented that a surprising number of injuries that befall athletes are of the non-contact variety. Without the impetus of a strike or blow to the body, athletes are continually suffering a host of repetitive and overuse trauma. These injuries can be as subtle as musculoskeletal aches and pains, and as debilitating as ACL tears. With so many young athletes affected by this epidemic, the predicament of how to keep your child injury-free remains elusive to most people.
The problem is simple: athletes don’t move properly. They don’t sprint correctly, jog correctly, throw correctly, jump correctly, lift correctly, condition correctly nor change directions correctly. If they did, they wouldn’t get hurt. A lot of well-intentioned coaches, therapists, physicians and researchers have attempted to combat this problem with a seemingly logical approach to prehabilitation and general preparedness. However, by reducing this issue into either isolated factors (“get stronger”, “stretch more”), specific culprits (the core, non-firing muscles), or research-supported protocol (foam rolling, dynamic warm-up), the actual reason why-kids-get-hurt has been misconstrued. Lost in the reductionist dogma so prevalent today, is that all movement is a consequence of interrrelated actions. These actions, done poorly, and deeply rooted in athletes’ understanding of how to move themselves or an object from Point A to Point B, is the genesis of non-contacts sports injuries.
There has been conjecture, based on scientific data, that most significant injuries happen to athletes while they are decelerating; specifically, absorbing forces when landing from a jump or while changing directions rapidly i.e. cutting. A belief in this premise leads to the conclusion that learning to decelerate perfectly is the answer. Which is why the prevailing formula pushes towards the idea that the more we get accustomed to forceful impact, the more resilient our bodies will be. Unfortunately, consistent exposure to high velocity force, has a deleterious, not adaptive effect. This is akin to our “drivers learning how to crash better” example. Thinking that the body can be trained to overcome forceful tension and pressure is a mistake often conveyed from examination room to gym floor to playing field. Cars don’t survive crashes. Neither do we.
I see this far too frequently. We make athletes lift more, run harder and compete incessantly weekend after weekend believing that this is way to athletic prowess. And when they get nicked up, the advice is simple and straightforward: just rest up for a bit then repeat – with even more vigor. Because if that much didn’t stop the injury from happening, then that much more surely will. We are not designed to generate or consume heavy doses of external force. We are designed to attenuate and channel these forces to boost our speed, strength and performance. What matters most is our finesse and efficiency when interacting with our environment, not our muscular efforts. The objective is to redirect the accelerated, rotational forces of movement – not to try to stop or overcome them. Moving energy is a flow, not resistance and loading.
Most of my athletes never sustain these commonplace injuries. I don’t have clients waiting for surgery. If I do, it’s because they haven’t been compliant or followed protocol, or left the program too early. Athletes aren’t injured because of gender, genetics, bad luck, strength imbalances, inflexibility, fatigue or overuse. These are symptoms, not determinants. The keys are in your hands. Make better choices and drive well.
PEAL
America’s #1 Sports Performance Coach & Gait Analyst