July 8, 2020 • 42 mins
There are numerous coaches and self-proclaimed running gurus who claim to teach the “perfect” running technique, one that both prevents injury while improving performance. From running cadence, stride length, body lean to ideal foot strike, they all preach the “best” way for you to run. Can you really tell how efficient a runner is simply by watching them? If we were indeed “Born to Run,” is there truly one way to do so optimally? Hear what the research says about the one true way to become a better runner in this episode of Fitness Disrupted.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Fitness Disrupted, a production of I Heart Radio.
I am Tom Holland and this is Fitness Disrupted. So
if you've listened to other podcasts of mine, may come
as no surprise that I'm a big fan of running.
(00:21):
I've been running for a long time. Couldn't do it
when I was younger, tried to, loved too, but I
was someone who was plagued with injuries, most notably shin splints.
Back when I was about nine or ten. It started horrific,
horrific shin splints, and it got worse as I did more,
(00:43):
especially football, and I look back, much of it had
to do with too much too soon. You know, the
football coaches would push us really hard, short amount of time.
You'd spend all summer maybe not working out, not running
at that age, and then you'd go to football hell week,
you know, two weeks of NonStop working out several times
(01:03):
a day, and I got chin splints. So to think
that I do what I do today having done you know,
iron Man races, marathons, ultra marathons, just shows you what
you can do. And that's what this show is about,
is busting through the myths and so many people who
think they can't do something. Kent and I have spent
my lifetime training those people, helping them figure out their
(01:25):
weak links and fix them. And today we're gonna talk
about running and the number one and I hate the term,
but I had to throw it in their secret, right,
the number one secret to becoming a better runner. And
it's gonna surprise you, and maybe it won't, but it
goes to the theme of my shows that we take
the science, we take the research, then we take the anecdotal,
(01:49):
which are just real world experiences people who run and
clients I've worked with, and myself being one great research subject,
and we take all of that, we combine it, we
look at common sense and we figure out what works,
and quite often it's what works in a certain order.
And that's what is so often missed when it comes
(02:13):
to fitness and exercise in sports, is we try to
run too far too soon, We try to do too much,
we try to we go to the second level stuff.
The second level stuff. I love that term, And if
you haven't listened to that podcast, I did, you have to,
because that is what is so often the mistakes people
(02:35):
make when it comes to nutrition and exercises. Is you
jump right to the second level stuff, and this shows
all about the secret is the first level. The secret
is the first level, and it goes to science and
it goes to experience, and it makes complete sense. And
it's actually great news. Great news because it doesn't cost
a lot of money. And that's the other thing, by
(02:57):
the way, The second level stuff is often people trying
to sell you stuff, people trying to sell you gear,
people trying to sell you training modalities. There their their
secret to running better. And I'm not gonna name specifics,
but anyone who's been around running for a while and
knows what I'm talking about, and I'm gonna give you
(03:18):
some studies that actually debunk many of those methodologies. So
you've got these running quote unquote gurus who have the
one way to run, and you have to run their way,
and if you don't, you're gonna get hurt and you're
not gonna be as good a runner. Years ago, when
(03:38):
I was a trainer, I've talked about one thing I
used to do with clients, especially when I moved out
of the city, was just run with them, regardless of
their goals. Often it was weight loss, a lot of
times it was you know, stress reduction, many different things.
But we had to do cardio and sometimes we would
you know, do strength training for half an hour and
then run for half an hour. Other clime we would
(04:00):
run for a full hour or longer. And oftentimes it
was to figure out their weak links as well. When
people say they can't run because I have bad knees,
I have a bad back, and go, okay, let's figure
that out and let's fix that. Not to say you
have to run, but it is so natural people. Yes,
we were born to run. My first major guest on
(04:22):
this show, Dr Daniel Lieberman from Harvard, Yes, we were
born to run. The book Born to Run is based
on the study he did of that name. Taken from
his study. We evolved. We we went from you know,
four of being on on four legs to two legs
for a reason, for many reasons, and we ran and
(04:45):
we continue to run. So the fact that it is
so out of the norm today and so many people
can't do it, that's not a good thing. But back
to when I was running with clients, there was one
woman in particular, and we went out for a run
one day and we had run many time times before,
and she was doing something totally bizarre. Her running style
was totally bizarre. I was like, what are you doing?
(05:07):
It was it was so unnatural and it was so
obvious because I had run with her so many times
and she said, oh, I did a weekend seminar and
I'm not going to name the very well known running guru.
And she said, this is what I was taught to do.
And it was so unnatural. And I said, well, you
(05:28):
know what, I wouldn't do that personally. I wouldn't. It
looked bizarre. She was wasting incredible bounce of energy. And
I'm going to talk about that. How do I know
by looking? And that's one of the problems with running coaches.
But I'm getting ahead of myself. But it was just
it was so unnatural, and I'll leave it at that.
It wasn't her normal running style, which I had seen
(05:49):
so many times before, so many miles, so many runs.
But it was such an obvious change in so many ways.
Since she was overthinking it. You could literally look at
her and see that she was, you know, concentrating on
how to run, you know, how we should run naturally? Okay,
(06:12):
quick break when we come back and jump into it.
I love this topic. You should love this even if
you're a non runner, but you're someone who said, you know,
you're thinking, God, you love to just go out and
enjoy a couple of miles three miles. Or maybe you're
a runner who's gotten injured and wants to go back
to it, or you're a super competitive runner or triathlete
or athlete. This show's for you. We'll be right back back.
(06:45):
When I was a trainer coaching people, I used to
coach for marathons, for triathlons, for many different events like that.
Oftentimes people would say, Tom, can you teach me to
run better? Can you coach my running style? Now, let
me preface this by saying, there are certain rules of
(07:05):
thumb that you will read about when it comes to
running and running for They include not swinging your arms
across the midline of your body right so your right arm,
left arm. When you're running. You shouldn't be rotating. You
should be going front to back. Makes sense. Also often
(07:26):
quoted is nine degrees of arm bend, things like that,
shoulders down. Now here's the thing, Uh, let me just
bring up and I remember seeing this woman, there's Chinese
marathon woman. Idiosyncratic style of running, and her name is Yuka,
and oh, okay, she runs with her arms almost completely
(07:50):
straight down. And not only did she run with her
arms almost completely straight so she's not swinging them front
to back, she doesn't have ninety degrees of arm bend,
and she ran I think her her pr is a
two twenty one marathon. So it's such a perfect example.
If there is no one way to run, there is
(08:12):
no one way to run. We are all different, and
yes we will take those basic guidelines and start from there.
But here's the thing. When it comes to looking at
someone's running style, it cannot really be done. So you say,
how how is it done? If you want to truly
test running economy, and I'll describe what that is, you
(08:33):
need to go into a laboratory. You need to go
into a laboratory. So of course, there are many running
coaches across country that will look at people and say, okay,
here's here's where we start. But then you look at
someone like this Chinese runner, and yes, she's somewhat of
an outlier, but we all have genetically predetermined ways of
(08:54):
doing things, and that includes something as simple and basic
and natural as running. Okay, and two things I'm just
throw out there the scientific terms. You've got a v
O two max and you've got running economy. Okay. Your
v O two max. You may have heard about this before.
It's defined as the maximum volume of oxygen per unit
(09:15):
time that you can use at your maximum exertion. What
does that mean? That simply means it's your body's ability
to use oxygen during exercise. Now, a huge part of
this is genetic Some people when they say, if you
want to be a great athlete, pick your parents wisely. So,
sure you are born with a certain v O two max,
(09:36):
but that is not the end all be all. So
v O two max, yes, depends greatly on your genetics,
and it represents your body's ability to you know, perform exercise.
