The one workout Denver runners skip (and why your Achilles will thank you if you don’t)

If you're logging miles on the Cherry Creek Trail or grinding out repeats at Wash Park, chances are you've already gotten the memo on strength training. Denver's running community has gotten really good about hitting the weight room consistently — squats, deadlifts, single-leg work, it's all become part of the routine.

But there's one piece that still gets missed too often: plyometrics.

You've done them before — jumping, hopping, bounding, anything where you leave the ground quickly. And if you're training at 5,280 feet, there's an even better reason to care about this than most runners realize.

Why plyometrics matter more than you think

The goal of plyometric training isn't to make you jump higher for the sake of it. It's to teach your tendons and muscles to work together as a system — and nowhere is that more obvious than in your calf and Achilles tendon.

Think of it like this: your calf muscle complex is the engine of your stride. Your Achilles tendon is a giant rubber band attached to it, storing and releasing energy every time your foot hits the ground.

Here's the part most runners miss — if your calf muscle can't hold tension well, your Achilles never gets to do its job. Instead of the tendon stretching and snapping back like a rubber band, the calf muscle itself absorbs the load and the Achilles becomes a missed opportunity. You lose the free energy return that an efficient tendon provides.

But when your calf complex can hold tension — when it has the strength and capacity to stay firm under load — the energy transfers into the tendon instead. The Achilles stretches, stores elastic energy, and releases it right back into your stride. That's the stretch-shortening cycle, and it's the entire mechanical basis of efficient running.

Every step you take on a run is this same pattern on repeat: get into position, hold tension in the muscle, let the tendon stretch and release. If that handoff breaks down, you're not running efficiently — you're leaking energy with every stride, mile after mile.

The Denver Factor: Why this matters at altitude

Here's where it gets specific to running in Colorado. At altitude, your body is already managing a bigger physiological load just to deliver oxygen to working muscles. Running economy — how efficiently you convert energy into forward motion — matters even more when the air is thinner and every stride costs a little more.

A calf-Achilles system that's storing and releasing energy efficiently means you're not wasting precious effort on mechanically inefficient strides. If you've ever felt like your legs were working harder than the pace justified on a run up toward Lookout Mountain or through City Park, tendon efficiency (or the lack of it) may be part of the story.

Add in Denver's trail terrain — the rolling singletrack at Green Mountain, the punchy climbs at Mount Falcon, the uneven footing on the Highline Canal — and you've got a running environment that constantly demands quick, reactive force absorption. That's exactly what plyometric training prepares your body for.

Two plyos every runner needs

You don't need a complicated plyometric program. If you focus on just two movements, you'll cover what matters most:

1. Pogo Hops (click for video)

Most runners already know these. Small, quick, low-amplitude hops that emphasize a stiff, springy ankle rather than big vertical height. This directly trains that calf-to-Achilles energy transfer we just talked about.

2. Depth Jumps — With a Twist (click for video)

Most coaches teach depth jumps to maximize vertical force when you land and jump back up. For runners, the goal is different: minimize ground contact time. You're not trying to jump high — you're training your body to get on and off the ground as fast as possible, which is exactly what happens (over and over) during a run.

How to add this to your training (Without wrecking your tendons)

This is the part where runners get it wrong in both directions — either they skip plyometrics entirely, or they go all-in and overdo it. Neither is right.

Remember: running itself is already a plyometric activity. Every stride is a small plyometric event. Layering in a poorly dosed plyometric program on top of your regular mileage is a fast way to overcook your tendons — not exactly what you want heading into peak marathon training season or before a big race like the Colfax Marathon.

Here's the sensible starting point:

• New to plyometrics? Once a week for 3-4 weeks at first. Twice is plenty, even for experienced runners.

• Volume: Two to three sets of three to five reps per exercise. More is definitely not better.

• Experienced with plyo work? You can add a bit more volume, but even then, capping it around twice per week is a smart ceiling for most runners balancing this with regular mileage.

Start small, stay consistent, and let your tendons adapt gradually. The payoff — more efficient strides, better energy return, and a lower injury risk on Denver's demanding trails — is worth the patience.

The Bottom Line

You've already figured out that strength training isn't optional. Plyometrics is the missing piece that turns that strength into usable running power — the kind that helps your Achilles tendon do what it's built to do instead of leaving your calf muscles to compensate.

Two exercises, twice a week, a handful of reps. That's a small investment for a system-level upgrade to how efficiently you run — altitude and all.