How To Run Faster With Less Effort
Summary
TLDRThe video provides practical tips on how to run faster and with less effort by improving running form and efficiency. Key strategies include increasing cadence, maintaining proper body posture with a forward lean, and building core strength. It also emphasizes landing the feet beneath the center of mass, incorporating speed sessions like strides and hill reps, and doing strength training. The video highlights the importance of fueling, hydrating properly, and warming up. Lastly, it briefly discusses the benefits and limitations of using carbon-plated 'super shoes' for enhanced performance.
Takeaways
- 🏃♂️ Improving running form reduces energy use and helps run faster with less effort.
- ⏱️ Increasing cadence (steps per minute) to 170-180 helps reduce force on the legs, making running more efficient.
- 🏞️ Leaning forward from the ankles while running uses gravity to propel the body forward.
- 💪 Strengthening the core through exercises like planks and bridges improves overall running stability and efficiency.
- 👣 Ensuring your foot lands under your center of mass, regardless of strike type, maximizes energy efficiency and minimizes impact.
- 🚶♂️ Incorporating strides (20-second fast runs) into easy runs improves running form and speed.
- ⛰️ Hill reps improve foot placement, build strength, and promote proper running form under pressure.
- 🦵 Strength training, like squats and lunges, enhances muscle strength, enabling longer runs with less fatigue.
- ⚡ Interval speed sessions, like 3-minute or 5-minute reps, improve running fitness and VO2 max.
- 🥤 Proper hydration and fueling before runs are essential for maintaining energy and running efficiently.
Q & A
What is the primary benefit of improving your running form?
-Improving your running form helps you move more efficiently, allowing you to cover more ground with less energy and reduce the risk of injury.
How does increasing Cadence benefit a runner?
-Increasing your Cadence reduces the amount of force coming up through your legs, helping you run more efficiently and with less strain. A higher cadence (around 170-180 steps per minute) is beneficial for most runners.
What role does body position play in efficient running?
-Leaning forward from the ankles helps advanced runners use gravity to propel themselves forward. This technique reduces energy expenditure and promotes better efficiency during a run.
Why is core strength important for runners?
-A strong core helps support the upper body’s rotation and keeps arm movements in check. Without a strong core, energy is wasted in excessive movements, making running less efficient.
What is the best way to position your feet during a run?
-The foot should land underneath your center of mass, regardless of whether you strike with the heel, midfoot, or forefoot. This helps the body efficiently absorb the impact and maximize energy return.
What are strides and how do they help improve running form?
-Strides are short bursts of fast running (20 seconds at 90-95% effort) followed by a relaxed recovery. They help improve running form by training the brain to move more efficiently and are especially beneficial for maintaining proper form during faster running.
How do hill reps contribute to better running performance?
-Hill reps improve foot placement, strengthen leg muscles, and enhance overall running strength. By practicing on inclines, runners build power and improve running efficiency.
Why is strength training important for runners, and what exercises are recommended?
-Strength training builds stronger muscles, allowing runners to run farther with less fatigue. Exercises like squats, lunges, calf raises, planks, and bridges are recommended to strengthen both the legs and core.
What are some effective speed sessions to improve running fitness?
-Effective speed sessions include 4-6 repetitions of 3 minutes at 5K pace with 2-minute walk recovery, or 3-4 repetitions of 5 minutes at 10K pace with a similar recovery. Pyramid sessions (1, 2, 3, 4, 3, 2, 1-minute intervals) are also useful for improving running fitness.
How do Super Shoes enhance running performance, and what are their drawbacks?
-Super Shoes, with their carbon or nylon plates and thick foam cushioning, help runners use less energy by propelling them forward and reducing muscle fatigue. However, they are expensive, uncomfortable for long-term use, and can make the body reliant on technology rather than building natural strength.
Outlines
🏃♂️ Mastering Running Efficiency
In this section, the video introduces the idea that running faster with less effort is achievable and has been mastered by elite runners. By focusing on improving running form, cadence, and body position, anyone can become more efficient. The video emphasizes techniques like using a metronome to increase cadence, leaning from the ankles, and building core strength to enhance efficiency and reduce energy expenditure. Overstriding is discouraged as it leads to wasted energy, and tips like practicing short sprints ('strides') and hill reps are suggested to improve form and strength.
