Strength and Conditioning Coach Jon Messner reveals the TRUTH about
core training and distance running!
I wrote Core Training for Distance Runners so I could share what I've learned working with runners at my facility.
The sport of distance running is catastrophically damaging to the human body; joints, ligaments, tendons, and muscles all suffer.
I always tell my clients "If it isn't working, try something different." I hope that Core Training for Distance Runners is something "different" for you!
To Health,
- Jon Messner
The sport of distance running is catastrophically damaging to the human body; joints, ligaments, tendons, and muscles all suffer.
I always tell my clients "If it isn't working, try something different." I hope that Core Training for Distance Runners is something "different" for you!
To Health,
- Jon Messner
"Stumbling onto Jon's book, he explained the "why" of strength training, and it's really quite simple: if you want to be a good distance runner, you MUST strength train. We are not meant to just run - JUST running makes the body weak and dysfunctional. Distance running is damaging to the body so one has to reverse this damage by strength training. The book taught me that if I want to stay healthy and run fast, I need to have a strong core and a functional body.
I wouldn't have made it to the starting line for my first marathon if not for the information in this book. Nothing hurts; no knee pain, no achilles pain. I've been healthy for 10 months now (longest I've been healthy in my running career) and I'm easily in the best shape of my life."
--------------------
Drew Seaver
- 2:48 Marathon
- 1:15 Half Marathon
I wouldn't have made it to the starting line for my first marathon if not for the information in this book. Nothing hurts; no knee pain, no achilles pain. I've been healthy for 10 months now (longest I've been healthy in my running career) and I'm easily in the best shape of my life."
--------------------
Drew Seaver
- 2:48 Marathon
- 1:15 Half Marathon
"I train with Jon because I trust him. I understand that the sport beats runners down and I don't want to be one of them!
The information in Jon's book should be shared with as many runners as possible - it's that important!"
--------------------
Craig Segal
- 2:25 Marathon
- 1:08 Half Marathon
- 30:42 10K
- 14:35 5K
The information in Jon's book should be shared with as many runners as possible - it's that important!"
--------------------
Craig Segal
- 2:25 Marathon
- 1:08 Half Marathon
- 30:42 10K
- 14:35 5K
"After working with Jon for just one month, I couldn’t believe how much better I felt! Both my knee and my hip no longer hurt and I was able to resume normal training volume.
Core Training for Distance Runners was written based on how Jon trains. If you don't work with Jon then his book is the next best thing!"
--------------------
Malia Lyles
- 3:08 Marathon
- 1:21 Half Marathon
- 38:10 10K
- 17:59 5K
Core Training for Distance Runners was written based on how Jon trains. If you don't work with Jon then his book is the next best thing!"
--------------------
Malia Lyles
- 3:08 Marathon
- 1:21 Half Marathon
- 38:10 10K
- 17:59 5K
PREFACE
“Chase after the truth like all hell and you'll free yourself, even though you never touch its coattails.” -Clarence Darrow-
What I am about to share with you is the greatest gift I can give, and I am more than happy to share it with my fellow runners. Even though I may change my mind about a certain exercise or ideal tomorrow, I remain on the path to find the cure for our brothers and sisters who have fallen in the battle to find who is the fastest.
There is much misinformation in the world. Of course, it seems as though the strength training industry is fraught with it, which unfortunately spills over into my other love, running. What we must come to realize as strength coaches, running coaches, and runners is that it is never simple. What we think we know today will most likely change tomorrow. And in our pursuit to understand more about the world we live in, we come to find that we actually know nothing.
Before I was a strength coach, I was a track coach, and when it came to strength training for my athletes, I had the mindset that most coaches have: strength training may help performance and it may help prevent an injury. But I wasn’t really sure; after all, nobody else really seemed to know. We did strength training because that is what our coaches had us do when we were athletes. Man, ignorance is bliss. Exercise was easy: chest, back, biceps, triceps, quadriceps, hamstrings, and core. It didn’t stress me out. Well, that isn’t entirely true. I freaked out whenever one of my runners sustained an injury. I blamed myself, as I am sure most coaches do. Looking back, it is interesting to think about my reaction to athletes sustaining an injury and my clear lack of connection with the rest of their world, especially because at that time I was studying kinesiology.
