Running toward better health: do's and don'ts for establishing a healthy training program

Q: Do I need to run to do well at running?

A: No, other aerobic activities can lead to improvement. However, running is the best way to boost running performance. Actual running maximally improves your muscles' ability to run fast, whereas general training improves your heart's capacity for maximal performance. The act of running is the most specific training you can do to achieve a faster time. However, you can increase your functional capacity through other aerobic activities such as biking, swimming, running in the water, rowing or skiing. So, if you want to be the fastest runner you can be, then a majority of your workouts should involve running. If you have limitations that preclude running and want to improve without hurting yourself, or you simply don't enjoy running, then a cross-training regimen, that includes running every third workout, ought to be satisfactory.

Q: Does running form matter?

A: Absolutely. Running economy, or the ability to translate your cardiovascular and neuromuscular capacities into running performance, is also a factor in injuries. Thus, "bad form" can result in inefficient running and potential injury. Three common examples include over-striding, improper arm carriage and excessive vertical displacement.

Excessive stride lengths, not uncommon in people with long legs, result in foot placement beyond an imaginary line from the knee to the ground. This creates a braking action that can lead to both a slower performance as well as stress fracture injuries. Often, shorter, faster strides are more efficient.

Many runners hold their arms too high, which can result in neck and upper back pain. Also, swinging the arms across the body, seen more commonly among women, wastes valuable energy. Correcting this problem involves dropping your arms so the thumb passes near the hip and moving your arms forward and backward without crossing an imaginary centerline.

Also, vertical displacement, defined as up and down motion, wastes energy resulting in slower performance. Therefore, focus on moving forward and not upward.

Q: Should I alter my training based on environmental factors?

A: Environmental factors can influence running performance as well as training. Ideal conditions include low altitude, low humidity, minimal wind and temperatures in the 55- to 70-degree range. Excessive wind can slow you down. Temperature and humidity extremes increase the body's demands to maintain homeostasis, and, therefore, blood flow is diverted from the working muscles to the skin.

Extreme environmental conditions require altered training paces. Therefore, a workout during July or January when repeated in September may be achieved at a much faster pace with a lower heart rate. In other words, use perceived effort as a workout standard, especially on very windy, hot or cold days.

Q: Is there an efficient way to train? Why am I not running faster even though I'm jogging three or four miles a day?

A: There are many forms of training, ranging from sprinting to long-distance running. Efficient training incorporates the principles of specificity and adaptation. The goal is to teach your body to comfortably run at a pace that is similar to that of your 1.5-mile trial. Beginners will improve with fast walking and then progressing to slow jogging. However, as you advance, running substantially slower than your race pace is of minimal benefit in terms of maximizing your speed. Research suggests that the best way to train is to run at the maximal pace you can sustain for six minutes. Unfortunately, running a six-minute time trial and then performing the math is not very practical or enjoyable for the average runner.

Therefore, the most time-efficient way to train is to run at or slightly faster than your pace for the 1.5-mile run using running intervals of 30 seconds and building up to as much as two to three minutes with an equal amount of very easy jogging as a recovery. A simpler method to establish workout intensity is to run at what feels like a "moderately hard" pace. After a few of these types of workouts, you'll be amazed at how quickly your body will naturally run at a beneficial pace. For example, a running workout might consist of five minutes of easy jogging for a warm up and cool down with eight repetitions of 30 seconds hard followed by 30 seconds of recovery jogging performed between the warm up and cool down. The total running time of this sample workout would be 18 minutes. This type of workout ensures that you will maximize your training effect. If you are a novice to such training, start with four repetitions and increase the number of repetitions as your fitness improves. Try this type of workout once per week or utilize these intervals once to twice a week for a six-week period before your physical fitness test. This is not a workout that you want to attempt on a daily basis.

Slow long-distance runs of 30 to 60 minutes can be helpful in terms of weight maintenance, cardiovascular benefits and preparation for longer periods of sustained performance. So, if your type of work involves hourly jaunts in wooded terrain, then adding a longer run at a slower pace would be reasonable. However, if your objective is to improve in the most time efficient manner, then the above repetitions are more test specific.

Another important factor, believe it or not, is your speed at shorter distances. Simply put, the faster you can run 100 meters or 400 meters (one lap around the track), the easier it will be to sustain a faster 1.5-mile pace. So, adding a few five- to 10-second sprints with 60 to 90 seconds of rest in between each sprint can also be valuable. These strides are merely faster than you are typically running and should not be "all out" sprinting. Increase your velocity slowly as running at faster speeds without adequate warm-up or preparation will result in injury!

Q: I always get injured when I run. What can I do about it?

A: It's impossible to cover in this forum the numerous reasons for injuries. However, there are some simple preventive techniques that target common danger areas. You should initiate these exercises before you start a serious running program. Four critical regions of special concern are the ankles, shins or front part of the lower legs, hamstrings or the muscles in the back of the upper legs and lower back.

Your ankles are the joints that initially absorb the impact of the force of the concrete being transferred up through your knees, hips and lower back. A very simple exercise to increase "kinesthetic sense" or body awareness is to balance on one leg. Do two repetitions of 30 seconds on each leg. When this becomes easy, try it with your eyes closed! You will really feel your ankle working to maintain stability with this advanced version of the exercise.

