How to Feel Great on Race Day: Your Guide to Muscle Tension

[@BrittanyWatson-h6g]

Thanks Steve :) great video.

[@Will-PJ]

You give such insightful spins on running, part way through your science of running book, got your next one on preorder, loving the science x training coach approach to it all!

[@SteveMagness]

Awesome, thank you!

[@raghuatuofm]

Thank you for all the information you share, Steve! Just pre ordered your book.

[@SteveMagness]

Amazing! Thanks so much!

[@marcoguoli]

What a great, great, great post. Tension prep is a super underestimated topic, so many thanks to you Steve for delving into this!

[@SteveMagness]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@adr673]

Super intersting topic you've shown. And it`s so true, but I've never could put it into the right words... "Muscle Tension/Pop". I clearly remember that my best races had in common: that springy feeling in my legs. 30'-45' prior start a race I managed to get that neuromuscular "peppy state" with strides, hops and accelerations (wich it's turned out as an habit in each of my races). Now it make me all the sense! Great, thank you Steve!

[@jagriesti95]

I had this issue with our XC team this fall. Reviewed the same section in your book about this topic after the season. Good advice on surveying the kids. Thanks for the video really put it all together.

[@SteveMagness]

Glad it was helpful!

[@edwardp5748]

learning a lot here!

[@SteveMagness]

Glad to hear it!

[@Phurngirathaana]

How important sleep is! Jannik Sinner emphasizes it so much He sleeps 10 hours every night! Thanks for your book peak performance It's amazing to learn science backed methods

[@MontyB97]

He also dopes

[@lauranorrisrunning]

Very insightful discussion! I recall how helpful it was when I first read this in your science of running book years ago. It's been so helpful over the years and I appreciate this more in-depth explanation

[@tommcfarlane93]

Fantastic explanation and very interesting! I always knew that 'sharpening' in the days leading into a race with strides, plyos and a low mileage workout 2 days out was important to feeling good on race day, but never knew the science behind it and also had never considered massage as something that could be negating the positive affects of all this - would you say foam rolling falls into the same category as massage in this case?

[@tomatopastefever3769]

Absolute gold, as usual! Thanks, Steve!

[@SteveMagness]

My pleasure!

[@JBSmithMD]

Great insight, Steve. Definitely can appreciate where maintaining muscle tension fits into a structured taper. Would love to hear your thoughts sometime on plyometrics for running and how they contribute to (or don’t contribute to?) running economy, stride length, ground contact time, etc.

[@RatelHBadger]

Plyometrics make so much sense. Single leg jumps, skipping, box jumping, hurdle/high knees/ladder. If you have great spring from standing, or quick rebound from those kinds of drills. It makes sense that the repeated actions of running will be more efficient. There's a reason sprinters and speed athletes (rugby/football, NFL football etc) have them in a regular training session. You gotta bounce between strides, not plod.

[@jonb9194]

These are all great points and suggestions. I would also add that electrolytes need to be optimal. Low salt or overhydration can lead to the beginning of hyponatremia, which will leave you fatigued, breathing harder than normal, and very flat with no pop. Also, taking magnesium within 18 hours of a race can leave the legs very flat and too relaxed.

[@liamroche1473]

First time here after many podcasts!

[@francescocasadei8840]

Great advice! Pete Magill in his book "Fast 5K" also advises to do strides the day before a race, but states that master runners should skip them to avoid neuromuscular fatigue. I'm 47 but I think I feel better if I do them. At what age they are actually best avoided?

[@knlok1436]

Never avoid these. In my EIM (Easy Interval Method) approach. I advise strides in every session. Especially masters should pay extra attention to the 'spring feeling' , bounce in their legs. Someone compared it to the effect of the nowadays 'super shoes'.

[@dr.mohamedaitnouh4501]

Great discussion! can you make a video on last week Taper before a race, please!

[@jaymills1720]

Amazing! Great points Steve ❤

[@SteveMagness]

Glad you think so! Thanks a lot

[@getfastandstrong7183]

Nice, Steve. Good job. I believe the tension comes a lot from the landing on the ground work, more than the force production off the ground. If you're doing things like box jumps then there is essentially little to no force absorption, it's all force production up on to the box. Sure, there needs some tension to produce the force to jump on to the box but this is quite different from doing other plyos where there is a lot of force absorption like depth jumps. As you said, and from experience, there is definitely a need to experiment with what works best. It seems to be somewhat reliant on fibre type make up. That is, the more fast twitch the athlete, the more they need intensity to generate the right level of tension in their bodies leading up to a race. This should also be combined with thoughts around generating the right hormonal environment for optimal performance, namely maximising testosterone levels with things like morning weight training before evening sprint racing.

