I do Jay Johnson's SAM after every run. Am I wasting my time?

I thought Jay Johnson wanted you to do Leg swings and lunge matrix instead of a warm up, and then SAM instead of a cool down.

SAM who?

I'm older than you, but I've found doing SAM has definitely made me stronger and healthier - a lot less little groin/glute/hammy type issues.

I don't do it immediately after the run, but sometime in the afternoon/evening 4-5 times a week. Sometimes it's easy to knock out when on boring conference calls when I don't have to contribute much but still have to be there.

wellll wrote:

I thought Jay Johnson wanted you to do Leg swings and lunge matrix instead of a warm up, and then SAM instead of a cool down.

Yeah that's what I do. Sorry if my post wasn't clear enough.

poiuytrewq wrote:

I'm older than you, but I've found doing SAM has definitely made me stronger and healthier - a lot less little groin/glute/hammy type issues.

I don't do it immediately after the run, but sometime in the afternoon/evening 4-5 times a week. Sometimes it's easy to knock out when on boring conference calls when I don't have to contribute much but still have to be there.

Thanks for letting me know. I do it consistently, but when I'm in a rush I wonder if my time would be better spent just doing a light stretch and calling it. Glad to hear that I may still be doing right. I'll have to consider doing it during other times during the day.

I've been doing it after workouts/long runs for a little over a year, and it's definitely been beneficial- IT band issues that ruined my 2019 marathon haven't resurfaced. Some days I don't bother after an easy run, but at a minimum I'm doing his routine about four times a week. Like poiuytrewq, sometimes I blow it off immediately after the run and do it later in the evening.

a "light stretch" will do nothing for you after a run. If you have a tight area then hold a stretch for it for 3-5 minutes every day after your run until you have proper range of motion. If not then there is no need to stretch, you'll just increase your injury risk (talking about long static stretching not dynamic stuff). You're better off continuing to do SAM and if you have the time rolling out for a little bit.

poiuytrewq wrote:

I'm older than you, but I've found doing SAM has definitely made me stronger and healthier - a lot less little groin/glute/hammy type issues.

I don't do it immediately after the run, but sometime in the afternoon/evening 4-5 times a week. Sometimes it's easy to knock out when on boring conference calls when I don't have to contribute much but still have to be there.

I was talking with some truly elite runners last weekend. I did notice that they do "all the stuff" pre and post run, but then they are professional runners that IS their job that IS their day. Once you are running and you have job, a family, a house, etc.. the first thing you scrap is the extra curricular stuff, you barely have time to get in a run, much less all the extras.

gmxc wrote:

a "light stretch" will do nothing for you after a run. If you have a tight area then hold a stretch for it for 3-5 minutes every day after your run until you have proper range of motion. If not then there is no need to stretch, you'll just increase your injury risk (talking about long static stretching not dynamic stuff). You're better off continuing to do SAM and if you have the time rolling out for a little bit.

Better yet, do Wharton's AIS. JJ would tell you the same.

Which SAM. Some of the higher numbered "hard" ones would take way more than 17 minutes.

We do SAM as a team once or twice a week. One of the things that I need to emphasize with my teams is actually doing the exercises correctly. For instance, if you're doing clams and leaning back at all, you're probably wasting your time. For that exercise, you should be rolled slightly forward.

Do the exercises slowly with the greatest possible range of motion to get the full benefit. Otherwise, you probably are just wasting your time.

I like Jay Johnson's stuff and I've used it a lot, both for prevention and coming back from injury. But like any ancillary workout, you can't just do the same thing forever. If you find you need more work on something else, rotate it with SAM in some what that makes sense. If you don't have enough time for everything one day, do the most important parts.

CoachB wrote:

Which SAM. Some of the higher numbered "hard" ones would take way more than 17 minutes.

I normally stick to Phase 2 Easy. I didn't go any higher than that because at that point I'm positive I don't have time to complete the exercises.

joghog wrote:

CoachB wrote:

Which SAM. Some of the higher numbered "hard" ones would take way more than 17 minutes.

I normally stick to Phase 2 Easy. I didn't go any higher than that because at that point I'm positive I don't have time to complete the exercises.

That's usually the one we do too. We'll often do some extra core strength though.

Is SAM similar to myrtle?

I don't do exactly SAM, not having come across it before, but I do do similar volume sets of lunges, good mornings, and hamstring walk outs after every run, as well as foam rolling. I have found this to make a massive difference to my recovery, I view it mainly in that light, and take any strength improvements as a bonus.

Nah bro you good bro

Boulder bro wrote:

Nah bro you good bro

Thanks bro

I have been seriously looking at doing this sort of routine. However, it would appear to take up a lot of time and effort. Some of the phases run to 38 different exercises! Actually a lot more than 38 exercises when you take into account some have to be done on each leg and each arm!

Surely nobody does this sort of routine at the end of every run? A couple of times per week would surely suffice.

There is also the Leg Swings and Lunge Matrix to be done as a warm up before each run.

It is all good stuff, but it could take more time than the actual running.

Who recommends doing this in it's entirety every day?