💪 Importance of Strength Training and Rest
This paragraph focuses on the importance of strength training in complementing running. Strength exercises, such as squats, lunges, planks, and bridges, are recommended to improve muscle strength and core stability, which ultimately supports better running performance. The video advises integrating these exercises into easy run days, avoiding rest days, as rest is crucial for recovery and adaptation. Additionally, it promotes the website's strength training guide, which can be added to any training plan.
🚀 Boosting Running Fitness with Speed Work
Improving running fitness is highlighted as the key to running faster at the same effort level. Speed sessions such as 5K and 10K pace intervals or pyramid sessions are recommended for boosting VO2 max and overall fitness. However, balancing speed work with easy runs and rest days is essential to prevent overtraining. The paragraph also stresses the importance of warming up properly to reduce injury risk, fueling and hydrating before runs to avoid sluggishness, and running during cooler parts of the day to reduce effort.
👟 The Role of Super Shoes in Performance
This section explores the benefits and downsides of wearing carbon-plated 'super shoes.' These shoes, designed to improve running efficiency, are popular among both elite and amateur runners. While they can provide a performance boost, especially for marathon runners, the video cautions against over-reliance on them, as they are expensive, wear out quickly, and may reduce the body's natural strength development. They are best used for races and speed sessions, not everyday training.
🛠️ Prioritizing Running Form for Long-Term Gains
The video concludes by emphasizing that correcting running form offers the most significant long-term improvements in running performance. Better form reduces the risk of injury and boosts efficiency. The host encourages viewers to focus on this aspect of training and invites them to share their own tips with the community. Two follow-up videos on cadence and mental tricks for running longer are suggested for further learning.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Running Form
💡Cadence
💡Core Strength
💡Center of Mass
💡Strides
💡Hill Reps
💡Speed Sessions
💡Warm-up
💡Super Shoes
💡Hydration and Fueling
Highlights
Elite and pro-level runners have mastered the ability to run faster with less effort, and the good news is that you can learn this too.
Improving running form allows you to move more efficiently, reducing energy expenditure and helping you run smoother and faster.
Running with a higher cadence, ideally in the 170-180 range, reduces the amount of force on your legs and improves efficiency.
Using a metronome can help you monitor and gradually increase your cadence over time, leading to improved performance.
Leaning forward from the ankles helps advanced runners use gravity to propel themselves forward, making running feel easier.
Building core strength through exercises like bridges and planks helps support the upper body and reduces wasted energy during runs.
A foot strike that lands underneath your center of mass, regardless of whether it is heel, midfoot, or forefoot, is key to efficient running.
Overstriding causes a braking force that wastes energy; bringing your stride back helps improve efficiency.
Strides—short bursts of fast running—are a great way to train the brain and body to move more efficiently and with better form.
Hill reps improve foot placement and build strength, promoting more efficient running form.
Strength training, such as lunges, squats, and calf raises, improves muscle strength and endurance, making it easier to run longer without fatigue.
Running fitness can be improved with speed sessions that target VO2 max and endurance, like intervals and pyramid sessions.
Warming up with dynamic stretches and gradually easing into your run helps make the beginning stages of a run feel much easier.
Proper fueling and hydration before runs prevent sluggishness and fatigue, ensuring your body uses less effort to maintain your desired pace.
Super shoes with carbon plates can improve running times by helping to use less energy, but their benefits are more prominent for faster runners.
