00:00:00
is it possible to run faster with less
00:00:02
effort well yes it's something Elite and
00:00:04
pro level Runners have mastered and the
00:00:07
good news is that you can as well so
00:00:10
what's their secret how can we run
00:00:12
smoother faster run longer and make our
00:00:14
runs just overall feel a lot easier but
00:00:17
stick around because we've got all that
00:00:19
coming up and by the end of this video
00:00:21
you'll know exactly what you should be
00:00:22
doing the first thing we can be working
00:00:24
on is improving our running form if we
00:00:26
can improve our running form and move
00:00:28
more efficiently we'll get from point A
00:00:30
to point B using a lot less energy more
00:00:33
advanced Runners often look so relaxed
00:00:36
as if they're just gliding along so how
00:00:38
have they worked at achieving this well
00:00:41
I've got five ways here that will really
00:00:43
help you the first one being is
00:00:45
improving our Cadence now running with a
00:00:48
higher Cadence will really reduce the
00:00:50
amount of force coming up through your
00:00:53
legs beginner Runners are usually
00:00:55
running around about 150 to 160 and will
00:00:58
greatly benefit from inred inreasing
00:01:00
their Cadence a little bit more up to
00:01:02
the 170s 180s sort of Mark the simplest
00:01:05
way of starting out on your Cadence
00:01:06
journey is by using a metronome you can
00:01:09
then set the Cadence you want and it
00:01:11
will Tap Away in the background as you
00:01:13
run along and you can time your strides
00:01:16
monitor it and then have a look after
00:01:17
you're on as well on Garmin or on choros
00:01:19
again whichever app you're using and
00:01:21
then you can monitor that over time and
00:01:23
gradually start to increase it don't go
00:01:25
from big chunks just gradually work at
00:01:27
increasing it we've got a video all
00:01:29
about how how to improve your cence I'll
00:01:31
link to that up here and at the end of
00:01:33
the video and down below we will also
00:01:35
want to be improving our body position
00:01:37
and leaning from the ankles a forward
00:01:40
lean is how advanced runners use gravity
00:01:43
to help propel them forwards the best
00:01:46
way you can practice doing this is by
00:01:47
stopping your runs and then just leaning
00:01:49
into it in my early days of running I
00:01:51
used to do this all the time just for
00:01:53
the first like 500 me of a run just
00:01:55
constantly stopping and starting just
00:01:57
leaning forward and starting running
00:01:59
like that your body will naturally go
00:02:01
into that nice forward lean and then you
00:02:03
can just relax stop and do it again and
00:02:05
just repeating this all the time will
00:02:07
really help you don't to do this on all
00:02:08
of your runs but maybe just a couple of
00:02:10
your easy runs throughout the week just
00:02:11
to practice also we want to really be
00:02:13
working on our core muscles doing things
00:02:16
like Bridges and planks will help build
00:02:19
that strong core that we need to support
00:02:21
all of our upper body as it rotates and
00:02:24
it keeps our arm strings in check
00:02:25
because all of this if you haven't got a
00:02:27
strong core all this going on is just
00:02:29
wasted energy we also want to make sure
00:02:31
our feet are landing nicely underneath
00:02:33
our Center of mass the foot strike
00:02:35
doesn't matter as much a midfoot strike
00:02:38
heel strike 4ft strike is not as
00:02:40
important what is important is making
00:02:42
sure it lands nicely underneath our
00:02:44
Center of mass this will be the best
00:02:46
place for our body to efficiently absorb
00:02:48
the impact and to maximize that energy
00:02:51
return to Spring Forward quite often
00:02:53
people will overstride and overreach
00:02:56
you're just constantly creating that
00:02:57
breaking force every time you run which
00:03:00
is just a complete waste of energy you
00:03:02
don't be applying the brakes bring that
00:03:04
back and we'll be able to move across
00:03:05
the ground in a far far more efficient
00:03:08
way I've got two other simple things we
00:03:11
can doing to improve our form the first
00:03:12
one is strides long-term viewers of the
00:03:15
channel know I talk about this all the
00:03:17
time they're absolutely fantastic quite
00:03:19
simply 20 seconds of really fast running
00:03:22
90 to 95% effort here with about a 20 to
00:03:26
30 second very relaxed chilled recovery
00:03:28
between each stride I'd really recommend
00:03:31
four to six strides put these maybe
00:03:33
after one of your easy runs during the
00:03:34
week you can even do them during one of
00:03:36
your easy runs as well it's very hard to
00:03:38