But you can also improve it, Okay. Research has shown
you can improve it up to as high as fifteen
through proper training. We're gonna talk about what that is, okay,
(09:59):
But then they're running economy. So basically, your v O
two max is your highest end, the most you can use, right,
but then you're running economy. Now, I'm gonna give you
the kind of scientific definition, and I'm gonna give you
the more basic Okay, so one definition, the more scientific
definition of running economy. It represents a complex interplay of
(10:22):
physiological and biomechanical factors that is typically defined as the
energy demand for a given velocity of sub maximal running
and expressed as the sub maximal oxygen uptake at a
given running velocity. You go, what the heck does that mean? Okay,
it's basically the amount of oxygen the amount of energy
(10:43):
you use at a certain running speed, and that is
assessed and measured by measuring your oxygen uptake. Okay, So
the lower the energy required to run at a speed,
the better you're running economy, and the more efficient you are,
the faster you can go for a longer amount of
time running economy. So how do we improve that? Now
(11:06):
here's something that's interesting. You can have a high v
O two max. You can be born with good genetics,
but you can have a relatively low running economy, and
the person who has the higher running economy is going
to beat the person who does not. So take people
with the same genetics, the same v O two max.
It's the person with the higher running economy that is
(11:27):
gonna win end and run faster, longer, and you can
have a lower v O two max, but a higher
relative running economy, and again beat that person. Okay, runners
with good economy use less oxygen than runners with poor
economy at the same steady state speed. And again that
is tested in a laboratory. You put a mask on,
(11:51):
you go through a graded test okay, on a treadmill
at various speeds for anywhere three to fifteen minute, and
the data is analyzed. You wear this mask and the
gases that you give off and and your body's response
and a bunch of things are done. And I've had
(12:11):
it done. And if you're truly into this, it's a
really fun thing to do. You can do it for
bike and run. Many triathletes will do this. And I
used to send clients to a Delphi University to have
it done, and I did it myself and it's really interesting.
But that's the way you test. You can't just look.
If someone looked at that Chinese runner, a bad coach
(12:32):
would have looked at that Chinese runner and said, change
your arm swing, change your arm swing, and most likely
it would have made her run less fast. She would
have been less economical. Okay, so v O two max
genetic but trainable running economy, definitely trainable. And just because
(12:53):
you have a lower v O two max thanks to
your parents, doesn't mean you can't be a great athlete
if you do the things we're gonna talk about. Okay,
but just know that you don't have to pay someone
to just look at you and change your running for him.
And you know a lot of times you go into
running stores and I love when they have a treadmill
(13:13):
and they look at the way you run. But for
the most part, that's to see your foot strike. We're
gonna talk about that and things like that. But again,
if you truly want the scientific explanation of where you
are with your running economy and what you can change,
and even the what you can change part is going
(13:36):
to go to the secret that I'm gonna give you,
that's not gonna that's again may surprise you, may not,
all right, And we're gonna talk about some studies you
have to studies about what you do to get to
become a better runner. And I was just talking with
someone and over the years, so many of people have
(13:57):
said to me, I'm just I wasn't men to run,
and that always makes me sad. And there was a
person just who I was talking to recently who is
using an indoor exercise bike, but she said, you know,
she goes out to run and fill in the blank again,
this hurts. That hurts. And if she were a kind
(14:19):
of mine years back, we'd go out and we'd figure
it out. And most likely it's a it's a strength
thing or a weakness and imbalance, and those things are fixable.
Those things are fixable. So too often it gets too complicated,
It gets too complicated. So when I wrote my book
(14:41):
The Marathon Method back in the day, I was just
finishing up my master's degree, had all this incredible knowledge
on heart rate zones and and things like that, and
then I sat down to think, what is going to
truly help people? What do they really need? And this
goes to exactly the topic of this show. What do
they need eat to get better? To start? Especially? What
(15:04):
is the progression? Is it? These complex heart rate zone
training And there's a well known book out there, and
the guy is amazing as far as you know his knowledge.
And for those of you who have read these types
of books and are are more into the endurance sports,
you know, you have these training zones and they'll say
(15:24):
run at this training zone in this window, and oftentimes
it's like a really narrow window. It's five beats and
you go outside, and it's really hard to do because
you have hills, uphills, downhills, stop signs, so many different things.
And that second level stuff is where I'm getting to
for so many people at second level stuff. So how
(15:47):
we're what sixteen minutes into the show, here you go,
what is the number one thing that's going to make
you a better runner? You need to run, you need
to run frequently. That's this secret to running better, to
becoming a better runner. And I'm gonna give you some
studies and just the second that goes to that. So
(16:11):
again you get these coaches who make it really complicated
because they want to sell their books and they want
to sell their products. You know, so many different products. Now, then,
when I started to make you a better runner, none
of that matters. If you don't put in the miles,
none of that matters. I'll never forget when I first
started doing triathlon. When it came to biking, you know,
(16:31):
it was called you know, miles in the saddle, time
in the saddle, And the same thing holds true for running.
I'm gonna give you the reasons why, but you can't
do any of the other things. Heart Rate zones don't matter,
the different supplements you take, the way you structure your runs.
If you're not running frequently, it doesn't matter. The body
(16:54):
is a really smart machine, okay. The body doesn't want
to waste energy, and your body will generally go to
the path of least resistance. I'm gonna jump ahead of
myself a little bit here as well. So I was
out on a bike ride this past weekend, and from
a distance, and it was brutally hot. It was a
(17:16):
great day. I love the heat, and there weren't a
lot of people out, especially running, and I chose biking
for the read. It was brutally even though I like
running in the heat, you know, this was a bike
day for me. Anyway, From a distance, I saw a
runner coming towards me, and just from the gate, from
so far away, I could tell this was a trained runner.
(17:37):
And my guest was he was an iron Man triathlete,
because I had seen this so many times, and an
experienced Ironman try athlete. You say, how the heck did
you know that? Because of his running economy, because he
was not wasting any energy it was a soft foot strike.
It was he was so relaxed from the distance, you
could just tell. Now here's the thing, how do you
(18:02):
get to that point? Is did this guy go to
a running coach? I actually know him. As he got closer,
I knew who he was. But you get that good
in my experience, and according to some studies, I'm going
to give you right now in a second, by putting
in the miles, because your body becomes more efficient. Your
(18:22):
body doesn't want to waste energy. Think about that. If
you run really far, do you think all of that
wasted energy, your body will say, you know what, I'm
gonna start to conserve energy. I'm gonna stop wasting this motion,
wasting this energy through wasted motion. So I have watched people,
(18:44):
and myself being one who's I think I've never gone
to a running coach per se. And it's putting in
the time, it's putting in the miles, it's getting out
there and just running. That makes you a better runner.
But that doesn't sell the books. That doesn't sell the
the technique, the different running techniques. I'm going to talk
(19:06):
about the four ft striker. It doesn't sell barefoot shoes
and all of these topics, by the way, I have
done or will do in separate shows barefoot running, four
ft striking. I'm gonna give you a study on that.
Shortly doesn't sell books telling people to run more frequently?
(19:28):
You know again, Matt Fitzgerald frequency of running. You listen
to guys like him who not only have written about
it for really long time, so many different books, but
are high level athletes themselves. And it's about putting the
time in. And that's great news. You don't have to drastically,
(19:50):
nor should you change your running style based on someone's
just outward observation. You can and it can work occasionally.
And I'll give you that study. I don't just give
you studies just I'm giving you the studies period. All right,
let's get to them, all right. So we're talking about
(20:11):
the studies. We're talking about running economy, how you become
a better runner, what makes you a better runner, and
aerobic capacity and running economy. So here's your first study.
Boom boom boom. The title is the effect of stride
length variation on oxygen uptake during distance running. I love
this one for one main reason. Uh, but it was,
(20:33):
you know, not a huge study and it was in
medicine and science, in sports and exercise. And by the way,
there's so little research in running economy and things like that.
So many of these studies are way back when, and
they're they're really limited because it is complicated. It is
relatively complicated to to, you know, do these studies in
(20:54):
the way that we're talking about. But here you go.
So ten runners did several bouts of tread exercise and
what they did was they changed their stride length, okay,
to see what effect that would have on their running economy.
