Flailing their arms side to side
Parents are all over this one. It is the most obvious flaw in 90% of athlete’s running form. Why do they do it? Two things:One is weakness. Their core, their upper body, and a lack of functional strength that links the upper and lower half together. It is the same reason you see athlete’s do push ups with their elbows sticking out to the sides. The other is repetition. Most coaches and parents have told the athlete, “You run with your arms out, stop doing it.” However, most do not teach them how to do it the right way. Athletes needs to feel the right form and do it over and over again consistently.
Lots of Jogging, Occasional Sprinting, Very Little Strength and Power Development
This one has gotten better, but it still happens too often. Your athlete has 3 types of muscle fibers. Type 1: slow twitch, Type 2A: fast twitch oxidative, and Type 2B: fast twitch glycolytic. The chart below reveals what each means.
Your athlete was born with a certain percentage of each. I could go into 5 pages worth of detail on this (call me if you want to talk further) but the point is that an athlete CAN shift from 1 type of fiber to another. It takes time, it takes consistent effort, and they EARLIER they start training the better...but the point is that your athlete can become a faster sprinter. But it will not happen by jogging.If your athlete wants to be able to sprint faster, the more they jog the less likely they are to get faster. Jogging tells the muscle fibers to shift to the left→ slow twitch.Sprinting starts to signal a shift to the right, fast twitch.Strength training with the intent to develop power and explosiveness overtime, paired with sprinting only, is the ultimate equation that will help your athlete shift further and further over to the right.
Not thinkingJust because you have told your athlete they run funny, doesn’t mean it has sunk in. Just because they have been to one or two running clinics, does not mean the concepts have stuck.Like most people, athlete’s need to hear the same thing over and over again, from multiple different people, in order for them to experience a transformation. They also need to do it over and over again (and care enough to engage with the process) before they will experience better running mechanics and more speed.Getting an athlete to think about and care about things (like running form) that they previously never thought about or cared about is an art of coaching, and one that we have worked diligently to master.
This, and more, is what we will be teaching in our Speed Masterclass THIS Saturday, January 20th at 12:15 pm.
We have a few spots remaining. Imagine your athlete when they finally begin this process of learning how to run the right way. Imagine their confidence on the field after they have shifted from slow to fast twitch and have learned how to drive their knees and arms properly. 1 year from now you will both be glad you started them on this process today...BONUS
If your athlete is one of the first 12 to sign up for the masterclass, they are invited to attend a Free Nutrition Workshop afterwards. A transformative workshop where they will change the way they think about eating and drinking, and finally realize that everything you have been telling them is true!
Email info@pfpfit.com or call us at 240-341-2921 to register your athlete.
See you soon!
Dedicated to your athlete’s success,Coach Andrew and the PFP team
