In order to be good at trail running you need to trail run.

Plain and simple.

Out on the trail you eventually reach a point where your legs start burning and every step gets heavier than the last.

The question is...

Are your bones, tendons, ligaments, and muscles ready to withstand that impact of another scramble? 

Teaching your body that it's okay to be stressed and further expand your discomfort tolerance threshold is powerful.  

This exposure causes physiological adaptations that allow you to do the task with greater efficiency. All while creating the mental resilience to persevere and increase performance.

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Keys to success:

Don’t Just Go Through the Motions

Think Quality over Quantity.

If you want to increase performance, be focused and intentional with your repetitions. Every single one is another opportunity to increase on all of these facets of performance. 

The tried and true way to increase tissue strength is through stressing it with external loads. ie. resistance training

At the end of the day, adaptation is dictated by consistency and load. 

The ultimate goal with resistance training is to progressively overload the structure through a long period of time in order to safely induce the desired adaptations.

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You Don’t Need Weights 

If you lack access to weights then plyometrics, isometrics, and eccentric movements usually get the trick done.  This means, you should probably hit the track and do a couple short sprints to make sure you increase your tendon strength for endurance running, 

Find Yourself a

Coach

If you have any questions, find a professional who can lead you in the right direction. The idea is having your strength training complement your running. This training should broaden your abilities, not tax you to the point where you can’t even go on a run.

‍Sound confusing? It is. Book a FREE 15-minute phone call, and we can chat about how to implement a strength training program into your running routine

Are you looking to trail run? More of a city runner? Not sure how to go about these keys to success?  Reach out to schedule your fitness evaluation!