Coach Chuck Schwartz

ARE HILL REPEATS THE ORIGINAL FORCE-PRODUCTION WORKOUT?

I’ve been writing quite a bit lately about what I call building the runner’s Natural Supershoe.

Strong feet.

Strong plantar flexors.

Useful stiffness through the foot-ankle-Achilles complex.

Core and postural strength.

And most importantly, the ability to hit the ground, accept force, stabilize and rapidly redirect that force into the next stride.

We’ve talked about developing those qualities with:

Isometrics.

Strength training.

Plyometrics.

Loaded bunny hops.

Rear-lunge-to-single-leg hops.

Bounding.

And fast running on grass.

But there’s an obvious question:

What about hills?

Coaches have been using hill repeats forever.

So how much of this force-production work can we accomplish simply by running uphill?

After digging deeply into the research, my answer would be:

A LOT.

But not everything.

And that’s where this gets really interesting.

HILLS ARE RUNNING-SPECIFIC RESISTANCE TRAINING

Think about what happens when you run uphill.

Instead of adding a dumbbell, weight vest or sled, gravity becomes the resistance.

Every stride has to move your body forward AND upward.

Research shows that as incline increases, the amount of positive mechanical work the legs have to produce increases.

But here’s something even more interesting:

The distribution of that work changes.

The ankle remains enormously important, but increasing incline tends to shift more of the additional work toward the hip.

So hills aren’t simply making level running “harder.”

They actually change the mechanical problem the runner has to solve.

AND UPHILL DOESN’T NECESSARILY MEAN MORE IMPACT

Running uphill can actually REDUCE certain impact forces compared with level running.

At the same time, the runner has to produce substantially more propulsive force to overcome gravity.

That’s an important distinction.

We’re not necessarily trying to create the biggest possible impact.

We’re trying to teach the athlete to:

PRODUCE FORCE IN A USEFUL DIRECTION.

That’s exactly where hill running becomes extremely interesting for distance runners.

BUT NOT ALL HILL REPEATS ARE THE SAME

A 10-second hill sprint…

A 30-second hill…

A 60-second hill…

And a 3-minute hill repeat…

are four very different workouts.

Short, steep hills lean much more toward acceleration, recruitment, power and running-specific resistance.

As the repetition gets longer, the metabolic contribution becomes increasingly important.

And that brings me to one of my favorite old-school workouts.

THE 3-MINUTE HILL REPEAT

I’ve used 3-minute uphill repeats for years.

And when you look at the research, there’s actually a fascinating explanation for why that workout feels different from doing 3-minute intervals on the track.

Researchers have compared high-intensity uphill and horizontal running lasting roughly 2–3 minutes.

The uphill running produced greater overall lower-extremity muscle activation.

Some muscles were recruited considerably more, including increased involvement of the soleus and quadriceps musculature.

Think about what that means.

For three minutes, the athlete isn’t simply producing a huge aerobic effort.

They’re producing that aerobic effort while repeatedly doing positive mechanical work against gravity.

That’s why I would describe the 3-minute hill repeat as:

AEROBIC POWER + RUNNING-SPECIFIC STRENGTH ENDURANCE.

That’s a pretty powerful combination.

But I still wouldn’t call it pure force-production training.

ARTHUR LYDIARD WAS THINKING ABOUT THIS DECADES AGO

And this is where the history becomes fascinating.

Arthur Lydiard was one of the greatest distance coaches of the twentieth century.

Long before we were talking about running economy, tendon stiffness, reactive strength and force production with today’s terminology, Lydiard built an entire phase of training around hills.

And he didn’t simply tell his athletes:

Go run some hills.

His system deliberately placed hill-strength training between aerobic conditioning and the harder anaerobic and race-specific work that followed.

Think about that progression.

First build the aerobic engine.

Then strengthen the athlete.

Then prepare the athlete to run fast.

That should sound familiar.

Lydiard used several different movements on hills.

HILL SPRINGING.

An exaggerated, spring-like movement emphasizing ankle action and vertical lift.

HILL BOUNDING.

Longer, powerful movements emphasizing knee drive, hip extension and force into the ground.

STEEP HILL RUNNING.

Running against gravity while maintaining strong posture and powerful mechanics.

Then the athlete could transition into relaxed faster running downhill and eventually faster running on the flat.

This wasn’t simply conditioning.

Lydiard was trying to build the physical qualities required for the faster running that came next.

