Marathon Running: Training the Muscle Fiber Unit
By
David Holt
of
David Holt
Training for all running distances requires building up the individual muscle cells...the sarcomeres. The long run and high mileage are key factors in training running muscles
Sarcomere--the Muscle Contraction Unit.
The sarcomere is the contractile unit of muscle: It's all or nothing. The
sarcolemma either fire the sarcomere to contract or it doesn. t. The
total amount of a muscle's contractive power is dependent upon how
many of your sarcomeres contract.
Increased training, running more miles, will boost the number of sarcomeres which can
contract at one time, and increase the frequency at which they can
contract.
Each sarcomere, or muscle contraction unit, is joined indirectly to
bone. The transition of muscle to tendon--the so called Muscle-Tendon
unit--is very susceptible to injury.
Increase training sensibly to keep these millions of tiny units intact.
Sarcomere protection
Don't make sudden changes to your training.
Add a mile or two to your long run every two weeks.
Add half a mile to your speed session each two weeks.
Work within the limits of YOUR body.
Do stretch.
Refer to my other pages for the main elements in a balanced training schedule.
You train your sarcomeres by running long, but also with quality running as shown on my hill training, anaerobic running, and VO2 max session pages. Weight and cross training plays a roll too.
Your long runs, your endurance training, will increase the number and size of your mitochondria, allowing your sarcomeres to contract (work) more often. You will be able to run faster.
