The final Law is the one that is actually the result of doing the previous 3 correctly. We believe that our bodies are designed to be in the anatomically correct position at all times. What we mean by this is that your skeletal system should always be in perfect alignment. If you have ever seen pictures in an anatomy book like this one and seen the skeletal system then you know it is designed to look a certain way. We try to simplify this and focus on what we consider to be your 4 main structural joints, your shoulders, hips, knees, and ankles. Each of these joints are designed to be vertically stacked on top of one another and directly across from one another on a horizontal plane as you can see in the picture.

This is what is considered the anatomically correct position and is the way our bodies are intended to be. However, here is the catch. For us to be in this position means that our muscular system is working perfectly. There can be no imbalances in strength, size, or range of motion or the muscles will pull the skeleton out of its natural alignment. The skeleton is completely dependent on the muscles both for movement and positioning.

For example, your iliopsoas (hip Flexors) are a pair muscles that originates in the hip and lumbar spine and then inserts down on your femur. These muscles are responsible for the flexion of the hip (lifting of your knee when running) and are just one of several very important muscle groups when it comes to running. Since we have used this example in the other laws lets again talk about sitting. If you spend a significant amount of time on a consistent basis in a seated position, your hip flexor muscles will become increasingly tight.

What this actually means is that the muscles can “shorten” as the fibers become less pliable from their lack of being elongated with proper stretching and efficiency training. This in turn will literally begin to pull your pelvis forward or into an anterior tilt. One of the many negative side effects of this will be increased tension in your lumbar spine. The point in all of this is that if you are not doing the appropriate amount of stimulus to all of the muscles in the body, it will be impossible for your body to hold the anatomically correct position.

So all 4 laws work together to form the Runwithpower training system. In the nearly two decades I have been training I have realized that the perfect training system already existed, we were just not following it. By us understanding that our bodies are designed to receive stimulus, that the greater amount of stimulus we give it will create higher levels of change, that we should receive stimulus in a progressive manner, and that everything we do should be to help our bodies maintain the anatomically correct position, we can give you the best possible running programs.

We will do more posts later and in greater depth on the 4 laws but we hope that for now you all have a good idea of what forms the backbone of our training philosophy.

Scott Olson

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What if we told you there was one training system that would work perfectly for every single human on the planet and has been working correctly since the dawn of mankind? If we made a sweet infomercial and offered it in 3 easy installments of just 29.95 would you buy it? The fitness industry has been one fad after the next for the better part of 30 years now. There is a training system that has worked without fail (with the exception of certain birth defects) though since the beginning of our existence. At Runwithpower we call it God’s strength progression but really it can be Nature’s strength progression or whatever you want to believe created man. 

When we are born our bodies come with Law #1 (that we respond to stimulus) and Law #2 (the greater amount of a stimulus, the more change there will be) built into our bodies. Now the best part about this training system is it came with its own built in progression. We call this Law #3, “The body was designed to recieve stimulus in a progressive manner.”

When a baby if first born, all it really has the ability to do is lay on its back. In this position, there is not too much demand being placed on the muscular system. As the baby begins to instinctively move its arms and legs, eventually it gains the ability to roll over onto its stomach. In this prone position, pressure is now being loaded into the babies shoulders and arms, and begins providing more stimulus to its core muscles as it attempts to reach for objects and push itself up onto all fours. Eventually, it gains the muscular efficiency to get up on its hands and knees. From there, the baby begins to crawl, which provides stimulus to the hip, the shoulders, arms, back, and core in a fully integrated movement. As the body learns balance and coordination, its muscular system is gaining strength and efficiency, enough to the point that it can stand up on its own and start walking, running, jumping, and so forth.

By going through this progression, the body achieves its highest level of muscular efficiency, meaning the best posture, greatest range of motion in the joints, greatest resilience to injury, and greatest potential for power development. We believe that most people’s efficiency is at their best when they are only 4 or 5 years old, before the begin to lose that efficiency due to an inactive lifestyle.

So the strength progression is the best model of how the body is meant to receive stimulus in a progressive manner to achieve its highest level of efficiency. Exercises are just different forms of stimulus. At Runwithpower, we categorize exercises based on how high the level of demand is on the muscular system. Take a barbell squat for example. This is a very common move because most trainers believe that it comes with many positives such as increased leg strength, improved posture, and strengthening the muscles that support the knees. However, the exercises we typically use with our athletes are based on the potential negative side effects that an exercise may have on their body. In order for these positives to be achieved, the athlete must already have a muscular system that is capable of accepting the level of demand the exercise required. In the case of the squat, any athlete who has tightness in their hamstrings, hip flexors, calves, back, lack of full flexion and extension in their pelvis, inability to load bear equally into both sides of the hip, and so on, will ultimately be building higher levels on inefficiency as the body tries to manufacture a way to perform the exercise within its current limitations.

