5 Tips To Keep You Running Through The Winter
5 Tips To Keep You Running Through The Winter
Let’s talk about enhancing your running performance. Do you want to set a new personal record on a race? Do you want to complete your first marathon, half-marathon, or 5k race? Improving running performance and preventing running injuries go hand in hand. It’s very unlikely that you’ll set a record if you’re trying to run through an injury. Here are five simple tips to help keep you healthy and help keep you running!
1. Give It A Rest
Your rest days are just as important as your training days. We need to allow our muscles and tendons adequate time to recover. Most of the running-related I see in the clinic are partly due to a programming issue; generally increasing training load volume too quickly and not allowing enough rest time. I’ve yet to see a runner get injured from taking a rest day, but I often see runners get injured from having too many training days. It’s okay to take days off from running and allow your body to recover.
2. Start A Strength Routine
Running is a phenomenal mode of exercise. However, running doesn’t stress our muscular system to develop strength or power. Unfortunately, regardless of the amount of time you jog, you will never be recruiting all of your muscle fibers. Certain muscle fibers require external loads to become activated. Runners who perform some sort of strength training regimen tend to perform better than those who don’t. I always recommend that runners include some sort of resistance training into their programming. For more on this topic, I suggest reading Maximizing Motor Units.
3. Give Your Body The Right Fuel
Nutrition is perhaps the most under-rated aspect of any athletic training program. I’m a strong believer that if we (as a society) put more emphasis on nutrition, we would see disease and injury rates decline. You can’t outrun a bad diet. Fuel your body with natural, healthy, energy-rich foods. If you’re looking for a place to ask nutritional questions and share nutritional information, be sure to check out this Facebook Group.
4. Lace Up Some New Boots
When was the last time you bought new running shoes? Remember, running shoes should be switched out after about 500 miles because of the decreased ability to absorb forces. Perhaps now might be a good time to invest in a new pair of running shoes. Also, remember to switch out multiple pairs of shoes throughout the week. You should be rotating at least 2 pairs of shoes. Here are some links to my previous posts on when to change your running shoes and how to choose running shoes.
5. Layer Up On Your Runs
As we move into the Fall season and approach Winter, it’s important to be smart about what you’re wearing on your runs. Some people love running in the cold weather and rain wearing just shorts and a t-shirt. If that’s what you love to do then by all means go for it! However, I generally suggest that people layer up on cold-weather runs, especially for runners who don’t do any sort of active warm-up. Our muscles tense up and get “tighter” in cold weather which can potentially increase risk of injury as you run. Be sure to layer up with appropriate gear for your cold-weather runs.
Upcoming Running Course!
Do you want to learn more about how to improve your running performance and prevent running-related injuries? I’ll be releasing a special online running course soon that I’ve created specifically for runners. The course will include tons of great content packed into 5 modules, with over 40 videos. More details to come! I’m hoping to have the course released to the public in October 2017. I will be offering discounts to anyone who shows interest in pre-registration below. If you’re interested, just enter your name and email below and I’ll send you an exclusive 50% OFF discount once the course is released!