Written by: Christina Lim, NASM-CPT,CES @tinaroni
With a recent study from the Journal of Sports Medicine showing that as many as 56% of runners get injured in a year (that’s over 25 million Americans, or 7.5% of the US population!), it’s more important than ever to make sure that we understand proper running technique, appropriate training methods to improve speed, endurance, and strength, and ways to avoid overuse injuries such as runner’s knee, shin pain, plantar fasciitis, sprains, and blisters.
The equipment-free activity of running or jogging may appear easy enough. But the truth is, running involves multiplanar forces up to 2.5 times your bodyweight, which is a lot of impact for the body to handle. Daily runs or running several times a week can create a repetitive stress that may challenge the body’s ability to recover, and it may be practical to include some lower impact aerobic activities such as walking, swimming, and cycling.
Nonetheless, for most people, when performed with proper technique and a balanced training program, the benefits of running far outweigh the risks. Regular aerobic exercise supports cardiovascular and metabolic health, as well as a leaner body composition (running can burn more than 3x the calories as walking, for example), and such activity assists in the regulation of healthy hormone and blood sugar levels. Running can also stimulate the production of “happy” hormones, giving you a runner’s “high.” Studies have also shown that regular aerobic exercise improves memory, focus, and concentration, and reduces symptoms of depression and anxiety. Having a strong baseline of aerobic capacity also supports strength training abilities and other athletic endeavors where sustained increased heart rate is essential.
In this article, we’re going to cover the Top 10 Running Tips. Whether you’re a beginner looking to support heart health and weight loss, or you’re a seasoned marathon runner training for a race, it’s important to keep these 10 things in mind!
Tip #1: Know your running style and weak points
While there isn’t one universal running style that is perfect for everyone, we do know that good running form includes a few key factors, and certain characteristics can greatly increase the chance of injury. Good running form includes a “tall” lifted-chest posture with a slight forward lean, forward gaze, relaxed arms, and engaged core. Most commonly injuries result from over-striding (front foot landing in front of your knee), excessive back arching (back extension), excessive vertical movement or “bounce”, insufficient arm swing, and over-stiffening of muscles in the stance phase (when your heel makes contact with the ground). So how can we be sure we’re maintaining good form and steering clear of bad habits when running?
One way is to check for any imbalances in your body as well as body composition (to see how your lean muscle mass and fat levels match up to age and gender-matched norms). The best way to do this is to get a DEXA scan, which captures dual x-ray absorption data for your whole body during a 6-minute scan. It’s accurate to +/- 1.5% error, and provides fat, muscle, and bone density levels for each body part, allowing you to see any underdeveloped, potentially weaker areas, visceral fat levels (the bad kind of fat that sits around the organs), as well as right and left-side imbalances. Those of us with prior injuries or surgeries may also particularly benefit from this tool. (If you’d like to schedule a DEXA scan today, please sign up here.)
Another way to get a clear analysis of your running style is to get a gait analysis performed by a physical therapist. They can evaluate your stance and swing phases, as well as your cadence (steps per minute), heel strike, arm swing, and relative core strength, and recommend proper shoes (for an example of shoes designed for running style, check out this Runner’s World article on running shoes for overpronation), as well as help you in designing an appropriate training program (strengthening your weak muscles, for example). According to Brett Lando, physical therapist at Agile PT, “ideally your running form distributes forces evenly across tissue and joints while minimizing excessive movement, for good shock absorption and kinematic efficiency.” (If you’d like to sign up for a gait analysis with Brett, head here.)
You can also take a photo of yourself running, from the side, and find your z angle, which is the angle created by your hips, stance leg, and ankle. Larger hip angles are often indicative of tight hip flexors, and larger ankle angles may indicate tight calf muscles.
Tip #2: Strength train for speed, power, economy, and resilience
It’s no secret that stronger runners are faster, efficient, and well-adapted for changes in terrain and slope during runs. They even recover faster. Most notably, the muscles of the legs, glutes, core, and even toes play a large role in force production. And when we strength train, we also reinforce the integrity of tendons, ligaments, and bones in these areas. Strong neuromuscular connections, another benefit of strength training, provide running economy. When we bring all of these components together, we have a body that can readily handle shock absorption and energy transference throughout the body.
In the upper body, it’s important to address core strength and stability, t-spine and shoulder mobility, activated upper and mid-back muscles for proper posture, and flexible muscles in the chest and diaphragm for unrestricted arm swing movement and breathing.
Lunges, deadlifts, box jumps, sled pushes, and planks are some of the exercises that are important for runners executing a training program for speed, power, and running economy. Here, we’ll break up some of the types of exercises that are beneficial for runners - this can be used as a starting point for programming.