run this fast with bad running forms it
00:03:41
really helps train the brain to get
00:03:43
ourselves moving in a far more efficient
00:03:45
way the final one being Hill reps now
00:03:48
hear me out cuz Hill reps are really
00:03:49
really good yes of course they're hard
00:03:52
work but they really help promote a
00:03:53
really good foot placement again nicely
00:03:56
under that Center of mass and really
00:03:58
helps improve our strength as well they
00:04:00
get you really strong and moving in a
00:04:02
nice way strength training something
00:04:04
I've personally been doing a hell of a
00:04:06
lot this year and I'm really starting to
00:04:08
see the massive benefits in my own
00:04:11
running as well the stronger that our
00:04:13
muscles are the more Force we can put
00:04:15
through them and therefore run further
00:04:17
without tiring out quite as quickly now
00:04:20
this doesn't have to mean lifting huge
00:04:22
weights it can simply be doing some
00:04:24
basic exercises at home without the need
00:04:26
for any equipment just things like doing
00:04:29
some squat lunges calf raises all really
00:04:33
good for that leg strength and then
00:04:34
things like planks and bridges as well
00:04:37
will really help to improve our core
00:04:39
which as we talked about earlier really
00:04:41
good for supporting that upper body so
00:04:43
I'd recommend picking a few of these
00:04:44
different exercises and putting together
00:04:46
a little circuit for around about 20
00:04:48
minutes is a really good starting point
00:04:50
four exercises 1 minute for each
00:04:53
exercise four to five rounds of this
00:04:55
with just a minute rest between each
00:04:57
round I'd always recommend tagging these
00:04:59
onto your easy run days and make sure
00:05:01
you keep your rest days as complete rest
00:05:04
that's when our body's adapting
00:05:05
absorbing everything we're throwing
00:05:07
about it so you need to keep your rest
00:05:08
days as rest days add the strength work
00:05:10
to those easy run days we also do have a
00:05:13
strength guide which integrates into all
00:05:15
of our training plans which you can see
00:05:17
on our website whatever distance you're
00:05:18
training for check out benp parks.com
00:05:20
and add on that strength training option
00:05:22
if you want a complete guide on how to
00:05:24
integrate this with your training
00:05:26
thirdly is all about improving our
00:05:28
running Fitness and this may seem like a
00:05:30
really obvious one the fitter we get the
00:05:33
faster we'll get running at the same
00:05:35
sort of effort level but how do we work
00:05:36
at improving our running Fitness well
00:05:39
quite simply this is by doing some speed
00:05:41
sessions during the week couple of
00:05:42
really good ones 4 to 6times 3 minutes
00:05:45
at around about our 5K Pace with a
00:05:47
2minute walking recovery 3 to four reps
00:05:49
of 5 minutes around about our 10K Pace
00:05:52
with a 2-minute walk recovery or perhaps
00:05:54
try a pyramid session is 1 2 3 4 3 2 1
00:05:59
these numbers represent minutes of
00:06:00
running fast around about our 5 to 10K
00:06:03
pace for these with a 90c walking
00:06:06
recovery between the Reps now doing
00:06:08
sessions like this will really help
00:06:09
improve that V2 Max improve our running
00:06:12
Fitness overall but it also does add a
00:06:14
lot of stress to the body so it's really
00:06:16
important for the rest of the week to be
00:06:18
doing a lot of our easy miles and at
00:06:20
least making sure we're having one maybe
00:06:21
two full rest days during the week now
00:06:24
warming up before you head out on your
00:06:26
run is so important especially as we get
00:06:28
a little bit older and another way to
00:06:30
definitely make those early stages of
00:06:32
that run feel a hell of a lot easier so
00:06:35
make sure you're taking that 5 to 10
00:06:36
minutes to warm up properly before
00:06:38
you're heading out the door mobilizing
00:06:40
our joints with some dynamic stretches
00:06:43
we've got a really good follow along
00:06:44
video I'll link to that up here and down
00:06:46
below as well and then easing into that
00:06:49
run really nice and gradually that first
00:06:51
couple of Cs should be nice and relax a
00:06:53
lot slower than what we want to be doing
00:06:55
for our whole run and once you're up to
00:06:57
speed you'll feel far more relaxed and
00:06:59
using a lot less effort another thing
00:07:01
that can make running feel really hard
00:07:03
is when you haven't fueled or hydrated
00:07:05
properly beforehand now a lot of people
00:07:07
when they start out running either eat
00:07:08
far too much just before they head out
00:07:10
and they're going to feel very sluggish
00:07:11
