Why Water Worx for Elite Runners and Athletes
We know that water is extremely beneficial for rehabilitation, pain management, conditioning while injured, etc. These uses get the majority of the attention, for good reason: they give us all hope, encouragement and excitement as we see visible improvements in people’s lives.
But, it is also important to note, and no less amazing, what water can do for people who are in the best shape of their lives. We recently sat down with Galen Rupp to talk about how he uses water on a daily basis for training. Rupp is one of the top distance runners in the world right now. In case you haven’t been keeping up on your track and field stats lately, let us recap his highlights quickly:
- 2012 Olympic Silver Medalist in 10,000Meters (first US medal in distance running since 1968)
- SIX time USA Outdoor 10,000M champion (most recently a few weeks ago)
- 2012 Olympic Trials champion in 5,000M
- 2013 USA Outdoor 5,000M: 2nd place
- 10,000M outdoor and 3,000M indoor record holder
This guy can run. Fast. There is no doubt he is in impeccable shape to be competing at that level. Yet, he STILL uses water on a daily basis. Why? Because it works. Galen has been using underwater running as a part of his training for 10 years. It offers him advantages he might not otherwise have. For instance, he is able to add more mileage to his daily training without increasing his risk of injury (he has remained essentially injury-free his entire running career). He has been able to increase his strength by using the resistance of the water to work his feet and leg muscles harder while running. And he’s been able to recover from hard workouts. Not by resting, but by running in the water. The natural properties of water work to increase circulation and ease tired muscles, so that he’s ready to handle the next day’s workout even better.
But you’d probably rather hear it directly from him… watch this video from our recent trip to Portland to hear Rupp’s reasons for using water!