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Health & Fitness

5 Tips To Help Keep You Running Safe and More Efficiently

Spring is here and the warm weather is coming in which means more and more people will be out running to shed off that winter fat and get ready for beach season.

Guest author:  Bobby Reay, co-owner and coach at Highbar CrossFit in Ashburn, VA

Spring is here and the warm weather is coming in which means more and more people will be out running to shed off that winter fat and get ready for beach season. For some people, running is enjoyable. They get a runner’s high and can run for miles on end with a smile on their face. For others, like myself, running is a way of shedding fat and building cardiovascular endurance, and the only good thing about it is when it’s over. That being said, it is a necessary evil (evil to some).

We all know the benefits of running whether you enjoy it or not, but to make it a little easier and safer, here are 5 easy steps to keep in mind while you’re enjoying or hating your run.

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  1. Keep your upper body loose, your head up, and your body upright. When you run, try not to clench your fists, hold your shoulders up, or allow your upper body to twist side to side. Your shoulders should be relaxed, your hands loose and you should stand upright. Pretend like you’re running with tiny birds in your hands and you don’t want to crush them. You don’t want to kill cute tiny birds do you? If you do, stop reading this now and go talk to someone.
  2. Avoid vertical oscillation. This means, don’t bounce up and down when you run. If I were to place a ceiling 1 or 2 inches over your head and tell you to run, your head should not be touching that ceiling if you’re running properly. For every inch you travel upwards is another inch you travel downwards which is basically increased distance you traveled while not moving forward. You don’t want that do you?
  3. Only recruit the muscles you need in order to run. It will conserve energy and allow you to run further, faster. Pull with your hamstrings when you’re running. Pretend someone has bands around your legs pulling you from behind, and you’re trying to break out of those bands. This will also take stress off your calves and recruit the larger, stronger muscle groups to propel you forward.
  4. Mix it up and vary your running workouts. Incorporate sprint intervals, hill sprints, long distance runs at a steady pace and shorter distance runs at a faster pace. For example; if you were planning a 2 mile run, try breaking it up into 4 rounds of 800 meter (half mile) runs at a considerably faster pace than you would 2 straight miles. Give yourself about a 1:1 ratio rest time, meaning if it takes you 4 minutes to run 800 meters, rest 4 minutes between sets.
  5. Lastly but most important; stay hydrated. Our body needs water to function and if you’re going to be running, especially in warm or hot weather, you’re going to sweat, a lot. Ever go for a run or workout a day after you've had a few drinks and notice how much harder it is? When you’re dehydrated, your blood volume drops which then lowers your body’s ability to transfer heat and forces your heart to beat faster, which then makes it much more difficult for your body to meet aerobic demands.  As a rule of thumb, you should drink a MINIMUM of half your body weight in ounces of water per day. So if you weigh 150 pounds, you should be drinking at least 75 ounces of water per day. If you plan in running in hotter weather, it may be a good idea to drink significantly more than that. Upwards of around 90 to 100 ounces a day.
There you have it - running tips to get you to beach season and beyond. Now, get out there and run...

For more tips and info about health and fitness, visit Live Fit and Sore!, a blog to support and inspire living a fit and healthy life.
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