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| "Boston Bill" Rogers |
When I started strength training at a local Starting Strength Gym in Lansing, Michigan last November, I was after what I perceived to be some particular results. I had just done a 13.1 with a friend as we were training for doing Steelhead, a super fun 70.3 event in Southern Michigan. After this 13.1 we did together, I was feeling SO torn up I could hardly walk. I'm 52 but I felt 70. I didn't just feel like crap, I was really hurting. One thing that I have done for years to recover from racing, is get regular massages, something Bill Rogers has mentioned doing as well. So I'm in good company! What's good enough for Boston Bill, is good enough for me. I learned from my massage therapist that, in fact, her husband (who runs ultras) no longer has the back pain I was feeling from my latest road racing effort. I had back pain, leg pain, difficulty walking. I had never felt so completely wrecked after a road race before. His secret was strength training. Hmmmm... I understood what she was talking about, but I had never really done THAT before in any real way. So I went to the gym she was talking about: Black Iron Training. I actually had already noticed it the day before driving past it because I thought the name was kind of catchy. Like badass sounding. Well I wanted to be a badass too! So I joined. The gym owner put me to work doing the single most important exercise they do there: Squats. What?!?! That's football player crap! But yes, my "runnerness" was about to be challenged. And so I learned that squatting, among other exercises, is the cornerstone movement behind this method of strength training. The reason behind the emphasis on the squat is that more muscles are used together in that one exercise than in any other movement we do. Consequently, after the initial work set of 3 sets of squats with 5 reps each, everything else you do in the gym that day is "sub maximal". In other words, everything else you do in the workout is less of an overall effort to your body. So have I gotten the results I initially was after? Yes I have. I've more than doubled my strength and my back in particular no longer hurts. Ever. Even on a long drive. I've learned a lot more than that however and have much more to say in the future. I guess those people in high school in the gym doing those squats who played that "other Fall sport", from a cross country runner's point of view anyway, were doing something worthwhile after all. Will wonders never cease?
