Frappier Training

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I personally gave 5 months of my time to work at a Frappier

Acceleration program as a " double agent " of sorts. That was a couple

of years ago but I continue to make notes of the NEGATIVE impact that

the program has on athletes running technique. The most noteable is

the choppy strides with poor hip extension, sure the turnover itself

maybe faster but in the overall scope of things it would appear that

that only benefits the athlete while they are on the treadmill.

While running primarily on the treadmill it is interesting to note how the body

adapts: by detraining the hip extensors and over-emphasizing the hip flexors.

Also, I should mention, overall rigidness and a general labored look in post

Frappier runners. Needless to say this is far from optimal.

When I hear talk of improvements made from this program it brings to mind a

point made in " Supertraining " : athletes entering into an organized program or

even training regularly at all will have great progress for several months, but

is it really the specific stimulus that deserves credit or just that fact that

the organism is being stimulated for once?

One thing is for sure, Frappier has given me a lot of extra work. I

have had many athletes that needed serious hip extensor

specialization and flexibility training to undo the " athletic

advantage " that Frappier was supposed to give them. (No, I did not

send these athletes to the program, they came to me after undergoing

the program!)

This type of thing is one more case of the American " System " or lack

thereof. As large and diverse as our population is, there will always

be a few individuals here and there that excell regardless the

quality of the parameters involved in their training, sometimes even

at the elite level.