Archives for Running speed category
In reading the title of this blog most of you will probably say “no way”. And I agree. But yet a study that was reported in the International Journal of Design and Nature and Ecodynamics says just the opposite.
According to a study, “what’s important is not whether an athlete has an innie or an outie but where his or her navel is in relation to the rest of the body… It so happens that in the architecture of the human body of west African-origin runners, the center of gravity is significantly higher than in runners of European origin.” Read more… »
To increase turnover (stride frequency), sprinters use downhill running. They correctly believe that maximum stride length and frequency are controlled by your neuromuscular system, as with any other skill. It is believed that downhill running teaches your nervous system to let you run faster.
These comments although accurate, are somewhat misleading. The statement that downhill training trains your nervous system to let you run faster is accurate when you do over-speed training. In this the nervous system goes beyond what it does when running on level ground. Read more… »
Ordinarily I would never asked this question because I have never seen a runner have too high a knee lift. But now I ask this question because of a recent article stating that many runners have an excessive knee lift.
According to the author. “When runners tire, they often overstride, which exaggerates their knee lift. But lifting your knees just tires out the entire quadriceps even more quickly, leading to sore thighs the next day.” Do these comments hold water?
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It is often recommended that runners do strength training in order to do more effective hill training. This is great and will help the runners greatly when it comes to hills. But is it most effective for improving overall running speed?
The answer here is maybe but most often it appears to be no. The reason for this is twofold. First you develop some of the same muscles as are used in running, but not in the same manner. In other words they are not specific to running. Read more… »
To improve overall running speed many coaches now recommend speed training for 5K, 10 K, and marathon runners. There is no doubt that doing speed work can improve your overall running speed, especially in the shorter distances.
However, is speed running or doing repetitions of 100, 200, 300 or 400m one of the best ways to improve speed for long distances?
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Many professional athletes use different types of running in their training. This includes hill running, sand running, sand hill running, etc. to improve their ability to run faster. In addition, they do strength exercises such as the lunge, squat, leg extensions and leg curls.
To top it off they also do core work. This is the core training developed in balance training with some simple abdominal and/or lower back exercises. This includes crunches and planks for the abdominals and superman’s for the back. Read more… »
If you read the many reviews of running shoes and what each shoe supposedly does, it makes you wonder why we don’t have more outstanding runners. But then it may be due to some of the information about shoes presented on a lack of understanding of what occurs in running.
For example, according to an article in Runners World, “…a shoes flexibility is … important in helping the body generate maximum propulsion …” This flexibility is needed since “runners spend 70 to 80% of their time on the balls of their feet as they transition from footstrike to toe-off”.
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Posted on Aug 22, 2009 under Knee drive, Running, Running speed |
“Get those knees up” is a familiar expression heard by many runners. However, how the knee gets up is often misunderstood. All too often runners are told to merely lift the knees with no emphasis on a forward drive. However, you should not simply drive the knee upward; you should concentrate on driving the knee forward in a forceful manner.
When you drive the knee forward as the initial driving force, the thigh (knee) will rise up on momentum. When you forcefully drive the knee upward, with no emphasis on a forward drive, you create excessive vertical forces, which get you higher into the air, but do not contribute to forward running speed. Read more… »
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