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Yahoo
7 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
A Fartlek Isn't Just a Funny Word. Here's How These Running Workouts Can Make You Fitter, Faster.
"Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links." IF THE WORD "fartlek" makes you giggle, you're not alone. But there's nothing funny about how this style of training can help runners—especially beginners—level up to faster speeds. The idea of running "fast" can feel overwhelming when you're still figuring out how to make running a consistent practice. The whole principle behind this training approach is to take the pressure off by making it less push, more play. Fartlek means "speed play" in Swedish, says Tucker Grose, a USATF-certified run coach in Denver, CO. And that's exactly what it is: a fun, no-pressure way to add short bursts of faster running into your routine. That loose approach is what makes fartlek workouts so effective. When you're not worried about a set pace or distance (or obsessing over what your watch is telling you), you can zero in on how your body really feels at any given moment and start to recognize when it's time to push through or ease off. And that's the kind of training that's going to help you run stronger for longer. What Fartlek Workouts Mean for Runners Running can sometimes feel like a negotiation between your brain and your body. If you've ever picked up the pace to catch a walk signal or challenged yourself to run to the next mailbox, tree, or lightpost before taking a walk break, congrats: You've already done a fartlek. "A fartlek workout is usually an unstructured workout of various speeds and distance and intensity," says Matthew Meyer, an RRCA-certified run coach and certified personal trainer in Boulder, Colorado. If that sounds ambiguous, that's kind of the point. "It's so informal because it's teaching you how to gauge feeling and effort." A fartlek workout is a type of interval training, in that you're mixing up your pace during a run by alternating between harder efforts and easier recoveries. But while interval workouts are generally tightly structured with the goal of hitting specific paces for set distances or time splits to elicit certain training adaptations, fartlek workouts are looser and more effort-based. You don't need to be on a track and you don't need a fancy running watch—you just need to run on feel. That's what makes fartleks such a beginner-friendly place to start with speedwork. But these workouts aren't just for novices. Fartleks are also a great way for experienced runners to ease back into harder efforts after time off, and they're often used at the beginning of a training cycle to reintroduce speed without the physical stress of going from 0 to 100. The Benefits of Fartlek Workouts for Runners Fartlek workouts are unstructured, so they teach you to run by effort. This is a skill every runner needs to avoid overtraining or underperforming. Most runners are actually pretty bad at self-pacing for optimal returns; one small study found recreational runners were, on average, 14 percent slower when they externally regulated their pace (i.e., stuck to a strict time per mile plan) than when they ran based on their physiological capabilities (using Vo2 or heart rate to determine effort—in other words, when they ran by feel). In a race, that could mean you're not going as fast as you potentially could if you stick to strict pace splits, leaving time on the table. "The main benefit [of a fartlek] is just getting to learn how you feel at different effort levels," says Grose. To gauge effort during running, coaches often recommend runners to rank their rate of perceived exertion (RPE) on a scale of 1 to 10, with one being at rest and 10 being all-out. It's a subjective measurement that can be tough to pin down when you start, but you will get better with practice and experience. "Some people have a pretty good internal thermometer for that but some people have zero, and when you tell those people to run at an effort level of 6 out of 10, they're like, what does that even mean?" says Meyer. "That's definitely a vocabulary we learn over time." You can't get more in tune with your body without figuring out where your limits are, and "the unstructured nature of fartlek training allows for that kind of experimentation," says Grose. By varying your pace and effort, Meyer says you're also training the aerobic and anaerobic systems. Think of it like shifting gears: The former is lower intensity and builds your endurance so you can run longer; the latter is higher intensity, which will help you run faster even during slower, longer efforts. The methodology seems to work: Runners who did fartlek workouts for 12 weeks significantly improved their cardiovascular endurance and speed endurance during a small study published in the International Journal of Physiology, Nutrition and Physical Education. How You Can Use Fartlek Workouts Before you start mixing in speed play, you should