Getting fitter and healthier is about more than training hard, shedding pounds and trying to clean up your diet. Even with optimal diet and exercise, there are still many elements of performance and health that you may be ignoring to your detriment. We are not simple beings when it comes to health and performance rather…
Author Archives: CE Staff
Improving running economy through nutrition and lifestyle – information sheet
Thanks to everyone who attended and took the time to listen to Barry Murray and the ChampionsEverywhere team at yesterday’s talk in Great Outdoors. We have put together the most relevant links and a few of the more ‘information-hefty’ slides for you below for your reference. Learn more about the full workshop experience here Sample…
Why train with bodyweight?
Introduction From a human motor development perspective, the efficient manipulation of our own bodyweight played a key role in our physical maturation. During this process, the external forces of gravity and ground reaction, alongside the internal forces of muscle contraction and elasticity, influenced the size, structure and function of our bodies. When viewed through an…
Our Running Workshops reviewed!
by Irene Clark Just home after a fab weekend in Wicklow and wanted to thank you both sincerely for a really good weekend.The workshop has evolved into a real “must have” for all runners. In your own words the ‘gold standard’. It has become one of those workshops that you need to do on a…
Natural workout sample – Gate Protocol #1
This workout can be used by any runner who has been instructed in basic jumping, balancing, vaulting, lunging and sprinting techniques. I came up with it on the August Bank Holiday as a quick morning workout that takes less than 30 minutes including warm-up and cool-down. Equipment needed 1 x gate (1m high or so)…
Time trial (Technical)
Time trials are one of the most important, and one of the most misunderstood, components of your final preparations towards peak race day. They are not workouts to determine how fast you can run a given distance: their purpose is to combine and coordinate the what you have attained in previous phases of training and…
INTERVIEW: Mud, Sweat and Runners speak to René Borg
Wicklow-based mountain running group “Mud, Sweat and Runners” spoke to CE co-founder and coach René Borg in a nice “off-the-cuff” interview. To see what he thinks about running, gels and red wine read on! Mud, sweat and runners interview with René Borg Q: When did you 1st start to run & why? A:…
Waiver and release form
Because physical exercise can be strenuous and subject to risk of serious injury, we recommend you to obtain a physical examination from a doctor before participating in any exercise activity. You agree that by participating in physical exercise or training activities, you do so entirely at your own risk. You agree that you are voluntarily…
REVIEW: “Run injury free” workshop by Alan O’Brien, Irish international
Alan O’Brien, middle-distance runner from Crusaders AC, was a relative late-comer to the sport but rose quickly through the ranks of the sport to represent Ireland five times at full International level. As a late call-up to the European Team Championships in Slovakia, he was instrumental in securing Ireland promotion when he out-kicked the field…
“Run injury free” workshop review by Brian O’Murchu
We were happy to see a nice positive review of our latest (December) “Run injury free” workshop posted by Brian O’Murchu on the IMRA forum last week. We had to share it here: It’s December and as there’s no IMRA races to run and report on, I’ll report on the Run Injury Free 2…
‘Running form’ workshops – before and after video results
What level of improvement can you expect after one of our ‘Running form’ workshops? Watch out shortly for our dedicated page showing footage of some legends of the Irish off-road scene: current ultra-running phenomenon Paul Tierney and former mountain running world champion John Lenihan. ‘Running form’ workshop videos All the below videos were…
Speed training
Speed training is a term we use for a workout consisting of a mixture of longer easier running with a session of very fast and short sprint work early in the run. Where long runs focus on the cardiovascular system and intervals runs on the metabolic system, strides improve neuromuscular coordination (the brain’s ability to…
Strong fartlek
Fartlek is a mixture of aerobic (easier) and anaerobic (harder) running without any set structure for when you decide to put in hard efforts. Likewise you can vary the exact intensity and length of faster running any way you want. Strong fartlek is similar to normal fartlek, except that the purpose is to get a…
Circuit run (sub-threshold run)