For strength and neuromuscular coordination
deadlifts
squats
bench press
For core stability
plank variations
back hyperextensions
dead bugs
For dynamic stability and running economy
pistol squats (single-leg)
single-leg deadlifts
lunge variations
For power and explosiveness
jumps
swings
high-knees sprints
For upper body flexibility, mobility, posture, and breathing (for warm-up and recovery)
hip flexor stretches and dynamic movements
ankle mobility stretches and dynamic movements
T-spine twists / dynamic movements
pec stretches, shoulder mobility exercises
upper and mid back muscles activation
diaphragm muscle stretches and activation
Compound movements such as deadlifts and squats also aid in development of core stability, while single-leg exercises (while loaded) assist in flexibility, range of motion (ROM) in joints, and can contribute to longer stride length.
When designing a training program, it’s important to take into account your relative weaknesses and limitations, and vary the programming enough to keep the body adapting for steady improvement. This article provides some extra tips on planning your training.
Tip #3: Tabata training or interval training for speed and pace
If you’ve done repeated 400 meter runs or tempo runs, you’re already familiar with this one. Tabata training, or interval training (also popularly called “HIIT”), can assist your development in a few ways.
First, it can help in progressively increasing the amount of time that you can maintain your race pace by increasing your VO2 max and cardiovascular efficiency. By doing so, it can improve your cadence. This also pushes your body’s ability to quickly process lactic acid build-up in your muscles, increasing both aerobic and anaerobic capacity.
As your body adapts, this type of training can also help you to increase your overall speed during short intervals.
Here’s an example of a tabata running workout you can try.
Tip #4: Running drills for effective warm-up
Warming up the body effectively not only gets you ready to run, but it also helps in injury prevention. A robust full-body warm-up can include stretches, dynamic movements (including mobility work), and foam rolling tight areas.
Running drills get us moving dynamically while actively recruiting muscles needed during our workout. We loved these running drills in particular - they mimic portions of the gait cycle while opening up and stretching the hips, ankles, and upper body so that every part of the body gets properly ready.
In colder climates, be sure to give yourself a bit more time for the body to get warm. You might start with a few minutes of jogging to warm the body first before stretching, for example.
Tip #5: Do easy runs too
Balanced training is essential for success. Going for personal bests every time you go running or fussing about your pace every time can lead to overtraining and fatigue. These challenging, grit-inducing runs are important but it’s also equally important to include comfortable, steady-state runs to allow the body time to adapt and recover. In fact, you can plan your training using the 80-20 rule, where 80% of your workouts are at a slow pace, and 20% are at a medium to fast pace.
You might wonder where your heart rate needs to be for an easy effort run. Try 180 beats per minute minus your age for a guideline on where to start. In terms of musculoskeletal needs, you can run as slow as you want though, as these runs are designed to engage your slow-twitch muscle fibers, optimize lipid metabolism, reduce cortisol, and support angiogenesis (capillaries forming around muscle fibers).
Smile. Enjoy these runs. Feeling good affects motivation, and as a result, your body’s response. You may see an improved pace and overall endurance. You might feel more confident when it comes to those challenging runs that test your limits.
Tip #6: Practice running strides to solidify good form
Strides, which are 20-35 second sprints at what would be your race pace (at approximately 85-95% effort), are a great addition to your warm-up or after an easy run - to dynamically stretch out the legs. It should cover somewhere between 50 and 100 meters on a flat, uninterrupted path or treadmill, with approximately 4 to 8 reps. Strides get us training anaerobically, switching us from slow-twitch fibers (for aerobic running) to fast-twitch muscle fibers.
They can also help you to work on your running form in short intervals. You can check on your head and neck positioning, torso angle, arm swing, and foot landing, for example. You can also use strides to work on adding speed and getting to a faster pace, without a need for much recovery time compared to high-intensity training workouts.
If flat, uninterrupted terrain is hard to find, treadmills are a great place to practice strides. There are lots of advanced treadmills out there, but our favorite is the Woodway 4Front treadmills - which has a nearly frictionless, quiet gliding system, measures a whopping 22” x 68”, providing a large surface area to run comfortably, and a belt made up of 60 individual interlocking rubber slats which provides exceptional shock absorption (easier on the joints, connective tissues, and muscles). Like most other treadmills, it also measures distance, time, pace, METs, speed, incline, and heart rate.
If you’re in San Francisco, fill out this form (you can sign up for open gym access) and come visit us at CustomFit SF to train on one! These are the best of the best, and we’re so excited to have them ready for everyone to use.
Tip #7: Do your long distance runs for endurance
Varying your training sessions provides new stimuli each time, helping you to progress and avoid plateauing. Long distance runs are a great way to teach your body to cover more ground faster.
When deciding on mileage for a long distance run, you can calculate roughly 20-25% of your intended overall weekly mileage, and aim for this number. For pace, you can aim for 60-90 seconds slower than race pace (or a fast, 85-95% effort pace).
