Run Well by Juliet McGrattan (reading books for 5 year olds .TXT) 📕

this seems to be predominantly a reduction in size of the type 2, fast-twitch fibres. This explains why we get slower with age and highlights the need to include strength training, particularly in later life, to negate this loss. Interestingly, a study in Finland in 2000 found that an aptitude for endurance events (with a higher percentage of slow-twitch fibres) and continuing that activity through life gave some protection against coronary heart disease that was not seen in those who had an aptitude for power speed events. It seems our muscle fibres may influence more than which events we sign up for.

Q I’m confused about stretching! Should I do it before running, after running or not even bother?

A It’s easy to get confused when the advice we’re given keeps changing! This topic is quite controversial, but we seem to have settled into an acceptance that traditional static stretching isn’t beneficial before a run, but might be afterwards. Stretching cold muscles before you run won’t increase your performance or reduce your risk of injury. Warming up rather than stretching should be your priority before a run (see here). Brisk walking and slow running is enough and you can add what we call dynamic stretches to prepare your muscles and joints for running. A dynamic stretch is a stretch that’s done in a controlled way while a muscle is in motion and takes a joint through its full range of movement. Dynamic stretches for runners include arm swings, hip swings and lunges. Traditional static stretches can be done after your run when muscles are warm and pliable, to lengthen muscles, particularly if you have a known tightness. Stretching out your calves, quads and hamstrings can improve flexibility. Again, there’s still some uncertainty as to how crucial this is in terms of recovery or injury prevention, but it does at least provide some social time at the end of a group run!

Did you know?

You use 200 muscles when you take a single step forwards.

Q Do runners really need to do strength and ­conditioning?

A I think the majority of runners feel a bit guilty, because they know they probably should do some muscle strength and conditioning work, but prefer to just go for a run instead. It’s easy to think it’s unnecessary and that running is enough, but there are many benefits to doing strength and conditioning. Having strong muscles helps you to run with good technique – more efficiently with increased power and less risk of injury. No runner is going to turn those benefits down.

A strong core will hold you upright, allowing you to fully expand your lungs, keep your pelvis and hips stable for ideal running technique, and fire up the often lazy and weak gluteus maximus muscles. Strong arm muscles will help power your sprint finish and drive you up hills. Strong muscles around a joint such as the knee will help to take the impact off the cartilage and bones in the joint. Having a regular strength and conditioning routine will allow you to focus on individual muscle groups and work them against resistance. That may simply be your own bodyweight, increased resistance from a band or a weight.

Take the glute muscles, for example. If you spend a lot of your day sitting, then it’s likely that you have weak glutes. When muscles aren’t used, the nerve pathways that stimulate them switch off. When you then run, the glute muscles don’t fire and you’re missing out on the power of the biggest muscles in the body. Spending some time re-igniting those pathways, learning to use your glutes and strengthening them with the addition of weights will lead to rewards in your running.

It’s important to work all the major muscle groups so you have balance on the front and back of your body and limbs. If you work your back then you need to work your abdominals. If you work your glutes then you need to work your quads (quadriceps or front of thigh muscles) etc. You only need to do it once or twice a week and there’s no need to join a gym. Runners can have a perfectly good work out at home with little or no equipment. There’s evidence that heavy resistance training is more effective than low resistance with lots of repetitions, so don’t be afraid to go short and heavy.

We also know that both muscle and bone mass decrease with age, and regular muscle-strengthening work will help to counteract both of these and keep you running fit for the future as well as the present.

Q Foam rolling hurts so much. Can it really be good for me?

A Is it possible that the pain of what genuinely feels like torture from a roll of hard foam will help your running? Should it be an established part of caring for your muscles or is it just a popular trend without good evidence of benefit? In summary, there’s no clear answer. Foam rolling may well help to ease sore, tired muscles and increase their flexibility, but there’s not sufficient evidence yet to say exactly when and for how long we should foam roll to make a difference to our recovery and performance. So, like many of these techniques, if it seems to help you, then carry on doing it, but don’t rely on it to knock time off your PB.

Foam rolling is effectively a type of deep tissue massage. Fascia is the fibrous tissue that encloses and lies between bundles of muscle fibres (you will have seen this slightly shiny sheet of strong tissue if you’re used to preparing the Sunday roast). It’s thought that with repetitive movements such as running, the fascia can thicken and stick to the underlying muscle, which restricts its movement. When you foam roll you compress your muscle against the roller using your body weight. This is said to free up those sticky areas, make the fascia more pliable, and allow the fascia and muscles to