Hey runners of Asheville and Western North Carolina! There are a few key factors that most of the fastest runners typically have. Three factors that most of the best runners have are:
-higher cadences and shorter strides
-small ground contact times
-stiffness at foot strike
Let’s think about each of these three factors and how you can apply them to your training for more successful running and lower risks of injury.
Higher Cadences and Shorter Strides:
Running cadence is your step rate per minute. It’s the number of times both feet hit the ground in one minute. Your cadence is going to vary depending on a lot of factors such your height, intensity you’re running, terrain, and more.
There is no magic number. However, there is a generalized recommendation of 180 steps per minute. For recreational runners completing a typical mile in 10+ minutes, then their cadence can be 160+. For someone running at a pace of less than 10 minutes per mile, then they should strive to be 170+ steps per minute. This is a good guideline for most.
Longer strides do not equal faster running times. In fact, they are slower as your body is having to absorb and slow yourself down more with a longer stride. Also, many runners develop injuries related to overstriding.
The solution is to work on finding a more optimal stride length and leg turnover. But getting good at accepting impact when you land and applying force into the ground to propel yourself forward is best improved with power and plyometric training. Skip to the end for some of my favorite training examples.
Lower your Ground Contact Times:
Ground contact time is the total time spent with your foot in contact with the ground (kinda obvious right? haha). So while we want a lot of contact in the ground within a minute (higher cadences), we want those contacts to be short and powerful to propel us forward. A short ground contact time reduces your running economy and makes you faster.
How do we train this? Adding sprint work and specific power-based training is the key. Skip to the end for some of my favorite training examples.
Stiffness at Foot Strike:
This topic can get a bit anatomically complex. But to simplify, we want really strong, stiff, and durable tendons and muscles in order to produce high amounts of force. This is achieved with heavy lifting as well as plyometrics. It’s also part of what will help prevent tendon issues which effects many runners.
Asheville Runners: What is the Importance of Plyometrics and Power Training?
Power = Force divided by Time
Force is your strength output and the time is how quickly you can use that strength. This demonstrates how important good strength and conditioning routines are for runners in order to develop power in their running.
Key Training Principle:
-You must lift heavy weights at times. You cannot do 3 set of 15-20 repetitions at a lighter weight and get the stimulus you need for developing strength and tendon stiffness.
-Your INTENT matters. When you’re training for power, you have to go into the exercise with the intention to perform it with the highest intensity. You have to move it fast!
Examples of Applications for Power and Plyometrics in Training for Runners:
-Perform heavier weight training: This is not at maxed-out weights but consider that your last few reps need to create fatigue without your form breaking down. The weight for slow and controlled strength building is going to be heavier while the weight for a power-focused movement is a bit closer to moderate. Both are effective for building strength and tendon durability. A more moderate weight moved quickly is more applicable to power. Examples of effective set/rep schemes for the runner would typically be 3-5 sets of 4-8 reps.
Power Exercise Examples:
-Moderate to higher intensity squats with a slow tempo down and max effort power-focused rise from the bottom of the squat
-Higher intensity squats with a slow tempo both up and down
-Step-ups focusing on powering up as quickly as possible
-Medball slams
-Kettlebell swings
-Plyometric Exercise Examples:
-Large amplitude movements like box jumps, broad jumps, squat jumps
-Small amplitude movements like jump roping, small single leg stationary hops
-Hill sprints or stair sprints
-Band assisted jumps to help shorten your ground contact times more than normal and create stiffness/quickness (example: mount a band on a pull-up bar, hold on with hands, perform jumping variation of your choice while assisted with your arms to help you jump as high as possible and get off the ground as quickly as possible)
Asheville friends, I hope this was helpful. Happy running AND training!
Sincerely,
Dr. Sieara Hinshaw
828-808-3704
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