be consistently and comfortable running two to three times per week. That way, your body has a solid foundation from which you can start dialing up the intensity. Since fartlek workouts are based on feel, keep your surroundings in mind. "I think one of the best ways to approach a fartlek workout is to really let the terrain and how you feel dictate how you move at different speeds," says Grose. If you're in a hilly park, you'll naturally have to work harder against the incline—but when you hit the downhill, you can ease off the effort while still moving quickly. On flat terrain, suggests Meyer, you can use visual cues, like mailboxes or light poles, as markers, speeding up between the first two and slowing down between the next two. You can also use your music: Run easy during each verse, then pick up the pace when the chorus hits. Because these workouts are so unstructured, it's totally up to you to figure out how hard you should be running. "The intent is to be able to do these intervals more than once, so the hope is that you're not burying yourself in each interval," says Grose. "You're getting to the point where you're breathing heavily, you're feeling a little fatigued, maybe you're starting to slow down, and then you take a break to recover so you can do that again." Your recoveries can be as long as you need—especially in the beginning. "In the beginning, walk breaks can be really helpful," says Grose. "Then, as you get more and more comfortable with the style of workout, you can play around with jogging during those recovery intervals." Remember: You're not trying to empty the tank during a fartlek workout. You're just trying to get a better sense of what efforts you can hold for certain durations. 3 Fartlek Running Workouts for Better Training Fartleks are meant to be unstructured, but if you're new to the concept, a little guidance can go a long way. Each of these workouts gives you just enough structure to follow while still letting you run based on feel. Make sure to start each session with a five- to 20-minute brisk walk or easy jog to warm up, and finish with a similar cooldown. 1:00 On / 1:00 Off Fartlek "This is a favorite of mine for checking in to see where your body's at," says Meyer. "It's a great one to start with, and to return to through a training cycle to see how things have changed." It's also super scalable: You can start with as few as five reps (just five minutes of work), and add more reps over time as your stamina increases. How to do it: 1:00 at a 7 out of 10 effort 1:00 at a 3 out of 10 effort Repeat 10 times Ladder Fartlek Workout "This one teaches us how we feel at six minutes of intensity versus one minute of intensity," says Meyer. "The only rule is to start at a moderate enough effort that you can get faster as the intervals get shorter." The challenge is pacing the long intervals smartly enough that you can still hit the gas towards the end of the workout. How to do it: 6:00 at a 5 out of 10 effort 5:00 at a 6 out of 10 effort 4:00 at a 7 out of 10 effort 3:00 at a 8 out of 10 effort 2:00 at an 9 out of 10 effort 1:00 at a 10 out of 10 effort Recover for 1:00 at a 3 out of 10 effort between each interval Hill + Tempo Fartlek Workout "Hills are a great way to develop speed and power and work on form," says Grose. "This workout builds up fatigue on the legs, and then you have to hang out at a comfortably hard effort to let the body process some of the waste product you accumulated during the hill sprints." That's going to help you feel stronger at the end of a longer run or race. How to do it: 8 x 0:30 uphill at an 8 out of 10 effort Walk down at a 3 out of 10 effort 2 x 6:00 on flat ground at a 6 to 7 out of 10 effort Walk or jog for 3:00 at a 3 to 4 effort in between You Might Also Like The Best Hair Growth Shampoos for Men to Buy Now 25 Vegetables That Are Surprising Sources of Protein
Yahoo
31-01-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Master proper running form to stay injury-free while maximizing performance
Whether you've been running for many years or you're just getting started, there's a good chance you've heard about the importance of maintaining proper running form. However, hearing about proper running form and implementing strategies to improve your technique are two very different things. If you've ever caught yourself running with slumped shoulders or your hands held close to your chest, you may be aware that your form could use some work — taking steps to apply proper technique can help prevent injury and improve your efficiency. "Optimizing one's running gait comes down to maximizing muscle strength, power, coordination and mobility," says Jessica Mena, an RRCA-certified running coach in Los Angeles. She explains that improving these areas of performance helps your body adapt better to the stress placed on it while running, enhancing your ability to absorb shock and reduce the risk of injury. In a nutshell, better form leads to better running economy and improved overall