10 Ways to Improve Your Running for Beginners to Advanced Runners

A few of the comments that I hear quite frequently is, "I try to run, but after 5 minutes my heart is beating out of my chest," or, "I used to run, but I can't run anymore because of my knees," or, "I always get shin splints," or, "I have plantar fasciitis." Many of the same challenges kept coming up, so that's why I decided to write down these top 10 points. Hey guys, what's up? My name is Floris Gierman with Extramileist, and today we have a video coming up about 10 ways to improve your running. From absolute beginner to advanced. I ran a poll in the Extramileist Facebook group and this was by far the most highly voted post to make a video about, so here we go! Before we dive in, I want to give you a short update about my personal life because there are some very exciting changes there. I left my job in the corporate world and I'm joining a startup in the running apparel space. The company name is Path Projects and they make running shorts and hats and and t-shirts. And up until a few months ago, I'd never heard of them, and then I tried some of the gear, and it was the most favorite gear that I've ever tried. So it's pretty much all that I run in at this point. So I'm going to be doing marketing for them, which will allow me to be running a lot more and also to be creating a lot more running content again. So definitely stay tuned over here on the blog, and I'll probably be posting some stuff on their blog as well. Over the past 6 years, I've connected with thousands of different runners through all different social channels. That's from Reddit, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Strava, all across the board. And it's exciting to see how many new runners are coming into the space and how many people who used to run are trying to pick it up again. Although there's all that excitement, I also see a lot of people that are struggling still. So let's dive in. Point number 1: slow down your running pace. I strongly believe that about 95% of runners run at a heart rate and at an effort that is much too high for their current fitness level, and this significantly increases the injury risk. And also, many people might not actually enjoy their running activities. I believe in a holistic approach to training, racing, and overall health, and I do not believe in the no pain, no gain mentality. Beginner runners should really slowly build up their endurance and strengthen their muscles. And so one way that you can do this is actually the walk-run-walk-run approach. So I would recommend to go out for a 10-minute walk and basically just warm up, and then you go for a 1-minute jog, a very slow jog. After the 1 minute, you start walking again, and you just walk for 2 minutes, and that will lower your heart rate. That will make sure you get your breathing under control again, and then you jog again for 1 minute, and then you rotate this 5 times. A 1-minute jog, 2 minutes run, 1 minute jog, 2 minutes run. And this might feel super easy, and that's the whole point. At the beginning, you're better off slowly but surely strengthening up your muscles and slowly but surely improving your aerobic base than that you're going out there and after 5 minutes or 10 minutes of hard running, your heart is beating and you can't control your breathing and you're actually not enjoying it at all and you don't want to do it next time. Time anymore. So just go outside and get comfortable with just jogging here and there for 1 minute. Eventually, after you do this, let's say 3 or 4 times a week, after a few weeks you'll start noticing that it becomes easier and easier. So you can take shorter rest breaks in between, and you can start jogging a little bit longer, so maybe 90 seconds, 2 minutes. Eventually, over time, you'll be jogging the entire time, and your walk breaks are not going to be there anymore. Slowly but surely building up. So in total, it would only be a workout of about 20 minutes but do that 3 times, 4 times a week, and you'll definitely start seeing improvements rather quickly. Most advanced runners should really slow down the majority of their runs as well, and you really don't need speed work to become a faster runner. And some people might not agree with me on that. You can progress for many months by running aerobic miles only, so with a low heart rate. And the training approach that I recommend is highly influenced by Dr. Phil Maffetone and the MAF approach. And I strongly believe that runners should be working out with a heart rate monitor. And the 180 Formula created by Dr. Phil Maffetone calculates your ideal individual aerobic heart rates. And this MAF training zone is your optimal training intensity that burns mostly fat for fuel. And training at this MAF heart rate frequently really develops your aerobic system, so it improves your fat burning abilities So it teaches your body to use more energy for body fat, and so you improve your endurance performance. And so for more details, I highly recommend that you download the 30-page PDF that I created on my website, extramileist.com, and it goes much deeper into all of the different fundamentals. Most advanced runners struggle to slow down in their training, and therefore the article Overcoming Frustrations with MAF Low Heart Rate Training that I wrote a while back might come in handy for this as well. 2. Improve your nutrition. You are what you eat. Taking in the right nutrition really makes a huge difference in how you feel, in your energy levels throughout the day, and in your fat-burning abilities during a workout or a race. Dr. Phil Maffetone describes how there are two different types of food. You have healthy food and you have junk food. And healthy foods are the real, the naturally occurring, the unprocessed, and they're really nutrient-rich. If you can grow it or raise it, then it's real, and consuming these foods provide immediate and long-term health benefits. Everything else is junk food, which contributes to increased body fat, most common diseases, hormone imbalances, inflammation, fatigue, and