Mark: Right then. Whilst out running, who experiences those inner thoughts to stop?
I'd imagine a fair few of you out there, myself included, and I've been running for years.
Now, unfortunately, there is no escaping the fact that running is pretty tiring business,
but that's also what makes it so good for improving fitness, for improving health, and,
for some, a really good method for managing weight. It's also just great fun. Today I'm
going to be showing six tips to help you run without getting tired.
[music] Before you actually begin running, you want
to think about a warm-up. Now you probably had this drilled into you as a kid back at
sports practice or in school. I'm going to be preaching it to you today as well, I'm
very sorry, but don't expect to head out of the door and start running at full tilt, your
body will not know what's hit it. Ideally, you want to allow yourself a few minutes prior
to the run where you'll do a little bit of light mobility or a little bit of light dynamic
stretching. Then you do actually start running, just build into it really gradually. Maybe
over the first five minutes, starting from a nice easy pace, and building up.
The same applies for the end of run. Don't just go from full gas to nothing in a split
second, you want to bring that pace down gradually, again ideally over the final five minutes.
Then when you are finished, the body is nice and warm, muscles are warm, use that time
to do some stretching. [music]
My next tip is breathing. Obviously, you all know how to breathe. Oddly though, this does
cause a few issues when it comes to running. You may have heard people talking about, "Breathe
in through the nose and out through the mouth." Fine for light exercise such as yoga, not
so good for running. Your muscles need oxygen to be able to keep functioning and to keep
moving. You get more oxygen in through your mouth per breath than you do through your
nose. That's not to say you should never use your nose, but as the pace picks up or the
intensity picks up, I definitely recommend switching to breathing in through your mouth.
It's the rhythm of the breathing that really gets people. At a comfortable running pace,
I'd normally suggest something along the lines of a two by two or a three by three rhythm.
Essentially breathing in for two or three strides, and then exhaling for two or three
strides. Then as the pace picks up or the intensity picks up, switch to a two by one
rhythm. Breathe in for two strides, exhale for one stride.
[music] It goes without saying you need to be healthy
and in okay shape to be able to run. The usual standards apply, try to limit the amount of
junk food, make sure you stay hydrated drinking plenty of water and staying on top of that
fruit and veg that we're always told to do because, at the end of day, a well-balanced
diet will go a long way in terms of keeping us healthy, and also keeping our weight down
or managed well which in turn will make running easier.
That hydration point is really important because our body alone is actually made up of 60%
water. The blood, 93% water. Our muscles, 73% water. Needless to say, hydration is pretty
darn important. Prior to run, you want to make sure you've drunk plenty, then when you
come back from the run, you're replenishing that water as quickly as possible.
[music] One of the biggest complaints I hear of running
is the pacing. In other words, gauging how hard you go over the certain distance that
you're hoping to cover. Now let's be clear here, heading out of the door and trying to
set a PB on every single run over a certain distance or a course that you regularly do
is not a very good idea. In fact, that's a very quick way of losing your enjoyment of
running. If you follow our advice on doing a nice good warm-up and building into things,
then focusing on holding that nice comfortable and sustainable pace, you should be on to
a winner. If you still feel the urge to stop, just back the pace off slightly, allow yourself
time to recover. If still, you feel that urge to stop, then just drop it down to a walk.
There's nothing wrong with doing brief periods of walking, I still do it on my occasional
runs. What it does do is it allows me then to just reset, refocus, recover, and crack
on, and get my run done without cutting it short.
[music] All right then, what about technique? Clearly
having good form, posture, and technique will go a long way towards staving off your fatigue
mid-run and towards the end of your run, but technique is a pretty big topic, and probably
deserves a video in itself which, fortunately, we do have. I'll pop it up at the end of this
one so you can head on over and check that out, but in essence, having a good technique
will help you to run more efficiently. In other words, trying to use your energy more
wisely rather than wasting it. Now I'll share a couple of quick tips with you today, one
of which is in terms of stride length. A lot of people overstride, so just try and focus
on keeping that cadence, and turn over the legs nice and quick.
Also try to keep your head, your shoulders, and your arms nice and relaxed so that the
arms come through nice and freely. Then try to look around 20 to 30 meters ahead of you
when you're running, rather than looking up in the sky or straight down at the ground.
Then as you really fatigue, a nice cue that's helped me over the years, at least, is try
to think about pointing with your knees so you get a nice knee drive, and then focus
on flicking your heels up towards your hamstrings. [music]
My final couple of tips for you, one of which is have fun, enjoy it. Running is one of the
simplest forms of exercise, all you need is a pair of running shoes and off you go. Also,
don't start out by doing a run every single day. I'd advise if you are new to running,
doing one day on, one day off. As you progress, maybe going to two days on, one day off. Also,
find a running buddy, it's great for motivating you and getting out the of door, particularly
on those days when you're just struggling to do that, even if it's just your dog. I
hope you have enjoyed today's video, make sure you give it a Like. If you'd like to
see more from GTN, just follow us on social media or on the YouTube channel.
[00:06:32] [END OF AUDIO]