Strength For Endurance Podcast

"You have to have strong feet inside a great shoe" Yet why is so little emphasis put on ensuring they are as strong as possible?   Today Kriss talks everything from foot injuries, to bunions, orthotics and expensive shoes. He also shares some easy drills that you can start to implement right away. (00:00) Podcast Intro (00:40) Why Feet Matter (01:22) Injuries and Foot History (02:12) Kinetic Chain...

Training power and speed isn't elite, it also shouldn't be ignored. Whatever your goals increasing our ability to produce power and speed are vital for not only successful performance but to prevent injury. Ignore that aspect of training and you're increasing your likelihood of a sudden injury where something goes 'bang' without warning.  Today Kriss shares how you can bring power and speed traini...

When you feel your running is going badly or you aren't seeing the times you want to, it's easy to feel disheartened.  Many of us will rely on external data to tell us how well training is going - HRV, pacing, watts etc, but this is not always helpful. Today we discuss the other signs to look out for when assessing how your training is going. You might be progressing more than you think...you just...

When runners get injured it can be a long and frustrating process. Many flirt between multiple treatments and change every possible variable in search of an answer.  But until you can honestly say that you have looked into the levels of strength and conditioning throughout your body, you haven't tried it all.  Working through a logical and comprehensive screening process should be your priority an...

When it comes to injury resiliency and building long term running performance, hill work is a fundamental element.  Many runners often fall short in this area and maybe because of where they live or convenience, the majority of their running is mostly done on flat ground. But if we want to bring the next level of conditioning to our tendons, ligaments and muscles, having a regular dose of incline...

What's the secret to maintaining a highly active training lifestyle? Leearning how to manage your training load. What do we mean? What does this look like? Tune in to this episode to find out more. (00:00) Podcast Introduction (00:40) Why Training Load Matters (01:36) The Template Trap (02:32) Overtraining and Breakdown (03:24) What Makes Training Sustainable (04:37) Can You Say No (06:29) Real Pe...

When you're working towards a goal - be it to overcome an injury or achieve a particular result or time, you naturally want to do everything possible for a successful outcome. But many endurance athletes innocently hinder their progress by making some simple mistakes in their weekly training program. Listen in to find out how to avoid this mistake and maximise the sessions that really matter. (00:...

Behaviours, routines and mental skills that are just part of our day to day life, can be hugely beneficial at times of injury, illness or setback. But having the ability to call on these skills at challenging times can transform the way you cope both mentally and physically. Listen in as Kriss shares a very current and honest account of the skills he's calling upon personally to get him through hi...

We could be lead to believe that nutrition is well covered in the endurance world. We're more clued up than ever with the majority of runners regularly stocking up on their gels, chews and hydration tablets. But this isn't where most fall short. It's in the day to day nutritional behaviours where it's really affecting athletes the most - with underfueling having a significant and dangerous impact...

Many of us will have spent money on a running analysis, bike fit or swim stroke correction - in the hope that it'll solve our injury problems or improve our performance significantly. The tech is impressive, the data thorough and the cost reflects it.  However many of us come away none the wiser.  We get told what we need to do - but these new positions or technique changes can be hard to implemen...

Can we compare our bodies to machines? It's definitely a topic for debate. But if we think about fuelling, servicing and using gears correctly it makes logical sense. Listen in as Kriss explains more... (00:00) Podcast Intro (00:40) You Are a Machine (01:16) Romance vs Metrics (01:57) Fixing Inefficiency (03:07) Build the Engine (03:37) Train All Gears (04:35) Add Intensity Safely (06:28) Service...

I've heard it often - someone tells me they have a knee injury, but their hip has also been hurting and also their ankle. So what came first, are they linked and which one should your focus on treating first.  Listen in as we delve deeper into this topic.  (00:00) Podcast Intro (00:40) Injury Loop Problem (01:31) Symptoms vs Root Cause (02:03) Whole Body Connections (04:12) Assess Athleticism (05:...

