Functional Path Training

Training Do’s and Don’ts #1 - PAL Paradigm (Running Technical Model)

Training D0 - Base your training on a sound technical model and then adapt it to your athletes. The PAL Paradigm is my interpretation of the technical model necessary to run with good mechanics regardless of the distance. That technical model is based on what must be done to sprint at top speed, it can then be adapted according to the distance. Running skill is a motor task! Like any motor task it is teachable and trainable. The system that I have evolved over the years to improve running mechanics is the PAL System™.  PAL is an acronym for Posture, Arm Action, and Leg Action.

The objectives of the system are fourfold:

1) To provide a context to running mechanics.

2) A systematic step-by-step teaching progression.

3) A context to direct training based on the needs established in the previous steps.

4) A criterion based progressive approach toward getting someone back to normal gait pattern after an injury.

Posture is the position and alignment of the body - especially the head and trunk. Posture is dynamic, it changes with each step from the starting position on up to and through top speed. Posture should reflect the alignment of the body from the point of foot contact to the top of the head. The reference points for this alignment are the head, trunk, hip, knees, ankles, and feet

Arm Action is the position and amplitude of movement of the arms and hands. The arms help to produce force and aid in balance so that force is properly applied against the ground. During acceleration, the emphasis is on driving the arms down and back to apply force against the ground.

The optimum Leg Action is for the foot to contact the ground as close under the Center of Gravity as possible with a piston action from the hip. This is the most efficient stride. The amplitude of the leg action will vary with the speed of the run. Good running mechanics requires an optimum interplay between stride length and stride rate (frequency). During flight phase the knees are farther apart than the feet. In stance the swing leg knee is even or slightly of stance leg. Each person has an optimum stride length in relation to their leg length and the distance they are running

Food for Thought?

When you are planning your training program or evaluating your program, I have found it very helpful to ask the following simple and very basic questions:

Strong for What?

Fast for What?

Fit for What?

Supple for What?

Drill for What?

Ultimately, what are you training for?

Game Speed Versus Testing Speed

Testing speed is the time in a 10, 20, 30, or 40 meter or yard sprint. Game speed is a cousin of testing speed. Game speed is the speed you can transfer from testing into the actual game or match. I have been fascinated reading the comments on Super Bowl MVP, Cooper Kupp. The pundits are marveling at what he can do, and yet he can only run 4.63 for forty yards. To me it is not mysterious, he has game speed, he can adapt his speed to the game. He can, decelerate, stop if necessary, and reaccelerate more efficiently. I read a comment from him that said that is what he works on each offseason. Powerful message here – you can chase testing speed times and not be a better player unless you can transfer that speed to the game. Work on planting and cutting, decelerating, and reaccelerating.

Step by Step

Adaptation to various training stimuli take time. You can’t force adaptation to happen faster than the athlete’s current level of trainability and physical capacity. You must be willing to go step by step Sometimes it is small baby steps forward, sometimes there are steps back and sometimes there are giant leaps forward. Have a system that defines the process, then trust the process and take it step by step.

Speed 101 - The Essence of It

This is my attempt to summarize the essence of sprinting. Nothing complicated, just the basics. No need to complicate.

Let’s start with a generic definition of speed. Speed is the ability to move the body, or parts of the body through the largest range of motion in the least amount of time.

The purpose of the start to overcome inertia to put the body in optimum posture to accelerate to top speed or if change of direction is required to optimum speed.

The bottom line is to be able to effectively get the body into postures that allow for maximum force production into the ground in the least amount of time. A long body line aligned through the hips with the head still and neutral is the desirable posture.

In acceleration as the body advances forward the initial foot contact is behind the C of G and over the first steps the point of foot contact moves under the body. I think of it in the following pattern: PUSH/PUSH/PUSH/HIPS TALL

Cyclic action of legs – Step over ankle (Steps one, two & three), Step over Calf (Steps four five and six), Step over knee ( All subsequent steps)

The arms play a big role in sprinting. At the start to help impart force back against the blocks and to maintain balance. As the sprint progresses the arms serve a balance function and secondary function to help with force production.

