Does Myrtl make a difference?

Jay Johnson now has SAM which you can check out. There is no magic set of exercises that will turn you into an amazing runner that is injury free. You have to experiment and see what works for you. When I do core exercises, I'll try different ones until I find one that I think works. I'll do that then for a while until my body gets acclimated to them and then try something else. I know I'm weak in my glute and hamstrings, so I try different exercises that focus on those muscles. Sometimes I go back to abandoned exercises after time. Consistency is really the key. Whatever you do, work it into a routine and don't get complacent - keep your body guessing.

Does it do something? Sure.

Does it do something significant? Definitely not.

Myrtl is for stickly xc kids who have never done a pushup or squat in their life so their coach tries to get them to do something instead of nothing. Think of it as the game of horse or walking option during HS gym class.

Get one of those foam balance pads or balls and do 1-leg balances/squats on that coupled with some band exercises. Leave this routine to the legwarmer population.

SAM just looks the same, the guy's stuff never changes. Unweighted lunges and hip stretches, basically warmup stuff. Maybe that's all it's meant to be. Cheers.

Yeah, it doesn't do a ton for you, but it's not really meant to be a primary strengthening routine in my eyes. I like it as a light mobility and strengthening routine on recovery days. It's also pretty good if you've got no equipment available and you are confined to a pretty small space as well. It can be done pretty much everywhere. I typically do it after a run, but it would be good as a pre-run routine too. It's a routine that you really get out of it what you put into it. You can feel it a little if you really focus on doing every rep slowly and getting through your full range of motion. You could also easily add a resistance band to some of the exercises too.

As far as distance running goes, as we all know, nothing substitutes for consistent mileage, lactate threshold work, and other running specific workouts. All the ancillary work should allow you to do all the running-specific work more consistently. So that's what I think the Myrtl routine is - something that doesn't tear you down much at all, but can be enough to prevent some kind of ache or injury, although not everything. As I said, this shouldn't be a primary strengthening routine. There's my two cents for what it's worth.

Ben, thanks for your reply. That makes a lot of sense and helps put it in context. I'm prone to calf/achilles injuries so will prioritise that area, but could add this a couple of times a week as well.

I'm enjoying following your channel btw - some great stuff in there.