How to run faster
Date: 08/04/2024Do you want to improve your running speed? You’ll want to try plyometric exercises and weight traning to enchance your performance! Why?
There’s no doubt that specificity is important. That means, if you want to become better at something, you need to do more of that thing. Want to be better at running? Keep running! But increasing power in every push off will have you running faster before you know it. Heavy weights and plyometric exercise is essensial for building the power you need in every step. Being a well-rouned runner, you’ll want to do exercises that improves your running form as well. Try doing stability exercises for hips, knees and ankles. You can check out our app, Trigo, to get access to our exercise routine for runners that want to run faster. Let’s look closer at the plyometric, strengthening and stability training:
Plyometric to run faster
Plyometric strength is being able to create maximum force fast. Examples of plyometric exercises are vertical jumps, split squat jumps, burpees, forward hops and skipping rope. Plyometric exercise actives the fast-twitch fibres in your muscles. Fast-twitch fibres are responsible for explosive movements and speed. Having more power in your push off will have you moving forwards faster.
Advice for plyometric exercise
- You need proper warm up. Plyometrics places a lot of deman on your mucles, and if your muscles aren’t ready to perform, you run the risk of injury.
- Be prepared to give 100%. Your goal is to increase your muscles ability to generate maximum power. You won’t do that if you don’t give it everything you’ve got. It’s better to do a short and intense work than going for a longer work out where you lose focus.
- Make sure to have long breaks in between evey set. Again, you want to be able to give 100%, you can’t do that with 30 second breaks.
- Avoid doing plyometrics at the end of your work out if you’re also doing other exercises.
- Do plyometrics at least once a week to have effect. But don’t do it too often, it requires a lot of rest. 1-3 times a week should be enough.
Lift heavy to run faster
Being stronger will have you running faster and longer. That’s because increased muscle strength will reduce the “cost” of every push off, so you’ll have more energy for every step.
Advice for weight lifting
- Proper warm up will prepare your muscles for lifting heavy, and will educe your risk of injury.
- If you’re not used to lifting heavy weights, you shouldn’t try to without preparing your self for a few weeks. Start by doing 15-20 repetitions for 3-4 weeks. Then reduce the number of repetitions gradually every work out, while increasing weights.
- Do 3-4 sets of 5-7 repetitions. You should barely be able to complete the last repetition of each set, but don’t go to failure.
- Heavy weigh lifting requires a lot of rest. 1-3 times a week should be sufficient, you’ll want to have the time and energy for your running sessions as well.
Hip, knee and ankle stability for better running form
Proper running form is essensial if you want to run faster, longer and avoid injuries. If you lack stability around your hips, knees and/or ankles, that will have your running form become ineffective. You might have a pelvic drop or you might not be able to extend your lower body in order to get a powerful push off. Including a few activities in your exercise routine to increase stability can help you become a better runner!
Advice for stability exercises
- Stability exercises are a good idea to do as part of your warm up. It increases muscle-mind control, and you’ll benefit from that when running or lifting afterwards.
- Make sure to be 100% focused. You can do a lot of stability exercises with out actually haing an effect if you don’t focus on keeping your joints stable while performing the activity or movement.
- Thinking stability when doing plyometric exercises will be beneficial for running. Make sure to stick the lading in jumping exercises and be sure to correct unnecessary movements in your hips, knees or ankles as you land.
- Stability exercises usually on’t require a lot of rest, and can be done frequently.
Can I do plyometrics, weights and runnings in the same work out?
Many of us don’t have the time to do 2-3 sessions of weight lifting every week, and then going for 3-4 runs. For many years we’ve been told not to do weight lifing and cardio on the same day. It was believed that that would decrease the effect of your exercise. New research is showing that that might not be true, you can do weight lifting and running the same day, and still have very effective work outs. And, unless you’re an elite athlete, you don’t need to optimize every single detail of your work outs. You can adjust your work outs to fit into yoiur weekly schedule, do what you can, and still have progress. With that said, we want to add: If you do hight intensity intervall training, yoiu might not want to do heavy weight lifting that requires good form, technique and focus directly afterwards.
But what if I don’t have access to a gym, but want to get stronger to run faster?
Plyometric exercises can be done almost anywhere and without any equipment. But what about the heavy lifting? Even if you don’t have access to heavy weights, doing exercises at home to get stronger leg muscles will improve your running. Research has shown that if you exercise frequently, you don’t need to lift heavy, but you’ll still have strenghtening effect. That means that higher repetitions, lower weights, but exercising a little more often will make you stronger. Do what you can with what you have, as long as you make sure to challenge your self, you can’t avoid becoming at least a little stronger, and that will boost your running.
Injuries
To avoid injuries, make sure to get enough rest, sleep, hydration and nutritious foods. Exercising too much, too heavy or without variety will increase your risk of injury. Many running injuries are either due to increasing volume too fast, or due to weakness in hips, knees or ankles that affect your running form. If you feel like you’re always having some kind of running injury, you might want to book an appointment with our physiotherapist and founder, Frode. He was assistent coach for Fana Elite Handball womans team. Normally in womens handball, 4% of elite players tear their ACL every year. After Frode implemented prehab exercises for the team, they had no ACL injuries in 6 years.
Good luck!
When injury occurs, you’ll benefit from knowing a litte about PEACE and LOVE, click here to read more!
References
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2. Det medisinske fakultet (2012). Hvorfor ryker korsbåndet? Universitetet i Oslo. https://www.med.uio.no/forskning/aktuelt/aktuelle-saker/2012/hvorfor-ryker-korsbandet.html
3. Rønnestad BR, Mujika I. Optimizing strength training for running and cycling endurance performance: A review. Scand J Med Sci Sports. 2014 Aug;24(4):603-12. doi: 10.1111/sms.12104. Epub 2013 Aug 5. PMID: 23914932.