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Training
Technique
There are no hard and fast rules as to how to run, as everyone will have their own natural style (some more unique than others!). However, here are a few pointers, which can help improve your performance.
- Head - Look straight ahead. Focus on a point a few metres in front.
- Body - Keep your body upright with your back straight. Try not to 'lean' even when running up hill.
- Arms - Let your arms swing naturally and in rhythm with your legs and loosely cup your hands. Try not to bring your arms across your chest.
- Feet - Your heel strikes the running surface, your forefoot touches, your heel then starts to lift and the forefoot flexes.
Without realising it most runners breathe in a 2/2 rhythmic ratio; they take two steps as they inhale and two more steps as they exhale - this can change though if the pace is faster or slower. Most runners tend to breathe through their nose and mouth but there are no set rules. If you find you have a different breathing pattern then don't alter it, it won't improve your running - remember breathing is very natural and you should do what comes naturally to you!
There seems to be an endless debate in the running world of whether stretching before and after a run is necessary or not. One camp suggests stretching avoids injury and protects the body from the harshness of the road, while the other camp believes stretching offers little benefits and, in fact, can actually cause injury.
So who's right? Well both camps are right to a point. Stretching, when done properly, can decrease the chances of an injury, but if not performed properly, can actually increase your chances of an injury.
Stretching
Stretching is one of the most important aspects of any training programme. It can protect the body from the severity of the road by reducing muscle soreness, risk of injury to muscles, joints and tendons and it can improve your athletic performance. Care should be taken when stretching - if you stretch too quickly the muscle can contract and increase tension, therefore, muscles should always be stretched slowly and the stretch should be held for approximately 30 seconds, this way the muscle tension falls and the muscle can be stretched further.
When stretching don't 'bounce' the muscle! It's a common mistake but doing it can pull or tear the muscle you're trying to ease. Don't stretch if you feel tightness in the muscle or if you feel any pain or discomfort.
Stretching should form part of your training session, both before, and after your run. Whilst you may not get the same kind of enjoyment from it as running, the benefits from stretching correctly can only improve your performance.
Check out our top ten stretches:
- 1. Calf Stretch
- Position your body about three feet from a wall and stand with you feet at shoulder width. Place your hands on the wall with your arms straight for support. Lean your hips forward and bend your knees slightly to stretch your calves.
- 2. Leg Stretch
- Position your body about three feet from a wall and stand with you feet at shoulder width. Place your hands on the wall with your arms straight for support. Lean your hips forward and bend your knees slightly to stretch your calves.
- 3. Back Stretch
- Grip your elbow with the opposite hand and gently push the elbow up and across your body until your hand reaches between your shoulder blades. Gently push on your elbow to guide your hand down your back as far as it will comfortably go, stretching your triceps and shoulders. Stretch both arms.
- 4. Hamstring Stretch
- Lie down with one leg straight up in the air, the other bent with foot flat on the ground. Hook a towel over the arch of the lifted foot, and gently pull on the towel as you push against it with your foot. Push gently only to the point where you feel your muscles contract. Stretch both legs.
- 5. Quadriceps Stretch
- Kneel on your knees (without resting back on your heels). Lean back with your body erect and your arms to the side. Hold for 10 seconds.
- 6. Heel To Buttock
- Stand on one foot, with one hand on a wall for balance. Hold the other foot with the opposite hand and raise the heel of the lifted foot to the buttocks (or as near as possible), stretching your quadriceps. Keep your body upright throughout. Repeat with the other leg.
- 7. Hip & Lower Back Stretch
- Sit on the ground with your legs crossed. Lift your right leg and cross it over the left, which should remain bent. Hug the right leg to your chest and twist the trunk of your body to look over your right shoulder. Change legs and repeat.
- 8. Hamstring & Back Stretch
- Lie on your back with your knees bent. Hug your shins to your chest to stretch your hamstrings and lower back.
- 9. Quads and Lower Back Stretch
- Lie on your back and, with your feet flat on the ground, lift your hips up until your body forms a flat plane. Repeat this ten times for 30 seconds each to stretch your quads and lower back.
- 10. Groin Stretch
- Seated, put the soles of your feet together. With your elbows on the inside of your knees, gradually lean forward and gently press your knees toward the ground.
