Jessi Stensland Interview
I know this short interview is welcomed, many of my clients have asked for it so here it comes!
I met up with Jessi at Athletes Performance we have met before last year at the same place. Working myself with triathletes and recreational athletes that love running, cycling and swimming I could see in Jessi’s training that she had a systematic approach to her game.
Me and Jessi @ Athletes Performance 2010
It was also obvious that she had her nutrition dialed in since her shape was great. It’s funny, even though the sport itself involves a lot of calorie wasting activity, not many of the competitors got their body in shape. I have always blamed poor eating habits with a stressful training schedule, but after all these guys really do need tons of demanding training. Or do they?
The cardio based culture is just like the fitness culture, there are a lot of misconceptions about the training methods, and what needs to be done in order to be successful. No doubt there has to be tons of hard work and deliberate practice, but how can this be done without too much stress on the system?
I started to ask Jessi out about her training system, just to get a hint of what she knows and that I didn’t about the game. It turned out to be a lot.
My knowledge was limited, never had I went through a real education about how to train this types of athletes. It hit me that a lot of trainers (including myself) need to expand their knowledge in this area, since there are quite a few of these clients around the corner waiting for a great trainer that could help them with their plan to be successful and pain free.
Pain free is the word, having a couple of years behind me of training cardio athletes I have found out that the ordinary cardio athlete is either injured or not injured. It goes around this all the time. There has to be something wrong! In an article in runner’s world, I’ve read that 87% of those athletes have been injured. Wow! That’s a number I want to participant in lowering.
I did understand that Jessi’s knowledge and experience would be vital in my quest to be a better trainer for this population. Now it’s important to note that Jessi is not only a good athlete, because this doesn’t really tell us anything about knowledge and ability to lecture. She has a bachelor’s degree in Exercise Science, has been trained and mentored by Athletes’ Performance for many weeks per year over the past 7 years and has attended a number of Athletes’ Performance Mentorships.
We had a few minutes over this autumn at AP so I decided to pop a few questions that would trigger some interest for her upcoming seminar here at Breeze Fitness in Sweden, 30April – 1 May 2011. I kept a few notes since our conversation, and I will try to give you what I remember (with the permission from Jessi).
1. How many days a week do you work out, offseason /on season?
“I work out 4-5 days per week. Making sure to include days off regularly. In season I focus on maintaining health in the first place and specificity in the second. When it comes to offseason I have one vital goal and that is to maintain movement and health. I focus on maintaining my nervous system: the communication from my brain to my body and my body’s movements. My goal is to maintain proper posture and basic movement patterns like the squat and specifically a single leg squat. I also want to maintain my elasticity as well.”
I think I will have to revisit my obvius question I ask my clients: Do you want to look like a track&field athlete, a bodybuilder or a cardio athlete? I never thought about it, but after this interview is published I will probably have a few different answers…
2. There are a lot of different approaches out there when it comes to tapering. I realize that it’s very individual but which approach have you found fits you the best?
“I maintain my full training schedule until the week before the race. In the week leading up to the race I implement less specificity and less stress. The total volume is lower however I will still include short bouts of intensity and certainly a focus on maintaining proper movement and muscle activation. I also focus heavily on maximum recovery techniques, specifically sleep.”
I know Jessi does alot of strength training, TRX is one of her tools.
3. What do you think about during the race? (anyone red Murakamis “what I talk about when I talk about running”?)
“During training and racing I am focused on myself, my body, what I’m feeling. This way I can keep coaching myself through the race with cues that help me maintain proper movement and performance. Unlike a team sport, in my sport, I find it better to focus inside my mind and body than outside of it for maximum performance.”
Focus on yourself during the race and be happy
4. Do you use any type of carbloading before the race?
“I keep my meals balanced leading up to the race. My key to pre-race nutrition is to keep it easily digestable. I don’t want my body to be expending energy on digestion. Upon waking up on race morning I will drink 50g of complex carbohydrates and continue to sip on easy to digest liquid carbohydrates (25g/hr) along with some electrolytes in water in the hours leading up to the race.”
5. I’ve noticed that you never train movement (gym) with shoes when did this start and what are the pros?
“I started focusing on it in 2008. An old injury in my ankle caused me to focus more on the mechanics of the foot and ankle in order to correct compensations. Without shoes I can pay more attention to the movement of my foot/ankle joints. And since body awareness is such a key component to efficient movement, by training without shoes I can really focus on joint mobility and stability. It also allows me to connect the feeling of the foot contact on the ground so it can communicate to the rest of my body. True total body movement.”
As we can see Jessi is also a fan of Aaron Mattes AIS, which we also practice in Breeze Fitness.
6. In your training approach you use foam rolls and Trigger Point Therapy (balls and small rollers). What are the benefits?
“I started in 2004 at Athletes Performance. I use it almost every workout in one way or another: pre-workout to loosen up muscles and “unlock my strength”, during workout to maintain maximum mobility, and post-workout to increase recovery time of the muscle tissue. I can really feel the difference. I see it as a way to stay healthy and to unlock strength.”
7. Do you use any supplements?
Although my first priority for my sports performance nutrition is to eat with good daily nutrition as any healthy person should eat, I will supplement my training and racing efforts with key nutrients including carbohydrates, electrolytes, caffeine, oils, amino acids, etc. I have always relied upon SportQuest Direct products, specifically CarboPro, Interphase, Motivator, Vantage VO2Max, Thermolyte and Recover. I often supplement one daily meal/snack with a post-workout liquid meal with balanced nutrients so that I can replenish nutrients quicker and with less energy spent on digestion.
8. Do you keep count at calories, and if you do, how much do you take on training days / rest days?
I do keep count of my calories regularly. My everyday whole food nutrition will hover around 2000kcals, however I will often listen to my own body to help me determine whether I need more or less calories on any given day. I will then supplement my training days with additional calories relating to and surrounding specific workouts and effort levels, an average of 40-50g of carbohydrates per hour of workout.
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I’m pumped for this fall, for me it has been a dream to bring something new to Sweden’s cardio athletes. I sincerely think that this is an opportunity no one should miss, whether you’re an athlete yourself, a weekend warrior, a personal trainer or a physiotherapist.
The knowledge, the warm environment, the good experience, the friendly people all mixed in with her seminar. Jessi will shine with her positive mindset and knowledge, keeping us motivated to take us another step in our training 2011.
If you are interested in Jessi’s seminar @ Breeze Fitness, Sweden the seminar is open for internationals, if you need further information don’t hesitate to contact me or Jessi.
Seth – sethronland@live.se website: for registration: http://www.breezefitness.se/Utbildning
Jessis websites: www.movementu.com & www.gojessi.com
People can register at my mail or at movmentu.com website
Breeze Fitness – The finest methods in performance strategies.
/Seth Ronland , Breeze Fitness, Ystad – Sweden













