Running Guide How to run effectively for a healthy lifestyle

By Emma Spooner, PhD

Physiological Benefits

Psychological Benefits

Injuries: Runner’s Knee, Shin Splints, Plantar Fasciitis

Training for Speed vs. Distance

Mud Running

Running Apps

Why Running?

Running is one of the simplest and most effective ways to get in shape and to be active. You don’t need fancy equipment to get your heart pumping. You only need your body and a little bit of space to have an efficient and invigorating workout. Running is an important exercise to include in your workout schedule because of its many benefits. The President’s Council on Fitness and Sports names it as one of the most popular activities for cardiorespiratory endurance. Running is of course a great way to burn calories, but weight loss is not the only benefit. Running strengthens your heart and lungs and builds muscle particularly in your hamstrings and quadriceps. Running also helps lower your blood pressure, helps your arteries maintain their elasticity and strength, and helps slow down the aging process. In addition to the physiological benefits, running also provides psychological benefits. Running releases endorphins, and regular runners report feeling happier and less stressed than those who do not. The elated feeling reported during running has often been likened to euphoria, and is referred to as a runner’s high. However, running is a high impact sport that can place stress on the body, and with that stress comes some risk. Not surprisingly, most of the injuries happen to your lower body, which absorbs most of the impact due to running. Too much stress on the body at one time can lead to a break down somewhere. Three of the most common running injuries are: runner’s knee, shin splints and plantar fasciitis. Running Apps—according to Runner’s World the top 6 best runners apps are:

1. Run Keeper 2. Strava 3. Map my Run 4. Couch to 5km 5. Wahoo 6. Mcrun

Running Injuries

Runner’s knee is reported to affect up to 10% of runners at some stage of their running career. Again, the cause of runner’s knee is placing too much stress on the body too quickly and overloading the knee’s ligaments. Runners need to train smarter not necessarily harder. The easiest way to prevent Runner’s Knee is to slowly and gradually increase the intensity of your training, rather than piling it all on at once. The body is great at adapting to stress, but it needs time to adapt to the new exercise. Also, give your body time adequate time to recover. If you are new to running, you may want to take a day or two off in between runs until your body adapts and you can increase the frequency of your training. Shin splints, is another common injury. Shin splints are caused by excessive loading of the shins, through the pounding motion of running, and often hurt even when walking. Pain is usually felt along the inner border of the tibia. The treatment for shin splints is often just rest. Shin splints usually heal on their own as the body adapts. However, if the problem persists, then some physiotherapy may be needed to alleviate the stress. Changing your shoes may also help the problem—choose shock-absorbing characteristics that can reduce the force of impact on the lower legs Plantar fasciitis is a result of the inflammation of band of connective tissue on the bottom of the foot that runs from the heel to the toes. It usually manifests as pain in the heel area, and is often caused by inadequate footwear or improper technique and results in microscopic tears in the plantar fascia which then loses its ability to support the arch. Since plantar fasciitis is an overuse injury, the best treatment is a reduction in the volume and intensity of your workout. You can also massage the area by rolling your foot over a small foam roller, golf or tennis ball or a full plastic water bottle that has been frozen. Roll your feet for a few minutes at a time for a few times each day.

Running Safely

Because of the stress involved when running, preparing for your run is just as important as the run itself. A proper warm up is crucial. A proper warm up should begin with light aerobic exercise for 5-10 mins, and then be followed with a light stretch to elongate the muscles. Make sure to stretch all applicable muscles, which not only include the muscles of the lower body, such as the quadriceps, the hamstrings, and the calves, but also include muscles in your upper body, such as your shoulders, neck and arms.

Stretching and a longer aerobic warm up are particularly important for short, intense or explosive type runs. For these types of runs your muscles require as much blood flow as possible to prevent injury. While a proper warm-up is important for all exercise, on easy run days or longer runs, your aerobic warm up only needs about 5 mins since the longer run will give your body more time to adapt because the speed is lower and more gradual. There is a difference between training for speed work and training for distance work and it is important to train both correctly to minimize the chance of injury. Speed work recruits fast twitch muscles and works off the anaerobic system. Fast-twitch fibers have many characteristics needed for strength, speed, and power. They contract quickly but fatigue easily. During short-term, intense activities, a large amount of power needs to be produced by the muscles. The muscles then have a high demand for ATP. Anaerobic glycolysis is the predominant energy system used for all-out running lasting from 30 seconds to about two minutes. Speed work requires a base aerobic capacity but there should be a greater emphasis on interval training and higher intensity workouts.

Running Science

We rely on anaerobic glycolysis when oxygen is not supplied fast enough to meet our muscles’ needs for ATP. When the demand for ATP is not met muscles lose their ability to contract and results in acidosis. The purpose of speed work is to increase your anaerobic threshold—your body adapts so that it can hold a faster pace for a longer amount of time before fatigue sets in. Training for sprinting requires strength and the development of our fast twitch muscle fibres. Exercises like weight lifting and plyometrics as well as short bursts of speed are optimal. Distance training relies on the aerobic system and slow twitch fibres. Slow-twitch fibers have many characteristics needed for endurance. Compared to fast twitch fibers, slow-twitch fibers contract slowly, but they are resistant to fatigue. A run longer than two minutes relies most heavily on the aerobic system and our slow twitch muscles. For long runs, our running performance is dependent on the aerobic system. The better our aerobic system i.e. the more efficient we are at energy production, the faster and longer we can run before we fatigue. Training for distance means focusing on the improvement of our aerobic capacity. This means longer durations at a lower intensity. However, according to the top running experts both sprinters and distance runners should incorporate both types of training (sprint training and long-distance training) into their routines.

Mud Running

Mud running has become a popular alternative to traditional runs. Mud runs are pretty much what they sound like—running through mud. At the most basic, mud runs are a course filled with mud pit obstacles. More advanced mud runs also include more advanced obstacles like walls, army crawls under wire, sandbag carries and monkey bars Mud running is popular because it is fun. The challenge, excitement, sense of camaraderie and uniqueness are attractive alternatives to traditional running or other exercises. The variety of obstacles and instability of the running course mean you will recruit and work muscles you might not ordinarily target. This means your body is being challenged and you can see gains in fitness quickly. Many of the events aren’t timed, so the pressure is off. Mud runs are about the mental and physical challenge of the course and enjoying the experience. Men and women of all ages and abilities can participate. By Emma Spooner PhD Before becoming a professor, Emma swam on the national team and represented Canada at the international level. Emma is a certified Ripped instructor as well as certified as a RevO₂lution Running instructor and BodyShred instructor. Emma is passionate about helping others find the joy in active living. Emma loves pretty much all fitness activities and her favorite motivational saying is “I hope you ate your wheaties today!”.