And what they found was that each subject ran most
economically consumed the least oxygen again when taking strides close
(21:18):
to his or herd natural stride length. Okay, what is that?
I love this in parentheses the stride length used when
running without any supervision or feedback lard. Deviations from this
natural stride length resulted in a less favorable running economy. Okay,
(21:39):
coach telling you what to do, sometimes it can be helpful.
I want to throw every coach under the bus. But
what is going to matter most is if you're a
cross country runner, how many times a week you're running?
Frequency and volume? Frequency and volume. There's a reason why
top marathoners log a hundred plus miles per and do
(22:01):
multiple runs per day. Final little line from this study,
I love the relatively efficient running patterns used by the
subjects during unrestricted running indicate either an adaptation to the
chosen stride length through training, or a successful process of
energy optimist uh optimization. Your body goes to where it
(22:24):
needs to go. When you do that thing enough times,
it learns, It learns. We have I love in so
many different ways talk about strength training, cardios. Our bodies
are really smart machines that adapt to be better when
you ask more of it. That's why when you strength train,
you break down muscle fibers and it rebuilds itself to
(22:45):
become stronger your bones. If you use them more weight
bearing activities, they become stronger. And this goes to the
use that or lose it. That's why it makes me
so sad when people say they can't run. And I
know people hate running, there many people out there, but
one of the main reasons is because you have those
aches and pains. Running is so natural for us, and
(23:09):
the more we weigh, the more challenging it is. I've
experienced this myself when I lifted, you know, got a
lot more muscle and put on some weight and went
out for a run and was at my peak weight
and muscle tissue. It was such an eye opener and
getting ahead of myself for another show. But one of
(23:31):
the second top things if you wanted to become a
faster runner is you need to weigh your optimal weight.
The lighter goes faster. Okay, all right, that's getting ahead
of myself though. Uh. Study number two, training for aerobic
capacity and running economy again old study one in the
Physician and Sports Medicine, and the summary basically, successful long
(23:56):
distance running is often attributed to what a high video
to max. But running economy, the steady state oxygen consumption
at a given speed, maybe more important. Okay, this was
a really I think they looked at one guy in
this study, but they found improvement after training. So just
putting in the miles, and for this study it was
interval training, and I will talk about that at the
(24:18):
close of the show. But a small difference in running
economy can make a large difference in your endurance capability. Okay,
but it's about putting in the miles. Third study, most
marathon runners that I love this one. So we're talking
about foot strike. Huge topic. I can't wait to do
a whole show on that, but it's just a part
(24:39):
of this one. So most marathon runners at the two
thousand seventeen World Championships were rear foot strikers and most
did not change foot strike patterns. Journal of Biomechanics two
thousand nineteen. Huge topic and I saw and I'm gonna
within the podcast I will do shortly on just this topic.
I am a member of the American Medical Athletic Association.
(25:02):
We have conferences with some of the smartest people giving lectures.
And there was a debate, a debate at the Marine
Corps Marathon years ago between a barefoot runner and another
person who was talking about that, you know, it didn't
matter where your foot strike was, and that most runners
are not doing the fore ft or midfoot strike, so
(25:24):
that you can basically end on the back of your foot,
the middle of your foot, or the front of your foot.
So the debate is what's best and should you change it?
And that is so much of that running guru lore
that I was talking about at the beginning of the show,
where they try to change your foot strike and they'll say, well,
if you land on your heel more the forces go
up your leg and that's where so many of the
(25:45):
injuries come from. All right, So this study looked at
the marathon at the two thousand and seventeen i A
a F World Championships. Uh. The researchers set up high
speed cameras to capture foot striking pattern of elite runners
as they raced. Okay, dozens of cameras. What did they
find The most prevalent striking pattern was rear foot throughout
(26:08):
the race. In fact, the top four finishers all rear
foot strikers. Of the seventy runners analyzed, during the fourth
lap of the men's marathon, forty seven of them, which
was sixty seven percent, landed on their heels, twenty one
which was thirty landed on their mid foot, and two
three percent landed on their fore ft. When it came
(26:29):
to the women's seventy eight runners, fifty seven which was
seventy three percent, landed on their heel, nineteen which was
twenty four winded on their midfoot, and two back to
three percent or on their four ft. Now I get it,
people go, well, I'm not an elite runner. Okay, Yeah,
but we look at what they do and think is
that the best way to do it? But this is
(26:49):
a huge chicken and egg controversy, and I'll read this enough.
So my take on this is one of the factors
is do they run the way they run because they
put in more aisles and even so they are still
primarily landing on their heel. So I'm just bringing this
up because so much of the running coaching where people
(27:11):
try to change your stride, they try to change the
way you land and a lot of that has to
do with your shoes. And they'll give you these shoes,
Oh my gosh, that are supposed to put you in
your four ft strike. Uh. Back to that symposium, uh,
between the two the debate where should you land on
(27:32):
your foot? One of the presenters actually brought up video
of someone who is a runner and is a proponent,
a well known proponent of the four foot strike and
says that the shoes not gonna name the brand, but
the shoes they run and put you in the four
ft strike. And that's the thing they they unnaturally, I
(27:52):
would say, put you into that four foot strike or
do they? Because this the person debating that specific person,
I'm trying to keep vegas possible. Brought up video of
this person actually running an iron Man race and landing
on their heels. So even though they were running in
the shoe that is supposed to put you into the
four ft position, this person was not doing so. And
(28:13):
by the way, one of the major factors involved with
your foot strike as you get more fatigued, you get
back on your heels, and that's often found in the
research as well. Okay, another study, Strategies to improve running
economy Sports Medicine, two thousand fifteen. Okay, improvements and running
economy have traditionally been achieved through what endurance training, through
(28:38):
putting in the miles. Now it goes on to say
a hill and level ground, high intensity interval training. That's
another frequently prescribed form of training, and I've done specific
shows on the value of uphill training and interval training.
Will talk about that real quickly, and I've done those
shows as well. But you have to put in the
miles first, because here's the thing. You can't go hard
(29:01):
before you build your base. And that is a huge
takeaway from this show is yes, you can get really
specific about your running and you can start doing the
high intensity intervals. You go to the track, but that's
the factor you go. Generally speaking, the more likely you
are to get injured. And if you don't have a
base of strength, if you have the weaknesses that haven't
(29:21):
been built up, that haven't been strengthened through what just running,
you're going to get hurt. And that's why so many
people get hurt. That's why so many people don't enjoy running.
It's going to exactly what this show and and Fitness
Disrupted as a whole is about. It's the basics. You
have to do the basics first, and the basics are
(29:42):
what gets you really good. Listen back when I was
I'll wait for that, but it's worth talking about the
end of the show, okay. And and this study, by
the way, also talks about research about resistance training and
biometrics helping with running economy. All true, all true, but
you have to get your base of strength first. You
can't go out and run fast and go hard into
(30:05):
all those things and expect to be good if you
don't put in the miles. Two more two more studies,
this one BMC Sports Science, Medicine Rehabilitation two thousand sixteen
and Empirical study of race times in recreational endurance runners.
Interesting study. It was a survey used to collect data
from recreational runners endurance runners, just over two thousand about
(30:27):
runners and this guy, I save this. There's two for last.
They found a very strong correlation between what weekly running
mileage and race times, ranging from the five k to
the marathon. The more miles these runners ran, the faster
they raced. The more miles these runners ran, the faster
(30:48):
they race. So the question is how many miles? Right?
You can't do too many or you get hurt, so
you have to build up slowly periodization. But the be
all end all wasn't how much interval training they did,
or you know, what type of shoes they wore, or
what type of foot strike they had, or who they're
(31:09):
running coach was, or what their form for running you
know is or there you know recovery methods, there something
you gotta just do it. You know, I say frequently
that now you got a half, right, it's not just
do it, it's just do it frequently, Just do it frequently.
