5 Tips To Running Smoothly

It's been as hot as I can ever recall July being in Southern Ontario this year. The heat has made it awfully difficult to enjoy my runs, but keeping cool and running efficiently has helped. I wanted to pass on some simple techniques to make your running a little smoother.



1. Relax.
Easy to say, hard to do. I like to think about every muscle group from head to toe (literally), and make sure I'm not tensing up unnecessarily. I especially focus on this while on the treadmill, where it can get awfully boring! I start at the head and work my way down, ensuring I'm as relaxed as possible. Make sure you're not clenching your jaw and your facial muscles are relaxed. Don't tense your arms and don't ball up your fists. Shake your hands out gently. Make sure your legs flow freely and loosely.
Staying loose allows your running form to begin to flow more naturally and smoothly. Unnecessary tension can lead to early fatigue.

2. Breathe Rhythmically.
Again, really easy to tell you to do, but difficult to achieve practically. I like to tell newer runners to try and inhale and exhale for as close to an equal length of time as possible. If you can, try to inhale through your nose and exhale through your mouth. This slows the inhalation phase, and keeps the mouth from drying out. The nose also filters out a little of the air pollution and smog we've been experiencing with all this heat!
I also suggest maintaining a fixed rhythm of breathing with your foot strikes, although each individual needs to find the rate that work best for them. For example, perhaps it's 4 strides for every breath in, and 4 strides for each breath out for you. For an elite runner it could be as slow as every 6 or 8 steps for each breath. Again, try and keep it as even as possible.

3. Efficient Forward Motion.
The goal in running, ultimately, is to move a body forward through space. So, try to picture your body moving as smoothly, and in as straight a line as possible. Think of your arms and legs as pistons propelling your body, and moving only up and down. Try to avoid swaying side to side. Envision your arms moving in smooth arcs taking you forward.

4. Look Forward, Not Down.
I see far too many people looking down at their feet when they run. Not only is this potentially dangerous, as you aren't paying attention to traffic and your surroundings, but it also leads to poor form. Keep your head up, and focus your vision on a spot about 50 yards down the road. That "spot" should remain relatively steady as you move forward. If it seems to be bouncing, your stride is getting too long.

5. Focus on Foot Strike.
Finally, really focus on your foot strike. Land gently on your heel, and roll forward, all the way to your tiptoes. Think of your foot as a rocker bottom, and try to roll through the entire length of your step. Think about springing off your toes to maximize your next stride. Using this technique will cushion your foot stike, and explode into your next step.



Although this is condensed into 5 steps, it's quite a bit to think about. On your next run, pick one of them, and really focus on making a small change. Keep adding more, and as they become second nature I think you'll soon find your runs effortless!

Let me know what other techniques you use!

Quick Hit: Weight Training

I'll admit that I was a relatively late comer to the merits of weight training.
Growing up, the sports I played, like hockey and soccer, were more endurance and skill dependent, so coaches never really focused on weight training. On the field, or at the arena, practise time was devoted to either running drills, or sprinting/skating until you felt like puking. The mentality was that the more "fit" your cardiovascular system was, the better you would be able to play in the last minutes of a game. If you happened to get stronger doing it, so be it.



In University, I used to shake my head at the guys in the gym doing weights. I figured these were the fellows who didn't have enough skills to play a sport, and needed some other way to show their manhood. There were rarely any women there, and the weight machines (what ever happened to Nautilus?) were kept in horrible condition. I was focused more on long distance running, swimming, cycling at this point, and couldn't waste time adding weights.


Today, I have come full circle, and recommend weight training as part of any physical fitness regime.

Benefits

The benefits are clear at this stage, and  I've listed only a few below

• Fall Prevention in the Elderly (NEJM, Sept 1994)
• Improvement in Bone Density British Journal of Sports Medicine, 2000
• Improvement in Metabolic Rate (ie weight loss)
• Improvement in Strength
• Improvement in Arthritis Pain, Blood Pressure, Diabetes Control

What Should I Do?

If you aren't already, adding weight training to your workout is worth doing. Consulting with a trainer is worthwhile, and they should clearly explain what technique to follow. They should also be able to explain the specific muscles that an exercise will target, and how the exercise achieves this. If they can't, find someone who can.

Muscles are, for the most part, fairly straight forward. When they contract, they move a joint, flexing or extending it. The more you use it, the stronger, and more toned it gets.

General Technique

• Breathe! When lifting/pushing/pulling the weight, remind yourself to exhale. People often hold their breath when they strain, and this is not a good thing for your body for a number of reasons.
• Aim to do 8-10 repetitions for a given exercise. Find a reasonable amount of weight that will allow you to get 8-10 reps before you are too fatigued to push more. Trying to impress people with a huge load will only get them laughing at you behind your back.
• Good Form. Maybe the most important. Understand the purpose of the exercise you are attempting. Know how the muscle you are focusing on moves, and try to use only that muscle to achieve the movement. Keep your core (trunk) as still as possible, and go through as full a range of motion as you can comfortably do. NEVER cheat through the exercise, just to get it done. If you can't isolate the movement, lighten the weight and try again.

Hopefully, this is useful. We'll keep expanding training, and advancing if the interest is there.

Let me know if you have any specific training questions.

I love the feedback!