It can be easy to think that strength training can only be done effectively in the gym environment, with access to weights and machines. But this is absolutely not the case and at SFE we've seen the success first hand. Listen in as Kriss discusses more about adjusting your training depending on where you are, how to decide what you need to work on and what equipment you have available. (00:00) Pod...

Kriss gives an honest review of his first 100km and how almost 10 years on, that experience shaped the way he works with clients to achieve their own biggest feats of endurance. (00:00) Podcast Intro (00:41) Why This 100K Story (01:12) Race Setup And Conditions (02:21) Lesson One Naivety (04:29) Coaching Takeaways Planning (05:41) Lesson Two Body Ego (06:24) Old Injuries Resurface (08:27) Lesson T...

We've all been guilty of it - said we're going to do something, but never actually got round to doing it. And this is so common in our busy lives where we're we feel like we have an endless list of 'to-dos' with no time to actually do them.  They same can happen when it comes to integrating better habits, making changes or behaving different around our training, S&C, nutrition, hydration, recovery...

Most runners will have a variety of run sessions scheduled throughout their training week; the long run, hills, track, interval, tempo ...there are many different options and what we call them will vary from runner to runner.  But beyond the name, how does our approach differ? Are we conscious about the task in hand - the aim of each session? And how good are we at sticking to those intentions? Li...

What does the word personalised mean to you? Personalised means a great deal more than just subjectively defining your level of ability, how far you would like to run, how fast you would like to run and how many sessions you want to run each week. These are ego metrics. The truth is personalised means exactly that - it's personal to you. Each and every one of you is wonderfully unique with multipl...

When you are working through your strength sessions, how present are you? Do you tend to go through the motions, ticking off each exercises without much thought?  For many of us we focus on the the weight, counting the reps and sets and scrolling through our phone or chatting during our rest periods.  But if we really want to see real progress from our strength training, being more aware of the qu...

We're all aware by now (if you've listened to me enough), that training and performing successfully month after month, takes more than just following sessions on a spreadsheet.  It takes flexibility, adjustments, feedback and constant communication.  And the reason so many fail to achieve consistency, risk overtraining and get hit with injury, is because the right questions aren't being asked on a...

Many of us will admit that we use training to de-stress, an outlet that we need in order to get away from the stresses of daily life. However is that always the right thing to do? In todays episode we're joined by Dr. Bernadette Dancy (Stress Management Coach) who has been studying the science and psychology of stress, health and human performance for over 15 years.  We talk about: What stress is?...

Weekly club sessions are a staple for many runners, however as coaches we also see first-hand that they can have their downsides when approached in the wrong way. Listen in as Kriss discusses what to consider when it comes to your club sessions, how to get the most of them and also reduce the associated risks. (00:00) Welcome to Strength for Endurance (Podcast Intro) (00:41) Why Club & Group Train...

What do you think about when you're out training ? Often its nothing, other times everything - and running, cycling, swimming, hiking etc can be a great way to calm your thoughts. But how many of you are periodically using your inner dialogue to help you recalibrate your efficiency and economy? Listen in to find out exactly what Kriss means and how it can transform your sessions ... (00:00) Introd...

We've spoken in depth about low energy availability or RED'S in past episodes. Yet even though awareness of the topic is greater, it's still affceting too many athletes and this shouldn't be the case. Listen in as Kriss shares everything from warning signs and reasons why you might fall into low energy availability to avoiding it, overcoming it and getting back to your best health and performance....

In todays episode Kriss breaks down how at SFE we've helped multiple individuals successfully return from stress fractures and bone stress injuries, to training and racing with confidence (up to and over distances of 100miles). This has not come from just considering a running program or how far or fast to run, it's come from having a much wider and detailed conversation around nutrition, recovery...

Are you training for a marathon this year?  Whether it's your first or your 25th, naturally we all want to do well; get to the start line in one piece and then have the best race possible.  But we all know it's not that simple, and for many of us the journey to race day can bring a rollercoaster of highs and lows, including getting injured.  So how can we minimise the risk of injury in when it com...