In a recent article an elite 1500m runner stated that she does a lot of core body and flexibility work in the gym. She does this with yoga.
When you look at her running form you can see almost 70 to 80° of shoulder rotation. This is excessive and slows her down greatly. She could be a much better runner by simply improving her ability to hold her shoulders basically in place during the running stride. Read more… »
It is common knowledge in the running community that the more economical your run, the further you can go because you are using less energy. In spite of this, we see very little work done on improving running economy.
One of the latest recommendations is to do plyometrics to improve running economy. This is effective but it is essentially jump exercises. If you do more true plyometrics (shock training) you would also get even more economy – but this aplies more to the elite runner. Read more… »
Although they do not specifically state this, most articles in running or other magazines that deal with running, are intended for beginners and novices. Howeve, they are typically written in a manner that indicates that they apply to all levels of runners. This is misleading.
As a result of this many runners incorporate recommendations in the belief that it will improve their performance when in reality, it can produce the opposite result. With sorrow, we still do not have a system that can identify different levels of performance so that each runner will know where he stands in relation to other runners. Read more… »
Examination of most running programs shows that runners do more recovery running rather than developmental. This means that their running speed is below the threshold needed to produce gains in muscular, cardiovascular and respiratory system development. In essence, they run too slow.
This is understandable since most runners do not have sufficiently effective technique or development of the physical abilities to run at faster speeds for prolonged periods of time. As a result there is a high correlation between novices and frequent injury. Read more… »
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