Take Your Running to the Next Level With These Useful Tips

Running is one of the most common exercises among people, especially athletes, and is one of the most popular sports out there. Just like any other sport, frequent practice and training can improve your performance. There are a few extra things that you can do to help enhance your running skills and increase your speed and fitness. Here are some useful tips to help you take your running to the next level.

Run Up Hills

In every sport, athletes challenge themselves in order to up their game. For example, in weightlifting, they try lifting increasingly heavier weights. In running, athletes often utilize performance inhibitors that prevent them from running at their full strength while trying to maintain the same time, and distance traveled. One way for a runner to challenge themselves is to try to run up hills. The steeper the hill is, the harder it is for the runner to run that distance due to gravity. If you’re looking for a way to add weight to your body while running, then running up a hill might add all the weight you need. You need to make sure that you’re running in a safe environment and that the hill is steep, but not dangerously steep.

Have Easy Days

It is a myth that you need to stay hard on yourself for all 365 days of the year. As a runner, you’ll face days where you do more than one exercise and train for much longer hours. You must take the time to recover and decrease your exercise hours or the intensity of your exercise. Recovery should be 1 to 3 days, depending on how hard you were on yourself that specific day or even the days prior to that. Recovery days are also important to maintain the efficiency of hard days. If your body gets used to intense exercising, it will only seem like a regular workout to your body and it won’t be as effective anymore. This will allow for more effective training after you get back from your recovery days with fresh legs.

Try Out Weighted Vests

A runner’s absolute priority is to train their legs to be faster with the least effort. This means they need to train their bodies in ways that are harder and require more effort than usual to increase their fitness. This can be achieved by running with a weight vest to increase your body weight and the effort required to run. There are risks involved with using a weight vest, so it is not recommended for someone who’s not an athlete. Even for an athlete, it is best to not use a weighted vest every time you go for a run. Make sure to have your recovery days when using a weighted vest and not use them more than needed if you want to avoid injuries.

Try Other Exercises

A runner who wants to up their game needs to be a full athlete. Your training shouldn’t only involve going for runs on a running track, up a hill, or around the block. You need to exercise your whole body, not just your legs. It is actually not a good idea to only train your legs. They need to be your main focus, but you also need to train your entire body. Engaging in regular exercises like swimming or other cardio exercises will definitely take your running to a whole other level. Days, when you do more than one exercise, should be followed by rest days.

Stay Consistent

The number one rule when it comes to achieving an expert level in any sport is to stay consistent. Staying consistent does not mean sticking to the same exercises and running plan. Staying consistent means to keep on exercising and reaching your goals. Even when you do reach your goals, you must set new ones and challenge yourself to reach them. Your goal was a gold medal and you got it? Aim for the Olympics. Went to the Olympics? How about another gold medal in the Olympics? Got that medal? Maybe it is about time you break the world record.

Running is a sport that has no limit; there’s always a new goal to set or something new to do. There isn’t just one type of running sport that you can participate in. You should review your options and choose what’s best suited to your running style. You must understand that though going harder each day might lead to a little success, it is unsustainable as it makes you susceptible to injuries that have long-term consequences and prevent you from returning to the track.