That’s the part I find fascinating.

Because more than half a century later, modern biomechanics and strength research are helping explain WHY some of what Lydiard observed worked.

He didn’t have force plates on the hill.

He didn’t have today’s tendon imaging.

He didn’t have modern wearable technology.

But he understood something incredibly important:

Aerobic fitness alone wasn’t enough.

Before asking his runners to produce tremendous speed, he wanted to prepare the machinery that had to produce it.

In many ways, Lydiard’s hill phase looks remarkably like an early version of what today we might call running-specific strength and plyometric preparation.

And I think that’s brilliant.

SO WHY NOT JUST DO LYDIARD-STYLE HILLS?

Because today we have additional tools.

And I think Lydiard himself would have appreciated that distinction.

We can now manipulate load much more precisely.

ISOMETRICS

Allow us to produce substantial muscular and tendon tension with very little movement and essentially no landing impact.

HEAVY STRENGTH

Allows us to expose the athlete to levels of force that running alone simply cannot reproduce.

PLYOMETRICS AND BOUNDS

Allow us to emphasize rapid force production and the stretch-shortening cycle.

LOADED HOPS AND BOUNDS

Allow us to progressively manipulate external resistance while still moving explosively.

And then we get to:

HILLS.

Hills allow us to take many of those qualities and begin expressing them while performing the actual skill we care about.

Running.

That’s incredibly valuable.

THERE’S ALSO A LIMITATION TO HILLS

Researchers have looked at progressively steeper hill sprinting as a form of resisted sprint training.

Even relatively steep hills can still represent a surprisingly modest resistance compared with the full range of loads we can create through external resistance.

In other words:

A hill can resist running without necessarily providing enough resistance to maximize every aspect of force or power development.

That’s exactly why I don’t think hills replace strength and force-production work.

And force-production work doesn’t replace hills.

I WANT BOTH.

This is where the Natural Supershoe concept really starts coming together.

Build the capacity.

Build the strength.

Develop the ability to produce force.

Then increasingly teach the athlete to express that force while running.

Something like:

CAPACITY → STRENGTH → FORCE → RUNNING-SPECIFIC FORCE → PERFORMANCE

Isometrics help build capacity.

Strength raises the ceiling.

Plyometrics and explosive exercises teach us to produce force rapidly.

Grass running teaches us to express it repeatedly while running.

Short hills give us running-specific resistance and speed-strength.

Longer hills combine propulsion with increasingly large metabolic demands.

And something like a 3-minute hill repeat gives us a fascinating combination of aerobic power and running-specific muscular endurance.

Then ultimately we have to take all of it back to race-specific speed.

MAYBE LYDIARD WAS SHOWING US THE BRIDGE ALL ALONG.

Build the aerobic runner.

Develop strength.

Introduce increasingly dynamic force.

Then run fast.

We simply have more tools today to target each part of that progression.

So are hills the original force-production workout?

In some ways…

YES.

But I don’t think the lesson from Lydiard is that we should abandon modern strength training and go back to doing nothing but hills.

I think the lesson is better than that.

Use the right training tool at the right point in the progression.

Because the goal isn’t to become great at lifting weights.

It isn’t to become great at hopping.

And it isn’t even to become great at running hills.

The goal is to create a runner who can hit the ground, stabilize rapidly, produce force and redirect that force into the next stride…

again and again and again.

Lydiard understood that long before we had today’s language to describe it.

That’s what we’re trying to build with the Natural Supershoe.

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I went deep into the research on this one, including the biomechanics of hill running, different hill-repeat durations, Arthur Lydiard’s hill-training system, strength training, plyometrics and force production.

I’ve put the studies, links and coaching explanations together in a free research guide.

If you’d like a copy, comment HILLS and I’ll send it to you.

BUILDING THE NATURAL SUPERSHOE: THE COMPETITIVE MASTERS RUNNER 🏃‍♂️

Yesterday I watched a freshman runner coming up the final hill of a cross-country race.

He was exhausted.

As the fatigue accumulated, he began folding forward. He was trying desperately to keep running, but he simply didn’t have the postural strength to maintain good position.

It reminded me of something important:

Running economy isn’t just what your mechanics look like when you’re fresh. It’s what you can maintain when you’re tired.

And that matters enormously as we age.

In my previous post, I talked about building what I’ve been calling the “Natural Supershoe”—developing the runner’s own ability to accept force, stabilize the body and return that force into the next stride.

