Saturday, January 19, 2013

5 Quick Tips To Be A Healthier Runner


Small Changes Can Make A Big Difference.  As Individual As Running Is, Try These Out And See If You Notice A Difference.


DRINK MORE WATER:

Make drinking a glass of water the first you do after you wake up and the last thing you do before you go to bed.  Improper hydration can lead to injury and impede the recovery process.

STRETCH:
Take a few minutes to stretch after your run.  It only requires a small amount of time but focusing on the larger muscle groups is a quick way to keep you feeling good. (Calves, Quads, Hamstrings)


STRIDE:

Do 4-6 strides one or two times a week after your normal runs.  Progress through the stride of about 100 meters and finish running near 80-85% speed.  This quick little shot of turnover is often a great cure for breaking your muscles out the monotonous rhythm of your daily run.  They don’t need to be hard, just quick enough to improve range of motion and remind your body that it can go fast.

SNACK SMART:

Snack right anyway.  When reaching for your post-run reload or your midday snack replace what you would normally eat with fruit or whole grain.  You don’t have to do this often; but consider if you change out fruit for chips once or a twice a week you are adding 50-100 servings of healthy calories, vitamins, and minerals while cutting 50-100 servings that would otherwise be high in saturated fat.

GET FITTED:

Go to your local run specialty store and have them perform gait analysis for you to determine that you are running in the right type of shoe.  They will be able to help you determine to which degree you pronate or supinate and can also recommend a shoe that will suit your particular situation.  I would recommend a running shop over a big box store because often they do a better job of providing the proper shoe versus an employee of a larger store who may not even run but thinks that “Brand X Looks Cool.”  Wearing the proper type of footwear can save you plenty of aches, pains, and breaks….. So Why Not?

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