If you’re a beginner and these guidelines don’t apply, you can start by running for 10 minutes straight before walking, and on another subsequent day push yourself harder and aim for a few minutes more - perhaps 15 minutes - before walking. Eventually maybe you can get to running for 30 minutes continuously. Gradually increasing the time improves your endurance. Alternatively, you can aim for the distance of a 5K race, and subsequently, a 10K race.
Another method to push your limits for progression is to end each long distance run with a “fast finish”, where you use the last 5-10 minutes to exert at a level 6 or 7 (on a scale of 1 to 10 for perceived exertion).
If you find the monotony of long distance boring, prepare a fun music playlist or an audiobook. Alternatively, you might prefer trail running!
Tip #8: Sustain relaxed, deep belly breathing as much as possible
Did you know that breathing fast doesn’t allow your body to get rid of all the CO2 in your lungs?
In addition to making sure that you’re breathing slowly, with long exhales, it’s important to use diaphragmatic, deep belly breathing (as opposed to chest breathing), so you take in the maximum amount of oxygen.
As you get your breathing stabilized, match your stride to your breath (not the other way around) and consider using rhythmic breathing so that footstrike is coordinated with inhalation and exhalation in a way that has you alternating on your right and left foot at inhalation. This ensures that you are not repeatedly landing on one side of your body with every exhale - when your core is weakest.
Tip #9: Fuel with carbs and fats for stamina and endurance
Nutrition cannot be overlooked with preparing for running sessions (and workouts in general). Carbs are generally effective for supporting interval training, while fats are known to be the body’s preferred source of energy for endurance runs. If you’re aiming for fat loss, you might also consider using fasted runs to get your body to dip into your fat stores for energy.
Most runners benefit from incorporating 60-65% of total caloric intake on carbohydrates, with sprinters utilizing 70% or more, and endurance runners needing a bit less, as low as 50%.
For a personalized nutritional plan, feel free to get in touch with us. We have nutritionists and dietitians on staff who may be able to assist you with your meal planning.
Tip #10: Get enough rest and allow ample time for recovery
Post-exercise recovery can be seriously impaired if you do not get enough sleep and take intermittent rest days. Simply put, it’s as important as your workout. Muscular breakdown (normal microtears in muscular tissue) and mental fatigue (training is tough!) is common during training sessions, and the brain and body needs time to recover adequately so it can improve performance.
Monitor yourself to make sure you are getting enough rest. Changes in energy levels, mood, sleep quality, resting heart rate, body weight - these are all things to be aware of as you go through your training program.
Based on your long-term training program, after 12 weeks of training, it may be appropriate to take one week off from training - to allow further recovery and neuromuscular adaptation. When in doubt, we suggest that you ask a coach or trainer for another opinion on how best to optimize for your progress.
Conclusion
Whether you’re training for a race or want to incorporate running into your regular exercise routine, it’s important to consider these elements so that you maximize your efforts for your goals while staying injury-free. Perhaps you can use some of these different types of training to challenge yourself in new, fun ways. These tips can also be used as general guidance to creating a customized program.
If you’d like to schedule a gait analysis with our in-house physical therapist, you can request an appointment here. We also have personal trainers, nutritionists, and registered dietitians on board to help you, so please feel free to use this form to reach out with your specific query.
About Custom Fit SF
Custom Fit SF is San Francisco’s premier personal training facility, with two studios totaling approximately 4,000 square feet. We’re located at 1844 Market Street. We have complimentary towels, a shower, lockers, air conditioning, great music, easy Muni access, street parking, and an incredible amount of natural light. Our staff is fully vaccinated, and we maintain stringent COVID-19 cleaning protocols for everyone’s safety. We’ve got an arsenal of specialized equipment ready for your personalized program. Come check us out! Fill out the intake form here.
*Disclaimer: Not all exercises, stretches, self-massage techniques, tips, or maneuvers mentioned here are suitable for everyone. Before attempting anything new, take into account your flexibility, strength, and overall health to determine whether or not a particular recommendation is appropriate for you. If you are not able to determine the safety of a recommendation, do not do it without having cleared it first with your physician. This is particularly important if you are overweight, pregnant, nursing, taking regular medications, have injuries, have had a recent surgery, or have any existing medical or health conditions. The exercises and instructions included on this website are not a substitute for medical advice. As with any exercise program, if at any point during your exercise you begin to feel faint, dizzy, or have physical discomfort, you should stop immediately. You are responsible for exercising within your limits and seeking medical advice and attention as appropriate. Any injury sustained from proper or improper use of the exercises contained herein is solely the responsibility of the participating individual. Custom Fit SF, its trainers, coaches, staff, partners, and affiliates are not responsible for any injuries that result from participation in the recommendations shown.
Women who are pregnant or possibly pregnant are not advised for a DEXA scan. If you are not able to determine the safety of a DEXA scan, do not do it without having cleared it first with your physician. The suggestions included on this website are not a substitute for medical advice. You are responsible for seeking medical advice and attention as appropriate.