Transcripts
is it possible to run faster with less
effort well yes it's something Elite and
pro level Runners have mastered and the
good news is that you can as well so
what's their secret how can we run
smoother faster run longer and make our
runs just overall feel a lot easier but
stick around because we've got all that
coming up and by the end of this video
you'll know exactly what you should be
doing the first thing we can be working
on is improving our running form if we
can improve our running form and move
more efficiently we'll get from point A
to point B using a lot less energy more
advanced Runners often look so relaxed
as if they're just gliding along so how
have they worked at achieving this well
I've got five ways here that will really
help you the first one being is
improving our Cadence now running with a
higher Cadence will really reduce the
amount of force coming up through your
legs beginner Runners are usually
running around about 150 to 160 and will
greatly benefit from inred inreasing
their Cadence a little bit more up to
the 170s 180s sort of Mark the simplest
way of starting out on your Cadence
journey is by using a metronome you can
then set the Cadence you want and it
will Tap Away in the background as you
run along and you can time your strides
monitor it and then have a look after
you're on as well on Garmin or on choros
again whichever app you're using and
then you can monitor that over time and
gradually start to increase it don't go
from big chunks just gradually work at
increasing it we've got a video all
about how how to improve your cence I'll
link to that up here and at the end of
the video and down below we will also
want to be improving our body position
and leaning from the ankles a forward
lean is how advanced runners use gravity
to help propel them forwards the best
way you can practice doing this is by
stopping your runs and then just leaning
into it in my early days of running I
used to do this all the time just for
the first like 500 me of a run just
constantly stopping and starting just
leaning forward and starting running
like that your body will naturally go
into that nice forward lean and then you
can just relax stop and do it again and
just repeating this all the time will
really help you don't to do this on all
of your runs but maybe just a couple of
your easy runs throughout the week just
to practice also we want to really be
working on our core muscles doing things
like Bridges and planks will help build
that strong core that we need to support
all of our upper body as it rotates and
it keeps our arm strings in check
because all of this if you haven't got a
strong core all this going on is just
wasted energy we also want to make sure
our feet are landing nicely underneath
our Center of mass the foot strike
doesn't matter as much a midfoot strike
heel strike 4ft strike is not as
important what is important is making
sure it lands nicely underneath our
Center of mass this will be the best
place for our body to efficiently absorb
the impact and to maximize that energy
return to Spring Forward quite often
people will overstride and overreach
you're just constantly creating that
breaking force every time you run which
is just a complete waste of energy you
don't be applying the brakes bring that
back and we'll be able to move across
the ground in a far far more efficient
way I've got two other simple things we
can doing to improve our form the first
one is strides long-term viewers of the
channel know I talk about this all the
time they're absolutely fantastic quite
simply 20 seconds of really fast running
90 to 95% effort here with about a 20 to
30 second very relaxed chilled recovery
between each stride I'd really recommend
four to six strides put these maybe
after one of your easy runs during the
week you can even do them during one of
your easy runs as well it's very hard to
run this fast with bad running forms it
really helps train the brain to get
ourselves moving in a far more efficient
way the final one being Hill reps now
hear me out cuz Hill reps are really
really good yes of course they're hard
work but they really help promote a
really good foot placement again nicely
under that Center of mass and really
helps improve our strength as well they
get you really strong and moving in a
nice way strength training something
I've personally been doing a hell of a
lot this year and I'm really starting to
see the massive benefits in my own
running as well the stronger that our
muscles are the more Force we can put
through them and therefore run further
without tiring out quite as quickly now
this doesn't have to mean lifting huge
weights it can simply be doing some
basic exercises at home without the need
for any equipment just things like doing
some squat lunges calf raises all really
good for that leg strength and then
things like planks and bridges as well
will really help to improve our core
which as we talked about earlier really
good for supporting that upper body so
I'd recommend picking a few of these
different exercises and putting together
a little circuit for around about 20
minutes is a really good starting point
four exercises 1 minute for each
exercise four to five rounds of this
with just a minute rest between each
round I'd always recommend tagging these
onto your easy run days and make sure
you keep your rest days as complete rest
that's when our body's adapting
absorbing everything we're throwing
about it so you need to keep your rest
days as rest days add the strength work
to those easy run days we also do have a
strength guide which integrates into all
of our training plans which you can see
on our website whatever distance you're
training for check out benp parks.com
and add on that strength training option
if you want a complete guide on how to
integrate this with your training
