Legs Feeling Heavy While Running? Fix It NOW! (Part 1/2)
Summary
TLDRThis video discusses why your legs may feel heavy while running and offers practical solutions to overcome this issue. It explains General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS) and how stress affects your body in running. Key factors include lack of sleep, poor running form, overtraining, and improper nutrition. The video highlights the importance of strength training, the right running shoes, and maintaining a balanced diet rich in carbs, fats, and protein. It also provides tips on improving sleep, running technique, and avoiding overtraining to enhance performance and reduce leg fatigue.
Takeaways
- đ One main cause of heavy legs during running is a lack of quality sleep. Aim for 7-9 hours per night and avoid late-day caffeine or screen time.
- đ Poor running form can contribute to heavy legs. Focus on landing on your forefoot, keeping your chest up, and running with a long tailbone.
- đȘ Foot strength plays a big role in reducing leg fatigue. Strengthening exercises like toe pickups and calf raises can help.
- đ„ Excessive weight training can lead to fatigue and soreness, impacting running performance. Two to three sessions per week is ideal.
- đ Overtraining can cause constant tiredness, slower runs, and increased injury risk. Include deload weeks every four weeks to allow recovery.
- đ Wearing the wrong shoes for your pronation can cause heavy legs. Get a proper gait analysis to choose the right type of shoes.
- đ Eating enough quality carbs, fats, and protein is essential for energy and recovery. Carbs fuel runs, fats provide long-term energy, and protein helps repair muscles.
- đ Aim for at least 1.6g of protein per kilogram of body weight daily. Distribute protein intake throughout the day for optimal muscle recovery.
- đ Do strength training on different days than running to avoid impacting performance. If done on the same day, run first and lift weights afterward.
- â± Give yourself 24-72 hours of recovery between weight training sessions to ensure you are fresh for your next workout or run.
Q & A
What is General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS) and how does it relate to running?
-General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS) describes the process your body goes through when exposed to stress, such as running. It consists of three stages: alarm, resistance, and exhaustion. If the stress isn't resolved, it can lead to physical and mental health problems, including heavy legs during running.
How does lack of sleep affect running performance?
-Lack of sleep can make your runs feel harder, increase your risk of injury, reduce your running speed, impair concentration, slow reaction time, and lead to poor running form. It can also contribute to the feeling of heavy legs during running.
What are some tips to improve sleep quality for runners?
-To improve sleep quality, try to sleep in cycles, avoid caffeine late in the day, avoid phone or TV screens 90 minutes before bed, take naps during the day if possible, and prioritize sleep just like you would your running training.
How does running form impact the feeling of heavy legs?
-Poor running form can lead to heavy legs because you put more pressure and force through your legs with each stride. Improving form, such as switching from heel striking to forefoot striking, can reduce the strain on your legs and help them feel lighter after runs.
Why is foot strength important for preventing heavy legs during running?
-Strong feet help absorb force while running. If your feet aren't strong enough, the rest of your leg has to absorb more impact, making your legs feel heavier. Exercises like toe pickups and calf raises can improve foot strength and reduce this strain.
How can improper arm movement during running contribute to fatigue?
-Improper arm movement, such as crossing the center line of your body, wastes energy and makes you work harder than necessary. Keeping your arms moving in a natural path with shorter levers conserves energy and reduces overall fatigue.
How can weight training negatively impact running performance?
-Excessive weight training, especially lifting too heavy, can make your muscles sore and fatigued, leading to slower running performance. To avoid this, strength train on separate days from your runs or run first before lifting weights.
What are signs of overtraining, and how can you avoid it?
-Signs of overtraining include declining running performance, constant fatigue, hard-feeling runs, frequent injuries, and increased vulnerability to illness. To avoid overtraining, incorporate 'deload' weeks into your plan, where you reduce intensity and volume to allow recovery.
How do shoes affect the feeling of heavy legs during running?