Final break and we'll be right back. Okay, saved what
(31:39):
I consider to be the best for last. Although all
of these studies go into what I'm talking about. And
sometimes I feel crazy when I do these shows because
I know people are listening and they're going it's it's
really it's that simple, yes, fitness and nutrition. One of
the major issues with both is that you have self
(32:02):
proclaimed experts who are not who grab onto one thing,
one thing and that's how they make their name, and
it's over it's making it overly complex. It's not looking
at the science what this show is all about. I
can't say that enough times. Listen. I'd love to impress
(32:24):
you with my you know, knowledge of heart rate zones
and power and things like that. Who cares. My goal
is to get you the greatest results in the shortest
amount of time, with the least likelihood of injury. And
I am living proof of that. You know. I know
I'm in equals one. I'm just one, you know, subject
(32:45):
in in the experiment of fitness. But I was someone
who couldn't run, who had all those issues. I just
I don't probably talk about it enough because I don't
like focusing on the negative. But you have to know
from where I came as well. I was not coming
out of the womb running and I had those issue
use huge issues and how did I get better by
running and building up slowly? Okay, alright? Final study Running economy,
(33:10):
measurement norms and determining factors. This was Sports Medicine Open,
two thousand fifteen. One one line. I'm just gonna pull
from it, and this goes to everything we're talking about.
An economical change in one athlete may be uneconomical in
another athlete because of differences in other physiological or biomechanical characteristics.
(33:33):
I'm gonna read it one final time because it goes
to the entire theme of changing your running gait by
just looking at you or following some running gurus self
proclaimed you know one way to run. An economical change
in one athlete may be uneconomical in another because of
differences in other physiological or bio mechanical characteristics. If you
(33:57):
want to know you're running economy, you have to go
into a lab and see what's going on. And yes,
there are subtle changes you can make, but you still
don't know if you make those changes. Ideally, you still
don't know because you don't know how your body is responding.
Now you can look at running times and things like that,
(34:19):
but there's the chicken and egg controversy. Again, you may
be changing these things subtly, but you're putting in the miles.
So was it the changes in your running form or
is it the miles and you're changing your running form
and putting in the miles. You may be able to
run faster if you just stick to what's natural. The
more you run, the better your body becomes at it.
(34:41):
So it is that chicken and egg controversy. When it
comes to that, I will go back to your body
is a very smart machine. It doesn't want to waste energy,
especially in the later miles. The farther you run, the
better you will be calm okay. Or the more miles
you put in, you gotta be careful. You can't do
too many too soon, okay. Frequency over complexity. Frequency over complexity,
(35:08):
especially when you're starting. You can't go to the track
and start hammering out repeats or on the treadmill at
a class, or on you know, some content until you've
built that base of strength that goes for everything. You
need to build your base. So I'm now fifty one,
I am not putting in the longer runs that I
(35:31):
used to, So I am doing more frequent, short runs.
So there's one if you're a beginner anyone to run,
or a lot more miles, or you're someone like me
who's getting up there and doesn't want to be hurt.
I'm doing shorter run so and rather than running in
an eight mile run like I used to, I'll do
a four mile run in the morning and another four
(35:52):
mile in the evening. Because the longer we run, the
more body starts to break down and get slower and
do things that you know aren't perfect. But as we
get older that becomes more important. That's not to say
I don't do longer runs. I'm just smart about it.
So I'm breaking them up more frequently. So the mileage
maybe the same, but it's quality over quantity. I'm mixing
(36:16):
it up more than I used to when it comes
to the longer runs, and that's it. It's working. You know,
as we start to go longer over an hour, things
like that, your body starts to break down a little
bit more so if you're gonna put in the miles
and you want to be safe and you're getting older
or you're just starting out, I suggest in a lot
(36:37):
of the research shows frequency, and you know most marathoners
who are in durance athletes will have that one long
run on the weekend, and that's one great way to
get it in, all right, But the number one secret
to becoming a better runner, drumroll, please just run, just run.
(37:02):
I always think back to cave men. Do you think
cavemen were worried about four ft rear foot striking? They
were barefoot? I guess right. And that goes to a
whole another thing about running shoes, and I will talk
about that in a separate show and I've hit on
it a little bit and previous ones. But even running
(37:22):
shoes can make it unnatural. But that doesn't mean we
suddenly start running barefoot again. That's a huge problem. Okay,
I'm gonna say it real quickly. You know, you can't
run in shoes for forty years that are super supportive
and then expect your body to be able to tolerate.
For most people, especially if you have more weight. Barefoot
running or minimalist running, it's all about progression and it's
(37:43):
all about simplifying it. And yes, we can get to
the you know, the more intense workouts and the plying
metrics and the interval training and the hill work and
things like that, and you should overtime if your goals
are are loftier and you want to mix it up
and you want to be fitter. But at the end
of the day, it's all about time, excessive moderation. Look
(38:05):
at how that always comes back excessive moderation doing a
lot a little bit rather than doing a little bit
a lot. And especially if you just try to change
your gait and don't run frequently, it's not gonna have
the results that you expect. Simple enough, trust your body,
(38:29):
all right. I hope you enjoyed that runners non runners,
and I would love to hear from non runners who
start running. It's one of my favorite things is people
who you know, read my books, listen to the shows
and and make major change that they didn't think possible,
because that is ultimately what this show is about, helping
you look better, feel better, and live longer. Oh wait,
(38:50):
hold on, I got ahead of myself. Yeah, I have
one study real quick, here's how we end the show.
So here's one that goes against everything I said. Somewhat
effective step length optimization on aerobic demand of running. So
this was Journal of Applied Physiology. So what they found
in this study was that most demonstrated and near optimal
(39:11):
stride length for the speed at which they were tested,
which goes to everything I just said. You know, their
natural stride length was optimal, near optimal for the speed
that they were tested. However, nine of the runners were
diagnosed as over striders and were subsequently trained to reduce
their strides to a more optimal length, and after three
weeks of doing this, these runners showed significant improvement in
running economy relative to a control group. So that kind
(39:33):
of contradicts what I just said, but does it? And
here's why I included that. First of all, I'm gonna
include all the studies regardless, not just to support a
bias that the vast majority of fitness people do. It's
nine people and they're running may have been so egregiously wrong.
But here's the thing that I love about it. What
do many running coaches advised when it comes to running length,
(39:57):
in your stride, length in your ride. No, this one.
It's the frequency. They were over striders. They were trained
to reduce their strides. So many running coaches say no, no, no,
you gotta lengthen your stride. Well, for many people that's
the opposite advice. So pulling it all together. I'm not
(40:21):
saying that some running coaches that can't help improve your
running economy by looking at you, but science says to
truly do that. And when you look at the Chinese runner,
you can, and oh and other runners. Just look at
the number of different ways people run. So yes, there
are ways to improve your running economy. But one of
(40:43):
the primary ways you are going to do that is
putting in the time. Enough said, I hope you enjoyed that,
love this type of topic. It's exactly what this shows about.
Let's look at the science and it generally will always
go back to the simple solution, and it's putting in
(41:03):
the time. Put in the time. Don't make it more complicated.
Don't waste money on products and programs that aren't gonna
help anyone other than the people selling the products of
the programs. All right, thank you for listening. If you
could rate the show, please come on rate the show.
It takes two seconds. Rate the show. I greatly appreciate that.
(41:24):
Subscribe as well. Amazing guests, new ones coming up if
you haven't listened. If you're into the running and ultra running,
especially Dean car Nazis just interviewed him amazing, amazing guy.
And yes, Tom h Fit is my Instagram. Tom h
Fit is also my Twitter. You can follow me there,
reach out to me there or Fitness disrupted dot com.
(41:46):
You can reach out to me right through that as well.
My show, my life's work is all about helping people
look better, feel better, and live longer. My only bias
is wanting you to enjoy your life to the fullest,
to live as long as possible and have those years
be the highest quality as possible. And that's it. Because
(42:09):
there's three things we control, how much we move, what
we put into our mouths, and equally as important, our
psychological state, our attitudes. No one can control those three
things for you. It is up to you and I'm
here to give you the best information to be able
to do that. Thank you for listening. I am Tom
(42:30):
Holland this is Fitness Disrupted. Believe in Yourself. Fitness Disrupted
is a production of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts
from my heart Radio, visit the I heart Radio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
Welcome to Fitness Disrupted, a production of I Heart Radio.