The key to preventing shin splints is to strengthen your anterior lower leg muscles or the muscle group that comprises the front part of your lower legs. The best single exercise is to sit on a chair or bench and lift your feet up and down slowly about 15 to 20 times two to three times per week. As you get stronger, you may increase the resistance in order to make the exercise more challenging.

Hamstring flexibility is very important, as running tends to shorten this group of muscles. A very nice stretch involves lying on your back and attempting to extend your leg with the aim of stretching it perpendicular to the ground. You can use a rope or towel placed around your foot to create a gentle stretching effect. This exercise is best performed after each workout for 30 seconds with each leg.

Lower back strength and flexibility are also crucial to warding off running injuries. Although there is plenty of "expert" advice on prevention of lower back pain, there really is a dearth of good data on what works. Some recent studies actually show that back extension endurance may be the most correlated factor with prevention of back pain. Therefore, working on static strength by performing static extensions while lying off of a table may be most beneficial for prevention of lower back pain. The other option would be to perform the so-called "superman" maneuver where you raise your upper body off the ground. Try holding this position for 10 to 15 seconds and increase this time up to 30 to 60 seconds as you build endurance. Some simple back-stretching exercises should follow these strengthening exercises.

Last, but not least, I cannot emphasize the importance of a good pair of running shoes, which account for your individual foot-strike nuances. Also, running on grass, trails or asphalt is less jarring to the legs than concrete.

Q: Will any supplements, eating patterns or specialized drinks help me reach my goal?

A: No, but they can deplete your pocketbook! In all seriousness, longer endurance performances by elite athletes may require some specialized adjustments. However, for most of us, eating a balanced diet emphasizing fruits and vegetables and drinking six to eight glasses of liquids per day is all that you really need.

Q: Often when I run, I get a pain in the right-hand side of my upper abdomen? What can I do about these "stitches" in my side?

A: Recent research suggests that abdominal stitches may be caused by the counterbalance of your organs pulling one way and your diaphragm pulling the other. Therefore, lying down and raising your hips and legs above your body level should alleviate this problem. This, however, is not practical in the middle of a run and may even look a little bizarre. In terms of prevention, an empty stomach along with strong abdominal muscles may be beneficial. However, during a run, the consensus is to change your breathing pattern, which typically coincides with a right-stride foot strike. Thus, altering your breathing pattern to correspond with your left foot might also help.

Q: What type of warm-up should I do?

A: Research in this area is actually quite sparse. And as a matter of fact, excessive static stretching of tight muscles prior to running can actually result in injury. A simple active warm-up is best. This means slowly adapting your body to the specific activity that primes both your cardiovascular and musculoskeletal systems. Therefore, a slow walk or jog is ample for most situations. Intense static stretching, where you hold a position for 20 to 30 seconds, is most beneficial for prevention and enhanced flexibility after a workout.

Q: Does a good running performance imply that I am fit and healthy?

A: This is a complicated question. We need to distinguish between the meaning of running performance, fitness and health. Achieving a better time on a 1.5-mile run means that you have improved your cardiovascular and running capacities. Being fit, well, that may be a different question. Everyone in the running community knows the joke about the runner who arrives at the family picnic after running 10 miles. Everyone is impressed until the spouse asks the runner to open the pickle jar, which he or she is unable to do.

Fitness includes overall upper and lower body muscle endurance, strength and flexibility, which running itself does not provide. Also, training only for running and or push-ups and sit-ups may result in overuse imbalances or injury. Only a general fitness program utilizing cardiovascular, strengthening and flexibility exercises can provide the healthiest combination of fitness.

Good health includes general fitness, proper nutrition, appropriate weight maintenance, and good lipid and blood pressure control. In addition, we now know that excessive emotional stress can have many negative physical consequences. Therefore, "emotional well being," or the ability to cope appropriately with life's stressors, is also crucial to your overall vigor. Implicit in this definition is the avoidance of maladaptive behaviors such as gambling, inappropriate substances such as tobacco or illicit or inappropriate drugs, or excessive amounts of alcohol or caffeine. These will fail as coping strategies.

Your quest to improve your running performance should be a part of a general fitness program, which in turn should be a component of an overall individualized lifestyle philosophy.

(Editor's note: With a 1.5-mile run accounting for half of the total number of points available on the Air Force's new fitness program test, more and more Reservists are incorporating running into their overall fitness program. As with any form of exercise, running, if done improperly, has the potential to cause injuries. Also, to derive maximum benefits from a regular running program, there are some basic do's and don'ts that Reservists need to follow. To help prevent injuries and assist fellow Reservists in getting the most out of their running program, Maj. (Dr.) Ashley B. Benjamin, an individual mobilization augmentee assigned to the 72nd Medical Group at Tinker Air Force Base, Okla., answers some common questions regarding running. In civilian life, Dr. Benjamin serves as a staff psychiatrist at the Oklahoma City Veterans Affairs Medical Center and a clinical assistant professor with the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center. Also, he served as a graduate assistant track coach and cross-country coach and has a master's degree in exercise science. The doctor said his primary interest in providing this information is not to help Reservists pass a once-a-year test, but rather to encourage them to adopt a more healthy lifestyle that will last a lifetime.)

(Lt. Col. (Dr.) Daniel Kulund, developer of the Air Force Total Force fitness package, contributed to this story. Also, information for this story was taken from Research Running News (www.rrnews.com), edited by Owen Anderson, Ph.D.)

COPYRIGHT 2005 Air Force Reserves
COPYRIGHT 2005 Gale Group