With the upcoming Cayman Islands Marathon you may be asking yourself how to maximise your workouts.
With only so much time in the day, how can we get the most benefit from what workout time we have? As a long distance runner and physiotherapist, here are some suggestions on how to maximise your gains with every workout.
An ideal workout has at least four parts. You need to warm up before and cool down afterwards. During your workout, you need to push your body to perform to its full potential. When finished running, you must promote active recovery to allow your body to recuperate efficiently.
To get the most out of your workout, prepare by warming up. A good warm up helps to raise the body temperature and get physically and mentally ready for the workout. Start with an easy jog for at least 10 minutes followed by some progressive short 10 second accelerations.
After the warm-up run, complete some dynamic stretches. Functional, active stretches are important during warm up for coordination and activating the necessary tissues. The most effective ones are drill based, designed to increase range of motion and improve coordination. Some examples of dynamic stretches include high knees, or butt kicks.
Every workout should have a purpose and a benefit so that you are not simply putting in what elite runners call ‘junk miles’. Different workouts target different aspects of running fitness: for example, speed, tempo, or long distance. Become familiar with your paces or heart rate zones so that you are not going too fast, or too slow. Throughout the workout, stay focused and concentrated on the purpose of the session.
After a workout, cool down by finishing with an easy jog and gentle stretches of your hard worked muscles and joints. Stretches after a run should be slow and progressive, held for at least 30 seconds and repeated at least twice. Rehydrate and ingest some protein and carbohydrates shortly following a difficult workout.
Do not overdose on running. Add other activities in to your routine. Incorporate biking or swimming a couple times/week to decrease mechanical stress on your body and promote active recovery after particularly tough running workouts. However, because the main goal is to improve running performance, cross training activities should not consist of more than 35 per cent of your training volume.
The basics are important too: regularly drink lots of water to stay hydrated, eat a healthy, balanced diet, and get enough sleep to feel rested and motivated. Remember that resting between workouts is essential: fitness actually increases between workouts rather than during the activity itself.
My suggestions here are based on a background in exercise physiology and physiotherapy, and many years of training and competing in long distance running.
Some of the things I enjoy the most are peripheral, such as cool morning runs with friends, or drinking chocolate milk as a recovery snack. But the greatest satisfaction comes during an event when I realise “Hey, I’m doing fine and I feel awesome”. That is what this is all about.
Claire Critchley, MScPT, is a physiotherapist based in the Cayman Islands.
Become familiar with your paces or heart rate zones so that you are not going too fast, or too slow.
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