-Wearing the wrong shoes can contribute to heavy legs. Itâs important to wear shoes that match your pronation type (neutral, supinating, or overpronating) and replace them every 300-500 miles to avoid excessive wear and discomfort.
How does nutrition play a role in preventing heavy legs when running?
-Proper nutrition, including adequate intake of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins, is crucial for energy and muscle recovery. Carbs provide energy for your runs, fats support longer distances, and protein helps muscles repair and rebuild, all of which can prevent heavy legs.
Outlines
đââïž Understanding Heavy Legs When Running
In this video, the presenter discusses why runners may experience heavy legs and offers solutions to prevent it in future runs. The video is part one of a two-part series. The first reason explored is a lack of sleep, which negatively impacts running by making legs feel heavy, increasing the risk of injury, and slowing down performance. Tips for better sleep include following sleep cycles, avoiding caffeine, and reducing screen time before bed. Another factor is running formâpoor form increases stress on the legs. Runners should focus on foot strike, arm movement, and keeping their chest up while running.
đ Improving Running Form and Strength to Avoid Heavy Legs
This section emphasizes that strength and foot stability are crucial for preventing heavy legs. Proper foot strike (landing on the forefoot) helps reduce pressure on the legs, while arm movement should follow a natural, short-lever motion to conserve energy. Overtraining in the gym, especially lifting too much weight, can also lead to sore legs and poor running performance. The video suggests balancing strength training with rest and recovery, scheduling strength sessions appropriately, and personalizing training plans for optimal results.
đȘ Avoiding Overtraining and Choosing the Right Footwear
Runners are warned about overtraining and its impact on heavy legs, citing fatigue, declining performance, and increased risk of injury. The solution is to implement recovery periods, like 'deload weeks,' to allow the body to recover. Additionally, wearing improper shoes can contribute to heavy legs. Runners should wear shoes suited to their pronation type (neutral, supination, or over-pronation) and replace them every 300-500 miles. The video provides guidelines on shoe selection based on wear patterns and emphasizes having different pairs for regular training and race days.
đ Fueling Your Body: Carbs, Fats, and Protein
The final part highlights the importance of proper nutrition in avoiding heavy legs. Carbohydrates are essential for maintaining glycogen levels, while fats provide long-term energy for longer runs. Protein is crucial for muscle repair and recovery, and runners are advised to consume 1.6g of protein per kilogram of body weight daily. Tips include eating balanced meals with all macronutrients, spreading protein intake throughout the day, and consuming a protein shake within 30 minutes post-run for optimal recovery. This marks the end of part one, encouraging viewers to watch part two for more insights.
Mindmap
Keywords
đĄGeneral Adaptation Syndrome (GAS)
đĄSleep
đĄRunning Form
đĄFoot Strength
đĄWeight Training
đĄOvertraining
đĄPronation
đĄCarbohydrates
đĄProtein
đĄRunning Shoes
Highlights
One of the main causes of heavy legs is a lack of good quality sleep, which also impacts running performance and increases injury risk.
Most people need between 7 to 9 hours of sleep per night to avoid heavy legs and improve running efficiency.
Running with poor form can lead to heavy legs by putting unnecessary strain on your body.
Heel striking while running adds more pressure on the legs, and shifting to forefoot striking improves biomechanics and reduces fatigue.
Strengthening your feet with exercises like toe pickups and calf raises can alleviate stress on your legs and reduce the feeling of heaviness.
Proper arm movement while running can conserve energy and improve running efficiency, reducing the feeling of heavy legs.
Overdoing weight training can lead to muscle soreness and heavier legs, especially if lifting too heavy.
Balancing strength training with running is essentialârunning should be prioritized before weight sessions to prevent muscle fatigue.
Overtraining without proper recovery can cause physical fatigue, leading to heavier legs and declining running performance.
Deload weeks are recommended every 4 weeks, reducing training intensity and volume to prevent overtraining and leg fatigue.
