Posted by 010620 Exercising for weight loss by Daniel Pare part 2 of 3
Why is a strength and conditioning coach who trains athletes, for all kinds of sports, writing about weight loss? Several people have asked me these questions over the years and some still do. I simply answer every time “got to get strong”.
Keep one thing in mind if you are overweight. Let’s say that you weigh 200 Lbs and that you are 30+ Lbs overweight. You decide to start running. This seriously means that your whole body maybe at “risks”! Your whole body could be taking a serious beating! You think I am wrong, think again.
“You are going to be running, probably every day (assuming you last), and when is the last time you ran? Without being out of line or anything, you are 30 Lbs overweight and you are going to go for a run? You are not even close to be ready for that. This is absolutely the last thing you want to do”.
I may come across extremely rude and arrogant. Quite frankly, I am just telling you the way I see it. I am just being honest. You are going to be landing each and every stride on the ground with all of that extra weight on one leg (ankle and knee joint). That is a lot of pounding. Answer the following questions:
Are your running mechanics adequate? Are you running from heel to toes? Are you knees strong enough to remain in line with your toes when your foot touches/lands? Are your knees forced inward due to the impact of the landing? Unless someone is watching you when you are running, you just do not know. You can’t see the damage you are causing to your body!
To give you a better idea, here is what to check for. When you are walking are your toes pointing at 12 o’clock (I I) or are they pointing at 1 o’clock (V)? If they are pointing at 12 o’clock (I I) that simply means that your feet are tracking in line. Your toes are pointing at 1 o’clock (V) that simply means your feet are not tracking in line. You are going to run the same way that you are walking. That is a given. So, when you add bad arches with bad tracking, you would be better off walking. That I would suggest.
Let me tell you how I do things. I observe a lot and I train a lot of people. I also observe a lot of people running and I feel the pain for those joints. Keep in mind that if someone is walking with inward knees, unaligned hips… they are not going to change that because they are running, it is only going to get worst. If one is walking with a crocked upper body in relation to his/her lower body, it is not going to change when he/she is running. It is only going to get worst!
Have you ever looked at a long distance runner/marathoner? How skinny or how light they are? Why is that? Why do you think they are skinny and why do you think they can run effortlessly? Simply put, one is lighter and he/she knows how to run. It is also much easier to run, not so much because they are not bouncing, they are gliding.
You should walk instead, much less harmful to your joints over time and it is much healthier for you. As you get lighter and stronger you can slowly begin interval training/running if you wish (I will get to that in a little bit).
Daniel Pare, strength and conditioning coach, St. Thomas,
519-633-0771, fax 519-637-1210,
email stsa1258@aol.com
Explosivelyfit Strength Training, LLC 