Physical Activity Overview

Running: Training Principles & Tips

Running Form:

Footstrike pattern/landing

• Prevent over-striding. Landing with your foot out-stretched in front of your knee acts as a braking force and will slow you down. 
• Land with your knee slightly bent, not with your knee fully extended. Focusing on landing with your foot underneath your knee will help keep the knee slightly bent.  
• Landing on your heel (i.e. heel-striking) will have greater impact forces on the knees and hips.  Landing on the ball of your foot or toes (i.e. forefoot striking) reduces impact forces on the hips and knees but places greater amounts of force on the calves, Achilles tendon, and toes. Landing on the center of your foot (i.e. midfoot strike) evenly distributes the impact force between the ankles, calves, knees, and hips. 
• Running with a mid-foot strike can help maximize the utilization of elastic energy stored in the feet while preventing overuse injuries in the knees, hips, ankles, or calves. 
• When modifying your footstrike pattern, it is advised to make such changes very gradual to allow muscles, ligaments and tendons to adapt and prevent injury. 

Forward lean

• Running with a forward lean while landing with the foot underneath your body’s center of mass will help propel you forwards and run in an efficient manner. 

Arm swing

• Focus on keeping your arms moving forwards and backwards with the elbows bent approximately 90 degrees. Prevent your hands from crossing the mid-line of your body. 

Cadence

• Running with a higher cadence (i.e. more steps per minute) will reduce the amount of impact on your joints each stride you take, which helps prevent injury.   
• Aim for 170-180 steps per minute. As you increase your pace, your cadence will naturally increase. This means faster paced runs will have a higher cadence than slower or easier paced runs. 

Polarized Training Method

80/20 rule

• Approximately 80% of your total run volume should be performed at an easy to moderate intensity to build cardiovascular endurance, increase capillary density, mitochondrial biogenesis, and prevent overtraining/injury. 
• Approximately 20% of your run volume should be performed at a hard intensity, which can be performed through interval training or sustained efforts. The benefits of high intensity workouts include increasing maximal running speed, lactate threshold, and VO₂max. 

Tips for Managing Run Training

• It is important to take rest/recovery days to allow your body to adapt to the training you have completed.
• Do not increase weekly volume by more than 10% per week. 

Running shoes

Considering the following when shopping for a new pair of running shoes:

• Shoe type (e.g. training, trail, race)
• Stability or neutral support
• Heel-drop: 
  • Heel drop is the difference in height between the heel and toe of the shoe, measured in millimeters. The majority of shoes have a heel drop ranging from 5-10 mm, but can be as low as 0 mm. 
  • Lower heel-drop shoes will have greater impact on your ankles and feet, whereas higher heel-drop shoes will have greater impact on your knees and hips. 
  • Before changing to a pair of shoes with a large difference in heel drop (3+/- mm), consider making the change gradually by completing shorter runs to break in and adjust to your new pair of shoes for the first 1-2 weeks, as well as alternating runs with your current and new shoes.
• Lifespan
  • Pay attention to the wear pattern on the sole of your running shoes. Typically the outside sole of your shoes will wear out faster than the inside soles. The lifespan of different running shoes may vary, however consider replacing your running shoes every 500-700 km. Logging your runs with a fitness tracking App is an easy method for tracking running shoe mileage, such as Strava, Garmin Connect, or Polar Flow.
• Brands
  • Popular running shoe brands include the following:

Adidas, Altra, Asics, Brooks, HOKA, Merrell, New Balance, Newton, Nike, On Cloud, Reebok, Salomon, Saucony, Sketchers, and Under Armour. 

Nutrition & Hydration

• Remember to stay hydrated throughout your runs by consuming water and electrolytes, especially in hot and humid conditions. Having a water bottle, hydration pack, or planning your route near accessible water stops are good strategies for preventing dehydration and optimizing performance. 
• Carbohydrates are your body’s main source of fuel during exercise. Having effective fueling strategies before, during and after runs will help optimize running performance.
  
  Beginner 5K Running Program (12 Weeks):  Beginner 5K Running Program.docx

        Intermediate 5K Running Program : Intermediate 5K Run Program.docx