Oregon Circuit Workouts: Big Bang for Your Training Buck!

Oregon Circuit Workouts: Big Bang for Your Training Buck!

There's a small group of us up here in Norwich who venture out very early on a Monday morning to undergo a certain type of torturous run-strength session, colloquially known as Oregon Circuits.

There's no sugar-coating it, these sessions hurt! However, we've all been pleased to quickly see the clear performance benefits in our run splits as race season gets into full swing.

What is an Oregon Circuit Workout?

Taking their name from the University of Oregon where they were apparently first conceived, these sessions entail a measured balance of tempo running combined with targeted strength exercises. The benefits are multiple, as I will discuss shortly. Not least in that you quickly begin to replicate the 'heavy legs' feeling we're all familiar with that normally hits late-on in a race.

Essentially the sessions take a format similar to an interval session. Our Monday morning variation entails 300m reps at race pace with strength and core exercises interspersed in what would normally be 'rest time' (run pace will, of course, depend on athlete's specific goals).

The most important coaching point in terms of pace and effort is that while the runs should be at 'race pace', these should feel like the recovery in terms of effort from the challenging nature of the exercises.

If the exercises feel restful compared to the running, you're doing it wrong!

N.B. We have sprint triathletes through to ultramarathoners in our Monday morning group, so 'race pace' is a very individual concept... this isn't a session to compare yourself against others around you - pacing is important!

Example Oregon Circuit Session:

4 x 8min blocks of work (2mins recovery)

Why...?

As I alluded to earlier, there is method to the madness.

Running Strength-Endurance

These sessions are intense and should be performed once a week at most, but I'm yet to find another running workout that builds strength-endurance and resilience as effectively, not even hill reps, another favourite workout of mine.

As with all sessions, the outcome will depend on the reasoning used to structure the session. If we set out just to smash ourselves with the hardest combination of exercises we can think of, then we won't get the most from the session! Instead, we choose specific exercises to target key running muscle groups, prime movers, stabilisers and core muscles all included. As fatigue kicks-in don't compromise technique.

Running Technique - Fatigued

This for me is the biggest benefit of these sessions, with the correct running technique cues in mind, every run rep can be very focused on technique. Not only this but with well-chosen strength exercises, you get a degree of transfer of muscle activation between the exercise and the run rep.

For example: If we know we have a runner with poor Glute Med function during running gait, we can set an exercise such as resistance band crab walks in between run reps, to achieve a pre-activation in Glute Med then immediately run a short technique focused rep to help fine-tune the firing pattern within running gait.

I often explain this to the athletes as "firstly getting the muscle working effectively, then show it the running movement pattern... and repeat". Ask me to show you the science and I'll struggle, but it certainly seems to consistently work really well :)

There is also the benefit of running at race pace, pre-fatigued by the exercises in bursts short enough to focus on form. This makes for a great session to practice maintaining form on heavy legs. Triathletes will understand what I mean when I call these workouts "brick sessions without the bike"!

Race Preparation

A number of the athletes in our group, myself included have commented on the similarity in feeling to the heavy legs experienced towards the end of some races. These sessions are very effective in replicating this type of situation, and building strength to maintain form into such fatigue.

Integrating strength work into a training program has well-documented benefits both in terms of injury prevention and performance. I often refer back to a case study of an athlete I worked in 2011-12. Our work  really cemented in my mind the benefit of this type of session.

Case Study

Matt is a experienced marathon runner in his late 30s who came to me with a PB of 3:15:00. He wanted to initially overcome a pattern of reoccurring running injuries (knee and calf), then train to run a sub 3hr marathon. The injuries were no problem, with a few changes to running form and key rehab / prehab exercises.

Having unsuccessfully tried to prepare on his own for a sub 3hr marathon more than once using his preferred 16-week marathon schedule, we examined his pattern of almost always getting sick or injured just before going into taper. This always seemed to have an understandably detrimental effect on his race-day performance. We tried a new approach...

Ahead of Liverpool Marathon in October 2012,  I put Matt on a 12-week program, with an additional 4 week 'more relaxed' preparatory-block. This preparatory block entailed:

  • 1 x Oregon Circuits session
  • 1 x Gym session
  • 1 x 30-45min Fartlek session
  • 1 x longer steady run

    (building his long runs up from the beginning of the prep block)

In Matt's own words, this preparatory block left him feeling "the strongest he has ever felt going into a marathon training block".

So, we still increased Matt's long runs over 16 weeks, and added appropriate training volume during the 12 week focussed training block. The cumulative training load on his body in the last few weeks pre-taper was less likely to see him get sick or injured, compared to before. This worked well in Matt's case. We maintained weekly Oregon Circuits workouts throughout. I firmly believe that this loosely structured 4 week preparatory block, and the Oregon Circuits held within played a big part in Matt's success...

Liverpool Marathon 2012: 2:58:59.

Happy Coach. Even happier Athlete!