But there is an order to this:

Capacity → Strength → Force → Performance

You don’t start by throwing a 50-year-old runner into an aggressive plyometric program.

First, we need enough core and postural strength to maintain position.

We need adequate musculoskeletal strength and impact tolerance.

We need strong feet, calves, hips and legs.

Then we can progressively introduce more force and elasticity.

So what might this actually look like for a competitive masters runner who already has a solid training base?

A SAMPLE 7-DAY WEEK

MONDAY — Easy Aerobic Run

Finish with:

• 4–6 × 80–100m relaxed strides — smooth and fast. Focus on tall posture, foot strike right under your center of mass. (Learn about good sprint mechanics - work on yours so that you are improving your economy)
• Isometric toe press — 2 × 15–20 sec
• Isometric plantar flexion/calf raise — 2 × 15–20 sec
• Front plank — 2 × 30–45 sec
• Side plank — 2 × 20–30 sec each side

That’s it.

A few minutes of work attached to a normal training day.

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TUESDAY — Quality Day

Threshold or interval workout appropriate for the athlete and time of year.

Then a SMALL dose of force-production work:

• Rear lunge → single-leg hop — 2 × 5 each leg
• Bunny hops — 2 × 10–15 contacts

These should be crisp and athletic.

We are developing force—not trying to exhaust the runner.

If fatigue causes the quality of the movement to deteriorate, STOP.

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WEDNESDAY — RECOVERY

Easy running.

A little mobility.

Maybe some walking.

Nothing else needs to happen.

Recovery is training too.

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THURSDAY — Aerobic Run + Strength

After the run:

• Goblet squat — 2–3 × 6–8
• Suitcase/reverse lunge — 2 × 6–8 each leg
• Calf raise — 2 × 8–12
• Isometric quarter squat — 2–3 × 10–20 sec
• Front plank — 2 × 30–45 sec
• Side plank — 2 × 20–30 sec each side

Again—this isn’t bodybuilding.

We’re trying to maintain the chassis that allows the runner to produce and transmit force.

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FRIDAY — Easy Run

Whenever possible, include some:

Grass. Trails. Rolling terrain.

Natural surfaces create constantly changing demands on the feet, ankles and lower legs.

Keep this day EASY.

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SATURDAY — Long Run or Second Quality Session

Depending upon the athlete, racing schedule and goals.

For many masters runners, I would be very cautious about automatically prescribing two demanding workouts AND a demanding long run every week.

The ability to recover from training becomes part of training.

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SUNDAY — Recovery or OFF

Walk.

Easy hike.

Mobility.

Or do absolutely nothing.

Sometimes the best training stimulus is allowing the previous six days to actually produce adaptation.

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Notice what we’re NOT doing.

We’re not adding seven additional workouts.

We’re strategically attaching small doses of:

Strength
Core
Isometrics
Strides
Natural surfaces
Force production
Recovery

to the running program that already exists.

For the competitive masters athlete, I believe four things become increasingly important:

Maintain strength.
Maintain speed exposure.
Maintain the ability to produce force.
Protect recovery.

Getting older doesn’t automatically mean everything needs to become slow.

But it DOES mean we have to become more intelligent about how stress is applied.

And here’s an especially important warning for former competitive runners:

Your cardiovascular fitness doesn’t give your musculoskeletal system permission to do something it isn’t prepared to do.

Your body doesn’t care what you ran 20 years ago.

Train the athlete you are TODAY.

Build capacity.
Build strength.
Build force.
Then build performance.

And remember: these are sample doses, not prescriptions. Training history, injury history, current strength and experience with jumping or lifting all matter. Someone new to this type of work should start below these volumes and progress gradually.

That’s how I would begin building the Natural Supershoe for a competitive masters runner.

NEXT: The Comeback Runner.

And this one requires an entirely different approach.

Because sometimes the first step toward running faster…

isn’t running at all.

BUILDING THE NATURAL SUPERSHOE — PART 5

Can We Apply These Principles to Adult Runners?

Absolutely. 👏👏👏👏👏

And after digging deeper into the research on aging runners, I think this might be one of the most interesting applications of the Natural Supershoe concept. 👟👟👟

Throughout this series, we’ve talked about something that I believe distance runners 🏃sometimes overlook:

Don’t just train the cardiovascular engine. Train the athlete who carries it.