I am Tom Holland and this is Fitness Disrupted. So
if you've listened to other podcasts of mine, may come
as no surprise that I'm a big fan of running.
(00:21):
I've been running for a long time. Couldn't do it
when I was younger, tried to, loved too, but I
was someone who was plagued with injuries, most notably shin splints.
Back when I was about nine or ten. It started horrific,
horrific shin splints, and it got worse as I did more,
(00:43):
especially football, and I look back, much of it had
to do with too much too soon. You know, the
football coaches would push us really hard, short amount of time.
You'd spend all summer maybe not working out, not running
at that age, and then you'd go to football hell week,
you know, two weeks of NonStop working out several times
(01:03):
a day, and I got chin splints. So to think
that I do what I do today having done you know,
iron Man races, marathons, ultra marathons, just shows you what
you can do. And that's what this show is about,
is busting through the myths and so many people who
think they can't do something. Kent and I have spent
my lifetime training those people, helping them figure out their
(01:25):
weak links and fix them. And today we're gonna talk
about running and the number one and I hate the term,
but I had to throw it in their secret, right,
the number one secret to becoming a better runner. And
it's gonna surprise you, and maybe it won't, but it
goes to the theme of my shows that we take
the science, we take the research, then we take the anecdotal,
(01:49):
which are just real world experiences people who run and
clients I've worked with, and myself being one great research subject,
and we take all of that, we combine it, we
look at common sense and we figure out what works,
and quite often it's what works in a certain order.
And that's what is so often missed when it comes
(02:13):
to fitness and exercise in sports, is we try to
run too far too soon, We try to do too much,
we try to we go to the second level stuff.
The second level stuff. I love that term, And if
you haven't listened to that podcast, I did, you have to,
because that is what is so often the mistakes people
(02:35):
make when it comes to nutrition and exercises. Is you
jump right to the second level stuff, and this shows
all about the secret is the first level. The secret
is the first level, and it goes to science and
it goes to experience, and it makes complete sense. And
it's actually great news. Great news because it doesn't cost
a lot of money. And that's the other thing, by
(02:57):
the way, The second level stuff is often people trying
to sell you stuff, people trying to sell you gear,
people trying to sell you training modalities. There their their
secret to running better. And I'm not gonna name specifics,
but anyone who's been around running for a while and
knows what I'm talking about, and I'm gonna give you
(03:18):
some studies that actually debunk many of those methodologies. So
you've got these running quote unquote gurus who have the
one way to run, and you have to run their way,
and if you don't, you're gonna get hurt and you're
not gonna be as good a runner. Years ago, when
(03:38):
I was a trainer, I've talked about one thing I
used to do with clients, especially when I moved out
of the city, was just run with them, regardless of
their goals. Often it was weight loss, a lot of
times it was you know, stress reduction, many different things.
But we had to do cardio and sometimes we would
you know, do strength training for half an hour and
then run for half an hour. Other clime we would
(04:00):
run for a full hour or longer. And oftentimes it
was to figure out their weak links as well. When
people say they can't run because I have bad knees,
I have a bad back, and go, okay, let's figure
that out and let's fix that. Not to say you
have to run, but it is so natural people. Yes,
we were born to run. My first major guest on
(04:22):
this show, Dr Daniel Lieberman from Harvard, Yes, we were
born to run. The book Born to Run is based
on the study he did of that name. Taken from
his study. We evolved. We we went from you know,
four of being on on four legs to two legs
for a reason, for many reasons, and we ran and
(04:45):
we continue to run. So the fact that it is
so out of the norm today and so many people
can't do it, that's not a good thing. But back
to when I was running with clients, there was one
woman in particular, and we went out for a run
one day and we had run many time times before,
and she was doing something totally bizarre. Her running style
was totally bizarre. I was like, what are you doing?
(05:07):
It was it was so unnatural and it was so
obvious because I had run with her so many times
and she said, oh, I did a weekend seminar and
I'm not going to name the very well known running guru.
And she said, this is what I was taught to do.
And it was so unnatural. And I said, well, you
(05:28):
know what, I wouldn't do that personally. I wouldn't. It
looked bizarre. She was wasting incredible bounce of energy. And
I'm going to talk about that. How do I know
by looking? And that's one of the problems with running coaches.
But I'm getting ahead of myself. But it was just
it was so unnatural, and I'll leave it at that.
It wasn't her normal running style, which I had seen
(05:49):
so many times before, so many miles, so many runs.
But it was such an obvious change in so many ways.
Since she was overthinking it. You could literally look at
her and see that she was, you know, concentrating on
how to run, you know, how we should run naturally? Okay,
(06:12):
quick break when we come back and jump into it.
I love this topic. You should love this even if
you're a non runner, but you're someone who said, you know,
you're thinking, God, you love to just go out and
enjoy a couple of miles three miles. Or maybe you're
a runner who's gotten injured and wants to go back
to it, or you're a super competitive runner or triathlete
or athlete. This show's for you. We'll be right back back.
(06:45):
When I was a trainer coaching people, I used to
coach for marathons, for triathlons, for many different events like that.
Oftentimes people would say, Tom, can you teach me to
run better? Can you coach my running style? Now, let
me preface this by saying, there are certain rules of
(07:05):
thumb that you will read about when it comes to
running and running for They include not swinging your arms
across the midline of your body right so your right arm,
left arm. When you're running. You shouldn't be rotating. You
should be going front to back. Makes sense. Also often
(07:26):
quoted is nine degrees of arm bend, things like that,
shoulders down. Now here's the thing, Uh, let me just
bring up and I remember seeing this woman, there's Chinese
marathon woman. Idiosyncratic style of running, and her name is Yuka,
and oh, okay, she runs with her arms almost completely
(07:50):
straight down. And not only did she run with her
arms almost completely straight so she's not swinging them front
to back, she doesn't have ninety degrees of arm bend,
and she ran I think her her pr is a
two twenty one marathon. So it's such a perfect example.
If there is no one way to run, there is
(08:12):
no one way to run. We are all different, and
yes we will take those basic guidelines and start from there.
But here's the thing. When it comes to looking at
someone's running style, it cannot really be done. So you say,
how how is it done? If you want to truly
test running economy, and I'll describe what that is, you
(08:33):
need to go into a laboratory. You need to go
into a laboratory. So of course, there are many running
coaches across country that will look at people and say, okay,
here's here's where we start. But then you look at
someone like this Chinese runner, and yes, she's somewhat of
an outlier, but we all have genetically predetermined ways of
(08:54):
doing things, and that includes something as simple and basic
and natural as running. Okay, and two things I'm just
throw out there the scientific terms. You've got a v
O two max and you've got running economy. Okay. Your
v O two max. You may have heard about this before.
It's defined as the maximum volume of oxygen per unit
(09:15):
time that you can use at your maximum exertion. What
does that mean? That simply means it's your body's ability
to use oxygen during exercise. Now, a huge part of
this is genetic Some people when they say, if you
want to be a great athlete, pick your parents wisely. So,
sure you are born with a certain v O two max,
(09:36):
but that is not the end all be all. So
v O two max, yes, depends greatly on your genetics,
and it represents your body's ability to you know, perform exercise.
