Help me take my running a step further

May 3, 2008 3:25 AM

I started running through the walking-running method last year. I have got to the point where I did a 10k run last Sunday; I ran all the way (yay!) and did it in just under 1 hr 9 minutes. The magazine I read, etc, make it clear that to expect to run better/faster/stronger/safer, I need to do some non-running activities now, as well as the running. I am looking at buying a home multigym type thing. Recommendations please! Also - I'd like to increase my hip flexibility - so I can stride longer - I feel I am a bit "tight" at the moment. Best exercises for that? On the machine/ using a ball thing?

Specifics for the machine:

- It must be available in the UK (shop or internet)
- It should cost up to £360 (the price of a year's gym membership)
- I want to be able to work my legs to improve strength and flexibility.
- I would like some arm work in there to be toned and have my top half match my bottom half

Also - I'd like to increase my hip flexibility - so I can stride longer - I feel I am a bit "tight" at the moment. Best exercises for that?

I don't want to join a gym (please don't advise I do - the local one is small, the staff do not seem expert, and the machine area is small, crowded and intimidating) and am good at self-motivation.

If it matters, I'm female, 36, 140lbs. I brisk (really brisk) walk and run about 20 miles a week but am going to increase that. I work out on an elliptical trainer 1 to 2 times a week, 45 - 60 mins at a time.

posted by LyzzyBee to health (12 comments total)

not quite the kind of answer you asked for, but i find yoga complements my running really well, enhancing my flexibility, stamina, upper body strength, and overall toning. best thing is, it's just the cost of a dvd or a mat.
posted by wayward vagabond at 3:59 AM on May 3 [1 favorite]

ooops, that should be *and* a mat
posted by wayward vagabond at 4:00 AM on May 3

If you truly just want to run better and faster, then you don't need to buy anything at all. I'm not sure what you've been reading, but if you want to run faster you just need to run faster. Seriously, no other equipment is needed.

The two most popular means of adding speed to a running program are intervals and fartleks. Intervals are workouts in which you run hard and fast for for a set distance (say 400m), and then jog until you have recovered from that effort, and then do it again. Typically one would start with a half mile worth of speedwork and move up until you were running fast for two miles in one workout.

Fartlek (a word meaning speedplay) is similar but less structured. It involves adding faster running to your existing workout on an ad hoc basis. You might choose to run fast to the next mail box or light pole. And then later to run fast (but maybe slower than before) for a slightly longer section.

There are form drills that you can do that will help strength and mobility, but you don't have to buy anything to do them. This NYT article has some mention of them, and a graphic on the sidebar describing the strides and skips.
This is a good hip flexor routine.
posted by OmieWise at 4:24 AM on May 3 [1 favorite]

seconding omiewise that to run faster you just run faster.

safety-wise, there is this vague notion of muscular balance --- that being over-developed in the running muscles compromises you elsewhere -- i was never really into it but it might be true. when i was running seriously (60+/week, but i bow to omiewise the high priest of distance running), i never did anything to 'balance' myself with no ill effects.

running faster/better/stronger can be accomplished by running faster/better/stronger to the intersection, and the next day to the fire hydrant past it. that is the most direct method of improvement and you don't have to go to the gym.
posted by bluenausea at 5:14 AM on May 3

OmieWise is pretty much correct (I ran competitively through high school and our training consisted of running, more running, sprints, longer runs, and a small amount of strength work - situps with medicine balls, essentially), but from your question it sounds like you're looking to become 'fitter' overall rather than just a better runner. I'd second the yoga for flexibility and some strength, and personally I'd recommend getting a light set of free weights for upper body work, although I don't have a specific exercise program to recommend (my mother seems to have done pretty well with a book called 'Strong Women Stay Young'). One caution is that whether you end up going with the machine or something else, it might be worth getting at least a session with a good personal trainer to show you what to do - it's fairly easy to do most exercises badly, which means in the best case you won't benefit from them and in the worst case you'll injure yourself.
posted by jacalata at 5:23 AM on May 3

I'd suggest you buy a couple of kettlebells. They'll cost you around £50 or less, and you can use them for weight training and a good cardio-vascular workout. There are tons of workouts on YouTube. Kettlebells are great for strength training and if you add some stretches or yoga you'll end up stronger and more flexible.
posted by essexjan at 5:47 AM on May 3 [1 favorite]

You don't want to use strength training to improve your stride. Strength training tends to shorten muscles. If stride is really important to you, work on flexibility. That said, most beginning runners have a stride that is too long and waste a lot of energy over reaching. When your foot land in front of your center of gravity, it actually brakes and slows you down. The ideal footfall is just under you.

I'd recommend three things, hill workouts, a light strength workout, and a good stretching routine. You don't need more than two sets of dumbells at first. Get a pair of five pound dumbbells to start and go up or down from there.

I guess I'd also recommend one other thing, a good book on running either by Hal Higdon or Jeff Galloway.
posted by advicepig at 8:07 AM on May 3

Don't bother with a machine. Buy a good dumbell set or just use kettlebells. You can do weighted lunges holding two dumbells to build up muscle so you avoid injury and to get a little more flexible. Or "goblet squats". And you can try dumbell swings to improve your posterior chain. As for your upper body, dumbells give you all kinds of possibilities. Just look around fitness sites like crossfit and t-nation for exercises or post another askme question asking about them. Free weights give you a lot bigger range of possibilities than any machine and are better for building stability. I am no longer a runner and am not qualified to give advice on running, but I lift a lot nowadays and if I didn't live in an apartment I would tell my gym to go screw and buy a good set of dumbells and a good olympic barbell set and get everything done at home, and I can tell you for a fact that all those machines you see in the gym are an outdated fad that you do not need; all you need for strength training is weight.
posted by creasy boy at 8:36 AM on May 3

PS: and a chin-up bar isn't a bad idea either.
posted by creasy boy at 8:42 AM on May 3

Nthing all those who say to use free weights, dumbbells, kettlebells, interval training, etc. Those Bowflex machines exist to make pretty muscles, not functional ones, and they're not even very good at the pretty part. It would be a waste of your money.

I found the Samson stretch to be a really good stretch for my hip flexors.
posted by schroedinger at 9:43 AM on May 3

Thank you everyone - you've saved me some money and given me some good hints!
posted by LyzzyBee at 1:45 PM on May 3

I disagree that strength training shortens muscles. One key is to stretch thoroughly after a session. I have sacrificed none of my flexibility through ten-plus years of building my strength. As a runner, you should work on the areas not used in running: specifically the deep hip flexors, your abdominals, and upper body. The Samson stretch is a good one, but make sure you are not stressing your lower back. If you have to lean over and stabilize your upper body by putting your hands on the floor, that's fine.

And how can a muscle be "pretty," and not functional?
posted by computech_apolloniajames at 6:44 AM on May 4