My client with a knee injury was finishing a joint strength training session with me when he asked me a question. Over the prior three weeks, he had increased his single leg squat load tolerance from 69 lbs. to 168 lbs and was rapidly closing in on his body weight of 210 lbs (meaning he would be able to squat on one leg with only body weight force). When this happens, people sometimes experience what I call "expanding expectations".
"So, what do you think of running for me? I mean I want to play squash, but I was thinking of maybe taking up running? Do you think my legs can take that?" he asked. "I never have run really but I need something that I can do easily and I figured that running would be a good choice. I can do it just about anywhere and it's quick."
"Well, what are you trying to achieve with the running exactly?" I asked.
"I just thought it would be convenient, you know, a simple way to sort of stay in shape," he replied.
"So, the goal is to burn calories, help manage your weight, and generally stay in shape for squash?" I asked.
"Yeah, exactly," he replied.
"Well, I can think of some other options for you that give you a better return on your investment. Running burns calories but not a lot and it has very little post-exercise burn, " I explained. "And, with your condition if that's all you're going to do, you'll likely re-injure your knees. You have to maintain a broad spectrum of fitness for your knees to stay healthy and up for the demand of a game like squash."
"Huh. I guess I thought running was one of the better ways to keep your weight under control and get in shape. I run in squash - sort of. So, what do I do then?" he asked.
****
Running for fat loss and enhanced conditioning is a sacred cow of fitness in the minds of many. A lot of people believe that if they jog 45 minutes or more several days a week that they will lose weight and get in shape. Some people do lose weight but if you consider that being fit means being suitably adapted for the demands you face, unless you need to run a lot, running is a poor choice for overall fitness.
The body adapts very precisely to demand. A long time ago, I trained daily on a cross country ski machine - 45 to 60 minutes. After about six months, I thought I was in pretty good shape. Later that year, I ran into some friends at a convention and after one of the lectures, they asked me to go for a jog. I thought I was going to die. And they weren't running fast at all. I just had no fitness for running even though I had used the same joints and muscles on the ski machine. So, in my client's case, where he wants to play squash which is quick, stop and start, highly anaerobic activity, he will build very little fitness jogging for 30 or 40 minutes three to five days a week. When he goes back into the squash court, he'll feel like he's moving in molasses.
Perhaps a better choice for him would be to put together a drill set that requires him to move his body though gravity and through a variety of motions quickly. For example, he could perform a circuit of push ups, followed by single leg squats, a side to side shuffle run, a round of pull ups, a round of sprints in place and then lateral hops. Then repeat this several times. The dosage - rep counts, loads, speeds, depend on his capability. If he does this with little to no rest between drills, the demand will be very high - similar to playing squash - and the whole routine would take about 30 minutes. Post-exercise caloric burn would be higher than jogging because of the anaerobic demand.
Running is easy, portable, and burns calories and it has a place in fitness but by itself, it's not going to make you fit.
Photo source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/robertoberlim/512963321/
