If you’re an Athlete, Think Twice Before Doing any Distance Running

This may be one of the most controversial topics I will write about, especially coming from the background I do. I am a soccer player by trade so in return I also train a large amount of soccer players. Conditioning is one of the most important aspects of performance in not only developing a well-rounded soccer player, but an athlete in general. In order to perform at the highest level an athlete needs to have a well-conditioned aerobic base. I want to make it clear that I am not anti-conditioning, just anti-long distance running. There is a huge difference. There are better ways to train an athlete as I think that long distance running is the most lazy exercise that can be performed. I’ll be straight up honest here, I have read more readings on why athletes should long distance run than why they should not. This is where my opinion comes into play because I hate distance running for the majority of athletes. Some sports coaches and parents might read this and totally disagree with me, which is fine, but don’t complain when your players or athletes get worse. 

So here it begins, one piece of advice I give my athletes is to try and keep distance running at a minimum. The moment I say that I cannot begin to explain the looks I receive (especially from parents). They usually respond with, are you sure? Why? I know that other athletes (high level athletes) do it. I usually answer it with, “it’s just not the greatest exercise for speed or power and usually makes an athlete slower”, just to keep it short. I will use my own personal experience as an example. I once did 4 mile runs 3x a week back when I was playing Division 1 soccer only because that’s what I was told to do by coaches (and google) and apparently every high level player was doing the same. Well, overtime I felt like I got worse as a player. I lost my strength, bounce and initial acceleration pace, which is all important for being a good player.

Obviously I have more reasoning to my opinion than just “it makes an athlete slower”. I only create my opinions after I have done an adequate amount of research, reading and have enough personal coaching experience to gain such a strong opinion. Here are 4 reasons why I think an athlete should think twice before doing any distance running. 

Demands of the Sport - When it comes to creating strength and conditioning programs for athletes it is eminent that a coach identifies the demands of the sport. In my opinion there are two sides of the spectrum, on one side there are the endurance sports and on the other are the speed and power sports. So, which sports would be considered speed and power sports? I would consider football, soccer, baseball, tennis, basketball, softball, lacrosse and many more, as speed and power sports. Most athletes seeking performance benefits probably fall under the category of speed and power sports. If an athlete plays a team sport you can bet that it falls under the speed and power sport category. If an athlete plays any of these sports they need to train for speed, power and agility not like cross country runners. It’s interesting because if you ask someone what the best athletes do well they would say they run fast, jump high, throw hard and are crazy explosive, not that they can run for a really long time. 

I feel that it’s a no brainer not to run an athlete like a baseball pitcher, but I cease to be amazed. Pitchers do not need to distance run as they have so many other needs to work on. Yes they need a strong aerobic base, but holy are there better ways. The biggest argument I face is, what about soccer? They run up to 5 miles in one game. My answer? Yeah sure, a soccer player maybe somewhere in the midfield will possibly run 5 miles, but I can tell you that they won’t run those 5 miles at a constant steady jogging pace. I remember profound strength coach Mike Boyle making the point that if a soccer player covers 5 miles in about 90 minutes of playing time that would be equivalent to a 18 minute mile. Pretty sure a obese individual would be able to do that. My point is that soccer is full of repeated bouts of sprints, walks and jogs which require different energy system demands and should be trained as such. If there is such an obsession with “sport specific” training why isn’t it practiced within conditioning programs?

Think about it this way, how can straight distance running prepare an athlete for a game that requires them to perform short and explosive bouts of sprints or movements? It truly cannot. A conditioning program needs to mirror the energy systems that are being demanded in a game to have any value whatsoever. 

It should look something more like this:

Effects on Strength, Speed and Power - Research has shown that improper aerobic conditioning or distance running has detrimental effects on strength, speed and power. I’m going to get all nerdy here for a second and talk about the bodys’ energy systems. There are 3 energy systems in the body, the ATP-Creatine Phosphate (ATP-PCr), anaerobic glycolysis and the oxidative phosphorylation (aerobic). During exercise as the duration increases there is a greater contribution from the aerobic system and as intensity increases there is a greater contribution from the anaerobic glycolysis system. For example, the majority of strength and power training is anaerobic based, while cross-country running would be considered very aerobic system dominant. 