But you can also improve it, Okay. Research has shown
you can improve it up to as high as fifteen
through proper training. We're gonna talk about what that is, okay,
(09:59):
But then they're running economy. So basically, your v O
two max is your highest end, the most you can use, right,
but then you're running economy. Now, I'm gonna give you
the kind of scientific definition, and I'm gonna give you
the more basic Okay, so one definition, the more scientific
definition of running economy. It represents a complex interplay of
(10:22):
physiological and biomechanical factors that is typically defined as the
energy demand for a given velocity of sub maximal running
and expressed as the sub maximal oxygen uptake at a
given running velocity. You go, what the heck does that mean? Okay,
it's basically the amount of oxygen the amount of energy
(10:43):
you use at a certain running speed, and that is
assessed and measured by measuring your oxygen uptake. Okay, So
the lower the energy required to run at a speed,
the better you're running economy, and the more efficient you are,
the faster you can go for a longer amount of
time running economy. So how do we improve that? Now
(11:06):
here's something that's interesting. You can have a high v
O two max. You can be born with good genetics,
but you can have a relatively low running economy, and
the person who has the higher running economy is going
to beat the person who does not. So take people
with the same genetics, the same v O two max.
It's the person with the higher running economy that is
(11:27):
gonna win end and run faster, longer, and you can
have a lower v O two max, but a higher
relative running economy, and again beat that person. Okay, runners
with good economy use less oxygen than runners with poor
economy at the same steady state speed. And again that
is tested in a laboratory. You put a mask on,
(11:51):
you go through a graded test okay, on a treadmill
at various speeds for anywhere three to fifteen minute, and
the data is analyzed. You wear this mask and the
gases that you give off and and your body's response
and a bunch of things are done. And I've had
(12:11):
it done. And if you're truly into this, it's a
really fun thing to do. You can do it for
bike and run. Many triathletes will do this. And I
used to send clients to a Delphi University to have
it done, and I did it myself and it's really interesting.
But that's the way you test. You can't just look.
If someone looked at that Chinese runner, a bad coach
(12:32):
would have looked at that Chinese runner and said, change
your arm swing, change your arm swing, and most likely
it would have made her run less fast. She would
have been less economical. Okay, so v O two max
genetic but trainable running economy, definitely trainable. And just because
(12:53):
you have a lower v O two max thanks to
your parents, doesn't mean you can't be a great athlete
if you do the things we're gonna talk about. Okay,
but just know that you don't have to pay someone
to just look at you and change your running for him.
And you know a lot of times you go into
running stores and I love when they have a treadmill
(13:13):
and they look at the way you run. But for
the most part, that's to see your foot strike. We're
gonna talk about that and things like that. But again,
if you truly want the scientific explanation of where you
are with your running economy and what you can change,
and even the what you can change part is going
(13:36):
to go to the secret that I'm gonna give you,
that's not gonna that's again may surprise you, may not,
all right, And we're gonna talk about some studies you
have to studies about what you do to get to
become a better runner. And I was just talking with
someone and over the years, so many of people have
(13:57):
said to me, I'm just I wasn't men to run,
and that always makes me sad. And there was a
person just who I was talking to recently who is
using an indoor exercise bike, but she said, you know,
she goes out to run and fill in the blank again,
this hurts. That hurts. And if she were a kind
(14:19):
of mine years back, we'd go out and we'd figure
it out. And most likely it's a it's a strength
thing or a weakness and imbalance, and those things are fixable.
Those things are fixable. So too often it gets too complicated,
It gets too complicated. So when I wrote my book
(14:41):
The Marathon Method back in the day, I was just
finishing up my master's degree, had all this incredible knowledge
on heart rate zones and and things like that, and
then I sat down to think, what is going to
truly help people? What do they really need? And this
goes to exactly the topic of this show. What do
they need eat to get better? To start? Especially? What
(15:04):
is the progression? Is it? These complex heart rate zone
training And there's a well known book out there, and
the guy is amazing as far as you know his knowledge.
And for those of you who have read these types
of books and are are more into the endurance sports,
you know, you have these training zones and they'll say
(15:24):
run at this training zone in this window, and oftentimes
it's like a really narrow window. It's five beats and
you go outside, and it's really hard to do because
you have hills, uphills, downhills, stop signs, so many different things.
And that second level stuff is where I'm getting to
for so many people at second level stuff. So how
(15:47):
we're what sixteen minutes into the show, here you go,
what is the number one thing that's going to make
you a better runner? You need to run, you need
to run frequently. That's this secret to running better, to
becoming a better runner. And I'm gonna give you some
studies and just the second that goes to that. So
(16:11):
again you get these coaches who make it really complicated
because they want to sell their books and they want
to sell their products. You know, so many different products. Now, then,
when I started to make you a better runner, none
of that matters. If you don't put in the miles,
none of that matters. I'll never forget when I first
started doing triathlon. When it came to biking, you know,
(16:31):
it was called you know, miles in the saddle, time
in the saddle, And the same thing holds true for running.
I'm gonna give you the reasons why, but you can't
do any of the other things. Heart Rate zones don't matter,
the different supplements you take, the way you structure your runs.
If you're not running frequently, it doesn't matter. The body
(16:54):
is a really smart machine, okay. The body doesn't want
to waste energy, and your body will generally go to
the path of least resistance. I'm gonna jump ahead of
myself a little bit here as well. So I was
out on a bike ride this past weekend, and from
a distance, and it was brutally hot. It was a
(17:16):
great day. I love the heat, and there weren't a
lot of people out, especially running, and I chose biking
for the read. It was brutally even though I like
running in the heat, you know, this was a bike
day for me. Anyway, From a distance, I saw a
runner coming towards me, and just from the gate, from
so far away, I could tell this was a trained runner.
(17:37):
And my guest was he was an iron Man triathlete,
because I had seen this so many times, and an
experienced Ironman try athlete. You say, how the heck did
you know that? Because of his running economy, because he
was not wasting any energy it was a soft foot strike.
It was he was so relaxed from the distance, you
could just tell. Now here's the thing, how do you
(18:02):
get to that point? Is did this guy go to
a running coach? I actually know him. As he got closer,
I knew who he was. But you get that good
in my experience, and according to some studies, I'm going
to give you right now in a second, by putting
in the miles, because your body becomes more efficient. Your
(18:22):
body doesn't want to waste energy. Think about that. If
you run really far, do you think all of that
wasted energy, your body will say, you know what, I'm
gonna start to conserve energy. I'm gonna stop wasting this motion,
wasting this energy through wasted motion. So I have watched people,
(18:44):
and myself being one who's I think I've never gone
to a running coach per se. And it's putting in
the time, it's putting in the miles, it's getting out
there and just running. That makes you a better runner.
But that doesn't sell the books. That doesn't sell the
the technique, the different running techniques. I'm going to talk
(19:06):
about the four ft striker. It doesn't sell barefoot shoes
and all of these topics, by the way, I have
done or will do in separate shows barefoot running, four
ft striking. I'm gonna give you a study on that.
Shortly doesn't sell books telling people to run more frequently?
(19:28):
You know again, Matt Fitzgerald frequency of running. You listen
to guys like him who not only have written about
it for really long time, so many different books, but
are high level athletes themselves. And it's about putting the
time in. And that's great news. You don't have to drastically,
(19:50):
nor should you change your running style based on someone's
just outward observation. You can and it can work occasionally.
And I'll give you that study. I don't just give
you studies just I'm giving you the studies period. All right,
let's get to them, all right. So we're talking about
(20:11):
the studies. We're talking about running economy, how you become
a better runner, what makes you a better runner, and
aerobic capacity and running economy. So here's your first study.
Boom boom boom. The title is the effect of stride
length variation on oxygen uptake during distance running. I love
this one for one main reason. Uh, but it was,
(20:33):
you know, not a huge study and it was in
medicine and science, in sports and exercise. And by the way,
there's so little research in running economy and things like that.
So many of these studies are way back when, and
they're they're really limited because it is complicated. It is
relatively complicated to to, you know, do these studies in
(20:54):
the way that we're talking about. But here you go.
So ten runners did several bouts of tread exercise and
what they did was they changed their stride length, okay,
to see what effect that would have on their running economy.
And what they found was that each subject ran most
economically consumed the least oxygen again when taking strides close
(21:18):
to his or herd natural stride length. Okay, what is that?
I love this in parentheses the stride length used when
running without any supervision or feedback lard. Deviations from this
natural stride length resulted in a less favorable running economy. Okay,
(21:39):
coach telling you what to do, sometimes it can be helpful.
