Run Coaching Services

Coaching Services

Are you looking to improve your personal bests? Are you trying to run your first 5k? Have you hit plateaus along the way? Allow us to join alongside you and guide you to achieving your running potential by providing you with personalized training designed with your unique strengths and weaknesses in mind.

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Welcome to our run coaching services here at Total Physical Therapy. If you are familiar with our one on one, hands on, individualized, and progressive physical therapy style, then you will feel right at home hiring us as your coach.

What sets us apart?

Coaching by Physical Therapists

Have you ever been sidelined from running due to an injury?

It has been shown recently that 68% of runners are injured throughout the year with 81% of those injuries being running related. Many variables are in play when it comes to injuries, the list below just name a few:

- Anatomical Structure

- Functional movement (your running gait)

- Training Parameters

- Recovery

- Nutrition

- Shoes

- and many more

Have you ever wondered how much you could accomplish if you had a plan that addressed your specific anatomical structure, running gait, strengths and weaknesses?

Almost all elite coaching programs across the nation work with and utilize strength/condition coaches and physical therapists to ensure their athletes reduce their risk of injury and are able to train throughout the duration of the year. By hiring us as your coach you will get not only a coach but a therapist to help you achieve goals you never thought possible.

Our coaches are licensed physical therapists that have been involved with endurance sports for many years ranging from triathlon, cycling, and running. As trained therapists we have the ability to determine and address the cause of movement behaviors.

For example, what causes someone's arms to cross midline on their torso?

Is it caused by lack of coordination, fixed by gait retraining/ exercises/drills?

Or is it caused by stiffness somewhere in the legs, fixed by either flexibility training or mobilization.

We can perceive the symptom of the arm swing, evaluate, and address the cause.

Get the benefit on having both a therapist and a coach in your corner to help you run faster and healthier than you ever have.

We do not offer generic training plans

Have you ever utilized a general running plan from a book or online? How did it go for you?

For those of us that have utilized general running plans, we see short term benefits. Instead of progressing, we often plateau, get hurt, or fail to reach the goals that we set out for ourselves.

- Was that couch to 5k program too intense for you? Was it too easy?

- Did that Boston Qualifier plan leave you broken down and unable to start the race?

- Do you feel like you are not improving despite trying out different plans?

- Have recommended training paces been too fast? How do you find the correct training pace?

If you can relate with some of these questions, you are not alone.

Countless runners utilize generalized running plans only to underachieve or get hurt.

If you are looking for specific results then you should perform specific training designed to work with your unique strengths and weaknesses.

Every runner is unique. Just watch a major marathon with 40,000 runners and you will find 40,000 different running styles.

We all have individual qualities or properties that allow us to adapt or respond to different training stimulus including, but not limited to:

- Running History

- Previous Sports Played

- Running Gait

- Injury History

- Ability to recover from workouts

- Strength

- Daily Stress

- Occupation

- and many more

A general training plan cannot account all of these factors that ebb and flow as you navigate life. Are you ready to start training for the specific results that you desire?

Below is a chart that details our different tiered services and how they can best serve you. Detailed information about each section of the chart is listed below the chart.

Anchor 1

What we Offer

The Running Evaluation

Runner History:

Before initiating our services we want you to come to our clinic for a thorough running evaluation. In this evaluation we will go over a detailed running history and get to know you as a client. We will cover topics such as:

- Goals

- Running History

- Injury History

- Daily Stresses

- Occupation

- and much more

This evaluation ensures that we understand your current life situation and how it will impact your training capacity.

Movement/Strength Assessment:

For this portion of the evaluation you will be performing:

- A movement screen to determine your movement behaviors

- A movement evaluation to find the route cause of poor movement behaviors.

- Capacity tests to see how strong/coordinated you are

We break down your fundamental movement patterns to ensure that you have enough flexibility and strength to move through your running motion and improve performance.

We will utilize the information attained in this assessment to design your strength program, running drills, and warm ups.

Running Gait Analysis:

A Treadmill running analysis will be performed from multiple camera angles to get a glimpse of how you run at three different running intensities.

You will be filmed at:

- Easy Pace

- Race Pace

- Something faster than race pace

Your coach will construct a video for your reference that evaluate different form variables such as:

- Maximum Shank Angle

- Shank Angle at Touchdown

- Reversal of Swing

- ROS/MSA Ratio

- Foot Angle at Touchdown

- Cadence

- and others depending on your specific case

The video in conjunction with your movement/strength assessment and running history will provide the basis for your coach to create a personal training/strength plan to take you towards smashing your personal bests.

Training Plans

Run Training Program:

The main portion of the training plan is the run training schedule that will guide you to meet your previously established goals. The running program will include:

- Periodized workouts that will allow you to peak for your important races.

- Detailed workouts with descriptions on how to perform them

- Mental training prompts

- Running warm ups specific for each type of run/race

Strength Training Program:

You will also be provided with a strength training program that will develop you into a more efficient and robust runner that addresses your unique needs. This program will include:

- Detailed workouts with descriptions and videos on how to perform them.

- Periodization that coincides with your running program to enforce optimal adaptation throughout a running season.

- Specific corrective exercises/mobilizations that will help correct any poor movement behaviors assessed in your evaluation.

Communication

As stated above in the chart, you can have as much access to the coach as you desire depending on which plan you sign up for. Communication with the coach allows you to address anything that you need or communicate expectations for specific races or workouts.

Have you ever reached the tail end of a training plan only to realize that the prescribed workouts are either too easy or too hard for you to complete?

This happens because either the general schedule that you are using or the program that a coach wrote up at the beginning of the year does not take into account how you adapt to training as you progress through the season.

As your training progresses, both the run and strength training programs will adapt as your season develops. Due to this, we release and adapt your schedule on a predetermined basis to ensure each workout is appropriately challenging you from week to week.

Training Peaks

Training Plans will be distributed via Training Peaks which is a platform we can provide you with your training schedule and utilize training metrics to ensure we are on the right path to getting those fast times. Differences between basic and premium athletes can be found at https://www.trainingpeaks.com/pricing/for-athletes/

Additional Services

If you enroll in one of our plans you will get some discounts on our offered services.

Additional Workout Session:

Come into the clinic and work with us one on one as we take you through an hour of exercises specifically designed to build your runner body. These extra sessions can give your coach more time working with you to ensure that the strength exercises and running drills are continuing to address your specific needs.

Additional Runner Evaluation:

Come in and catch up with your coach as they will assess your strength and running form again. We always evaluate you before initializing coaching services and this provides a way for us to continue to assess how you are moving and running.