I am a few months away from competing in my 24th Ironman triathlon, this one taking place in Fortaleza, Brazil. When I cross the finish line I will have completed an Ironman on all available continents, six out of the seven. I have also done over sixty marathons and ultra marathons around the world as well.
What I am most proud of, however, is not how many endurance races are on my resume or my faster times, but rather that I am injury-free. I plan on exercising uninterrupted into my nineties and beyond and I am unwilling to do anything that might compromise my long-term health.
Contrary to popular belief, studies have not only proven that running is not “bad” for our joints, but that runners have less incidence of osteoarthritis than non-runners. We were made to move and to move forward. The reason people have issues while running is most often due to musculoskeletal weaknesses and imbalances.
And that is one of the “secrets” to my success. The primary reason for my ability to push myself physically yet avoid the seemingly inevitable aches and pains is by “bulletproofing” my body through intelligent, evidence-based strength training, which includes utilizing a handful of MostFit products.
SYN Rings: I can’t state strongly enough how much I love using the SYN rings in my training and how unique I find them to be. Strengthening the lower body is essential to both preventing injury as well as increasing performance and the SYN Rings provide a unique stimulus in three planes, as well as major core muscle recruitment as well. The functional strength and stabilization combination required while utilizing the SYN Rings is exactly what we endurance athletes need. And, most importantly as well, they make traditional strength training more fun.
Resistance Tubes: Many endurance athletes avoid strength training altogether because they don’t want to add muscle weight to their bodies. While it is true that the lighter we are the faster we go, this doesn’t mean we throw out resistance training completely. It requires instead that we train like endurance athletes, not bodybuilders, following a program and using equipment that focuses on building sport-specific strength rather than big muscles. Resistance tubes not only allow me to work my entire body without building significant mass, they are extremely portable so I can use them anywhere, anytime.
Core Hammer: Core strength is essential for optimal performance and injury-prevention in almost all sports, but especially for triathletes and runners. Traditional abdominal work like crunches just isn’t enough – We need to engage in full-body functional movements that challenge our muscle firing patterns in multiple planes, exactly what the Core Hammer delivers. And again, it’s different and its fun – two essential components for long-term success.