Part of the beauty of training to become a serious athlete is the creativity involved in training yourself to become bigger, better, faster and stronger. Each sport tends to have it’s own standout(s) that approach training different than anyone else. Although their methods may seem odd or barbaric, sometimes they actually work and we find these innovators/risk takers of sport training at the top of their game.
To give a few examples, I’ve seen training videos of NFL running backs that submerge themselves waist deep in water and work on jumping and lifting their knees up as high as possible. The resistance caused by the water helps them develop extreme core, hip and thigh strength. The purpose being to simulate breaking tackles so that a simple arm tackle will never pull them down. Must of us have also probably seen sprinters training with a parachute. A similar principle applies. Apply resistance and increase training intensity to improve at your sport of choice.
Endurance running is certainly no exception. Some of the most extreme training methods I’ve ever seen come from hardcore runners. Take this one for example, where an ultramarathoner pulls a tire behind him on long runs (while wearing full gear).
I must admit, it seems a bit insane. This man is dragging a car tire behind him that’s attached to his waist by a rope. Apparently he ran 21 kilometers with that chunk of rubber dragging behind him. According to Michelin the average car tire weighs between 20lbs – 25lbs. Combined with the resistance of the tire dragging against the surface of the asphalt I think you can safely assume the equivalent is like pulling well over 25lbs of dead weight.
Let me ask you again: do you want to be a hardcore runner?
If the answer is “yes” (even after watching that video) then I suggest you do some research and find out what other hardcore runners are doing. Are they pulling tires? Are they running for hours on end? Are they running in extrem heat, cold, elevation or difficult terrain. Chances are the anwers is yes to sum or all of those things. Even if you don’t want to run in an extreme event such as Badwater it may still be worthwhile to mix in a bit of intense training. If not to become a stronger runner physically, but to incorporate some gut-check training; the type of stuff that challenges your mental strength and will. The mental benefits should not be underestimated as we discussed in this article about perspective training techniques for runners.
Some would say that running the distance of a marathon is extreme enough. However, many distance runners find themselves acclamating to the distance quicker than expected. Endurance runners by nature need to challenge themselves and see how much further they can go so it’s only natural that they endorse extreme training techniques.
Do you have techniques of your own that you’ve created and helped push your training and performance to the next level?
I think I’m always running away of anything that looks unusual than my routine training. I might underestimate myself quite a bit. I’m doing lots of research and watching several running videos and movies to see how capable a human being can be so I can convince myself that I won’t die if I push that extra mile
Well last night I was in my basement “gym” and was doing some stretching and had the idea of stuffing my two 25 pound dumbbells in my wife’s backpack and running up and down the stairs a hundred times. Felt more like a shoulder workout than anything. Extra 50lbs is a bit too much though, if I do it again I’ll stick with the 25s. Other than that the only oddball thing I’ve done is attach some resistance bands behind me on the elliptical and simulated running form with the arms, not a bad upper body workout while on the elliptical.