We’ve looked at:

• Foot and ankle strength💪💪
• Isometrics💪
• Force production💪
• Running on grass and natural surfaces 🏃‍♀️
• Strength training💪
• Plyometric-type movements💪
• Running at different speeds🏃‍♀️
• Developing the ability to accept force, stabilize, and rapidly redirect that force into the next stride

So what happens when we apply those principles to adult runners? 🏃‍♀️🏃🏃‍♀️🏃🏃‍♀️🏃

Adult runners obviously represent an enormous range of ages, backgrounds, abilities and goals.

So let’s look at three common groups of adult runners and consider how these principles might apply differently to each.

We’ll start with the first:

THE COMPETITIVE MASTERS RUNNER🏃🏃

You’re 40, 50, 60 or beyond—and you still want to race.

Maybe you’re chasing a Boston qualifier.

Maybe you’re trying to win your age group.

Maybe you want to run a faster 5K.

Or maybe you’re simply competing against the runner you were last year.

Here’s where the research becomes fascinating.

Aging doesn’t appear to affect every component of running mechanics equally.

A 2023 systematic review examined 14 studies comparing masters runners over 50 with younger runners.

The masters runners demonstrated lower horizontal forces, lower peak propulsive forces and lower active vertical ground-reaction forces.

But perhaps the most interesting finding was where some of the largest and most consistent differences occurred:

At the ankle.

Ankle joint power and moments were consistently lower in the masters runners.

Think about what that means.

Every time we hit the ground, we have only a fraction of a second to accept force, stabilize the body and redirect force into the next stride.

As we age, one of the things we may gradually lose is some of that POP.

I see this frequently when watching adult runners.

The foot strike can become increasingly passive.

More time riding the ground.

Less elastic-looking movement.

Less forceful propulsion.

The research gives us reason to believe that at least part of what we’re seeing is real.

INTERESTINGLY, CADENCE MAY NOT BE THE MAIN PROBLEM.

I initially wondered whether older runners simply lose stride frequency.

The research is much more interesting than that.

Some studies suggest that older runners can maintain stride frequency surprisingly well—and at the same running speed may actually use a higher frequency with a shorter stride.

What appears to change more consistently is:

Stride length.
Propulsive force.
Ankle power.
Elastic qualities.
And eventually ground-contact characteristics.

In other words:

The legs may still know how to turn over.

The bigger issue may be what we’re capable of doing while the foot is on the ground.

And that brings us directly back to the Natural Supershoe.

HERE’S ANOTHER INTERESTING NUMBER.

Research comparing highly trained younger and masters endurance runners found the older runners produced roughly 28–31% less jumping power, with rebound-jump stiffness about 28% lower.

That’s important.

Because distance runners are very good at training the aerobic system.

We run.

We run longer.

We perform threshold workouts.

We develop VO₂max.

All of those things matter tremendously.

But running mileage by itself may not provide enough stimulus to preserve every quality that makes us athletic.

Strength.
Power.
Elasticity.
Rapid force production.

Those need attention too.

CAN WE ACTUALLY CHANGE ANY OF THIS?

Here’s where I become optimistic.

In one randomized study, recreational runners completed eight weeks of intrinsic foot-muscle training.

The runners increased the size of the intrinsic muscles of the foot—and importantly, they also increased vertical propulsive impulse during running.

They didn’t simply develop stronger-looking feet.

Their running mechanics changed.

And another recent study looked specifically at middle-aged recreational runners.

For 10 weeks, runners added either plyometric training or resistance training twice per week to their normal running.

Both groups improved their running economy by approximately 2%.

Their jumping measures improved substantially as well—some measures of drop-jump performance improved roughly 10–26%.

Interestingly, improvements in calf-raise strength were associated with improvements in running economy.

That plantar-flexor complex matters.

A lot.

SO WHAT SHOULD THE COMPETITIVE MASTERS RUNNER DO?

I don’t think the answer is:

Train like you’re 17 again.

And I definitely don’t think a 55-year-old who hasn’t jumped in 20 years should suddenly start doing aggressive plyometrics.

Instead:

Take the principles and change the dosage.

Depending on training history, ability and injury history, that might eventually include:

• Traditional strength training
• Intrinsic foot strengthening
• Isometric foot/ankle work
• Plantar-flexor strengthening
• Carefully progressed hops and force-production exercises
• Strides
• Small doses of faster running
• Running on grass and appropriate natural surfaces
• Maintaining functional mobility
• Appropriate recovery between demanding sessions

Notice what isn’t on that list:

Just run more miles.