Wearing the wrong type of shoes for your gait can cause heavy legs; itâs crucial to wear shoes suited for your pronation type.
Runners should replace their shoes every 300 to 500 miles to avoid leg fatigue caused by worn-out shoes.
Proper nutrition, including sufficient carbs, fats, and proteins, is critical to avoiding heavy legs during runs.
Carbohydrates are the primary energy source for runners, and low glycogen levels can cause muscle fatigue and heavier legs.
Consuming protein within 30 minutes post-exercise helps muscle recovery and reduces leg heaviness, with a recommended intake of 1.6g of protein per kg of body weight.
Transcripts
do your legs feel heavy when running if
so you're in the right place because in
this video I'm going to show you seven
reasons why this could be happening as
well as everything that you can do right
now to make sure this doesn't happen
going into your next run there's going
to be two videos this is part one so
make sure that you watch part two after
this one to give you context to why this
happens Nick is going to walk you
through General Adaptation Syndrome or
gas for short General Adaptation
Syndrome or gas describes the process
your body goes through when you're
exposed to any kind of stress in this
case running it has three stages alarm
resistance and exhaust I if you don't
resolve the stress that has triggered
gas it can lead to physical and mental
health problems today we're talking
about physical and why you've got those
heavy legs during your run here are the
factors that could be causing it and how
you can fix them one of the main causes
of heavy legs is how much good quality
sleep you are or aren't getting right
now one in three people are not getting
enough sleep apart from getting heavy
legs when you run lack of sleep makes
your runs feel harder increases your
risk of injury affects the speed that
you can run at impacts your
concentration levels decreases your
reaction time and can lead to poor
running form the amount of sleep varies
from person to person most people will
need somewhere between 7 to 9 hours of
sleep per night though here are a few
ways you can get more sleep sleep in
Cycles not hours avoid caffeine late in
the day come off your phone and stop
watching TV 90 minutes before your
planned sleep time nap in the day if you
can and make sleep a priority like your
run training we've also put together a
video that is appearing here now showing
you 25 science back ways you can sleep
better so click here now if you want to
watch that too running can be taxing on
your legs especially if you aren't
running with good form you put two to
three times your body weight into the
ground with each stride running with
poor form it's going to leave those legs
feeling battered heavy and make you more
prone to injury we all make different
and run slightly differently too but
there are certain elements of your
running form that if you get them right
will make you less tired improve your
performance and end those heavy legs
where you strike the ground with your
foot matters if you're a heel Striker
it's time to change that apart from
putting the brakes on with every single
step you're putting much more pressure
and force through those legs by moving
to landing on your forefoot you're
propelling yourself forward with each
step and improving your biomechanics and
your legs are going to feel better after
you run if you're looking at the ground
when you run stop keep your chest up and
forward think of it as running with a
long tailbone this is going to get you
running more efficient and require less
effort how strong are your feet if your
feet can't absorb Force when you're
running the rest of your leg has to take
the line share of that impact improving
your overall foot strength with
exercises like tow pickup Cs and calf
raises will take the stress away from
the rest of the leg and make them feel
less Heavy after you run how you move
your arms when you run has an impact on
the rest of your body and how that moves
too imagine you're holding a rope in
each hand when you're running keep your
levers short to conserve energy and
don't be afraid to follow the natural
path of your arms as they twist slightly
also make sure your arms aren't crossing
the center line of your body when you
run this wastes energy and means you'll
be working harder than you need to
another reason could be that you're
doing too much weight training an
important quality in all Fast Runners is
strength your body needs to be strong
enough to transfer Force through your
body so that you can run faster with
more efficiency but you don't want to
overdo things in the weight room though
from our experience chasing PBS and
lifting too heavy in the weight room
will make you a slower Runner if you can
squat 1.5 times your body weight
deadlift 1.75 times your body weight and
press up your body weight for 10 to 20
reps you have plenty enough strength for
running we've ever done it in the