As a strength coach, I am in an incredible position to help athletes avoid injury. I believe that proper strength training is the missing component in track and field. I think in 200 years or so, when we finally have something figured out, we will look back on this era of running and cringe at the amount of overuse injuries we dealt with. Along this road of running shoes, dumbbells, and core exercises, I have found that health covers a much wider scope than just the track and the weight room. Health is confidence, posture, alignment, diet, strength, flexibility, mobility, mental tenacity… it is the whole unit working together to better itself, and what we do in the weight room must echo this simple, holistic approach.
This manual is a reflection of my search for truth. Won’t you join me?
“Chase after the truth like all hell and you'll free yourself, even though you never touch its coattails.” -Clarence Darrow-
What I am about to share with you is the greatest gift I can give, and I am more than happy to share it with my fellow runners. Even though I may change my mind about a certain exercise or ideal tomorrow, I remain on the path to find the cure for our brothers and sisters who have fallen in the battle to find who is the fastest.
There is much misinformation in the world. Of course, it seems as though the strength training industry is fraught with it, which unfortunately spills over into my other love, running. What we must come to realize as strength coaches, running coaches, and runners is that it is never simple. What we think we know today will most likely change tomorrow. And in our pursuit to understand more about the world we live in, we come to find that we actually know nothing.
Before I was a strength coach, I was a track coach, and when it came to strength training for my athletes, I had the mindset that most coaches have: strength training may help performance and it may help prevent an injury. But I wasn’t really sure; after all, nobody else really seemed to know. We did strength training because that is what our coaches had us do when we were athletes. Man, ignorance is bliss. Exercise was easy: chest, back, biceps, triceps, quadriceps, hamstrings, and core. It didn’t stress me out. Well, that isn’t entirely true. I freaked out whenever one of my runners sustained an injury. I blamed myself, as I am sure most coaches do. Looking back, it is interesting to think about my reaction to athletes sustaining an injury and my clear lack of connection with the rest of their world, especially because at that time I was studying kinesiology.
As a strength coach, I am in an incredible position to help athletes avoid injury. I believe that proper strength training is the missing component in track and field. I think in 200 years or so, when we finally have something figured out, we will look back on this era of running and cringe at the amount of overuse injuries we dealt with. Along this road of running shoes, dumbbells, and core exercises, I have found that health covers a much wider scope than just the track and the weight room. Health is confidence, posture, alignment, diet, strength, flexibility, mobility, mental tenacity… it is the whole unit working together to better itself, and what we do in the weight room must echo this simple, holistic approach.
This manual is a reflection of my search for truth. Won’t you join me?
INTRODUCTION
"Some people create with words, or with music, or with a brush and paints. I like to make something beautiful when I run. I like to make people stop and say, ‘I've never seen anyone run like that before.’ It's more then just a race, it's a style. It's doing something better then anyone else. It's being creative." -Pre-
The sport of distance running is unlike any other sport. Running is one of the simplest activities we partake in, yet we strategize getting from Point A to Point B on a round track. It requires little teaching of skill, but takes decades to master the art of racing.
Distance running also transcends our culture. One extraordinary individual can be attributed to one of the biggest fitness crazes ever, the running boom, which seems as popular today as it was fifty years ago:
“Bill Bowerman was, and is, and ever shall be a generous, ornery, profane, beatific, unyielding, antic, impenetrably complex Oregon original. As a freshman, I found him deeply disturbing. Once he bet me a case of Nutrament® that I couldn't break 2:00 for the 880 on a freezing Saturday morning. I ran with control, hitting the 440 in 60. I could feel myself accelerating in the last lap. Near the finish I knew I'd done it. I slowed and turned, gasping to hear the time. ‘2:00.3’ he said. ‘Good try.’ I leaped on him, screaming made insane with outrage. He allowed me to wrestle the watch away from him. It read 1:56.6.”
