What I Learned at IDEA World and How It Will Affect Your Running

I’m just back from the IDEA World Virtual Convention and I’m all jazzed up with excitement about what I learned in my sessions. Well, just back isn’t exactly correct since I never really went anywhere, but I am excited to share some of the things I learned with you. And yes, even though my sessions were targeted at personal trainers, they really do affect your running.

The reason that what I learned will affect your running is that almost all of my sessions were about functional training, active aging, movement patterns, and corrective exercise. So, in a nutshell, I learned more about designing and customizing functional training programs for clients based on their goals, needs, fitness levels, and activity level. And that, my running friends, would be you.

Bur first, I want to take a moment to welcome a new member to our Runners’ Roundup family! Laura Norris is a long-distance runner, running coach, writer, and new mom who has been running since 2008. She has qualified for Boston twice. (As a side note, looking at her PRs, our times are within a minute or two at most distances. Of course, she’s young and will set more PRs and, well, I won’t.) I hope you all will stop by her site and say hi!

What I learned at IDEA World and How It Will Affect Your Running

I was fortunate to attend the #IDEAWorld Fitness Convention! It was amazing and I learned so much. Here are some takeaways and how they will affect your #running. #runningtips @ideafitClick To Tweet

I attended five sessions over the weekend. They were all interesting and educational and left me excited to take what I learned and put it into action. Today I will tell you a little about each session, my takeaways, and how you can take what I learned and put it to work to affect your running.

Let’s talk about functional exercise for a moment. You probably hear that term a lot and you may not understand exactly what it means. Basically, a functional exercise is one that simulates or improves real-life movement. Real-life movement may be the daily functions of life, squatting, bending, twisting, lifting, or relate to a sport in which we participate, squatting, bending, twisting, lifting. Are you seeing something here?

Take a lunge, for example. Do you, in real life, step forward as you bend and reach to pick something up? Yeah, that’s a lunge. And running, while faster with more propulsion, is also like a lunge. So, obviously, a lunge is a functional exercise. You can make it even more functional by adding a reach, twist, or lift while you’re doing it. 

Functional exercises tend to work multiple muscle groups across several joints. Think of a squat vs. a leg extension. The extension works your quadriceps and extends your knees. That’s pretty much it. A squat, on the other hand, works your quads plus glutes, hamstrings, core, and involves movement at the ankle, knees, and hips. Add a shoulder press and suddenly you have a total body exercise that will translate to real-life movement.

With functional exercises in mind, and remembering that runners of all ages need to perform them, here are my takeaways from the IDEA World Virtual Fitness Convention sessions and how they will affect your running. Of note with all of these sessions is that they are preparing trainers for a post-COVID world. Almost all assessments and exercises can be done with little or no equipment and are easy to adapt to a virtual setting.

Customize Fitness Programs and Choose the Best Exercises for Every Client

Instructor: Lee Burton, Ph.D., ATC, CSCS – Functional Movement Systems

In a nutshell: Everyone moves differently so not every exercise is right for everybody. People have different goals, levels of fitness, injury backgrounds, and general health. Age makes a difference too. Therefore, screenings and assessments are a vital part of choosing the best exercise for every client (or yourself).

Many screenings and assessments can be done at home, ideally under the guidance of a fitness professional. Screenings should include the basics like blood pressure, pulse, health history, previous injuries, and exercise history. Screening breathing is important because many people do not breathe properly. Take quality and quantity of sleep into consideration too.

Movement screenings can be done in person or virtually. If you’re doing this for yourself, take note of range of motion, as well as the difference between one side and the other. One basic movement screening is a toe touch, to check for hamstring flexibility and hip mobility. A squat is an assessment frequently used by trainers and there are many things to look for: movement in the feet, hip shift, and forward lean. Knees falling in can mean weak or tight hips and glutes. It can also mean impaired hamstrings, poor quad function, or tight ankles, so you can see why further assessment may be necessary.

There are many other screenings and assessments of course, including strength and cardio tests, balance screening, agility testing, and more.

How it will affect your running

Remember that everybody is different so your needs as a runner will be individual to your body. Your current strength, experience, flexibility, and mobility should be assessed, either by you or your coach, before planning a training program. 

 

Functional Movement Patterns for Older Adults

Instructor: Cody Sipe, Ph.D. – Functional Aging Institute

In a nutshell:  There are seven fundamental movement patterns that all adults, no matter their ages, should be incorporating into their workouts. They are hinge/deadlift, squat, lunge, push/press, pull/row, anti-rotation, and carry. While all of these movement patterns need to be applied, exercise choices will be made based on a person’s current fitness level, age, and other factors. Hence, screening and assessment (see above).

These movement patterns are important whether you want to improve your golf game or just feel better in your regular lifestyle activities. Or if you’re a runner.

How it will affect your running

All these movements are important for a balanced body, but a few, in particular, will affect your running. 

