Many incredibly competitive runners never stretch and never seem to get injured. Is there any proof that this common recommendation is actually valid? What do the studies say about stretching? Does it really prevent injury? Will it make me faster? Again, the experts really don’t agree on much! In most arguments between stretchers and non-stretchers, it inevitably comes down to “stretching helps prevent injuries” and “stretching is a leading cause of injuries in runners”.

The motion of running, repeated over many years, strengthens and shortens several posterior muscles. The most affected are the calves, the hamstrings and the lower back muscles. These muscles play a primary role in lifting the feet and moving the runner forward. Exercise physiologists blame shortened muscles for a reduced range of motion, decreased athletic performance and increased risk of injury. To add insult to injury, the aging process contributes to further loss of joint and muscle flexibility. The majority of runners and coaches believe stretching improves performance and reduces the risk of injury. In the meantime, experts disagree on the benefits and dangers of stretching. While many experts credit stretching with numerous benefits, improper stretching remains the second leading cause of running injuries! So, if we believe in stretching; what is the most effective method?

First and Foremost; the warm up and cool down should never be optional in your running routine. Cold muscles are at the highest risk for injury; by increasing the temperature of your muscles by warming up they will be more flexible and have an increased speed of motion. Warming up can loosen your muscles and soft tissue as much as 20 percent. The cool down allows blood to continue flowing through your muscles, working its way more slowly from a high level of exertion to its normal resting condition. Build stretching into your regular schedule, both before and after your daily run; after warm up and as part of your cool down. Take the time, it’s worth it!

The Do’s and Don’ts of stretching:

Do

1. Warm up prior to stretching. Walk or slowly jog at least 10-15 minutes prior to stretching.

2. Slowly add stretching to your workout slowly. Gently stretch a little more each day. Your muscles can actually stretch almost 1.5 times their length, but if you try to achieve this all at once you will hurt yourself!

3. Relax. Tension makes it almost impossible to stretch effectively

4. Breathe. That may sound easy but try to breathe from you diaphragm or stomach
5. Make it a routine, try to stretch every day, even if you don’t run. Follow the same order of stretches every time for consistency

6. Listen to your body. Some days, less is more!

Don’t

1. Don’t bounce!! Bouncing risks pulling or tearing the muscle you’re trying to stretch and relax. Muscles must be stretched gradually.

2. Don’t hold your breathe

3. Don’t stretch if it hurts

4. Don’t forcibly stretch an injured muscle, gentle and less is more

5. Don’t hurry through your routine

6. Don’t listen to your friends opinions about the best technique for stretching Try them all and decide what works for you

Bottom line: Most experts agree that stretching reduces muscle soreness after running and results in better athletic performance. Gentle stretching after a race or intense workout can also promote healing and lactic acid removal from the muscles. Stretching is most effective when performed several times each week; at least one stretching session per week is sufficient to maintain flexibility. Most coaches and runners believe in stretching before and after every workout. The experts never agree on much, but the majority seems to feel that stretching is beneficial to runners if done properly. So follow the precautions outlines and always warm up prior to stretching. Your body will feel better and who knows, you may even get a little faster!

Lots of people, including myslef, start running because they want to loose weight. Becuase running is probably one of the hardest cariovascular exercises you can do, for most people it is an very good way to burn calories and start shedding the weight.

You need to remember that healthy eating should be part of your weight loss program because you will only loose weight if you burn more calories than you consume. So, for example if you loose a pound in wieght then you have to burn around 3500 calories, which means you should think about running AND healthy eating to loose wieght efficiently.

If your running, like mine, turns into a more serious sport for you, then you could consider racing in 5K or 10K races, or even look into training for a half marathon or even full marathon distance, which is 26.2 miles. I’d recommend that you first start building up you weekly training program and see if you can run up to around 10 miles. Of course the longer distance you run, the slower your pace should be.

Anyway back to healthy eating! Runners sometimes start to eat more food and load up with too many calories, putting on weight even though they’re training! If you think you might be falling into this trap then have you ever though of keeping a food diary? The best thing you can do is look at how much you’re eating, when and where.

The other main point with running to loose weight is that you really need to run on a regular basis. By regular basis I mean every day if you can! If this isn’t possible, certainly to begin with you will need to ensure you rest adequately between training runs, then I suggest 3 times a week or more.

Finally, after your body becomes used to your training program and you’re finding that running 5 miles or so, 3 times a weeek is fairly comfortable for you, you need to start mixing up your training. A good way to do this is to introduce speed training to your routine – this sounds like more pain!? Speed training is essentially running very fast for short period of time, having a similar short resting period where you jog or walk, and the run very fast again for the same period of time. You should repeat this process so you are running fast for 4 or 5 times, resting inbetween each fast run. This is called interval training, and it will help you burn more calories, plue increase your slower, long distance running pace, over time.

Long ago in my high school days, I was a distance runner. Running’s still one of my favorite sports today, but when people ask me if they should try running to lose weight, I usually advise them to try other things first.

Running can be an incredibly rewarding activity, and it certainly does burn a lot of calories once you’re in good enough shape to do it regularly. What most non-runners don’t realize, however, is that running is one of the most demanding sports. It might seem easy to just get outside and start running around, but in reality, you’re requiring your entire body to remain in motion for long periods of time with no breaks. When you first start out, this is a major challenge for your muscles, spine and cardiovascular system, and it’s often difficult to run for periods of time that will burn a significant number of calories.

New runners are also prone to foot and leg problems unless they are very careful, especially if they have a few extra pounds. To avoid shin splints, collapsed arches, and other problems, a prospective runner need to start slow-only jogging for small periods of time and taking days off in between. The net result is that while you toughen up your body over time in a lot of ways, you really don’t burn a lot of calories in the beginning.

A better approach than just hitting the track every day is to start with very small amounts of jogging, and change your metabolism in other ways. By restructuring your diet, you can change your metabolism in a matter of days without risk of injury or fatigue. A dieting technique called calorie cycling enables you to increase your metabolism while still consuming the same number of calories every week. The net result is that you burn fat quickly while still eating the foods you like.

Runner’s Question: I am training for a half-marathon which is in 9 weeks. So far my logest run has been 9km in 1hr, is this ok?

How much should I increase my distance each week – is 2km too much?

What speed should I aim to be running at (I’m a beginner but young and quite fit) and what would be a good time for me to aim for?

Any training advice will be appreciated. Thanks, Run Like Hell-ers!

Also why do I get pins and needles in my arms after running for a while?

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Runner’s Question: Looking for some advice from some serious runners. I have to do a 1 and 1/2 mile run in about 13 mins for a physical fitness exam on April 19th and I am far from ready!

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