[@JamesBlessinger]

Thank you for the video! Also just got pre-ordered your book on Audible. Super excited for it!

[@SteveMagness]

Awesome! Thank you so much!

[@joshuasmith4315]

Does this hold true for HM's+? As a 1:35ish HMer I almost feel like "poppyness" doesnt matter because everything will get worked out within 30-40 minutes

[@CharlieWerth206]

You see a lot of high school runners jog the state course the day before the meet, and college runners do the same practically before every meet. Would you say that these runners should stay off the course and run on harder surface to increase muscle tension? Or are a few strides in the parking lot after enough to offset that? Great video!

[@94jmh]

Hi Steve. Calf training (and lower body) for runners. I’m new to running and I find that I sometimes feel my arches or the bottoms of my feet. I imagine that I should keep the volume of calf work low but heavy. Maybe twice a week. Any thoughts? Love the vids. Cheers

[@graspable]

Interesting as always. That tension thing, isn’t that related to what you discussed in the video about stretching? Static stretching reducing muscle tension and reducing performance.

[@SteveMagness]

exactly

[@RunnerXC1518]

Do you think muscle tension is something that comes back fast after long periods? For example, after a big base building period you might not have had much muscle tension for weeks or longer...how quickly can you get it back after that? Basically, do long periods of no tension but long, base running make it harder to get the tension back?

[@cadouglas]

Great stuff!

[@SteveMagness]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@hikerJohn]

Does being happy give us spring in out step? Race day can cause anxiety if we've never done it before. I hit a golf ball great on the driving range but when your playing golf ONE shot has to count so it's a stress factor. It's the mental side of sports that you seem to cover in the book(?)

[@torrent222]

is there any research on how more zone 3 runs impact muscle tension? i’ve personally felt the most pop during strides after a 30-45 min ish z2 to z3 progression

[@NomadicNine]

For certain, a really good deep massage gives my legs the same springiness as overcooked pasta. I wonder if it is possible to quantify "snappiness" using the Stryd LSS metric? (Leg Spring Stiffness)

[@charles-h9e]

Hey Steve - is there any way to get your coaching book if o purchased the main book via audible?

[@SteveMagness]

Yep. Just fill out the form here: www.stevemagness.com/win-the-inside-game/

[@erlandekheden9588]

I guess this is the reason for the advise to pull back on volume not intensity during a taper.

[@usainvanrudisha1649]

This puts into perspective a race I had a couple weeks ago that had me feeling like quitting the sport. 800m race, I felt flat, no pop. Led the first 400m, one guy overtook me, and I just had no motivation to follow and that began my 70s final lap death to well over 2:05 when my PB is 1:55.00. My training week before race: Sunday - off, travel day. Missed long run. Monday - speed session. Track, spikes. 3 x 20, 3 x 30, 2 x 80. Pop 4/5 Tuesday - minor injury at work, missed interval track session Wednesday - 30 minute run 4:21/k. Pop 3/5 Thursday - 8min thresh, short hill strides, 6min thresh. Pop 3/5 Friday - nothing, trying to fix Tuesday’s injury Saturday - same as Friday Sunday: worst race ever, pop 1/5 I basically spent 2 days losing tension before the race.

[@musaduma]

Not the way I used to prepare for 800m, so I can't tell. But doesn't look like you were sharpened for the 800m in that week, unless previous weeks were adequate training. But as you said, you missed your Interval which I would assume was more geared towards the 800m. Important thing is that we cna incorporate these learnings into our preparation. I focus on 5km these days, but principles are the same.

[@yesno9374]

Is this in any way related to muscle tone?

[@yesno9374]

Just watched the part where Bakken was mentioned - it sounds like muscle tone and tension are being used interchangeably. Is that right?

[@yesno9374]

Then, if that is the case, is it true that longer interval workouts decrease muscle tone? This would very much surprise me as (according to Bakken) threshold workouts still increase muscle tone, just by less than more intense workouts.

[@trainwellracewell]

“Pop” - the Head Coach of the San Antonio Spurs