more. It wasn't until 2013 that I significantly changed my nutritional intake, and the biggest changes that I made was cutting out most sugars and refined carbs. And this has made a huge difference in my athletic performance, my fat-burning abilities and my energy levels throughout the day. No more massive spikes in energy, but more of an even flow of energy at this point. Nowadays, my meals consist of a lot of different veggies. So from kale to spinach, celery, avocados, cauliflowers, broccoli. I eat a lot of different salads. Tuna, salmon, chicken, beef. I have a lot of burrito bowls. Guacamole, avocado, eggs, black beans, pinto beans, lentils, some bananas. Also nuts nuts and seeds. So for example, almonds, cashews, flaxseeds, chia seeds. I do drink a lot of green tea and a lot of water as well. One way for me to eat a lot of vegetables is to blend them all in a good blender. I use a Vitamix over here. Basically get everything in together, easy to just down one or two glasses of that without having to chew like a rabbit. And so the meth side from Phil Methodone, he has a lot of great free recipes as well that you might enjoy. Measure biofeedback to get more in tune with your body. Most advanced athletes are often more in tune with their body than beginner athletes, and there are several different tools available that can help get you more in tune with your body. Two different tools that I use a lot are a heart rate monitor and a sleep tracker, and I have a Fitbit Heart Rate 2. That's this monitor over here, and I really like it. And there are two different key measurements that I look at a lot. The resting heart rate is one of them, and the quality of my sleep is the other one. And after you measure your resting heart rate for probably about 4 to 8 weeks, you start getting an idea of what your average resting heart rate is and what some of your standard deviation is. So let's say my resting heart rate is 45. Normally, my heart rate might be about 2 to 3 beats higher and lower, and that would be pretty normal. Nothing really off would be the case over there. However, if let's say my resting heart rate becomes 48 or 49 or even higher for, for one day or for longer, that starts ringing some alarm bells for me. And at that point, I'm going to start asking myself a few different questions and see if something might be going on and what I can possibly adjust to lower that resting heart rate again. Because obviously there's additional stress, there's additional tension on my body. That's why it's good to get in tune with your body and start asking yourself some of these questions. A common question is, am I drinking enough water? Especially during the warm weather months, like, dehydration definitely increases your heart rate. So drink more water and take in some more electrolytes as well. Another question is, could I have an upcoming cold? Sometimes if I feel something is off with my body, I'll take in some additional vitamin C just to further boost my immune system. Am I getting enough hours of quality sleep? Like, Deep sleep is very important for the immune system and for your physical recovery for workouts. REM typically occurs when you're coming out of deep sleep, and it helps your mental restoration. When I sleep less than 6 hours for one or multiple days, I've definitely noticed an increase in my resting heart rate, and it's kind of an alarm bell for me to get in some additional sleep. Am I taking in too much caffeine? This one often goes hand in hand with lack of sleep. Caffeine can absolutely increase your heart rate, so trying to limited, especially when your resting heart rate is elevated, is a good thing. Also, have I recently done any intense training sessions, or am I running higher mileage, and is my volume higher than normal? If my resting heart rate is elevated, I typically schedule a rest day, or I make sure to stick to a recovery workout just to kind of get the stress levels under control. How am I feeling mentally, and how are my stress levels at work and in my personal life? There are many different ways that you can reduce your stress. Such as breathing exercises, journaling about what's going on in your life, what is causing that stress, and what you can do about it, and turning off your phone and going out in nature for a while. Many different ways that you can lower those stress levels, but you have to first be aware that there's additional stress going on. So that's why it's good to get more in tune with your body. 4. Meditate consistently to get more in tune with your mind. Meditation has made a huge impact in my life, and I strongly believe that meditation has made me a better runner. My approach to running is holistic, so I make sure that all the different elements in my life are in sync, and meditation plays an important role in this, and it comes with many different benefits. It increases your happiness, it increases your cardiovascular and your immune health, it changes our sense of self, it reduces stress, it improves your concentration, and it encourages a healthy lifestyle. Two different tools that I can highly recommend to start out with meditation are the Calm app that you can download in the App Store and check out the Open Heart Project by my friend Susan Pfeiffer. Actually had her on another podcast for me, and I interviewed her about mindful running, and you might find this an interesting podcast as well. Point number 5 of ways to improve your running is to train consistently. Many runners, from beginners to advanced, are setting goals that are unsustainable for a longer period of time, and I've noticed this firsthand with past co-workers as well. They wouldn't train at all, and then all sudden they feel the need to go out there and work out, start working out 5 times, 6 times a week, even double days. For a little bit, that's okay, but then after 3, 4, 5 weeks, the burnout symptoms start to come, the lower energy, the increased chance of injuries, and eventually it's unsustainable. You're gonna get much more results if you work out consistently, let's