Cross-training
Cross-training is not just about doing a variety of different activities - it's about learning new skills and training in a way that will prepare you best for your running too. Cross-training can also help to reduce the risks of injury. Finding alternative ways to work your system instead of pounding the road or the treadmill with continual high impact work on your joints, can help avoid monotony and boredom due to variety, tone your body as well as keeping it strong and flexible too.
Whatever your training level, it can help you get the results you want. Cross-training is for anyone!
- It's important when you set up your programme for cross-training that you know what you're training for and your goal is to include a varied mix or aerobic and anaerobic activity. Why not bring cycling, swimming and indoor rowing into your programme?
- It is important to strength train too. This help to re-shape your body, aids weight loss, boosts your metabolic rate, helps to improve your posture and importantly helps to keep our bones strong and healthy.
- Finally, how often do we forget to stretch? Be honest! It can take just a couple of minutes, yet so many runners miss out. With cross-training, we must include flexibility/stretch training too. It can have so many benefits - It can help reduce the risk of injury, increase agility, balance, help relaxation and help stress release.
Combining cardiovascular training, strength training and flexibility training helps us to achieve a proper balance, as these three points are the foundations for any effective fitness programme.
You work hard to stay fit. Now it's time to work smarter and get the best out of your training!
Nutrition
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This page is divided into 2 sections - Energy Fuels & Fluids
Energy Fuels
Exercise requires energy - so where does this energy come from and how can we replace it?
When we need energy our body breaks up a substance called ATP (adenosine triphosphate) - a high energy molecule consisting of three phosphates attached by energy bonds to adenosine. Energy is released by breaking off a phosphate from ATP to form ADP (adenosine diphosphate). This is a continual cycle - ADP is converted back into ATP. But how is ATP made?
Energy Systems
Three systems in the body create ATP energy: These systems work simultaneously but the contribution from each depends on the type of exercise - it’s intensity and duration.
1. ATP-CP
The sprint system - provides enough energy for a 5-6 second sprint - and doesn’t require oxygen (anaerobic). CP (creatine phosphate) is another high energy molecule where the phosphate can be broken off very quickly - releasing energy - and used to convert ADP back to ATP. The muscles don’t have a large store of CP so it’s used up fast. Hence why some athletes use creatine supplements to maximise their muscle stores.
2. Anaerobic
The high power system - provides energy for a 90 second power burst. This system is the fast anaerobic (without oxygen) breakdown of glucose for energy but only provides 2 molecules of ATP along with a waste product called lactic acid - too much of this causes muscle fatigue.
3. Aerobic
The endurance system - how long you can keep going depends on how fit you are! This system is the slow aerobic - so this time keep breathing in that oxygen - breakdown of glucose for energy and provides a massive 38 molecules of ATP - that?s nearly 20 times more than the anaerobic system! The aerobic system can also use fat to produce ATP energy. Endurance training can make the muscles use fat more efficiently - now there?s a good reason to improve your endurance fitness!
Energy Fuel
Carbohydrate, fat and protein are the three main energy fuels for exercise. Each of these nutrients are found in differing amounts in foods and are broken down in the body to provide a certain quantity of energy - measured as kilocalories (kcal) per gram (g):
- carbohydrate 3.75 kcal/g
- protein 4 kcal/g
- fat 9 kcal/g
Hence 1g of fat releases more than twice as much energy as 1g of carbohydrate or protein - but this doesn’t mean it’s the best energy fuel for exercise!
The preferred energy fuel for the muscles is glucose, especially as exercise intensity increases. Glucose is formed from the breakdown of carbohydrates (sugars and starches) in your diet and is stored as glycogen in the muscles and liver. However the body can only store a limited amount - a person weighing 70kg will store around 450g or 1700 kcal of glycogen. If you want to keep training efficiently you need to keep your glycogen stores topped up – see the section on carbohydrates to find out how to achieve a full fuel tank.
Which Fuel?
The amount of each fuel – carbohydrate, fat and protein – you use during exercise depends on various factors:
- dietary intake
- fitness level
- type of exercise
- training intensity
- length of work-out
- frequency of training sessions
Anaerobic activities only use glucose, whereas aerobic activities use all three fuels - but protein is used to a lesser extent than glucose and fat.