• The hip hinge is an athletic position that allows a runner to use their hips for maximum power and stability. It helps keep your spine aligned and maximize the strength coming from your spine., thus protecting it. 
• Squats could be one of the most important exercises for runners. They strengthen all the muscles in the lower body, improve knee stability, and increase power. Squats will improve your running and help protect you from injury.
• Lunges work to increase leg strength, power, and balance. They also make a great warm-up movement before a run. Adding a variety of lunging movements, including forward, reverse, lateral, and curtsey lunges will work your lower body in all planes of motion, which helps balance out the “forward only” sagittal plane movement of running.
• Pushing and pulling movements will strengthen your upper body and core, which will improve your posture, arm drive, and generally help improve and maintain your form during longer runs.
• Anti-rotation exercises will train your hips and spine to resist rotation. They strengthen your core and will help you perform other strength training exercises better. A strong core is important for running proficiency.
• Weighted carry exercises, which can be as simple as walking around with a relatively heavy weight, work virtually every muscle in your body at once. They’re great for improving posture and core strength.

Progressive Programming for the Active Aging

Instructor: Leslee Bender, ACSM, NASM, ACE, PMA, FAFS (and 2020 IDEA Personal Trainer of the Year!) – Bender Training

In a nutshell:  First of all, I love Leslee Bender. I’ve been to many of her sessions at IDEA World, she’s my age, and she was just named the 2020 IDEA World Personal Trainer of the Year! I always learn something new. I just signed up for her new CEU course I am Ageless Now and I can’t wait to dig into it. It was in one of her classes that I learned how the simple act of rolling your foot will make a huge difference in your movement. Leslee is also the creator of the Bender Ball, (<–affiliate link) that amazing small ball that can challenge your core and protect your back.

In case you think that “active aging” means that this if just for old people, you’d be wrong. After all, we are all aging. And we still want to be active throughout the process, right? This program explains how to create progressive exercise programs for people who need to work on balance, mobility, and flexibility, and who may have had previous injuries. Sound familiar? Using science and knowledge of fascia, we learn to create safe and effective exercise programs that will help participants reach their goals.

How it will affect your running

Interestingly, exercises for active aging are very similar to programs that will enhance your running. We stretch, we foam roll, we do all of the functional movement patterns (see above). All of these exercises affect your running in a positive way. The difference would be progressions you would make based on your fitness level and goals.

Assessment, Corrective Exercise, and Functional Training in the Virtual and Physical Training Facility

Instructor: Evan Osar, DC, ACE, NASM, NSCA – Institute for Integrative Health and Fitness Education

In a nutshell:  I had a few mind-blowing moments in this session. The first and biggest was that we (trainers, chiropractors, etc) have been cueing form all wrong for years! Have you ever been told to pull your shoulders blades down and back? Or, squeeze your glutes really tight (a quarter may have been involved). Wrong! I admit I’ve been doing this too.

Just to demonstrate, stand up and squeeze your butt. Tight. Now try to move. Careful, don’t let it go! Try a squat. A deadlift. A lunge. How does your movement feel? Can you reach a full range of motion?

Now, try pulling your shoulder blades back and down. Reach up. How’s that range of motion? Probably not very good.

While you’re in any of the above positions, try taking a deep breath. That doesn’t work very well, either, does it?

Instead, try standing tall, with a long spine, feeling like you’re being pulled up from the top back of your head. Keep a little space under your arms, and feel width across your collar bones.  Relax your hips. Now try that squat. Reach your arms over your head. How’s your movement? I’ll bet it feels better and you have more range of motion. Take a deep breath. Ahhh, that is good, isn’t it?

How It Will Affect Your Running

You may have noticed by now that all my sessions up to this point have stressed assessment, functional exercise, progressive movement patterns, and individualized programming for each person. All of that will affect your running.

Think for a moment about the new posture cue above. That’s pretty much how you want your running posture to be, right? Standing tall, long spine, hips relaxed, chest open so you can breathe properly. Your posture should be functional too.

Designing and Delivering Effective Virtual Personal Training Sessions

Kenneth Miller, MS, CPT, PES, CES – Training Station

While I enjoyed this session, which was about moving training online for both one-on-one and group classes, I don’t feel it applies to “how it will affect your running” so I’m going to skip the recap. I’m currently training one client online but I’m seeing a definite need for it as we move forward, even after gyms open up in California. I work with many older people who may have compromised immune systems and probably won’t feel ready to come back yet so this is definitely something I want to learn more about.

I’ll be teaching my first online LifeStretch class this Friday, so I hope this is the first step for my fitness center to create some innovative programming that will address the times in which we’re living right now.

I hope this post and this information will help you take a look at your own running and fitness program. Whether you train yourself, use a running coach, or work with a personal trainer, always remember any programming should start with screening and assessment. You can’t get where you want to go if you don’t know where you’re starting from.

I’m a certified personal trainer and running coach, but I’m not your trainer and coach. Please consult a fitness professional before trying these exercises and techniques.

 

Have you ever been to a fitness conference? They’re not just for fitness professionals. You can learn about your own training needs too.

 

 

 

 

 

And Now It’s Time for the Runners’ Roundup!

Linkup with the #RunnersRoundup with @DeborahBrooks14, @milebymilerun, @runningwithpugs, @lauranorrisrun and me! Bring your best #runningrelated posts, find new blogs to follow, and share your love of #running! Click To Tweet

 

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