weights room before and it will make
your muscle sore tired and running a lot
harder so how should you be strength
training as a runner the amount of
training that you need to do depends on
your age your Fitness level what you can
tolerate where you are in your running
seasons and many other factors it's why
every single one of our running clients
gets a unique periodized training
program that is personal to them and
them alone but here are some general
guidelines to follow when it comes to
strength training as a runner do your
weight sessions on different days to
your runs if you can't do this make sure
that you run first and then do weights
after we found that this doesn't take
anything away from your run performances
but it will if you do your weights first
and then you run after you should also 2
to 3 days between each weight training
session in our experience we've found
somewhere between 24 to 72 hours is
enough time to recover for your next
weight session also only do two to three
weight sessions a week with the right
program this is the most amount of
strength conditioning Runners will need
we only ever do two or three weight
sessions a week depending on where we
are in our running season we love to
push ourselves when we run the
endorphins kicking and let's face it
it's a great way to come off a busy
stressful day but if you run every run
or do every workout 100% you're soon
going to notice the signs of over
training if your running performance is
declining you find yourself feeling
constantly tired and every run feels
hard injuries are starting to happen and
you becoming more prone to colds and
bugs than the chances are you're
overtraining firstly give yourself a
break for at least a few days and see if
those signs of overtraining start to
subside if they do you've identified the
problem the long-term solution is to add
D loads into your training plan we
schedu in D Lo weeks for our clients
every 4 weeks this gives our clients
time to recover from intense training
and adapt and become Stronger Faster
Runners DS involve dropping intensity
and volume in your runs and workouts
this could be running for 10 minutes
Less on a DLo week and easing off the
pace in the gym this could be doing one
less set with less weight wearing the
wrong shoes can make your legs feel
heavy too you need shoes that suit your
pronation neutral and super nating
Runners should get a neutral running
shoe and over pronating Runners should
get a stability shoe but how do you know
which type of pronation you are go to
your local running store and have them
analyze your Gat then you can come and
select a pair of running shoes that
match your pro Nation you can also check
the wear on your current pair of running
shoes neutral Runners have wear on the
middle of their shoe super nating
Runners have wear on the outside of
their shoe and over pronating Runners
have wear on the inside of their shoe we
recommend having a more cushion pair of
trainers to train week in week out and a
lighter pair that you can save for race
days or your next Park room and also
remember to replace your run shoes every
3 to 500 Miles we've actually made a
video on our Channel showing you in
detail what shoes you should get as a
runner so click here if you'd like to
watch that too are you eating enough
carbs fat fats and protein fuing your
body properly with all three is
imperative carbs are your body's
preferred energy source if you're not
eating enough carbs you'll have less
glycogen in your muscles and less energy
on your runs now make sure you're
getting your carbs from good quality
carbohydrates fruit and vegetables
should be top of your list make sure you
aren't running on an empty stomach
either and having enough carbs before
you run next fats the distance you're
running will determine how important
fats are in your diet think of fat as
putting a log on a fire as opposed to a
bit of newspaper F Burns for a long time
and gives you energy over a longer
period of time if you're a runner doing
10ks or higher fat consumption will be
more important keep it healthy and
balanced with foods like nuts avocados
fish and eggs somewhere between 20 to
35% of your daily calories should be
from fat now thirdly is protein protein
helps your muscles to repair recover and
rebuild if you're not getting enough
protein in your diet right now it could
explain that heavy legs feeling
Unstoppable our aim is for all our
clients to hit at least 1.6 g of protein
per kilo of the body weight per day this
is enough protein to help your muscles
repair recover and rebuild eat protein
with every meal between 20 to 40 gam
spreading your intake throughout the day
improves the effectiveness in your
recovery take advantage of the 30-minute
window after exercise and get a protein
shake in this is when your muscle
protein synthesis is at its highest so
that's it for part one of dealing with
heavy legs when running click here for
part two
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