I want to throw every coach under the bus. But
what is going to matter most is if you're a
cross country runner, how many times a week you're running?
Frequency and volume? Frequency and volume. There's a reason why
top marathoners log a hundred plus miles per and do
(22:01):
multiple runs per day. Final little line from this study,
I love the relatively efficient running patterns used by the
subjects during unrestricted running indicate either an adaptation to the
chosen stride length through training, or a successful process of
energy optimist uh optimization. Your body goes to where it
(22:24):
needs to go. When you do that thing enough times,
it learns, It learns. We have I love in so
many different ways talk about strength training, cardios. Our bodies
are really smart machines that adapt to be better when
you ask more of it. That's why when you strength train,
you break down muscle fibers and it rebuilds itself to
(22:45):
become stronger your bones. If you use them more weight
bearing activities, they become stronger. And this goes to the
use that or lose it. That's why it makes me
so sad when people say they can't run. And I
know people hate running, there many people out there, but
one of the main reasons is because you have those
aches and pains. Running is so natural for us, and
(23:09):
the more we weigh, the more challenging it is. I've
experienced this myself when I lifted, you know, got a
lot more muscle and put on some weight and went
out for a run and was at my peak weight
and muscle tissue. It was such an eye opener and
getting ahead of myself for another show. But one of
(23:31):
the second top things if you wanted to become a
faster runner is you need to weigh your optimal weight.
The lighter goes faster. Okay, all right, that's getting ahead
of myself though. Uh. Study number two, training for aerobic
capacity and running economy again old study one in the
Physician and Sports Medicine, and the summary basically, successful long
(23:56):
distance running is often attributed to what a high video
to max. But running economy, the steady state oxygen consumption
at a given speed, maybe more important. Okay, this was
a really I think they looked at one guy in
this study, but they found improvement after training. So just
putting in the miles, and for this study it was
interval training, and I will talk about that at the
(24:18):
close of the show. But a small difference in running
economy can make a large difference in your endurance capability. Okay,
but it's about putting in the miles. Third study, most
marathon runners that I love this one. So we're talking
about foot strike. Huge topic. I can't wait to do
a whole show on that, but it's just a part
(24:39):
of this one. So most marathon runners at the two
thousand seventeen World Championships were rear foot strikers and most
did not change foot strike patterns. Journal of Biomechanics two
thousand nineteen. Huge topic and I saw and I'm gonna
within the podcast I will do shortly on just this topic.
I am a member of the American Medical Athletic Association.
(25:02):
We have conferences with some of the smartest people giving lectures.
And there was a debate, a debate at the Marine
Corps Marathon years ago between a barefoot runner and another
person who was talking about that, you know, it didn't
matter where your foot strike was, and that most runners
are not doing the fore ft or midfoot strike, so
(25:24):
that you can basically end on the back of your foot,
the middle of your foot, or the front of your foot.
So the debate is what's best and should you change it?
And that is so much of that running guru lore
that I was talking about at the beginning of the show,
where they try to change your foot strike and they'll say, well,
if you land on your heel more the forces go
up your leg and that's where so many of the
(25:45):
injuries come from. All right, So this study looked at
the marathon at the two thousand and seventeen i A
a F World Championships. Uh. The researchers set up high
speed cameras to capture foot striking pattern of elite runners
as they raced. Okay, dozens of cameras. What did they
find The most prevalent striking pattern was rear foot throughout
(26:08):
the race. In fact, the top four finishers all rear
foot strikers. Of the seventy runners analyzed, during the fourth
lap of the men's marathon, forty seven of them, which
was sixty seven percent, landed on their heels, twenty one
which was thirty landed on their mid foot, and two
three percent landed on their fore ft. When it came
(26:29):
to the women's seventy eight runners, fifty seven which was
seventy three percent, landed on their heel, nineteen which was
twenty four winded on their midfoot, and two back to
three percent or on their four ft. Now I get it,
people go, well, I'm not an elite runner. Okay, Yeah,
but we look at what they do and think is
that the best way to do it? But this is
(26:49):
a huge chicken and egg controversy, and I'll read this enough.
So my take on this is one of the factors
is do they run the way they run because they
put in more aisles and even so they are still
primarily landing on their heel. So I'm just bringing this
up because so much of the running coaching where people
(27:11):
try to change your stride, they try to change the
way you land and a lot of that has to
do with your shoes. And they'll give you these shoes,
Oh my gosh, that are supposed to put you in
your four ft strike. Uh. Back to that symposium, uh,
between the two the debate where should you land on
(27:32):
your foot? One of the presenters actually brought up video
of someone who is a runner and is a proponent,
a well known proponent of the four foot strike and
says that the shoes not gonna name the brand, but
the shoes they run and put you in the four
ft strike. And that's the thing they they unnaturally, I
(27:52):
would say, put you into that four foot strike or
do they? Because this the person debating that specific person,
I'm trying to keep vegas possible. Brought up video of
this person actually running an iron Man race and landing
on their heels. So even though they were running in
the shoe that is supposed to put you into the
four ft position, this person was not doing so. And
(28:13):
by the way, one of the major factors involved with
your foot strike as you get more fatigued, you get
back on your heels, and that's often found in the
research as well. Okay, another study, Strategies to improve running
economy Sports Medicine, two thousand fifteen. Okay, improvements and running
economy have traditionally been achieved through what endurance training, through
(28:38):
putting in the miles. Now it goes on to say
a hill and level ground, high intensity interval training. That's
another frequently prescribed form of training, and I've done specific
shows on the value of uphill training and interval training.
Will talk about that real quickly, and I've done those
shows as well. But you have to put in the
miles first, because here's the thing. You can't go hard
(29:01):
before you build your base. And that is a huge
takeaway from this show is yes, you can get really
specific about your running and you can start doing the
high intensity intervals. You go to the track, but that's
the factor you go. Generally speaking, the more likely you
are to get injured. And if you don't have a
base of strength, if you have the weaknesses that haven't
(29:21):
been built up, that haven't been strengthened through what just running,
you're going to get hurt. And that's why so many
people get hurt. That's why so many people don't enjoy running.
It's going to exactly what this show and and Fitness
Disrupted as a whole is about. It's the basics. You
have to do the basics first, and the basics are
(29:42):
what gets you really good. Listen back when I was
I'll wait for that, but it's worth talking about the
end of the show, okay. And and this study, by
the way, also talks about research about resistance training and
biometrics helping with running economy. All true, all true, but
you have to get your base of strength first. You
can't go out and run fast and go hard into
(30:05):
all those things and expect to be good if you
don't put in the miles. Two more two more studies,
this one BMC Sports Science, Medicine Rehabilitation two thousand sixteen
and Empirical study of race times in recreational endurance runners.
Interesting study. It was a survey used to collect data
from recreational runners endurance runners, just over two thousand about
(30:27):
runners and this guy, I save this. There's two for last.
They found a very strong correlation between what weekly running
mileage and race times, ranging from the five k to
the marathon. The more miles these runners ran, the faster
they raced. The more miles these runners ran, the faster
(30:48):
they race. So the question is how many miles? Right?
You can't do too many or you get hurt, so
you have to build up slowly periodization. But the be
all end all wasn't how much interval training they did,
or you know, what type of shoes they wore, or
what type of foot strike they had, or who they're
(31:09):
running coach was, or what their form for running you
know is or there you know recovery methods, there something
you gotta just do it. You know, I say frequently
that now you got a half, right, it's not just
do it, it's just do it frequently, Just do it frequently.