Relaxation is a key to sprinting. Undue tension is detrimental. Running fast demands constant cycling of tension and relaxation.

The legs cross each other in a reciprocal scissors action with the free (Swing Leg) foot crossing above the knee with each step.

Step down from above. The closer the landing foot lands under  C of G the better.

What Can You Do?

Instead of looking at ways to predict injury and search for hidden dysfunctions why not spend the time looking at possibilities to determine the athlete’s level of trainability. Each athlete is a case study of one. Focus on what the athlete CAN DO and use that as a starting point. In most cases the athlete has made it to a certain level because of what they can do. My job is to enhance those abilities and minimize the weaknesses while addressing them in a progressive manner to enable them to progress further athletically. Recognize the wisdom of the body and its ability to figure it out by devising training programs that fit the athlete instead of fitting the athlete to the program. Start with what they can do and dial up the program as they progress and adapt. Ultimately the goal is to reconcile what they can do with what they must do to be ready to thrive as adaptable athletes in the competitive environment.

Focus on the Basics

Do you know the basics? What are the basics? What do you have to do to develop the physical qualities appropriate for the sport or activity you are training for? Everything I do now and have done for the past fifty-one years is grounded in the basics. I learned early on that if I deviated from the basics there was nothing but problems. It is straightforward and simple in concept but complex in application.

The basics start with with walking gait. In walking gait the arms and legs move in opposition along with a counter rotation of the hips and shoulders. Throwing, running, jumping, freestyle swimming is all based on gait. Therefore, when we look at what underpins the basics it is walking gait.

The basics are the building blocks of the foundation! Here are the basic qualities that you must develop and components that must be worked on:

Speed

         Start

                  Stationary

                   Moving

         Acceleration

                  To optimum speed in C of D sports

                  To maximum speed in Athletics

         Maximum Speed

         Speed Maintenance/Speed Endurance

Agility

         Recognition & Reaction

         Starting

         Change of Direction

         Stopping

Strength

         Relative

         Maximum

Strength Endurance

Power (Ballistic/Explosive)

         Plyometrics

                 Jump

Hop

Bound

         Throws

Endurance (Energetics – Anaerobic and Aerobic)

         Capacity

         Power

         Short Term (2 minutes or less)   Medium Term (2 to 5 minutes)  Long Term (5 minutes and longer)

                        (5 minutes and longer)

Flexibility/Mobility

         Static

         Dynamic

Recovery/Regeneration

Sleep

Nutrition

Hydration

Warm-up (Active/Dynamic)

         Appropriate for the activity being trained for.

Space and Time

Learning to effectively use space and time is what enables you to perform in the competitive arena. The concept of space is quite simple – you must recognize space, learn to create it, exploit it, deny space, expand it or contract it. In an individual sport  space is the time between steps and strokes.

Time is learning to tap into your internal clock. Time is the sense that tells you when to move or when to shoot or hold the ball. Athletes who master time seem to have the ability to slow the game down – to give them whatever time they need to do what the game requires. They are dialed in, never frantic.

Both time and space are highly trainable. They should be part of every training sessions. Sport is just a big dance.

Training is Cumulative

Think Long-Term - Training is cumulative, it takes time to adapt & proper timing of the training stimulus

Athletically, you must earn the right to progress to the next step Systematic Sequential Progressive

Often, what you do not do is as important as what you actually do

Always remember that one workout cannot make an athlete, but one workout can break an athlete - Less is More!

Simple Training Rules

Have a Plan, Execute It, and Evaluate It

Build the Complete Athlete

All systems work together

Train all components all the time - Use It or Lose It

Fundamental Movement Skills Before Specific Sport Skills

You Are What You Train to Be

Build the Athlete from the Ground Up

Train Postural Strength & Stability with Core as the Center of the Action

To Be Fast You Must Train Fast

Build an appropriate Work Capacity Base for the Sport

Train Toenails to Fingernails

              Train Movements not Muscles

              Train Multi Joint

              Train Multi Plane Movements

Training is Cumulative - Win the Workout