The “Circuit run” workout is the fastest type of endurance workouts you will do during the early stages of the Quantity (traditionally called the Base or Aerobic) phase. It teaches you to run at the fastest pace you can sustain without “huffing and puffing”, that is – by burning mainly fat and oxygen for fuel and…
Evolutionary medicine (Darwinian medicine)
The new discipline of evolutionary medicine informs the ChampionsEverywhere injury free running model developed by Tony Riddle. Although this field has fundamental differences compared to many “traditional fields”, evolutionary medicine is not in competition with traditional medicine but rather supplements and improves it. It should not be confused with Functional Medicine or Alternative Medicine to…
Training phases (periodisation)
Our training method uses a set of phases modeled closely after the guidelines provided by Arthur Lydiard, the master coach, whose system forms the core of our coaching at ChampionsEverywhere . Our model includes approaches that we agree with from a wide range of coaches including Arthur Newton, Percy Cerutty, Bruce Tulloh and many more. Pre-training We…
Aerobic phase (base phase)
The aerobic phase, sometimes called “base training”, “foundation” or “conditioning”, consists mainly of long, steady distance (LSD) running mixed with fartleks, easy leg speed work (strides), slower easy runs when needed and a weekly faster aerobic run (such as “Out and Backs“). The aim of the aerobic phase is to run as high a mileage…
Relevant articles on injury free running
We literally have a book’s worth of information about our injury free coaching model for runners and other athletes, so below we’ve compiled them all for you in an easy to browse format. Enjoy the reading and hope to see you at our workshops. Athletics Illustrated High mileage and low injury rate: It is…
Jack Foster
Under construction
“You can’t Beet It” – product review
As those following our recent podcasts with performance nutritionist Barry Murray now, we are not too keen on supplements but we have been making an exception for beet root juice for a few reasons. 1) It’s not really a supplement but a food – as the only ingredients are beet root and lemon juice and…
Marathon training
The classical event over 26.2 miles or 42.2km is one of our favourite events as the “old school” training system that we employ makes runners tireless first and foremost and this is the most important attribute for the successful marathon runner. Our marathon training programmes do not differ markedly from other training programmes in the…
Ultra running and ultra marathons
Ultra-running events are simply running events longer than the established distance for the marathon event (that is longer than 26.2 miles or 42.2km). The set distances of 50km, 50 miles (80.5km), 100km and 100 miles (161km) are fast becoming the standard event distances for this discipline of running as are 24 hour and 48 hour…
Lydiard training for team sports
Is your sport soccer, GAA, rugby, hockey, volleyball or another team sport? If so you may be wondering what our site can offer you apart from Orbana and advice on nutrition. Surely, the physical requirements of team sports fundamentally differ from pure endurance sports and the Lydiard training philosophy cannot be applied? Why teams need…
What results should you expect?
Arthur Lydiard told athletes to select the coaches that get results and stay away from those who didn’t. As purveyors of his ‘old school’ training philosophy, we need to hold ourselves to that standard. To help you judge, testimonials are not enough so here we provide the data of the results gained by athletes who…
Nutritional guidelines for training
As the demands on your body change as you progress through the training phases of our programmes so will your body’s nutritional requirements. To ensure that you always get the best out of your training, we suggest you closely follow these guidelines which will tell you on what nutrients and food groups to put your…
Training programme screenshots
Aerobic phase Dynamics strength and anaerobic phases Coordination, taper and race phases Sample interval/repetition pace plan
Training programme features
To run your best you need to know exactly what workout to perform every day and why you are doing it. In addition, you need options to modify the workout on the day if you are feeling better or worse than you expected or if anything else unforeseen happens. Our training programmes include a host…
Barry Minnock
Barry Minnock is an international mountain runner and member of the Irish Marathon Mission with a PB of 2:17 for the distance. It’s been a great week – 2 races, 2 PBs, 1 victory, 1 course record & some pocket money. I’m only 6 weeks into my Lydiard training programme from Rene Borg and it’s…
