ME training and ‘greasing the groove’
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Hi Scott
As I don’t live too close to the mountains I feel like I need to keep muscular endurance (particularly for the downhills) that flat running doesn’t give. However the ME workout in TFTUA has always left me sore to the point that it has affected my running/hiking volume and then performance has actually gone down. I’m sure you’ve probably heard of ‘greasing the groove’ approach to strength (and particularly strength endurance) promoted by Pavel Tsatsouline whereby you do sets through the day but stay well clear of failure or muscle burn at each set thereby not being sore/overly tired the next day. Do you think this approach (say doing bulgarian split squats etc) could build ME without the soreness that interferes with my running?
Thanks
James:
Great question. I am familiar with the ‘greasing the groove’ concept and it may be worth trying. But it is going have a different effect than the gym ME. The GTG training would fit in “my” strength training library as conditioning to prepare for ME or heavier loading. It should do a good job of strengthening connective tissue and reinforcing movement patterns through myelination. With the volume of reps you’d probably be doing there would no doubt be an ME training effect. All this is for the good so I think it would be a good approach
However the difference between that sort of training and the gym ME program is the eccentric loading that goes on with all the jumping exercises in the ME workouts. That eccentric loading is what is making you so sore. BUT and it is an important BUT: That eccentric loading is the same sort of loading you get running down hill. By doing that eccentric loading in the gym you can build the fatigue resistance to make you more durable running our side.
You may have already tried this; but to avoid extreme soreness from the ME workouts you need to be very gradual in introducing the loading and volume. You might want to try reducing the intensity of your jumps. Dial back to 75-80% of max. Don’t drop so deep. You might also want to reduce the number of sets. Start with 3 sets at 75% effort and see if you can handle that without such severe soreness.
I hope that helps.
Scott
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