Mileage remains enormously important for distance runners.

But if I’m coaching a competitive 50-year-old runner, I’m interested in more than how much aerobic fitness we can preserve.

I’m asking:

How much ATHLETICISM can we preserve?

How much strength?

How much power?

How much elastic function?

How much force can we produce during the incredibly short period of time we’re touching the ground?

And perhaps the most exciting question:

How much can we still IMPROVE?

That’s what I love about the research.

Aging is real.

The physiological changes are real.

But that doesn’t mean we simply surrender those qualities.

We train them.

Maybe the goal of the Natural Supershoe changes slightly as we get older.

At 17, we’re trying to build the athlete.

At 50, perhaps we’re trying to build AND preserve the athlete.

Either way, I’m not ready to tell runners that the answer to aging is simply to run slower.

There’s a lot more physiology—and a lot more possibility—than that.

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WANT THE RESEARCH?

I’ve collected the studies behind this post, including research on masters running biomechanics, ankle power and propulsion, foot strength, stride mechanics, plyometrics, plantar-flexor strength and running economy.

Comment “STUDIES” below and I’ll send you the research with links.

AND WE’RE NOT GOING TO STOP AT THE SCIENCE.

In an upcoming post, I’m going to take these Natural Supershoe principles and show you what they could actually look like inside a real training week for a competitive masters runner.🏆🏆

Not an extra hour of exercises every day.

Not a bodybuilding program.

And definitely not trying to train a 50-year-old exactly like a 17-year-old.

We’ll build a sample seven-day running week and show where we could intelligently incorporate:

• Foot and ankle work
• Isometrics
• Strength
• Force production
• Strides and faster running
• Grass or natural surfaces
• Recovery

without losing sight of the most important thing a distance runner does—run.

Because the real question isn’t whether these exercises work in isolation.

It’s:

How do we fit them into an actual running program?

We’ll build that week in a future post.

And after the competitive masters runner, we’ll look at our other two adult groups:

The recreational runner and the comeback runner.

Same Natural Supershoe principles.

Different athlete. Different dosage. Different application.

BUILDING YOUR NATURAL SUPER SHOE — PART 4

RUN ON GRASS. ESPECIALLY IF YOU WANT TO RACE WELL ON IT. 🏃🏃🏃🏃‍♀️🏃‍♀️🏃‍♀️🏃‍♀️🏃‍♀️

Cross country has changed.🏆🏆🏆🏆

When I first started coaching, cross country courses often looked and felt like…cross country courses.💯

Today, particularly in Colorado, many of our regular-season races are incredibly fast.

Gravel paths.
Hard-packed trails.
Road sections.
Turf.
Relatively flat, fast courses.

There’s nothing inherently wrong with that.

But here’s the problem:

The surface we race on for much of the season isn’t necessarily the surface we’ll encounter when the biggest races arrive.

For us, the postseason can change everything.

NXR Southwest is contested on a golf course.

And if we’re fortunate enough to advance to NXN, we’re headed to Glendoveer Golf Course in Portland. 🏆🏆🏃

Grass. Soft ground. Potentially rain. Potentially mud.

Suddenly the athlete who spent three months learning to run fast on firm, predictable surfaces is being asked to solve an entirely different problem.

THAT CHANGED THE WAY I PREPARE MY TEAMS

As we enter the postseason, almost 100% of our hard running—with a few specific exceptions—is done on grass.

But we don’t wait until November to introduce it.

Throughout the season, I deliberately incorporate grass whenever possible.

And there’s another piece of our environment that I think has helped us tremendously.

WE ALSO SPEND TIME ON REALLY SOFT GROUND

We’re fortunate to train on the grounds and trails of the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs.

Some of that terrain is very different from a manicured grass field.

We have areas with sandy soil and trails containing loose, scree-like material. Some sections are incredibly soft underfoot—almost like running through dry mud.

About once every week to ten days, I’ll send our athletes on an easy run through those trails.

I’m not asking them to run fast.

That’s important.

We run FAST on grass.

We also spend time running EASY over extremely soft and sometimes unstable terrain.

Those are two different tools.

I want athletes experiencing what happens when every footstrike doesn’t land on a perfectly predictable surface.

Sand moves.