say 3 times a week for 20 to 30 minutes, than training for 6 days a week for an hour followed by no workouts at all. So rest days are absolutely an important part to become a better athlete, and like, you're definitely gonna get that by training consistently and just scheduling in some of those rest days in between as well. Setting clear goals. I'm a fanatic goal setter, and I recap the progress towards my goals on a weekly basis by writing in my journal. If you want to become a better runner, Setting clear goals, writing them down, and then reviewing them on an ongoing basis will significantly increase your chances for success. Here's some interesting stats: 80% of Americans say they don't have goals, 16% do have goals but they don't write them down, less than 4% write down their goals, and fewer than 1% actually review their goals on an ongoing basis. Guess which group succeeds the most? Obviously, the people who want to review it and actually write it down more frequently are more focused, and it definitely helps with the motivation in the long term. If you have a clear goal of completing your first 5K, losing 10 pounds, or running a marathon PR, you'll find more motivation to go out and put in more training runs consistently. The hardest part of running for many beginner runners is actually to put on your shoes and to get out of the door, and once you're moving, you're usually glad that you did. Clear goal setting can absolutely help you improve your running. Point number 7: Find a running partner. Training partners can help make you a better runner in many ways. There's a social element. I'm always blown away how I can be running for 2 hours and we're chatting away with a friend, how time is actually flying by. We just ran 12 miles or 14 miles and we didn't even realize it. Partners can help keep you accountable. Especially when you're not feeling like working out. Several of my weekly runs are on my own. Running on your own can be nice. However, having a partner counting on you to show up can definitely help. Running partners can also add an element of safety. I think this is in particular the case for women and for people running at night. And partners can also be great pace setters. And another great benefit is that running partners can actually provide some feedback for your running form as well. So a whole combination of different reasons to find yourself a running partner. Number 8: Learn the Chi running technique. Chi running is a simple running technique that every runner can benefit from. The technique focuses to help you run as energy efficient as possible and to keep you running injury-free. I discovered Chi running in 2007 and I found it very helpful, especially when I first started out with running. You basically get aligned and so you get to connect the dots from your shoulders, your hips all the way to your ankles, and you shift your workloads to your core, and you relax everything else. You lean forward with a strong core, so you're really leaning forward, and you use your gravity to assist your running. So your legs can actually relax and run almost automatic. I'm not going to be able to explain it very well in this video, but there's a video on YouTube that explains this very well, so I will link to that in the show notes. Number 9: make rest, recovery, and sleep a priority. One of the most overlooked parts of improving your running is getting enough rest to recover properly. Many athletes don't sleep and rest enough, so it becomes harder for your body to recover from workouts and to improve in your training. Healthy sleep is about 7 to 9 hours of uninterrupted sleep, and for advanced athletes running, let's say, 50 miles or 80 kilometers per week, 7 hours of sleep is probably not enough. So the top athletes, the guys who are training 20 hours per week, will need closer to 9 hours to get a full recovery. We get more training benefits from the recovery phase than from the actual training, and we need that recovery to allow our body to naturally progress. So this is the case for all types of runners, from beginners to intermediate to advanced as well. For all runners, it's important to listen to your body. Be extra careful if you're noticing certain warning signs. And this can be everything from very sore muscles to roller coasters of emotions, feeling very happy one day, feeling bad or feeling negative the next day, an upcoming cold or illness, or low energy or no motivation to train at all. When you notice some of those signs, take a step back and analyze what your body and your mind are telling you. Although consistent training is important, listening to yourself and adjusting your training schedule accordingly is very important as well. Don't underestimate the importance of rest, recovery, and sleep to improve your running. And last but not least, point number 10: have a fun attitude and gratitude. You've been given an incredible gift of the ability to move and run. Never forget that there are millions of people around the world that would happily trade places for a healthy body and an opportunity to run. We all sometimes have the tendency to overthink things and make things more complicated than it Running truly can be really simple. Put on your running clothes, put on your running shoes, open the door, get outside, and start moving. Don't overthink it. Have fun at all costs. If you're not having fun, you're doing it wrong. And this was first brought up to me by my good friend Jimmy Dean Freeman from the Coyotes, and they've put together a really cool video, and it goes into much detail about the way of the trail runner that is very applicable for runners of all different levels. I'll make sure to include a link in the show notes as well. I hope you enjoyed this video and I would love to hear from you. Are there any other ways that you think runners can improve their actual running? Please let me know in the comments below and I look forward to hearing from you there. I'll be back soon with more videos and posts on my website extramileist.com. Thanks for watching, have a good one!