CrossFit & Broken Runners

Most endurance athletes typically see strength training as a detriment.  They think that it'll make them "bulky", thereby slowing them down and impairing their aerobic performance.  Besides, every hour spent doing bicep curls at the gym is an hour not spent running, so strength training is also a waste of valuable training time, right?

Then CrossFit came along, combining elements of Olympic weightlifting, power lifting, gymnastics, plyometrics, old-fashioned calisthenics and, yes, running.  Like most endurance runners, the first time I saw a CrossFit workout (a video of a workout called "Nasty Girls"), I immediately thought, "that looks stupid".  That is, until I saw the women on the video doing muscle-ups; a movement I knew I couldn't perform.

OC CrossFit - San Clemente, CA

That got my attention.  At the time I had stress fractures in both shins from running and ruck marching.  I needed a workout that would provide a good endurance workout without running, so I gave it a try.  I've been hooked ever since.

That brings me to this article from "Inside the Box" called "Crossfit for Women Runners".  The blog is by TJ Murphy, who describes himself as...

...a veteran journalist, endurance athlete, CrossFitter, and former editorial director of Triathlete, Inside Triathlon, and Competitor magazines.

He is author of Triathlete Magazine’s Guide to Finishing Your First Triathlon and contributor to Start to Finish: 24 Weeks to an Endurance Triathlon.

His writing has also appeared in Outside magazine and Runner’s World. He is a five-time Ironman® finisher and a 2:38 marathoner.

Murphy describes in an article in Competitor how injury prompted him to try CrossFit.  Of course, he got to work with Brian MacKensie, founder of CrossFit Endurance, and Kelly Starrett, founder of the Mobility WOD.

Back to the article.  Though it focuses on women runners, Murphy's article pertains to all broken-down runners, like me. 

...anecdotal reports flowing from CrossFit gyms around the country are suggesting a counter-narrative: that CrossFit is helping women runners prevent injury and increase their overall health, often with personal record road races to boot.

This shouldn't surprise anyone.  An abundance of data indicates that strength training helps reduce injury.  Endurance athletes avoid it because of the reasons I listed at the beginning of this entry.

With almost all of the movements being used in the workouts being compound in nature–meaning that the exercises tapped a variety of different muscle groups in different ways—one of the chief benefits CrossFitters received was exceptional core strength development, in particular the muscles of the hips, lower back, hamstrings, abdominals and quads.

Which is what leads back to running and health of runners. With sports scientists, physical therapists and coaches recommending that runners add core strength work to bolster their running programs, CrossFit, with it’s heavy emphasis on proper mechanics, posture and core strength, has become a place where runners can rework their physical infrastructure.

Most distance runners suffer serious weaknesses, muscle imbalances and inflexibility.  CrossFit will make those weaknesses obvious and fix them more quickly than any other program I've tried.

“I think her injury problems had a lot to do with her midline stability,” Sakamoto [yes, that Sakamoto. ~ OS] says. “She wasn’t really hunched over or anything, but she didn’t quite hold her shoulders back, and there was a lack of awareness in terms of proper body position in the hips and core.”

Contrary to popular belief, Crossfit places strong emphasis on form, posture and body position, thereby reducing fatigue over long distances.  But you can't maintain that posture and form for very long without the strength to support it.

“They ask me, ‘Why would you go there if you’re a runner? Aren’t you getting beat up?’  I say, ‘No, it’s the total opposite.’”

That mirrors my experience.  I've suffered stress-fractured shins, planar fasciitis, patellar tendonitis, a dislocated ankle and two torn menisci... all from running.  My injuries from CrossFit?  I once tweaked my lower back due to bad form on a clean-and-jerk, I scraped my shin on a box, and I once dropped a bar on my foot.  My running injuries sidelined me for months.  The torn menisci are permanent.  My CrossFit injuries didn't sideline me at all.  I was back in the gym training the following day.  Only with the back injury did I have to scale the workouts.

In Austin, Hunt incorporates CrossFit in her work with both runners and triathletes. “I’m used to getting broken people,” she says. “They’ll walk in and are so frustrated they’ll say, ‘I’m ready to try anything.’”

My advice: don't wait.  Everyone, regardless of their sport, can benefit from the increased overall fitness that CrossFit provides.  Try it.  You won't regret it.