During low-intensity exercise, which uses less than 300 kcal each hour, you use a greater proportion of fat, a smaller proportion of glucose and fewer calories. As you increase the exercise intensity, your body will gradually use less fat, more glucose and more calories. Therefore, most of the fuel during moderate and high intensity exercise (using more than 500 kcal each hour) will come from glucose.
If you continue to exercise aerobically for a longer period, your body will gradually use more fat and less glucose in an attempt to conserve the limited glucose stores. The fitter you are, the more efficiently your muscles use fat and the longer you can work out.
It’s that simple - the longer you work out, the more frequent you train, the more calories you use. But remember one step at a time - gradual is the key to help you start an exercise programme and stick with it.
Consequently, carbohydrate is the most important nutrient for exercise, because it’s the only fuel that can power intense exercise for prolonged periods, yet its stores within the body are relatively small. If you don’t restock your glycogen stores sufficiently, you will run out of fuel after only a few days of training or you will find you feel fatigued.
Fatigue
Runners call it ‘hitting the wall’, cyclists call it ‘bonking’ - but what is fatigue and why does it happen?
Fluids
You’ll enjoy your event if you have a balanced diet at all stages of your training. In this section we look at the importance of fluids, a look at carbohydrates and some suggestions for what energy products to keep in your cupboards at home.
In general, we need to drink about two litres of fluid a day to be properly hydrated. However, it’s quite likely that exercise will increase our fluid needs. The more you sweat, the more you need to drink to replace the lost fluid. Some people naturally sweat heavily, but even small losses can cause fatigue. Plus, the fitter you are, the more effectively you keep your body cool – so the more you sweat! Training harder, longer or in hot and humid surroundings will also make you sweat more. The type of sports drink you chose will depend on what you want to get out of your exercise session. If your workouts are performance or endurance focused i.e. training for a particular event or sport, opt for an isotonic carbohydrate electrolyte drink such as Lucozade Sport. These drinks are specially formulated to quickly replace lost energy stores and to offset dehydration by providing fluid and essential salts, helping you to maintain performance. If you exercise goal is maintaining fitness, improving body tone or weight management rather than performance, use a hypotonic fitness water such as Lucozade Sport Hydro Active. These have been designed to provide effective hydration for exercise – helping to ensure you have a great workout and your body has the essential fluids and salts it needs – but contain lower levels of carbohydrate. In addition to getting the energy and fluid basics right, you can also give your body extra support before, during and after exercise using specially formulated sports nutrition products.
Injuries
If you have just started out in running, have been training for a few months or even if you are a running veteran, one thing that can affect us all regardless of our fitness or training is injury.
It can strike at any time. It may be a slow onset – a little niggle that makes training uncomfortable and less enjoyable. Or worst case, it can be all out – taking you out of your training programmes for weeks, usually when you are just making headway!
It may seem obvious but the best way to deal with injuries is to avoid them in the first place. However, this is not as easy as it sounds and if we do sustain an injury we need to be able to recognise what the problem is and know the best course of action to reach full recovery. For any injuries that need a more professional look, go and see an injury specialist. The Flora London Marathon Injury Clinic only invites clinics who are qualified up to the highest level and has great experience in injury prevention, injury rehabilitation and performance assistance specific to endurance running. Click here to find an injury clinic near you!
Before you start
Always start exercise fully hydrated. Drink 200-500 ml of a fitness water or sports drink shortly before you exercise to top up your fluid levels and to offset dehydration.
During exercise
Remember - drinking when you feel thirsty and sweaty isn’t enough. By this time, you are likely to already be dehydrated and your performance will be suffering. Drink small amounts of fluid regularly during exercise (125-150ml every 15-20 minutes) to maintain your fluid levels and to help keep you performing.
After exercise
Replacing fluid and energy stores after exercise is vital. The quicker you take supplies on board the better you will feel and the faster your body will recover, ready for your next session. Immediately after exercise, drink a fitness water or sports drink (such as Hydro Active or Lucozade Sport) or try a high carbohydrate snack to restore energy levels - the quicker you can do this, the better. Drinking a sports drink will also help replace lost fluids and essential salts, offsetting the potential impact of dehydration. It can take as long as 48 hours to replenish your body’s carbohydrate stores. Make sure that carbohydrate is a key part of your ongoing diet.