Loose material gives underneath you.

Soft ground absorbs energy.

The athlete has to continually organize the body over whatever happens to be underneath the next footstrike.

BUT THERE’S AN IMPORTANT CAVEAT

I’m not arguing that softer is always better.

It isn’t.

Training is about specificity.

During track season, our approach changes considerably because we’re preparing athletes to race fast on a firm, highly responsive synthetic track.

That’s a different sport with a different mechanical demand.

The goal isn’t to find one perfect surface and do everything on it.

The goal is to understand what adaptation you’re trying to create.

For cross country, I want athletes who can handle changing terrain and still produce force effectively.

For track, we have to prepare them to take advantage of the stiffness and responsiveness of the racing surface.

Surface is another training variable.

Just like volume.

Intensity.

Recovery.

Hills.

Altitude.

And pace.

GRASS CHANGES THE COST OF RUNNING

Research has found that running on natural grass can require more metabolic energy at the same running velocity than running on a harder surface.

Recent research in trained runners has similarly found greater energy cost and heart rate on grass versus track at matched speeds.

So when your watch says you’re running slower on grass, that doesn’t necessarily mean you’re working less.

Sometimes you’re working harder to run slower.

That’s one reason I’m careful about becoming a slave to stopwatch splits when we move workouts from a track to grass.

But there’s another part of the research that I find fascinating.

Researchers have demonstrated that humans alter leg stiffness in response to surfaces of different stiffness.

In other words:

THE SURFACE CHANGES.
THE ATHLETE HAS TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM.

The foot, ankle, Achilles, calf, knee, hip, tendons and nervous system have to work together to create an effective spring.

Change what’s underneath the athlete…

…and the athlete has to adjust the spring.

THAT’S THE NATURAL SUPER SHOE

A supershoe uses engineering to manipulate cushioning, stiffness and energy return.

But there’s another incredibly sophisticated system inside that shoe:

Your foot.
Your ankle.
Your Achilles.
Your calf.
Your tendons.
Your muscles.
Your nervous system.

We’re trying to develop THAT system too.

AND HERE’S WHERE I THINK MANY RUNNERS MISS AN OPPORTUNITY

DON’T JUST JOG ON GRASS.

Over the course of a high school cross-country season, we expose athletes to grass at many different velocities:

5K pace
3200m / 2-mile pace
1600m / mile pace
800m pace
400m pace
Max-velocity sprinting

Obviously, we’re not doing all of these in one workout.

And as velocity increases, volume has to be controlled appropriately.

But each speed presents the athlete with a slightly different problem.

Running 5K pace on grass is one thing.

Running 3200 pace changes the demand.

Running 800 pace changes it again.

And maximum-velocity sprinting presents an entirely different neuromuscular challenge.

I want athletes learning to produce force at multiple velocities when the surface underneath them isn’t doing all the work for them.

SPECIFICITY STILL MATTERS

This isn’t an argument to abandon the track.

It’s the opposite.

Train for what you’re preparing to do.

If we’re preparing for a fast track race, we need exposure to the track.

If we’re preparing for NXR, we’d better be comfortable running fast on grass.

If we’re preparing for NXN at Glendoveer, we’d better be ready for grass—and potentially something much softer.

That’s why, during the cross-country postseason, grass becomes the primary surface for nearly all of our quality work.

I don’t want championship day to be the first time the athlete discovers how different race pace feels when the ground starts giving underneath them.

CROSS COUNTRY SHOULD CREATE ADAPTABLE RUNNERS

Grass.

Dirt.

Sand.

Scree.

Mud.

Hills.

Turns.

Uneven footing.

Firm ground.

Soft ground.

You don’t want an athlete whose stride only works when the ground is perfect.

You want an athlete who can solve whatever surface you put underneath them.

That’s why surface training belongs alongside the other pieces we’ve discussed in this series:

Isometrics.
Force production.
Plyometrics.
Multiple running velocities.
Surface-specific training.

Don’t just build a bigger engine.

Build the suspension.

Build the spring.

Teach it to adapt.

BUILD YOUR NATURAL SUPER SHOE.

WANT THE RESEARCH?

I’ve put together a FREE 2-page research summary with the studies behind grass and soft-surface running, including direct links to the research.

Just comment “GRASS” below and I’ll send it to you.

And if you’re enjoying the Building Your Natural Super Shoe series, follow along. There’s a lot more coming!