I met Ben True. Here are some interesting things I learned.

Ben, being a saucony sponsored runner. Runs in Virratas and maybe Kinvara's. Two FANTASTIC shoes.

that sucks wrote:

OverTheHillAndBack wrote:

Galen Rupp does a lot of core work. He just ran 3:34.

and got 11th place

And ben true couldn't even gotten into the race if he begged.

ALL you losers just want to believe that you don't need a strong core to justify your laziness.

*stipe wrote:

A strong core helps to improve power and efficiency and reduce the likelihood of injuries. Even if you disagree with the first two points, the third is hard to ignore.

A blue collar runner does not need core works because he can run through all pains. Only a pansy like Rupp whines about injuries.

If you want to run fast, run more mileage and run harder. Everything else is just a gimmick.

OverTheHillAndBack wrote:

that sucks wrote:

and got 11th place

And ben true couldn't even gotten into the race if he begged.

ALL you losers just want to believe that you don't need a strong core to justify your laziness.

I think you do need a strong core. My questions would be: is "core work" necessary to get a strong core? Does "core work" -- AKA very high rep bodyweight exercises -- actually appreciably strengthen your core? I have never found either of these to be true.

Ho Hum wrote:

I think you do need a strong core. My questions would be: is "core work" necessary to get a strong core? Does "core work" -- AKA very high rep bodyweight exercises -- actually appreciably strengthen your core? I have never found either of these to be true.

Who said only "very high rep bodyweight exercises" were core works? Are you still living in the 20th century?

Running Formula reader wrote:

Ho Hum wrote:

I think you do need a strong core. My questions would be: is "core work" necessary to get a strong core? Does "core work" -- AKA very high rep bodyweight exercises -- actually appreciably strengthen your core? I have never found either of these to be true.

Who said only "very high rep bodyweight exercises" were core works? Are you still living in the 20th century?

That's certainly what I see people doing when they say they're doing core work. What are you talking about? -- I'm not being facetious, I'm really curious what you mean.

Have you seen this article?

http://www.runnersworld.com/race-training/oregon-project-stability-routine?page=single

These are just a few examples. There are numerous more, if you bother to search for them.

Ho Hum wrote:

Running Formula reader wrote:

Who said only "very high rep bodyweight exercises" were core works? Are you still living in the 20th century?

That's certainly what I see people doing when they say they're doing core work. What are you talking about? -- I'm not being facetious, I'm really curious what you mean.

Seems like these people you've been observing are as clueless as you.

Ordinary, non-super athletic people (which is about 99% of letsrun and 90% of distance runners), who are not gifted naturally with a strong core, will have to do targeted supplementary exercises to have a strong core. The much less common, naturally athletic and/or multi-sport runners may find specific core exercises do not provide worthwhile or noticeable returns and can opt to not do them without much consquence.

Assuming this whole thread isn't a farce then Ben True likely falls into the latter bucket.

Which bucket do YOU fall into?

Okay that's enough serious writing. I don't want to waste any more of my genius on this squid crowd.

johnny appleseed... wrote:

Dude,

if you thinks ABS are core you prove my point.

lfk wrote:

They have low body fat. Basically anyone has visible abs when they get that lean. It doesn't tank specific ab work.

Posters and posts like these make me so mad. These are not responses in good faith, they are just nitpicking bullcr-p to find a way to disagree and be trashy. Yeah, I KNOW there is more to the core than abs, jack@ss. I know about core exercises, do you?

The abs were more of a poetic point. It would be suspect for me to say, "oh, those guys have Herculean iliopsoas and hip flexors! their medial glutes are so clutch, brah!"

And you guys know or should know this, and you're just being fussy cause you're jerks.

None of you idiots even responded to the FACTS I presented--Pascal Dobert, core training. They do it (or did do it), and that's a fact. And you know what? I observed the physiques of all three of those athletes before they left for Portland. I saw the before and after. Did you? No, runners who don't do any strength training work will not have an exalted physique just because of weight loss. You obviously have not seen enough runners and runners bare naked.

People disregarding the core work and "gimmicks" that Schumacher and Al Sal's athletes do... I like Ben True a lot and I'm posting here to support, but these "blue-collar" unconditionally blind fanboys are ridiculous. Fact is, no other contemporary caucasian American runner compares to what Solinsky and Rupp have done for 5k and 10k. Even Schumacher had a bit of an unquestioned blue-collar attitude but eventually adjusted it. There is some video of him justifying the winter training in Wisconsin in blue collar terms but only a few years later they got up and left.

Some posters just disagree to disagree (and be jerkoffs).

maine kid wrote:

In high school Ben was notorious on the team for stealing girls' socks since he never remembered to bring gloves to practice.

A fascinating bit of insight into the psyche of a top athlete.

Good for you, you saw their physiques, did you see their blood profiles?

Do the Kenyans do core? Or do they run alot of hills and threshold effort stuff?

johnny appleseed... wrote:

Do the Kenyans do core? Or do they run alot of hills and threshold effort stuff?

They live in Kenya, where it takes more physical strength just to live day to day.

where do kenyans come from? wrote:

johnny appleseed... wrote:

Do the Kenyans do core? Or do they run alot of hills and threshold effort stuff?

They live in Kenya, where it takes more physical strength just to live day to day.

Yup. Stephen Kiprotich spends his off days working on a farm.

OverTheHillAndBack wrote:

Ordinary, non-super athletic people (which is about 99% of letsrun and 90% of distance runners), who are not gifted naturally with a strong core, will have to do targeted supplementary exercises to have a strong core.

your 9 minute mile

What kind of exercises does he do to strengthen his feet?

As was stated by another poster, the most gifted athletes dont need core work. All movement IS core work. Core work is more about making neurological connections so one can move more appropriately.

Running is incredible core work if you know how to use your body.

Great for digging a hole... wrote:

Hence, the reason he is fast. Training in a tent or at altitude is the stupidest thing you can do UNLESS you were raised at altitude.

Alani wrote:

From reading past articles, Ben's winter training is in Florida.

He does not do altitude training nor sleeps in an altitude tent.

Training in a tent WOULD be stupid. Think of how many laps you would have to run.

johnny appleseed... wrote:

Do the Kenyans do core? Or do they run alot of hills and threshold effort stuff?

They run a lot of hills on uneven terrains. That's an excellent "core"exercise. How many people on this board run most of their mileage on unpaved dirt trails with big elevations changes (like the ones you have in Kenya) on a regular basis?

Very interesting and I think what he's doing is great and he's still making good progress.

However on the shoe thing, thats not true at all. I've seen him do workouts in the fastwich 6, watch the 6X1mile workout with him on flotrack. By the looks of his shoe rotation hes running in the triumph or kinvara on easy days, tempo/longer intervals in the fastwich and then the real fast stuff in Endorphin MD4's which he also races in for 5000m and down, on the roads hes using the Type A6. Just from what I've seen, I'm also a Saucony athlete. Not at the same tier of a guy like Ben obviously haha, but I follow along with the Saucony team and get the product lines to try. He's using stability for a couple of those models