6 Running Myths
I could write a million blogs on the myths in the health and fitness world, but runners are the group I find to have the most myths surrounding them. So let’s go through some of these common myths and bust them for good.
1. Running is bad for your knees.
This is probably the most common myth that I hear. When in fact, it’s the opposite. When looking at runners vs. non-runners or sedentary people, the runners tend to have less knee arthritis and degeneration than the non-runner or the sedentary person. If you know me or read any of my other blogs then you know my favorite saying, “It’s not the load that breaks you down, it’s the load you aren’t prepared for.” This applies perfectly to this myth. Our knees and other joints adapt to the stress from running and get stronger!
2. Strength training will make you slower.
This is false! Strength training has several benefits for runners. One major benefit is that it can help reduce your likelihood of injury. Strength training can even help improve your running. One study found that maximal and explosive strength training helped improve VO2 max and running economy. Now, I also hear runners say that they do circuit training so that way they get more cardio in. However, the study I just mentioned compared circuit training to maximal and explosive strength training. The study found that the max and explosive strength training still had more benefits on running!
3. You need to stretch before you run.
Since we’ve been kids we’ve always been told before we do any physical activity that we need to stretch. However, stretching has negative effects on performance. Why is that? Let’s think about it. Let’s say you’re about to go for a run. When you run you need all of your muscles to be ready to contract and fire. When muscles contract they shorten (for the most part). So why you would want to lengthen a muscle through stretching when they’re about to contract and shorten? Due to this same principle, some studies have also found that stretching before physical activity can lead to a small increase in injury rate.
4. Cushioned shoes will prevent injuries.
This is something that would seem like it’s common sense. The more cushion, the less impact, the less likely you are to get injured. But it’s not. In fact, there is no difference in injury prevention between cushioned shoes and minimalistic shoes. For newer runners, I tend to push them towards a shoe more on the minimalistic side to help strengthen their feet, knees, and hips. But, if I have a runner dealing with a toe or maybe even a foot injury, I may recommend a more cushioned shoe to give them some extra support.
5. All of your runs should be hard.
Very few of your runs should be hard! We always think we have to push ourselves. We need to run faster. Breath harder. Sweat more. Well when it comes to running, or any endurance sport for that matter, it’s the opposite. The majority of our runs should be EASY. I like to go by the 85/15 rule. This is that 85% of your workouts or exercise that week should be at an easy pace. While the other 15% can be more difficult. The best way to describe the level of difficulty an easy workout should be is to use the talk test. You should be able to have a conversation while performing the activity but continuing to hold the conversation should be slightly uncomfortable.
6. You have to run fast to get faster.
This ties in with the myth above. Most of us think we need to push it and run faster if we want to get faster. But when it comes to endurance sports such as long-distance running, the best way to improve and run faster is by spending more time running at an easy pace. Once again, an easy pace is the talking pace that I described in the myth above. For example, if you were to look at the training plans for some of the best Olympic cycling teams in the world, you would see that they are spending around 80-90% of their time training in an easy training zone. Now on the flip side to this, sprinting can have an impact on helping you run faster. But once again this should only be about 5% of your training.
I hope this has been helpful and helped bust some common running myths for you. If you like this blog and learned something from it, share it with someone you think it could help.
If you’re a runner dealing with pain and would like some help with it, send me an email at resiliencechiro@gmail.com. I’d love to talk about how I can help.
Talk soon,
Andrew