Final break and we'll be right back. Okay, saved what
(31:39):
I consider to be the best for last. Although all
of these studies go into what I'm talking about. And
sometimes I feel crazy when I do these shows because
I know people are listening and they're going it's it's
really it's that simple, yes, fitness and nutrition. One of
the major issues with both is that you have self
(32:02):
proclaimed experts who are not who grab onto one thing,
one thing and that's how they make their name, and
it's over it's making it overly complex. It's not looking
at the science what this show is all about. I
can't say that enough times. Listen. I'd love to impress
(32:24):
you with my you know, knowledge of heart rate zones
and power and things like that. Who cares. My goal
is to get you the greatest results in the shortest
amount of time, with the least likelihood of injury. And
I am living proof of that. You know. I know
I'm in equals one. I'm just one, you know, subject
(32:45):
in in the experiment of fitness. But I was someone
who couldn't run, who had all those issues. I just
I don't probably talk about it enough because I don't
like focusing on the negative. But you have to know
from where I came as well. I was not coming
out of the womb running and I had those issue
use huge issues and how did I get better by
running and building up slowly? Okay, alright? Final study Running economy,
(33:10):
measurement norms and determining factors. This was Sports Medicine Open,
two thousand fifteen. One one line. I'm just gonna pull
from it, and this goes to everything we're talking about.
An economical change in one athlete may be uneconomical in
another athlete because of differences in other physiological or biomechanical characteristics.
(33:33):
I'm gonna read it one final time because it goes
to the entire theme of changing your running gait by
just looking at you or following some running gurus self
proclaimed you know one way to run. An economical change
in one athlete may be uneconomical in another because of
differences in other physiological or bio mechanical characteristics. If you
(33:57):
want to know you're running economy, you have to go
into a lab and see what's going on. And yes,
there are subtle changes you can make, but you still
don't know if you make those changes. Ideally, you still
don't know because you don't know how your body is responding.
Now you can look at running times and things like that,
(34:19):
but there's the chicken and egg controversy. Again, you may
be changing these things subtly, but you're putting in the miles.
So was it the changes in your running form or
is it the miles and you're changing your running form
and putting in the miles. You may be able to
run faster if you just stick to what's natural. The
more you run, the better your body becomes at it.
(34:41):
So it is that chicken and egg controversy. When it
comes to that, I will go back to your body
is a very smart machine. It doesn't want to waste energy,
especially in the later miles. The farther you run, the
better you will be calm okay. Or the more miles
you put in, you gotta be careful. You can't do
too many too soon, okay. Frequency over complexity. Frequency over complexity,
(35:08):
especially when you're starting. You can't go to the track
and start hammering out repeats or on the treadmill at
a class, or on you know, some content until you've
built that base of strength that goes for everything. You
need to build your base. So I'm now fifty one,
I am not putting in the longer runs that I
(35:31):
used to, So I am doing more frequent, short runs.
So there's one if you're a beginner anyone to run,
or a lot more miles, or you're someone like me
who's getting up there and doesn't want to be hurt.
I'm doing shorter run so and rather than running in
an eight mile run like I used to, I'll do
a four mile run in the morning and another four
(35:52):
mile in the evening. Because the longer we run, the
more body starts to break down and get slower and
do things that you know aren't perfect. But as we
get older that becomes more important. That's not to say
I don't do longer runs. I'm just smart about it.
So I'm breaking them up more frequently. So the mileage
maybe the same, but it's quality over quantity. I'm mixing
(36:16):
it up more than I used to when it comes
to the longer runs, and that's it. It's working. You know,
as we start to go longer over an hour, things
like that, your body starts to break down a little
bit more so if you're gonna put in the miles
and you want to be safe and you're getting older
or you're just starting out, I suggest in a lot
(36:37):
of the research shows frequency, and you know most marathoners
who are in durance athletes will have that one long
run on the weekend, and that's one great way to
get it in, all right, But the number one secret
to becoming a better runner, drumroll, please just run, just run.
(37:02):
I always think back to cave men. Do you think
cavemen were worried about four ft rear foot striking? They
were barefoot? I guess right. And that goes to a
whole another thing about running shoes, and I will talk
about that in a separate show and I've hit on
it a little bit and previous ones. But even running
(37:22):
shoes can make it unnatural. But that doesn't mean we
suddenly start running barefoot again. That's a huge problem. Okay,
I'm gonna say it real quickly. You know, you can't
run in shoes for forty years that are super supportive
and then expect your body to be able to tolerate.
For most people, especially if you have more weight. Barefoot
running or minimalist running, it's all about progression and it's
(37:43):
all about simplifying it. And yes, we can get to
the you know, the more intense workouts and the plying
metrics and the interval training and the hill work and
things like that, and you should overtime if your goals
are are loftier and you want to mix it up
and you want to be fitter. But at the end
of the day, it's all about time, excessive moderation. Look
(38:05):
at how that always comes back excessive moderation doing a
lot a little bit rather than doing a little bit
a lot. And especially if you just try to change
your gait and don't run frequently, it's not gonna have
the results that you expect. Simple enough, trust your body,
(38:29):
all right. I hope you enjoyed that runners non runners,
and I would love to hear from non runners who
start running. It's one of my favorite things is people
who you know, read my books, listen to the shows
and and make major change that they didn't think possible,
because that is ultimately what this show is about, helping
you look better, feel better, and live longer. Oh wait,
(38:50):
hold on, I got ahead of myself. Yeah, I have
one study real quick, here's how we end the show.
So here's one that goes against everything I said. Somewhat
effective step length optimization on aerobic demand of running. So
this was Journal of Applied Physiology. So what they found
in this study was that most demonstrated and near optimal
(39:11):
stride length for the speed at which they were tested,
which goes to everything I just said. You know, their
natural stride length was optimal, near optimal for the speed
that they were tested. However, nine of the runners were
diagnosed as over striders and were subsequently trained to reduce
their strides to a more optimal length, and after three
weeks of doing this, these runners showed significant improvement in
running economy relative to a control group. So that kind
(39:33):
of contradicts what I just said, but does it? And
here's why I included that. First of all, I'm gonna
include all the studies regardless, not just to support a
bias that the vast majority of fitness people do. It's
nine people and they're running may have been so egregiously wrong.
But here's the thing that I love about it. What
do many running coaches advised when it comes to running length,
(39:57):
in your stride, length in your ride. No, this one.
It's the frequency. They were over striders. They were trained
to reduce their strides. So many running coaches say no, no, no,
you gotta lengthen your stride. Well, for many people that's
the opposite advice. So pulling it all together. I'm not
(40:21):
saying that some running coaches that can't help improve your
running economy by looking at you, but science says to
truly do that. And when you look at the Chinese runner,
you can, and oh and other runners. Just look at
the number of different ways people run. So yes, there
are ways to improve your running economy. But one of
(40:43):
the primary ways you are going to do that is
putting in the time. Enough said, I hope you enjoyed that,
love this type of topic. It's exactly what this shows about.
Let's look at the science and it generally will always
go back to the simple solution, and it's putting in
(41:03):
the time. Put in the time. Don't make it more complicated.
Don't waste money on products and programs that aren't gonna
help anyone other than the people selling the products of
the programs. All right, thank you for listening. If you
could rate the show, please come on rate the show.
It takes two seconds. Rate the show. I greatly appreciate that.
(41:24):
Subscribe as well. Amazing guests, new ones coming up if
you haven't listened. If you're into the running and ultra running,
especially Dean car Nazis just interviewed him amazing, amazing guy.
And yes, Tom h Fit is my Instagram. Tom h
Fit is also my Twitter. You can follow me there,
reach out to me there or Fitness disrupted dot com.
(41:46):
You can reach out to me right through that as well.
My show, my life's work is all about helping people
look better, feel better, and live longer. My only bias
is wanting you to enjoy your life to the fullest,
to live as long as possible and have those years
be the highest quality as possible. And that's it. Because
(42:09):
there's three things we control, how much we move, what
we put into our mouths, and equally as important, our
psychological state, our attitudes. No one can control those three
things for you. It is up to you and I'm
here to give you the best information to be able
to do that. Thank you for listening. I am Tom
(42:30):
Holland this is Fitness Disrupted. Believe in Yourself. Fitness Disrupted
is a production of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts
from my heart Radio, visit the I heart Radio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
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