The best way to train then would be to start at a lower level of the strength progression, giving the body  chance to develop greater muscular efficiency. We will be giving you many tips and hints on how to have multiple levels of demand for the many different running drills and exercises you can do. Learning what level your body needs to be training at is the key to maximizing your results.

Scott Olson

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Following Law #1, the second law refers to the amount of stimulus you give to your body. So Law #2 says the following, “The greater the amount of stimulus you receive, the greater the amount of anatomical change will occur”. This can be both a positive and a negative. For example, if you spend a tremendous amount of time in a seated position like we mentioned in the previous post, your muscles will become tight and the body will literally conform itself to the seated position. Now imagine staying in this seated position for 24 hours straight. Good luck getting out of that chair. That is a great example of how Law #2 can affect us in a negative way. I have very fair skin so if I spend hours out in the sun without spf 450 on I typically pay the price with a fun little sunburn that hurts for days.

How does Law #2 affect us in a positive way is really dependent upon what you do. If you eat a healthy diet, you will be able to control your weight, have greater amounts of energy, and have a healthier lifestyle overall. If you consistently warm-up prior to exercise your muscular system will always do a better job of performing the demands you are about to place on it. If you consistently do a cool-down following your workouts you will help to eliminate the potential negative side effects of your workout and allow the body the chance to remain in the anatomically correct position which will help to eliminate soreness and hold over fatigue.

I could literally type for days on all the examples of how Law #2 impacts our lives. The key to remember is that you need to be aware of how much of anything you are doing and decide if this is the desired effect you want to have happen. If you constantly lift weights for your chest and biceps but only do about 1/3 of that amount for the other muscles of the upper body you have to understand that this will come with some negative ramifications. Too much demand to the muscles of the chest and not enough to the other directions of the body will cause you to pull your shoulders forward and out of alignment. The negative side effects to this are numerous, especially for an athlete.

Your body was designed to respond to stimulus. This was Law #1. Law #2 is there for you to make a choice. You can either use Law #1 for your benefit or your demise. Runwithpower is going to teach you how to utilize training techniques in the appropriate manner to make sure you are not allowing your body to develop imbalances that could negatively impact your stride.

Scott Olson

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Law #1 - The first law is pretty simple, it identifies the fact that the human body is designed to respond to stimulus. Everything our body does is in response to stimulus. Specifically for what we are discussing in this blog lets keep this in regards to the muscular system. Our muscles are designed to be used. As a matter of fact when you do not use your muscles they eventually lose their ability to do the jobs they were designed for. The two primary jobs are of course movement and alignment of the skeletal system. An analogy we like to use is that of a cast. Imagine putting your lower leg in a cast and leaving it on for a few weeks. Anyone who has broken their leg can tell ou that when the cast is removed the muscles are smaller, weaker, and much less able to perform their intended functions.

This is an extreme example of not using our muscular system but what about when you have been sitting in the car on a long road trip for several hours, and then you stop as a gas station and step out of the car, think of how slowly you straighten out your legs and how tight your muscles have become. Now think of the number of hours you have been sitting like this your entire life. I would be willing to bet most of you are reading this while sitting in a chair. The point of this post is to get you to understand that everything is a form of stimulus, even if it is a lack of stimulus, and that the body has no choice but to react and change based on that stimulus. We have a saying at runwithpower, “Whatever you are currently doing is causing you to either get better or worse, there is no staying the same.”

The knowledge of this should change you entire outlook on training and physical performance. It is not just the heavy weights, repetitive drills or the intense activities that make us the athletes we are. It is the entire combination of all the reactions to stimulus that have been taking place over the course of your whole life that have made your body what it is today.

Scott Olson

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This is when I started to realize that maybe it was not the athletes fault but rather that they had a muscular system that responded differently to the stimulus or training that the trainer was using. Perhaps it was not all about the drills but rather the specific needs of the body you were working with that should determine the drills and techniques you used. From there I met a trainer who used a great tool called body typing that enabled him to understand how different muscular systems might respond to various types of demands such as strength training and speed training. He categorized people based on various styles of muscular systems and this allowed him to give each individual the right type of training for their muscular systems to respond with maximum results.

I adopted a similar style of my own for understanding how people’s muscular systems would respond to the type of training we were doing. The other component that I felt many trainers struggled with was that they lacked a reliable system for training. There are some tremendous training systems out there. Velocity Sports uses some advanced training techniques that are able to provide some good results just to name one. However I feel all training systems miss the mark on what is the most important aspect of all. Your choices for exercises must be based solely on the body you are working with, not the exercises you feel are the “best” exercise for speed, or strength, or whatever else you are training for.

Through years of research and trial and error with an emphasis on error, I came up with 4 consistent laws regarding the human body that I feel are the cornerstone for our training system. I will cover each of these laws with you in upcoming posts in this category so you have an understanding of how we approach our training and how we feel it is the key to maximizing your results.

Scott Olson

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