Short-duration, high-intensity = Greater contribution from the anaerobic systems

Long-duration, low-intensity = Greater contribution from the aerobic system

All systems work together during exercise, but there is always one system that is the most dominant. During exercise, the ATP-PCr system is the dominant energy system during the first 0-10 seconds. The anaerobic system is dominant during the first 15-30 seconds, and anything over 1 minute the aerobic system predominantly takes over. Never is there only one energy system working at a time. Each energy system works together, but changeover occurs depending on the duration and intensity of exercise. 

How does this relate to strength, speed and power? Energy systems and muscle fibers work hand-in-hand. When we talk about skeletal muscles there are 3 different types of muscle fibers (remember, multiple muscle fibers make up a muscle fascicle). Type I muscle fibers are slow-twitch, Type IIa muscle fibers are both slow and fast-twitch and Type IIx are fast-twitch. Type 1 muscle fibers are built for long duration and low intensity exercise (aerobic). Type II muscle fibers are the opposite as they are wired for short duration and high intensity exercise (anaerobic). 

The issue has nothing to do with the Type I muscle fibers, but rather when Type IIx muscle fibers are required to work as slow-twitch muscle fibers. Just like anything in life the more you do something the closer you get to whatever that is. Muscle fibers work the same way. When exercise is done at a high intensity for a long period of time (usually the case for athletes) or at a low intensity for a long period of time, Type IIx muscle fibers will start to gain slow-twitch attributes over time, which will lead to a decrease in speed, power and strength. Prescribing conditioning has everything to do with intensity and duration. Even if duration is long and intensity is too high there is going to be an attribute change in the fast-twitch fibers over time. If performed correctly conditioning can improve aerobic qualities without compromising fast-twitch muscle fibers. 

I will make one more quick point. The number one fear a female athlete has is tearing their ACL. In order to try and reduce the chance of an ACL injury an athlete has to be able to use proper neuromuscular reactions without delay or in other words be strong. Stronger athletes and athletes that are able to generate more force are going to be better off in preventing an ACL tear. 

I will summarize this into one sentence. Distance running will decrease and interfere with the enhancement of strength, power and speed.

Mobility Issues - One of the most crucial aspects in sports performance is adequate mobility, especially throughout the hips. Hip mobility helps enhance performance and reduces the chance of injury in all sports. For example, a baseball pitcher who does not have adequate internal rotation of the back hip will land closed-off resulting in faulty pitching mechanics possibly leading to passive instability via ligaments and injury down the road. In sports such as soccer and football, adequate hip extension and hip flexion (knee forward and knee backwards) are responsible for proper front and back side mechanics in sprinting. If an athlete lacks hip flexion and/or hip extension they will have poor sprinting mechanic timing which will result in poor performance and possible injury. 

Knowing that hip mobility is vital we have to analyze what distance running looks like. A lot of jogging. Distance running does not give an athlete adequate hip flexion or hip extension, but instead a whole lot of quad activation. That's exactly what we want for female soccer players, more quad work! Nope, that's literally the last thing we want. I work with all my athletes to gain range of motion not lose it. Remember, we want to train for the enhancement of power and speed which sometimes requires triple extension exercises and not constant partial range of motion movements. Just as I mentioned above, the more you do something the closer you get to whatever that is, so the more you distance run the more hip mobility you will lose. It’s no secret. 

It’s Outdated - Distance running has been around since the time of man. The only difference back then is humans developed running not as a hobby, but to hunt and survive. Our goal as coaches is to enhance sports performance, not hunt down our next meal. 

Just because something has been around for decades does not mean it is always the right answer. I still see countless athletes still running poles, running 5 miles and spending way too much time on the track simply because that’s what was done back in the day. That’s why I call distance running the lazy way out. Everyone is obsessed with the “new” everything (iPhone Tesla, Shoes, etc), but when it comes to performance and making athletes better it somehow doesn’t apply. Athletes, coaches and parents think distance running is hard work when in reality it’s old, outdated and making athletes worse at their sport.

I’m truly convinced that the majority of athletes don’t even enjoy distance running, actually I could say they despise it. I’m not saying that athletes should always do what they enjoy, but knowing what they SHOULD be doing versus what they SHOULDN'T be doing is totally different. If you’re a pitcher and want to lose stride length, then you should distance run. If you're a soccer player or any team sport athlete for that matter and want to get slower, then you should distance run. I can sum all this up into one phrase, Train Slow, Play Slow.