and slow or they don't have enough and
00:07:14
then they're going to feel very sort of
00:07:15
weak and risk the chance of getting
00:07:17
dehydrated so I'd really recommend is
00:07:20
having a small snack or something around
00:07:21
about 30 minutes to 1 hour before
00:07:24
heading out and also avoiding the
00:07:26
hottest parts of the day as well you can
00:07:28
be running at exactly the the same Pace
00:07:30
that you'd used be running at but your
00:07:31
body is going to be having to put a lot
00:07:33
more effort into keeping you at the pace
00:07:35
that you want to be running at so make
00:07:37
sure you're heading out in the mornings
00:07:38
or in the evenings make sure you're
00:07:40
getting nicely hydrated with some good
00:07:42
fuel on board before you head out as
00:07:44
well and then you'll be using a lot less
00:07:46
effort running at the pace you want to
00:07:48
be running at now I wasn't sure whether
00:07:50
to put this one in the video so let me
00:07:51
know your thoughts down below all about
00:07:54
Super Shoes these carbon plated Super
00:07:56
Shoes that burst on the scene around
00:07:58
about sort of 6 seven years ago and now
00:08:01
pretty much every Pro so many amateur
00:08:04
Runners are going out and spending vast
00:08:05
amounts of money on these shoes in the
00:08:07
hope that they can be using less energy
00:08:09
to run from point A to point B in all
00:08:11
these shoes they have these carbon
00:08:12
plates that run throughout the whole
00:08:14
length of the shoe or some of them they
00:08:15
have Nyon plates and these plates help
00:08:18
to propel us forward with each stride
00:08:21
and then they have this huge chunk of
00:08:22
foam in there as well to help protect
00:08:24
the legs from that impact so our muscles
00:08:27
will be fatiguing a little bit L Nike's
00:08:30
famous 4% shoes I had my orange ones
00:08:33
I'll put those up on the screen now
00:08:34
claim to improve Times by as much as
00:08:36
that 4% so for a 4-Hour marathoner they
00:08:40
can be looking at a 10minute Improvement
00:08:41
going to 3our 50 so why wouldn't you
00:08:44
want that free speed will you
00:08:46
automatically just run faster by just
00:08:48
putting on a pair of these shoes well it
00:08:51
all depends in reality a lot of these
00:08:53
benefits are far more prominent in
00:08:55
Faster runners in a lot of the studies
00:08:57
they Define faster Runners by any anyone
00:08:59
running 4 hours or less for the marathon
00:09:02
but anyone can see these small
00:09:04
improvements by wearing a super shoe
00:09:06
compared to their regular shoe without a
00:09:08
doubt so why wouldn't we go about
00:09:10
wearing a super shoe every day well they
00:09:12
do have their downsizes they're very
00:09:14
very expensive for a start they're
00:09:16
uncomfortable they tend to not last very
00:09:18
long and they're also not very versatile
00:09:20
they really are only good at races and
00:09:23
during our speed sessions as well and
00:09:25
the body can come a little bit too
00:09:27
reliant on technology and we can
00:09:28
actually lose strength or not gain as
00:09:31
much strength as we could by running in
00:09:33
some more regular shoes we'll link to an
00:09:35
interesting article down below about why
00:09:37
doing all of your runs in Super Shoes
00:09:39
really is not the best idea but without
00:09:42
a doubt for the vast majority of people
00:09:43
doing our races in these new fangled
00:09:46
Super Shoes amazing things you've got
00:09:48
the cash to do it and you can afford to
00:09:50
do it they are going to make a
00:09:51
difference to our running time by
00:09:52
literally doing as this video says
00:09:54
moving from point A to point B using
00:09:56
less energy let me know down in the
00:09:58
comments have super shoes made a big
00:10:00
difference to you I'd love to know but
00:10:02
with all of this for me the biggest
00:10:04
improvements can be made by correcting
00:10:06
our running form which is where I'd
00:10:08
personally recommend that you spend a
00:10:09
lot of our efforts that is going to give
00:10:11
you some really good longterm gains in
00:10:13
running hopefully also decrease that
00:10:16
chance of picking up injuries as well so
00:10:18
let me know how you get on with all of
00:10:19
these tips if you've got some other ones
00:10:21
let me know down in the comments and
00:10:22
help out the running Community got two
00:10:24
different videos coming up next one all
00:10:26
about improving our Cadence and one all
00:10:28
about mental tricks to help you get out
00:10:30
there and run a little bit longer as
00:10:32
well so check those out keep on working
00:10:33
hard guys keep done we'll see you very
00:10:35
soon in the next one
