Jump like a goat!

"I can hop, I can run, and it's very very fun" (The julekalender)

This week I had four strength training sessions! Well, I should not boast because the two weeks before that, I had none... I was out of town and could not have my weekly PT sessions with Ketil. And for some reason I found it difficult to do strength exercises on my own. Usually I am good at this, but this time I simply could not motivate myself to go on the floor with push ups, planks, squats, leg raises, etc. In theory this should be much easier than going out for an early morning run in the dark... But runs happened and strength training did not.

So I wanted to make up for it by having a double dose of strength training after coming home. In addition to my regular two PT sessions this week, Frank and I joined the strength training sessions of Fjellgeitene. This is something I had been wanting to do for a long time, and finally this week I found the time and the energy. On Mondays they do an outdoor plyometrics session with a lot of jumps, whereas on Fridays they have full body training indoors. We joined both, in addition to a wonderfully exciting and wet mountain run which was zone 1 for them and zone 3 for me, but that's another story.

The Monday session was even more fun and useful than I had imagined it to be. Intensive jumping rounds on the stairs, some jogging in between, and strength training for the arms and the abs. Since it all takes place at one spot throughout the session, it is very easy to join. If it gets too tough, one can simply take short break. I had to skip a few of the rounds on the stairs not to fall out of schedule; single foot jumps all the way up are pretty tough! The toe raises at the end, though, I nailed with no break. I have been practicing them persistently for the last couple of months, and improvement came quickly. It was amazing to see how lightly some of my friends could jump; the ones who can jump the highest are also those who are fastest - it simply shows how useful this kind of training is for speed.

I find strength training increasingly important, especially for my running. It was strength training that finally got me out of my hamstrings injury after a long period of frustration. I was so determined to get well that at some point I was strength training five times a week. Twice personal training, and three times heavy slow resistance training. As my injury got better and I became able to run more and more, my focus shifted back to running, and I have for a while completely stopped the therapy exercises. I think perhaps I should start again. But it is difficult to set aside time for it when I am now strong enough to join all the other fun training sessions that are out there...

I have been talking to friends who have had hamstrings injuries, and we all seem to have the same problem. We are weaker on the side of our injury. My injury is in the right buttock, and my right ankle, right hamstrings, and right hip are clearly weaker than their left counter parts. It could be that they became weaker because of the injury, since the left side had to compensate and work more. Or perhaps they were weaker from the start, and that was exactly the cause of the injury. In either case, I should never stop trying to get my right side as strong as my left side. And keep everything strong in general of course, in particular the core.

Leg curl is one exercise that is just perfect for strengthening the hamstrings. By doing it separately on each leg, you can find out whether you are equally strong on each side. Side plank with a leg raise is a perfect way of finding out whether your hips have the same strength on each side. Regardless of whether or not you are weaker on the one side, it is important to train each side with the same intensity. And of course toe raises for the ankles and lower legs. Toe raises separately on each foot (for example 3 sets of 10 raises on each foot, standing on a stair step) to strengthen the ankles, and toe raises on both feet together (for example 2 sets of 100) to strengthen the legs. Oh, there are so many exercises that are beneficial for running; I could go on forever...

The stronger the faster!