thirdly is all about improving our
running Fitness and this may seem like a
really obvious one the fitter we get the
faster we'll get running at the same
sort of effort level but how do we work
at improving our running Fitness well
quite simply this is by doing some speed
sessions during the week couple of
really good ones 4 to 6times 3 minutes
at around about our 5K Pace with a
2minute walking recovery 3 to four reps
of 5 minutes around about our 10K Pace
with a 2-minute walk recovery or perhaps
try a pyramid session is 1 2 3 4 3 2 1
these numbers represent minutes of
running fast around about our 5 to 10K
pace for these with a 90c walking
recovery between the Reps now doing
sessions like this will really help
improve that V2 Max improve our running
Fitness overall but it also does add a
lot of stress to the body so it's really
important for the rest of the week to be
doing a lot of our easy miles and at
least making sure we're having one maybe
two full rest days during the week now
warming up before you head out on your
run is so important especially as we get
a little bit older and another way to
definitely make those early stages of
that run feel a hell of a lot easier so
make sure you're taking that 5 to 10
minutes to warm up properly before
you're heading out the door mobilizing
our joints with some dynamic stretches
we've got a really good follow along
video I'll link to that up here and down
below as well and then easing into that
run really nice and gradually that first
couple of Cs should be nice and relax a
lot slower than what we want to be doing
for our whole run and once you're up to
speed you'll feel far more relaxed and
using a lot less effort another thing
that can make running feel really hard
is when you haven't fueled or hydrated
properly beforehand now a lot of people
when they start out running either eat
far too much just before they head out
and they're going to feel very sluggish
and slow or they don't have enough and
then they're going to feel very sort of
weak and risk the chance of getting
dehydrated so I'd really recommend is
having a small snack or something around
about 30 minutes to 1 hour before
heading out and also avoiding the
hottest parts of the day as well you can
be running at exactly the the same Pace
that you'd used be running at but your
body is going to be having to put a lot
more effort into keeping you at the pace
that you want to be running at so make
sure you're heading out in the mornings
or in the evenings make sure you're
getting nicely hydrated with some good
fuel on board before you head out as
well and then you'll be using a lot less
effort running at the pace you want to
be running at now I wasn't sure whether
to put this one in the video so let me
know your thoughts down below all about
Super Shoes these carbon plated Super
Shoes that burst on the scene around
about sort of 6 seven years ago and now
pretty much every Pro so many amateur
Runners are going out and spending vast
amounts of money on these shoes in the
hope that they can be using less energy
to run from point A to point B in all
these shoes they have these carbon
plates that run throughout the whole
length of the shoe or some of them they
have Nyon plates and these plates help
to propel us forward with each stride
and then they have this huge chunk of
foam in there as well to help protect
the legs from that impact so our muscles
will be fatiguing a little bit L Nike's
famous 4% shoes I had my orange ones
I'll put those up on the screen now
claim to improve Times by as much as
that 4% so for a 4-Hour marathoner they
can be looking at a 10minute Improvement
going to 3our 50 so why wouldn't you
want that free speed will you
automatically just run faster by just
putting on a pair of these shoes well it
all depends in reality a lot of these
benefits are far more prominent in
Faster runners in a lot of the studies
they Define faster Runners by any anyone
running 4 hours or less for the marathon
but anyone can see these small
improvements by wearing a super shoe
compared to their regular shoe without a
doubt so why wouldn't we go about
wearing a super shoe every day well they
do have their downsizes they're very
very expensive for a start they're
uncomfortable they tend to not last very
long and they're also not very versatile
they really are only good at races and
during our speed sessions as well and
the body can come a little bit too
reliant on technology and we can
actually lose strength or not gain as
much strength as we could by running in
some more regular shoes we'll link to an
interesting article down below about why
doing all of your runs in Super Shoes
really is not the best idea but without
a doubt for the vast majority of people
doing our races in these new fangled
Super Shoes amazing things you've got
the cash to do it and you can afford to
do it they are going to make a
difference to our running time by
literally doing as this video says
moving from point A to point B using
less energy let me know down in the
comments have super shoes made a big
difference to you I'd love to know but
with all of this for me the biggest
improvements can be made by correcting
our running form which is where I'd
personally recommend that you spend a
lot of our efforts that is going to give
you some really good longterm gains in
running hopefully also decrease that
chance of picking up injuries as well so
let me know how you get on with all of
these tips if you've got some other ones
let me know down in the comments and
help out the running Community got two
different videos coming up next one all
about improving our Cadence and one all
about mental tricks to help you get out
there and run a little bit longer as
well so check those out keep on working
hard guys keep done we'll see you very
soon in the next one
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