performance. According to Kurt Roeser a physical therapist and owner of Boulder Run Physio in Boulder, Colo., key factors influencing running performance and injury prevention include dynamic stability at the pelvis and foot, mobility in the thoracic spine, hips and ankles and the ability to absorb shock effectively. However, it's important to understand that everyone has unique movement patterns and potential underlying impairments, so optimizing these areas can vary by individual. "Some runners have distinctive biomechanics that might deviate from traditional norms yet [they can] still avoid injuries and achieve great success," Roeser says. According to Mena, the things most clinicians and sport biomechanics specialists look for include: Mid-foot landing. Heel striking leads to more strain on the anterior portion of your tibia and calf in your lower leg as your foot rolls forward to push off the ground. "A high percentage of runners with persistent shin splints display heavy heel landing," she says. Adjusting foot strike for a mid-foot landing can help prevent unnecessary strain along your shins. Avoiding overstriding. "Overstriding can be problematic because it causes a breaking mechanism during the loading phase of gait," Mena says. "This in turn increases the ground reaction forces of landing, which long term adds more stress to the joints and ligaments." Neutral elbows and controlled arm swing that doesn't cross your midline. "Crossing the midline during arm swing can lead to loss of forward acceleration and can create excess trunk rotation, which can lead to low-back and hip injuries," Mena says. Neutral head and neck. "If the head and neck are too strong you will see a bobbing head, which can cause neck pain," Mena says. This is common when someone is exerting themselves and they start to tense up through the shoulders, arms and neck. Consciously remembering to relax the neck and shoulders can help prevent this issue. Trunk lean of about 10 degrees. "A 10% trunk lean allows for the runner to engage the glutes a lot better than erect posturing. It sets up the hips to push off a lot better from the ground instead of overusing the hip flexor to pull the leg up and through," Mena explains. Fatigue is another consideration that comes into play when assessing running form, Roeser says. "For instance, an athlete may demonstrate excellent hip stability during a short-distance race like a 5K but struggle to maintain pelvic stability over the course of a marathon, increasing the risk of injury." Improving overall conditioning (muscular strength and cardiovascular endrance) and doing self-checks on form when you start to get tired can help reduce the likelihood of injuries or reductions in performance. "No single aspect of running form is universally more important than another; the influence of each factor depends on the individual's biomechanics and the specific challenges they face," Roeser says. "Tailoring interventions to unique needs is essential for improving performance and reducing injury risk." While weaknesses tied to running form can vary by individual, there are a few common mistakes seen among runners of all levels that are associated with breakdowns in form, says Jenna Zajac, a physical therapist also working at Boulder Run Physio. One example is running too fast and too often when the majority of training should be done at a low enough intensity to simultaneously hold a conversation. "Pushing paces beyond what the body can biomechanically handle can lead to compromised form and an increased risk of injury," Zajac explains. "The cardiovascular system often adapts to training more quickly than the musculoskeletal system, allowing runners to feel capable of pushing harder before their body is fully prepared to handle the increased load, and this mismatch can place undue stress on the body and disrupt efficient movement patterns." To correct this, it's important to progress training appropriately, tailoring it to your current fitness level to ensure a balance between cardiovascular fitness and musculoskeletal readiness, Zajac says. If you're working to increase your speed or the total number of miles you run each week, focus on one area at a time (speed or distance, not speed and distance), and only make a 10% increase to training load per week. For example, if you're currently racking up 15 miles per week, don't try to increase your total mileage next week by more than 1.5 miles. Too much vertical displacement, or bouncing up and down, is also a common error, Mena says. Many runners do this to try to correct their gait by bouncing versus pushing forward to feel springy, but it's ultimately a waste of energy. "[Runners] can correct [this] by adding a small trunk lean, working to increase their cadence to [reduce the risk of overstriding], and swinging their arms by their sides," she says. If you're unsure about potential issues with your running form, it can't hurt to get an assessment by a professional. Everyone has a unique skeletal