Running Mechanics

I just thought I would write in a little tidbit about running! Growing up my coaches told me that long running strides was the best way to run. That is FALSE! When you run with long strides it adds a lot of stress to mainly knees, but also all lower extremity joints. When I worked at a physical therapy clinic, I bet that 80% of the athletes that came in for injury treatment was because of improper running technique, but mainly they had too big of a stride length. Their injuries went away after treatment and and they were able to get back to training after they learned how to run properly. The proper running stride should be about 90 or more strides per minutes. That means your right foot should hit the ground 90 times in one minute. Count it out and see where you are! The turn over rate is quick, but it will help with injury I promise! This is true for all speeds of long distance running, but is not true for sprinting. You can time one minute and try to get 90 steps, or you can time 30 seconds and try for 45 steps. Try it out! You will like it :)

Lactic Acid

In school I am learning all about exercise and how the body performs during and after exercise. In our last class we talked about lactic acid the benefits of a cool down. I don't enjoy doing cool downs, but it is actually really important.

An appropriate cool down will:

• aid in the dissipation of waste products - including lactic acid
• reduce the chances of dizziness or fainting caused by the pooling of venous blood at the extremities
• reduce the level of adrenaline in the blood
• allows the heart rate to return to its resting rate

So basically, if you find that you are sore the day after exercise... just cool down! It will decrease your soreness by a drastic amount! A true cool down is 5-10 minutes or a LIGHT jog or walk, and 5 minutes os stretching.