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Could the synthetic training track at the Westpac centre be the source of Collingwoods soft tissue injuries?
From an interview about Grenadas top runners
By
SCOTT CACCIOLA
Updated June 12, 2012 7:30 p.m. ET
Wall Street Journal
Kirani James and Rondell Bartholomew grew up in different parts of Grenada and didn't even meet until a few years ago. After attending different U.S. colleges, they rarely cross paths even now. James has an endorsement deal with Nike, Bartholomew with Adidas.
But something they shared growing up was a plush, green training environment. Bartholomew said he also spent countless hours sprinting on soft sand under the direction of his former Grenadian coach Neville Glean. "He really believed in that stuff," said Bartholomew, who now lives and trains in Levelland, Texas, where he attended South Plains College. He still devotes most of his preseason training to grass and builds up only gradually on a synthetic track, where he said, "You have to be really careful you don't get shin splints."
At Texas A&M, Francique is exporting his Grenadian philosophy. Several days a week, he directs his sprinters away from the track and onto playing fields for their workouts. He estimates that his athletes spend up to 75% of their time training this way. "The track will beat you up," he said. It's worth noting that Texas A&M has won three of the last four national men's outdoor track-and-field team titles.
Whether training on a soft surface like grass actually improves performance is unclear, said Dr. Reed Ferber, a professor of kinesiology at the University of Calgary. Ferber, who directs a running-injury clinic, said there has been little research on the topic. But it is apparent, he said, that running on more rigid surfaces, such as asphalt or synthetic tracks, typically results in "more loading on the joints" and a greater likelihood of injury.
Of course, grassy fields pose risks too, as Bartholomew discovered when he visited his family in Grenada over the winter. Returning to the grass track of his youth, he stepped in a hole and injured his hip, though it has recovered.
The concept of working out on softer surfaces isn't exactly groundbreaking. Roger Black, who won silver in the 400 meters at the Atlanta Games in 1996, was part of a coterie of top-notch British runners who trained on a grass track at the University of Southampton. And when Jamaican sprinter Don Quarrie arrived at Southern Cal in the late 1960s, he eschewed the school's newly installed, top-of-the-line synthetic track in favor of an old cinder track. According to Peter Thompson, a longtime coach and former official with IAAF, track and field's governing body, Quarrie felt he could more effectively build muscle and develop tendon elasticity on cinder. He became a four-time Olympic medalist. "He recognized that it wasn't necessarily an advantage to train all the time at a high-class facility," Thompson said.
On The Surface of Things: Where to Run
by POPSUGAR Fitness7/11/07
Cool Running, the web site that brought you the ever popularCouch to 5K running program, has rated running surfaces. Why? In an attempt to help keep runners free of injuries — that's why. Running on rock hard surfaces like concrete, like sidewalks, is hard on the body. To protect your joints you want to look for surfaces that have shock absorbing qualities for the majority of your runs. Also, you should try to be consistent with your surface choice, an abrupt switch can lead to injuries.
Here are the surfaces listed in order of best to worst. The number to the right indicates their "grade" with 10 being the best and 1 being just plain awful:
Grass 9.5
Wood chips 9
Dirt 8
Cinder track 7.5
Track 7
Treadmill 6.5
Asphalt 6
Sand 4
Snow 2.5
Concrete 1
This is just a cursory look at this subject but with all of the soft tissue injuries one that might be worth looking at.The one thing that Collingwood differs from other teams training facilities is the Synthetic running track as far as I know.
From an interview about Grenadas top runners
By
SCOTT CACCIOLA
Updated June 12, 2012 7:30 p.m. ET
Wall Street Journal
Kirani James and Rondell Bartholomew grew up in different parts of Grenada and didn't even meet until a few years ago. After attending different U.S. colleges, they rarely cross paths even now. James has an endorsement deal with Nike, Bartholomew with Adidas.
But something they shared growing up was a plush, green training environment. Bartholomew said he also spent countless hours sprinting on soft sand under the direction of his former Grenadian coach Neville Glean. "He really believed in that stuff," said Bartholomew, who now lives and trains in Levelland, Texas, where he attended South Plains College. He still devotes most of his preseason training to grass and builds up only gradually on a synthetic track, where he said, "You have to be really careful you don't get shin splints."
At Texas A&M, Francique is exporting his Grenadian philosophy. Several days a week, he directs his sprinters away from the track and onto playing fields for their workouts. He estimates that his athletes spend up to 75% of their time training this way. "The track will beat you up," he said. It's worth noting that Texas A&M has won three of the last four national men's outdoor track-and-field team titles.
Whether training on a soft surface like grass actually improves performance is unclear, said Dr. Reed Ferber, a professor of kinesiology at the University of Calgary. Ferber, who directs a running-injury clinic, said there has been little research on the topic. But it is apparent, he said, that running on more rigid surfaces, such as asphalt or synthetic tracks, typically results in "more loading on the joints" and a greater likelihood of injury.
Of course, grassy fields pose risks too, as Bartholomew discovered when he visited his family in Grenada over the winter. Returning to the grass track of his youth, he stepped in a hole and injured his hip, though it has recovered.
The concept of working out on softer surfaces isn't exactly groundbreaking. Roger Black, who won silver in the 400 meters at the Atlanta Games in 1996, was part of a coterie of top-notch British runners who trained on a grass track at the University of Southampton. And when Jamaican sprinter Don Quarrie arrived at Southern Cal in the late 1960s, he eschewed the school's newly installed, top-of-the-line synthetic track in favor of an old cinder track. According to Peter Thompson, a longtime coach and former official with IAAF, track and field's governing body, Quarrie felt he could more effectively build muscle and develop tendon elasticity on cinder. He became a four-time Olympic medalist. "He recognized that it wasn't necessarily an advantage to train all the time at a high-class facility," Thompson said.
On The Surface of Things: Where to Run
by POPSUGAR Fitness7/11/07
Cool Running, the web site that brought you the ever popularCouch to 5K running program, has rated running surfaces. Why? In an attempt to help keep runners free of injuries — that's why. Running on rock hard surfaces like concrete, like sidewalks, is hard on the body. To protect your joints you want to look for surfaces that have shock absorbing qualities for the majority of your runs. Also, you should try to be consistent with your surface choice, an abrupt switch can lead to injuries.
Here are the surfaces listed in order of best to worst. The number to the right indicates their "grade" with 10 being the best and 1 being just plain awful:
Grass 9.5
Wood chips 9
Dirt 8
Cinder track 7.5
Track 7
Treadmill 6.5
Asphalt 6
Sand 4
Snow 2.5
Concrete 1
This is just a cursory look at this subject but with all of the soft tissue injuries one that might be worth looking at.The one thing that Collingwood differs from other teams training facilities is the Synthetic running track as far as I know.
