Build up & Lock Down

Many athletes right now are starting their “build” as some like to call it for their first big race of the season. For many those first races aren’t too far off, so the training is ramping up, the motivation is off the charts, early spring camps with much more volume than normal are on the calendar, intensity, speed, focus, determination are all ramping up. No workout is skipped or deviated from while every interval and set is completed to perfection. Race day nutrition plans are being planned and executed during key workouts. The graphs and TSS scores are all indicating kick a$# performances and pointing towards a race of a lifetime. Athletes are walking around in a state of fatigue but deep down smiling and happy because they know they have been digging deep into the well to become fitter and faster.

can't beat riding outside in Feb

With all that hard work and determination comes the build up. Its happening and you don’t even realize it. It’s happening with every pull through the water, pedal stroke and foot strike on the run. Often you can’t feel it happening and can keep plowing through the weeks of training unconditionally, collapsing at the end of the day in bed or on the couch forgetting an important piece of the puzzle. Its forgotten until all of a sudden one day... 3 miles into the key long run your knee locks up causing you to stop in your tracks and have to turn around and walk it in or call for a ride home and then wind up on my schedule at work(or someone like me) swearing “I don’t understand it came from no where. My knee was fine” "I've never been hurt before".

seeing me at work is never good unless you are just bringing coffee or Grahms' chocolate

Muscles, tendons, fascia and connective tissue are shortening, becoming tighter and restricted from repetition and the by-products of exercise eventually causing lock down on the IT band, plantar fascia, or hip flexor/psoas, or posterior shoulder.

don't make the ITB mad

Once pain is detected, "lock down" has already happened and then a tendon, joint or muscle becomes unhappy and inflamed. Now rest, therapy and ice are in your future instead of the starting line.

Maybe I'm over exaggerating just a little (maybe not..I've seen it all and you'd be suprised!) to get my point accross. Even though it’s not fun and doesn’t seem to be what will make you faster on the race course, adding stretching, and foam rolling to the weekly routine will prevent build up and lock down and eventually shut down from working out.

there's a little training going on in our house


Stretching too