-Kenny Moore on one of the greatest track and field coaches of all time and the mastermind behind the running craze-
It is through this boom that running and exercise have become synonymous. Many people have lost countless pounds running; many have also sustained serious injuries. When I was in college I remember one of my colleagues telling me that if I wasn’t at risk for an injury then I wasn’t training hard enough. I don’t know of any collegiate or professional runner who has not had an injury curtail his or her training at one point or another. Yet even though we have countless overuse injuries, running remains something wonderful. And the only way to experience it is on a nice spring day at the beach, or a brisk winter day at the path… it is unexplainable and to those who know it, it is poetry.
This manual is intended for anyone who considers him or herself a serious distance runner. I classify a serious distance runner as anyone who wakes up in the morning and leaves the comfort of a bed and the protection of a roof to run 10 miles in 35 degrees and rain. I classify a serious distance runner as knowing the meaning of, and running fartleks. I classify a serious distance runner as anyone who gazes off into the silence of space while dreaming about the future or recalling the glorious past. Now, if you are one of these individuals, you have to strength train. In case you were never planning on reading this manual again, let me repeat what I just wrote: IF YOU ARE ONE OF THESE INDIVIDUALS YOU HAVE TO STRENGTH TRAIN. Strength training should be right up there with a good pair of shoes, food, water, and air. It should come before family, friends, television, video games, and unfortunately, love. Why? Because a serious distance runner is one who will do whatever it takes to reach the absolute pinnacle of one’s genetic max.
"Some people create with words, or with music, or with a brush and paints. I like to make something beautiful when I run. I like to make people stop and say, ‘I've never seen anyone run like that before.’ It's more then just a race, it's a style. It's doing something better then anyone else. It's being creative." -Pre-
The sport of distance running is unlike any other sport. Running is one of the simplest activities we partake in, yet we strategize getting from Point A to Point B on a round track. It requires little teaching of skill, but takes decades to master the art of racing.
Distance running also transcends our culture. One extraordinary individual can be attributed to one of the biggest fitness crazes ever, the running boom, which seems as popular today as it was fifty years ago:
“Bill Bowerman was, and is, and ever shall be a generous, ornery, profane, beatific, unyielding, antic, impenetrably complex Oregon original. As a freshman, I found him deeply disturbing. Once he bet me a case of Nutrament® that I couldn't break 2:00 for the 880 on a freezing Saturday morning. I ran with control, hitting the 440 in 60. I could feel myself accelerating in the last lap. Near the finish I knew I'd done it. I slowed and turned, gasping to hear the time. ‘2:00.3’ he said. ‘Good try.’ I leaped on him, screaming made insane with outrage. He allowed me to wrestle the watch away from him. It read 1:56.6.”
-Kenny Moore on one of the greatest track and field coaches of all time and the mastermind behind the running craze-
It is through this boom that running and exercise have become synonymous. Many people have lost countless pounds running; many have also sustained serious injuries. When I was in college I remember one of my colleagues telling me that if I wasn’t at risk for an injury then I wasn’t training hard enough. I don’t know of any collegiate or professional runner who has not had an injury curtail his or her training at one point or another. Yet even though we have countless overuse injuries, running remains something wonderful. And the only way to experience it is on a nice spring day at the beach, or a brisk winter day at the path… it is unexplainable and to those who know it, it is poetry.
This manual is intended for anyone who considers him or herself a serious distance runner. I classify a serious distance runner as anyone who wakes up in the morning and leaves the comfort of a bed and the protection of a roof to run 10 miles in 35 degrees and rain. I classify a serious distance runner as knowing the meaning of, and running fartleks. I classify a serious distance runner as anyone who gazes off into the silence of space while dreaming about the future or recalling the glorious past. Now, if you are one of these individuals, you have to strength train. In case you were never planning on reading this manual again, let me repeat what I just wrote: IF YOU ARE ONE OF THESE INDIVIDUALS YOU HAVE TO STRENGTH TRAIN. Strength training should be right up there with a good pair of shoes, food, water, and air. It should come before family, friends, television, video games, and unfortunately, love. Why? Because a serious distance runner is one who will do whatever it takes to reach the absolute pinnacle of one’s genetic max.