system that includes variations in bone length and size, exact attachment points of muscles, tendons and ligaments and history of injuries or muscular imbalances. Other factors like height, body composition and weight can also play a role in biomechanics. Each of these factors can affect gait and the steps you should take (so to speak) to maximize your running mechanics. "A professional gait analysis can be highly beneficial, as it provides a skilled evaluation of movement patterns to identify areas of weakness or imbalance," says Brittney Feivor-Smith, another physical therapist at Boulder Run Physio. She adds that this is particularly helpful for injured runners as they're more likely to make changes to their gait to compensate for their injury, but she points out that these "compensatory movement patterns could exacerbate the issue." According to Zajac, professional feedback on your form can help you identify factors that could increase risk of future injury, providing you with the tools you need to address personal deficiencies in strength, mobility and stability. "Improved form reduces biomechanical stress and minimizes energy expenditure, allowing the body to perform more efficiently at similar paces," Zajac says. "This enhanced efficiency not only helps prevent fatigue but enables runners to achieve faster speeds with less metabolic demand." For those unable to access professional analysis, self-assessment tools can also be useful. "Periodically recording and reviewing running form videos can help [you] identify changes in mechanics over time," Feivor-Smith says. "Additionally, single-leg strength and balance exercises can serve as a practical way to detect side-to-side differences, offering insights into potential areas of improvement." For instance, do you feel stronger or better balanced when performing a single leg squat on your right side versus your left? Adding more unilateral exercises to your cross-training routine can help you correct side-to-side imbalances over time. If you want to record yourself to self-assess your form, Mena says the best way is from a posterior view (behind) and lateral view (to the side) in slow motion on a treadmill, There are apps and other wearable tools that can also help you identify potential areas of improvement. Here are a few options suggested by our experts. After getting a proper analysis, you can improve your running form with cadence or stride length drills, as well as strengthening, flexibility and mobility exercises. Getting a gait analysis by a specialist such as a physical therapist or sports medicine physician can help determine if you would benefit from adjustments to your form. Self-assessments can be helpful in this regard as well. In a word, yes, addressing inefficiencies can help you to run comfortably and reduce your risk of injury. However, it's worth pointing out that drastically changing form is not recommended over making small tweaks, Mena says. "Being able to hold your [individual] form for a whole race is more valuable than trying to run just like [marathon world-record holder] Eliud Kipchoge," she says. "This goes back to optimal strength, endurance and power are key players in maintaining form throughout your training runs and races, which will then aid in speed. If your muscles and tendons are strong, resilient and adaptable, it will be easier to train harder and longer and thus improve speed." The time it takes to see changes in running mechanics depends on the specific adjustment being made, Feivor-Smith says. Metrics like increasing cadence can be improved almost immediately through metronome training and external feedback, and this adjustment can help some runners reduce an overstriding gait pattern and lower ground reaction forces. However, achieving meaningful improvements in strength, running economy and dynamic stability can take at least six weeks of consistent, targeted strength training to produce measurable results, she adds. "It's also important to recognize that the body naturally moves in the most efficient way it can, often taking the path of least resistance," Feivor-Smith says. "Altering longstanding movement patterns involves retraining the body to adopt new mechanics, which can be a gradual and time-intensive process. Patience and persistence are key to achieving sustainable changes." A coach can help you identify weaknesses, but if dealing with potential injuries, it would be wise to consult a sports medicine physician, physical therapist or other health expert. Jessica Mena, DPT, CSCS, a physical therapist and RRCA-certified coach in Los Angeles Kurt Roeser, PT, DPT, OCS, a physical therapist and owner of Boulder Run Physio in Boulder, Colo. Jenna Zajac, PT, DPT, PhD, a physical therapist at Boulder Run Physio Brittney Feivor-Smith, PT, DPT, a physical therapist at Boulder Run Physio Our health content is for informational purposes only and is not intended as professional medical advice. Consult a medical professional on questions about your health.
