By Jimmy Williams, PT, DPT, FAFS
Original content provided by Finish Line PT
https://finishlinept.com/running/4-ways-to-get-faster/
So you want to get faster at running? Your first instinct may be to do all of your runs at a fast pace because if you run fast all the time you should get faster, right? WRONG. Running all of your runs at a hard effort actually increases your risk of injury and can lead to performance deficits due to muscular fatigue, stress injuries and hormonal disturbances. Here are a few tips to help you run faster and avoid injuries.
Run your easy runs, EASY
There’s an old saying in running of the 80/20 rule, where 80% of your runs should be easy and 20% of your runs should be hard. This is a great benchmark to use for your own training but make sure that you’re being honest with yourself. An easy run depends on the day and is never a specific pace. Easy runs may be about 60-90 seconds slower based on what the previous day’s workout was. Look at objective measures such as heart rate or wattage to ensure that the pace is truly easy. If you can talk while running without breathing hard or gasping for air, then it truly is an easy run.
Do Speed Work
In order to get faster, you have to run faster. This usually comes best in the form of track workouts or interval runs of shorter distances. If you have never done interval or track workouts before, seek out a local running group/club or running coach in order to help get a sense for how to structure these workouts and how frequently to do them. Generally, faster runs should only being 1-2 days a week. Speed work makes the dream work…But don’t go overboard.
Lift Weights & Do Plyometrics
ALL RUNNERS SHOULD BE LIFTING WEIGHTS. Not only does consistent strength training reduce your risk of injury, it also can lead to performance benefits, including speed. If you are new to strength training, start by mastering the movements with a physical therapist to learn the foundations in which to slowly start increasing the weight you are moving. 5-10 pound weights are great for physical therapy, but for performance benefits, we need to be lifting much heavier weights, around 70-85% of our 1 repetition max. In addition to heavier weights, we should also be doing some plyometric activities aka box jumps, jump landings, skips, bounding, etc. Remember, running is just mini jumps from one leg to the other over & over again. The better we get at jumping, the better we get at running and the less taxing each step is on the body. When we become more like a spring, we improve our running economy and can hold a faster pace for a longer period of time because we are using less energy.
Recover
The only way that we benefit from intense activities is by recovering from them. The entire point of lifting weights, jumping and running faster is to cause planned muscle damage which is why we are typically sore after these activities. In order to reap the benefits, we have to allow that muscle tissue to build back & repair. We do this through consuming protein after exercise, sleeping 6-8 hours per night and doing low intensity activities in the next 2-3 days to follow. If you go right into another hard session that causes further muscle damage, you set yourself up for an overuse injury. As you become stronger, you may notice that you don’t have that same level of soreness after lifting or doing a hard running workout. This means you are adapting to that stimulus and you can now increase the weight you’re lifting or the speeds that you are running.