Preseason - Hammer Nutrition

TRAINING / RACING
Members of the Notre Dame Academy track team enjoy an all-day meet,
getting to put their training to the test. Photos : Courtesy of Lauri Cullen
A great season
made even greater
with Compex
BY Coach John Gard
quads. We again relied a great deal on
consistent Active Recovery. It worked
like a charm and helped them to not
miss any key workouts and be ready
for all races. In addition, we had one
of our most critical senior girls use the
Strength program to see if we could find
another gear in her speed. While the
Strength program required patience
and trust, it worked to perfection. This
terrific senior girl ran her best race ever
in her last race at the state meet and
helped our team to their best finish in
school history as State Runner-Up.
As the coach for both boys and
girls cross country at Notre
Dame Academy, I have really
tried to focus on growing our
program through sheer numbers and
having our kids consistently promote
our sport. This past year we had a
combined total of 129 boys and girls on
our team out of 730 kids in our school.
With a team this large in a sport this
demanding, it is often difficult to stay on
top of injuries and/or runners wearing
down throughout summer training and
early racing season.
For the 2012 team, I made a commitment
to strengthening and improving recovery
through the use of Compex NMES
(Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation)
for a number of our kids. It made a
tremendous difference and helped
us finish strong and keep our fastest
runners sharp at the point in the season
when it mattered most. I had become
a big believer in Compex for my own
personal marathon training after using
one for previous plantar fascia problems.
It also helped with some IT band issues,
among other things.
In 2011, one of our best athletes broke
down with significant IT band problems
at the Championship phase of the
season, and it contributed to our team
underperforming late in the year. In
2012, I had a senior runner begin to
feel IT band issues, so we immediately
had him use Compex every day for
eight weeks. We relied on the Active
Recovery and Strength programs to stop
any further IT band pain. Within two
weeks he was back to normal and had
his confidence totally restored. He used
Compex most of the season and had his
best year ever as a major part of our
state team.
Three members of the girls team also
developed various issues, from IT band
to weak glutes to fatigued calves and
I am firmly convinced that our
commitment to Compex as a complement
to running, plyometrics, and core work
made the difference from being good to
being very good. Thankfully we invested
in a number of Compex units through
great parental fundraising and support.
It allowed us to get in front of the initial
signs of potential breakdown, and we
ended our best season for both teams
with no significant lost time due to
injured key runners.
I consistently remind our athletes that
high school is over in the blink of an
eye, and I would feel terrible if I didn’t
do everything I could to make sure they
were healthy enough to perform on game
day. Count me as a huge proponent of
Compex for distance and endurance
athletes. Thanks to Hammer Nutrition
for their great guidance and training in
its use! HN
64 Feb/Mar : Issue 83 “Thanks to your products for helping me survive the 30 snowy miles of the Iceman Cometh Challenge!" - Kristel C.