If you’re looking to improve your running performance, no matter if you’re a beginner or experienced, these tips can help to improve your abilities.
New to running? Read these tips!
- Warm up
Before heading into a training session or participating in a foot race, it’s important to warm up your muscles and joints. Consider a 500m to 1km jog as warm-up before running a race. Read here for 6 warm-up moves for runners.
- Do speedwork
Interval sessions and sprints help to boost power and increase speed overall. - Cross-train
Sports like cycling can help to boost cardio and endurance while remaining low-impact, so it’s easy on your joints. - Include strength work
Body weight strength training, including moves like push-ups, planks, lunges, squats and pull-ups can really help to improve your running.
- Run hills
Some of the beauties of running hills are improved strength and endurance. Hill-training improves leg-muscle strength, quickens your stride and expands stride length.
- Fuel and refuel properly
Much of our running performance is connected to the kitchen. Our bodies are all slightly different and thus you need to figure out what suits you. In general, you need to fuel appropriately with carbohydrates and recover with protein (20g after an hour or more of intense exercise). - Stay hydrated
Being dehydrated can severely impact a runner’s performance. It’s important to hydrate adequately for two to three days in the build-up to a big running race or training session.
- Prioritise your sleep
Getting the required amount of good-quality sleep can really improve your running – particularly endurance – and your ability to recover. Adults need between seven and nine hours of good-quality sleep per night.
- Stretch
It’s important to stretch after a training session to prevent injury and to keep your muscles supple. Read this: Quick, Beginner-Friendly Yoga Stretching For Runners - Work on your stride
It’s possible that your stride may need some correcting and focus. Often a running coach can help improve this, but if you’re struggling with injuries, it’s best to see a physiotherapist.Read more: How To Start Running – Advice from a Physiotherapist